This woman ought to have been fired since way back when. An IMF advocate can't be of any good to us, aside from that she is an expatriate who craved for salary payments in dollars and therefore doe/cannot understand the peculiarity of our dynamic economy. She is lost like when Obama is made our President for the next ten years, he would be dazed and confused and would eventually fail like our expatriate Ngozi hass. My best advice is for GEJ to recruit a very good Secondary School Economics teacher or a University Lecturer in the same field to revive our economy.
This woman ought to have been fired since way back when. An IMF advocate can't be of any good to us, aside from that she is an expatriate who craved for salary payments in dollars and therefore doe/cannot understand the peculiarity of our dynamic economy. She is lost like when Obama is made our President for the next ten years, he would be dazed and confused and would eventually fail like our expatriate Ngozi hass. My best advice is for GEJ to recruit a very good Secondary School Economics teacher or a University Lecturer in the same field to revive our economy.[/quote]
This woman ought to have been fired since way back when. An IMF advocate can't be of any good to us, aside from that she is an expatriate who craved for salary payments in dollars and therefore doe/cannot understand the peculiarity of our dynamic economy. She is lost like when Obama is made our President for the next ten years, he would be dazed and confused and would eventually fail like our expatriate Ngozi hass. My best advice is for GEJ to recruit a very good Secondary School Economics teacher or a University Lecturer in the same field to revive our economy.
NOIConnect: Part - 1 State of The Nigerian Economy by Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
How is Nigeria faring in the face of the dwindling oil prices?
I will like to say one thing: there has been some attempt to make people feel that there is no hope; that this situation is so difficult; there is hopelessness. I said from the beginning when oil prices began to fall by 50%. I said that this will be a tough year; but there is hope.
There is light at the end of the tunnel and the reason is because we have worked so hard as a country under this administration to lay the basics for us to exit this situation and get back on a good path. And that is what gives me hope. Why do I say that? First of all, let’s come back to the fact: we now have a Nigeria which is the largest economy on the continent and that is important. We have to keep stressing it because it means we’ve got the sectors. We’ve got the base which will enable us to carry out that diversification and be able to have a stronger economy in the long term that create the jobs and gives our young people hope.
So, it is very important to note that. We didn’t know that before. When you look at the structure of the economy and you see that the growth – all the analyses have shown that the growths from this economy have come from the non-oil sector that Agriculture has been doing well. And that also come to the present situation, because Agriculture has been doing well, we have produced more food than ever before - 21million metric tons more food. We have produced paddy, 1.1million metric tons a couple of years ago to 1.6million metric tons now. In fact, what I am saying about rice is that it is dry season farming, not to talk of paddy. And we are on our way to really reducing our dependency on food imports.
Because we’ve got food, prices have been kept relatively stable and reasonable. You can go round the market. We have gone round from different places to check and the prices of foodstuff are reasonable unlike other oil producing countries. That is helping us manage the situation for the average Nigerian.
What measures are in place to strengthen Nigeria’s reserves?
I know this is of concern to Nigerians, manufacturers looking for more foreign exchange, others paying their school fees and tuition abroad and even ordinary people. But I also feel that with this strong base that we have, if we just keep steady, we will be able to exit and the value of the Naira will strengthen because we have got the different sectors. And there are two ways we have to do it, and I think this is what Nigerians want. Instead of depending on oil, we have to look at the two ways to strengthen our reserves because that is the way we can strengthen the value of our currency. There are two ways: one is to reduce demand for imports and that is why I think our demand for agriculture imports is very important for us to watch that. And then reduce our demand for foreign goods.
I have always encouraged Nigerians that even strengthening the value of the Naira is not just government actions alone, it is in our hands. If we buy more of what is made here in our own country and reduce the demand of things made outside, that means we can increase our reserves and the Central Bank does not have to continue giving money to import all those goods that we don’t need. The second way is for us to start exporting things other than oil. And that is where again I feel encouraged because we are laying the foundation for that. You will recall that in the 60s, we were exporting groundnuts, cocoa, cotton, rubber and many agricultural products and suddenly we didn’t keep up. We have the ability to go back to those but not just exporting the raw materials and we already have people in these sectors adding value. What we need to do is to expand growing the cocoa, processing it here for our own internal demand and export it. And then we earn foreign exchange.
There is an area which is unexploited where we can earn foreign exchange which we are not. When I go around the continent, every single African woman wants Nigerian clothes. I know this may sound strange to lots of people. Those of us here, don’t we import shirts, trousers, from the UK? But people are here (in Africa) demanding our own clothes. Yet, we are not able to get together as an industry – the fashion sector - to make clothes we can export.
We will be sitting here and other West African nations will come and exploit it. But there is an opening. I am happy that the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment is organising and working with the textile industry and the fashion industry to export, because we can earn so much from that. Imagine dressing the whole of Africa and what we can earn from it.
So, those are the two ways. If we now earn foreign exchange and we conserve by using our products, we will be able to add more to our reserve which will underpin the value of our currency.
Would you say the current economic policies are sustainable?
No matter what government there is, there will be a set of policies, institutions that will support this country. And that is what I admire about Mr. President when he talks. You know he talks about how we can put in place something that will last; whether I am here or not here is not the issue. It is about laying in place the building blocks for the Nigerian economy.
What is the impact of the government policies on the economy on the “common man?”
As I said, meeting our salary bill is very important to us and our pensions. The second thing is making sure that the health benefits we have gathered in this economy, we don’t lose it. Children must be immunised. We can’t let down immunisation because we know what that means. Polio vaccination: we are almost close to eradicating polio. This administration has been working towards that. We have eradicated guinea worms and we must make sure that all those medicines and vaccinations are kept. HIV and AIDS, there are treatments and all that. And then, there are very important infrastructures we focus on doing that.
The president promised to build the second Niger Bridge. That work is ongoing. Reporters have gone out there and noticed that the pilling is ongoing. The Lagos-Ibadan road is very important. The rail – completing some of the rail and make sure that they are running. These are ways the average Nigerian can feel the impact of what these governments is doing. I think it means a lot. I encountered some young Nigerians we don’t know what it means to be in a train because the train had never worked in this country. And now they can ride on a train. Very soon now, this Abuja-Kaduna line will be open.
Lagos-Kano line has been operating. Even the line to Makurdi and so on. These are things that impacts and the roads system that have been upgraded constructed in this economy. Yes, there are so many more. But we are on the good path, we should applaud it. When your journey on Benin-Ore road has been made smooth and short, isn’t that impacts?
When you go to some of our rural areas, and you have access to water because boreholes were dug by the MDGs programs and they have solar lightings, that is impact.
And these are some of the things that we have started in this administration that are impacting lives. You see that through all the efforts and support of the private sectors, we have created 1.4million out of the 1.8 million jobs that we need each year. That is impacting. Yes, the 400,000 people who have not yet gotten jobs that year will feel it and you will feel it if they are your relatives, son or daughters still sitting at home. We are not saying that we have met the mark. But we have gone a long way and steadily we have made solid plans on that path. The President has said that he will do two million jobs per year because we are so close to the 1.8 million and we’ve got the specific sectors generating these jobs. Not just the special programs we are doing. Sectorial investments are very critical. And that is what we are focusing on. And I have not mentioned the housing sectors impacts on the average Nigerian.
When you start something, it takes time to grow. We started these housing thing now, and yesterday we have a meeting with the CEOs of the primary mortgage institutions to do a review.
What Role Has Government Played in Institutionalising the Access to Finance?
For small and medium sized businesses in this country which employ the most people (about 66% of the adult population) contributes 45% of our national income. We have opened up several avenues to support them not on ad hoc basis but apart from what the Central Bank has done, the President kicked off two days ago a new development bank. For the first time, when this bank start working by the end of this year SMEs will have access to finance and they can borrow for five years, seven and ten years. We have never had this before in Nigeria. They will have one and half years of grace meaning that when they borrow they won’t worry about paying back for a year and half and that will give them time to organise themselves.
This new development bank is a wholesale bank, its job is to mobilise financing and liquidity for the agriculture bank, bank of industry and for the commercial and micro finance banks to now lend to SMEs.
When you look at this and the situation we are in. And you look at Agriculture and SMEs; you will see that there is hope and that we have laid the platform for this economy to emerge from the present situation.
Are there negotiations on ground to support budget deficit?
We have entered negotiations with the international financial institutions, specifically the African Development Bank and the World Bank. They have resources for us already programmed. We ask them to turn these resources into budget support for us. We are negotiating for $2billion that will come in foreign exchange and remember that the terms for these loans from the World Bank and the African Development Bank are quite reasonable compared to what we can get outside. These are the money that are been set aside for us and we decided to draw on it and we have decided to bring in budget support to come in foreign exchange.
It will disburse in two tranches and we are advance in negotiating with them and these will bring in some needed foreign exchange that will now be available for our private sector people to have access to. It will alleviate the situation and this is something we have started working on. We have been working on it daily and night with them because we need to address the need of manufacturers and others in the population. That will help ameliorate the situation.
The tenure of the loan will be standard. We will probably have about five years grace before we have to repay for about 25 years.
Where Does Nigeria’s Debt Stand?
I can tell you as someone who was central in the negotiation of the forgiveness of our debt cancellation that we are not near the situation we were before in terms of external debt. Our external debt is about 2% of our GDP.
Remember that when we went to negotiate, we were almost at 70% of the GDP and most of it was external. We have hardly any domestic debt at that time. We have been very careful on our debt. We are prudent in terms of the way we borrow.
We have more of domestic debts. What we are trying to do is to reduce the domestic borrowing so that we don’t crowd out the private sector. We have got some foreign borrowings which is just 2% of our GDP. The domestic debt of both federal and states government is about 12% of the GDP. So together, it is about 14% of GDP. And the norm and threshold for a country like Nigeria size is about forty something of the GDP. We are well below that.
However, we also look at something called debt service to revenue; so we can’t just say our debt is low compared to our GDP which is what the world measures. We must look at our ability to repay and that is one of the reason we are very prudent because debt service to revenue, we don’t want it to increase too much. Two years ago, it was 19% of GDP, it has risen to 22% and we don’t want it to go too much beyond that. I think if we get to something like 25%, we will be very strict and we are presently strict. We have been able, in this administration, to repay outright some of the domestic debt we owed. We paid back about N75billion and that was a very good thing instead of just rolling it over.
Countries are coming here to request our assistance in debt management. The UK government named Nigeria debt management system as one of the best in the world. Even as we speak, South Sudan and other countries that are just starting up have come us for expertise in managing debt. We are not complacent at all. We looked very carefully at the risks of what we borrow.
Non Salary Payment has become an issue across states in Nigeria, should we be concerned?
All of us - states and federal government - have experienced a drop in revenue. What we have done is to talk to the states on how do we collectively as a nation get through the difficult times? And what we told them is of course they are fiscally, federally independent but we can share because we have one economy. We told them how we are doing our own things and what we are doing is prioritising payment of salaries to people because their families depend on it. Prioritise that to make sure we pay salaries and pensions. When you look at some of these numbers you will find out that yes revenue has dropped and it’s tough, but what most states receive from FAAC is sufficient to cover their personnel costs. So what we will say is that they should prioritise payment.
In most states, I have to be clear, what they receive is just a little bit short of their personnel costs. But many I have looked through the list now at what their salary bill is and what they receive and so they should be able to cover but the will not be able to do much after that because of the drop in revenue. So we would advise them to first pay salaries and then find a way to manage the other issues. But there are one or there are few that what they receive falls slightly below their personnel cost. And in those cases we wanted a conversation with them some of them that I have seen have internally generated revenue almost quite significant so they should be able to make up for the gap from there. I am looking at those whose IGR is low. I have not yet seen most of them that I have the numbers their personnel bill fall between what they get from FAAC so those ones should be able to cover.
And some of them are managing very well I want to say that some are not owing they’ve been paying their salaries steadily. So we have to commend them for that. I have looked at it and seen that it is largely a question of what is your priority. So what we’ve advised is that with some contractors, the state governments should negotiate with the contractors and explain the situation and schedule the payment. They are likely to be supportive because they are part of the economy.
How is the e-collect policy of government faring?
Many of the MDAs don’t like the idea of the e-collect and the treasury single account. But we are getting them because it is a conversation that we will be having on this issue and we are getting them to see that they need to comply. During this time, our objective is to get as much internal revenue generated with the e-platforms that will put the money in an account at the Central Bank. This will help us avoid leakages which is what all Nigerians want. With the treasury single account, we have a tool that helps us to see where the balances of governments at one time from all government agencies because we are drawing resources into the Central Bank. Instead of agencies with multiple accounts everywhere which are not being used and the other hand you go borrowing, we will have an overview and it will help us to manage our balances much better.
There is no too much of a choice, everybody has to comply. We don’t want to look as overbearing, so we are discussing with the agencies and the banks. We have already got all the capital accounts into the Central Bank and gradually we are getting the recurrent account. It also helps the Central Bank to manage liquidity.
What would you say about the down grade of Nigeria’s economy by S&P?
I will like to say that two other agencies, Fitch and Moody have maintained us at the same rate as at now. They have not tried to change it.
What S&P did is a special evaluation of all oil producing countries based on the fact that oil prices have fallen. They decided to do it and it is because of that not because of anything else. They look at oil producing countries and I can tell you that we were the last one to be downgraded. All the other oil producing countries from Russia, to Kazakhstan to Venezuela, to Angola, they review them and downgraded them.
It is a strong mark and credit to Nigeria because if you read what S&P actually said. They commended the management of the (Nigerian) economy. They said it was proactive and ambitious, that the policies responded in the right way to the drop in oil price. They are saying that the drop in oil price is not our fault but the issue is how do we manage it? And they said we have managed it well; that we have been pro-active and ambitious. I am quoting them directly. What the issue is why they downgraded us is not because of our management which they have commended, it is because they believe that oil prices will still be soft for a while and because we are having elections.
There is nothing wrong in being orderly in all areas of our lives.
There is need for great discipline and respect for time and order by all and sundry in this nation to enable us move forward positively. I fought for the same issue at Zenith Bank, Oke-Ilewo branch in Abeokuta last Friday when I notified the Note Counter/Bulk teller of the fact that some customers who just arrived later than those on the queue are forming new and haphazard parallel queues beside the proper one I was also on and was shocked to hear the Counter/Teller shouting those of us on the initial queue down that we should keep mute or else he wont attend to us!
Perhaps he lacks training on bank security not to have known that a rowdy banking hall/bulk room poses a security risk to the bank and its staff. w
denko: I am not sure any of you here view the debate how earth could you say APC perform better than PDP. to put the record correct you cant give what you don't have. Buhari has nothing absolutely nothing to offer Nigeria, are you saying we should go back to 1984 ERA of lining up to buy commodity, hell NO
Vikkie14: As much as i hate politics because as the saying goes "Politics is a dirty game", i believe it is dirty and i dont want to be drawn into it. But, due to some 'unguarded promises' am going to deliberate on the APC campaign talk. Am going to be fair as far as i can be but that wont make me alter facts.
The Campaigns by All Progressive Congress APC, have been built on these three facts which i will elaborate upon.
1[b]CORRUPTION[/b]. This is the "main" backbone of the Progressive's Aggressive campaigns. They had build their manifesto on this issue. Nigeria undoubtedly is corrupt in all facet of the country. When the Head is corrupt, the whole body becomes corrupt. But, let's not forget that corruption is a nationwide issue and the origin unknown. Against this backdrop, the APC had stated severally that PDP is corrupt due to its 15years rule in Nigeria. Facts shows that GEJ fought corruption more than OBJ according to stats released. The issue of "ghost workers" had been laid to rest through the employment of "tech" in the civil service. But the question is: WHERE ARE THE CORRUPT PDP MEMBERS NOW? most have decamped to other parties with a large chunk "recycling" in APC. PDP had been flushed of those that could sabotage them. Those that are crying foul over corruption are once PDP member/leader. Imagine the likes of Amaechi, Atiku, Kwankwaso, tambuwal, OBJ etc who are once a member of the so called "corrupt PDP" are now shouting Wolves, could it be that PDP is "cleansing" itself gradually?
2.ECONOMY APC have promised to 'diversify' economy if elected into office. But, according to Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, "the Economy have been diversify to the non-oil sector citing a 70% diversification". Importatiøn of Rice and other commodities have been greatly reduced under this "clueless" administration. Nigeria is NOW locally producing vehicles and buses, cements etc. Is that not progress? Presently, we are Africa largest economy, the 3rd fastest growing economy in the the world(after China an Quatar). What i bought for #200 when naira is 165 to a dollar is still same now. This show that "someone" is managing the economy well. Despite the "devalue ing" of the naira, inflation have been put in check. Just this month, FRANCE was quoted as saying: "IF YOU ARE NOT IN NIGERIA(for investment), YOU ARE NOT IN AFRICA". This was made possible because of the 'condusive' atmosphere of the FG.
3. SECURITY On this point, i will elaborate abit. Buhari have "boasted" severally that he would defeat BH if elected, but COULD THIS BE ACHIEVED JUST ONLY FROM ASO ROCK? When you know the solution to something, i believe such should be done ASAP. If i were to reframe the word it would look a decoy of deception. Imagine a doctor saying " i have the drug that can kill and CURE ebola. But, if you want me to give it to you, you MUST make me the head of the Medical Association". This kind of doctor is not after the wellbeing of its citizen but their own interest. More often than not, after POWER and POSITION. Now, BH are having difficulty confronting the Military because NEVER AGAIN will they carry out their existing evil work. APC was "SWIFT" to condemn the rescheduled election with reason best know to them. They have condemned our Army serally and even called them "GEJ's Army" but am surprised they are commending now after their recent success. The NN, NAF, NA are now rearming, modernising and standardising to world standar thanks to the re-awakened GIANT. [b] so, with these points, could it be that APC ship is fast SINKING'. #GodBlessNigeriaAndNoOtherPla
@Vikkie14, the mention of Okonjo Iweala, in your piece , actually shocked me because this is a woman who has been doing the bidding of the imperial west against the true/needed development of our dear and sinking nation....banks plan mass sack in the coming weeks regardless of the over 5,000 sacked in the last four years. The IPPIS, as an attempt to use computer technology to process payment of salaries of public servants in order to eliminate ghost workers has recorded more failures. Please confirm the foregoing, and for instance, check with the Federal Medical Centres, Doctors and personnel, some couldn't receive their salaries for several months, some were underpaid, staff salaries are deducted to pay the IPPIS consultants (who are draining public servants indirectly. I often laugh off the so called Economic teams, when they claim we are one of the biggest economies or are the fastest growing one, kindly pause to imagine a Nigeria, commercially without the entire Lagos or worse still, a Nigeria with its oil in the Niger Delta dried up, either ways we would be done for. While this Okonjo Iweala and her team keep fooling us with their unrealistic and theoretical pronouncements.
On the issue of STEALING versus, or = CORRUPTION, the main question to ask our dear President is in cases of stealing who and who and who and many whos have been prosecuted by him to a logical conclusion?
Very informative post though a pity the post is getting to me rather late because I read a lot from NL car talk and autos forums for over a month before I eventually picked up a 406 Peugeot at Cotonuo two weeks back only to discover women hair weave on coming out of my exhaust while cruising my new pug in 9aija, summoned my mechanic who laughed my anger off that my car's Indomine or Demarche i.e. Cat converters, have been stolen at Cotonuo. I was mad, called my Cotonuo agent and demanded for it but he claimed ignorance and promises to get it from the car dealer, up till now no feed back. I have planned to visit Ladipo next week to get replacement only God knows at how much though now am wiser and such will never be my portion again as will look out for it in my cars like I do my gsm. Guys everybody shine your eyes o, that I learned in a hard way.
inze: You entered an invalid VIN: VF38BLFYT81024510 Your VIN needs to be:
Exactly 17 characters. For a vehicle manufactured after 1980 (1981 or later model year.) Without the letters I, O, or Q.
Thank you greatly for your time and concern. Those are the exact VIN code (VF38BLFYT81024510) on my bill of Lading from Cotonou two days ago and did a check on http://uk.vin-info.com/ and my car was found (showing model, make, engine type, country of origin and fuel) but the report was brief and requesting that I pay with pay pal to see the comprehensive report with 4 dollars-the trouble is cant seem to resolve the challenge of paying with any other means than with Mastercard.
confused at the moment, car is still at Cotonou and should be in Nigeria next Tuesday so need to know the history report of the car now that I can. Please your advise will be golden. thanks so greatly.
@Gee2728. Thanks a bunch, sure will narrow my search on those two. Someone told me mobile.de is a lovely car buying site and would find out too. cheers
Greetings to all 'Landers. Will appreciate advice on the best brand of benz (i.e. E, C or S Class)and Year (between 1999-2004)within the range of [code]1 Million Naira and could be manual or automatic though wary of any Engine other than ones with 4 Cylinders. Awaiting expertise advice asap please.Y'all have fulfilling week ahead, also.
Truth is stranger than this Reuben Abati's attempt at fictionionalizing a perfect personality for our GEJ.
I and a good number of my generation just wish and only wish Mr. President would walk the talk especially in the area of ridding the presidency and public service of corruption to start with.
And down to me, I am gifted with the innate ability of detecting sincerity of purpose in anyone/leader/boss/superior born of a woman and dont need the likes of Reuben Abati trying so lousily loud to convince me with mere words instead of actions while he is benefitting from the corruption in this government ;and now so bouyant to sponsor the globe-trotting of the outer shores of this country by his family members while alot of the poor masses are further improvised daily due to government's failure to uphold their obligations to the citizenry.
Time will tell as posterity is the greatest judge.
my n97 says disk error-cannot complete write Retry or data will be lost. can open most applications as phone says they cant open cos memory is not enough. software version is : v22.0.110 dated 11/06/10 custom version: 22.0.110.C01.01 dated 11/06/10 lang set:17 model:97 type: RM-505 IMEI: 359374035500004 This model is the best i ever had, the map navigation is so on point/sweet but accessing/enjoying the phones packages av become impossible due to the above stated error and lately all my messages in inbox,outbox,sent and drafts get deleted from time to time. phone hangs alot that i hardly can pick calls without avin to callback. Removal/reinsertion of battery is the only way to restart phone. please hw can u help me. my e-mail is bucci53@yahoo.com i live in Abeokuta and there is no nokia care office here yet. God bless.
Up for rent in a choice location in Abeokuta is a virgin two-wing tasty duplex,wit 4 A/C fitted rooms ensuite, furnished and wit courtyard,lounges and stores. Plus standby generator powering the entire house. Attached behind is a 2 A/C fitted rooms ensuite BQ also wit kitchen,stores & courtyard. Location: Osoba Hilltop Estate,Off NNPC Mega Station, Moshood Abiola Close,Bolanle Oyebolu Drive. Abeokuta price is 2.5 Mill per annum and 1st 2 yrs payment is mandatory. Call Moshood on 08035879351 for further inquiries. No agency fees as interested bidders would deal directly wit my uncle,the owner.
P.S. Have pictures in phone but nid sum tym 2 locate my data cable and wuld post once i can. Hapi June 12 in advance
Honorable Registrar,thanks for your informative post but here is a diversionary question that bugs my mind: pls what is the timeline & requirements for admission for UI's Masters in LCS(Legal Criminology&Security Psychology) in d Session in question? Thanks and best wishes
Greetns. Jst curious 2 kno hw competitive is UI PG programs admission. Read their 09/10 academic session Prospecus bt need 2 kno d realities/hurdles on ground b4 1 secures admittance. Thanks in anticipatn of an informativ response.
I cry 4 our dear Nigeria cuz d hope dat her leaders wuld sit down 2 tink wit a high sense of patriotism & loyalty kips fading away evryday. R we cursed?[color=#990000][/color]
Helo loving 'landers. Nid info on doc fraud and forensics 2 enable me sharpen my intellect on identifying fake and authentic security docs such as bank cheques,certificates,C of Os,int'l passport and others.
Hi all? Just to add that i have been using PHB for almost two years now and personally satisfied more than i ever was when i had all my cash in Zenith bank. Has anyone been to the Zone 4, Abuja Branch of Zenith? Their Customer Care lacks empathy, try them,
Politics › Re: Nigerian Economy Remains Strong - Okonjo-Iweala (Video & Transcript) by moshd(m): 10:02pm On Mar 29, 2015
