₦airaland Forum

U1:
If I may help with that, the country is exporting almost nothing apart from fuel. Even the petroleum products are being stolen.

stop spreading propaganda. Nigeria exported more than what we imported last year.

Richyfj:
What happens to oyo and Osun state just because there are PDP state

They are landlock states like Edo and the south east

Benwallt:
Why cutting out the southeast?

The south east is landlock like Oyo and Edo state

EconomistXplain:
We dont need this joke of a highway...have people noy been going to calabar via this routes even as we speak via road...?

If he is serious, he should commit funds for a railway for same route...not this, unnecessary project...

Nonsense!!!

It's not going to be compulsory for you to use it.

onuman:
Tinubu's great rush for this highway aimed to siphon the oil riches of the Niger delta region to the SW is maddening. On stable soils, Nigeria was unable to build and maintain roads; talk less on the unstable marshy terrain of the coasts.

Lol

This is no big deal. When Tinubu wanted to start the Eko Atlantic project back then, a lot of people like you said such a thing won't be possible, but today, Eko Atlantic City has become reality.

Have you heard of the Bonny-Bodo road before? Go and watch videos and see what JB is constructing on marshy terrains

professorPABX:
Forcibly brought here by some people. I will reserve what I had wanted to say.

To me, this project and Senator Ningi's statement after Dave Umahi's announcement of the approval and intention to commence the project is interwoven. The statement released by Ningi was not dissected by some foolish people and politicians from the South. I am highly disappointed with Pat Utomi. Ningi listed his anger against the Presidency as being partial against the block he represented in the Senate and listed the projects in his bloc that the presidency left unattended. This is mainly because of this project. Ningi's insinuation of double budget has nothing to do with padding but on partiality against his bloc and his people. The scenario which they said happened under Jonathan. If it was true it happened under Jonathan South West never benefitted from such special budgetary allocation.

Thank God, Nigeria is collecting the Chinese loan to execute the rail project to Maradi and other projects even if they have no immediate benefit to the entire Nigeria and Rate of Return on the investment is estimated to be non-existent and payback period dependent on the resources from the South.

Immediately Dave Umahi announced this project, some of us had expected indirect assault few months later, but it came out few days later from Ningi.

You go explain till year 2500

SalamRushdie:
Same hi tech amd Tinubu that have not been able to resurface just 35kms Lekki Epe road in almost 20 year's? Dey play ...if Tinubu wants me to know he is serious he could have given Julius Berger

If the government provide enough money, the Lekki epe expressway will be completed before december.

So far there's funding, HITECH will complete the project in time.

nairalanda1:
Going to be an interesting project, though I see it taking a long long time....the terrain ain't easy.

With enough funding, it will be finish within timeframe.

Why did Buhari want to drop the #25 billion case? #25 billion is a lot of money.

If he's found guilty, if Nyako will die in prison, let him die there.

There's very little to show for his huge money that's spent on farming.

Putindbutt:
Atiku is a dullard. Argentina is having it worse, protests everywhere. Radical reforms is not a child's play, it would be met with massive resistance.

Argentines are already resisting his reform. Their currency is still performing badly and inflation rate is over 200% from the 143% he met it.

A lot of unions in Argentina are on strike and majority of the lawmakers rejected most of his reforms.

It's an insult to claim he's doing better than Tinubu

Minime10:
Peter Obi should leave LP for Apapa & his group and watched it die within days

It has been existing before obi got to the party. It will keep on existing if obi leave.

wwwihy:
I visited the project site for the coastal highway from Lagos - Calabar under PPP arrangement with Hitech construction. Straight from Ahmadu Bello to Calabar...Hitech is fully on ground with heavy duty equipment.

E patewo fun Tinubu

Omo this place don change o. This road is located inside or beside Eko Atlantic city right?

nairalanda1:
Going to be an interesting project, though I see it taking a long long time....the terrain ain't easy.

the terrain can't slow down the project, the only thing that can slow it down is funding

CodeTemplar:
what has Tinubu achieved. The gains the naira is getting is largely down to the artificially induced weakness speculators caused. If not you can't tell me taking it from 770 to around 1380 a dollar is the way forward.

Trash!

CodeTemplar:
Your brain is clearly incapable of seeing he is ahead of your paymasters you blindly support here. At least his own reforms got the nod of lenders and secured him $4.7B to play with. He hasn't resorted to witchcraft printing of currency or blaming past officials for moves he endorses himself like your oga.

$4.7b IMF bailout.

Nigeria is not begging the IMF for a bailout.

smileyoo:
lol . Kanu is never a terrorist, he is just a noise -maker, exposing the top secrets of the caliphate, but was doing so without any form of diplomacy.
kanu had been in unlawful custody for years now, had it been he is a terrorist , the government would have easily jailed him long time ago, but it's very difficult for the government to be able to jail him , because he is not actually a terrorist, reason they decided to silence him from noise -making through illegal detention.
Kanu will be released, but his leaking basket mouth, is not helping his situation.

IPOB is a terrorist group just like Boko Haram

Javier Milei should come and beg Tinubu so he will be shown the way

This is the same Argentina Alhaji Atiku and obidients want us to believe is doing better than Nigeria.

Milei is struggling to overcome hostile lawmakers to enact his radical austerity agenda even as social tensions rise.

Javier Milei, shortly after being sworn in, speaks into the microphones at a podium outside Congress. He raises a fist as he speaks, wearing a dark suit, glasses and a sash in the colours of the Argentine flag. Behind him, a red carpet is visible on a set of granite steps.
Days after his inauguration, Argentina's new President Javier Milei began implementing his radical plan, including slashing state subsidies for fuel and halving the number of ministries [File: Gustavo Garello/AP Photo]
By Alexander Kozul-Wright
Published On 19 Mar 2024
19 Mar 2024
Disillusioned by decades of financial crises, Argentinian voters surprised pollsters by electing Javier Milei as president last November. While the far-right libertarian, who promised painful shock therapy to fix the country’s ailing economy and has now been in office for 100 days, did achieve some early successes, he has struggled to implement the most far-reaching parts of his reforms.

Amid growing social tensions, the president is struggling to overcome hostile lawmakers to enact his radical austerity agenda.


“I want you to understand that Argentina is in a critical situation,” Milei said hours after being elected. “The changes our country needs are drastic. There is no room for gradualism.”

When Milei assumed office, inflation was hovering at 143 percent, poverty tallied at 40 percent and the government owed $110bn to external creditors. In part, his election was a rebuke of the ruling Peronist establishment, which had dominated politics in Argentina since 1983.

Days after his inauguration, the former TV pundit began implementing his radical plan – he devalued the peso by 50 percent, slashed state subsidies for fuel and reduced the number of ministries by half.

Though Milei has rowed back on campaign pledges to dollarise the economy and abolish the central bank, his initial moves have been welcomed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In January, the IMF signalled its support by disbursing $4.7bn in loans.

Argentina’s tilt to the hard right has also buoyed financial markets. Immediately after Milei’s election, Argentina’s international bonds maturing in 2041 rallied by seven percent. Rising bond prices typically reflect growing investor confidence in a country’s economic policies.

Critics, meanwhile, fear that President Milei’s broad-based austerity programme could trigger mass unemployment and tip the economy into an unpredictable and potentially turbulent future.

Emergency decree
On December 20, Milei issued an emergency decree aimed at amplifying his deregulation push from the previous week.

The mandate – which can only be used under “exceptional circumstances” – allows Milei to bypass Congress, where his party La Libertad Avanza holds just 38 of 257 seats (and seven of 72 seats in the Senate). As in the United States, legislation proceeds from the lower to the upper house.


The decree altered, or scrapped, 366 laws with the aim of privatising the country’s state-owned enterprises including an airline, media companies and the energy group YPF. The measures also pared back regulations on healthcare, housing and land ownership.

Elsewhere, the edict stripped away workers’ rights by, among other things, reducing maternity leave pay and severance compensation. It also allowed companies to dismiss workers participating in strike action.

An anti-government protester taunts police guarding Congress where lawmakers are debating a bill promoted by Argentine President Javier Milei, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, Feb. 1
Newly sworn-in President Javier Milei’s reforms have sparked protests [File: Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo]
The decree immediately sparked protests, and following an appeal from Argentina’s umbrella union, the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), a court suspended Milei’s worker reforms. On January 30, the court deemed Milei’s reforms “unconstitutional”.

“That was a loss for the government,” said Matias Vernengo, a former official at the Central Bank of Argentina. “Labour reform is a big issue for Milei.”

Then, on March 14, Argentina’s Senate voted to reject the emergency decree in a further blow to the president.

Many centrist lawmakers argued that Milei must present his deregulation reforms as bills in Congress. His plan’s survival now depends on negotiations with opposition representatives in Argentina’s lower house.

“I don’t think he’ll be able to convince Congress,” Vernengo said. “This will be problematic, as the public’s tolerance will depend on whether Milei can generate growth. That is the oxygen he needs to keep going. Having policies held up by lawmakers doesn’t look good.”

Reform bill
Days after he announced his emergency decree, Milei circulated a reform bill, known as the omnibus, to Congress on December 22. It proposed changes to four key areas of policy – tax, penal, electoral and the party system – which presidents cannot affect by decree.

In addition to spending cuts aimed at eliminating the deficit by the end of 2024, the bill sought to scrap proportional representation in Congress. It also proposed to cede legislative power to the president in areas such as energy and fiscal policy until 2025.

In opposition to what some viewed as power-grabbing measures, Argentinian workers, coordinated by the CGT, went on a general strike. Coming just 45 days after the president took office, it was the fastest strike action of its kind in Argentine history. Following days of tense debate, Congress approved a watered-down version of the omnibus bill on February 2, paving the way for a decisive vote in the Senate, where the legislation was set to undergo further changes.

Negotiations finally proved unsuccessful, however, after key measures were rejected by the ruling coalition. An embattled Milei went so far as to withdraw the bill on February 6, nullifying the vote from days earlier.

Rather than see his bill “shredded”, Milei told the Financial Times, he has chosen to wait until mid-term elections in late 2025, when he will try again with a new package. In the meantime, “there are other reforms which we can do by decree [without Congress]”, he said.

According to Graham Stock, an emerging markets sovereign debt strategist at BlueBay Asset Management, Milei looks set to rely on executive powers – as opposed to congressional consent – to try and implement his radical austerity plan.

“The executive has a lot of control over the expenditure side of the budget, including on discretionary transfers to the provinces, which have already been cut to force the governors to the negotiating table,” he said.

Argentine police battle protesters opposed to sweeping reform bill
Skyrocketing inflation, poverty and tension among workers and unions have provoked high numbers of strikes and protests in recent weeks [File: Juan Mabromata/AFP]
Milei blamed regional governors for not backing his omnibus bill. In turn, he hit them with austerity, cutting a subsidy that provincial leaders use to keep public transportation costs down.

Stock told Al Jazeera that Milei “is now trying a different route to congressional majority”, by engaging in a fiscal tug-of-war with Argentina’s governors, who wield considerable influence over state representatives.

Still, questions remain over Milei’s ability to form an awkward pact with the country’s governors, many of whom are loyal Peronists. For Stock, “there is a path to a successful stabilisation and recovery of the Argentine economy, but it’s a narrow one”.

Analysts were caught by surprise after the government eked out Argentina’s first budget surplus in 12 years at the start of 2024. That was achieved by reducing payments to provinces, freezing budgets and not matching social spending fully for inflation.

Waiting game
According to Eduardo Barcesat, a professor of law at the University of Buenos Aires, Milei’s choice to attack the governors could backfire. “By taking a confrontational stance with governors, he’s made his position even weaker in Congress, especially with centrist legislators.”

Over the coming months, “the president will hope to galvanise support around his policies”, Barcesat said. “If shock therapy takes off and delivers results, especially around inflation, he believes he can increase support,” he said. “So far, this hasn’t been remotely achieved.”

Inflation rocketed to 276 percent in February, principally due to recent peso depreciations. Elsewhere, the poverty rate hit 57.4 percent in January, its highest in 20 years. Rising tensions among workers and unions have provoked high numbers of strikes and protests in recent weeks.

For Matias Vernengo, the former central bank official, “Milei is taking a huge gamble with the Argentinian people. If he doesn’t deliver results soon, I think that protests will start to turn violent. Things could get ugly.”




https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2024/3/19/first-100-days-milei-falters-on-shock-therapy-for-argentinas-economy?traffic_source=rss

Isokiscool:
So he should have allowed Shuabu to have the ticket when it's the turn of Edo central??

if you say so

One week after the authorities of Nigeria Customs Service opened the Illela land border between Nigeria and Niger Republic, the government of Niger Republic on Friday opened its border in Konni for operations.

A source, Nuhu Samaila, who briefed our correspondent from Konni, in Niger Republic, said the border was declared open at exactly 12pm on Friday.

He commended the decision of the leadership of the country, the military junta, for giving a listening hearing to the yearnings of the people by ensuring the border is open.

“It is a commendable effort, at least by the government, to have done the needful at last.

“It was our collective prayer that this border too should be reopened after the Nigeria side was declared open.

“I want to believe that this will definitely help a lot in the improvement of the economy of these two countries, as it will facilitate more trading activities between Nigeria and Niger Republic,” he added.


The Federal Government had last week Wednesday restored the supply of electricity to the Republic of Niger following the directive of President Bola Tinubu that Nigeria’s land and air borders with the neighbouring country be opened.

On August 3, 2023, The PUNCH reported that the power supply from Nigeria to the Republic of Niger was stopped as part of the sanctions against the neighbouring country by the Economic Community of West African States.

Earlier in August last year, ECOWAS, led by Tinubu, imposed sanctions on Niger following a coup that toppled the country’s President-elect, Mohamed Bazoum, in July 2023. Officers of the Niger Presidential Guard had on July 26, 2023, arrested Bazoum and declared him deposed.

In their reactions, ECOWAS leaders demanded the full restoration of constitutional order in Niger and declared Bazoum’s arrest and detention illegal.

Also, in compliance with the directive of the President on the immediate reopening of the land border with Niger Republic, the Controller, Nigeria Customs Service, Kebbi State command, Iheanacho Ojike, reopened Kamba land border.

While re-opening the border, Ojike said Kamba is a strategic border with a major share in Kebbi State revenue generation.


https://punchng.com/just-in-niger-republic-opens-land-border-with-nigeria/?utm_source=telegram&utm_medium=social

Some of this state governors are not serious

Governor Soludo is welcome to IB city.

Buhari didn't probe Jonathan, so Tinubu won't probe Buhari. Emefiele will be the scapegoat

The governors don't want to associate themselves with a terrorist.

The airlines money is with the commercial banks. Let them go and sort themselves out with the commercial banks.

He will be dealt with like kanu his fellow terrorist

Validated:
Peter Obi is floating Nigeria Development Progressives Party (NDPP). You heard it first from me.

It doesn't matter, he will still lose.

He wont even win in the south east in the 2027 presidential election

Believeintruth:
The supply is unsustainable

Why do you think so?

iichidodo:
[color=#1986BC] He's correct, non state actors shouldn't protect natural resources else what happened in Congo, Katanga and Liberia will start happening in the Niger Delta..[/color]

It can't.

ecolime:
Dino has been very quiet for sometime now.

Politics no be anybody mate honestly.

He spent a lot of money in the governorship election.

Believeintruth:
Bros it is unsustainable. NAFEM closing rate was 1453.28 so leave politics and face reality.

Why do you keep on claiming it's unsustainable?

List out the reason why you feel is unsustainable