Why does Labour keep refering to 6 people (a father, mother and 4 kids) as basis for calculating minimum wage? Someone earning minimum wage is on Grade Level 1 i.e. the least grade. Even a school certificate holder will start on Grade Level 3 or 4. Why then will such person on Grade Level 1 want to feed 5 other people? It doesn't make sense.

In other places, those earning minimum wage are usually casual, part time workers or students on holiday or who want to just augment their income and are mainly still staying with their parents.

If you want to earn enough to feed yourself and other dependants, then upskill and seek jobs at higher paying levels.

Good PO has reacted. I however noticed he avoided condoling with the Federal Govt for whom the Military primarily works for. He condoled with Alex Otti instead and still managed to heap all the blame on the Central Government. PO cannot avoid FG for too long.

This looks like 2031 Presidential politics playing out. My guess is that Nuhu Ribadu has his sights firmly on the Presidency in 2031 and continues to eliminate any opposition to that. He cleverly sidelined El Rufai who is a strong contender and now trying to silence Emir Sanusi who is very vocal and a big ally of El Rufai and I believe may have ordered the soldiers to Kano. With SLS on the throne, it becomes more difficult for Ribadu. I believe Tinubu will step in and allow frayed nerves calm down for now. Interesting days, weeks and months ahead.

Our debt to GDP ratio is no doubt quite good. Debt repayment to Revenue ratio is however the better measure of fiscal discipline. This ratio has come down from 96% a couple of years ago to less than 80% today. Good progress but too slow. We need to get that ratio down to less than 30%.

How do we do that? A few options;
1. Widen tax net to increase tax to GDP ratio from about 7% now to about 20-30%

2. Increase revenue through other means like improved oil & gas income, improved productivity, increased export revenues etc

3. Renegotiate our loan tenor terms to spread farther into the future and reduce repayment burden

4. Seek for debt cancellation or forgiveness

Options 1 is the easiest to do if govt puts its mind to it. Option 2 lies with the fiscal authorities and they need to start showing workings here. Options 3 & 4 are more difficult though doable. In reality, a combination of options should be explored. It depends on the seriousness of our govt.

Konquest:

Angola too has massive oil and gas reserves onshore and especially offshore, so, the CEO of TotalEnergies has already made up his mind to move to Angola. So, there has to be clear intentionality in getting these multinationals to invest in Nigeria and explore for more crude oil and gas in the deep offshore.

Yes it is Angola's gain for now. Doesn't mean it is the end of the road for investments inward Nigeria. Just wait until the guy clarifies his comments in the coming days.

Konquest:

What little more are you referring to here?

The CEO specifically talked about insecurity being his major factor for deciding where TotalEnergies would invest in.

What he says in public and what he really means behind closed doors are 2 different things. By the way, TotalEnergies is only selling its stake in the SPDC JV. It is not yet divesting from its own JV with NNPC.

Gerrard59:


I was wondering what exactly could be the policy inconsistency considering PIB has been passed. However, the bold is a major issue regardless of deep offshore space. Even Elumelu complained. How much a foreigner.



The company plans to restart the project later this year. Just wondering how all of a sudden Mozambique started experiencing Islamic terrorism. The figures you have about Total's connection with Nigeria are interesting.

This same TotalEnergies CEO just last December when he met Tinubu, promised to commit $6bln in Nigerian investments. Shell a few days earlier had also promised $6bln investments. The question to ask is - what has changed?

https://www.africanews.com/amp/2023/12/19/totalenergies-ready-to-invest-6-billion-in-nigeria/

Patrick Pouyanne just wants to put pressure on PBAT and the Nigerian Govt. Granted that the PIB was in the works for several years but now that it has been passed, there is little excuse.

The fiscal terms they enjoy in the deep water space is one of the best in the world. If they can't invest in the onshore business for security and crude theft reasons, they have little excuse in the deep offshore space.

That said, TotalEnergies still has massive investments in Nigeria including NLNG where they and their fellow shareholders are making a kill.

I wonder why he was quiet on their investment in Mozambique where the massive LNG investment has run into troubled waters due to massive insecurity issues. Angola might be the short term beneficiary but they all know Nigeria offers long term benefits and Patrick only wants to strike a good deal with Tinubu. TotalEnergies realises 10% of its global revenue from this same Nigeria and about 13% of its global investments are in Nigeria. Just think of that for a moment. Not sure they are in a hurry to leave a country they have been doing business in since the 1950s or so. Patrick just wants to pressure us to get a little more from Nigeria.

Is this a joke from Fubara? Wike's giant infrastructure strides in Rivers State is unmistakable. You may not like his character but there is no denying the fact that Wike is Rivers State's modern builder. There is a reason he is called Mr Projects and acknowleged even by his political enemies in the last administration, same feat he is replicating in Abuja.

I am sorry but Fubara cannot yet lace the boots of his predecessor. He should concentrate and work hard and just maybe he can come any where close.

CheapHomes1:


tinubu, his vice, his ministers, legislators, governors, top brass in the military enjoy free feeding, free accommodation, free transportation, free medical care, free internet, free dstv, free phone calls all at home and abroad. pls which tough decision has tinubu made to stop these freebies? are these freebies sustainable?

what are the tough decisions you say tinubu has taken regarding subsidy and forex and how were they corrupt and unsustainable? what are the tough decisions you say tinubu has taken for the sake of the future?

Yes, they have enjoyed freebies previously but I can see efforts at curtailing them though there is a long way to go and we should keep reminding them. I am happy about the decisions to limit entourages on trips and the one that VIPs must pay tolls at airports. There is a lot to go and these can be done in parallel.

Rufai talks like someone with lack of long term view. The wasteful and unsustainable subsidies and corrupt official exchange rate regimes that past govts have been unable to take tough decisions about. Now we have someone with the balls to take that decision for future sake and someone is talking like a primary school student.

This is a good move irrespective of the expected cynism and distrust of govt's intention in using pension funds to achieve it.

A question to govt is what is happening to the N20trillion infrastructure fund floated some time ago? Wale Edun should strive to always present a simple end to end comprehensive fiscal plan so we see how each element relates to the other.

People's distrust is justified until govt can gain their trust. Lots of it is in how this is communicated and people carried along. The same cynism about the phantom claim that govt is dipping hands into domiciliary accounts to 'steal' depositors hard earned forex. Nothing can be further from the truth but patient education and communication will help massively. Onwards forever.

It is a honourable thing for Farooq to apologise for amplifying deliberately concocted narrative. This is not the first time though. What he should do in future is to be slow to put pen to paper until he gets the full picture of things.

As of today, the Tinubu administration has not implemented any tax increase except for the ill fated attempt at this Cybersecurity levy which he has rightly suspended and should scrap outright.

Subsidy removal and Naira floating are not tax increases but fiscal policy implementation. He didn't hide it during his campaigns and kept saying he will do these 2 things. He failed in cushioning the impact on the vulnerable and should do better.

Taiwo Oyedele and his committee should step up and update us on their work and what has been achieved and what is planned as per tax harmonisation.

Paul Ibe said the truth but it is only half the story.

What stopped Atiku from throwing his weight behind Peter Obi to clinch the ticket? PO was Atiku's Vice Presidential candidate in 2019 and from the SE that should rightfully get the ticket after decades of loyalty to PDP.

But because of personal ambition, Atiku didn't support PO or anybody from the SE but chose to run under the phantom excuse that Wike was running. Sorry the story doesn't wash with me.

As a resident of PortHarcourt for more than 20 yrs, I can say each Governor has done his bit but the imprints of Wike on the town and state is unmistakable. He is clearly the architect of modern day PortHarcourt and Rivers State in general.

So Farooq can also fall into this sort of propaganda. He should go watch that 2019 speech by Tinubu and rewrite this essay. Tinubu was responding to the plan by the Buhari govt via Prof Osinbajo to increase VAT rate. He advocated instead for a widening of the tax net rather than an increase in the VAT rate that will further reduce the purchasing power of the people.

Farooq can punch holes in Tinubu's current economic policies but not on the basis of a phantom interpretation of a speech that is in public domain.

Donald Duke and Ben Murray Bruce are proper Lagos boys. Their houses or business places are less than 5km from the site where they took this picture.

Kenochi:
There are two states in the Southwest that are what I call the Engine Room and when they get their acts together,the south west will become the number one and Industrialised base in Nigeria
The first is Ogun State and the Second is Oyo State.
I believe that Ogun State should be also be signing this type of Agreements with Gas stations to power Independent Power plants especially for areas like Agbara, the Lagos Ibadan Expressway that stretches from mowe to Ibadan and also the Olokola Free Trade Zone that is very strategic to the Dangote Refinery and also close to the Atlantic Ocean

There is nothing that this two states produce that will not be consumed by the Lagos Market
A big congratulations to HE Seyi Makinde,I pray more states will begin to understand that the Industrialisation of a state shouldn't be left to the Federal Government alone,when your people prosper it benefite the states more than the Federal Governments

Shell Nigeria Gas has most of its existing operations in Agbara Ogun State. They have been operating there for many many years and are also expanding, so Ogun State is a forerunner here. Good that Oyo State is catching up.

Aba in Abia State is another hub of Shell Nigeria Gas operations, distributing gas to industries in that corridor.

Lagos already leads the way with many gas distribution companies supplying gas. Dangote has dedicated pipelines that supply gas to its Fertilizer plant at Lekki and also feeds gas to the electricity generation plant that supplies power to the Fertilizer plant, refinery and other businesses in that Lekki zone.

What we need is for more States to key into industrialisation through the use of gas which Nigeria has in abundance.

Alex Otti was once in the APC. The Labour platform provided him the springboard to become Abia Governor that he had unsuccessfully bidded for under other platforms in the past.

With a most likely successful 8 yrs as Abia Governor, he will thereafter set his eyes on the Presidency. He will have people like Peter Obi, Soludo, Umahi and others to contend with. He will need a platform that enables him reach far and wide and APC is the most likely vehicle. He will surely be weighing his options.

Lagos is putting structural changes in place, from agric cooperation with Kebbi, Niger and other states, to massive rice processing factories, to sustainable rail, water and road infrastructure, to car assembly plants, to Lekki deep sea port and all the massive developmental infrastructure within the Lekki Free trade zone and others too numerous to mention. The masterstroke is that it has its own as President with the massive benefits that will attract to Lagos - a case in point is the first phase of the Lagos-Calabar coastal road that will open up the entire Lekki corridor.

Are there more things to be done? Yes of course. Are the current steps in the right direction? Yes of course. Will it take time for the full impact to be felt? Yes of course. In the mean time, the vulnerable needs to be supported through food palliatives such as this and other short term poverty alleviation methods. It is an integral part of a total package designed to uplift citizens economically.

The previous Nigerian GDP estimates were based on artificially fixed exchange rates. The rates were artificial, arbitrary and bore no resemblance with reality. It encouraged roundtripping, massive corruption and discouraged investment and growth.

Now that the forex regime is liberalised and in tune with reality, watch how growth and investments will be unleashed. I am not concerned with short term slips from the summit but excited by the potential. The bigger picture is that we are chasing a $1trillion economy in 8yrs or so. Let us come back to this discussion in two year's time

Cardoso was clear. $10k to about 1500 BDCs that has been done twice or thrice comes to about $50million or thereabouts. That is a very small amount in the context of what is alleged to be 'Naira defence'.

When the Naira was floated, lack of liquidity was the main reason why Naira depreciated. With a rash of CBN policies that returned confidence to the market, liquidity started to improve dramatically and on a willing buyer willing seller principle, the Naira started finding its true level which is what the 'price discovery' term means.

What i like most about the forex market today is the collapse of the huge arbitrage between the black market and CBN rates which in the past fueled a lot of the shenanigans that ruined the Naira. As Cardoso said, most of the reduction in reserves in present times was due to paying our obligations such as settling forward transactions, paying maturing foreign debt obligations etc. We must do that as it will be disastrous to default in paying our debts as countries like Ghana, Ethiopia and Egypt amongst others have done with grave consequences that attracted the dreaded IMF interventions.

In the coming weeks and months, i expect the foreign reserves to keep rising. Already as Cardoso said, $600mln has accrued into it in the past few days. Let us see where we are in the coming weeks and months. We are surely on the right path in my own opinion.

Naira is recovering big time. Obi should at least acknowlege that. Thousands don't die everyday in Nigeria. These little things matter in the narrative he pushes out daily. If he wants to play responsible opposition politics which is very necessary, base it on facts. A little piece of advice.

Farooq employs emotional arguments in this piece, more pandering to the crowd than addressong key issues.

Firstly, only 15% of power customers are impacted by the tariff hike. This is the segment of our population that can afford it. The remainder 85% to which majority of the masses belong are not impacted. In fact, it is a proper Robinhood scenario where we 'rob' the rich to pay the poor.

Secondly, since the privatisation of the power sector in 2014, no meanigful progress has been made in the sector - in fact there has been decline across board in generation, transmission and distribution. This is despite trillions in subsidies paid to generate darkness. Will it be reasonable to keep doing the same thing yet expecting a different result? That will be the proper definition of madness. I would have expected an intellectual like Farooq to paint both sides of the picture if not for anything, for some debate.

Thirdly, this goes to incentivise the sector by reducing subsidies by more than half in the first instance. There is still subsidy in place for the vast majority of the masses. Those in Band A are mostly rich residents and manufacturing concerns. If they enjoy at least 20hrs of electricity daily, it will bring down their power costs significantly as the alternative power currently used by this same people costs more than twice the new tariff.

What I expect is for citizens to hold the feet of these discos to the fire by demanding the level of service for each banding group and in so doing getting more productivity out of the largely incompetent discos.

The courage to take the sort of decisions that this govt has been taking is unprecedented and though coming with short term pains, has significant long term benefits.

AustineE1:

With all these fantastic qualifications,look at the kind of low grade appointment they gave him,he deserve far better than this...anyway,since he accepted and they are privileged to have him on board,congrats.

Consumer credit is arguably Tinubu's most impactful and transformational campaign promise. Getting access to credit by majority of Nigerians will be one of the most impactful reforms in decades. It will reduce corruption and its tendencies as you don't need upfront cash to buy that house, car etc. If Engr Uzoma Nwagba applies himself to this role, he will easily be the stand out official of this administration.

NLC and these CSOs should stop raising unnecessary alarm. If manufacturers and businesses get at least 20hrs electricity daily, it will cut down on their generator maintenance and diesel spend. Overall, their cost of power consumption will be lower so why will there be extra cost passed on to consumers?

They should rather be fighting that NERC does its job of properly regulating discos to ensure they provide steady light and if not, tariffs should drop to the appropriate band commensurate with the average hours per day that electricity was supplied for that billing cycle.

This only affects band A customers who can pay because it is still cheaper than running generators. Majority of the masses are not affected. What should be done is holding these discos to account so they can deliver more power to homes and businesses.

These people are noise makers. They backed Atiku and lost, not sure when last they delivered a single candidate in an election in Rivers State or nationally. The same Sim they now back was delivered 100% by Wike. I am glad that Sim did not listen to them when they were urging him to reject terms of the peace deal brokered by President Tinubu.

Wike is trusted by Tinubu because he delivers. You think the President is a fool to ditch someone like Wike for all these people that can't deliver their wards. As far as Wike is alive, these guys won't have one over him. Sim is advised to make peace with Wike, trust in President's Tinubu's political abilities and watch how he will so prosper with second term guaranteed. If he wants to trust in these toothless fellows, he should be my guest.

HE Gov Alex Otti was once in the APC where he sought a platform to become Abia State Governor. He eventually got it under the Labour Party platform. I urge LP to do all it can to make him their National Leader else I won't be surprised if he defects to the APC at some point.

I think the President should continue doing his bit to lift our country into prosperity. Many, for all sorts of reasons will not agree with him and will continue in their maligning ways. They will soon have little to hang on to when things turn around for the better and our lives become much more meaningful

These are not a lot to be honest. Bilateral loans owed to individual countries are less than 20% of our total external debt.

The bulk of our external debt is owed to multilateral institutions like the World Bank, IMF and locked in Eurobonds.

Our total external debt is less than $40bln. To put it in context, we were earning about $60bln per year from oil during GEJ's time while this fell to less than $30bln per year during PMB's regime. CBN also just cleared about $7bln worth of forward contracts in less than a year. Point is, our external debt is roughly about a year's oil revenue. If we apply ourselves as a nation and boost our oil and gas revenues and export more non-oil products, we will clear our external debt in less than 4 years.