₦airaland Forum

Legal luminary, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) has said that majority of Nigerians currently live in poverty, stressing that over 70 per cent of the citizens were living below the poverty level.

Olanipekun spoke in Ikere Ekiti, his country home.

The legal icon pointed out that there was tension, unrest, anxiety, pressure, confusion, hatred, anguish, pain, distress and transferred aggression among many people.

According to him, the situation in Nigeria is much more challenging, coupled with the burden of insecurity that it had faced for over a decade.

“The poverty level in Nigeria today is not just scary but also terrifying, as over 70 per cent of Nigerians are rudderless and poverty stricken,” he said.

Rising inflation and low economic growth in Nigeria will push a further 2.8 million people into poverty by 2023’s end, the World Bank has disclosed.

This is based on a report titled, ‘Macro Poverty Outlook: Country-by-country Analysis and Projections for the Developing World,’ released recently. The Washington-based bank said, “By the end of 2023, the rise in inflation and low economic growth will have contributed to an increase of 2.8 million people in poverty (y-o-y), a 0.4 percentage points bump to 37.5 per cent of the population.”

It noted that Nigeria’s high inflation reached a17 17-year high of 24.1 percent (y-o-y) in July 2023, partly reflecting surging food prices and the temporary impact of the removal of the fuel subsidy. It stated that a cumulative 725 basis points hike in the monetary policy rate since May 2022 has had little effect on reining in inflation due to clogged transmission channels, also weakened by direct credit allocation by the central bank, and the continued monetization of the fiscal deficit.

The global bank further declared that federal fiscal deficit has risen to 63 per cent higher between January and May 2023 than in the same period in 2022, due to increasing interest payments, higher capital spending ahead of the elections, and the continuous large cost of the fuel subsidy.



The impact of this is set to spike public debt to 45 per cent of GDP and keep debt service above total revenue in 2023. It said. “The fiscal financing need and the devaluation of the naira are expected to push the public debt to 45 per cent of GDP and keep the debt service above total revenues in 2023.

“The current account balance (CAB) recorded a surplus of 2.2 per cent of GDP in Q1 2023, driven by lower imports and income outflows. However, the small CAB surpluses and capital flows since 2022 have been insufficient to increase foreign reserves, as oil export FX flows to CBN contracted, likely as a result of the direct crude sale-direct fuel purchase arrangements.”

The Bretton Woods Institution further predicted that future economic growth in the country will depend on the continued implementation of macro-fiscal and inclusive structural reforms. It stated the current reforms of the government will boost economic growth to an average of 3.4 per cent in 2023-2025.


It also expects inflation to begin to moderate by 2024.

The World Bank added, “The share of Nigerians living below the international poverty line is expected to peak in 2024 at 38.8 per cent before beginning a gradual decline, as inflation cools down and economic growth picks up. Targeted measures, including cash transfers, could mitigate short-term adjustment costs to the poor and vulnerable and mitigate their risk of falling into intergenerational poverty traps.”

Earlier in June, the bank disclosed that inflation pushed an estimated four million people into poverty between January and May 2023. Inflation has since risen to 27.33 per cent as of October 2023.

The Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) have threatened to exit its umbrella body, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), if its President Williams Akporeha and General-Secretary, Afoloabi Olawale, did not resign.

Mr Gbenga Olawale, an Ex-Officio of the PTD from Ibadan depot, said in a statement on Sunday that their members would begin a nationwide protest to press home their demand.


The statement directed PTD members across the country to move with leaves in front of their trucks to serve as a warning to NUPENG and police against interference and incessant harrassment of their leaders.

According to Olawale, Williams is not a member of NUPENG and as such lacks the competence to lead the union.

He alleged that Williams was drafted into petrol station workers of NUPENG (PSW) to enable him to contest election as NUPENG president which was a departure from the NUPENG constitution.

“Williams is not a worker or a pump attendant on record as at the time he was verifying for the president position,” the statement said.

Olawale further alleged that Williams planted his surrogates to collect all revenue of the union which were not used for the development of the union and tanker drivers.

He called for a fresh election as members of the PTD have decided to stand with Lucky Osusan and Dayyabu Garga to be the new NUPENG President and General-Secretary, respectively.

Olawale added that they decided to support Osusan and Garga because they have sacrificed so much to ensure that their members were free from all kinds of extortion.

The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), has said that there might be an increase in telecom tariff in the country as the current tariff regime in the telecom sector is no longer sustainable.

This was made known by the Chairman of ALTON, Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, in Lagos State during a stakeholders’ meeting with the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), Dr. Aminu Maida.

Adebayo said that price review should be considered in line with the rising operating cost, adding that operators are burdened by 52 taxes across the country under President Bola Tinubu.

Daily Trust quoted Adebayo as saying, “Our current pricing regime is no longer sustainable. That is the fact, with the way things are going, I am not sure we can sustain this sector with the current pricing regime.”

The ALTON Chairman who urged the NCC Chairman, Maida to intervene in the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) debts owed them by Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), which according to him, had now hit N200 billion, noted that the total debts must be paid.

He stressed that the association would not hesitate blocking debtor banks from accessing the service.

In response, the NCC Chairman who assured Adebayo of the support of stakeholders in the sector said it was important to put a timeline on resolutions reached at the meeting.
The NCC boss who assured the stakeholders of his support and commitment to the growth of the sector, said his action would be guided by the Renewed Agenda of President Bola Tinubu and the policy guidelines enumerated by the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani.

Maida noted that the government sees the telecom sector as critical to the economy, and therefore urged the operators to improve the quality of their services as well as boost job creation in the country.

Also speaking, the President of Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr Anthony Emoekpere, said there is a need to bridge the telecom infrastructure in the country as part of measures to improve the quality of service.

silvoclaira:
Where is that imp TemplarLandryman, come and book space

VIDEO: Commuters Stranded As Lagos Drivers Begin Protest

Commuters are currently stranded at various bus stops and motor parks in Lagos State as a result of the protest held by commercial drivers in the state on Monday, November 13.

PUNCH Online gathered that the commercial… pic.twitter.com/wM1IFuFOdE

— Punch Newspapers (@MobilePunch) November 13, 2023

ogododo:
https://www.thecable.ng/naira-shrinks-to-n1135-at-parallel-market/

LagoS — Against the backdrop of indications that the Federal Government is putting in place measures to achieve exchange rate target of N500-N600/$1, while reorganising the banking sector, various private sector institutions and financial experts have expressed divergent views over the feasibility and the benefits of the goals.


They however, advised government on what it should do to achieve a stable macroeconomic environment that will address exchange rate instability.

Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters, Dr Tope Fasua, speaking at the “Cowries to Cash” lecture and launch in Abuja on Tuesday, dropped the hint on Federal Government’s plan to shore up the value of the naira.

Alluding to the rise in the value of the naira in the past few days, Fasua said the trend is expected to continue as a result of policies being implemented by the government.

He cautioned Nigerians hoarding foreign currencies with the hope that the local currency will continue to fall, warning that the policies of the government will shock them.

Fasua, who represented Vice President Kashim Shettima, at the event said: “For those who are speculating and praying and wishing that the currency would become nonsense, I believe that policies being rolled out by the Central Bank and the Federal Government that I serve, led by the President Bola Tinubu, will shock some of them.

“You know, he has some very great ideas coming up. Some of them are what you’ve seen reversing the fall in the value of the naira, but he has also challenged us to review forward many of the targets, for example, the idea that Nigeria’s economy will get to a trillion dollars. He wants to achieve it by 2026.

“Some people thought the naira will continue to lose value. Of course, we can already see what’s going on and the naira will strengthen even further to may be N500 or N600. I’m beginning to see some of those.”

NECA reacts
Reacting to this hint, the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association, NECA, and economy experts commended the idea but urged the working policy plans should be disclosed and made clear.


They added that government should focus on local production, address the nation’s propensity to import, make the fiscal and monetary policy authorities work in sync among other things, before dreaming of a lower exchange rate.

Commenting, NECA’s Director-General, Mr Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, urged government to deepen engagement with organized businesses with the view of building greater consensus and support for the on-going reforms.

Oyerinde stated: “We note the plan by the Government to shore up the value of the Naira to between N500 and N600 to a Dollar in 2024. This plan is quite commendable and ambitious.

“While we commend the plan, it is instructive to note that this will require deliberate and focused plan of action to address the shortfall in Dollar supply”.

How they intend to do it is still unclear —Amolegbe

Olatunde Amolegbe, immediate past President of Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, CIS, said though he has not seen any working paper on how the exchange rate goal will be achieved, he wondered how they would achieve it. He stated: “Though I have not seen where they stated this, how they intend to do it is still unclear to me. We certainly do not have enough information that points to how this will happen in the medium term”.


Govt should not be giving exchange rates targets —Nwizu
Also reacting, Nnamdi Nwizu, of Co-Founder, Comercio Partners Limited, said: “ It is good to see the fiscal and monetary policy authorities working in sync. We have not seen that in a while.

“However, we need them to shed more light on actions being taken and how they intend to use them to strengthen the economy and ensure we have more exports to help the currency.

“I am not sure that a reorganisation of the banking sector alone can bring about the stability we seek. We need to see a lot on the fiscal side for that to happen.

“I also do not think government should be giving exchange rates targets.”

It will lead to fall in inflation in the long run —Kurfi

Mallam Garba Kurfi, Managing Director/CEO, APT Securities & Funds, described the proposition as a welcome development, saying it will lead to a fall in inflation rate in the long run.

He stated: “It is a good development and we will wait to see the plan. If the apex bank decided to do that it is good since they are the most realisable sources of FX. In this context, they are referring to restructuring the banking system for a desired result”.

He further said: “It is a welcome development and if they can achieve that, our inflation will come down because it is cost-push inflation.

“With that, achieving $1 trillion Gross Domestic Product, GDP, as the President promised, will be possible. We will wait to see the monetary and fiscal policies that will make that achievable.”

W-Bank, others will help to boost FX earnings —Omordion

On his part, Ambrose Omordion, an analyst at Invesdata Consulting Limited, said the exchange rate goal is possible, arguing, however, that dollar inflow from the World Bank and other multilateral organisations will help boost the nation’s foreign exchange earnings.

His words: “It’s possible if government will do the needful. Why I said it’s possible is that because for more than one year, the price of crude oil in the international market has remained above $80 dollars. If we are producing at capacity to meet our OPEC quota, it will increase our forex earnings.

Recommendations
NECA and the financial experts, however, made recommendations on how the Federal Government can achieve the desired exchange rate target.

NECA in its recommendation said: “To achieve this, the government must urgently address the nation’s propensity to import, including the fixing and or privatization of the national refineries, ensure maximum crude production in line with OPEC quota and promote local production. “Without producing what we consume, the nation will continue to conspire to put pressure on the Naira, leading to its continued weak state.

“We urge government, in this line to continue to deepen engagement with organized businesses, with the view of building greater consensus and support for the on-going reforms.”

Also, Amolegbe said: “The continuing mop-up of system liquidity via the resumption in the issuance of treasury instruments at significantly higher rates could slow the flows of money going towards the FX market as well as encourage increased foreign investment inflows.

‘’This will need to be coupled with some other significant measures in order to achieve the stated target exchange rate.”

In his recommendation, Nwizu said: “Instead of focusing on reforms, the Ease of Export or Doing Business, should be considered.”

Recommending, Omordion said: “The World Bank has said it’s giving us an interest-free loan facility of $1.5 billion. African Development Bank has also made similar promises to Nigeria. Not only that, we need to encourage more exports from Nigeria.

“We also need to encourage Nigerians abroad to repatriate funds back to the country in hard currency.

“There is need to check the elites, including the political class, who buy and stock dollars. If politicians are not converting their naira to dollar and storing it in their accounts, we won’t be seeing the dollar scarcity.

‘’So, the EFCC should move in and monitor bank accounts of every Nigerian and know those that are stocking dollars in their domiciliary accounts.

“These are the things we should be doing to increase supply. It’s doable but the government needs to encourage production, rather than depending on importation. When we start producing, it will reduce the pressure on dollar demands.”

IkeOnyia:
https://punchng.com/ebonyi-airport-runway-repairs-to-gulp-n13-7bn/

LeoDeKing:
Yet, you keep hopping in and out of the mention of the same person suffering and smiling busy begging for his attention.

Isn't that the height of poppycock?

LeoDeKing:
Already jittery of my comment as usual?

Now scroll up, it is there.

You can now wail and cry over it.

LeoDeKing:

The presidency has disclosed that President Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s administration is working on policies that will strengthen the Naira.

A Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters, Dr Tope Fasua, disclosed this at the “Cowries to Cash” lecture and lunch in Abuja on Tuesday.

There has been a steady rise in the value of the Naira in the past few days and Fasua said the trend is expected to continue as a result of policies being implemented by the government.

While positing that the fall in the value of the currency of a country is a sign of conquest, he said “When you want to destroy a country, destroy its currency first.”

He cautioned Nigerians who are hoarding foreign currencies with the hope that the local currency would continue to fall, warning that the policies of the government would shock them.

Fasua who represented the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, at the event said: “For those who are speculating and praying and wishing that the currency would become nonsense, I believe that the policies are being rolled out by the central bank and the government that I serve, led by the President, will shock some of them.

“You need to listen to the agenda, the man himself (Tinubu) and you will see that the level at which he is thinking is far ahead of most of us.

“You know, he has some very great ideas coming up. Some of them are what you’ve seen reversing the fall in the value of the naira, but he has also challenged us to review forward many of the targets, for example, the idea that Nigeria’s economy will get to a trillion dollars. He wants to achieve it by 2026.

“Some people thought that the naira would continue to lose value. Of course, we can already see what’s going on and who knows, maybe the Naira will strengthen even further to maybe something 500 or 600. I’m beginning to see some of those.”

He said there was going to be some tectonic reorganization of the banking sector to make the naira more stable and stronger.

“If you want to position your exports properly, you have to be strategic, even in terms of the value of your currency. So you’re going to see all of these, including efforts from the fiscal side.

“We have patriots running the economy right now. And naysayers have to be very, very afraid,” Fasua said.

In his keynote address at the event, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Dr Olayemi Cardoso, who was represented by the Director of Banking Supervision, Mr. Mustapha Haruna, said the country was going through economic challenges occasioned by a number of macroeconomic issues linked to some of the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

The CBN Governor said the book (Cowries to Cashless) would eloquently capture the evolutionary journey in the history of the CBN particularly with regards to the phenomenal transformation of the Nigerian payment system in the last two or three decades.

This transformation, Cardoso noted, has been deepened by the implementation of the cashless policy.

“One of our strategic priorities in this effort is to foster financial inclusion and I’m very sure you will also relate to the progress we have made based on the current numbers.

“We have financial inclusion in the neighbourhood of about 64 per cent. Over 64 per cent of Nigerians have access to formal financial services. Our vision is to push the boundaries to over 95 per cent and we are well on course, in achieving that objective.”

Cardoso assured that the CBN would continue to collaborate with the key stakeholders, particularly the fiscal authorities to ensure that it addressed a number of the essential issues and challenges currently facing the country

Speaking on the essence of the book, the author and the Executive Director of Asher Global Treasures, Princess Iphie, emphasised the need to preserve the evolution of money and its history in Nigeria.

Iphie said: “If you don’t know what yesterday was and you don’t know what is today, definitely you will not know what tomorrow will be. So we started from Cowries to Manillas and then other ones before we started with the exchange of goods and then this is where we are right now — the technological age and loads of innovation.”

Racoon:
And when one hear all the noise the fraudulent govt and it mummified zombies always make about making Nigeria eldorado, you may be tempted to think the nation is already a paradise.

LeoDeKing:
Already jittery of what I will say?

Relax, this has nothing to do with ipob.

LeoDeKing:

Tragedy was averted when an aircraft which had Adebayo Adelabu, Minister of Power, on board crash-landed near Ibadan Airport in Oyo State.

Information had earlier filtered in that the aircraft crashed, but it was later discovered that it crash-landed.

Details of the incident were still sketchy as of press time but Daily Trust gathered that it happened on Friday night.

Daily Trust cannot state if the minister or those on board sustained any injury in the incident, which happened after the Nigerian Metrological Agency (NiMET) issued travel warning based on hazy weather.

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) had also advised Pilots and Airline Operators to exercise caution over hazardous weather as the dry season approaches.

The chartered aircraft Flint Short Aero, an HS 125 with the registration number: 5N-AMM, had an initial contact with the control tower at 18:56 seeking for extension, which was granted by the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), according to a source.

The aircraft departed Abuja with Ibadan as its destination.

The source told our correspondent that the aircraft landed short of the threshold with about 50 metres and skidded into a bushy ditch close to the runway.

Though, the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has been informed of the serious incident, the authority is yet to issue a statement.

When contacted, a spokesperson with NSIB, Mr. Tunji Oketunmbi, told Daily Trust that the Bureau’s investigators were on ground in Ibadan to ascertain the immediate and remote causes of the incident.