Olukayode Ariwoola, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), will on Monday swear in 11 justices for the supreme court.

Festus Akande, supreme court spokesperson, said the event will hold by 10 am at the main courtroom of the apex court.

In December 2023, President Bola Tinubu asked the senate to confirm 11 judges of the court of appeal as justices of the supreme court.

The president’s request came after the National Judicial Council (NJC) recommended the justices for elevation.

The supreme court is currently left with 10 justices after the death of Centus Nweze, and the retirements of Amina Augie and Dattijo Muhammad.

On December 21, 2023, the senate confirmed the judges recommended for elevation.

The confirmed justices are Jummai Hannatu Sankey, Chidiebere Nwaoma Uwa, Chioma Egondu Nwosu-Iheme, Haruna Simon Tsammani, Moore Aseimo A. Adumein, Obande Festus Ogbuinya, and Stephen Jonah Adah.

Others are Habeeb Adewale O. Abiru, Jamilu Yammama Tukur, Abubakar Sadiq Umar, and Mohammed Baba Idris.

The swearing-in of the new apex court justices would translate to the supreme court having the full complement of 21 justices as stipulated by the constitution.

[TheCable]

Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Dr. Olayemi Cardoso, yesterday, begged Nigerians to be patient, as the management of the apex bank is doing everything possible to ensure that the Naira is strengthened.

Cardoso said this at the 2024 public lecture entitled: ‘Recent Developments in a Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market: Issues, Options and Way Forward’, organised by the Nigerian Economic Society, NES, at the CBN Centre of Excellence Hall, University of Ibadan.

The CBN governor, who was represented at the event by Dr. Usman Opanachi of the Department of Monetary Policy, CBN said: “Anytime the Naira is on trial, the CBN is also on trial. We are working day and night to address the challenges and we hope things will work out.

“The exchange rate features nearly in every sector. The exchange rate and inflation are very high now. The exchange rate is a problem.

“Excess demand for forex in Nigeria is a legendary problem. It has just been there and over the years, the bank has implemented various strategies to address this problem. Those strategies have only been able to provide some temporary relief.

“The Central Bank of Nigeria does not supply or produce dollars. It is the naira that it produces. The CBN management thinks when you hold the price of a commodity that is determined by forex down artificially, a time comes when you will not be able to do that.

“The thinking of the new management of CBN is that the policies you have are intended to address the problem. The approach the management has adopted is the market forces approach. The bank now allows the market forces to play a greater role in the determination of the price of naira.”

Delivering the lecture, a renowned economist, Prof Sam Olofin, said it will be difficult for the CBN to control the foreign exchange saying the parallel market forces have taken dominance.

On the evolution of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market, Olofin said: “We are only applying the same old drugs on a patient without any good results. The parallel markets are outside the purview of the CBN.”
In his welcome address, President of the Nigerian Economic Society, Prof Adeola Adenikinju urged the Federal Government to consult economists on the weak economy.

A suspected bandit was killed in Borgu local government area of Niger state while trying to collect a N3 million ransom, according to the Niger State Police command.

Naija News reports that the Niger state police spokesperson, Wasiu Abiodun, in a statement released on Thursday, detailed that the event happened after some bandits threatened to kidnap a businessman in the Bako-Mission area.

According to Abiodun, the businessman was ordered by the bandits to deposit N3 million at a certain spot in Tunga-Umoru village.

He claimed that in response, police officers and vigilantes under the direction of the DPO of the New-Bussa Division mobilized to the scene. They successfully rescued a 22-year-old female victim who had been kidnapped earlier after engaging the robbers in a gunfight.

One of the robbers was neutralized during the firefight, and an empty magazine from his AK-47 weapon was recovered.

The statement read, “On 21/02/2024 at about 1030hrs, information was received that four suspected kidnappers threatened a businessman of Bako-Mission village, Pissa District of Borgu LGA to drop a sum of three million naira within three days at a particular location around Tunga-Umoru village, via Pissa District or be kidnapped.

“Immediately after this information was received, the police tactical team, including vigilante members led by the DPO New-Bussa Div swung into action, mobilised to the purported location, adopted an appropriate operational strategy and engaged the kidnappers in a gun battle, while one female victim of about 22 years earlier kidnapped was rescued unhurt.

“Fortunately, the team combed the bush and one of the bandits was neutralised during the gun battle and his AK-47 rifle with an empty magazine were recovered”

He further detailed that efforts were ongoing to apprehend other bandits who escaped with gunshot wounds.

Demands Monthly Key Performance Indicators

It was time for frank talks between President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and leadership of the Federal Civil Service yesterday.

The President said the service was slowing down implementation of his administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

He decried non-implementation of the administration’s well-intended programmes.

The President described as shocking that timelines for approved policies have deliberately been kept in abeyance by civil servants.

A visibly angry Tinubu berated top civil servants during a meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

At the parley were Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HoCSF), Accountant-General of the Federation, Auditor-General of the Federation and federal permanent secretaries.

He ordered leadership of the service to double up their efforts.

The President said the proper thing for civil servants to do whenever they have reservations about any policy, programme or initiative is to offer suggestions.

Armed with facts and figures, Tinubu queried why the civil service was “abysmally slow in carrying out his people-oriented programmes.”

He listed some of the programmes being dragged down by the civil service as: the N25,000 wage award to workers and the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Initiative (Pi-CNG).

He faulted the civil service attitude to the reform package designed to create jobs and boost the economy.

Some of the reform programmes include provision of a single-digit loan of N1billion to 75 enterprises; N50,000 grant each for 1,300 Nano businesses; N75 billion for 100,000 businesses and startups; and the investment of N100 billion in gas-powered buses for mass transit.

The President said the reforms have not been implemented by the civil service.

A source told The Nation last night: “President Tinubu was angry with those at the top in the civil service and he did not hide his feelings.

“At a point during the meeting, the President expressed shock that the civil service failed to implement the N25, 000 Wage Award for workers since October until he placed a call from the AU Meeting in Ethiopia.

“The President told the top civil servants: ‘I am unhappy with the pace of work. The civil service is slowing down my Renewed Hope Agenda.’

“He said the civil service has not been responding ‘positively’ to the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians.

“He complained that some of the approvals and programmes have not been implemented.

“He expressed concerns that the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Initiative (Pi-CNG) is being slowed down by the dilly-dally excuses by civil servants on the Procurement Act.”

Another source said it was the first time the President would open up on the poor attitude of the civil service to his administration.

The source quoted President Tinubu as saying: “We swore to an oath and we made a pledge to the country and that God should help us. Governance should make impact on the lives of our people.

“If everybody does what is expected of him or her, our nation will be better.” He was really emotional.”

The source added: “The President told the civil servants to double up. He also called for more of such meetings in the future to iron out issues.”

The President added: “If there are government policies that civil servants do not agree with, they should come up with suggestions.”

A statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, said the President tasked the top civil servants to rededicate themselves to their duties and work towards improving the lives of Nigerians by acting with dispatch on matters that border on citizens’ welfare.

The statement said President Tinubu warned that the ineffectiveness and unnecessary bureaucracy that delay interventions in the economy and with programmes targeting vulnerable citizens would not be tolerated.

He directed that a monthly briefing by the Head of Service and submission of key performance indicator (KPI) reports should be made to his office for review, and that quarterly interactive meetings between the President and the Body of Permanent Secretaries will now be scheduled.

The statement reads: “The Head of Service and the Body of Permanent Secretaries have been mandated by the President to consistently measure progress in actualising the Renewed Hope Agenda of his administration.”

The President was quoted as saying: “Before the next meeting, I want to see progress in the civil service.

“I have been sending people to check the level of work that gets done. Service to the nation is extremely important. We are to change the narrative on Nigeria.

“You and I can change the perception about Africa, not just Nigeria. We might not get it 100 percent right, but if we are focused, I think we can totally change and reshape the trajectory of our country in the right direction.”

President Tinubu asked public servants to always think and work with a generational understanding of their role in shaping national history, knowing that they serve as the engine room of the government and that their actions will affect more than 200 million people home and abroad.

The President added: “Let us make our children’s dreams come true. Why are we slowing that down? It is not just shameful. It is unacceptable.

“We pledged to bring our people out of poverty. You should not increase their vulnerability. Help Nigerians to get out of these problems; do not compound the tough situation with unacceptable delays.”

Briefing State House reporters after the meeting, HoCSF, Dr Folashade Yemi-Esan, said the permanent secretaries assured the President of their commitment to the success of the Renewed Hope Agenda and realisation of his administration’s goal.

The Permanent Secretaries have also reassured him that they are his foot soldiers.

She said: “The meeting went very well; it gave us an opportunity to have a chat with Mr. President. The permanent secretaries had been wanting to have an opportunity to have some time with the President and this gave a very good opportunity.

“Mr. President also used the opportunity to charge the permanent secretaries to redouble their efforts to ensure that the Renewed Hope Agenda becomes a reality. So, it was a successful meeting.

“Mr. President has given us a double-match order to ensure that all the projects and programmes that are domiciled in the ministries become a reality to Nigerian citizens.

“The permanent secretaries have also given him the reassurance that that’s why they are there, that they are his foot soldiers in the ministries and that they will work tirelessly.”

Intellectual property rights law is quite interesting and most times controversial: An intending husband and wife hire a photographer and pay the photographer handsomely to come and cover their wedding. By common sense, the husband and wife are right to assume that since they have paid the photographer, every picture of theirs snapped by the photographer ought to legally belong to them. But no, that’s not what the law says; the law says that though you have paid the photographer, though it is your image that was snapped by the photographer, those pictures legally belong to the photographer and not the couple. The same goes when a family invites a photographer to come to their house and snap them family photos for their family portrait, same goes when a parent(s) invites a photographer to come and capture the images of their infant. That your family portrait, that your child’s image captured by the photographer belongs to the photographer and not you or your child. In fact, by law, before you do anything with those wedding pictures or family portraits, you need to seek the consent of the photographer or else he has the right to commence an action against you for copyright infringement. 

Cases like these have gone to court and the courts have all agreed that the photographer owns the copyright of every picture taken by him with his camera even though he has been paid for the photos. The landmark case that must always be mentioned whenever image copyright in Nigeria is being discussed is the case of BANIRE V. NTA STAR TV (CA/A/345/2017).

In the above case, Ms Banire, a photographer/videographer brought legal action against NTA Star TV because NTA Star TV used her images for outdoor advertisements on billboards mounted all around Abeokuta and Akure without her consent and authorization. This, she claimed, amounted to infringement of her copyright on those images. NTA TV stars, on the other hand, raised the defence that they acquired and paid for those pictures, although through a third party, hence, they did not infringe on Ms Banire’s copyright to the images. 

On appeal, the appellate court held that the law has afore provided in Sections 10 and 51 of the Copyright Act, that it is that it is the photographer and not the person in the image that owns the copyright to the picture. His Lordship, Justice Muhammed Baba Idris (JCA), reiterated “What is evident from the above provision is that the person who is a muse or the person in the photograph is not in fact the author and therefore he/she does not own copyright in the photograph. Rather it is the person who took the photograph that is the author.”

The only time when a person who has been snapped or who pays for the photos can own the copyright in those images is when there has been a transfer of copyright ownership in writing from the photographer to the person or when the photographer signs a release form, releasing the intellectual properties in those images to the person. 

 Stan Alieke is an Abuja based legal practitioner.

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…Governor sets up open markets for cheap food items, slashes T-fares by 25% on public transport means

…Launches palliative in health, education 

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has announced sweeping interventions which the State will be implementing in order to reduce the effects of the current economic hardship on its citizens.

The Governor, during a live media chat on Thursday, conveyed his empathy to the State’s residents groaning under the rising cost of living, resulting in inflation of food and commodities prices.

Sanwo-Olu rolled out layers of measures targeted at vulnerable populations within the State to mitigate the impact of the hardship and bring about immediate ease, just as the Federal Government led the recovery efforts.

The Governor bared it all at the live programme anchored by veteran media practitioners led by Dr. Reuben Abati of Arise TV and Babajide Kolade-Otitoju of Television Continental (TVC). Others are General Manager of Lagos Television, Mrs Adesola Kosoko, and Channels TV’s Jeffery Uzomma. 

As part of the measures to cushion the harsh economic situation, Sanwo-Olu announced new work schedule for the workforce in the State’s civil service. From next week, State workers on Grade Level 1 to 14 will be permitted to work three times weekly until further notice.

Also, civil servants on Grade Level 15 to 17 will work four days in a week. 

Sanwo-Olu said the measure was not intended to disrupt governance. The move, he said, was to reduce the pressure daily borne by workers in carrying out their duties in the period of economic hardship. The Governor said the measure would save the staff of additional stress.

Besides, Sanwo-Olu announced a 25 per cent fare slash across the State-owned public transport channels, including BRT, train and ferry services.

The Governor said he had instructed all government departments and agencies to design modalities for immediate implementation of the measures.

He said: “I convey our deepest empathy to our citizens over the current hardship occasioned by inflation commodities prices. We are not unaware and unmindful of the current situation, but as leaders, we have the responsibility to bring immediate ease to our people. Given the nature of challenges that we are facing presently, we have designed creative means to ease the hardship on our people, starting with public servants.

“Effective from next week, the working hours of workers from Level 1 to Level 14 in the State’s civil service will be rescheduled. They will now come to office for maximum period of three times in a week. This measure will not shut down governance, neither will it disrupt operations of Government. It will all be calendarised and scheduled. Workers in Level 15 to Level 17 will be required to work four times in a week. All we seek to achieve is reducing the pressure on our workers and save them of additional stress. 

“Rising cost of transportation has also made it pertinent for us to initiate an intervention in the sector. For the public using the Government-owned transport services, we are implementing 25 per cent fare reduction on all our public transportation channels. We are also working with various commercial transporters to assist in little way we can to ease the situation. Instructions have been given to government functionaries for the implementation of these measures; modalities will be provided.”

To address the rising food prices, Sanwo-Olu announced three layers of agricultural interventions. He said the State Government would be distributing combo packages of food items to vulnerable Lagosians, targeting 300,000 households.

The Governor said the State had concluded the procurement of over 100 trailers of rice and other food items, but currently fine-tunning the logistics for seamless distribution to the beneficiaries. 

Sanwo-Olu said Lagos would be opening “Sunday Market” in 42 communities across the State, where staple food would be available for residents to buy at reduced prices. Shoppers would only be able to buy items not more than N25,000, with each shopper getting 25 per cent rebate immediately after purchase.

The Sunday Market, the Governor said, will open for the next five weeks. 

“The third level of our intervention in agriculture sector is what we call “Soup Bowl”, which we similarly rolled out during COVID-19 lockdown. We have identified local cafeteria operators and caterers within communities. Funds will be sent to them to prepare the soup bowls. Vouchers will be given to anybody to walk in and eat free of charge. We want to be able to feed between 1,000 and 1,500 people in every Local Government Area daily for the next 30 to 60 days at the first instance,” he said.

In education, Sanwo-Olu introduced additional transport support for classroom teachers to enable them keep their work schedule, while pupils across public schools would continue their five-day school attendance.

For the time being, the Governor suspended the directive compelling parents to show evidence of tax payment in order to enroll their wards in school. This is to discourage pupil absenteeism and dropping out of school.

In health, Sanwo-Olu also reintroduced free child delivery programme for expectant mothers in all the State-owned General Hospitals and special maternity centres. The State Government, he said, would take up the cost of the child delivery, including Caesarean section.

He said: “We believe this measure would help reduce pressure on families. We are also working with the State-owned hospitals to reduce the cost of some certain drugs, such as hypertension medication.

“All the six health districts in Lagos will roll out bi-weekly community health mission over the next three months, where residents would enjoy free check-up for diabetes, blood pressure and eye testing. There will be free medications to be given to patients to manage observed conditions.”

Sanwo-Olu also touched other areas of his Government’s activities during the media chat, including the collaborative plan with the Local Government authorities to reconstruct 180 inner roads across the State.

He reiterated Lagos’ readiness of 10,000 men for state police in the case of the Federal Government giving full constitutional approval for creation of State Police outfit.

The Governor said hard times called for hard decisions by the Government, urging those calling for civil unrest and industrial action to desist from the plan. He noted that paralysing the economy would not bring about solutions.

He pleaded for patience and understanding, noting that the nation would be out of the woods in the fullness of the reforms initiated by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Addressing Lagosians, Sanwo-Olu said: “As incident commander, I am giving you the commitment that the bipartisan advisory committee that we have put together, will welcome ideas and advice from everyone that can lead to more solution out of the challenges that we have found ourselves. 

“In terms of policies, we will continue to do everything within our means that the greatest good gets to the greatest number. Lagosians are resourceful and hardworking, they are commercially driven self-starters. Those are the values I want all of us to build our hope around.”

SIGNED

GBOYEGA AKOSILE

CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY

22 FEBRUARY 2024

Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has blamed the International Monetary Fund, IMF, and World Bank for the power sector crisis in Nigeria.

This came as workers in the nation’s power sector called for a total review of the power sector privatization, saying the exercise was a huge failure that did not meet the expectations of Nigerians.

President of NLC, Joe Ajaero, in a goodwill message, yesterday in Enugu during the 7th Quadrennial/12 Delegates Conference of the National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, lamented that Nigeria was still very low in capacity in terms of megawatts, contending that no nation could develop without electricity.

Ajaero also fumed that despite billions of Naira pumped into the power sector over the years, Nigeria was still grappling with 4,000 megawatts of electricity, blaming the IMF and World Bank for the power sector crisis in Nigeria, saying they “want Nigeria to remove subsidy on electricity as they ill-advised Nigeria to remove fuel subsidy as well as devalue the naira. Up till tomorrow, the IMF and the World Bank will continue to dictate to us. They are telling Nigeria to completely remove subsidies on electricity. What’s their interest? Why can’t they tell America to remove subsidy on wheat.”

In his welcome address President of NUEE, Martin Uzoegwu, urged the Federal Government to encourage and harness the abundant renewable energy resources in the country and do away with fossil fuels to improve power generation in Nigeria.

Uzoegwu, in valedictory speech, posited that if renewable energy source replaces fossil fuels, it would reduce climate change in Nigeria.

He noted that the world is already moving towards an energy transition.

“Government should encourage and harness the abundant renewable energy source as against the use of fossil fuel to improve power generation and reduce the effect of climate change in Nigeria as the world is moving towards just energy transition,” he said.

The outgoing NUEE President, while urging the government to shift from fossil fuel to renewable energy sources, also called on the government to consider a total review of the privatisation of the power sector, saying that the exercise was a huge failure that did not meet the expectation of Nigerians in terms of energy demands and tariff.

He lamented that the government that should have regulated the energy sector looked the other way while investors throttled Nigerians.

“I strongly call for a total review of the privatization of the power sector as the entire exercise was a gross failure and did not meet the expectation of the Nigerian people regarding energy demands, affordable tariff, power availability, ease of procurement of prepayment meters.

“Unfortunately, the government which is the regulator looks the other way while the so-called investors smile to the banks to the detriment of Nigerian people who are compelled to pay for darkness,” he laments.

Uzoegwu used the opportunity to condemn the dastardly manner the President of NLC, Comrade Joe Ajaero was manhandled in Imo State during the 2023 general elections, pointing out that the perpetrators of the dastardly act should be brought to book to assuage the organised labour.

Earlier, the Managing Director, MD/CEO, Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, Engr. Sule Abdulaziz, urged NUEE to use the forum to harness insights and craft solutions, adding that the power sector holds a pivotal position in driving economic development.

Abdulaziz represented by GM, Enugu region of TNC, Engr. Emmanuel Akpa reiterated the company’s commitment to provide unwavering support and an enabling environment for workers.

According to him, “Undoubtedly, the power sector holds a pivotal position in driving economic development, making forums like this essential for harnessing insights and crafting solutions.

“Therefore, as you convene to deliberate on the challenges and opportunities within the industry and the way forward, it is imperative to recognize the indispensable role of electricity employees in translating ideas into tangible outcomes.

“As leaders, it is incumbent upon us to provide unwavering support and create an enabling environment for our workforce. The fruitful relationship between TCN management and NUEE is a testament to our shared commitment to staff welfare and organizational success. Together, we will continue to prioritize employee well-being and foster a conducive working environment.”

I have noted with deep concern and sadness, the past and recent developments unfolding in the West African sub-region, particularly the pronouncement by Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger of their intention to exit from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

As one of the founders of our regional economic community, it is incumbent upon me to speak on behalf of the 14 Heads of State and Government who joined me in Lagos, on 27th May, 1975, to establish ECOWAS. Since its inception, the regional bloc has made a number of major accomplishments, including trade liberalisation, right of West Africans to live legitimately in any country within the Community, as well as successful peacekeeping operations in Liberia and Sierra Leone. ECOWAS, despite its shortcomings, has become an example of regional integration for the wider continent.

Having achieved all of the above, it saddens me to learn that ECOWAS is threatened with disunity following the announcement by Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, 3 important Member States of their intention to leave the Community. The impact of such a decision will have far-reaching implications for the ordinary citizens who have been the major beneficiaries of regional integration.

Therefore, on behalf of all the founding fathers of the Community and myself, I urge ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, including the leaders of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, to put aside their differences and reunite for the peace, stability and prosperity of our sub-region. I call on all West Africar. leaders to immediately consider the implementation of the following:

1.              Lifting of all sanctions that have been imposed on Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Niger;

2.              Withdrawal by Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger of their notices to leave ECOWAS; and

3.              Participation of all 15 ECOWAS Heads of State in a Summit to discuss the future of the community, regional security and stability, as well as the role of the international community given the current geopolitical context.

I wish to once more reiterate to regional leaders that ECOWAS is more than a coalition of States, it is a community established for the good of our peoples, based on shared history, culture and tradition. Neither my generation, nor present or future generations will understand or forgive the breakup of our Community.

I thank you all for giving due consideration to this appeal, which has been made with sincerity and a deep sense of moral responsibility. I urge all other elders in the sub­region to join me in this campaign to immediately restore unity and shared purpose within ECOWAS. Let me assure all parties that I am ready for further engagements to ensure that our Community remains united.

Long live ECOWAS and God Bless the Citizens of the Community!

General Dr. Yakubu Gowon GCFR

Former Head of State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Surviving Founding Leader of ECOWAS

On behalf of the Founding Leaders of ECOWAS.

President Bola Tinubu says his administration remains steadfast in implementing necessary economic reforms to facilitate business growth and create investment opportunities that support Nigeria’s growing population.

Receiving a delegation from the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) led by Florizelle Liser, CCA’s President and Chief Executive Officer, in Abuja, on Thursday, President Tinubu reiterated his unwavering commitment to Nigeria’s economic growth and stability, emphasizing that he is not relenting until his vision for Nigeria is achieved.

The President commended the recent landing of a 45,000-kilometre submarine fibre optic cable in Akwa Ibom State, which establishes connectivity for the entire South-South region of Nigeria with Europe, and other parts of Africa via the Atlantic Ocean.

Highlighting the significance of this accomplishment, the President noted that with the right policies, partnerships, and determination, Nigeria can overcome long-standing developmental challenges that have encumbered rapid progress across sectors.

Drawing on his extensive experience in corporate governance and interactions with CCA during his tenure as the two-term governor of Lagos State, President Tinubu expressed satisfaction with the Corporate Council’s dedication to fostering business connections between the United States of America and Africa.

”I am happy that the Council is interested in various segments of Nigeria’s economy. We are right in the middle of a challenging stage of our reforms. We have headwinds, no doubt, but we are not going back.

”We are challenged, and we believe we will overcome the challenges. I have a can-do attitude that must be translated into a must-do attitude. We have a good team, and we must remain focused to get the goal accomplished,” he said.

President Tinubu reaffirmed his commitment to creating an enabling environment for business to thrive, emphasizing that his administration’s focus on investing in key sectors, such as agriculture, solid minerals, energy, health, physical infrastructure, trade promotion, financial services, digital enterprise, and the creative economy is underpinned by the need to ensure the welfare and prosperity of citizens.

”We are going to do more on security and investing in education, as we believe that education is the greatest weapon against poverty. We welcome partners like CCA, and we will strengthen our partnership to achieve our goals,” he said.

In her remarks, Ms. Liser expressed CCA’s commitment to supporting Nigeria’s economic growth through the eight priority areas outlined by President Tinubu’s administration.

She invited President Tinubu to consider participating in CCA’s US-Africa Business Summit in May in Dallas, Texas, and urged him to consider CCA as a partner in enhancing USA-Nigeria trade, business, and investment.

[NationalDaily]

‘Waiting for Godot’ is a play by Irish playwright, Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, engage in a variety of discussions and encounters while awaiting the titular Godot, who never arrives. This play, according to Wikipedia, in a poll conducted by the British Royal National Theatre in 1999, was voted the “most significant English-language play of the 20^th century.” The play portrays the political, religious, philosophical and socio-economic perspectives to solutions of life challenges, but all end up as mere chimera—a charade.

As in the ‘Waiting for Godot’ play, Nigeria and its people have been fantasizing about the imminence of an Eldorado—economically—especially since the commencement of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration some nine months ago. Apparently playing to the gallery or in total submission to the dictates of the Bretton Woods institutions (The World Bank and IMF), the administration adopted and applied (market-led) economic policies that have caused so much disruption to the economy. This reality, though unexpected, has since bogged the administration with grappling with the negative consequences and fallouts of its economic reforms so far.

Thus, more than anything else, the government has been preoccupied with packaging and re-packaging of palliatives for the citizenry to (merely) assuage the fast-spreading and deepening poverty, hunger and anger in the land. The latest dimension of the degenerating social order is sporadic upheavals in forms of public protests in many towns and cities across the country. Public angst and cries against spreading hunger, spiking cost of living and deteriorating insecurity are pervasive.

For close to nine months since the inauguration of the current Tinubu administration, every economic indicator has been moving in the wrong direction. Whether it is inflation rate, exchange rate of the Naira, level of unemployment, public debt, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) or the external reserves—all have been heading in the wrong direction. For instance, while the headline inflation rate was 21.84 per cent in January 2023, one year after, end-January 2024, it has shot up to 29.90 per cent; and will surely maintain the trajectory—going forward.

Paradoxically, while several internal and external factors will keep sustaining this hyperinflationary trend, the government keeps wishing for a magical decline of the figures. This accounts for why the 2024 Federal budget is predicated on an inflation rate expectation of 21.24 per cent. Yet, the impact of the fuel subsidy removal by end-May 2023 has pushed the prices of all goods and services through the roof. Particularly, food inflation has risen phenomenally—as food supply and agriculture (especially, faming) remains threatened by worsening insecurity in the land.

Although by mere pronouncement, the government has declared a state of emergency on agriculture, the wide-spread insecurity across the country has kept most farmers off their farms. Ironically most of the areas usually referred to as ‘food baskets’ of the country are now more like ‘war zones’ as farmers in their communities, villages and hamlets are daily being overrun and displaced by terrorists, bandits, brigands and other armed gangs. Most of the surviving farmers are in their new-found-abodes—Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps—in various locations across the country. This state of affairs puts the lie to the intentions of the so called state of emergency on agriculture.

One of the upshots of this—which is lingering food scarcity—sustains the spiking food inflation trajectory. Also, in more ways than one, the peremptory floatation of the Naira and its kindred policies (as contained in the CBN’s circular of 14 June 2023 to Deposit Money Banks, DMBs) have kept the local currency on the tailspin. The sharp and sudden crash of the Naira vis-à-vis the dollar and other hard currencies has translated to very high and rising cost of importation of all items. And for the highly import-dependent economy (that Nigeria is), prices of all imports have practically gone through the roof. This is ‘transferred’ to the ultimate consumer by importers of raw materials, machineries and sundry intermediate goods.

Right from the outset, the intention of the Government in the Naira floatation policy was to attain a sustainable unified exchange rate in the foreign exchange (forex) market in Nigeria. However, for upwards of nine months now, the policy is a woeful failure. Rather than achieving a single forex rate, the official and ‘black market’ windows have kept waxing stronger—with the Naira collapsing in both of them. In fact, in the past few days, the local currency has been losing more strength in the official than parallel window. Specifically, Naira to dollar exchange rate in the official window has hit N1500/$, while it remains slightly below this in the ‘black’ market.

The upshot of this scenario has been persistent uncertainty for all economic agents, but particularly for businesses. This pervading uncertainty has been at the root of recent (almost daily) hiking of the exchange rate for cargo duties charged by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS). The exchange rate (for duties) which was N952 per dollar in December 2023, has been raised several times in a matter of weeks, to now stand at about N1500 per dollar. And the hike has not stopped.

Already, several reports show that many importers have begun to abandon their cargoes at the ports because of the huge sums the NCS expects them to pay as duties. These cargoes are also accumulating outrageous demurrages; and all these scare the importers. Not a few of these importers have since resorted to using the port facilities of neighboring West African countries. And this is a huge loss to Nigeria. Not a few persons, too, have resorted to smuggling—rather paying through their nose to import into Nigeria—with crashing consumer demand/weak purchasing power.

As all these are playing out, the Organized Labor (OL) remains in a ding-dong with the Federal government, over deteriorating life of Nigerian workers courtesy of the recent economic policies. For the umpteenth time since June 2023, the OL—represented by the Nigeria Labor Congress and Trade Union Congress—have threatened calling out Nigerian workers on protests/strikes. While the imbroglio lingers, the standard of living of the Nigerian worker keeps declining—essentially because of the collapsed Naira and rising inflation.

This deplorable fate of the Worker has become such that the NLC is now known to be proposing one million naira as the minimum wage that it would table before the Federal government-constituted Minimum Wage Negotiation Panel. The NLC says it would index its proposed minimum wage to the high and rising inflation as well as the deteriorating Naira exchange rate: issues that have practically left the worker impoverished and hapless.

From another plank, the fuel subsidy debacle is yet lingering. Driven by the collapsing Naira exchange rate, cost of importation of refined petroleum products (especial, Premium Motor Spirit, PMS) has kept rising too. With the soaring landing cost of PMS, importers of the product have been ‘pushing’ to transfer the high cost directly to the pump (price of PMS). However, even as reported by the IMF and the World Bank, the Nigerian Government has been ‘covertly’ paying some subsidies to these PMS importers. It therefore means that like the Naira floatation initiative that failed, fuel subsidy removal policy also has not succeeded.

So, as the President Tinubu administration is about to enter the last quarter of its first year, Nigerians, and indeed, the world is waiting for the direction of the Nigerian economy. How soon will the Government move from dishing out palliatives to effectively begin to churn out policies that stimulate the economy? How soon will these failed policies be ‘reformed’ to begin to leapfrog the economy of Nigeria. Or, are we ‘waiting for Godot’?

• The author, Okeke, a practising Economist, Business Strategist, Sustainability expert and ex-Chief Economist of Zenith Bank Plc, lives in Lekki, Lagos. He can be reached via: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.