President Bola Tinubu has called on Nigerians to unite and rededicate themselves to the duty of building the country.

In his Eid-el-Fitr message, Tinubu congratulated Muslims in the country for completing the Ramadan fasting.

In a statement on Tuesday, Ajuri Ngelale, presidential spokesperson, said Tinubu prayed that the blessings of the festival remain with the country.

“The president greets the Muslim faithful in Nigeria and all around the world, praying that their supplications and sacrifices this season and even after will receive the fitting rewards from Almighty Allah,” the statement reads.

“As he emphasised during an iftar with Nigeria’s leaders of thought and conscience, President Tinubu appeals to all citizens to come together and rededicate themselves to the noble duty of building the nation, stating: “We are the sculptor, and Nigeria is the clay; we build it the way we desire”.

The Eid-el-Fidr celebration will take place on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the federal government extended the Eid-el-Fitr public holidays to Thursday in addition to Tuesday and Wednesday earlier declared on April 7 for the festivity.

[TheCable]

“They fleece Nigeria and escape sanctions. Their immunity is sourced from Nigeria’s peculiar self-hate and self-neglect. The forex crisis that today ravages Nigerians and Nigerian entities makes no sense to them. They make forex and ship them home to their owners. At a point in the decade before the last, the Central Bank of Nigeria complained loudly that the foreign companies did not allow their cash to stay for more than a few weeks in Nigeria “before they were converted to foreign exchange for one purchase or the other.” Since that decade up till now, their foot has remained slammed on the throttle; they do not think what is wrong is bad. Do not blame them. Blame Nigeria that does not clothe its own from the ravages of dry winds from outside. If our government would not create heaven for us and for entities that belong to Nigerians, they should at least lead us away from the hell of hostile aliens.”

In May, 1891, James Richard Jewett of Brown University, Providence, United States, presented a paper on ‘Arabic Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases’ to the American Oriental Society. The paper was eventually published as an article in that society’s journal in 1893. One striking line I picked in that paper last week is the author’s entry of what he calls Jiha’s Cow. He writes: “Jiha slaughtered his cow, sold the meat, and received his pay. After a while, he again demanded pay from each purchaser and received it. He kept doing this till he died.” What Jiha did would not be strange to you if you were a Nigerian. We pay many times and forever for a paradise long lost.

Nigeria is a low wall mounted by every goat. I see Jiha in how the regime we have treats us. Trending now is electricity apartheid that stratifies the haves and the have-nots. They call it electricity subsidy removal. They band and disband cities; they grade and degrade streets. They distribute darkness and allocate fanciful power hours. The favoured are queued up as Band A; the disfavored are petty men packed into other bands ending empty-handed with letter E. Families sob, businesses weep. Indeed, the regime’s Julius Caesar “doth bestride the narrow world like a colossus.” They reduce all to the emperor’s “underlings, …petty men (who) walk under his huge legs”. In response to our cries, they bid us to do what Shakespeare’s Romans do: “peep about to find for ourselves dishonorable graves.” 

I know there are partisan optimists who still wait at the port for the illusory cargo and at the harbour for the crab of this regime to wink. But for me, it is enough on this domestic darkness and the banditry in our forest of demons.
I shift my gaze to the enemy outside.

If you canter, trot or amble like a horse, the world will saddle you up. I see Jiha and his cow meat in how Nigeria and Nigerian businesses are treated by competition from outside. The outside is never tired of demanding payment for goods it never sold to us – and we keep paying. They did and do it in telecoms – the Globacom experience. The trending act is in aviation. Air Peace, a Nigerian airline, recently started operating the Lagos-London route. I read of hell being unleashed by the world’s lords of the sky.

I thought we were told that the sky has enough space for all birds to fly without clashing. It is no longer so. Or, it has never been so in the business of air travel. One Jide Iyaniwura, a passenger on Air Peace’s recent inaugural flight from Gatwick to Lagos, in a social media post, alleged that from what he saw on the day of the inaugural flight, the British government was intent on frustrating Air Peace out of the London route. He said: “British Airways and Virgin were the only airlines doing direct flight from Lagos to London before Air Peace joined. The British government will do everything within their power to truncate the effort of any Nigerian carrier trying to break into that market.” He provided clues and cited acts that suggested his conclusion. “It is a government-to-government fight. It is a British government versus the Nigerian government fight,” the passenger said while warning our leaders not to see it as a war between businesses.

Other observers say a war is on already from some established foreign airlines. Said to be leading the pack is expensive, elite British Airways. That should not be a surprise. The lion’s den is never free from bones. A behemoth company with imperialism as its foundational philosophy and ethos cannot be seen brooding any act of impudence from an upstart airline from Africa, its country’s inheritance. The lords on that route take the route as their bequest. Their mindset is rooted in history.

Sir Samuel Hoare was the British Secretary of State for Air from 1922 to 1929. He wrote in his Empire of the Air (1957:90) that he “saw in the creation of air routes the chance of uniting the scattered countries of the (British) Empire and the Commonwealth.” To him (and his country), air travel and route allocations were carefully etched and aimed at making sure that Great Britain did not “surrender in the air a paramountcy won on the ground by a generation before.” In other words, as elegantly couched by Hoare, the official British air travel policy was (and should still be) undergirded by the national desire to “make closer and more constant the unity of imperial thought, imperial intercourse and imperial ideals.”

Direct territorial acquisition of land that is not yours is colonialism. Garnish it with political and economic control from an outside power and you have the textbook definition of imperialism.

Imperial Airways, the grandfather of British Airways, was set up as the “chosen instrument” to achieve England’s imperial agenda. Indeed, The Times of London of December 28, 1923 noted and emphasized that in the choice of name for that airline, ‘Imperial’ and not ‘National’ had been used as its label. For these details and more, I suggest you read (as I did) Robert McCormack’s ‘Airlines and Empires: Great Britain and the Scramble for Africa, 1919-1932 published by the Canadian Journal of African Studies in 1976. You will read in that piece how the first scheduled flight of Imperial Airways on its trunk route to Cape Town on January 20, 1932 was celebrated by a British newspaper as “an imperial event of outstanding importance.”

Ninety years ago (18 October, 1934) at the Chatham House, London, Lt. Colonel H. Burchall, General Manager of Imperial Airways, spoke on ‘The Politics of International Air Routes’. He warned that “any country which maintains regular air services over routes crossing foreign countries has to encounter many difficulties.” He added that of those difficulties, “none is greater than those presented by international politics for these are based upon the uncertain and shifting foundations of national prejudices and aspirations.” You would probably understand Burchall’s words better if you advert your mind to the fact that on that London route used to be Nigeria’s Arik, Medview and Bellview. The gods of the skies swat them; they closed shop.

There is a gush of ground calls for support for Air Peace in this war. They say it is patriotism to do so. Before the coming of Air Peace on the London route, flying became food only for the gods of cash. Virgin Atlantic increased its price for economy class to N2,353,200; its business class was N5,345,700. Turkish airlines’ economy class ticket for the Lagos-Istanbul -London route rose to N874,661 while the business class ticket jumped to N1,980,876. Nigerian travellers experienced same with British Airways, Delta, Lufthansa, KLM/Air France, Air Maroc and Ethiopian Airlines. Nigerians cried, wailed and waited for succour, none came. Air Peace’s entry and cheaper fares have now forced the gods to reconsider their judgement. Reports say the flying spirits have not only reduced their fares, they are weaponising them against the upstart from Lagos. They are charging fares lower than Air Peace’s. That is war, price war.

Every war, including a price war, has an objective. A petrol station manager in the United States tells Strategic Pricing Solutions his own experience: “During the price war my company fought, consumers got some of the lowest gas prices in Dallas, but those low prices could not last. The end result for the consumer in that neighborhood was two of three gas stations on one corner going out of business, and as soon as they closed their doors, the remaining company raised prices higher than ever before.” That is what the dominant birds seek to do to the cattle egret. Their lowered prices are clippers for the wings of the competitor. The news will be very bad if Nigerians buy their guile. The Nigerian flyer will pay if the aliens win.

Those leading this war seek to prevent importation of aviation into their country from Nigeria while exporting theirs to Nigeria. It happened in other sectors, particularly in telecoms. It is still happening. What kind of trade and economic relations opens my door for your goods and closes yours to mine? American economist, William D. Grampp (1914-2019), in his ‘The Third Century of Mercantilism’ (published in the Southern Economic Journal in April 1944) argues that the prohibition of imports should be seen also as a prohibition of exports. This, he argues, is “not only because such protective devices lead to retaliatory measures but because exports must pay for imports and imports must pay for exports.” The greedy does not think so. They do to us here what they won’t accept in their home.

At the beginning of the GSM/mobile telephony story in Nigeria, the two foreign companies licensed to operate here gave everyone pills that were as bitter as their ineffectual properties. Ebenezer Obadare, a professor and researcher, puts it succinctly in his ‘Playing Politics with Mobile Phone in Nigeria’ published in March 2006. Obadare writes that in the first two years of mobile telephony in Nigeria, Nigerians suffered and complained of “exorbitant tariffs, poor reception, frequent and unfavourable changes in contract terms, and arbitrary reduction of credits.” I experienced it.

In 2001, our national minimum wage was N5,500 but they sold their SIM cards for N30,000. I could not afford it – my salary was N21,000. They fixed their call tariff at N50 per. There was no saviour if your one-minute call strayed into 61 seconds -your credit would be down by two minutes and no tear shed would argue your case. A second’s call was a minute’s call and you must pay even if the call dropped. It was so bad that at a point, protesters redefined GSM as an acronym for “Grand Swindling Machine.”

Who were the edá rats behind that odious treatment? Foreigners who thought we deserved no more than slave treatment on our own soil. Obadare’s words are very apposite here. He writes that the foreign telecoms companies’ excuse “had been that it was impossible to offer customers per second billing until they attained ‘reasonable maturity’ or at least three years after the commencement of operations.” He continues: “However, following…. the introduction of Mike Adenuga’s Globacom, which gave its customers the per billing option on 29 August, 2003 (its first day of operation), Econet and MTN had no choice but to follow suit. Yet, they did not do this without attempting to claw something back- subscribers who opted to be billed on the per-second platform were made to pay a switchover fee of N300 each.” Obadare adds that one of the foreign operators offered its customers “100 free texts, many of which, ironically, did not reach their destinations.” Twenty one years after Nigerians defeated them through Globacom’s patriotic intervention, the outsiders have refused to forget. They still work and fight dirty.

They fleece Nigeria and escape sanctions. Their immunity is sourced from Nigeria’s peculiar self-hate and self-neglect. The forex crisis that today ravages Nigerians and Nigerian entities makes no sense to them. They make forex and ship them home to their owners. At a point in the decade before the last, the Central Bank of Nigeria complained loudly that the foreign companies did not allow their cash to stay for more than a few weeks in Nigeria “before they were converted to foreign exchange for one purchase or the other.” Since that decade up till now, their foot has remained slammed on the throttle; they do not think what is wrong is bad.

Do not blame them. Blame Nigeria that does not clothe its own from the ravages of dry winds from outside. If our government would not create heaven for us and for entities that belong to Nigerians, they should at least lead us away from the hell of hostile aliens. In the complex tapestry of adultery and concubinage, the Yoruba say the husband (the child’s father) is the one who runs round to wean his child from death. The man outside – the àlè – does not care if the child dies. The ‘enemy’ are not of here, their love is for where their umbilical cords lie buried. Nigeria is the cow tethered (by us) for them to milk. We think our charity should forever begin from outside. The Arabs say that a borrowed garment will not warm, and if it warms, it will not last.

Does international relations still have reciprocity as a reward for acceptable behaviours and as a check on aberrance? If you scratch my back I should scratch yours. If you take an eye, I take an eye. Why not have Nigerian enterprises in South Africa making what MTN and MutiChoice make here? Why should it be fatal for a Nigerian airline to operate in London when British Airways and Virgin come in here and go out with billions in their pocket? It can’t be sweet if one side picks the bill all the time. It is like subsidy withdrawal by this government of highly subsidized people.
They wring us out in the sink. We are where they put us – spread out in the sun to dry. Their parrot speaks only of received benefits. It does not give.
Contemporary Egyptian-American poet and artist, Suzi Kassem, in her ‘The Unforgiven’ writes on people “who take and don’t give. The kind to whom you give and give, and they keep asking. The kind to whom you give and give and they say you gave nothing. The kind who have never offered anything but act like they’re the ones providing EVERYTHING. The rat that never gives back yet is so quick to attack – because they think the word TAKING seriously means GIVING.”

The image of a helicopter parent, standing at the sidelines shouting at the pitch, has long since been an unwelcome stereotype associated with children who play sport.

In some leagues, mums and dads have been issued with a code of conduct to adhere to, in order to avoid unpleasant arguments or physical fights.

However, Manchester City star Demi Stokes is more than ready for that narrative to change.

Growing up, she witnessed dads at the sidelines who yelled ‘Kick her! Break her legs!’ to her opponents. Demi’s first team – called Sunderland 24-7 – was an all-girls team who boldly played in a boys’ league.

‘Some parents get so caught up in thinking “they’re not this, they’re not doing that.” I just think “why does it matter?”,’ Demi, 32, tells Metro.

‘As long as your son or daughter is happy playing sport and becoming more confident in who they are, that’s what’s important. 

‘Taking the pressure away can allow kids to feel more free.’

Born in Birmingham before moving to South Shields, Demi always dreamed of playing football and had a giant poster of David Beckham above her bed.

It was her former PE teacher Ian Williamson, who taught the former Sunderland full-back from the age of 10 at Marine Park Primary School, and urged her to trial for Sunderland’s youth team.

Demi credits him, as well as her mum and nan, with giving her the confidence to brush off laughter from any boys who scoffed at the fact she played football.

‘Ian was brilliant,’ she remembers. ‘It was the encouragement of the people I had around me that kept me going. They supported me, but equally didn’t put too much pressure on me.

‘It was like “we’ll let her figure it out, let her blossom and become whoever she wants to be.’

Previously, research has found that a third of UK children had missed out on a sporting opportunity because of the costs involved, with football, swimming and tennis topping the list.

‘The world is a crazy place where a lot of people are struggling to make ends meet,’ says Demi, who has one son.

‘You never know what people’s lives at home are like, or what they’ve gone through, so these new clubs are massive for kids.

‘Not everyone has the support of parents, family members of school teachers. So football can become a little safe haven where they can feel at home. They’ll make a huge difference in letting kids express themselves and grow in confidence.’ 

As part of Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses team who claimed the Euro 2022 crown, ending a 56-year wait for a major international honour, Demi has also represented Team GB at the Olympic Games in Tokyo and has made more than 200 appearances for Manchester City.

She still has to pinch herself at how far she’s come. When asked if ten-year-old self could have seen her array of achievements coming, Demi laughs.

‘No, not at all,’ she says. ‘As a kid you think “oh, I’m going to do this, I’m going to do that,” unaware you have to make money and pay the bills. It’s been a crazy journey but an incredible one as well. I always say I’m very fortunate and grateful for the journey I’ve had.

‘The opportunities for a young girl today who wants to play football are so exciting. And things are only going to keep improving the more we win and the more the Lionesses win. Women’s football is in a good place but we’re not satisfied yet.

‘If we all play our part, we can make sure that growth keeps happening.’

Kellogg’s Football Camps sessions will begin in July.  Sessions will take place throughout the week during the school summer holidays, with all abilities welcome. 

[Newspot]

Former director-general of Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr Osita Okechukwu, has opposed the move to institutionalise State Police, saying it would hurt the Nigeria’s democracy.
Okechukwu, a foundation member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), disclosed this on over the weekend, shortly after the burial of late Chief Bona Udeh, erstwhile Chairman of Udi Local Government Area in Enugu State.

The APC chieftain said that his lack of support for the establishment of State Police was due to his elementary study of the antics of dictatorship.

He stated that the study made him shiver each time he thought of what would happen to democracy if governors, who had since inception of the fourth republic in 1999 acted like emperors, are empowered absolutely to kill democracy.

“What salvation do we earn, when careful consideration gazetted that the majority of our dear governors are more or less akin to emperors, who are constantly in the breach of fine democratic tenets and civil liberties?” he asked.

The APC chieftain also said the governors had thwarted the local councils since the system had blatantly mangled state judiciary and state legislatures into rubber stamps.

“My dear countrymen, do we in all intents and purposes make altruistic sense to further empower emperors?

Emperors hated alternative views, abhorred popular participation and rule of law throughout the history of man.

“Our dear governors in similar manner abhorred the rule of law and popular participation; this is why they had, in the same bipartisan manner, opposed local government autonomy, independence of state judiciary and state legislatures,” he said.

Proffering security solution, Okechukwu said as a matter of urgent national importance, at this trying period, the country needed well-trained and well-equipped Special Constabulary Police in line with the Nigeria Police Act 2020.

The APC chieftain said Special Constabulary Police should be equipped with sophisticated arsenal to contain kidnappers, terrorists and insurgents at the grassroots, without authoritarian antics.

He said the Special Constabulary Police he was advocating would be funded by Federal and State Governments, jointly recruited from indigenes of the given state in collaboration with the governors, albeit local community, based on “tiny federal strings”, for necessary moderation.

“I appeal for understanding for Special Constabulary Police as the federal and state governments will better fund the outfit, rather than authorising state governors to transfer the burden of funding to our citizenry, majority of who are trapped in multidimensional poverty.

He said although one understood the metastasis of grief, helplessness, despair, despondency and the sordid scenario of a country overwhelmed by insecurity, it would be less strategic in the midst of confusion to over tax the citizenry.

The Director-General of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Mr Asishana Okauru, reported that 16 state governors had earlier supported the establishment of State Police.

They supported floating of the outfit as a panacea for the insecurity ravaging the different parts of the country.

Also, the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice-President on Media and Communication, Mr Stanley Nwakocha, had earlier disclosed in a statement that discussions were held at 140th meeting of the National Economic Council on the matter.

Nwakocha noted that 16 out of the 36 states had already submitted reports on the State Policing initiative and that the remaining 20 governors were already in the process of submitting theirs

“The official position of the forum is in favour of state police. I don’t know of any state that is not in support of state police,” he said.

(NAN)

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu kept mum as the recent 240 per cent electricity tariff hike worsens the suffering being faced by Nigerians.

DAILY POST reports that the recent electricity tariff increase for customers has birthed another page of hardship for Nigerians.

While the residues of pain caused by the removal of subsidy and the Naira floating policies implemented by Tinubu’s Government last year still lingers, the hike in electricity tariff for customers under Band A, getting at least 20 hours of power supply, has further unsettled Nigerians.

In defence of the hike, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, noted last Friday that 85 per cent of electricity will not be affected.

He added that the Government would save N1.14 trillion in electricity subsidies.

Despite Adelabu’s position, the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress, Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and Abuja Chambers of Commerce and Industry have all openly condemned the new electricity tariff hike.

They all agreed there is a cloud of confusion around the tariff implementation amid economic hardship.

Upon the new tariff announcement by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission Tuesday last week, the eleven Discos began implementing the N255 kilowatt-hours rate for customers getting 20 hours.

However, the implementation has attracted widespread dissatisfaction among electricity consumers.

Abuja Electricity Distribution Company apologized to consumers for wrongly applying new tariff hikes on B, C, D, and E customers, who were categorized as getting 16 hours of power supply.

Consequently, Abuja Disco was slammed with a fine of N200 million by NERC over the wrong billing of customers. The Commission also ordered the Disco to refund affected customers with energy tokens before 11 April, 2024.

Fear of Arbitrary Billing

Despite the sanction imposed on Discos, Nigerians are still apprehensive that all 12 million electricity consumers may bear the new tariff burden.

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC, confirmed this when it asked the Government to order Discos to meter all Band A customers within 60 days.

FCCPC also stated that consumers in Bands B, C, D, and E should not be migrated to Band A without being metered.

According to NERC data, only 5.7 million electricity consumers are metered, while around 6.3 million are unmetered.

The development further heightened the fears of arbitrary billing by Discos.

Nigerians Paying for Darkness

While the electricity hike subsisted, the power supply remained epileptic nationwide.

National grid collapse, repairs by the Transmission Company of Nigeria and fire incidents have resulted in downtime.

This year alone, the grid has collapsed three times.

Electricity supply has dropped significantly since January due to gas constraints.

Meanwhile, the latest gas price increase of 11 per cent has further worsened Nigeria‘s power sector challenges.

This is why Kunle Olubiyo, the Nigerian Consumer Protection Network President, said Nigerians have continued to pay tariffs for darkness.

The Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies, in a statement by its National Secretary, Nnamdi Ajibo, called for a reversal of the electricity tariff hike.

Band A electricity consumers

According to a list compiled by NERC, the eleven Discos have 481 Band A feeders, which supply consumers with at least 20 hours of electricity.

Meanwhile, electricity consumers under B, C, D, and E bands get 16 hours of power supply and below.

However, the Trade Union Congress has said no Nigerian receives 20 hours of power supply.

In contrast, the Association of Nigeria Electricity Distributors, ANED, insisted Nigerians receive 20 hours of power supply.

To address the confusion, NERC told Discos to publish a list of all Band A customers and set up a link to provide customers with information on their respective bands.

Experts React

In an exclusive interview with DAILY POST, Wumi Iledare, Professor Emeritus in Energy Economics and Executive Director of Emmanuel Egbogah Foundation, said the electricity tariff hike and gas price increase seem skewed to optimize producer surplus rather than consumer surplus.

He noted that there seems to be no penalty attached yet for Discos benefiting from the sudden rise in tariff but not delivering.

“New tariff is perhaps based on the increase in the wellhead price for natural gas for power generation.

“However, we must agree that N68 per KWhr is a price ceiling significantly below the market clearing price. So there are shortages due to high electricity demand at low prices.

“N68 is also not anywhere close to the fair return price of an economic good with decreasing marginal cost and average cost curve. It’s not even the socially optimal price of electricity either.

“So NERC had to do something apolitical, which ought to have been done long before now, but for institutional capture and political expediency that has seemed to be good judgement for too long. So it is better late than never. I guess the commissioners have come to understand these facts better than before.

“Of course, the accuracy of the tariff is speculative because of the many unknowns. It is perhaps arrived at based on assumptions and facts within the context of the pricing model applied.

“As more facts become available, the pricing model will be recalibrated in a self-adjusting manner. If what I am reading in the media is correct, there is a price discrimination application based on daily supply hours. Such a mechanism is not unusual in a segregated market structure in the power market.

“Looking at everything done so far within the last month in 2024 to spur up gas to power value chain, the presidential executive order 40, the increase in wellhead natural gas price by the Nigeria Petroleum Regulatory Authority, and discriminatory electricity tariff, the benefits seem to be skewed to optimize producer surplus than consumer surplus.

“Finally, regarding my take or endorsement, the biggest challenge with the implementation is how to properly distinguish the targeted class with the ability to pay and ensure 20+ hours of power supply to them.

“There seems to be no penalty attached yet for Discos benefiting from the sudden rise in tariff but not delivering. The ability to implement price discrimination is doubtful”, he told DAILY POST.

Similarly, Chinedu Amah, the CEO of Spark Online, a power sector investment forum, said the hike will enable the Government to unlock more cash to invest in things that will yield collective growth.

He noted that Nigeria does not necessarily have standard development for all citizens, stressing that it is difficult to define who is rich or poor by their place of residence.

“First of all, it is important to note that subsidy removal is a good move if it will enable the government to unlock more cash to invest in things that will yield collective growth.

“However, it is important to point out that we do not necessarily have standard development in all our cities; thus you cannot clearly define who is rich or poor in all cases by how they reside,” he said.

Meanwhile, an energy expert, Mr Eleojo Joseph, said the last one week had been hellish for Nigerians due to the electricity tariff hike.

He queried that there was no proper demarcation of Bands A, B, C, and E before the new tariff hike.

According to him, the hike will affect the country’s economy in the long run.

“It has been a week of complete anarchy, fraud and scam by the DISCOs on Nigerians, and the people are in total disrepair.

“How did we arrive here? We arrived here because we do not have a competent regulatory authority, and the Government does not understand the importance of electricity generation and distribution.

“NERC has been sleeping for eight years or more, and the incompetence is showing all over the sector. But thank God they have woken up from their slumber and are making all sorts of mistakes.

“The genesis of the problem is the lack of proper mechanism being put in place before the hike in price.

“It seems there is no interface between the operators and the Regulator. Was there proper demarcation or ringing of Band A, B, C, etc., users, and was it tested before they hiked the price?

“Who are the technical experts of the DISCOs? Who are their software and billing teams? So many questions to ask, but there won’t be answers.

“Why on earth will DISCOs lie on actual verifiable events? 20 hours of electricity is measurable. The DISCOs should be ready for litigation because there will be plenty of such cases in our courts in the coming months.

“The new sets of staff of the DISCOs are a fraudulent bunch who are only there to make money, and I foresee anarchy as most angry persons will take the law into their own hands and attack the DISCO staff on the field. We are headed to a dangerous state in Nigeria’s power sector.

“The economy is the ultimate loser in all of these things happening. More industries will relocate or close shops, unemployment will increase by the day and a more gloomy outlook for the country.

“Government should dedicate special attention and rate to the industrial sector and increase the take-home salary of workers in the private and public sector”, he told DAILY POST.

Similarly, the national secretary of the Network for Electricity Consumers Advocacy of Nigeria, Uket Obonga, said most Nigerians believe that the new tariff will be implemented across the board in a matter of time.

“The citizenry’s reaction to the recently announced increase in Electricity Tariff is both baffling and bewildering.

“The Nigerians believe it is just a matter of time before the tariff increase percolates down through the other Bands.

“Proof of this was the enthusiasm with which AEDC, EKEDC and IBEDC applied the tariff increase to all their electricity customers irrespective of their Bands before the Regulator clamped down a N200 Million fine on AEDC.

“It is true that the Federal Government has failed to honour its financial obligations to participants in the NESI, especially concerning payment for gas, GenCOs, and DisCOs.

“These lapses on the part of the Federal Government have emboldened the DisCOs to root for higher tariffs to balance their books.

“Unfortunately, higher tariffs do not necessarily translate to better services because there are two other partners, TCN and the GenCOs, who do not receive commensurate receipts from the DisCOs as monthly energy remittances.

“To improve power supply in Nigeria, a holistic approach must be implemented to address the several teething problems of the NESI.

“Gas constraints: An overhaul of our Gas two Power Policy. Increased homegrown participation in producing, processing, and distributing gas for homes, industry, and power generation.

“Presently, we are importing gas to augment our local supplies, which depend on Forex availability and rate.

“TCN Bottlenecks: an overhaul of the transmission system entails more lines, reconductoring, upgrade of power transformers, and the building of new substations.

“DisCOs rickety networks: some DisCOs have not added a single SPAN of overhead lines to their network, not to mention building new injection substations. There is an acute need to refurbish, upgrade and expand the distribution networks.

“The unending metering saga: There must be new regulations with severe sanctions for failure, flouting or by-passing the metering regulations.

“All connections must be metered; presently unmetered consumers must be metered within three years,” he stated.

[DailyPost]

• Lawmakers’ constituency projects for monitoring

The stage is set for ministers to present their scorecards on the delivery of ministries on the eight priority areas of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination/Head of Central Coordination Delivery Unit (CDCU), Ms. Hadiza Bala-Usman, dropped the hint in Abuja yesterday.

They (ministers) were told by the President that will undergo compulsory periodic (quarterly) assessment to rate their performances in line with the identified priority areas.

The Tinubu’s administration also designed and released a Citizens’ Delivery Tracker App to monitor the performance of ministers and their portfolios.

Nigerians can use device to give feedback to the government on policies, programmes and projects.

The implementation of constituency projects allocated to senators and House of Representatives members are to be assessed too.

Ms. Bala-Usman, who spoke at the Go-Live Event of the Citizens’ Delivery Tracker, said restated Tinubu’s commitment to an open and transparent government in the larger interest of the nation.

She said the President has mandated all ministries to hold quarterly sectorial engagement sessions with citizens.

Unfolding Tinubu’s new strategy called: “Citizen-centric approach to governance,” the special adviser said since the ministers signed performance bonds, they will be evaluated on the eight priorities of the President.

The areas are:

•      Reforming the economy to deliver sustained and inclusive growth

•      Strengthening national security for peace and prosperity

•      Boosting agriculture to achieve food security

•      Unlocking energy and natural resources for sustainable development

•      Enhancing infrastructure and transportation as enablers for growth

•      Focusing on education, health, and social investment as essential pillars of development

•      Accelerating diversification through industrialization, digitization, creative arts, manufacturing, and innovation; and

•      Improving governance for effective service delivery.

Ms. Bala-Usman said: “For each of these priority areas, we agreed on specific deliverables and developed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), which formed the basis for the performance bond which all ministers and permanent secretaries signed with the President in November 2023. These parameters will guide the quarterly assessments and annual scorecards, which the CDCU is mandated to present to the President.

“The President also insisted that the pain points of citizens must be recognized in developing the deliverables and KPIs. In line with the directive, the CDCD worked with our partners to further review the deliverables into granular issues that have direct impact on the lives of Nigerians.

“At this juncture, I would like to give a little background on the Central Delivery Coordination Unit (CDCU). The Unit was established by Executive Order 13 of 2022 to, among other things, coordinate and monitor the implementation of presidential priorities through the development of deliverables and KPIs for each ministry.

“These deliverables and KPIs were developed in consultation with the ministries and culminated in the signing of performance bonds by ministers and permanent secretaries of each ministry with Mr. president.”

She said President Tinubu has decided to allow Nigerians to know what the government is doing and assess ministers because of his commitment to “citizen-centric approach to governance.”

“The CDCU has also developed a Delivery Reporting Framework and Template, to accurately assess and report the performance of ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs).

“We are adopting international best practices and utilising globally recognized performance indicators and benchmarks to assess the performance of MDAs in the implementation of government priority programmes, projects, and policies.

“The Delivery Desk Officers are the foot soldiers tasked with the responsibility of tracking and reporting the performance of the MDAs ahead of the quarterly assessment.

“Our partners from the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, and Delivery Associates also joined us to share experiences from across the world at this four-day capacity building programme,” she added. Hadiza unveiled Citizens’ Delivery Tracker Application, which is available at the URL: app.cdcu.gov.ng.

She said: “It (the tracker) will be available for download on the Google Play Store and in the Apple store within the next month. This application will enable citizens to know the deliverables and key performance indicators to track.

“It also presents citizens with the opportunity to give real-time feedback on their assessment of policies, projects, and programmes of government from anywhere they are in the country.

 “Additionally, to actualise Mr. President’s desire to give all citizens the opportunity to join the CDCU in the tracking and monitoring of the policies, projects, and programmes of the Federal Government in line with presidential priorities, we have, over the past couple of months, worked to upgrade the Citizens’ Delivery Tracker App.

“The Citizens’ Delivery Tracker is an application which affords citizens the opportunity to view the priority programmes and projects of the Federal Government on their devices.

“We upgraded this application through consultations with a wide spectrum of stakeholders, and it is now ready for use.”

Giving insights into how the government plans to engage the citizens, the special adviser said: “The CDCU is also expected to sensitize citizens-based organizations, working with the Open Government Partnership (OGP) and other civil society groups on the delivery of the presidential priorities.

“This is to be done by coordinating engagements on the priority programmes, initiatives, and projects, and providing up-to-date information using the citizens’ app and other channels of communication.

“Indeed, Mr. President is so committed to a citizen-centric approach to governance that he has mandated all ministries to hold quarterly sectorial engagement sessions with citizens.

“These citizen engagement sessions are part of universal deliverables that is applicable to all ministries and the engagements have already commenced for Q1 in consonance with Mr. President’s directives.

“The import of the preceding points is that the President is keen on leading an inclusive government through the involvement of all Nigerians in the governance process and that the CDCU is central to the actualization of this presidential aspiration.”

Responding to a question, she said: “The execution/ performance of constituency projects can be tracked in the Ministry of Special Duties.”

[TheNation]

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Monday stepped up its fight to boost foreign exchange liquidity in the economy with a new circular mandating Deposit Money Banks to stop the use of foreign currencies as collateral for naira loans within 90 days.

The development happened as the naira rose against the greenback at both the official and parallel markets on Monday.

The CBN has continued to deepen its battle to free dollar liquidity stocked up in the financial system by deploying various measures aimed at shoring up the naira against the United States dollar.

On Monday, the Olayemi Cardoso-led CBN issued a new circular, expressing concerns over the use of foreign currencies as collateral for naira loans. 

The circular made available on its website and titled “The use of foreign-currency-denominated collaterals for naira loans”, was referenced BSD/DIR/PUB/LAB/017/004.

Although this is not the first time the bank has prohibited the use of FCY, it said it had observed the use of foreign currency by bank customers as collateral for naira loans. Hence, the decision to prohibit its use.

In 2023, in a confidential letter to commercial lenders, the apex bank issued a stern directive against naira overdrafts backed by foreign currency deposits.

In the leaked letter dated August 17, 2023, and signed by the Director of Banking Supervision, Mr. Haruna B. Mustafa, the CBN said the development followed its findings from a recent supervisory review.

It was uncovered that the banks had been offering naira overdraft facilities secured with foreign currency deposits.

Despite this warning, the new directive indicates that banks have continued to engage in such practices.

In the latest circular signed by the acting Director, Banking Supervision Department, Adetona Adedeji, the apex bank said it observed the use of foreign currency by bank customers as collateral for naira loans.

As such, the regulator directed banks to trim all existing loans with foreign currency collaterals to 90 days or attract a 150 per cent capital adequacy ratio computation as part of the bank’s risk.

The new directive means a borrower may no longer use dollar deposits in their domiciliary bank accounts as collateral to obtain naira loans.

According to stakeholders, the practice is partly due to the need to hedge against foreign currency spikes which can be costlier than interest rates.

 “The Central Bank of Nigeria has observed the prevailing situation where bank customers use foreign currency as collaterals for Naira loans.

“Consequently, the current practice of using foreign currency-denominated collaterals for Naira loans is hereby prohibited except where the foreign currency collateral is Eurobonds issued by the Federal Government of Nigeria or guarantees of foreign banks, including standby letters of credit.

“In this regard, all loans currently secured with dollar-denominated collaterals other than as mentioned above should be wound down within 90 days, failing which such exposures shall be risk-weighted 150% for Capital Adequacy Ratio computation, in addition to other regulatory sanctions,” the circular read.

The CBN’s stance against such practices arises from concerns of currency mismatch, which could introduce substantial financial risks for banks.

Rather than convert their dollars to naira, some borrowers will rather borrow in naira as the cost of buying the dollars back might be higher than the interest rate they pay for borrowing in naira.

However, this can have a ripple effect on the exchange rate due to its speculative tendencies.

The CBN maintained that it was on a mission to ensure adequate foreign exchange in the market even as the naira gains strength.

Eurobonds, according to the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, are bonds issued offshore by governments or corporations denominated in a currency other than that of the issuer’s country.

Eurobonds are usually long-term debt instruments and are typically denominated in US dollars.

Letters of Credit, according to the International Trade Administration, are contractual commitments by the foreign buyer’s bank to pay once the exporter ships the goods and presents the required documentation to the exporter’s bank as proof.

As a trade finance tool, Letters of Credit are designed to protect both exporters and importers.

The PUNCH reports that in the apex bank’s previous circular to all the banks signed by its former Director, Corporate Communications Department, Ibrahim Mu’azu, the bank said its attention was drawn to the increasing use of foreign currencies in the domestic economy as a medium of payment for goods and services by individuals and corporates.

It also observed that some institutions price their goods and services in foreign currencies and demand payments in foreign currencies rather than the domestic currency (the Naira), which is the legal tender in Nigeria.

The CBN stated, “For the avoidance of doubt, the attention of the general public is hereby drawn to the provisions of the CBN Act of 2007, which states inter-alia that “the currency notes issued by the Bank shall be legal tender in Nigeria…for the payment of any amount.” 

Furthermore, the Act stipulates that any person who contravenes this provision is guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a prescribed fine or six months imprisonment.

Meanwhile, the naira has maintained its appreciation on the official and parallel markets against the United States dollar, strengthening to N1,230/$ at the official market and N1,220/$ on the black market at the close of trading activities on Monday.

This new rate which follows the decision by the CBN to adjust downward, the rate it sells to the Bureau   Change Operator, showed a 3.33 per cent appreciation over the N1,240/ dollar it exchanged on Friday at the parallel market.

The CBN on Monday reviewed the exchange rate for the Bureau De Charge Operators to N1,101 per dollar from N1,251/$1 as it plans to sell $15.88 million to 1,588 eligible BDCs.

CBN’s directive

In a letter addressed to the president of the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria, the CBN announced the sale of $10,000 to the BDC operators at an exchange rate of N1,101 per US dollar.

This measure is intended to facilitate access to foreign exchange for legitimate transactions within the retail market.

The letter, signed by W.J. KANYA on behalf of the director of the trade and exchange department, outlines the directive for BDCs to sell the acquired forex to eligible end-users at a spread not exceeding 1.5 percent above the purchase price

Reacting to its effect on trade, a Bureau De Change operator selling at the popular Wuse Zone 4 market, Ibrahim Suleiman, said the new policy was causing heavy losses to traders, adding that the dollar would keep depreciating.

An affected trader, Malam Yahu Ibrahim, said the dollar was bought between N1,150 and N1,170 and sold at N1,220, leaving a profit margin of N50.

He said, “We are facing serious problem right now due to the way the dollar is crashing, the new rate by the CBN has disrupted a whole lot in the system. We are buying between range of N1,150 and N1,170 and selling at N1,220.  And we still expect that the dollar will continue to crash. the things is just coming down anyhow. If I tell how much people are losing every day, you won’t believe it.  It is just sad but it’s meant to make our economy better.

At the official market, the naira closed at N1,230/$ against the greenback from the N1,251.05/$ recorded on Friday, indicating a marginal appreciation of N21 or 1.67 per cent against the dollar.

This was supported by improved dollar supply at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market.

The dollar supply on Monday however decreased by 49 per cent to $125.55 from $248.27m recorded on Friday.

The summary of the FX auction showed that the intraday high strengthened to N1, 261 stronger than N1,281 per dollar quoted on Friday. The intraday low increased to N1, 200 per dollar from N1,220 per dollar recorded last week.

With the new rate, the black market is currently selling higher than the official market.

The CBN decision to review the BDC rate followed an appeal by the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria, the umbrella body for BDC operators. ABCON National President, Aminu Gwadabe, had written a letter to the CBN.

Experts react

Meanwhile, experts have commended the CBN for the latest move, saying it would help shore the dollar value.

Analysing the action of the apex bank, the Director of Research and Strategy, Chapel Hill Denham, Tajudeen Ibrahim, said that the move was a step in the right direction, which would boost dollar supply in the currency market and strengthen the naira.

He said, “The CBN is tackling the foreign currency challenge in a tactical manner and this is one of such ways through which they are making efforts to solve the problem. What this implies is that for you to have dollar collateral for a naira denominated loans, it is a mismatch in the first instance. A customer has gone to the bank to borrow N5bn and then if a bank should take an asset that is valued in dollars, maybe currency in its domicilary banks account or any asset that is sold would be sold in dollars, the bank now holds those assets as collateral. Over the years, if naira weakens, the value of those assets would be appreciating and that is one thing that can embolden the banks to want to speculate on the currency.”

Ibrahim maintained that given that the CBN had restricted the net open position of banks on foreign currency assets and liabilities, it is right to scrap the practice of banks holding foreign currency as collateral for naira loans.

“Since the CBN scrap the NOP on the banks, it is also good that they also scrap this one too. If they don’t scrap it, banks would be collecting dollar collateral meanwhile it is naira that they have lent. The point is that when they collect dollar collateral, what it means is that its gives the banks the chance to possibly speculate in the currency market, which is something that the current CBN leadership does not want because speculation distorts the stability of our currency,” he said

“Secondly, the development will resolve the situation where those holding such dollar assets will have to dispose of them. The banks have to wind down those loans within the next 90 days and if you have to wind them down, it means, the collateral have to go. For the collateral to go, you have to sell them. When you sell them, you are supplying dollars to the market, improving the value of the naira in that regard,” Ibrahim concluded.

Also commenting, an analyst at FSDH Merchant Bank, Ayodele Akinwunmi, said,   “In my view the CBN wants banks to encourage clients to deploy the Dollar in their positions instead of keeping the Dollar as collateral and be using Naira. This situation will lead to an increase in the supply of Dollars in the country and lead to Naira appreciation.”

Meanwhile, further findings indicate some banks have started negotiating with their customers with a view to liquidating the loans.

The development, according to bank executives, will lead lenders to unfreeze the FX in the domiciliary of banks.

‘”Banks will discuss with their customers and reach agreements on how to liquidate the naira loans so that the domiciliary accounts funds can be released,” the top executive of a mid-size lender said.

According to top bankers, some customers use their domiciliary account balances and sometimes FX cash as collateral for naira loans.

“There was time when the naira was depreciating very fast; people saved in dollars. They didn’t want to spend it. Some of them then used it as collateral to get naira loans. Now the CBN wants more dollar liquidity in the economy in order to shore up the naira. This is why this directive has come” another top bank executive said under condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter.

[Punch]