It is in order to say President Bola Tinubu is actually showing some balls with many decisions he has taken since he assumed power, although the jury is still out on the reforms. Last Monday, he “ordered” (we Nigerian journalists are madly in love with that word, aren’t we?) the implementation of the Oronsaye Report. We must quickly remind ourselves that it is a seasonal practice. President Goodluck Jonathan, who set up the seven-member panel in 2012 to “restructure and rationalise” governmental bodies, “ordered” the implementation in 2014. President Muhammadu Buhari also “ordered” the implementation in 2020. Let us now hope or pray that this will be the final “order”.

We have this obsession with proliferating governmental bodies in Nigeria. For example, we used to have the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) regulating the entire petroleum industry. Someone had a brain wave that we can further atomise it, so we now have the Nigeria Upstream Regulatory Commission (NURC) and the Nigeria Downstream and Midstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA). Someone will soon develop the idea of creating the Nigeria Downstream Regulatory Commission (Diesel), the Nigeria Downstream Regulatory Commission (Petrol) and the Nigeria Downstream Regulatory Commission (Kerosene and Others). Please, don’t quote me.

How did we get here? Let me guess. Setting up agencies is our own way of “job creation”. Normally, it is private businesses that should be proliferating and creating jobs in a market-driven economy, but since this has become a very difficult thing for us (maybe because the economic policies, operating environment and infrastructure are very hostile to innovation and growth), we have found the short cut by creating agencies upon agencies. The newly established National Commission for the Coordination and Control of Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NATCOM) announced last year that it was going to employ and train about 300,000 Nigerians. Yes, 300,000 Nigerians.

Let me guess again. For a tiny group of people, the sweetest jobs in Nigeria are the ones with the coat of arms on the business cards, so proposals for the creation of new government agencies and institutions are never scarce. The moving spirits, or the political enablers, are probably thinking of replicating a bank or a fintech firm with an MD, EDs and GMs. Some agencies have been created since because someone had an idea of the lucre on offer. It does not matter if the agency will be duplicating the functions of another or if it will be useless altogether. Even before some agencies are legally created, the executives are already waiting in the wings. This is stranger than fiction.

How did we get here? As I was saying, when the oil boom happened to us in the 1970s, we lost our senses. As a result of the Arab-Israeli war of October 1973, crude oil prices had risen fourfold within five months. From an average price of $3 per barrel in 1973, it was going for $12 by December 1974. Nigeria became overwhelmed with the flood of petrodollars and the accompanying pathologies. In 1970, our earnings from oil exports was a modest $200 million. Between 1973 and 1978, we earned an overwhelming $32 billion, averaging over $5 billion per year. Imagine your salary is N150,000 and you hit a windfall that now pays you N4 million monthly. You will surely be agog and go gaga.

With so much money, we began to expand the size of government without paying the necessary attention to need, efficiency and service delivery. In 1972, the Udoji Public Service Review Commission was set up by the military government to examine the organisation, structure and management of public service. In 1974, the commission made far-reaching reform proposals, but government was more excited about the recommended 100 percent increase in salaries and benefits across board — to be backdated to 1972 and paid in arrears. That would be politically more popular and beneficial. We had the oil money, so why not spend it cheerfully? Why worry about tomorrow?

Everybody was happy with the Udoji Award, save for the economists who warned of a looming inflation. We had plenty petrodollars, so the exchange rate was about 60 kobo/$ (aka “The good old days”). It was cheaper to import biscuit than make it in Nigeria. Mr Joseph Atobisi, an activist, wrote two years ago, “Civil servants developed appetite for imported commodities like sugar, canned milk, stockfish, dumping available local alternatives. More workers bought cars and expensive furniture. Nigeria soon became an import dependent nation. Manufacturing started collapsing. Unemployment spiralled. From 5.40% in 1973, inflation rose to 12.67% in 1974 and 33.96% in 1975.” It is what it is.

One of the pathologies of sudden oil wealth — or should I say natural resource windfall — is the bloating of government expenditure, notably through wage bills, overheads and white elephant projects, under the philosophy of “nina lowo” (“money is meant to be spent”). We thought our problem was not money but how to spend it. This was at a time most rural roads were untarred and most villages unelectrified. Norway, which also enjoyed the oil boom, chose to insulate most of the windfall from its economy by setting up a special fund and continuing to be a fiscal state. Although we built infrastructure from the windfall, we also created a culture of bloating government budgets.

Another pathology of the several oil booms since 1973 (starting with the Udoji Award) is the humongous expansion of public service. Government jobs could be instantly created and workers easily employed — based more on political considerations than a desire to enhance administrative capacity and efficiency. Every oil windfall came with federal, state and local governments bloating expenditures, multiplying the agencies and thinking oil money would flow forever. We can argue that with a growing population and the liberalisation of the economy from the 1980s, we needed to expand public administrative capacity — but that was probably the smallest rationale on our minds.

We created an agency to make sure that fuel prices are the same all over the country and called it Petroleum Equalisation Fund. People reported for work every day. At no time were fuel prices the same but marketers still got the bridging payments in billions. We created an agency whose job is to enforce federal character in federal employments and named it Federal Character Commission (FCC), even when it is clear that federal character is always missing. People report to that office daily and they even have a DG. I can count at least 200 useless agencies. We have never had the intention of stopping the creation of more agencies or bloating public expenditure. It is always good for politics.

The National Assembly, in particular, appears to be trigger-happy when it comes to unleashing new agencies on us, although the blame equally goes to the executive and states. As reported by PUNCH published in 2022, the 9th Senate passed bills establishing 376 institutions and agencies. How they would be funded is none of their business. We created the Nigerian Independent Warehouse Regulatory Agency, National Poverty Eradication Commission, Erosion Control and Prevention Commission, etc etc. The bill to set up the Electoral Offences Commission (a job purely within the ambit of the police) is in the pipeline. A group recently proposed a Cement Price Control Agency!

In the last three decades, we have decimated the Nigerian Police Force by creating several agencies to duplicate or take over their functions. The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), the Directorate of Road Traffic Services (which we call “VIO”), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) are all performing the functions of the police. Barely two days after Tinubu “ordered” implementation of Oronsaye Report, the house of reps passed a bill setting up the Peace Corps to also do part of the job of the police. We play too much in this country.

Even before deciding to implement the Oronsaye Report, Tinubu had ruffled features by putting directors and permanent secretaries on a maximum tenure of eight years so that civil servants will stop gaming the system and holding on to those positions forever. The policy was introduced by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua but Buhari reversed it. Let us now see how far Tinubu can go with the Oronsaye Report. There is a reason it had been gathering dust for 10 years without the political will to implement it. Vested interests will lobby to get some agencies exempted. They know what to do. We talk about how to make Nigeria work but work against it when our interests are at stake.

Finally, let me caution us that the Oronsaye Report is not a silver bullet, but it is a good development that Tinubu has set the ball rolling. He has a tough job ahead and he should know that. More so, the Oronsaye Report is dated, so there will be more knotty issues to deal with. For instance, what happens to the agencies that were created after the White Paper was issued? What happens to those commissions and agencies that are not under spotlight but are richer than some states? Shouldn’t we look at them too? Most importantly, Tinubu has to focus on an overall reform of the public service for optimal service delivery. Nigerians deserve better output from the bureaucracy.

And Four

Other Things…

FORWARD MOVEMENT

We have been told several times that we needed to ditch the “military constitution” because it is against “true federalism” but I am very happy that many states are moving forward with the same constitution. Aviation and railways are on the exclusive list, but states are building airports and running airlines. Lagos state has just inaugurated its second train service, the Red Line, covering Ebute Metta to Agbado with stations at Oyingbo, Yaba, Mushin, Oshodi, Ikeja, Agege and Iju. The first phase is projected to transport 750,000 passengers daily, reaching  1.1 million once it is fully operational. The Blue Line from Okokomaiko to Lagos Marina was inaugurated last year. Progress.

MARKET MESS

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has taken a series of policy measures in the last few days to stop the naira from bleeding, to create a sense of stability. We desperately needed some calm. The naira was already heading for N2,000/$ and someone joked that it might enter 2025 before all of us. The MPC decision on interest rate has been praised by many market analysts who are hopeful that the economy will respond positively. The instability in recent times has been very devastating, although I find it comforting that there has been a swift and decisive response and Mr Yemi Cardoso, the CBN governor, has done a good job of trying to calm our fears. We are watching with bated breath. Relief.

RICE AND DEATH

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has gone into the business of repackaging and selling contraband rice to help implement Tinubu’s “renewed hope” agenda. Well done. But, predictably, there was zero risk assessment and zero crowd control, so seven people lost their lives in the stampede at the zonal headquarters in Yaba, Lagos, where the sale took place. In response to the tragedy, customs suspended the exercise, belatedly saying it was “part of the service’s resolve to ensure the safety of Nigerians and to enable it to properly articulate its next line of action, in order not to defeat the vision of the initiative”. Why was I expecting to hear customs had fired someone? Negligence.

NO COMMENT

The Nigerian government has introduced the expatriates employment levy (EEL), fixed at $15,000 per employee. According to the geniuses behind the policy, the levy is intended to “discourage” companies from hiring expatriates for jobs Nigerians “can do”. The EEL is expected to generate $13 billion per year. Imagine if the UK, US and Canada reciprocate by charging $15,000 on each Nigerian immigrant working in their countries. Meanwhile, will expats doing the jobs Nigerians cannot do also pay the levy? If you really want to “discourage” expats, why not deny them work visas? And how will you raise your $13 billion after discouraging expats from coming to Nigeria? And you know what? The company that got the contract is owned by expats doing the job Nigerians can do! Wonderful.

On Monday, the 188MW Geometric Power Plant in Aba, Abia State, was  commissioned. By this weekend, Aba Power Limited, a subsidiary of Geometric Power, will commence the supply of electricity to a section of Enyimba City. It has taken long, two decades in coming. But soon, the much-needed electricity to unleash the full potentials of Aba, the industrial and commercial nerve centre of Abia, will surely make up for the long wait.

I congratulate and appreciate the efforts of Prof Barth Nnaji and his team to deliver on this project despite all the (political and) business environment obstacles. 

His tenacity and demonstration of the ‘can-do spirit’ is exemplary. It is remarkable that the governor of Abia state had stayed the course of the project that he had made an initial contribution to as a private sector person. Equally worthy of congratulation is the enterprising people of Abia.

This significant milestone is important for a number of reasons. Firstly, it improves peoples access to electricity – and thereby improves the overall quality of life of the people of Abia. This is a privilege the people of Abia must be thankful for. As we all know, more than 40% of Nigeria’s 220 million people do not have access to electricity.

Secondly, it is a big boost to businesses. Aba is one of Southeast’s industrial nerve centres. The other is the Nnewi axis. Inadequate power infrastructure is identified as the most problematic factor for doing business in Nigeria. More than 70% of firms in Nigeria use generators.

Thirdly, the project is delivered by the private sector – and an indigenous one to boot! It demonstrates the resilience of the private sector despite all the business environment issues. It also demonstrates the capacity of the local private sector to deliver on such huge and complex projects.

Why does this excite me?

I have all along been concerned that:

1. The Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) has over the years suffered from inadequate investments, failure of generation, transmission, and distribution infrastructure.

2. Nigeria’s core infrastructure stock is very low, estimated at 35-40% of GDP, below the international benchmark of  70% and below South Africa 87%, Indonesia 70%, China 76% and India 58%.

3. The finances required to bridge Nigeria’s infrastructure gap are in the region of US$100 billion per annum – over the next 30 years.  Nigeria does not have the resources to provide all of its infrastructure needs without sacrificing investments in education, health, and other social services. It should be remembered that Nigeria struggles to budget no more than US$30 billion annually.

For these reasons, I have been an ardent advocate of private sector presence in Nigeria. I have all along advocated for a private sector friendly business environment so we could leverage its enormous resources, including finance, skills, and technology. I doubt if the Abia state government would have been able to execute this mega project with the resources at its disposal.  

My policy document outlines how Nigeria could prioritize investments to increase the stock and improve the quality of economic and social infrastructure across the country. We believe that  narrowing the enormous gap that exists between the demand and supply of key infrastructure facilities in Nigeria is key to improving the competitiveness of our businesses, opening new economic and entrepreneurial opportunities, and promoting enterprise growth. 

To achieve this, we pledged to undertake far-reaching institutional reforms and introduce innovative infrastructure financing models that will be appealing to the private sector to take risks and invest capital.

To this end, we pledged to:

· Facilitate the establishment of a private sector-led Infrastructure Debt Fund (IDF) to mobilize domestic and international private resources for the financing and delivery of large infrastructure projects across all sectors of the economy.  

· Establish an “Infrastructure Development Unit” (IDU) in the Presidency, with a coordinating function and a specific mandate of working with the MDAs to fast track and drive the process of infrastructure development in the country.

· Strengthen the capacity of the ICRC to promote Public Private Partnerships (PPP) in the construction and management of infrastructure across the country.

· Broaden the scope of InfraCredit  to complement the operation of the IDF by de-risking investments in infrastructure to build investor confidence in taking risks and investing capital. 

· Open up the entire power sector from generation to transmission for private investments.

Going forward, the goal of every developing country must be to  achieve universal access to electricity, ensuring that every citizen benefits from reliable power for daily needs, education, healthcare, and economic activities. This would be in line with the SDG 7 (Sustainable Development Goal 7), which aims to ensure affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all. In this wise:

· Nigeria must double efforts to support the likes of Prof Nnaji. Nigerian governments both federal and state must provide the Business environment that will make  the private enterprises more competitive by (1)  reducing their costs of set-up and operations (2) improving their margins and (3) making government policies more predictable.

· In particular, the authorities must create an environment that will enable distribution companies to recover full costs for power supplied to their consumers with firm commitment to a metering program for all customers. The scourge of electricity theft must be dealt with through a viable partnership between investors in the distribution companies and the government with legislative support for prompt action against electricity theft.

· Attention must be paid to improve access to Credit by enterprises willing to invest in the power sector.

· Government must incentivize the private sector to increase greenfield investments in the development of off-grid solutions to intensify electrification, particularly of rural communities not yet serviced by the grid.

Abubakar, Nigeria’s Vice President of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007, was the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 elections.

An Igbo proverb says that the man who complained about the relocation of the village market because its current location suited his wife is not thinking of the needs and fortunes of the larger community. The Igbo will also tell you that a coffin merchant who says to a customer “I will give you a discount when you come for the next purchase” must be viewed with misgivings by all men and women of goodwill. There is also the Igbo saying that whoever makes a living by impunity, presumption and braggadocio will have a very hard time when widespread hunger, draught and famine compels everyone in the community to deploy his farming skills.

Which brings us to the outcry of Katsina Elders, among other allegedly ‘Northern’ voices, when news of the relocation of some departments of the Central bank of Nigeria and aviation ministry hit the airwaves. Like Senator Ndume, who opened with a rather virulent salvo, the Katsina Elders forum asked President Tinubu to either reconsider the decision or face the clear possibility of losing Northern support in the 2027 elections. The statement was that blunt; and to the point.

But what is this much-vaunted point? The reaction was very likely in anticipation of the potential socio-economic impact of a relocation of institutions of state on Northern Nigeria. The group accused some individuals of ill-advising President Tinubu, calling the presumes mis-advisers enemies of Nigeria who aim to undermine the unity of the country.

By implication the, Katsina Elders are saying that the unity and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is secured and maintained by the continued presence of certain government institutions in Abuja – or in the North, generally. Now, that is absurd, is it not?

Not quite done on the matter, the forum accused the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, of supporting the federal government’s plan to relocate anything at all. Quite an “accusation”, wouldn’t you say? The group also asked why Wike was “inviting the Israelis to come and provide security to (sic) Abuja.” That is the business of Katsina Elders – I mean what a minister does, or does not do, in Abuja; right?

This group of wise elders said nothing when Miyetti Allah, a trade union of cattle dealers, set up a fully kitted alternative national security outfit, with its pilot test case in Nasarawa State. The group said nothing when the son of Professor Ango Abdullahi, Chairman of the Northern Elders Forum, was kidnapped from a Kaduna-bound train. The young man was held captive for months, until the full ransom was paid. Not even the subsequent kidnapping of Ango Abdullahi’s relation and her four children, shortly after the release of his son on ransom, was a matter of interest to Katsina Elders.

Even now, the Katsina Elders have not seen anything to worry, or talk, about concerning the routine pillaging of the North by marauders of northern Nigeria origins. Instead, they are very deeply concerned about what President Tinubu should do, in order to please the North and get the support he would need to win the 2027 elections. In strident tones, the group said:
“… we are telling Mr. President, as long as he is interested in coming back in 2027, … to reverse these unconstitutional decisions. Whoever is advising him to take such decisions is an enemy of the country.”

Perhaps the revered Katsina Elders would recall a lengthy submission of four years ago, by the Northern elder statesman, Ahmed Joda. The latter sought to remind his brothers and sisters that Northern Nigeria was not developing its human capital. He also told them, in that well-publicized open expression of concern that the North no longer had the time to do so anymore; and that the region was now ill-equipped to fit into either the knowledge-driven world of today or the new world of tomorrow. He summed it by saying that the North needed at least 20 years of super-accelerated development of its human capital in order to be taken seriously in today’s world.

Is the foregoing the concern of most of the people speaking for the North today? What you see, instead, is the pursuit of the illusion of dominance. No one is asking whether the larger half of the youths of the region possess the skills for tomorrow, or anything that could make them part of a 21st century world in any way.

Everyone now overlooks the major point in Joda’s intervention, which revolved around the fact that the triumphalism of cattle herders will not take the North anywhere in the immediate and long terms. The herders’ illusion of invulnerability rests on a conspiracy to use national security framework to promote insecurity in specific regions of the country. Can this last forever?  Has the headship of institutions of state helped the North, or created a “replacement generation” that can lead the region into the future – even here in Nigeria?

There are abandoned, ungoverned and even ungovernable, spaces all over Northern Nigeria, due to terrorism and banditry. The North’s dominant elite lives in Abuja, while playing games with the very criminals that are wiping out northerners and laying their lands desolate.  

An article which appeared on this page on April 17, 2019, titled “As the North Goes Under”, spoke of how a serving Secretary to the Zamfara State Government “…explained how he abandoned his farm and ranch because of cattle rustling and fear for his personal safety.” He confessed that “it was impossible to deploy law enforcement agents, even for himself, in any meaningful way” because they were mostly outnumbered, ill equipped and answerable to Abuja. As I write, matters have worsened very dramatically in Zamfara State over the years.

Remember that the government of Katsina State once signed an agreement with bandits; for them to stop robbing and maiming hapless citizens under Governor Maisari?  What became of that agreement, and what did Katsina Elders say about it; and about the series of kidnappings going on in the state? What did they say, at that time, about the months-long kidnap of a Katsina State traditional ruler, and of the recent kidnap of a home-going bride and the 63 women accompanying her in the same Katsina?

Remember that Bauchi State signed an MoU on service delivery with development partners a few years ago? Remember also that the same Bauchi State has schools and other social amenities that are better not talked about here. The situation is hardly different in Jigawa, Kebbi, Sokoto, Kano and other northern states. Even states with over 10% of their geographical spaces occupied by marauders have been drafting and implementing budgets and development projects covering these areas, where no one lives.

Is it just elite myopia, leadership illiteracy and abysmal ignorance at work here? Most of Nigeria’s poor are northerners. It is always the case, whether or not most high profile political and economically rewarding positions are held by Northerners. For the first time ever, beginning with the tenure of President Buhari, the North came out with the greatest evidence of a people’s failure to follow the rules of political and economic self-preservation.

What you find at most major social events organized by prominent politicians in most parts of the country today, but specially the North, is that the guests are overwhelmed by shabby looking youths. They are either generally prowling the vicinity, directly affronting guests, or raiding laid out serving-food tables. They are very hungry, and not yet very angry about that. They are looking for bits of leftover, a little cash gift here and there, perhaps a half empty bottle of water, oo a soft drink. Nothing more!

And the big men themselves are usually not embarrassed by the spectacle.

It should be easy for the Katsina Elders to see the disconnect between today’s world and the illusion of relevance they are trying to sustain. School enrolment, the acquisition of vocational skills, professional development, and overall academic performance have not improved, and are not improving, in the North. But go and take a look at the recorded expenditures on education in the last ten years alone.

The North has not shown a significant increase in the number of people registering for SSCE, NECO and similar competitive examinations. And Northerners is being progressively wiped out by “their people” who come here from Chad, Mali, Niger and further away. Many Northern youths are begging in the streets, or in the forests, while those from outside Nigeria now dominate even the herding business; as they turn everywhere into a no-man’s-land. More and more foreigners may be the ones with Nigerian ID cards in the North. The total number of registered candidates for all competitive examinations from the 19 states of the north continues to stand much lower than that of one serious state in the South. Yet, the Katsina Elders are not looking in the right direction for their problems.

The roaming bands of marauders who have no conception of even Fulani/Muslim brotherhood may yet be the undoing of Northern Nigeria, unless the Northern elite wake up on time – if it still has time. The merciless, mindless and truly gruesome regular killing, the kidnappings and the rapacious banditry now has a life of its own. A new breed of wild young men, with predominantly predatory and anti-social skills, and who would rather pick up any healthy-looking man rather than say ‘Ranka dede’, are on the ascendant in Northern Nigeria. This is bad! Very bad for us all!

When you combine the foregoing with widespread drug abuse, poverty, open-ended criminality and elite insensitivity in one location, there you have the ingredients for brewing what is keeping most northern big men to Abuja and environs. Can they be in exile forever? I think not! Abuja itself is no longer safe. Many high-profile, and presumably impregnable, estates and exclusive neighbourhoods in Abuja are no routinely attacked; at the pleasure of bandits and kidnappers.

From the angle of business and simple economics, local economies have collapsed. Re-desertification has taken over the places abandoned by victims of insurgency. Farming and animal husbandry are in limbo, in places where they used to thrive. There is now no peace mind of for those who had the chance to make a difference but failed to do so. Thus, the elite must now spend so much on armed escorts and sundry security measures.

To the Katsina elders, as I said at the beginning of this piece, “…the man who complained about the relocation of the village market because its current location suited his wife is not thinking of the needs and fortunes of the larger community. …whoever makes a living by impunity, presumption and braggadocio will have a very hard time when widespread hunger, draught and famine compels everyone in the community to deploy his farming skills”.

In dealing with one of the initial shocks of the fuel subsidy removal in June 2023, many agencies of the Federal Government and a good number of state governments ‘officially’ reduced working days of the week to either three or two days, instead of the normal five. This initiative was a sort of palliative to lighten the burden of civil servants who were faced with an outrageously high and rising cost of transportation, triggered by rise in the pump price of fuel (Premium Motor Spirit, PMS) sequel to fuel subsidy removal by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration on 29 May 2023.

However, while the reduction in work days may alleviate the plight of the civil servants, productivity at the state and Federal levels was utterly sacrificed. In other words, the main reason for hiring these civil servants was played down—all culminating in unquantifiable loss of the ‘output’ of these public servants. On the aggregate, nationwide, Nigeria would have lost immeasurably in terms of the productivity that would have added up to the much needed economic growth and development.

Productivity is a measure of economic performance that compares the amount of goods and services produced (output) with the amount of inputs used to produce those goods and services. Productivity is said to increase when more output is produced with the same amount of inputs or when the same amount of output is produced with less inputs. But in the subsisting ‘palliative regime’ in Nigeria, the same number of civil servants is being used to ‘produce’ the same or less services at the Federal and sub-national levels: all because of the adverse impact of government policies.

Ever since the adoption of the two or three days (working) week in June 2023, almost every initiative of the Federal and state governments have principally to do with palliatives. There have been hues of ‘salary awards’, cash transfers and motley in-kind palliatives. It is on record that the Federal Government at a point late last year, announced a dole of five billion Naira to each of the states for an assortment of palliative packages for their citizens. The utilization of this fund got ‘soaked’ in the politics of each of the states; and the governors mainly used their political party ‘network’ to reach out to select beneficiaries.

Till date, many of the state governments are still contending that they were given only N2 billion and not N5 billion; and that the money was only to be repaid. Howbeit, it remains very doubtful if the right targets (the very vulnerable) got the government’s largesse (palliatives) in most of the states. This is why, over the past months, rather than things getting better, many more Nigerian have been pushed into the poverty trap in the face of sharp increases in the cost of living.

The import of all these has been continuing deterioration of the nation’s social fabric: sharp increases in crimes and criminality, upheavals and skirmishes, youth restiveness, organized protests, etc. All these have combined to heighten socio-economic tension, even as insecurity keeps posing existential threat to all. The polity is now such that government at all levels is contending with a hungry, angry and restive citizenry. The upshot of this reality has been packaging and re-packaging of all manner of palliatives to (perhaps) merely assuage the frayed nerves and ire of the populace across the country.

In the past couple of weeks, there have been public protests in not a few towns and cities in various parts of the country: Kano, Kaduna, Oyo, Ogun, Lagos, Abuja, Edo and Osun states, etc. As the protests keep spreading like wild fire, governments (states and federal) seem yet preoccupied with ‘dousing’ the tension (anger, hunger, poverty) through palliatives. This is perhaps why, instead of expeditiously coming up with a new/improved salary structure (or minimum wage), the Federal government seems more bent of paying ‘cash awards’ and ‘crumbs’ to calm the Organized Labor (OL), as it were.

The upshot of this has been that in the past eight or nine months, the OL has been in an endless dingdong with the Federal government over the form and content of palliatives as well as the new minimum wage.

While these remain open-ended, the Federal government has resorted to giving ‘food palliatives’; under this arrangement, the Tinubu administration, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, is working on releasing 42,000 metric tonnes of assorted food commodities to support the vulnerable population across the country. As this is ongoing, various state governments in a variety of ways, are institutionalizing the ‘palliatives culture.’ In Lagos state, the commercial hub of the country, for instance, a ‘Special Dispensation Palliative Advisory Committee’ has just been set up.

Chaired by the Governor, with his Deputy as alternate Chairman, the eleven man inter-party panel is to determine the content and variety of palliatives to be put in place by the government, going forward. It will also determine the timing and mode of distribution—to reach the teeming populace. At the Federal level, too, President Tinubu has equally empaneled a tripartite economic advisory committee—essentially to come up with “immediate measures to stabilize the economy.” Made up of representatives from the Federal and state governments as well as the Organized Private Sector (OPS), the panel is to help initiate steps to speedily “bring life back to the economy.”

The situation is not different in other states of the country: it is either the government is buying and distributing foodstuff or buying and deploying buses to ‘ease’ transportation challenges in its domain. These buses are made to charge ‘subsidized’ fares as palliatives for the people. Since June 2023, the Federal government had during festive seasons ensured ‘low fare’ charges by the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) for users of the railways across the country—all in the spirit of palliatives.

Some state governments have so integrated the ‘palliative culture’ into their mode of operation that they rather give crop seedlings (yam, maize, cassava, etc.) to their populace than introduce them to mechanized farming. In point of fact, the seedlings (and in some cases, fertilizer and other inputs) are sold by government (agencies) at subsidized rates—again, as palliatives.

In truth, a panoramic view of all these ‘palliative interventions’ will put to question whatever has been the economic development blueprint of the governments. If there has been any realistic economic roadmap, would palliatives or ad hoc provisions been necessary? Indeed, in the absence of a realistic destination (roadmap), every road (palliatives and doles) just takes Nigeria to somewhere (economically). And that has been its plight for upwards of one year now. At present, the Nigerian economy badly needs direction, stimulation and leapfrogging for a quantum leap. Palliatives will always remain what they are: crumbs!

• 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.

  In dealing with one of the initial shocks of the fuel subsidy removal in June 2023, many agencies of the Federal Government and a good number of state governments ‘officially’ reduced working days of the week to either three or two days, instead of the normal five. This initiative was a sort of palliative to lighten the burden of civil servants who were faced with an outrageously high and rising cost of transportation, triggered by rise in the pump price of fuel (Premium Motor Spirit, PMS) sequel to fuel subsidy removal by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration on 29 May 2023.

  However, while the reduction in work days may alleviate the plight of the civil servants, productivity at the state and Federal levels was utterly sacrificed. In other words, the main reason for hiring these civil servants was played down—all culminating in unquantifiable loss of the ‘output’ of these public servants. On the aggregate, nationwide, Nigeria would have lost immeasurably in terms of the productivity that would have added up to the much needed economic growth and development.

  Productivity is a measure of economic performance that compares the amount of goods and services produced (output) with the amount of inputs used to produce those goods and services. Productivity is said to increase when more output is produced with the same amount of inputs or when the same amount of output is produced with less inputs. But in the subsisting ‘palliative regime’ in Nigeria, the same number of civil servants is being used to ‘produce’ the same or less services at the Federal and sub-national levels: all because of the adverse impact of government policies.

  Ever since the adoption of the two or three days (working) week in June 2023, almost every initiative of the Federal and state governments have principally to do with palliatives. There have been hues of ‘salary awards’, cash transfers and motley in-kind palliatives. It is on record that the Federal Government at a point late last year, announced a dole of five billion Naira to each of the states for an assortment of palliative packages for their citizens. The utilization of this fund got ‘soaked’ in the politics of each of the states; and the governors mainly used their political party ‘network’ to reach out to select beneficiaries.

  Till date, many of the state governments are still contending that they were given only N2 billion and not N5 billion; and that the money was only to be repaid. Howbeit, it remains very doubtful if the right targets (the very vulnerable) got the government’s largesse (palliatives) in most of the states. This is why, over the past months, rather than things getting better, many more Nigerian have been pushed into the poverty trap in the face of sharp increases in the cost of living.

  The import of all these has been continuing deterioration of the nation’s social fabric: sharp increases in crimes and criminality, upheavals and skirmishes, youth restiveness, organized protests, etc. All these have combined to heighten socio-economic tension, even as insecurity keeps posing existential threat to all. The polity is now such that government at all levels is contending with a hungry, angry and restive citizenry. The upshot of this reality has been packaging and re-packaging of all manner of palliatives to (perhaps) merely assuage the frayed nerves and ire of the populace across the country.

  In the past couple of weeks, there have been public protests in not a few towns and cities in various parts of the country: Kano, Kaduna, Oyo, Ogun, Lagos, Abuja, Edo and Osun states, etc. As the protests keep spreading like wild fire, governments (states and federal) seem yet preoccupied with ‘dousing’ the tension (anger, hunger, poverty) through palliatives. This is perhaps why, instead of expeditiously coming up with a new/improved salary structure (or minimum wage), the Federal government seems more bent of paying ‘cash awards’ and ‘crumbs’ to calm the Organized Labor (OL), as it were.

  The upshot of this has been that in the past eight or nine months, the OL has been in an endless dingdong with the Federal government over the form and content of palliatives as well as the new minimum wage.

  While these remain open-ended, the Federal government has resorted to giving ‘food palliatives’; under this arrangement, the Tinubu administration, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, is working on releasing 42,000 metric tonnes of assorted food commodities to support the vulnerable population across the country. As this is ongoing, various state governments in a variety of ways, are institutionalizing the ‘palliatives culture.’ In Lagos state, the commercial hub of the country, for instance, a ‘Special Dispensation Palliative Advisory Committee’ has just been set up.

  Chaired by the Governor, with his Deputy as alternate Chairman, the eleven man inter-party panel is to determine the content and variety of palliatives to be put in place by the government, going forward. It will also determine the timing and mode of distribution—to reach the teeming populace. At the Federal level, too, President Tinubu has equally empaneled a tripartite economic advisory committee—essentially to come up with “immediate measures to stabilize the economy.” Made up of representatives from the Federal and state governments as well as the Organized Private Sector (OPS), the panel is to help initiate steps to speedily “bring life back to the economy.”

  The situation is not different in other states of the country: it is either the government is buying and distributing foodstuff or buying and deploying buses to ‘ease’ transportation challenges in its domain. These buses are made to charge ‘subsidized’ fares as palliatives for the people. Since June 2023, the Federal government had during festive seasons ensured ‘low fare’ charges by the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) for users of the railways across the country—all in the spirit of palliatives.

  Some state governments have so integrated the ‘palliative culture’ into their mode of operation that they rather give crop seedlings (yam, maize, cassava, etc.) to their populace than introduce them to mechanized farming. In point of fact, the seedlings (and in some cases, fertilizer and other inputs) are sold by government (agencies) at subsidized rates—again, as palliatives.

  In truth, a panoramic view of all these ‘palliative interventions’ will put to question whatever has been the economic development blueprint of the governments. If there has been any realistic economic roadmap, would palliatives or ad hoc provisions been necessary? Indeed, in the absence of a realistic destination (roadmap), every road (palliatives and doles) just takes Nigeria to somewhere (economically). And that has been its plight for upwards of one year now. At present, the Nigerian economy badly needs direction, stimulation and leapfrogging for a quantum leap. Palliatives will always remain what they are: crumbs!

  • 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.

THERE were contrasting fortunes for Super Eagles of Nigeria players in the top two tiers of English football today.

In the Premier League, Taiwo Awoniyi came on as a second-half substitute for Nottingham Forest but it was his former club Liverpool who benefitted from his presence.

The striker, who has scored six Premier League goals this season, played a huge part in Liverpool’s winner as the Reds stretched the gap at the top of the table to four points.

With the game in the ninth minute of stoppage time and just seconds from the final whistle, Awoniyi attempted to dribble on the edge of the Forest box instead of booting the ball away, and he paid dearly for the error.

The Nigeria international was robbed of the ball by Alexis Mac Allister who crossed to Darwin Nunez to head home the only goal of the game, earning Liverpool a 1-0 win.

Awoniyi’s error deprived Forest of a crucial point, leaving them 17th in the table, just four points clear of Luton Town who occupy the third relegation spot and have two games in hand.

In stark contrast to Awoniyi, Joe Aribo came on in the 70th minute of Southampton’s Championship clash at Birmingham City and scored in the sixth minute of added time to give the Saints a 4-3 victory.

It was Aribo’s third Championship goal this season and second in three matches as Southampton stay in fourth spot, seven points behind Ipswich who occupy the second automatic promotion place.

Championship leaders Leicester City, who were without their Nigeria stars Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho, lost 2-1 at home to Queens Park Rangers to record a third straight defeat in the league.

Back to the Premier League, Super Eagles midfielder Frank Onyeka started for Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium and played for 77 minutes as they drew 2-2 with Chelsea.

In other Premier League fixtures today, Tottenham Hotspur came from behind to beat visiting Crystal Palace 3-1, Everton lost 3-1 at home to West Ham United and Fulham, with Super Eagles stars Calvin Bassey and Alex Iwobi starting, dismissed Brighton 3-0 at Craven Cottage.

[NaijaTimes]

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said an Israeli strike hit tents housing displaced civilians near a hospital in the southern city of Rafah Saturday, killing 11 and wounding dozens.

A paramedic was among those killed and children were wounded in the blast close to the Emirati Maternity Hospital, ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said in a statement.

“Eleven citizens were martyred and about 50 injured, including children, as a result of Israeli forces targeting tents of displaced people near the Emirati hospital,” Qudra said.

The Israeli military said it was looking into the incident.

Footage posted on social media, which AFP could not independently verify, appeared to show bloodied bodies in the streets as crowds gathered, with men carrying away the wounded for treatment.

An AFP journalist saw wounded people being rushed on stretchers to the Kuwaiti Hospital, also in Rafah.

“Destruction is everywhere and there are many martyrs,” said Rafah resident Belal Abu Jekhleh.

“Suddenly the glass shattered and a fire broke out. Everyone fled, some of whom were martyred and others injured. I was injured in my hands and head, and my brother was also injured.”

Israeli troops have carried out multiple operations in and around hospitals in the Gaza Strip since they launched their offensive in the Palestinian territory.

Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas militants of using hospitals for military purposes, something the Palestinian group denies.

An estimated 1.5 million Palestinians have sought refuge in Rafah, raising fears of mass casualties if Israel goes through with a planned ground invasion of the city.

Mediators are scrambling to secure a new truce ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins on March 10 or 11, depending on the lunar calendar.

The war in Gaza broke out with Hamas’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7 which resulted in the deaths of around 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli figures.

Israel’s retaliatory military campaign against Hamas has killed at least 30,320 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

[DailyTrust]

No fewer than two persons were shot on Saturday at Okere Community in Warri Metropolis of Delta State.

It was gathered the victims were shot by security operatives believed to be soldiers from the 3 Battalion of the Nigerian Army, Effurun Barrack.

The first victim was identified as Macaulay Uku and the second simply identified as Eguono, was shot around midday during the visit to the area by the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III.

Uku, according to various sources, was shot early in the afternoon while Eguono was shot hours later.

The Commanding Officer of the Battalion, Major A. Ohegbe, who was contacted by The Nation, said he was not aware of any shooting but confirmed the heavy presence of security personnel during the visit.

He  hinted that the fracas was sparked off by resistance to the monarch’s visit by a section of the indigenes of Okere community, which is the home of Chief Ayiri Emami.

The Nation recalled  that a section of the Okere community sided with Chief Ayiri Emami, the Ologbotsere of Warri, whose alleged removal is the subject of an ongoing litigation.

“Those who are loyal to the Ayiri essentially are opposed to the monarch and this has resulted in the polarisation of Okere,” a source in the area said.

 Supporters of the monarch however said that there was no opposition to the monarch in Okere, stressing, “He is the Olu of all Itsekiri people”.

Our source further added that the people of the area were incensed by an attempt by the monarch to sprinkle anointing oil at the sacred ground of the Okere shrine.

It was gathered that two of the victims of Saturday’s shooting were those loyal to Chief Emami, leading to insinuation that the soldiers were brought in to suppress opposers of the monarch’s visit.

Tension has gripped the community as supporters on the opposing sides trade words on social media and on the streets on the next line of action.

[TheNation]

A Ghanaian cleric, Bishop Sam Owusu, has expressed disappointment in his fellow Ghanaians for not offering the same level of support to Ghanaian clerics as they do to Nigerian pastors.

This is coming in the wake of Nigerian Pastor Jerry Eze’s conference in Ghana.

The Nations’ Service Project with Pastor Jerry Eze reportedly attracted over 60,000 people last week.

The Ghana Conference, also known as the NSPPD conference, attracted a lot of buzz on social media.

However, Owusu, in a viral clip on Saturday, chided his church members and his countrymen for attending the conference.

Owusu is the Senior Pastor of the Pottersville church, East Legon Hills, Accra, Ghana.

He shared concerns about Ghanaians labelling their pastors as fake but supporting the ministries of Nigerian pastors.

In an impassioned speech in front of his members, he said, “Sometimes I am very surprised about Ghanaians, how hypocritical we are.

“We don’t respect our own and we don’t honour our own and we don’t love our own. We celebrate foreigners more than our own.

“But there is no foreigner that will celebrate Ghanaian. Look at how Ghana members and Ghanaian Christians follow Nigerian pastors and respect Nigerian men of God than even Ghanaian pastors.

“Every prophet in Ghana is considered as fake. Every anointed man of God is considered fake.”

Talking about Eze’s programme, he said, “Just last week, one of the young men in Nigeria came to do a prayer conference here and over 50,000 people were there praying, Ghanaians o!

“But let me tell you, do you know there is no Ghanaian Pastor that will go to Nigeria to have that crowd? Not even 10%?

“Nigerians will never that’s why there is no bigger Ghanaian Church in Nigeria. Nigerians respect and love their own”

He added, “You go to Jerry Eze programme, you are sponsoring a Nigerian at the detriment of your own prophet in Ghana.

“I don’t hate him. I love the man. I love the young man. He came to Ghana and pulled over 100,000 crowd and took offerings and seed to his country and I saw even the Electoral commissioner who was the one who went to receive him from the airport.”

This situation has triggered responses from many individuals, who have highlighted the ongoing competition between Ghana and Nigeria.

The two African nations have often clashed in attempts to establish superiority.

In recent years, Ghana and Nigeria have engaged in friendly competition over Afrobeats, football, and jollof rice.

[Punch]

Mauricio Pochettino admitted he feels unloved at Chelsea after frustrated fans called for his sacking during Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Brentford.

Pochettino’s side led through a Nicolas Jackson header, but were pegged back by Mads Roerslev’s close-range strike after half-time.

Shortly after Yoane Wissa put Brentford ahead with a spectacular overhead kick, Chelsea supporters packed into one corner of the stadium began chanting for Pochettino’s dismissal and singing the name of former Blues manager Jose Mourinho.

But it was hardly an enjoyable afternoon for the former Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain manager on his 52nd birthday.

Asked if he had heard the Chelsea fans’ taunts, Pochettino said: “I’ve been told, I didn’t hear to be honest, it’s difficult for me to understand.

“But it’s normal, we were losing the game 2-1 and they expressed their frustration. I am one of the ones responsible, I’m the coach.

“I was asked before if I feel the love from the fans? No.”

Pochettino has failed to revitalise Chelsea after arriving in the close-season to clear up the mess left by his predecessors Graham Potter and Thomas Tuchel.

Chelsea have spent over £1 billion ($1.2 billion) on signings since Todd Boehly’s consortium bought the west London club from Roman Abramovich in 2022.

But the spree has left Chelsea with an unbalanced and underachieving squad who are languishing in 11th place in the Premier League.

The Blues, who have not won a domestic trophy since 2018, were beaten by Liverpool in last weekend’s League Cup final despite facing an inexperienced line-up.

Pochettino is certain to suffer more terrace jibes amid mounting speculation that he will be axed by the end of the season.

But the Argentine, yet to win a trophy in English football, is adamant he can cope with the vitriol.

“I’m not worried. We need to accept this relationship. You win your relationship through winning games,” he said.

“I will continue to work and try to change this perception. We need to manage some reality. We are working really hard to try to win games, the team is fighting.

“If it doesn’t work and the fans are disappointed I need to respect their opinion. I think the relationship is good. If they did what they did, fans are emotional.

“I am fighting with all my sense to try to provide a team to play in the best way to score goals and win games. Today is my 52nd birthday, I know this business, but I’m going to fight.”

[Vanguard]