Federal employees across Nigeria have expressed their frustration over the delayed payment of their January salaries, criticizing the government’s handling of the situation amidst the country’s ongoing economic challenges.

The outcry comes as workers from various federal establishments, including educational institutions, media houses, and government agencies, face increasing financial strain.

A memo from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, had previously informed employees about the expected delay.

The document explained that the delay was due to efforts to finalize the 2024 Appropriation on the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) platform, which resulted in the Personnel Warrant for January 2024 not being released on time.

This has affected Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) nationwide, with staff urged to remain patient while the issues are resolved.

The impact of the delay has been profound in states like Ekiti, where staff from institutions like the Federal University, Oye Ekiti (FUOYE), and Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti, among others, have voiced their concerns.

Wole Balogun, an official at FUOYE, lamented the added hardship faced by people and criticized the bureaucratic bottlenecks causing the payment delays.

Similarly, Folashade Daramola from the Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti, highlighted the difficulties in fulfilling loan obligations and meeting daily transportation and feeding needs.

In addition to the salary delays, Owoeye Ilesanmi from the National Orientation Agency (NOA) pointed out the government’s failure to fully disburse the wage award promised to federal workers as compensation for the subsidy removal on petrol, which has led to a significant increase in living costs.

The situation has also led to distress among workers in Katsina State, where employees like an engineer from the Federal University, Dutsin Ma, and a non-academic staff member of the Federal Polytechnic, Daura, report severe disruptions to their work schedules and daily lives due to the financial crunch.

With the delay affecting employees’ ability to commute to work and exacerbating the financial pressure from rising food prices, the sentiment among federal workers is one of increasing desperation.

Many have taken to social media to voice their grievances, with one worker humorously referring to the extended wait for their salary as “January the 39th,” indicating the prolonged nature of the month without pay.

As federal workers navigate these challenging times, the delay in salary payments highlights broader issues of economic hardship and the need for timely and efficient administrative processes to support the workforce.

[NaijaNews]

Super Eagles coach, José Peseiro, has declared that the players will not be intimidated by the atmosphere when Nigeria takes on hosts Ivory Coast in the final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, on Sunday.

Ivory Coast will be out for a revenge after they were beaten 1-0 by the Super Eagles on matchday two in Group A.

The Super Eagles are now focused on winning their fourth AFCON title while the Elephants are seeking to lay hands on their third title.

Peseiro, who addressed the press on Saturday ahead of the crunch final revealed that his team won’t be intimidated by the harsh atmosphere.

“I think it is good. The stadium will be full, fantastic atmosphere. One final, my players, me, and all my staff prefer to play in a full stadium with a good atmosphere,” Peseiro told reporters.

“Even sometimes, they try to shout at us, not the football but it is a good atmosphere to play in the final, only need to concentrate on what must do on the pitch, our task, job, demand, commitment, sacrifice, spirit, and what we must do in each moment of the game to manage our mental balance, before the match, along the match.

“It is for our players to put effort when the people around push for Côte d’Ivoire, you don’t feel the opposite when they push for the opponent but if you want to play, you need to play with the same enthusiasm and motivation, because you want to win this AFCON, no favorite for tomorrow but you want to win this AFCON.”

[DailyPost]

A huge number of unconfirmed reports from the United States indicate that the CEO of Access Holdings Plc, Herbert Wigwe might have died in a helicopter crash near the California-Nevada border.

According to reports, the helicopter crashed on Friday night close to a border city between Nevad, killing five other people on board when it was en route to Las Vegas.

Unverified sources stated that Herbert Wigwe’s wife, Chizoba was also invloved in the mishap.

As of Saturday morning, according to the New York Times, no survivors had been found, according to the officials.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) disclosed that a helicopter crashed Friday night near Nipton, California, with six people on board.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement that no survivor has been found as of Saturday morning.

The FAA identified the aircraft as a Eurocopter EC 130.

“We were made aware of a downed aircraft at approximately 10:12 p.m., on February 10, 2024. The scene of the crash was determined to be east of the 15-Freeway, near Halloran Springs Road,” the sheriff’s department said.

Meanwhile, no agency or investigation has reported the cause of the crash.

Vanguard News

The judgement of the Federal High Court in Lagos last week ordering the government to fix prices of some goods and services in seven days has triggered speculations that the government might be considering a reintroduction of price control. Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa specifically asked the federal government to determine the prices of milk, flour, salt, sugar, bicycles and their spare parts, motor vehicles and their spare parts and petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene. The order was contained in the judgement in a suit filed by Femi Falana against Price Control Board and the Attorney General of the Federation according to Section 4 of the Price Control Act of 2004. Falana had sued the Board and the AGF to fix prices of the items but the respondents did not file any defence. The court order has set off speculations that the government might undo its deregulation policy. But it should be noted that the court order was for the government to fix the prices of the mentioned items; it did not specify whether the fixed prices should be above or below market rates.

Price control, first used by the military regime of Gen. Obasanjo in the 1970s, is a government order that stipulates a maximum or minimum price to be charged for specified goods and services, especially during periods of war or high inflation, as we have today. Minimum price is called price floors while the maximums are price ceilings. But with the continued expansion and liberalization of the economy over the years, price control has become largely otiose, although the government is still fixing price floor for wages and salaries (minimum wage). In 2004, the Obasanjo administration reenacted the Price Control Act and set up Price Control Board. The law remained largely unknown and unheard of until Justice Lewis-Allogoa’s pronouncement last Wednesday. If the federal government had been diligent enough to enter a defence and argue against price fixing, the judge might have given a different order. I await the government’s next move, but for now, I caution that reintroducing price control would be counterproductive and difficult to enforce and, in addition, create unintended consequences.

Price control could lead to shortages of goods and services as producers become less incentivized to produce them at lower prices, and this may result in the emergence of black markets where the goods are sold at higher prices than the regulated prices. A good example is the foreign exchange market where black market has become a major determinant of reference prices. Another challenge is that price regulation could also result in reduced investments and innovation in some sectors as producers may be less motivated to make huge investments if they cannot raise prices to recoup their investments. This is one of the reasons that foreign investors shied away from investing in refineries in Nigeria. Regulated prices of refined products were considered major disincentives. Proliferation of fake products as genuine producers cannot produce at regulated prices is another problem of price control, and as I said earlier, price control could be very difficult and costly to enforce. Government will have to deploy regulators or ‘’mystery shoppers’’ to go from shop to shop to catch violators. Trust Nigerians, another set of extortionists and bribe takers would emerge. Every unemployed youth and motor park ‘agberos’ would want to enlist in the Price Brigade! I urge the government to abandon any idea of a return to price regulation.

The leading cause of inflation in the country is food inflation, and to address this problem, it is important to note that Nigeria is not suffering from shortages of food and basic commodities. In fact, our markets are still full of food items in large quantities. Rather, the problem is that people do not have money to buy the food they want in the required amount and quality. This is known as food insecurity. Our problem is not food shortage, but food insecurity. I should note that this is not developing countries’ problem alone. There are many cases of food-insecure households even in the US and some European countries, and they have devised many programs to check it. We should. First, there’s a strong need for employers to increase salaries of low-income earners in their organizations. It’s heartening that the federal government has started minimum wage discussions with the NLC. Second, state governments should establish some kind of food stamp programs in which governments buy basic items in large quantities and resell at reduced prices to the vulnerable members of the public. It was common in the 1970s and ‘80s in the old Cross River State and I am not surprised that Akwa Ibom State government is already planning to bring back the scheme. But the government should guard against possible abuse by light-fingered officials. Third, every household should be encouraged to grow own food crops, especially annuals (those crops that are grown and harvested under one year), and raise poultry. Every civil servant should be mandated to own a farm and Fridays should be declared work-free to enable them go their farms. This is an emergency.

Food insecurity and large-scale hunger in a large population such as our poses serious national security challenges. The outbreak of protests in some northern states last week where, incidentally, poverty is very pervasive should be an early warning signs that things may go out of hand.

Wigwe University…

An online video emerged last week alleging that Wigwe University would be charging school fees in dollars, and that each student would pay over $12,000 in tuition and sundry charges. Although I knew that this was a misleading allegation that could damage the reputation of the new institution, I promptly contacted its founder, Dr. Herbert Wigwe. He responded: ‘’This is not true. It is only foreign students that will pay in dollars. Nigerians will pay in Naira. This is clearly stated in the University’s website. No amount of mischief will derail us from contributing to the development of our country’’. All over the world, foreign students pay far higher fees than citizens of those countries. Since Wigwe University is planning to attract students from other countries, they should pay in dollars and the university will earn foreign exchange. But this is not new or unprecedented. I recall that there were some foreign students at UNN in those days (1970sn and 1980s) when our public universities were among the best in the world. University of Calabar was also full of Camerounian. In fact, Cameroun had to establish a consulate in Calabar to take care of the influx of its students into UNICAL. That era has long gone with the reduced funding and prolonged labour strikes. Now that our private universities in general and WU in particular are hoping to bring back the lost glory, we can only support them.

The dollarization of the economy has become a major problem, contributing to the weakening of the Naira and rampant inflation. The EFCC has announced that it is on the trail of culprits. But we should be careful not to make sweeping allegations against genuine citizens. The Herbert Wigwe I know will never flout the law.

In its renewed bid to support sports tourism in Nigeria and Africa as a whole, the Project Fly with Us Afrika has unveiled the  Face of Africa Sports and Tourism Awards ASTA. This was done at Sofitel Hotel Ivoire, Cote Divoire.

Project Fly with Us Afrika began operation in 2022 with Destination Travels and Tours, recently it became more focused on Sports tourism, recognising and appreciating those who have carved a niche for themselves in the sporting world either as professionals, organisers or ardent supporters of sports and tourism in Africa.

According to the brain behind the Project Fly Afrika initiative, Ambassador Peace Onuiri, the ASTA awards currently taking place in Cote D'Ivoire is the first of its kind and slating to hold during the AFCON 23 football tournament.

He said, this is to show that the organisation is passionate about projecting the impact of sport tourism and rekindling the love of sports, whilst promoting sport and tourism destinations in Africa 

Amb. Onuiri informed that  during the ongoing Africa Cup of nations, the organisation had so far presented awards of Honours to the Nigeria Football Association, (NFF), President, Ibrahim Musa Gusau and  Africa Football Legend, Austin 'Jay Jay' Okocha for their indelible contributions to the growth and development of Soccer in Nigeria and Africa, noting that the recipients also won 2 tickets each for a luxurious tour of East Africa Safari, coming up in few weeks. 

Amb. Onuiri further revealed that  logistics arrangements were also made for those flying to Cote D'Ivoire to cheer the Nigerian Super Eagles to victory in form of round trip flights, luxurious accommodations, guranteed tickets for up-close match experience, as well as guided tours to immerse guest in the whole local atmosphere of the city. 

She noted that it was not just about the match experience but a celebration of culture, camaraderie laced with unforgettable moments to be cherished for long afterwards. 

Amb. Onuiri implored well meaning individuals and corporate bodies to key into the initiative by supporting in any possible way, saying it would not only promote the industry but also go a long way in promoting Nigeria as the 'Giant of Africa' where sporting and tourism activities are concerned.

L-R: Boluwaji Matthews of Oyo State Broadcasting Corporation, Ayo Ibidapo of the NFF media, Austin 'Jay Jay' Okocha, former Super Eagles Striker, Ambassador Peace Onuiri of the Project Fly with Us Afrika and other members of her Media team during the Presentation of the Face of Africa Sports and Tourism Awards ASTA to Okocha at the ongoing 2024 African Cup of Nations in Cote D'Ivoire.