Naira is out of balance —Rewane

January 26, 2016

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Naira notes

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The Chief Executive Officer, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Mr. Bismarck Rewane, has described the naira as being misaligned, saying Ghana and South Africa had already moved closer to equilibrium.

Rewane, who was quoted by Bloomberg as stating this, said, “The concerns are that the currency is under pressure, that the currency is misaligned.

“Ghana and South Africa have already moved closer to equilibrium. Nigeria has not really accepted that the currency price is in disequilibrium.”

The Bank of Ghana on Monday kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 26 per cent, in line with the forecasts of seven of the 10 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Kenya’s central bank also opted last week to extend the pause in its interest-rate cycle by leaving the policy rate at 11.5 per cent.

In Nigeria, pressure is mounting on the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, to devalue the naira and ease foreign-currency controls that are said to be hurting businesses and worsening the outlook for growth in the country.

The CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee, which started its first meeting of the year on Monday, will announce the outcome of the meeting on Tuesday (today).

He surprised market analysts at the last MPC meeting in November by cutting the benchmark rate by two percentage points to 11 per cent and snubbing calls to weaken the currency.

All but one of the 22 economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicted that Emefiele will leave the key rate unchanged on Tuesday, with some predicting an adjustment to the naira rate.

While the CBN has virtually fixed the naira at 197-199 per dollar since March, South Africa’s rand has plunged about 29 per cent and Ghana’s cedi is down almost eight per cent in the same period. The National Bank of Angola, which is set to hold an MPC meeting on January 29, has gradually devalued the kwanza since last year as revenue plunged in sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest oil producer after Nigeria.

While a record-low rand may force South African policy makers to take more aggressive action, Nigeria is set to stick to its looser policy, according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Lagos State’s N25bn employment initiative

January 24, 2016

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Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode

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IN an increasingly turbulent national economy that is hobbled by the crash in crude oil prices and corruption, Lagos State has made a bold move by establishing an employment scheme. Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has formalised a N25 billion proposal by signing the Employment Trust Fund Bill into law, with the unique focus on curbing unemployment. Capital is the oxygen of small business. This initiative, if well implemented, has a potential knock-on effect that will roll back the high rate of unemployment in Lagos. But the initiative should not be dampened by corruption, partisan politics, cronyism and bureaucratic red tape.

The ETF policy, whose Board of Trustees is headed by Ifueko Omoigui-Okaru, a former Federal Inland Revenue Service chairperson, will last for four years. “Each year, the government will inject N6.25 billion into the fund…” Ambode said. The ETF will grant soft loans of between N100,000 and N1 million (or more) to residents. The lack of access to funding has been a major impediment to start-ups and small-and-medium enterprises in Nigeria. The ETF reportedly has an interest rate of about 1 per cent. In an economy where the average lending rate is about 19 per cent and some banks lend even higher, small business outfits can now secure the much-valued lifeline to start and grow their holdings. In terms of economic outlook, Lagos, with the highest internally-generated revenue of N276.1 billion in 2014 (National Bureau of Statistics), is taking the bull by the horns.

More than all other states in the country, Lagos bears a high unemployment burden. Youths fleeing Islamist extremism in the North are trooping there. Lagos is still a magnet for millions of youths from the hinterland seeking better opportunities and jobs. Latest figures from the NBS are familiarly depressing for a country of 170 million people, out of which Lagos hosts over 21 million, according to Ambode. Nigeria had a labour force of 75.9 million in the third quarter of 2015, says the NBS. The NBS adds that 1.9 million people entered the labour market in the same quarter. It further says the country created 428,000 new jobs in Q3 2015 (compared to 83,000 new jobs in Q2 2015), but they were mostly in farming, which is seasonal in nature.

Even for those in jobs, there is also underemployment, while many states owe workers their monthly salaries. Bridging these gaps is the goal of every government, even in developed economies. Britain, the world’s fifth largest economy with a GDP of $2.86 trillion (IMF), is deploying innovation and incentives to create jobs. The UK Department for Business Innovation and Skills operates a government-funded scheme that makes it easier for new companies to start operations by providing access to low interest loans, a scheme to identify budding entrepreneurs, and regular advice to SMEs. The BIS gives employment allowance to companies, and, in 2014, abolished the compulsory employer National Insurance contributions for some companies. The last two measures are geared towards making the companies employ more people. Thus, the UK recorded 447,000 new companies in 2013, with a prediction of a further rise in 2014 and 2015.

Without boosting SMEs, the Nigerian economy will struggle to create jobs. That is a time bomb. Instructively, a study conducted in the United States by Kati Suominen, the CEO of TradeUp Capital Fund (an international business consultancy), in collaboration with Aseem Grover of the University of California, Los Angeles, confirms SMEs as the backbone of American economy. “SMEs make up 99 per cent of all firms, employ over 50 per cent of private sector employees, and generate 65 per cent of net new private sector jobs. SMEs account for over half of US non-farm GDP, and represent 98 per cent of all US exporters and 34 per cent of US export revenue,” the report said. Similar strategy can be worked out here.

A local approach to economic development requires a system that can effectively build the supply of skills. Therefore, the Lagos ETF initiative is a wake-up call to the other states in Nigeria. State governments should align their policies and programmes to local economic development by adding value through skills, investing in sectors of local importance and quality jobs and promoting inclusive economic growth. They should identify and enable the types of economic activities that are peculiar to their domains to create jobs and reduce poverty.

Agriculture is a ready option for all. Developing SMEs in Information and Communication Technology is another. For instance, Nigeria is supposed to be self-sufficient in tomato production. But because of lack of good storage facilities and processing, about 50 per cent of the crop wastes, forcing the country to import tomato paste with about N16 billion per year, according to former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Lamido Sanusi. State governments, through novel schemes, should empower entrepreneurs to grow crops all the year round and process for domestic consumption. This will generate year-round jobs, reduce poverty and save foreign ex

States and solid minerals sector

January 26, 2016

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Gold ore, Gypsum

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NOW, it is no longer business as usual with the Federal Government’s recent approval given to the states to exploit mineral resources in their domains if they so wish. This has been a long-standing advocacy of critical assessors of the economy, deeply concerned about the danger of Nigeria’s overwhelming dependence on crude oil for its revenue to the neglect of other resources. The global crash in oil prices, which began mid-2014, is worsening by the day, and has imposed a new economic reality.

Giving the directive in Abuja, the Minister of Solid Minerals, Kayode Fayemi, said states could set up investment companies or form partnerships with private investors to realise this objective, stressing its importance in boosting their dwindling revenues and creating jobs. “Once you do that within the law, the government will at least get royalties from you, get taxes paid legitimately, have people employed in this area. This achieves our objectives of alternative revenue generation for the country and job creation for our people,” Fayemi said.

Nigeria has 34 solid mineral types already identified in commercial quantity. They include tin, iron ore, limestone, gold, gypsum, kaolin, lead/zinc, coal and bitumen. Interestingly, all the states in the country are blessed with one or more of these resources. Nasarawa State is reportedly endowed with over 20 solid mineral types. The exploitation of these resources was a major plank of the economy in the First Republic and contributed over 12 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product. The Lagos State Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Wale Oluwo, said Lagos State had carried out aerial and land geological surveys as it built a solid minerals data bank to assist it in taking economic decisions. He claimed the state had an estimated 12 million metric tons of limestone around Epe, and 200 billion cubic tons of silica sand in the Ibeju Lekki zone. This is a huge dormant wealth waiting to be tapped. The remaining 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory are not less endowed.

The flood of petro-dollars from the mid-1970s changed our economic priorities. The military administration’s centralised control of economic resources put mines and minerals on the Exclusive Legislative List. Thus, local and foreign rogue miners seized control; and by 2012, 400 children engaged in artisanal activities had died from lead poisoning in Zamfara State while mining for gold. The neglect of this sector is evident in its 0.3 per cent input to the GDP as of 2010. The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative’s lamentation last week that only N113 billion was generated from the sector in five years, further mirrors our shared error of negligence and irresponsibility.

Economic linkages in mining are enormous. Coal deposits spread across 13 states, with proven reserves of 639 million metric tons, are assets in electricity generation. According to the Bureau of Public Enterprises, this could generate 7,000 megawatts of electricity. Juxtapose this with the current 4,000MW national average, for which reason most homes are in darkness, and manufacturing industries dislocated, the folly in not exploiting it as yet becomes obvious. Also, iron ore, a raw material for making steel, could breathe life into the country’s comatose railway transport sector. Steel, being heavy metal, is easier moved by rail.

Each mineral exploited means additional jobs created, and more people in the tax net. Planning should be thorough to create a value chain effect so that derivable economic gains could be maximised. The South African paradigm provides us with an example. Its mining sector, which contributes an average of 20 per cent to its GDP, triggered a raft of industries that either support it, or are end-users of its products. The country has first-rate primary processing facilities that span carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminium, gold and platinum. It is by adopting this system that Nigeria would avoid the resource-curse that has befallen it from crude oil export for over four decades.

We urge states to take advantage of this liberal space to diversify their revenue base as the days of crude oil as a money-spinner for the economy are over. The horizon remained ominous on Monday as a barrel of crude sold at $31.42, $7, below the $38 on which the 2016 budget before the National Assembly is predicated.Ironically, the solid minerals that Nigeria neglected is an economic pillar in Canada, Australia, South Africa and other nations that are creative. The Mining Association of Canada, in a report, said that mining contributed $36 billion to the country’s Gross Domestic Product and employed 308,000 persons in 2010. The industry exported $84.5 billion worth of metals, non-metals and coal, while 3,215 companies provided support services to engineering, environmental, geotechnical and financial outlets. The president of MAC, Pierre Gratton, states, “Mining in Canada is playing a leading role in Canada’s economic recovery. We are generating significant results; we are creating valuable new jobs….” It is the same success story in Australia where coal mining and coal economy in 2011-12 created 49,300 and 181,200 jobs respectively, according to the ABS.

Our 36 states, 27 of which can no longer pay salaries regularly, should seize the solid minerals initiative and free themselves from the fatal grip of oil revenue. There are 200 Australian mining companies in African countries, according to its High Commissioner to Nigeria, Jonathan Richardson. They can be tapped by serious-minded states for the partnership that Fayemi suggested. Indeed, the changing economic climate is no joke.

Patriotic allegiance

                                  

It was rush hour aboard heading for the twin tower                        

Reminiscing on time spent on earth opportunity on tour

Buzz from the news feigned hope buried in the pockets of loots

Media merchandize prevailing shadow of truth yet looms

Convoy aloud escorting thoughts to amnesia

Another military reign in democratic regalia

Afar from the need of a common Nigerian

Indamines with lofty manifestoes every year

National convoy on selfish ambition

Paled from the sting of colonial amalgamation

A fortress founded on greed for exploitation

Underneath unrest of patriots preaching caution

Marginalized by my own kinsmen who yet agitate for Biafra

Even though the prior election has set our state on diaspora

Gullible masses feigned by untamed ideologies due to impoverishment

Boko haram in the north fruit of another potential emigrant

Alight this laden mind that unconsciously engaged on a random tour

Across a nation whose policies render the masses poor?

Technocrats on board infected by ancient venom, hence their insights make us poor

Conspiracy beneath masked by paper and files because your figures are blurring

Proliferation of selfishness so the youths result to arms

News headline of our youth on cuffs for cyber crime

Jury for same youth whose prosecutor was the loot

Rant from a bourgeoisie whose kids are in foreign schools

(Sponsored by loot)

National treasury left ajar mouths still agape

Receding drum bits, contrast soprano of agape

Foreign allies applaud their theory of apes

A symphony for service hypocrites

Am proudly Nigerian with innovations in my bloodline

Equipped afore time for revolutionary tides

I will awake to this responsibility I owe my generation in receding times

Armed with understanding of my right,

Demanding transparency and accountability from those we gave right

I will be actively involved in fostering unity, peace and progress

With our potentials we shall diversify our human and natural resources

For in the posterity of our nation lies my prosperity

So help me God...

Ukauwa kelechi

January 15, 1966 coup: Public tragedy, private grief

ON JANUARY 21, 201612:51 AMIN IS'HAQ MODIBBO KAWU BY JOHNABAYOMI2COMMENTS

By Is’haq Modibbo Kawu

FIFTY years ago, last week, Nigeria harvested the tragedy of its first military coup. That coup remains one of the most controversial events of our history, and one that has continued to fundamentally define the contours of our country’s history.

The killing of leading politicians as well as top military officers, from the North and West, almost to the total exclusion of the Eastern region of Nigeria, opened a Pandora’s box of controversies that we are still nursing in Nigeria’s effort at building nationhood and requisite institutions.

For me personally, the killing of Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Northern Nigerian Premier, was the earliest initiation into the intrigues of national politics, in as confusing a manner as it possibly could have been, for a growing child.

I recall very clearly to this day, that those tragic events took place during Ramadan, as well as the shock in our homestead in Ilorin, when news broke of the Sardauna’s murder. It was the end of innocence; and the news was met with an outpouring of emotions as well as talk that our shield had been broken forever, with his death.

Tragic outcomes

It was going to be a different Nigeria into the future; and it turned out to be! A succession of tragic outcomes cascaded upon our country in the aftermath of the events of January 15th, 1966, it was almost a miracle that our dear country survived.

Survived it did, but only after it had lost about two million people in a civil war that climaxed the tragedy which January 15th had so shockingly initiated.
One of more understated narratives of the war, is the casualty figure on what was “our” side of the hostilities; it was almost as if the silence about those deaths, was part of the finale which proclaimed “No Victor, No Vanquished”, in order to assist a fast heal and reintegration of all sides into the post-war canvass of hope that was being painted for a new Nigeria.

Events as public tragedy: The events of January 15th, 1966, played out as public tragedy in our country. They exposed the tenuous nature of our early endeavours of building a post-colonial entity, with all its sharply defined and emergent contradictions.

The narrative of valour became central to the public appreciation of the supreme sacrifices made by the political leaders and also of the gallant military officers, who frankly had no business to have been so cruelly murdered!

Kaduna-Nzeogwu

What the country appreciated was the gallant sacrifices made by those officers and in a case, even of the spouse of the officer. But the public space can be dangerously deceptive, because it can so often mask or hide the personal content of tragedy.

These officers were afterall, husbands and fathers as well as sons and members of their nuclear and extended families.

Long after the public space has moved on to newer calls for national sacrifice, the private grief of members of the families of the deceased remains central to their existence: wives who have become widowed; children growing up without fathers and communities that have lost children in whom hopes had been invested.
This private grief is often unrecognised and the families learn the stoicism that alone, helps them to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives, even when the void of death becomes for them, a chasm that can never be filled in their continuing existence. In almost all cases, even those that survive these heroes become forgotten, as the years roll by.

It was therefore remarkable that fifty years after January 15th, 1966, representatives of these families were afforded the public space by the media, to come to terms with the public tragedy of losing their parents and the half a century long grief they had nursed in their private spaces.

Last Sunday, PUNCH newspaper carried a moving interview with Mrs. Kaneng Daze, first daughter of Lt. Col. Yakubu Pam, Nigeria’s first artillery officer, who was killed on that tragic day in 1966.Kenang was eight years old when her father was killed but she had a vivid recollection of that night and the effect that it eventually had on the life of her family.

She recalled the strength of character that their mother, the late and most beloved, Mrs. Pam, would eventually deploy to keep the family together and to bring up the children, providing guidance till she died: “The words he left behind- ‘look after the children’- were what she held on to in her life and right up to the end.

She never remarried and because of that instruction he gave her, she took care of us and her life revolved around us”. But if the mother gave her all to keep faith with the husband, there were deeper issues that made the tragedy of death such a deeply felt pain, that fifty years could not have erased.

Tragedy of death

Kaneng asked: “Is there any fairness in this world?” And why won’t she ask? “We’ve never known where our father was buried till this day. We don’t know where he lies. Even my mum did not know until she died.

That is one question we all carried in our minds-all the six children”. It sounds incredible, but it is true and the weight of that on the minds of those remarkable children can only be imagined.

Emotional appeal: So fifty years down the line, Kaneng, on her siblings’ behalf, made a very emotional appeal to the Army authorities: “We plead (with the Army) to tell us where our father was buried.

That is the only way they can put to rest the pains that we all carried to this day…All we knew was that they were exhumed from where they were hastily buried and the corpse taken to Yaba Military Hospital.

The post-mortem result we had showed that his body was actually recovered….The report showed that he was shot repeatedly in the chest and jaws. That is all we knew. Up till now, we do not know where he was buried”.

This dignified demand came against the backdrop of related events from that coup: “If the civilians could be given proper burial, why not these officers? Even Nzeogwu…was re-buried with full military honours.

We don’t know why Gen. Ironsi did not deem it fit to accord his officers the respect and dignity they deserved. We are using this opportunity to say that we should be shown where our father was buried and he should be re-buried with full military honours as Nigeria’s first artillery officer and the adjutant general of the Nigerian Army. He did not plan the coup; he was a victim of the coup and so should be properly honoured…”

I read Kaneng’s very emotional interview suppressing a tear and at the same time admiring the dignity of the lady and her family, just as much as I was moved by the interview that was done with Brigadier Ademulegun’s son.

Nigeria still has a long way to go in the manner that it treats its heroes; but no country can earn enduring sense of sacrifice from its citizens when basic decencies are not accorded those who made the supreme sacrifices for the nation.

In the public tragedy of the killings of January 15th, 1966, the enduring private grief of the families of the dead has come to underline the gratitude which we all owe those families that were left to their own devices for half a century.

This is very much a moment of restitution that should be woven to the fabric of change that we have been promised in the new political order in our country. May Allah rest the souls of those heroes of the tragedy of January 15th, 1966; and may He continue to comfort their families. Amin.

Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue: Woman at the PPMC

AS I drove into the NNPC petrol station on Aminu Kano Crescent in Wuse II, Abuja last night, to purchase petrol, and it was done, with so much ease, I recall that there was still problem with getting petrol in Ilorin.

I spent the weekend there and know the lingering problem with petrol supply in many parts of the country. Of course, we need regular supply of petrol to power so much of our modern life and the irony of Nigerian existence, is that we are Africa’s largest oil producing country that depends on very expensive imported petroleum products.

The NNPC subsidiary, Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC)is saddled with ensuring that we get petrol and in August 2015, a new MD was appointed to head PPMC.

Major recognition

She is Mrs. Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue, a lawyer, who had occupied many important positions within the NNPC, including her position as General Manager, Board Matters and Management Committee Department (BMMC) in the Corporate Secretariat and Legal Division (CSLD) of the NNPC, where she organised Board/Board Committee meetings amongst others.

Her appointment as the MD of PPMC is a major recognition of the work that she has done within the NNPC as well as the experience that she has acquired over the years. And one of the approaches being used to improve the supply of petroleum products in the country now, is the tracking of trucks to be able to know exactly where they are and to ensure that products are supplied on schedule.

Esther Nnmamdi-Ogbue has her work cut out into the next couple of years, when it is expected that the various reforms being carried out in the NNPC and its subsidiaries, including the PPMC, would have been put in place.

Nigerians expect that the supply of petroleum products will become a very efficient process that will help us to eliminate the mann hours often lost and the anarchy usually associated with the regular sessions of products shortages around Nigeria.

The fact that Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue was named the new MD of PPMC, shows the level of trust the leaders of the Nigerian petroleum industry have in her ability to push through the modernisation of the PPMC.

It is not going to be easy, given the entrenched interests that profit massively from the chaos of the past couple of years in the system and the levels of harm that they have inflicted upon the economic wellbeing of Nigeria. As I drove out of the NNPC station last night, with full tank, my mind went to Mrs. Nnmadi-Ogbue and the responsibility she now carries as the Managing Director of the PPMC.

Things are getting better; they can be much better still and that is the task that Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue has set for herself atop the pile at the PPMC. We will continue to track her progress because her appointment is testament to women’s advancement in our corporate system. I wish her well into the future.

Nigeria should devolve or dissolve

ON JANUARY 19, 201612:10 AMIN CANDID NOTES BY JOHNABAYOMI2COMMENTS

By Yinka Odumakin

WERE it not that I have given up on Nigeria as it is, I would have made a demand on the Minister of Power, Housing and Works (I hope that is the order), Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) to throw into the dustbin most of the agenda he has been sharing. I particularly would have called on the minister to shove all he has put down on Works until he has undertaken the onerous assignment .

It is a very simple one but somewhat difficult for Nigerian officials whose job description is about every other thing else but serving the people. They prefer to live large and big at the expense of the people without caring a hoot about deliveries to the very essence of their being in office.
It was out of consternation for the large life our officials live that this writer warned at the 2014 National Conference that if the price of oil should crash our jet-flying governors would look for Okada to ride. Though I don’t like quoting myself often but I need to pull this again:

“If price of oil crashes today, govs flying jets will look for okada to ride – Delegate”

“A delegate representing the South West geo- political zone of the country, Yinka Odumakin told other delegates yesterday that if the price of oil crashes today, governors who he alleged to be going round the world with private jets, will look for motorcycles, known as Okada to ride.
Contributing to debate on report of the devolution of power Committee yesterday, Odumakin also said that if no oil, only Lagos state out of the 36 states of the country would be able to use its Internally Generated Revenue, IGR to pay workers’ salaries.

He said, “The recommendations of the Devolution Committee to use 4.5 % of our annual budget to develop other mineral resources outside oil is the most apt thing to do now to get out of the sharing culture that is holding Nigeria down.We are engaged in one of Ghandi’s identified 7 Social Deadly Sins-Wealth Without Work.If oil prices should crash today,all our states would collapse and the governors flying jets all over the place will look for okada to ride.

“The grim reality below shows that we must embrace wealth flowing from work by going under the soil in our various states to diversify the economy.”

On IGR and States’ wages, the delegate said, “Only one of the 36 states can afford to pay workers’ salaries with internally generated revenues.
The remaining 35 states generate only a fraction of funds they require to settle their wage bills annually. This means that without federal funds, these states cannot even afford salaries payment, not to talk of executing any projects.

“Information on states’ wage bills comparisons with data on their internally generated revenues (IGR), published by the National Bureau of Statistics, the result showed that only Lagos State can pay salaries of its workers by solely relying on revenues generated internally.
“None of the 19 Northern states has this much financial muscle. They all depend on federally-allocated subventions, mainly made up of funds generated from sales of crude oil that is extracted down south.

“Other components of the federal allocation, shared between the three tiers of government on monthly basis, include taxes collected by the Nigerian Customs Service and the Federal Inland Revenue Service.

“The data published by the statistics bureau showed that in 2010 and 2011, only seven states had IGR in two-digit billions. Lagos is the only one with a three-digit figure, while the remaining states had single digits.

Low IGR, high wage bill

In 2012, the situation improved slightly with 12 states recording double-digit figures in billions while Lagos remained the only with three-digit figures.

“The implication of the low revenue generation by the states is that most of them can barely sustain themselves without recourse to monthly federal subventions.

Most states have had to take short-term bank loans to settle wages whenever there were delays in the monthly disbursements by the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC).

“Lagos generated N219 billion in 2012, three times its annual wage bill of N76.5 billion. States that generated more than N10 billion in 2012 are Kano, Kaduna, Oyo, Ondo, Ogun, Enugu, Edo, Delta, Cross River and Akwa Ibom.

Among states with fairly strong revenue bases are Rivers, which generates the second highest IGR of N66.2 billion in 2012, but has an annual wages bill of N96 billion.

“Edo made N18.9 billion revenue but is weighed down by a salary bill of N28 billion yearly, while Cross River generated N12.7 billion though it pays N22 billion wages annually.

Even though Kano has the highest IGR in the North, the N24 billion it generated in 2012 is not enough to pay salaries of its workers, which is N36 billion yearly. Kaduna, the second internal revenue earner in the North, garnered N11.5 billion but which is less than half its N27.4 billion annual wage bill.

“The situation with the remaining states is worse, as their annual wage bills are several times larger than their internally generated revenues.

For instance, Zamfara’s internally generated revenue is N2.5 billion in 2012, while its annual wage bill is N13.2 billion; Yobe generated N1.7 billion, and has a yearly salaries bill of N18 billion; while Adamawa’s N23 billion wage bill is five times higher than its IGR of N4.6 billion.
Even oil-rich Bayelsa State generated only N3 billion in 2011, but pays N48 billion in salaries yearly.

“Nasarawa made N4.1 billion in 2012 but spends N24 billion yearly in salaries; Sokoto generated N3.8 billion in 2010 and spends N16.8 billion on annual wages; and Kogi got N3.1 billion in 2012 but it is workforce soaks up N44 billion yearly.

“Kwara (salaries, N11 billion; revenue, N7.2 billion), Benue (revenue, N8.4 billion; salaries, N34.8 billion), Katsina (salaries, N14.4 billion; revenue, N5 billion), Bauchi (salaries, 26 billion; revenue, N4.1 billion), Ondo (revenue, N10.1 billion; salaries, N48 billion), Plateau (revenue, N7 billion; salaries, N20.7 billion), Kebbi (revenue, N5.4 billion; salaries N12 billion), Niger (revenue, N3.7 billion; salaries N31.2 billion), and Gombe (salaries, N14.4; revenue, N3.7 billion).

“Others are Abia (salaries, N30 billion; revenue, N3 billion), Akwa Ibom (salaries, N33.2 billion; revenue, N13.5 billion), Anambra (revenue, N6.1 billion; salaries, N16.3 billion), Borno (salaries, N20.7 billion; revenue, N2.4 billion), Delta (revenue, N45.5 billion; salaries, N85.2 billion) and Ebonyi (salaries, N16.8 billion; revenue, N14 billion).

“There are also Ekiti (salaries N24 billion, revenue N3.8 billion), Imo (revenue N6.8 billion, salaries N22.8 billion), Jigawa (salaries N33.5 billion, revenues N1.4 billion), Osun (salaries N22.8 billion, revenue N5 billion), Oyo (salaries N49 billion, revenue N14 billion), Taraba (revenue N3.4 billion, salaries N21.6 billion).”
(Henry Umoru, Vanguard July 9,2014).”

We thank God Almighty that in less than two years these words have come to pass before our very eyes and our officials would gradually be coming down to our level as oil now sells below $30. Let’s pray it crashes to less than $10 before the end of this year so we can all know it is time to quit our indolence and work”

Message to Fashola

What would I have asked Fashola to do? To undertake a trip to Accra from Lagos by road the way I did recently.
From Mile 2 to Seme border I fought with my driver all the way as we went in and out of one pothole (or crater)after It was like a journey through a war-torn country. It is unimaginable that this was a drive through an international route in a richly endowed country.

It was a different ball game when we crossed to Benin. Immediately we stepped out of Nigeria,we did not enter one pothole till we arrived Accra. My worry this time around was speed as I reminder mty driver over and again to get the speed within reasonable limit particularly when I woke up from my slumber to see he was doing 150km/hour.

It was shameful going through roads in Benin,Togo and Ghana without seeing a pothole on the road.These are small countries that do not have the human and material resources of Nigeria but are fixing their problems.Most of the roads are not dual carriage but they are smooth and you drive with ease.

My experience immediately told me that Nigeria has no chance of making it except it devolves power and resources to its federating units. If all the roads called “Federal Roads” in Nigeria are transferred to regional administrations with authority to use their resources under their soil, there is no way some regions would not do better than the Federal Government is doing at the moment. If Togo could build motor-able road why would the South East not do same? If Benin Republic could fix its roads why would the North Central not b able to do so? Why would the South-South fail to achieve that which Ghana has perfected? Awolowo already took the South-West beyond this rudimentary before Nigeria became a drag on Yorubalnd!

There is therefore no reason for Nigeria as it is.It is not useful to anybody except those who want to loot. We must therefore devolve immediately as the ONLY alternative is to dissolve.

When Rehoboam the son if Solomon became King in Israel, the people came to him and ask him to lighten their burden from what it was in the days of his father. The king asked them to come in three days so he could consult his cabinet. Unfortunately, they gave him a wrong advice .

When the people returned, the King told them that whereas his father chastised them with whips, he was going to use scorpion.This infuriated the people who moved from asking for restructuring to demand independence and said to him:
Get lost, David!
We’ve had it with you, son of Jesse!
Let’s get out of here, Israel, and fast!
From now David, mind your own business (Message Translation)

BBOG member, Aisha Yesufu reveals more on the Chibok parents meeting with Buhari, comes hard on him One of the leaders of the Bring Back Our Girl Group BBOG, Aisha Yesufu, has shared more details on the meeting the group and parents of the missing Chibok girls had with President Buhari at the state house yesterday January 14th. She shared some hard truth of what happened there. See more of her tweets after cut... Posted by Linda Ikeji at 10:03 AM

BBOG member, Aisha Yesufu reveals more on the Chibok parents meeting with Buhari, comes hard on him

One of the leaders of the Bring Back Our Girl Group BBOG, Aisha Yesufu, has shared more details on the meeting the group and parents of the missing Chibok girls had with President Buhari at the state house yesterday January 14th. She shared some hard truth of what happened there. See more of her tweets after cut...