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Tag: Nigerian economy

  • Ugly optics from Turkiye and return of our visiting president

    Ugly optics from Turkiye and return of our visiting president

    By

    UGO ONUOHA

    Nigeria’s president, Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu, enjoys gallivanting. Put together he has been out of the country for more than half of one year in the two years and some months that he had been in office so far. For this period alone counting from December 28, 2025 to today, February 3, 2026, Tinubu would have spent only 11 days in Nigeria out of 34 days, less than one-third. He has set the tone for this year because the Igbo say that “ana esi n’uto ahuru mara uto nsi”. For decency we will just say that this means that the taste of the pudding is in the eating. But in truth, the transliteration of that Igbo sentence would come out as “you can guess the taste of feces from the smell of the fart that preceded it”. Those who keep tabs on presidential travels in the modern era of our country may yet find out that he holds the record as the most travelled Nigerian head of state in the first two years of their being in office.

    Tinubu has spent about 220 days abroad since he acceded to office on May 29, 2023. He just returned to the country on Saturday, several days after the state visit to Turkiye ended. That was not unusual. That explains why his handlers announce his departure dates but never the return dates. It’s the same when he goes to Brazil as an observer during the BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa] summit. It’s the same when he visits London. It becomes worse whenever he is in Paris, France, his preferred home which coincidentally is the abode of his long time friend and business associate, Gilbert Chargouri [GCON], the Lebanese Nigerian. Some angry Nigerians have dubbed this secretly awarded medal of Grand Commander of the Order of Nigeria as Gilbert Chargouri Order of Nigeria [GCON].

    Whenever President Tinubu travels out of the country, which turns out to be very very often, the only thing that is known is the date for his departure. His return date is never or at best seldom stated in presidential communications. Sometimes the country he would be going to is never named. For instance, on December 28, 2025, one of the president’s spokespersons, Bayo Onanuga, caused a statement to be issued wherein Nigerians were told in a contemptuous, disdainful and derisive manner that Tinubu had departed for Europe as part of his end of year activities. He said that from Europe, the president would go to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates [UAE] for a programme. That event was scheduled to last for one week. On that trip, the president stayed away from the country for three weeks. The name[s] of the European country[ies] he went to remained a mystery. Though he was said to have been sighted in Paris during that period.

    When he returned from Abu Dhabi,Tinubu managed to spend one week in Nigeria, the very country he swore an oath to govern, and then he hurried out to Turkiye for a state visit. Though the presidency avoided putting a timeframe to the visit, the understanding was that the Turkiye state visit was not meant to last beyond two days. That’s the way it should be. Nobody should expect the president of Turkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a busy and obviously serious-minded leader of a country to devote or waste one week babysitting the president of another ostensibly unfocused and unserious country whose ruler may desire to even stay longer in a foreign land. For Tinubu, it’s obvious that better anywhere else but in Nigeria.

    In hindsight it should now be obvious even to the not too discerning that this ruler of Nigeria had a game plan for the duration of his presidency – four years, eight years or any number of years in-between. Travel. Travel. And travel. That should explain why he hastily acquired a well-appointed wide body Airbus aircraft as an addition to the presidential fleet. The prior talks that the aircraft in the presidential fleet were too many to start a commercial aviation service were not for him. Tinubu had made up his mind that he would rule Nigeria from the skies, and from across oceans, and from foreign lands. Of course, as should be expected for a jet procured in a hurry and in an untardy manner, there was no appropriation for it by what has turned out to be a supine national assembly [NASS]. Onanuga later explained, obviously reluctantly amidst national outcry, that the multi billion Naira jet was bought with monies from a slush fund otherwise called Service Wide Vote. It has to be said that this Vote is not unique to this regime. Tinubu did not create it. It has been in existence. Such opaque budgetary provisions are not unusual in jurisdictions such as Nigeria’s where kleptomania rules. To accentuate the proclivity to hedonism, an armour-plated and bomb-resistant Cadillac was added to spruce up the comfort and safety of President tinubu.

    However, Tinubu’s state visit to Turkiye last week demonstrated that there is so much that the perks and appurtenances of a high and demanding office can mask. They cannot mask a man suspected of infirmity to become suddenly strong. Even a performance enhancing steroid wears away over time. Comforts and access to the best of medical facilities and technologies and inventions are useful and life-enhancing. But they cannot cure slowdowns and noticeable sluggishness that come with age. It gets worse when there’s a combination of infirmity and old age. To be sure old age could be grace that comes from on high which many actually covet but do not have. It has to be said, however, that for some people old age could be karma designed to serve them cold dinner in the twilight of their lives when they are helpless and most vulnerable. When suspected infirmity combines with old age, living a jet-set lifestyle becomes ill-advised. It certainly will not be good for a man in his mid-70s or actually in his mid-80s.

    In national terms Nigeria is in a dire straits in almost all facets. If Nigeria were to be a human being it would be a key candidate for admission in the ICU [intensive care unit]. Its politics is bastardised. Its economy is comatose. Paranoid. Paralysed. Its sovereignty is challenged by domestic non-state actors and foreign powers with morbid interests. The claims of the unity of the country and its indissolubility are convenient and self-serving slogans in the mouths of the members of the corrupt and looting ruling elite. In Turkiye last week, it was the instability of Nigeria that was in the global spotlight. Tinubu merely approximated it. The world saw Nigeria on display through their ruler. Nigeria told the world that this was the best it had on offer. The irony is that this country is still a mystery to the international community. It presents a contradictory image of itself – a country of young and tech savvy people and, at the same time, a country of a bungling and utterly corrupt ruling class. It’s a mystery. And an enigma.

    There’s no attempt here to diagnose the health status of President Tinubu. I am not a certificated health professional. And I am not his personal physician. But the telltale signs of a stumbling and tumbling man in Turkiye last week who needed to be assisted by his host to stabilise and focus should be concerning, nay troubling for any Nigerian who means well for this country. The signs were writ large prior to the 2023 election after which he was declared the winner. What this means in effect is that this country which is in ICU has had the dubious burden of nursing its nurse for the better part of 10 years. A president should be a nurse for an ailing country.

    The affliction of Nigeria who masqueraded as its president from 2015-2023, Maj. Gen.[rtd] Muhammadu Buhari, became a patient instead of a nurse for the country. He was in and out of hospitals abroad for the duration of his eight years of reign. At a time he was on a hospital bed in London for 103 consecutive days. His appointees formed cabals which ran the country to benefit themselves. The chickens are now coming home to roost. The only achievement of Buhari was ‘non-governance’ which ensured that the country went back by at least 30 years. It will be frightening if  this country is on the cusp of witnessing a déjà vu. Already, people who should be in the know are indicating that Tinubu is not firmly in control of his regime. They claimed that contending cabals have been pulling at opposite ends which accounts for the many missteps by the regime including smuggling a strange name into the list of ambassadors-designate. Indeed, the strangler had been assigned to a duty post before the scheme was uncovered. The burgeoning perception and image of Nigeria as a rolling crime scene is foreboding.

    UGU ONUOHA, Veteran Journalist, Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief, Champion Newspapers Limited writes from Lagos, Nigeria’s Centre of Excellence

  • NIA 2024 Digest: NEM Insurance Tops Motor Insurance Market as Competition Intensifies

    NIA 2024 Digest: NEM Insurance Tops Motor Insurance Market as Competition Intensifies

    Lagos — The Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) has released its 2024 Digest, ranking the top 10 insurance companies by motor insurance underwriting and revealing sustained growth and heightened competition in the segment over the past five years.

    According to the report, which was made available to journalists on Thursday in Lagos, NEM Insurance Plc retained its position as Nigeria’s leading motor insurance underwriter in 2024, recording the highest premium income in the category.

    NEM Insurance posted ₦23.483 billion in comprehensive motor premiums, ₦2.148 billion in third-party premiums and ₦156.8 million from third-party fire and theft policies, bringing its total motor insurance premium to ₦25.8 billion for the year. This represents a significant increase from ₦20.1 billion recorded in 2023 and ₦10 billion in 2020.

    The insurer first emerged as the market leader in motor insurance underwriting in 2015 and has maintained the top position for more than a decade, steadily widening its lead over competitors.

    Mutual Benefits Insurance Plc and Leadway Assurance Ltd. followed with strong performances. Mutual Benefits generated ₦14.05 billion in comprehensive premiums and ₦157.08 million in third-party premiums, bringing its total motor premium to ₦14.21 billion, while Leadway recorded ₦11.05 billion.

    Custodian and Allied Assurance Ltd. ranked fourth with ₦10.48 billion, closely followed by Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Ltd., which posted ₦7.02 billion, placing both companies among the top five motor insurance underwriters in 2024.

    Other insurers that featured prominently in the ranking included Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, AIICO Insurance Plc, Coronation Insurance Plc, AXA Mansard Insurance Plc and Zenith Insurance Ltd., all of which recorded varying levels of growth during the review period.

    The NIA data showed that comprehensive motor insurance premiums among leading insurers more than tripled between 2020 and 2024, with NEM Insurance accounting for a substantial share of the expansion.

    Industry analysts attributed the growth in the motor insurance segment to stronger regulatory enforcement, rising vehicle ownership and increasing awareness of the importance of motor insurance among Nigerians.

    They noted that the segment remains one of the most competitive in the industry and is expected to continue expanding in the coming years, supported by consistent year-on-year growth among major players.

  • Forgeries, taxations and the reign of Rehoboam

    Forgeries, taxations and the reign of Rehoboam

    By UGO ONUOHA

    “A profligate regime should not expect Nigerians to willingly submit to a new tax regime that looks like an exercise in extortion. The administration gets its priorities wrong. At a time that virtually all federal highways have collapsed and become deathtraps, this government prioritises the construction of a N15 trillion coastal highway from Lagos to Calabar.”

    A little over three months into the presidency of Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on September 5, 2023, I wrote an opinion piece titled “100 days of Rehoboam” in this space and elsewhere. Rehoboam was a king of the divided kingdom of ancient Israel. He was the son of King Solomon and the grandson of King David, both of whom were also past rulers of a united Israel. Rehoboam caused Israel to be divided through policies that inflicted pains on his people. He was reckless. He was proud. He was unfeeling. He took counsel from his scatter head fellow young men. He told the Israelites that the privations they suffered under his father should be regarded as a child’s play. And that while his predecessors chastised them with a whip, he would chastise them with a scorpion. And he verily proceeded to do so. Rehoboam and Tinubu share similarities and dissimilarities. Rehoboam was a monarch. Tinubu is not a king in spite of his pretending to be one. Rehoboam was born into royalty. Tinubu was not. Indeed Tinubu’s birth and early years are still subjects of conjectures and controversies. Rehoboam was a young man when he ascended the throne of his fathers, and so could be excused on account of youthful exuberance. Tinubu was an old man when he was installed as president of Nigeria though his true age is only known to himself and himself alone. There’s no verifiable evidence of when he was born and where. Unlike Rehoboam, Tinubu takes no counsel from anyone. He said this much himself when, without consultations and without a Cabinet, he unilaterally removed the so-called petrol subsidy.

    Tinubu at 100 days in office] has been like that proverbial bird that perched on a tree branch—the branch has remained unsettled and the bird can’t stop dancing to unheard sounds. Since his inauguration on May 29, 2023, exacerbated hopelessness has been the lot of Nigerians. Tinubu himself can only pretend to have peace of mind…”

    On September 5, 2023, I wrote this about Tinubu and Rehoboam. “[Tinubu at 100 days in office] has been like that proverbial bird that perched on a tree branch – the tree branch has remained unsettled and the bird can’t stop dancing to unheard sounds. Since his inauguration [as president] on May 29 [2023], exacerbated hopelessness has been the lot of Nigerians and Tinubu himself can only pretend to have had peace of mind. If he has had the presence and prescience of mind, he would not have been enmeshed in serial fumbling from one policy somersault to another from the removal of the so-called petrol subsidy, [devaluation of the Naira], student loan and [the] proposed payment of N8,000 per month for six months to a specified number of poor Nigerian families, and planning to lead the Economic Community of West African States [ECOWAS] to war on Niger Republic [when the military in that country seized political power]”… In Igbo Tinubu is a classical case of ‘akwu rere ere n’ikwo puru epu’ which transliteration in English language will roughly read: rotten palm fruits being pounded inside a decayed mortar. The finished product is better left to the imagination…”

    When Rehoboam became the king, the older advisers in the palace pleaded with him “to heed the cry of the people and lighten the heavy load of labour and taxes that Solomon had laid on them, but the younger elements who had grown up with the new king counselled otherwise. He took the counsel of his mates. The consequences of the actions of the new and rash King Rehoboam are well documented in the chronicles of the kings of Israel in the Holy Bible book of 1Kings. In Tinubu’s rash and irrational decisions [on] the first day and [subsequent] weeks of his reign, he appears to have borrowed a leaf from the wicked and unthinking  King Rehoboam”. One of the undoings of Rehoboam was that he insensitively raised taxes on his people and so lost more than half of his kingdom. The northern part of Israel split away, taking its own path separate from the southern kingdom of Judah. But Nigeria is not a monarchy and bears no resemblance to the old kingdom of Israel. Does that mean that Nigeria splitting is unthinkable?

    With the new tax laws set to come into effect in a matter of days, Tinubu who rules like a monarch may yet be treading the path of King Rehoboam. Rehoboam raised taxes on his people at a time they were already complaining of privations and pains, Tinubu is poised to also raise taxes on Nigerians at a time the people are groaning under the weight of a multiplicity of harsh economic policies of the regime. And he appears not to be bothered. He is irritated by wise counsel that he steps on the brakes and allows Nigerians to breathe. Instead, he empowers the relevant agency of government to execute a secret contract with a so-called tax consultant in France which may lead to handing over Nigeria’s tax data to a foreign company. Tax data is a national security issue that should not be traded as a favour to a friend. Tinubu and the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, are known to be buddies. The frequent ‘working visits’ of our president since he assumed office a little over two years ago had been to Paris, France, unlike his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, who made London his tourism and medical destination, and the former archbishop of Canterbury his bosom friend. And a go-to man.

    A profligate regime should not expect Nigerians to willingly submit to a new tax regime that looks like an exercise in extortion. The administration gets its priorities wrong. At a time that virtually all federal highways have collapsed and become deathtraps, this government prioritises the construction of a N15 trillion coastal highway from Lagos to Calabar. To add insult to injury, the contract for the road was not subjected to an open and transparent bidding, no public tendering, no definite and finite route, and no environmental impact assessment report. To cap it up, the highway contract was awarded to a known long time friend and business associate of Tinubu. The president’s son, Seyi, is alleged to be a significant shareholder in some of the companies in the Chargouri Group which owns Hitech construction company which was awarded the opaque Lagos – Calabar highway contract. This is a classic and glaring case of abuse of office. The argument by the regime that much of the money for the execution of the road contract would be borrowed does not make the smell of the contract less pungent and offensive. Even the money to be borrowed will still have to be paid by Nigerians. By you. Or by me. Or by our children and grandchildren.

    As the government preps to extract more taxes from us, it is telling us that we should be the people to fund their ostentatious, obscene and provocative lifestyles including, committing billions of Naira to build or to refurbish mansions for the president and vice president, buy hundreds of foreign manufactured sport utility vehicles [SUVs] for ministers, a coterie of advisers, lawmakers, local government chairmen, and even for the wife of the president whose well appointed office of the first lady is not known to any law in the land. Members of the boards of MDAs [ministries, departments, and agencies] are usually not left out of the largesse. Ours is probably the only country in the world where government computers, vehicles, websites, and the like, are replaced every year. The debauchery includes procuring a fleet of armour – plaited presidential limousines every four years with the advent of a new president and a presidential jet in tow. Of course, the issue of looting the public treasury has been normalised. It’s so brazen that public servants routinely send their children to schools abroad where the fees are charged in millions of the United States dollars. If you want to be reminded of how decadent the system is, do not look further than the annual budget provisions for the feeding of our president and his family. It runs into multiple billions of Naira. We give the president a rent-free accommodation, we afford him and his family pro bono top rate round-the-clock security, gift him a fleet of high-end luxury vehicles, fuelled and maintained at our expense, top it up with a presidential jet, and then turn around to pay him millions of Naira every month as salary. Not even the United States of America, the biggest economy in the world, does that.

    In spite of the foregoing proclivity of this regime to extort citizens, it still cannot be satisfied and appeased. It is a leopard that cannot change its spot. The information last week was that the administration had allegedly fiddled and rigged the tax reform laws passed by the national assembly [NASS]. Last week Rep. Abdulsamad Dasuki  [PDP, Sokoto] raised the alarm, alleging discrepancies between the tax laws passed by NASS and the versions subsequently gazetted and made available to the public. He said the rigging of the laws should be concerning because some provisions were deleted and strange and terrifying provisions illegally inserted. Hon. Dasuki had said during plenary on the floor of the House that his legislative privilege had been breached by the fact that the content of the tax laws as gazetted by the executive arm of government did not reflect what lawmakers debated, voted on, and passed on the floor of the House. “I was here, I gave my vote and it was counted, and I am seeing something completely different”. He said that he obtained copies of the gazetted laws from the ministry of information and found them to be inconsistent with what was approved by both the House and the Senate. Dasuki said that there had been ”a serious breach”, and warned that allowing laws different from those duly passed by the national assembly to be presented to Nigerians would undermine the integrity of the legislature and violate the Constitution.

    “Mr. Speaker, I will be pleading that all the documents should be brought before the Committee of the Whole [House]. Thank you. The whole members should see what is in the gazetted copy and see what they passed on the floor so that we can make the relevant amendment. Mr. Speaker, this is a breach of the Constitution”. Consequent upon the alarm, the House raised a committee of seven persons to probe the allegations. However, Nigerians are not fooled. The current administration across board, from the executive to the legislature and the Judiciary, is populated by people who are adept at rigging and forgery. The NASS and the executive, working separately or in collusion, routinely rigged our national budgets. The 2025 fiscal document is the latest of fiddling with budgets. It was reported and never denied that about 6,000 illegal projects were inserted into the budget with accompanying billions of Naira allocations. We complained and grumbled and then moved on as usual. In effect, the NASS is the least morally competent to cry foul on the issue of rigging and forgery of documents. The same can be said of the judiciary where court judgements, especially of political hues, are routinely awarded to the highest bidder or to the most powerful and connected. So our system thrives on rigging or “mago mago” or “wuru wuru” to use the local lingo.

    But whether rigged or not the implementation of the new tax laws should be suspended, if it cannot be scrapped. It’s inhuman and inhumane to tax poverty. The majority of Nigerians are dirt poor. The other day, a top federal government official said that about 80 million citizens do not know where their next meal would come from. And a little over two years ago, the national bureau of statistics [NBS] determined after its study that over 130 million Nigerians were dimensionally poor. Certainly, the figure should be higher today given what Nigerians have been subjected to since May 29, 2023. And by the way, there has been no concrete evidence that any country has engendered or engineered economic recovery by taxing the poor. Instead putting more money in the pockets of citizens could help to reflate the economy as long as it is done in a manner that will not trigger inflation.

    UGO ONUOHA, a Veteran Journalist, was the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief, Champion Newspapers Limited

  • Naira Ends Week Weaker at ₦1,464.49 Amid FX Demand Pressures

    Naira Ends Week Weaker at ₦1,464.49 Amid FX Demand Pressures

    The naira ended the week on a weaker note against the US dollar at the official foreign exchange market on Friday, settling at ₦1,464.49 as sustained demand pressures continued to weigh on the local currency.

    Data released by the Central Bank of Nigeria showed that the naira depreciated by 0.4 per cent from Thursday’s closing rate of ₦1,457.84.

    The currency had started the week on a positive footing, recording an appreciation of ₦2.59 at the official window on Monday. However, the gains proved short-lived as demand for foreign exchange resurfaced, eroding early optimism.

    By Monday, the naira traded at ₦1,451.81 before weakening further to ₦1,455.08 on Tuesday. The depreciation trend persisted on Wednesday, with the currency exchanging at ₦1,455.49, and continued through the rest of the week, culminating in Friday’s weaker close.

    Despite the early gains, sustained pressure in the foreign exchange market limited the naira’s ability to hold its ground, highlighting ongoing challenges in balancing demand and supply at the official window.

  • Investors gain N308bn as equities market sustains rally

    Investors gain N308bn as equities market sustains rally

    The Nigerian equities market on Thursday sustained its upward trend as investors recorded a gain of N308 billion.

    Specifically, the Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) market capitalisation, which opened at N92.490 trillion, appreciated by N308 billion or 0.33 per cent to close at N92.798 trillion.

    Similarly, the All-Share Index added 0.33 per cent or 485.25 points to close at 146,204.34, compared with 145,719.09 recorded on Wednesday.

    Sustained interest in Eunisell Interlinked, Caverton Offshore Support Group, Sunu Assurances, Industrial and Medical Gases, Mecure, and 27 other advancing stocks boosted market performance.

    The market breadth also closed positive with 32 gainers and 21 losers.

    Eunisell Interlinked and Caverton Offshore Support Group led the gainers’ chart by 10 per cent each, closing at N44 and N6.93 per share respectively.

    Sunu Assurances appreciated by 9.90 per cent to close at N5.77, while Industrial and Medical Gases rose by 9.10 per cent to finish at N35.95 per share.

    Mecure also gained 8.81 per cent, ending the session at N28.40 per share.

    READ ALSO: Council of State approves Prof Joash Amupitan as new INEC Chairman

    Conversely, FTN Cocoa Processors led the losers’ table by 6.67 per cent, closing at N5.60 per share.

    Tantalizer followed with a 3.35 per cent decline to close at N2.31, while Fidelity Bank shed 2.38 per cent to finish at N20.50 per share.

    PZ Cussons also dipped by 2.18 per cent to close at N38.15, while Veritas Kapital Assurance fell by 1.90 per cent to end at N2.06 per share.

    Market activity showed a decline in the number of deals and volume traded but an improvement in trade value.

    A total of 346.99 million shares worth N27.43 billion were traded in 24,691 deals, compared with 525.72 million shares worth N13.61 billion exchanged in 25,597 deals on Wednesday.

    Fidelity Bank topped the activity chart with 42.01 million shares valued at N861.54 million.

    Please Read: Stock Market Appreciates by N1.36Trillion in Three Days

    Dangote Cement followed with 20.9 million shares worth N11 billion, while Sterling Nigeria traded 19.8 million shares valued at N162.9 million.

    Jaiz Bank transacted 19.5 million shares worth N85.27 million, and CHAMS traded 17.69 million shares valued at N76.9 million. 

  • Nigerian stock market opens bullish with N193bn gain

    Nigerian stock market opens bullish with N193bn gain

    The Nigerian stock market opened the week on a  bullish note on Monday, gaining N193 billion thereby sustaining the previous week’s gain.

    Specifically, the market capitalisation, which opened at N76,339 trillion, added 193 billion or 0.25 per cent to close at N76.532 trillion.

    The positive performance was driven by increased investors interest in large capitalised stocks like Cadbury, Ellah Lakes, Tripple Gee, UPDCreit, Red Star Express and 50 others.

    The All-Share Index also gained 0.25 per cent or 305.67 points, to settle at 121,295.33 against 120,989.66 recorded on Friday.

    Also, the market breadth closed positive with 55 gainers and 23 losers.

    Top gainers

    Cadbury Nigeria led the advancers chart, increasing by 10 per cent, closing at N53.35 and Ellah Lakes also soared by 10 per cent, settling at N8.91 per share.

    Tripple Gee rose by 10 per cent, ending the session at N2.97 while UPDCREIT also climbed by 10 per cent, finishing at N7.15 per share.

    Also, Red Star Express grew by 9.92 per cent, closing at N9.20 per share.

    Losers

    On the flip side, Sunu Assurances shed 10 per cent, settling at N4.50 while RT Briscoe declined by 9.59 per cent, finishing at N3.30 per share.

    Prestige dropped by 9.09 per cent, closing at N1.20 and UPDC fell by 8.23 per cent, ending the session at N4.35 per share.

    Berger Paints lost 7.58 per cent, closing at N30.50 per share.

    Cumulate performance

    Altogether, 824.10 million shares worth N14.44 billion were traded across 24,042 transactions, compared to

    Transactions in the shares of Universal Insurance topped the activity chart with 71.92 million shares worth N48.94 million.

    First City Monument Bank followed with 61.4 million shares valued at N564.78 million while Ja Paul Gold transacted 53.34 million shares worth N136.1 million.

    Access Corporation sold 42.02 million shares valued at N942.81 million and AIICO Insurance traded 40.10 million shares worth N64.84 million. 

  • NBS Q3 GDP Growth Report Excites President Tinubu

    NBS Q3 GDP Growth Report Excites President Tinubu

    President Bola Tinubu has reacted positively to Nigeria’s economic growth report for the third quarter of 2024, released by the National Bureau of Statistics. 

    The report revealed a 3.46% GDP increase, marking a year-on-year improvement that surpassed earlier projections.

    The presidency attributed this growth to key sectors such as agriculture, ICT, trade, and manufacturing, which collectively played a significant role in driving the economy forward. 

    Tinubu reiterated his administration’s commitment to ensuring that these gains translate into better living standards for Nigerians.

    The government highlighted ongoing economic reforms, including proposed tax changes aimed at reducing burdens on small businesses and fostering a more equitable tax system. 

    These initiatives are part of a broader strategy to achieve Tinubu’s vision of a $1 trillion economy by 2030.

    As Nigeria prepares to rebase its economy in early 2025, officials anticipate that recent advancements across various industries will further position the nation for sustainable growth and shared prosperity.

    PLEASE READ: PH REFINERY BEGINS OPERATION: NNPCL GCEO TO OVERSEE FIRST PMS DISPATCH

  • Blaming the World Bank will not save our economy. Only us can

    Blaming the World Bank will not save our economy. Only us can

    I stumbled on an article by one Mr. Ahmed Sule ( FCA). It is so disappointing to read. It is nothing but a regurgitation of the same well-worn World Bank blame game. There was not one single alternative policy prescription other than the usual finger pointing and externalization of our problem. Expectedly, Mr. Sule latched on the article in which the World Bank gave its analysis of the Tinubu reform, as the bogey-man. He did not even make an attempt to provide his own counter-point to the World Bank. He failed to provide his position on the Tinubu economic agenda other than a listing of the pains it has inflicted on the populace. The president in his inaugural address stated clearly that his proposed economic reform agenda was going to be excruciatingly painful. He stated unequivocally that he was going to remove fuel subsidy and that he was going to float the currency. He did not trick the electorate. He also told the citizens to render their judgement on the performance of his reform policy with their votes in 2027. Mr. Sule in his social media post pretended as if our economic nightmare began with or was precipitated by the Tinubu regime. He had nothing to say about our profligate and obscene economic mismanagement dating back to the mid 1970s-early 80s during which we frittered away our oil windfall like drunken sailors on a pirate ship.

    World Bank bashing has been our default excuse for our collective failure since the 1986 IMF SAP debacle. We focused on SAP rather than its predicate. We never asked ourselves the hard question about what we did wrong with all the stupendous oil windfall that accrued to our country, and why we ended ended up prostrate in 1986 crawling on our belly to the World Bank and IMF for a bail out.

    “Have we forgotten the commonwealth fund that was proposed by Sister Ngozi Okonjo Eweala during the President Jonathan regime to put away our excess oil revenue for the rainy day but rejected by the governors, or the hubris of young General Gowon who in the 70s declared that our country’s problem was not lack of money but how to spend it? Now we all have to endure the lean years we didn’t make provision for, in order for us to survive and be here when hopefully the years of abundance come back again.“

    The World Bank does not force itself on any country. Countries choose membership of the World Bank out of their free will. They usually approach the World Bank for low interest loan when they are totally out of luck and option, unable to access finance through the open financial market because they have mismanaged their credit worthiness. That was the position Nigeria found itself in 1986. Even after General Obasanjo was able to get a big chunk of our debt written off by the World Bank and other multilateral financial institutions we were indebted to, did we take advantage of that? No, we didn’t. Our politicians continued unabatedly to plunder our commonwealth and they still do.

    The Bible says the debtor is a slave to his creditor. So, when countries like Nigeria have run out of options and are forced by their desolate and desperate circumstances to crawl on their bellies for financial life wire, of course like the slave described in the Bible to their creditors, they are forced to go on a forced diet (conditionalities) in order to access the low interest loan and sometimes outright grants that the World Bank offers due to the “generosity” of the donor members.

    We need to know that donors do not donate their fund to the poor out of philanthropy and benevolence. Foreign aids are a tool of promoting national hegemonic advantage. There are no free lunches in international relations. U. S and Europe are not funding the Ukraine war necessarily because of their love for the Ukrainians. They are dropping billions of ammunition and weapons of death into Ukraine to fight Russia because it advances their geopolitical agenda against Russia. It also creates opportunity for the military industrial complex to dispose their unused weapons, to test new one and create jobs in their local economies. We will be wise to understand that our economic success lies with us doing the hard work of national building and advancing our economic interest in an amoral, survival of the fittest, rigged global economic system. We should never again put our country in the position in which external financial institutions dictate or have a veto on our economic policies. China can tell the World Bank to go to hell with its economic prescriptions. In fact China has created its own alternative to the World Bank. As we romance China, we would be wise to learn that China like the West before it is not a benevolent Father Christmas doling out free money for its Silk Road project.

    “The capital asset of the “World Bank” is minuscule compared to those of global behemoths like the JP Morgan Chase, the China Bank of Industry, or the Bank of America. The world number one bank, China Industrial and Commercial Bank has total assets of $6.3 trillion. By comparison, the World Bank had just about $200 billion of assets under management. The World Bank would not rank among the top 50 banks in the world. In fact, there is a debate whether the term bank can truly be applied to the World Bank.“

    The phrase “ World Bank” is in fact a gross abuse, misuse and exaggeration of the financial muscle of the “ World Bank”. When the phrase World Bank was used at its founding it represented an extreme case of hubris. The capital asset of the “World Bank” is minuscule compared to those of global behemoths like the JP Morgan Chase, the China Bank of Industry, or the Bank of America. The world number one bank, China Industrial and Commercial Bank has total assets of $6.3 trillion. By comparison, the World Bank had just about $200 billion of assets under management. The World Bank would not rank among the top 50 banks in the world. In fact, there is a debate whether the term bank can truly be applied to the World Bank.

    There is therefore the tendency by failed economies and misinformed economic analysts to use the World Bank as the bogeyman, “the devil that made them do it”. We can externalize and blame the World Bank all we want, until we owe our economic misfortune and our culpability for it, we will only be spinning wheel stuck in the muck.

    Those who are condemning the Tinubu economic reform policy, which is neither perfect nor the silver bullet by any stretch of imagination, should go beyond finger-pointing and Monday morning quarterbacking. They should show us their alternative economy prescriptions. They should tell us how Nigeria succeeds economically by continuing with the failed policy of fuel subsidy and of artificially juicing and propping up our forex with high interest loan we could not afford so that the oil subsidy and forex mafias can prosper like bandits while mortgaging the future of generations of Nigerians yet unborn.

    You had oil subsidy mafia making billions of dollars by simply pushing unverifiable paper of millions of PMS import which never made it to our shores and the a huge portion of what ultimately makes it to the market is smuggled out of the country for a tidy windfall profit. You also had the forex mafia who bought forex at CBN subsidized rate purportedly to import capital equipment and essential commodities only to turn around to sell the same forex to their foot soldiers in the Bureau de Change at stupendous, huge profit margin. If that is not the definition of madness, please tell us what is.

    In his dream, Pharaoh is standing by the Nile when seven fat cows come up out of the river, followed by seven thin cows that eat the fat cows. In response Pharaoh stored away excess grains in the seven years of abundance to sustain his nation during the seven lean years that would follow. Our situation is the reverse of the Pharaoh situation. We failed over the decades, especially in the heady days of the high global oil market price to save money for the rainy day. Have we forgotten the commonwealth fund that was proposed by Sister Ngozi Okonjo Eweala during the President Jonathan regime to put away our excess oil revenue for the rainy day but rejected by the governors, or the hubris of young General Gowon who in the 70s declared that our country’s problem was not lack of money but how to spend it? Now we all have to endure the lean years we didn’t make provision for, in order for us to survive and be here when hopefully the years of abundance come back again.

    There are no guarantees that President Tinubu’s reform agenda will do the trick, but we are like an extremely critical patient who got into a bad auto accident after a night of excessive drinking and is now on the ER (emergency room) and the doctors are doing everything to safe his life. We have no option than to hold on tight for our dear life, bear the pain of the poking and the electric shock applied by the Defibrillators and hope and pray that it works.

    We must continue in our civic responsibility and obligation to hold the president accountable to live by example, the life of austerity his policy has forced Nigerians to live under. He should tackle and hold people accountable for past endemic corruption that is still rife under his administration. He should cut down on the profligacy that his administration has been accused of. He should rein in the unsustainably high cost of governance and the bloated bureaucracy that supports it. We are still waiting for the cabinet reshuffle to prune out dead wood and non-performing ministers and heads of agencies. He should prioritise competence over political patronage. He should constantly review the performance of his economic reforms agenda against the result in the real economy where the citizens live, and make adjustments when and where necessary. Those are the kind of debates we should be having not this constant whining and blaming the World Bank.

    The true victims of the Nigerian elites, who are the one on social media doing most of the complaining, are the poor masses who did not benefit a thing in the days of economic abundance and the Nigerian youths who have known nothing but tear, pain, sorrow, dashed hope and bleak future all of their life. Those of us who benefitted from the years of abundance should prioritize making the needed sacrifice so that our grandchildren can take over a country they have a chance to rebuild, than this constant complaining. If truth be told many of us cannot with a good conscience claim innocence in the plunder of our economy. Our generation’s obligation now is to make the last sacrifice to save this country for the future generations. Time is running out. We will never be able to hand over to the next generation, a country better than we met it. We are constantly looking back at the old western region era of Chief Awolowo with great nostalgia. That should tell us all we need to know about our abject failure.

    Externalizing the blame for our economic mismanagement to the World Bank is therefore, not a viable economic prescription.

    Adewale Alonge, PhD: Founder& President, Africa-Diaspora Partnership for Empowerment & Development (ADPED). www.adped.org

  • Again Nigeria’s inflation rate eases in August

    BREAKING! Again Nigeria’s inflation rate eases in Augus

    Nigeria’s annual inflation rate eased again in August after a persistent rise in nearly two years.
    Inflation rate eased further to 32.15 per cent in August 2024 relative to the July 2024 headline inflation rate of 33.40 per cent, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced Monday.
    Inflation indicators compare prices of goods and services in 12 months. A decline does not necessarily imply a reduction in prices; instead, it shows the rate of price increase had fallen compared to previous months.
    According to the NBS food inflation was 37.52 per cent in August 2024 as against 39. 53 per cent recorded in July.
  • Obasanjo proffers solutions to Nigeria’s economic woes

    Obasanjo proffers solutions to Nigeria’s economic woes

    Former Nigeria President, Olusegun Obasanjo has told President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to ramp up activities around production and productivity to tackle Nigeria’s economic woes.

    Obasanjo disclosed this in a statement by his Media Aide, Kehinde Akinyemi, on Sunday, quoting the ex-president as having spoken at a Colloquium: “Nigeria’s Development: Navigating the Way Out of the Current Economic Crisis and Insecurity” delivered at the Paul Aje Colloquium (PAC) in Abuja.

    Obasanjo blamed fuel subsidy removal, the Harmonization of foreign exchange markets and dealing with a military coup in Niger for Nigeria’s economic hardship.

    However, as a solution, the former President said the government should focus on production, noting that there is no shortcut to economic progress.

    “The way forward is production and productivity, which belief and trust in government leadership will engender. No shortcut to economic progress but hard work and sweat.

    “The economy does not obey orders, not even military orders. I know that. If we get it right, we will begin to see the light beyond the tunnel in two years. It requires a change of characteristics, attributes and attitude by the leadership at all levels to gain the confidence and trust of investors who have alternatives,” he said.

    Recall that in June last year, Tinubu’s administration announced fuel subsidy removal and the Harmonization of Foreign exchange markets.

    In April, fuel pump price surged by 176.02 per cent on a year-on-year basis to N701.24 per litre compared to N255.06 last year.

    Similarly, the country’s Naira dropped to N1482.81 per dollar last Friday from N465.50 per dollar on June 14, 2023.

    This development has led to a surge in prices of goods and services, as headline and food inflation increased to 33.69 per cent and 40.53 per cent, respectively.