Tourism can Bail Economy out of Recession –Obasanjo

Former Nigerian President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has advocated more investments to unlock the full potential of the country’s tourism for enhance economic prosperity.

Obasanjo stated this yesterday in Lagos while addressing the 41st session of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA) as special guest of honour.
Speaking on the theme of the AGM, “Tourism in a Recessed Economy,” the former president described tourism as a catalyst for growing any economy in contemporary times and said that if properly harnessed can take the country out of its present economic recession. He said for a country as blessed as Nigeria, its nationals and government have no reason to look elsewhere for economic growth.
“We need to pay attention to tourism. People are still traveling everywhere and that shows that with tourism, there will be nothing like recession in Nigeria,” said Obasanjo.  “We should even pay more attention to domestic tourism. Nigerians don’t travel much within the country and it is something we need to embrace. Domestic tourism can generate a lot of revenue for the country,” he added.
Obasanjo whose speech was read on his behalf by the President of NANTA, Mr. Bankole Bernard, said he was working hard to turn Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, into a major tourist site.
The former Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAC), Dr. Harold Demuren, who was the keynote speaker, said with tourism, Nigeria can banish recession. He charged travel agents to look inward and focus their attention on marketing the many tourist attractions in the country that need to be explored by the people.
Also sharing his experience on opportunities in the aviation and tourism sectors, the Managing Director of Medview Airline, Alhaji Muneer Bankole, said recession offers the best opportunity for the country and people to diversify their sources of revenue as he urged travel agents to be more creative and innovative as there are a lot of business opportunities in the aviation and tourism markets to explore.

Source: sunnewsonline

Adeosun wants National Assembly to cut CBN Governor’s Powers

The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, yesterday asked for the reduction of the powers of the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). She blamed the extensive powers of the governors for the disconnect between Federal Government’s monetary and fiscal policies.She pleaded with the National Assembly that conferred the powers on the CBN boss, through a legal instrument, to slash them to pave the way for checks and balances.

 National Assembly

If this becomes the case, the reaction time of the CBN to monetary upheavals will be greatly impaired as it is expected to act through a supervising agency.In fact, financial experts disagree, saying any such move will result in undue political interference in monetary policies, which will not augur well for the economy.Adeosun made the call yesterday while receiving members of the House of Representatives Tactical Committee on Recession led by Bode Ayorinde.

She said it amounted to what she described as excesses on the part of the apex bank’s governor to decide and act on financial matters without recourse to the minister of finance, who is constitutionally required to supervise financial policies, programmes and activities of the Federal Government.

“I want to correct the impression that the CBN is under us. They are not. Unfortunately, a law was passed, making them independent and giving them more powers. This has resulted in one person having so much power.

“In the time of Prof. Charles Soludo as CBN governor, he went to the National Assembly asking for more powers and you can see where that has taken us to. So we are back to the legislature to help us correct this problem of too much power. As a result, there are no checks and balances,” she said.

Under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, the then CBN governor ordered the sacking and trial of bank chiefs and introduced monetary policies to regulate certain activities in the financial sector.

But none of the CBN governors – including the incumbent, Godwin Emefiele, and former ones, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, and Charles Soludo, picked their calls or responded to text messages from The Guardian to them. Soludo, whom Adeosun identified as the chief protagonist of the current impasse, in a text message response, merely said: “Sorry, I am abroad and can only be reached via text please.”

But industry analysts like the Director-General, West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management, Prof. Akpan Ekpo, said such an idea should be thrown out immediately, as it was outdated and out of sync with modern global trends.

  “I have no details, but if this is actually what she said, it is not acceptable. The Central Bank should remain independent and not be brought under the Ministry of Finance. Nigeria is too large and not equipped for that arrangement. The CBN should not be seen as a subset of the ministry,” he said.

Erstwhile banker and financial expert, Fola Adeola, reinforcing the CBN’s autonomy as a global practice, said the relationship between the ministry and CBN should be the coordination of monetary and fiscal policies.

  “While I do not know exactly what she said and meant, but if the move is to reduce CBN’s powers, it may be tantamount to an infringement on its autonomy. On the other, if the matters in question are anything other than monetary policy issues, she may have a case to make,” he said.

The Deputy Managing Director of financial services advisory firm, Afrinvest Limited, Victor Ndukauba, is more concerned about how the adverse impact it would have on the larger economy by subjecting the CBN to the ministry’s supervision.

He said: “Ideally, the Central Bank should have only one function and that is monetary, controlling inflation. To say that the governor and the Central Bank should be under the control of the Executive would mean that any decision that is made by the CBN will be subjected to political influence. So, the place of the Central Bank is sacrosanct. In fact, if we are to take any step in removing or rolling back that independence, it would not augur well for us.”

In view of the challenges the principal parties may face in achieving set goals under the current economic crisis, Udukauba called for a synergy between the two, in order to realise common goals of stemming galloping inflation, cutting high unemployment rate and buoying economic activities.

Meanwhile, regarding the status of the sum accumulated from the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), Adeosun dismissed claims that the N5.244 trillion said to have been accumulated so far has either been appropriated or misappropriated.

“The position as regards the funds in the TSA is that we are thinking of using the balance in the account to back two initiatives. One is for the Development Bank of Nigeria that is coming up, while the other will be for the Bank of Agriculture, for lending to SMEs and farmers, respectively,” she explained.

The minister, who reeled out efforts of the administration in recovering funds through the ongoing workers’ verification, said the government had so far recovered about N6.8 billion pension funds allegedly stolen by certain officials.

She noted that corruption had been the bane of economic growth in the country, assuring that with the right policies in place, along with emphasis on capital projects, the country would quickly get out of recession.

Earlier, Ayorinde, who led the lawmakers, had solicited the cooperation of the Ministry in finding ways of boosting the economy. He said a public hearing that would deal with the management of recession was being planned for stakeholders.

The lawmaker urged the government to provide reliefs and incentives to manufacturers to enhance their activities and help resuscitate dying companies.As if taking up the task thrown at it by the finance minister, the Senate has invited the CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, to explain the apex bank’s Intervention Funding Programmes to qualified Nigerian companies and exporters.

The upper legislative chamber also urged the bank to consider implementing expeditiously, the approvals and disbursement of intervention facilities to those companies in the real sector that merit such facilities.

The resolution followed a motion by Mao Ohuabunwa (PDP, Abia North), who maintained that Nigeria’s drive to haul the economy out of recession, will fail if qualified companies do not access the CBN facilities.

To this end, the legislative body invited the CBN governor to address it on the progress made so far through the use of its various intervention faculty programmes, including the list of beneficiary companies, factories and exporters .

source: theguardianng

CBN Retains Lending Rate At 14% As FAAC Shares N429bn

For the fifth time in nine months, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has maintained official interbank interest rate at 14 per cent, citing recent economic indicators are supporting variables behind the decision.
Rising from its 2-day meeting yesterday, Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the apex bank also retained the CRR at 22.5 per cent and Liquidity Ratio at 30.00 per cent. The committee also retained the Asymmetric corridor at +200 and -500 basis points around the MPR.
‘‘The committee in consideration of the headwinds in the domestic economy and the uncertainties in the global environment, decided by 9 out of 10 members to retain the MPR at 14.0 per cent alongside all other policy parameters,’’ the CBN governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele said yesterday while addressing reporters at the end of the meeting in Abuja. One member voted to reduce the MPR.
The MPC increased the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by 200 basis  – points from 12 to 14 in July last year and has refused to reduce it since then.

Central Bank of Nigeria

Giving reasons for the retention, the MPC pointed to the fact that headline inflation (year-on-year), declined for the first time in 15 months, dropping by 0.94 percentage point to 17.78 per cent in February, from  the  18.72 per cent recorded in January 2017, and 18.55 per cent in December, 2016 seemingly reversing the monthly upward momentum recorded since January, 2016 within the same period the bank retained the MPR at 14 per cent.
He said the moderation in headline inflation in February, 2017 reflected base effect as well as decline in the core component, which fell by 1.90 percentage points from 17.90 per cent in January to 16.0 per cent in February, 2017.
Calling for speedy implementation of the federal government’s economic recovery and growth plan, Emefiele said the Committee remains of the conviction that fiscal policy remained the most potent panacea to most of the key negative undercurrents i.e. stunted economic activity, heightened unemployment and high inflation bedeviling the economy.
“The Committee expressed satisfaction on the release of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, and urged its speedy implementation with clear timelines and deliverables.  On the strength of these developments, the Committee felt inclined to maintain a hold on all policy parameters,” Emefiele said.
“The Committee expects that the implementation of this plan, the new foreign exchange policy as well as the current effort by the Federal Government to restore peace in the Niger Delta region would help revive economic growth and stabilize prices,” he added.
The governor was vehement that available data and forecasts of key economic variables as well as the newly released Federal Government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) combine to indicate prospects of output recovery in 2017.
In the communiqué that was issued at the end of the meeting, the Committee expressed optimism that the adopted policy stance and other ancillary measures directed at improving the agricultural and other relevant sectors of the economy would combine to restart growth and drive down prices in the short to medium-term.
Meanwhile, commenting on the MPC decision yesterday, analysts said if the decline in inflation rate continues and the economy improves in coming months, the monetary policy will have to adopt an accommodative policy.
The Minister of Finance had earlier in the year, just before the first MPC meeting or the year expressed a desire for the committee to cut rates I order to make credit cheaper for real sector operators who had since last year been calling for a cut in benchmark interest rate.
According to the managing director and chief executive of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Bismarck Rewane, the CBN’s capacity to reduce interest rates in the near future will hinge on several factors including the GDP growth figures for the first quarter of 2017, headline inflation in March and April, crude oil production and the exchange rate.
Inflation had fallen in February this year for the first time in 15 months dropping to 17.78 per cent from 18.72 per cent in January and is anticipated to further decline in coming months. The value of the naira at the interbank market had weakened slightly to N307 to the dollar but had been gathering strength at the parallel market rising from an all-time low of N500 to the dollar to N430 yesterday.
Bismarck noted further that the implementation of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), alongside increased borrowing, will likely stimulate economic activity and be complemented by an accommodative stance on the part of the monetary policy makers.
On his part, an analyst with FXTM, Lukman Otunuga said the fact that the CBN “decided to keep monetary policy unchanged should be no surprise especially when factoring how the nation is in the process of a critical structural transformation.
“Although the lingering fears decelerating economic growth and concerns over surging prices have partially attributed to the Central Bank’s passive stance, the overall sentiment towards the nation continues to display early signs of improvement.
Some optimism exists over the nation’s recovery, with Nigeria’s inflation declining for the first time in 15 months in February and the noticeable increase in Dollar sales for importers bolstering the Naira on the black market exchange. If economic data continues to follow a positive path in the long term and inflation cools then there is a possibility of the Central Bank cutting interest rates to stimulate growth” he stated.

Monetary, Fiscal Authorities Agree on Harmonisation of Policies

Desirous of sustainable monetary and fiscal collaboration in efforts to pull the economy out of the current crisis, the leadership of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the ministries of Finance, Budget and National Planning as well as Trade and Investment, at weekend, sought to harmonise several policy perspectives.

Speaking at the opening of the two-day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) retreat at the CBN’s Corporate Headquarters in Abuja at the weekend, with the theme: “Pathway to Price Stability Conducive to Economic Growth,” the apex bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, under whose auspices the meeting was convened, reiterated the need for the country’s monetary and fiscal authorities to collaborate and harmonise standpoints to develop the economy rapidly.

Emefiele, who also chairs the Monetary Policy Committee, said the MPC Retreat, which for the first time had in attendance a large representation of the fiscal authorities, was coming at a period when the country faced serious economic challenges.

MPC Committee members
He added that finding a sustainable solution required a broadened participation of colleagues from the fiscal side.

He said that the retreat, as a brainstorming session, would provide perspectives on certain Monetary Policy Committee decisions.

The banker said it would also close the gap on the coordination between monetary and fiscal authorities to chart a common course and take decisions to develop the economy.

The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, said both the monetary and fiscal authorities had no choice but to work together to guarantee the country’s economic growth.

He maintained that the pathway to lower interest rate was to ensure monetary and fiscal authorities’ collaboration with the private sector.

Also, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, and her counterpart in Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, agreed that solving the challenges facing the economy required unconventional tactics.

Adeosun, while disclosing that there remained a huge number of unbanked Nigerians whose contributions to the economy are hardly captured, said the government must devise ways to bring them into the financial mainstream.

She also hinted that based on the current realities, the Federal Government would have to borrow more to meet its infrastructural obligation.

Enelamah emphasised the need for both monetary and fiscal authorities to ensure the return of business, market and investor confidence, as well as policy integrity, to improve on the ease of doing business in Nigeria.

In her presentation entitled: “The Macroeconomic Tri-lemma and Monetary Policy in Nigeria,” the Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, Central of Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. Sarah Alade, said the onus of achieving the low interest and exchange rates, as well as low inflation should not entirely be the function of the monetary authority.

She said the task therefore, necessitated the collaboration with fiscal authorities, as there was need for deliberate policies to ensure stability and engender growth in the economy.

Mining sector can get Nigeria out of recession, says Fayemi

With proper attention and planning, the mining industry is capable of taking the country out of recession.

Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who spoke in Abeokuta at the weekend, regretted that despite the country’s abundant mineral resources, Nigeria cannot be said to be a mining nation.

“We are a mineral nation, but we are not a mining nation. In the 70s, mining contributed to 50 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) so what went wrong? “ The government was determined to reverse the situation, Fayemi affirmed.

At the town hall meeting were representatives of small-scale miners, Lafarge Nigeria Plc. and Dangote Group of Companies both of which own cement factories in the state.

The minister said, with the dwindling revenue from oil, exploitation of the country’s abundant mineral resources remained a major source of the country’s income.

Fayemi explained that mining is on the exclusive list, hence he frowned at what he described as the “tension” between many states and the Federal government over taxation on the mining industries.

He identified multiple taxation by the Federal and state governments, lack of geological data, proliferation of illegal miners among others as challenges facing the sector.

To this end, Fayemi revealed that auditors from states, where mining is taking place, would meet with officials of the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission on the adoption of modalities on the percentage of derivation to be paid to such states.

The minister also sought for tariff and tax incentives for operators in the steel sector to encourage private participation in the sector and subsequently contribute to the industrialization agenda of the present government at the centre.

He maintained that the sector would not witness any major development unless the moribund Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited is revived.

The State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, advocated for a synergy between the Federal and state governments to improve productivity in the mining sector.

Apart from the environmental hazards, Amosun said businessmen and women in the mining sector have little or no respect for the host communities and the state.
The Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Otunba Bimbo Ashiru, disclosed that last year, Nigeria produced 43,495,423.12 tons of solid minerals, out of which Ogun produced 16,376,547.50 (37.65per cent), the highest.

Economy: CBN, Fiscal Authorities Meet in Abuja

Desirous of monetary and fiscal collaboration in order to pull the Nigerian economy of the current crunch, economic management leaders from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Ministries of Finance, Budget and National Planning as well as Trade and Investment, over the weekend, gathered in Abuja to harmonize their policy perspectives.

Speaking at the opening of the two-day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) retreat at the CBN Corporate Headquarters in Abuja at the weekend, with the theme: “Pathway to Price Stability Conducive to Economic Growth,” the apex Bank Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, reiterated the need for the country’s monetary and fiscal authorities to collaborate and harmonize standpoints so as to develop the economy rapidly.

Mr. Emefiele, who also chairs the Monetary Policy Committee, said the MPC Retreat, which for the first time had in attendance a large representation of the fiscal authorities, was coming at a period when the country faced serious economic challenges. He added that finding a sustainable solution required a broadened participation of colleagues from the fiscal side.

He said that the retreat, as a brainstorming session, would provide perspectives on certain Monetary Policy Committee decisions. He said it would also close the gap on the coordination between monetary and fiscal authorities to chart a common course and take decisions to develop the economy.

In his remarks at the brainstorming session, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, said both the monetary and fiscal Authorities had no choice but to work together to guarantee the country’s economic growth. He posited that the pathway to lower interest rate was to ensure monetary and fiscal authorities collaboration with the private sector.

Also speaking, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, and her Industry, Trade and Investment counterpart, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah both agreed that solving challenges facing the Nigerian economy required unconventional tactics.

Adeosun, while disclosing that there remained a huge number of unbanked Nigerians whose contributions to the economy are hardly captured, said the government must devise ways to bring them into the financial mainstream. She also hinted that, based on the current realities, the Federal Government would have to borrow more to meet its infrastructural obligation.

On his part, Dr. Enelamah emphasized the need for both monetary and fiscal authorities to ensure business, market and investor confidence, as well as policy integrity, in order to improve on the ease of doing business in Nigeria.

In her presentation entitled: “The Macroeconomic Trilemma and Monetary Policy in Nigeria,” the Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, Central of Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. (Mrs.) Sarah Alade said the onus of achieving the trilemma of low interest and exchange rates as well as low inflation should not entirely be the function of the monetary authority. Rather, she said it therefore necessitated the collaboration with fiscal authorities.

According to her, there was need for deliberate policies to ensure stability and engender growth in the economy.

Source: thebreakingtime

Rising Unemployment is Hinged on Non-Teaching of Science Practicals

Nigeria’s economic woes and rising unemployment is a result of a faulty educational system, arising from a lack of practical teaching of science-based subjects in institutions, the Federal Ministry Education has said.

The Deputy Director, Science Education, Federal Ministry of Education, Mrs Grace Takerhi, made the assertion in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos.

Takerhi spoke with NAN at the 20th National Junior Engineers, Technicians and Scientists (JETS) competition in one of the oldest schools in Lagos, CMS Grammar School, Bariga.

She said that the only way to stem the rising unemployment was practical teaching of science-based subjects.

NAN reports that the 20th edition of the JETS Competition got underway on Tuesday with students from across the country displaying their talents.

The theme of the competition is “Enhancing Food Security through Science and Technology Application’’.

Reflecting on the promotion of technical studies to enhance national wealth and economic recovery, Takerhi said that only qualitative teaching with practical experience could create self-employment and entrepreneurship.

“If we look at our educational system and the attendant rising unemployment, we will see that there is a convergence and that is the lack of practical teaching for science-based courses in our institutions.

“If we also look at what is happening, graduates from science-based courses are looking for jobs in Federal Ministry of Education. What is the relevance of their courses to where they are seeking careers?

“If the institutions are well equipped for practical teachings, the students will understand their courses and will know how to make use of the courses to employ themselves rather than looking for employments.

“Nigeria needs to bridge the disconnect between classroom teachings and practical teachings and meet the real life situation on ground. Sciences are meant to solve societal problems not adding to it,’’ she said.

Takerhi said that the problem of lack of practical had also been compounded by the lack of placements for Industrial Training Attachment for the students in science-related courses.

“Right now, we are having a lot of challenges when our students apply for placement for their industrial attachments which is one of the basics of practical teaching in scientific applications.

“Many of these students are roaming about the streets looking for where to have the needed experience with no company to absorb them. Yet they need this experience and if they don’t get it how will they learn?

“We need collaborative effort of government and the organised private sector in this regard to work out modalities that will make it compulsory and easier for the students to get placement for attachments.

“Private organisations should not reject those students or else our educational system will continued to be in the doldrums,’’ she said.

Takerhi said that the specialised schools for technical education should be well funded to enhance the practical learning of vocational studies.

“Our technical institutions need a lot of improvements so as to face the practical teachings of vocational studies. The names are just there, but they don’t have enough materials for practicals.

“Facilities such as well-equipped laboratories, technical workshops and vocational training equipment must be provided. What this translates to is that there should be more budgetary allocation to technical schools.

“We need to fight education tourism by providing enough funding.

“There is an increase in enrollment of students in science-based courses now so we need to also play our part in ensuring that we provide the funds.

“The only way this nation can attain the highest height in wealth creation is through technical education and vocational studies and we need to expand our frontiers in supplying enough funds,’’ she said

NAN reports that the participants in the JETS competition are students from primary and secondary schools from across the country.

They are expected to come up with local inventions that could help to solve some societal engineering and scientific problems under the supervision of their teachers.

The competition has about 500 students and JETS Coordinators from the states.

This year’s edition recorded a huge success as students developed inventions that could stand the test of time. All the 36 states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) had stands to display the ingenuity of the junior engineers and scientists.

Source: Thenationonline

London-Paris Club Refund: PMB Orders Release Of Second Tranche To States

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun and the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, to act appropriately and with dispatch in releasing the second tranche of the London-Paris Club refunds to the states in order to ease their financial burdens.

The federal government had paid the first tranche of N388 billion to states in January.

The president who addressed a special meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) yesterday also made a strong case for settlement of unpaid salaries and pension liabilities of workers in the various states.

NEC, which is the highest decision making body on the country’s economy, is made up of governors of the 36 states of the federation, ministers of Finance, National Planning and FCT. It is chaired by the vice president.

“I will not rest until I address those issues that affect our people.  One of these basic things is the issue of salaries.  It is most important that workers are able to feed their families, pay rent and school fees; then other things can follow”, a statement by his senior special assistant on media and publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, quoted President Buhari as saying at the meeting yesterday.

The president who went round the Council Chambers to greet the governors one after the other lauded the unity of the forum of state governors, even as he thanked them profusely for their display of “love and respect” towards him.

Buhari said he was overwhelmed by his recent experience which warranted states, irrespective of political differences, to charge their citizens to pray in mosques and churches for his well-being.

Apologising to the governors for barring them from visiting him, while he was on medical vacation in London, Buhari said, “I didn’t want government to move to London. I wanted it to remain here and I am glad it did”.

After narrating what he went through while on vacation, President Buhari turned down the suggestion by the governors that he should do more of resting, insisting that he would remain relentless in the pursuit of the interest of the Nigerian people at all times.

This, according to him, was the only way to show his gratitude to the people who he said “had given so much to me”, adding that “I was overwhelmed by the celebration of my return all across the country”.

Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State assured the president, on behalf of his colleagues, that they will continue to support his policies and actions which they had adjudged as being in the nation’s best interest.

The governors of Imo, Akwa-Ibom, Osun and Abia thanked President Buhari for saving the day for states through the first tranche of the London-Paris Club refunds, while calling for the immediate release of the second one.

They also commended the trust the president reposed in the vice-president, Yemi Osinbajo, who they said did not disappoint when he acted as president.

Nigeria Will Soon Recover from Recession – World Bank

The World Bank has said that Nigeria will soon recover from its economic recession.
Eme Essien-Lore, the Country Manager in Nigeria, International Finance Corporation, stated this in Lagos on Thursday.

”In our perspective and with the numbers that we have seen coming from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Nigeria’s economy has recorded about one per cent real growth.
”That is a bit lower than government’s expectation which is about 2.2 per cent growth for 2017.
“It is a bit modest, but we certainly expect that the economy of Nigeria will rebound and recover from last year’s recession,” she said.
She also said the World Bank was happy that the Federal Government had published its economic plan.
 ”Now we can sit down and look at it to see how we will align our objectives around what the government wants to do”, she said.
Lore added that the World Bank will look at what it can do for Nigeria.
”The plan is for 2017 to 2020, it is a relatively short period, but we need to know what the priorities are and collectively work with government on how to achieve them,” she said.

Digital economy to create $100tr jobs by 2025

Advertisers Association of Nigeria, ADVAN forum has said that digital economy will create jobs valued at $100trillion by 2025, $40billion is lost to digital advertising.

The Forum which comprised of advertising practitioners in the integrated marketing communication , IMC landscape revealed at the 2017 ADVAN Industry Dialogue in Lagos that data will drive business but said that the world economic Forum in 2016 had revealed that digital economy will create $100 trillion jobs of value globally by 2025.

This was the assertion of the Chief Executive Officer of MediaFuse Dentsu Aegis Network, Mr. Emeka Okeke, who was one of the panellist, while speaking on trends in the media, said that Nigeria has to key into what is happening in the digital landscape if it intends to remain in the global ecosystem.

According to him, “Looking at what is happening around the world. In 2017, the world would remain an uncertain place, and because Nigeria is not outside the global ecosystem, and if you look at event that around the world like the United kingdom, United States of America, France etc Nigeria has to key into what is happening around the world.”

“We will continue to be unsettled in 2017, if Nigeria does not key into what is happening around the world in terms of digital consumption.”

Data viewing and people marathon will be stronger in 2017, with over 40 million people committed to digital system in Nigeria already, said Okeke.

He went further to say that data will drive competitiveness, so Nigeria has to decide where to belong in the global digital competitiveness.

Speaking, Mr. David Okeme, president ADVAN , said in digital frontier, new opportunities brings new challenges, but noted that data will drive target audience. With what is going on around the world, this will be the first time enough data will be consumed to drive processes.

He stated that today consumers determine what advertisement they want to consume, while stressing that digital LANhas brought about all the things about impact

2017 the world would remain an uncertain place , because Nigeria is not outside the global ecosystem, and if you look at it events that is happening around the world , the Uk, USA, France , Germany etc .We continue to be unsettled in 2017.

Secondly, in 2016, World Economic Forum had it that the digital economy will create $100trillion jobs of value by 2025 world Economic forum, Lagos 2016.

Buhari speaks on vacation, orders London-Paris Club refunds to States

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, to act appropriately and with dispatch in releasing the second tranche of the London-Paris Club refunds to the states in order to ease their financial hardships.

The President, who addressed the meeting of the National Economic Council made up of State Governors and chaired by the Vice-President on Thursday in Abuja, however, made a strong case for settlement of unpaid salaries and pension liabilities of their workers.

“I will not rest until I address those issues that affect our people. One of these basic things is the issue of salaries. It is most important that workers are able to feed their families, pay rent and school fees, then other things can follow,” he said.

President Buhari, who went round the Council Chambers to greet the governors one after another, praised the unity of the Forum of State Governors. He thanked them profusely for their display of “love and respect” to him.

The President said he was overwhelmed by his recent experience in which states, irrespective of political differences charged their citizens to pray in mosques and churches for his well-being and apologized to Governors for barring them from visits to him while he rested in London.

“I didn’t want government to move to London. I wanted it to remain here and I am glad it did,” he said.

After narrating what he went through while on that vacation, President Buhari noted the suggestion by the Governors for him to add more rest, but insisted that he would remain relentless in the pursuit of the interest of the Nigerian people at all times.

This, according to him, was the only way to show his gratitude to the people who, he said, “had given so much to me. I was overwhelmed by the celebration of my return all across the country.”

The Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, Abdul-Aziz Yari of Zamfara State assured the President, on behalf of his colleagues, that they will continue to support his policies and actions which they had adjudged as being in the nation’s best interest.

The governors of Imo, Akwa-Ibom, Osun and Abia States thanked President Buhari for saving the day for states through the first tranche of the London-Paris Club refunds while calling for the immediate release of the second one.

They also commended the trust the President reposed in the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, whom they said did not disappoint when he acted as President.

The Economic Recovery and Growth Plan

As detailed and elegant as the plan is, as published, it has a deep flaw, in that it does not place sufficient emphasis on an evaluation of the knowledge and skills base of the Nigerian workforce, the capacity of the educational system to deliver the plan, and objectives and targets for knowledge, skills and capability development. Specifically, stabilising the macro environment requires lowering inflation and interest rates to single digits, cutting the unemployment rate significantly and becoming a net exporter of a range of diversified goods and services. Furthermore, stabilising the macro environment is contingent on the delivery of the other objectives.

The key challenge facing the plan is the capacity to build out the enabling infrastructure, especially transportation, power and the required labour market. The questions for evaluating the challenge are obvious: is there already significant inflow of investment into Nigeria (especially domestic, foreign direct, Public-Private Partnerships) relative to plan objectives? Can Nigeria borrow enough from the international financial system at attractive interest rates to help fund the necessary investments? How attractive are the countries bond yields and how ready is it to issue enough bonds to also help fund the required investments? Is a critical mass of Nigerian engineers, managers and skilled workers available to do the work of designing, planning and executing to deliver the required projects? In essence, a medium term plan must be ‘shovel ready’ for it to succeed.

Clearly, investment flows into Nigeria, are minimal relative to the huge need and no one knows for sure how ready the labour market is, as a nationwide and industry based data of skills and capabilities have never been made available and may not exist. In addition, it is arguable, that institutions of higher education are producing enough well trained engineers and managers, or that apprenticeship, technical training and professional development programmes are doing the same. In essence, there is doubt that the foundation required for rapid real growth has been developed in the necessary mass.

It is clear that Nigeria does not have the ability to buy the enabling infrastructure by importing companies, skills and capabilities, intermediate inputs and other resources required to build power plants, transmission lines, railway and other transportation systems. It is also clear that in an era that threatens nationalism on the global stage, Nigeria may not find it easy to attract foreign investments (though there is a deep pool of investible capital in global credit markets), and the Nigeria banking system and business community, is yet to demonstrate the capacity to make the required financial investment. In addition, it is far from clear that the educational system can quickly and sufficiently deliver the required knowledge, skills and capabilities.

The bottom line, is that there is really no short cut to fast growth and macroeconomic stability. The engine of growth is education and until Nigeria prioritises the creation of a labour market with machinists, lathe workers, pipe fitters, engineers, project managers, and business managers and develops the ability to manufacture (and/or assemble) huge volumes of intermediate inputs and finished products, it will struggle to generate fast growth. But therein lies the conundrum! Developing skills and capabilities is a medium to long term process, while the country is a democracy, with politicians that naturallyprefer to deliver fast growth immediately. However, the past is an accurate proxy for the future and real economic growth is tied to the types, quality and quantity of the factors of production that are available in an economy. The huge and growing population of young people and growing population of elderly people, further pressures politicians and makes it harder to focus on medium to longer education and skill creation.

China is an excellent example of the process that will be required to grow the Nigerian economy fast enough to create a condition where economic growth is sustainably higher than population growth. China had to undergo a period of cultural change and skill development in the 1950s and 1960s to develop the capacity to make things, that has since propelled it into the second largest economy in the world. Nigeria has an advantage here, because it already has a labour market that contains some of the required skills and knowledge, an awareness of their need, institutions that can be scaled up to deliver them and enough financial capacity, if that is made a priority.

But in the meantime, there is nothing stopping the country from following the example of China when it sought to develop the capacity to manufacture power plants. The Chinese bought a disused power generating plan in the UK and sent a team of engineers and technicians to disassemble and ship it back to China, where the parts were studied and assembled back over and over, until the capacity to manufacture a similar power plant was created. In essence, there is little reason – but will and execution – why Nigeria cannot build a gas fired power generating plant that includes a significant proportion of locally fabricated components, in the next three years.

While the ERGP is laudable, more emphasis needs to be placed on deepening the underlying factors of sustainable growth, especially basic, intermediate and advanced skills and capabilities and an enabling system of values and attitudes. Certainly, if global crude oil prices sustainably cross the $100 per barrel mark within the next few months and if crude oil exports are sustainable over the two million barrels per day rate in that scenario, the country will be in a position to import significant numbers of foreign contractors, intermediate inputs and workers required to build out infrastructure. However, that is an unlikely scenario, so the reality is that Nigeria has to dig deeply into a consideration of the internal resources and capabilities it will need to dramatically improve the infrastructure stock and generate fast economic growth and then execute an aggressive strategy for putting them in place.

This will require an industry-by-industry analysis of the country’s potential for competitive advantage, an understanding of the value chain of these areas – clear to the finished product or service – a mapping of the required resources and capabilities on a sectoral and activity basis, and practical decisions on what to focus on along with workable timelines.

This is a politically challenging problem but one that must be faced and delivered aggressively while also implementing policies that improve the business environment, changes the dominant value system, and creates current economic growth that is far from tepid. Until the country develops an internal capacity to transform and make competitive goods and services in huge volumes, growth will continue to be overly dependent on crude oil prices that are externally determined, constraining the ability of serious and focused plans like the ERGP to deliver their objectives within expected time frames. Tweaking the plan to prioritise the generation of these underlying (but powerful) facilitators of rapid and enduring economic growth will be great.

source: guardian.ng

Again, CBN Boost Forex Supply With Fresh $195m

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Tuesday released fresh $195m into the foreign exchange market as part of its wholesale intervention to ensure liquidity in that segment of the market.

The release was confirmed by a statement signed by the Acting Director of Corporate Communications Department, Mr Isaac Okoroafor.

Okoroafor in the statement said the intervention of $195m is made up of $150m for the wholesale auction and $45m in the invisible segment for such items as medical fees, tuition fees, Personal Travel Allowance and Business Travel Allowance.

 

The statement reads in part,  “The Central Bank of Nigeria  on Tuesday, March 14, 2017, sustained the supply of foreign exchange to the market by concluding arrangement to release the sum of $195m comprising of $150m for the wholesale auction and $45m in the invisible segment for such items as medical fees, tuition fees, Personal Travel Allowance  and Business Travel Allowance.”

Okorafor, said that the apex bank acted promptly and proactively in line with its promise to keep the market liquid enough to meet the needs of genuine requests.

He also alluded to the fact that deposit money banks were becoming saturated with foreign exchange as most of them are now able to meet demands for foreign exchange within the stipulated time frame.

 “As you can see, all the pent-up demand for invisibles have been met to the extent that banks are urging customers to come and obtain forex”, he said.

He reiterated the apex bank’s determination to continue to fund the importation of raw materials and plant and machinery for manufacturing, agriculture, and other eligible items.

He also assured that the CBN remained resolute in ensuring stability in the forex market by keeping an eye on the activities of authorised dealers in order to ensure sharp practices are reduced to the barest minimum.

Source: punchng.com

‘Nigeria’s economic survival depends on non-export’ - The Nation Nigeria

The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has said that Nigeria’s economic sur-vival is dependent on the non-export sector.
The council said gone were the days the country depended solely on oil as its main economic survival, adding that Nigeria should focus attention on non-oil exportable products that would be of economic importance to the country.

The NEC said it would organise a stakeholders summit on non-oil export next month in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The Western Zone Coordinator of the Nigerian Shippers Council Olurotim Anifowose said this in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, when he paid a courtesy visit to the state Commerce and Cooperatives Commissioner, Alhaji Ahmed Rifun.
“Our major challenge is that most entrepreneurs in the state are sceptical of registering with us; it is these ministries that can help bring them closer to us so that they know the benefits inherent in registering with the council,” he said.
“We have been mandated to ensure that our non-oil exportable items are brought to limelight. The summit is expected to bring marketing groups together for them to throw up their challenges and proffer solutions to them.
“We are now the agency regulating the economic potentials of Nigeria either through sea, airports and land. We want to leverage on the ministry of commerce and cooperatives’ experience to achieve this laudable project.”
Mr. Anifowose added that the ministry has been supportive of the council’s cause, saying “there is a level of commitment and serious contributions in everything we do as an organization.”
Alhaji Rifun who was represented by the ministry Permanent Secretary, Alhaji Bayo Onimago assured of the state preparedness to provide the enabling environment for the council to operate in the state.
He said the role the shippers’ council has been playing in Nigeria cannot be underplayed.
“I assure that we will actually partner with you. We will facilitate a nexus between you and the entrepreneurs. But you need to embark on aggressive advocacy and enlightenment programs to sensitive members of the public on your activities,” the commissioner counseled.

Banks Seek Customers To Buy Surplus Forex

Commercial banks are now seeking customers to buy the surplus foreign currencies they have after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) continually flooded the market with foreign exchange.

It would be recalled that in an effort to support and shore-up the value of Naira, the CBN resolved to flood commercial banks with dollars.

Sources said the banks are reported to be holding excess Forex and were seeking customers to buy the foreign currencies. The banks have cleared the backlog of requests for foreign currencies for basic travel allowance, school fees and medicals.

According to  a banker, his bank had so much dollars that its marketers were asked to encourage customers to request for the greenback.The source added that the bank wanted to avoid a situation where it would be forced to return excess Forex to the CBN.

Doing so, according to him, would force the CBN to reduce the quantity of Forex sold to the bank.

Another source said following the CBN intervention, his bank had succeeded in clearing all pending requests for Forex as far back as September, 2016.

Also, a source in one of the new generation banks commended the decision of the CBN to flood the market with Forex, thereby allowing the banks to meet legitimate requests from its customers.

In a data released by the CBN, the apex bank, within three weeks, has injected more than 1.4 billion dollars for both wholesale and retail intervention into the Interbank Forex Market.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Economic Associates, Mr Ayo Teriba is optimistic that the CBN would be able to sustain its intervention on the forex market. Teriba told NAN that increase in oil production and high oil prices had increased the foreign reserve base of the country.

“We are back to a situation where the forex at the disposal of the CBN is likely to go up. The CBN could not intervene in the forex market in 2016 because of low oil production, prices and because foreign reserves were also low.

“Today, oil price is up, reserves have also gone up, the outlook of the oil prices is stable and production in Nigeria is going back to capacity; so it has the capacity to intervene. In a couple of months, the apex bank should be able to meet all of the demands and all the multiple exchange rates will converge.”

Happy Days Creeping Into Nigeria As Inflation Rate Drops

Happy days are creeping into Nigeria once again as  inflation rate bucked the trend in February to fall to 17.78 percent.
It is the lowest level in 15 months and  driven by a slower rise in general price levels, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday.
Inflation had risen to 18.72 percent in January, its 12th monthly rise and its highest level in more than 11 years, as Nigeria grapples with an economic recession, a currency crisis and dollar shortages, brought on by low oil prices, its mainstay.

The central bank, under pressure to narrow the gap between the official and black market rates, has devalued the naira for consumers, offering to sell them dollars at about half the premium the black market charges.
It has also increased dollar sales in recent weeks to importers to try to boost the naira. Nigeria has limited manufacturing capacity and depends on imports for local consumption.
A separate food index showed inflation at 18.53 percent from 17.82 percent in January, the statistics office said in a report, pushed up by the rise in food staples such as bread, cereal and meat, while drink prices slowed.
Last week the government unveiled sweeping economic recovery plans, including measures to reduce its dependence on oil and to relax foreign exchange restrictions, in a drive to pull the country out of its first recession in 25 years.
NBS forecasts inflation to be at 15.74 percent at year-end and 12.42 percent in 2018, which if achieved, could alleviate widespread frustration with living costs, analysts say.
Nigeria slipped into recession in 2016. The CBN had earlier signaled in July 2015, that Nigeria would experience recession if intervention monetary policies were not implemented in time.
The CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele told reporters in Abuja: “Even after the delayed budgetary passage in May 2016, the initial monetary injection approved by the federal government may not impact the economy soon.”

World Bank, IMF Lack Solutions To Nigeria’s Economic Recession-NLC

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has advised the federal government against seeking ways out of the current economic recession through the International Monetary Fund or external institutions.
NLC ‘s president, Comrade Ayuba Wabba gave the advice in Asaba at the weekend during the 5th national delegates’ conference of the National Union of Civil Engineering Construction, Furniture and Wood Workers(NUCECFFWW), where he maintained that the solutions to Nigeria’s economic challenges would be through home grown initiatives.

Ayuba was quoted in an electronic copy of his speech at the conference obtained by our correspondent as saying that for Nigeria to roll back its economy to prosperity, the government must design policies that would bring back industries, create productive jobs, revive public electricity and revalue the nation’s currency.
He emphasised the need for the government to encourage the growth of the informal economy, resume local production of petroleum products, develop solid minerals and tourism, among other resources of global economic values.
“We do not need any lecturing from the IMF or any external institutions to do this. We have vibrant and experienced experts that can develop policies on these. Indeed, the government should as a matter of urgency, convene a conference on the economy or assemble an all-inclusive team to develop an economic recovery framework that is people driven and people focused”, he said.
He, however, maintained that the ongoing economic recession is not only a resultant effect of corruption but the continued adoption of policies imposed by neo-liberal institutions against the wishes of Nigerians.

Scarcity of Funds Worsens as CBN Mops up N373 billion

SCARCITY of funds in the interbank money market intensified last week as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) mopped up N373 billion through sales of treasury bills (TBs).

Analysis of development in the interbank money market revealed that the CBN conducted daily secondary market (open market operations, OMO) treasury bills during the week as well as three primary market auctions, in a bid to mop up funds from the market and prevent too much Naira pursuing the available foreign exchange resources and putting pressure on exchange rates. Analysis revealed that the N470 billion worth of bills offered by the CBN recorded 87 per cent subscription as total subscription stood at N429 billion while the apex bank sold N373 billion. In the secondary market, the total public subscription to the N160 billion worth of bills offered by the CBN, stood at N66 billion while the apex bank sold N63 billion. However, the N310 billion worth of bills offered by the CBN in the primary market recorded oversubscription, with total public subscription at N363 billion while the apex bank sold N310 billion.

The N373 billion worth of bills sold in both market eliminated the impact of the inflow of N310 billion through matured Nigerian Treasury Bills, NTBs, during the week. This combined with outflow through funding for purchase of CBN’s intervention dollar sales aggravated scarcity of funds in the market during the week. Financial Vanguard investigation revealed that amount of cash in the market dropped from N74 billion at the beginning of the week to N2 billion at the close of business on Friday. This prompted short term cost of funds to rise by 50 per cent during the week, with interest rate on Overnight lending and Secured lending (Open Buy Back, OBB) rising from 10 per cent the previous week to 15 per cent at the close of business last week. Analysts at Cowry Asset Management Limited, a Lagos based investment firm however predicted that cost of funds would be stable this week. They stated: “This week, in the absence of any treasury bill maturities and auctions, we anticipate interbank lending rates to remain relatively stable.” External reserve rises to $29.7bn Meanwhile, the nation’s external reserve rose to $29.7 billion last week, even as the Naira depreciated to N465 per dollar at the close of business on Friday in the parallel market, defying additional dollar supply of $450 million by the CBN. According to data at the apex bank, the external reserve rose from $29.5 billion the previous week to $29.7 at the close of business last week, indicating $200 million accretion. Cumulatively, the external reserve has risen by $3.9 billion, from $25.8 billion the beginning of the year. However, the sharp appreciation of the Naira in the parallel market the previous week was halted and partly reversed last week as the parallel market exchange rate rose to N465 per dollar at the close of business on Friday from N450 per dollar the previous week, indicating depreciation of N15 or 3.3 per cent. The Naira depreciation was despite additional dollar supply of $450 million by the CBN during the week. On Monday the apex bank injected $180 million comprising $100 million into the wholesale forwards segment of the market and an additional $80 million into the banks specifically for the settlement of dollar demand for school fees, medicals and Personal Travel Allowance (PTA), among others. This was followed by injection of another $370 million towards the close of business on Friday, apparently in response to the rise in parallel market exchange rate to N465 the same day. Analysts however differed in the projections for the Naira this week. Analysts at Afrinvest Plc stated: “We expect official market rates to continue to trade within a tight band as the CBN sustains its intervention program, parallel market rate is however expected to pull southwards until demand and supply dynamics establishes new short term rate”. On the other hand, Cowry Assets Management analysts stated: “We expect less pressure on the naira in the foreign exchange market due to likely increase in supply amidst build up in foreign exchange reserves”.

Source: vanguardngr

SCARCITY of funds in the interbank money market intensified last week as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) mopped up N373 billion through sales of treasury bills (TBs).

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/03/scarcity-funds-worsens-cbn-mops-n373-billion/

Mixed Reactions Trail Reintroduction of Charges on Cash Deposits, Withdrawals

Mixed reactions have continued to trail the reintroduction of bank charges by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on cash deposits and withdrawals.

Some bank customers in Ilorin who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday, expressed different views on the CBN’s decision.

Mr Dipo Fatokun, CBN’s Director, Banking and Payments Department, had said that the decision to reintroduce the charges was consequent upon the review of charges on deposits and withdrawals in the cashless policy.

Mr Lukman Yahaya said the timing of the policy was wrong considering the economic situation in the country.

”The new policy is uncalled for with the present economy of the country.

”I am a commercial farmer and we borrow huge money from banks to carry out our farming activities, this policy will have adverse effect on us,” Yahaya said.

Another customer, Mrs Josephine Adebare, said the development would discourage customers from seeking bank facilities.

”Personally, I believe those charges are not right, especially when CBN is talking about financial inclusion and financial literacy.

”The importance of finance inclusion is to bring more customers into the saving culture; with reintroduction of charges, it might discourage depositors and those seeking other banking facilities,” Adebare said.

However, the Chief Executive Officer of Sure Doors, Adebowale Olugbenga, and also a bank customer, expressed supported for the policy, saying that it would reduce money laundering in the financial sector.

”It will be easy to control illicit funds that go to kidnappers, especially. To to me, it is a good development,” Olugbenga said.

Also, the Chief Executive Officer, Emmertex Superstores, Mr Hilary Okhifo, said the policy was a welcome development, adding that it would reduce movement of cash.

”It will help to check unnecessary withdrawals, people will only withdraw money when it is necessary,” Okhifo said.

Presidency fires back at Soludo over comments on Buhari

The Presidency has hit back at former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Charles Soludo, after he accused President Muhammadu Buhari of worsening the country’s economy.
Acting President Yemi Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement, insisted that Buhari had ended the bleeding of the nation and was implementing reforms.
“Nigerians have demonstrated that they know the Buhari administration inherited a sorry state of the economy but is working diligently to fix it with positive results now emerging.
“What even Former CBN Governor Soludo cannot deny is the fact that the Buhari administration has ended the bleeding of the nation and is implementing reforms.
“The Buhari administration is spending more on infrastructure at a time when resources are lean. When we had abundant revenues what happened was profligacy and plunder.”
Soludo had said: “Nigeria is now, some say a fragile state, some say a failed state; it is not going to be a tea-party to come out but unfortuately, we are not taking it serious.
“Nigeria is not just in recession but in a massive economic compression; it will be a miracle for the present APC administration to return this country to the dollar size it met in May 29, 2015, if it stays for 8 years, that’s till 2023.
“It is business as usual; propaganda, lies, double-speak. Current government is fighting corruption, insecurity, but we say to them, enough of the blame gain.
“They inherited a bad situation but they have made it several times worst; getting us out here is not a tea-party like I sad before. Nigerians should rise in unity; it should no longer be ‘let them’; only united citizens can rescue Nigeria out of this position.”

Presidency, Soludo clash over Nigeria’s Economic Crisis

The Presidency on Thursday replied the former Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Chukwuma Soludo, who accused the Buhari administration of worsening the state of Nigeria’s economy since it took over almost two years ago.
Mr. Soludo said the government had not shown sufficient seriousness in addressing the nation’s terrible economic situation.

Speaking in Enugu on Thursday at an interactive Forum, titled “Big Ideas Podium”, organised by the African Heritage Institution, Mr. Soludo said the present administration had made the economy several times worse than it met it in May 2015.
“Nigeria is now, some say, a fragile state; some say a failed state. It is not going to be a tea-party to come out; but unfortunately, we are not taking it seriously.
“Nigeria is not just in recession, but in a massive economic compression,” the professor of economics was quoted by the online newspaper, Daily Post, as saying.
“It will be a miracle for the present APC administration to return this country to the dollar size it met in May 29, 2015, if it stays for eight years, till 2023.
“They inherited a bad situation, but they have made it several times worse. Getting us out here is not a tea-party. Nigerians should rise in unity. It should no longer be ‘let them.’ Only united citizens can rescue Nigeria out of this position.”
Mr. Soludo later said the report mostly reflected his remarks at the event.
He said his message was essentially that Nigerians cannot just sit idle in their homes and expect “change” to happen.
“My idea is that of Citizen United; we won’t get the leadership that we deserve; we won’t get the leadership that we want; we will get the leadership that we demand,” he was further quoted as saying.
“They gave us manifestoes, promised a lot and we said ‘yea’; how many have gone back to check how far them are implementing those promises; if any party implements 25 percent of its manifesto, Nigeria will get better.
“If you check any state run by APC, PDP or APGA, the three parties that have governors, can you spot any difference in any of those states that will distinguish one party from another? It is the same.
“APC said in its manifesto that it will restructure Nigeria, that Nigeria was not one, but after election, has anybody heard about it (restructuring) again? They control 23 States and the National Assembly, all they need is one more State to get the required 2/3; so they have what it takes, but they are not talking about it again.
“If we don’t rise to hold them by the jugular, Nigeria cannot go anywhere. We have to start preparing for a post-oil economy; insanity is to repeat the same thing over and over again and expect different result.”
Acting President Yemi Osinbajo’s spokesperson, Laolu Akande, said in a statement on Thursday that Mr. Soludo had ignored the new direction the government was leading the economy in a manner that suggested “selective amnesia”.
He said the former CBN governor was entitled to his “opinion”, while Nigerians were entitled to “facts” about the economy.
“The opinion he (Soludo) expressed is understandable in a democratic system, but the facts are that the challenges of today are a direct result of wrong-headed decisions of the past, and quite mind-boggling actions of those who were entrusted with leadership,” Mr. Akande, said.
He said it was undeniable that the Buhari government was working hard to change the economy.
“What even Soludo cannot deny is the fact that the Buhari administration has ended the bleeding of the nation and is implementing reforms.
“The Buhari administration is spending more on infrastructure at a time when resources are lean. When we had abundant revenues what happened was profligacy and plunder,” he said.
“What no one can deny is that the Buhari administration is now implementing on behalf of ordinary Nigerians a Social Investment Programme that is unprecedented in Nigeria’s history, paying poorest Nigerians N5,000 monthly, feeding school children and engaging hundreds of thousands of unemployed graduates,” he said.
“Apart from plugging loopholes in several ways, including through the Treasury Single Account, he said the Buhari administration was raking in resources that otherwise were hidden and misappropriated by the previous administrations.”
He said the country was doing better in the oil and gas sector, and had improved fuel product supply.
“The fact that Nigeria no longer has to shell out billions of dollars for joint venture cash calls, was not only a step in the right direction, but one that was bringing relief from a burden that slowed down investments in the oil industry,” he said.
“It is certainly quite curious that very few among us will choose to ignore the new direction, but make store of the burdens of past without proper attributions. This appears to be selective amnesia to which they are certainly entitled.
“What would have been more patriotic is that people of goodwill will join several others working with us in this administration and offer progressive ideas and join hands with a government and administration that everyone knows are led by a President and Vice President who are  trustworthy and are people of unabashed honesty, and integrity,” Mr. Akande said.

Buhari’s Style is Worsening Fragile Economy, says Soludo

The President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s style of governance is worsening the fragile economy of the country, former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Charles Soludo, declared yesterday.

Although Soludo acknowledged that the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration inherited a bad situation, he said that the administration had made the economy several times worse than it met it two years ago.

By his position, Soludo has joined other citizens who have offered different perspectives on how the Buhari government can effectively manage the economy and make governance to have a direct and positive impact on the citizens.

At a public policy forum organised by the African Heritage Institution, tagged “Big Ideas Podium” and held in Enugu, Soludo said “Nigeria is now, some say, a fragile state, some say a failed state.” According to him, it is not going to be a tea party to come out of the situation because there has not been a serious commitment to address the problems.

“Nigeria is not just in recession, but in a massive economic compression; it will be a miracle for the present APC administration to return this country to the dollar size it met in May 29, 2015, if it stays for eight years, that’s till 2023.

“It is business as usual, propaganda, lies, double-speak. The current government is fighting corruption, insecurity, but we say to them, enough of the blame game.

“They inherited a bad situation but they have made it several times worse; getting us out here is not a tea party. Nigerians should rise in unity, it should no longer be ‘let them’; only united citizens can rescue Nigeria out of this position,” Soludo said.

The CBN ex-boss urged the masses to hold the government to account for all the promises made before the election. “My idea is that of citizens united; we won’t get the leadership that we deserve; we won’t get the leadership that we want; we will get the leadership that we demand.

“They gave us manifestoes, promised a lot and we said ‘yea’; how many have gone back to check how far they are delivering on those promises? If any party implements 25 percent of its manifesto, Nigeria will get better.

“If you check any state run by APC, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), the three parties that have governors, can you spot any difference in any of those states that will distinguish one party from another? They are the same.

“APC said in its manifesto that it will restructure Nigeria, that Nigeria was not one, but after election, has anybody heard about it (restructuring) again? They control 23 states and the National Assembly, all they need is one more state to get the required 2/3; so they have what it takes, but they are not talking about it again.

“If we don’t rise to hold them by the jugular, Nigeria cannot go anywhere. We have to start preparing for a post-oil economy; insanity is to repeat the same thing over and over again and expect a different result.”

Soludo, who also faulted the clamour for Igbo presidency, described it as an “unnecessary distraction”, stressing that “you could have the president and his vice as well as all the ministers come from one village, but the life of all the people in that village will not move from point A to point B.”

To justify his position, he recalled that during Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, several members of the economic team, including the finance minister, deputy senate president, deputy speaker of the House of Representatives and the secretary to the government of the federation all came from the South-East, “but there is not one motorable federal highway in Igbo land.

“We want a new Nigeria where it does not matter where the president comes from; we want to set a structure where each citizen will work hard, where security is guaranteed.”

NIMASA Seeks Support of Traditional Rulers on Economic Diversification

Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has called on traditional rulers in the maritime domain to assist toward the economic diversification drive of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

Peterside made the call when he led the Management of NIMASA on a courtesy visit to the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu in his palace in Lagos, as part of his stakeholders’ engagement.

The Director-General said his visit to the traditional ruler was informed by the critical role the traditional institution played in nation building as custodians of culture and tradition.

He described Lagos as the economic gateway of Nigeria with enormous maritime resources.

According to Peterside, the state is the hub of maritime activities in Nigeria as it is the only state in the country that has two international seaports.

 NIMASA DG- Dr. Dakuku Peterside

“Lagos plays a very important role in the economic development of Nigeria because it is the hub of maritime activities in the country.

“Therefore, there is need for all stakeholders in Lagos to work with government and its agencies for the economic diversification of the Nigeria,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quotes him as saying.

Peterside said the roles of NIMASA included regulation of shipping and shipping activities as well as promotion of indigenous shipping.

The director-general calls for the support of the traditional ruler for an enabling operational environment.

He said that in the course of carrying out its regulatory functions, the agency might need the support of the traditional institution in one way or the other.

“We will come hard on erring operators and stakeholders and we will need your support where necessary in order to achieve our aims for the benefit of Nigeria,’’ Peterside said.

In his response, Oba Akiolu commended the Management of NIMASA.

He said he was impressed by the good works being done to revolutionise the maritime sector in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s change agenda.

Akiolu said the agency could count on him and his traditional council to provide a conducive environment for maritime activities to thrive.

He also said that he had instructed his chiefs around the operational base of the agency in Lagos to ensure that “the place is secured for people to carry out their legitimate businesses’’.

NAN reports that NIMASA is a Federal Government agency, saddled with the responsibility of regulating maritime activities and promoting indigenous shipping in Nigeria. -NAN