The Truth Northern Nigerian Leaders Must Accept
• Says CBN, SEC should act with knowledge, not fear • Emefiele, others chart path for economic recovery
Fellow Nigerians, please permit me to start today by giving a summary of how I see the current spate of insecurity in Nigeria. Any rightthinking Nigerian realises that this is the most burning issue for discourse in the country at a time when rampaging bandits, insurgents and terrorists seem to have overrun our country and effectively taken over its leadership. No matter your political leaning and alignment, the facts make for gruesome, grisly reading and consideration.
One. The Northern parts of Nigeria have largely fallen into the hands of hard-core terrorists, if you like call them herdsmen, bandits, insurgents or whatever you will. The situation is akin to a coup carried out by a ragtag army with pockets of resistance by the legitimate government fighting with puny munitions as against sophisticated weaponry and arsenal. How ironic for the giant of Africa!
Two. The terrorists fall into different groups. The most prominent group has been the Shekau faction of Boko Haram. Their agenda is clear. They are out to kill and maim and destroy anything in sight, out of some warped ideologies and principles. I don’t think they are armed robbers, or petty thieves. They seem more motivated and organised than that and they seem to have some code of honour which marks them out. Shekau himself must possess more than nine lives. I have read of his demise, which has been greeted with much joy and fanfare, not only by the unfortunate Nigerians caught up in his zone of death but also, by some witless and clueless military top brass and government leaders who have had eggs all over their faces from the daredevil exploits of this rakish felon, countless times. Every time he has been declared dead, with apparently fake videos to prove this, the phantom Shekau had resurrected to the eternal consternation, bewilderment and damnation of his victims and those supposedly hunting him down. His assailants should be tired by now and should just let God take him away at his own appointed time, since that seems to be the only way the man will leave this planet earth, on his and God’s terms.
Three. There are heavily weaponized terrorists operating around the forests of Kaduna, Zamfara and Niger States. Their agenda is simply opportunistic. Harass and blackmail the Nigerian State to a standstill and hold everyone to ransom till the government parts with billions of Naira as settlement, appeasement, pacifiers or in typical Nigerian parlance, the dividends of Amnesty! Their strategy is very smart. Give access to a Sheikh Gumi and some media operatives to help spread your message of terror, free of charge, and even confer some sort of legitimacy on your nefarious activities. I must confess that these ones are far smarter than the other groups. I love the bold and brazen manner they have requested for President Muhammadu Buhari to come and negotiate with them personally. The Yoruba people have a relevant proverb: the person who gave birth to a terrible child should be ready to carry the troublesome baby on his own back. They were apparently used and dumped by Buhari and other politicians who made grandiloquent promises to them during their various electioneering campaigns. The payback time has now come, and vengeance is theirs. No more time for long stories!
Four. There are herders and cattle rearers. These ones are in two or more parts. The itinerant, traditional, peaceful and innocent Fulani herders who shepherd their cattle from place to place and have done so for many decades. They are legit and usually calm. They are mostly Nigerian Fulani. Many of them have bosses who had traded almost forever across the country. They are traceable, well-meaning and prosperous. They do not want trouble and they do not look for trouble. However, there are the invading Fulani from different parts of West Africa, roaming dangerously and violently into and out of our porous borders, unchallenged. The attitude and disposition of the government has made them to believe, with some justification, that president Buhari is their avuncular benefactor and protector, and no harm can befall them in Nigeria. They are more confident about their untouchability, inviolability and invincibility. Those are the reasons they have been killing, maiming and raping defenceless Nigerians, senselessly. These ones are the deadliest because they are not just armed robbers, they are religious and tribalistic bigots and fanatics who are daydreaming of how they will soon convert the entire country of Nigeria into a Fulani colony and an Islamic enclave. They must be flushed out by all means necessary, whether Buhari is willing or not! He once told us himself that they are foreigners, so why must we allow them to destroy the lives of peace-loving Nigerians?
However, all these four categories or groups are not my main focus today. This week, I wish to speak to the loquacious, swollen headed Northern Governors who have been rubbing hot pepper and salt on our festering wounds. One of them has been busy grandstanding and talking arrogantly
that he has no apologies for his retrogressive views on the raging controversy. My advice is that many of these Northern leaders should urgently bury their faces in shame and beg Allah for forgiveness, if it is not too late. It is the height of shamelessness to impoverish your people, turn them into illiterates and robots, and expect that you won’t reap the whirlwind of violence that you have sown, in a matter of time.
Everyone knows how much these Northern leaders crave and cuddle power but what have they done with it? Many of us who are detribalized Nigerians don’t really care if they’ve held on to power for so long, but it is sad to see the mess they have made of it. These leaders are still busy deceiving their people by pretending to be their champion when they are the original parasites feeding fat on their hapless preys. The amount of money spent on military hardware today would have been invested in vocational education, cottage industries, and other productive sectors but not flamboyant ones. I’m sure they’ve not seen anything yet. Many of them can no longer sleep comfortably in their towns and villages, the reason they have over-fortified Abuja, which they run to at the earliest opportunity or excuse, in recent years. What they have failed to do, some private investors are willing to do for the collective peace and safety of all.
What is sad and saddening is that the Southern leaders who are being saddled with the challenges coming from the North are too timid and squeamish to talk to Buhari and their Northern counterparts. I love the few who are standing up to the bullies, every now and then, Governors Samuel Ortom of Benue State, Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and Godwin Obaseki of Edo State. I respect their boldness in defending the rights of their people to live in peace and harmony while protecting their properties and families. Thousands of young able-bodied boys flocking to the South daily won’t be the case if they were kept busy at home in the North by their leaders. And rather than do the needful, those leaders are busy throwing tantrums as if it is the job of others to look after these innocent kids that they have abandoned and left in abject state of penury and hopelessness. It is like a parent berating a teacher for not giving pastoral care to his child when the parent had actually neglected and refused to give the child a sound upbringing and good manners in the first instance.
Nothing has shocked me more than seeing my Brother, Governor Hope Uzodinma, gloating on television about how he invited the military to Orlu. Please, help me ask what happened in Orlu that has not happened 100 times over in the Northern States. Why didn’t he find any respected Igbo Chief or Priest to go and negotiate and quell whatever trouble there was in Orlu like Sheikh Gumi has been doing for his own men in the Northern forests hiding the itinerant Fulani militia. Why are Southern leaders always very quick at throwing their own citizens at the lions? That was how Chief Sunday Igboho Adeyemo was going to be sacrificed by some Yoruba leaders in order to placate the tin gods of Abuja had his people not lent their voices to his crusade and dared the gods with the feet of clay. It is obvious we are our own worst enemies!
Anyway. Let me call on good spirited and kind-hearted Nigerians to take up the duty and responsibility of helping the army of unemployed Nigerians in whatever way we can now that it is obvious most of our leaders are sleeping and snoring. This is one of the ways in which we can help our youths to go back to the land of reason, decency and self-respect. There is no point wasting time on leaders who have no plan or clue about how to resolve the incredible problems they have caused for everyone. On a personal note, some of my friends and I have found a way of reaching out to Nigerians nationwide. It is a small effort, but the results have been worthwhile. The statistics we have gathered are so depressing and frighteningly sobering. It is now clear to us why terrorists are overrunning some parts of the North East and North West in particular.
Special thanks to the amazing Ghanaian lady, Ms Farida Bedwei, who saw my efforts of distributing palliatives on social media and offered to design a spectacular App that has opened my eyes to the grim realities of Nigeria. You will be surprised and shocked, but it is better that we all act and do something, no matter how little, before it is too late.
As at the time of writing this, we have received a total of 35,981 applications from across the states of Nigeria, in just two weeks, 11,444 females and 24,531 males. I interpret this to mean the men are more under pressure than the women. The average age of applicants is 34 and they are applying for our N5,000 palliatives which government promised them during the campaigns but remains largely nebulous and unseen, although we hear of distributions of billions of Naira to millions regularly. So far, we’ve been able to select 1,004 successful applications and already disbursed N5,020,000. It is our aim to give as many deserving applicant as possible the N5,000 palliative and this is a commitment from us. We charge absolutely nothing for the tremendous and amazing administration and logistics that is going into the scheme, treating that as part of our further contribution to the whole program.
Borno State has the largest number of applications with 6,938. The towns and villages are as follows: Askira 59, Asare 27, Abama 155, Benisheikh 51, Biu 215, Briyel 4, Chibok 45, Damasak 49, Damboa 154, Dikwa 52, Gajiram 29, Gamboru 48, Gubio 23, Gudumbali 9, Gwoza 79, Khaddamari 57, Konduga 126, Kukawa, 41, Kwaya Kusar 38, Mafa 89, Magumeri 111, Maiduguri 5298, Mallam Fatori 25, Marte 61, Monguno 54, Rann 17, Shani 22. This data from Borno State is a sample of what we did and replicated in each of the States. Our government needs to study such credible statistics to be able to appreciate the magnitude of the trouble ahead.
Let’s now go to Bauchi State where we received the second largest number of applications with a total of 6,522. The breakdown is as follows: Alkaleri 146, Azare 891, Bauchi 4,371, Bogoro 40, Dambam 44, Darazo 83, Dass 86, Gamawa 40, Giade 21, Itas 36, Jama’are 27, Kafin Madaki 64, Katagum 259, Kirfi 51, Misau 95, Ningi 40, Tafawa Balewa 105, Toro 80, Warji 10, Yana 33...
Abia recorded 414 applications, Adamawa 904, Akwa Ibom 421, Anambra 330, Bayelsa 264, Benue 728, Cross River 573, Delta 444, Ebonyi 316, Edo 391, Ekiti 587, Enugu 326, Gombe 2,049, Imo 427, Jigawa 180, Kaduna 1,307, kano 455, Katsina 473, Kebbi, 241, Kogi 849, Kwara 667, Lagos 1,954, Nasarawa 353, Niger 600, Ogun 943, Ondo 650, Osun 942, Oyo 1,226, Plateau 524, Rivers 425, Sokoto 279, Taraba 877, Yobe 952 and Zamfara 451... One or two of these might have changed in the course of writing this column. It is a dynamic and fluid situation brought on by the malaise of unemployment that is ravaging our country while government spews forth fake statistics and monetary figures.
It is obvious that out leaders never treated their citizens right and much more needs to be done. What is saddest is the obvious lack of empathy and compassion. I must acknowledge the salutary efforts of the Governor of Borno State, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, against all odds. I wish our President could study how this Governor reaches out to his people. President Buhari is just too aloof and distant from the people of Nigeria. Yet he was so energetic during the campaigns and went everywhere. Now that he has occupied, and seats on, the gilded throne of power he has since truculently and defiantly withdrawn into his rarefied cocoon, thereby leaving Nigeria on autopilot and at the mercy of his villainous brethren...
It is so sad and unfortunate!
The Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo yesterday aligned with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and some of the anti-corruption agencies on their concerns about the dangers and likely abuses in the use of cryptocurrencies.
The vice president, however, said the regulators ought to have considered regulating the digital currency instead of prohibiting its transactions in the banking and payment system as done two weeksago.
Os in ba jo stated this in a keynote address delivered virtually at a one day economic summit organised by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Banker’s Committee, and the Vanguard Newspaper, themed “Bankers’ Initiative for Economic Growth”.
The Vice President said: “I fully appreciate the strong position of the CBN, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and some of the anti-corruption agencies on the possible abuses of cryptocurrencies and their other well-articulated concerns. But I believe that their position should be the subject of further reflection.
“There is a role for regulation here. And it is in the place of both our monetary authorities and SEC to provide a robust regulatory regime that addresses these serious concerns without killing the goose that might lay the golden eggs.
“So it should be thoughtful and knowledge-based regulation not prohibition. The point I am making is that some of the exciting developmentswe see call for prudence and care in adopting them, but we must act with knowledge and not fear.”
Emphasis in gt he need for monetary authorities to rethink their stand on cryptocurrencies, Osinbajo said: “There is no question that blockchain technology generally and cryptocurrencies, in particular, will in the coming years challenge traditional banking, including reserve (Central) banking, in ways that we cannot yet imagine. So, we need to be prepared for that seismic shift. And it may come sooner than later.
“Already, remittance systems are being challenged. Blockchain technology will provide far cheaper options to the kind of fees being paid today for cross-border transfers. I am sure you are all aware of the challenge that the traditional SWIFT system is facing from new systems like Ripple which is based on the blockchain distributed ledger technology with its own crypto tokens.
“There are, of course, a whole range of digital assets spawned daily from block-chain technology. Decentralised finance, using smart contracts to create financial instruments, in place of central financial intermediaries such as banks or brokerages is set to challenge traditional finance. The likes of Nexo finance offer instant loans using cryptocurrency as collateral. Some reserve banks are investigating issuing their own digital currencies.”
Talking about the task of national development and the public and private sector interventions, the vice president emphasised that “in order to engender sustained economic growth, we must think intermsofscale.”
He said: “I am quite concerned when I hear that national interventions are classified as pilots involving sometimes no more than 1000 people. Given the size of our population, we cannot afford the luxury of pilot projects. We should design our interventions very carefully and then go big.
“It was quite puzzling to me when people said that our plan to build 300,000 houses under the ESP was too ambitious a target. After all, this just amounts to 400 houses per local government yet many of our local governments are larger than some African countries who would not consider building 400 houses in one year as too onerous atask.
“The task of national developmentrequires that we fire on all cylinders after all, at one stage, China was building 1.9 million housing units per year over a number of years.”
Speaking on the need to complement the efforts of the federal government in bridging the infrastructure gap, Osinbajo said: “The Buhari administration “has a track record of building roads, rail and power projects across the country. In spite of this commitment we are still very far away from meeting the full infrastructural needs of the economy.”
The vice president called for improved support, particularly from the private sector in the operational is at ion of the Infrastructure Company (InfraCo).
“The President has now approved the establishment of InfraCo which will be a publicprivate partnership chaired by the CBN Governor to overcome our infrastructure deficits.
“I expect that this is a project that will excite the interest of financiers and bankers and I encourage you all to lend support to make it a success ,” Os in ba jo noted.
He also emphasised the need for stakeholders to pay attention to human resource development as they scale up investments in the economy.
On the country’s recovery from its second recession in four years, Osinbajo said policymakers, lawmakers and business leaders have cause to cheer the relatively good performance in the face of the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. He attributed successes recorded to the early actions of the. President: “First, in providing an initial stimulus and then, constituting the Economic Sustainability Committee, and the Economic Sustainability Plan.”
Earlier in his presentation, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, pledged to adopt accommodative monetary policy stance in 2021 in order to support economic growth inthecountry.
Nigeria's economy recently came out of recession, according to the Gross Domestic Product report for the fourth quarter 2020 released by the National Bureau of Statistics.
Owing to the GDP growth of 0.11 percent that lifted the economy out of recession, E me fie le said it was imperative that, "we do all we can in 2021 and beyond to ensure that we build on the positive momentum and strengthen our efforts at stimulating growth ."
He expressed optimism that with the discovery and deployment of vaccines worldwide, 2021 would be a year of massive global recovery and Nigeria must not be leftout.
"The banks CEOs are here, whether by moral suasion or by force, they will have to participate in this journey. In order to drive and sustain this recovery therefore, we need to sustain the accommodative fiscal and monetary policy measures aimed at improving access to finance for households and businesses.
"Secondly, we must prevent resurgence in COVID-19-related cases. Thirdly, we must ensure that a significant number of our population is significantly vaccinated and also improve foreign exchange in flows into our country ," he added.
Furthermore, he pledged that the CBN would ensure improved foreign exchange inflows into the country going forward.
He said the central bank would priori ti se intervention in key sectors of the economy such as agriculture, information communication technology and manufacturing, which are growth enablers.
Commenting on efforts to give infrastructure in the country a facelift, the CBN Governor noted that with the decline in revenues due to federal and state government, alternative ways of funding infrastructure remained critical if the government was to generate sustained growth of the economy.
“As we are all aware, a wellbuilt infrastructure system can have a multiplier effect on growth by enabling the expansion of business activities in the country. That is why I am delighted that Mr. President has continued to give all the necessary approvals and support to establish the Infrastructure Corporation of Nigeria Limited.
“InfraCorp will be co-owned by the CBN, the African Finance Corporation and the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority and would become fully operational by the second quarter of 2021. This vehicle would enable the use of private and public capital to support infrastructure investment that will have a multiplier effect on growth across critical sectors ,” he added.
“The CBN has already taken several measures to increase the flow of diaspora remittances into the country using formal channels. In December 2020, we instructed all international money transfer operators (IMTOs) to provide remitters with the option of sending foreign exchange to beneficiaries in Nigeria. This new measure has helped to reduce the diversion of forex by some IMTOs, who had thrived from forex arbitrage arrangements, rather than on improving transactions volumes to Nigeria. Indeed, we have already seen remittances improve from a weekly average of about US$5 million before this policy, to over US$30 million per week.
“We believe this measure will help to significantly boost inflows ofFX and create much more liquidity in that space ,” he added.
In his presentation, the Chairman of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Economic Advisory Council, Dr. Doyin Salami, said there was need to embrace mechanised form of agriculture so as to enhance job creation, improve the security situation in the country, as well as ensure human capital development.
He also called for an improvementin the state of healthcare in the country, just as he lamented that 60 per cent of agricultural output is lost due to poor storage facilities in thecountry.
“Nigeria’ s infrastructure master plan requires us to spend $3 trillion over 30 years and that is about $100 billion a year. Our total foreign direct investment and foreign portfolio monies would not be more than$20billion.
“The biggest challenge and which I think we must overcome is that challenge of predictability. Investors are afraid of Nigeria and very few can predict what we would do next and they are unwilling to take the risks. For as long as we are perceived as a risky alternative, for so long are we not going to make the progress that we desire to make,” he added.