And Four Other Things…
GHANA VS NIGERIA
Twitter’s decision to locate its Africa headquarters in Ghana has generated a lot of debate. Some Nigerians are celebrating it, partly in the belief that it is an indictment on the Buhari administration. To be fair, Ghana has been beating Nigeria to many things long before Buhari came to power. Who still remembers that President Barack Obama visited Ghana and shunned Nigeria in 2013 and people said it was because the Jonathan administration was corrupt? In all, Ghana is more stable and orderly than Nigeria. If we are wise, then, we should start asking ourselves the hard questions on how Nigeria can reform and become a more hospitable environment to business. Introspection.
PANTS DOWN?
Alhaji Isa Ali Pantami, minister of communication and digital economy, has been in the news since it was reported that he was on the US watchlist over alleged links to terrorists. The report has now been retracted with apology, but old tapes are emerging tending to prove that Pantami used to be sympathetic to terror groups. He has denied the allegations and argued, instead, that he was opposed to their murderous ideology. It shouldn’t be a crime that Pantami is an Islamic cleric. There are pastors in government, right? However, while I admit that people change their opinions as they grow older and wiser, we need to be assured that Pantami does not support terrorism. Imperative.
PRINTER’S DEVIL
Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo state caused some sensation when he alleged that N60 billion was printed to augment March allocations. Nigeria is in dire financial straits because of COVID and low oil production. Under such situations, central banks can “print money” for governments via “ways and means advances” (which are loans, as explained by the CBN governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele). My little understanding of FAAC is that it only shares federally collected revenues as reported by NNPC, FIRS and Customs, etc. These are clearly itemised. So, did FAAC list “printed money” as revenue? It appears Obaseki, a financial expert, goofed but has gone too far to correct himself. Puzzling.
IN MEMORIAM
Exactly one year yesterday, Mallam Abba Kyari, the ex-chief of staff to President Buhari and probably the most hated human being in Nigeria, died after contracting COVID. Although he was said to have tested negative after treatment, he did not survive the complications because of underlying conditions. If the dead could talk, he would probably be thanking God that he escaped many things that would have been blamed on him, such as the removal of Mallam Ibrahim Magu as EFCC chairman, Mrs Aisha Buhari’s prolonged stay in Dubai and the “printing of N60 billion”. Kyari was certainly not perfect but he unquestionably put in a decent shift in his service to fatherland. Life.