24032021 - Insecurity threatens 2023 elections, Ortom tells Buhari

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18 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2021 IT has gone down history that Nigeria’s popular musician, Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu, best known as Burna Boy, became the first Nigerian to win the Grammy, the world’s biggest music award though some Nigerians had earlier been mentioned in connection with minor Grammy achievements. endeavours. He was crowned under the World Burna Boy’s victory is one of the Music Album category for his high points in the build-up of our album, Twice as Tall, at the 63rd rhythmic renaissance; a turning point edition of the prestigious music event in Nigeria popular music which began held virtually in Los Angeles on in 2009 when two Nigerian Afro-pop March 14, 2021. It was the second year artistes, Obumneme Ali and in a row Burna Boy was nominated in Nwachukwu Ozioko known as that category. Bracket, in their Yori Yori, brought the He beat other nominees like ‘owewelele’ or what the Yoruba call Antibalas, Bebel Gilberto, Anoushka ‘konkolo’ rhythm, into Hip-hop. Shankar and Tianariwen. Last year he Apart from the brief era of the early was beaten by the veteran Beninois Nigerian high-life musicians and the singer, Angelique Kidjo. Burna dominance of Fela Kuti, Sonny Boy’s Grammy award is significant in Okosun and their ilk, the Nigerian one respect. music arena had been dominated by It is another proof of the excellence Western popular music both on radio that Nigerians can attain in all human and in social life – a state of affairs Burna Boy: We can be twice as tall that music communication scholars described as “cultural imperialism”. Even in recent years, the Nigerian airwaves and social events had been dominated musically by foreign artistes like 50-Cent, R-Kelly, Notorious BIG, etc. Nigerian popular musicians simply lost out to their Western counterparts because they played Western rhythms, competing outside their own cultural milieu. Things, however, began to turn around for Nigerian popular music when the Nigerian high-life music, constructed in the 1960s, was deconstructed, reconstructed and imported into the new sound we know today as Nigerian popular music, confirming the writings of Benson Idonije (Burna Boy’s grandfather) that “modern pop music in Nigeria is derived from high-life.” Three major forerunners of that reconstruction processes were Sunny Nneji with his song, Mr. Fantastic, released in 1998; Tu Face Idibia’s African Queen (2004) and Bracket’s Yori Yori (2009). From there, the buildup continued, manifesting in the works of P-Square, D’banj, Flavour, Phyno, Timaya, Davido, Olamide, Wizkid, onto Burna Boy. The lesson here can be drawn from Mahatma Ghandi’s words, quoted in UNDP Human Development Report, 1999: “I do not want my house to be walled on all sides and my windows stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.” We congratulate Burna Boy and Wizkid. Who is sabotaging Nigeria? By SUNNY IKHIOYA YOU claimed during the 2015 election campaign that you do not understand why we are talking about fuel subsidy; today you have been in government for over six years and subsidy cost has escalated under your regime. Who is sabotaging Nigeria? We are an oil producing nation and attend meetings regularly and even got allocated executive seats at the OPEC sessions; yet we import all of our petroleum products from abroad. Who is sabotaging who? We are an oil producing nation with four standard refineries, three in the South and one in the North, all of them not working presently and millions of dollars spent annually on their maintenance. Who is sabotaging Nigeria? The technology of refining crude oil into petrol and diesel is no longer rocket science. The locals in the Niger Delta have mastered the art of cooking oil to produce petrol, kerosene and diesel. But instead of streamlining these local productions and bringing them up to acceptable standards, we are busy sending military personnel to destroy the production centres and wasting whatever they have produced. Who is sabotaging Nigeria? You send troops into the creeks of the Niger Delta to ensure that local production is stopped or totally eliminated. These men see the viability of this project and decide to have a cut in the deal. They collect their cut and the locally produced petrol and diesel are allowed into the mainstream. Who is sabotaging who? You know that the importation of petroleum products into the country is depleting our foreign exchange earnings and you are stopping local productions of same products. Now prices of almost everything have escalated because of wrong policy implementations. Who is sabotaging who? State governors are given huge allocations as security vote; meanwhile, the entire country is sinking under the weight of criminal activities. Who is sabotaging Nigeria? Everyday die-hard fundamentalists and insurgents, run riot maiming, killing, kidnapping Nigerians and destroying their properties. But instead dealing decisively with them when arrested, they are granted amnesty under the guise of reforming them. In other words, you end up compensating the It is imperative for us to look deeply into the mirror and see facing us the main cause of our problems; to be honest, the fault is ours criminals and abandon the victims. Who is sabotaging Nigeria? We all claim that we are in a secular nation, where everyone is free to practise his religion in any part of the country. Now you go to people's shops to destroy goods and properties on the excuse that your religion does not permit such. Meanwhile, you are collecting large chunks of money as taxes derived from the goods you are destroying. Who is sabotaging Nigeria? We claim that Nigeria is a multi-ethnic nation, on which account every section of the country must have representations in federal appointments. You have deliberately miscued this policy that is meant to unite this country by ensuring that only only people of certain ethnicity and religion are placed OPINION at the echelon of strategic positions at Federal Government institutions. Who is sabotaging Nigeria? All over the world, people are looking beyond petroleum products-driven engines. In fact, other countries are now using solar and wind to generate electricity and power their motor engines. But we spend a huge chunk of our hard earned money digging to find oil in the desert part of the country, something previous administrations tried without success. Meantime, our refineries are lying idle. Who is sabotaging Nigeria? Almost all of our major federal roads are in very bad shape, especially in the Southern part of the country; they are in this state because of depleting funds and you chose to, at this period, to build a railway line from Nigeria to Niger Republic, when such a project is crying for implementation in the commercially viable part of the country. Who is sabotaging Nigeria? Agreed that we are in a secular state, a country badly in need of scarce foreign exchange; meanwhile, you dole out millions in foreign currencies to encourage religious pilgrimages abroad, money that can be used in addressing critical infrastructure needs of the country. You forget also that there are certain percentage of your population that do not benefit from this religious largesse. You are in charge of government and certain officials have been found incompetent in the performance of their duties, instead of relieving them of their duties, you granted them extended stay in office and when you finally removed them, you recommended them for higher diplomatic assignments. Who is sabotaging Nigeria? That is the question we must all ask ourselves. The solutions are not far fetched, it is imperative for us to look deeply into the mirror and see facing us the main Send Opinions & Letters to: opinions1234@yahoo.com cause of our problems; to be honest, the fault is ours. We have to take management to another level, especially as it affects public service. This country is suffering from maladministration in all of its ramifications and the resultant consequence is a drifting nation. Suddenly, from every corner, groups are springing up, asking to be released from this union that is not working. It is very important that government officials take very positive action to halt this drift. The answer is not in bullying or suppression of dissenting voices; the answer is in sitting down with everyone and talking it over to find a way forward. There is no other way; an idea whose time has come can never be stymied; power is ephemeral; Generals have come and gone; suppressing dissenting voices did not start today and is still continuing; but, ultimately, it is the people who will come out victorious. The situation in the country today is not a matter for grandstanding by those in power. Those sabotaging this country are the people ruling us and their business accomplices. Let no body say that this country is poor; this country has potentials to be great, it can be seen by all. You calculate wealth potentials through tangible and intangible assets; the intangible assets in Nigeria are in our resources and potentials that are yet to be tapped. Let us review our management of these assets and begin to do the right things. The insurgency and banditry we are facing presently is also as a result of the mismanagement of our resources; people's minds have been reprogrammed to finding ways of making easy money; people who were once gentle, loving, passive with neighbours and strangers have been transformed into dangerous criminals. We are our own problem. •Ikhioya wrote via www.southsouthecho.com
Forex: CBN <strong>threatens</strong> banks, to create complaint desk By Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief MONEY MARKET THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has assured members of the public that there was enough foreign exchange for them to meet their obligations. This comes against recent complaints from a cross section of the private sector, especially manufacturers, over difficulty in obtaining forex for importation of production inputs as well as repatriation of dividend by foreign investors and payment of school fees of Nigerians schooling abroad. Giving the assurance in Abuja at the end of the Monetary Policy Committee, MPC, meeting yesterday, the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, disclosed that the nation’s foreign reserve rose to $36. 5billion as at the end of last month, from $34.5billion in the preceding month. He stated: “There is enough foreign exchange for people to meet their obligations. If you have forex obligations, they will be met. There is no need to panic or for everyone to rush to the bank at the same time and create an atmosphere of panic and give some people the opportunity to rip-off innocent people. “CBN disburses not less than •From left: Independent Non-Executive Director, Hajiya Sutura Aisha Bello; Group CEO, Peter Ashade; Non-Executive Director, Emmanuel Nnorom; General Counsel, Leo Okafor; and Sunny Anene, Group Executive Director, all of United Capital Plc at the company's Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos. FG steps up action to implement AfCFTA protocols By Nkiruka Nnorom THE Federal Government has stepped up activities towards mobilizing Nigerians to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement which the implementation measures are already in top gear. Disclosing this to the media in Lagos, Mr. Francis Anatogu, Senior Special Adviser to the President on Public Sector Matters, said that while over 5000 eligible CURRENCY BUYING SELLING US DOLLAR POUNDS EURO FRANC YEN CFA WAUA RENMINBI RIYAL RAND 127.50 -2.60 2448.00 -57.00 15.43 -0.10 58.76 -2.80 61.95 -2.67 379 379.5 380 525.5972 526.2906 526.984 452.1849 452.7815 453.378 409.5969 410.1373 410.6776 3.4851 3.4897 3.4943 0.6679 0.6779 0.6879 540.428 541.1409 541.8539 58.2396 58.3169 58.3942 101.0505 101.1838 101.3171 25.7813 25.8153 25.8493 CBN Exchange rate as at 23/03/2021 $80 million to banks weekly. In fact we will create a help-desk where people can call the CBN directly to complain if they need forex to pay school fees or BTA and say, ‘I went to such and such a bank and was told there is no forex.’” Emefiele also explained that the nation has not changed its foreign exchange management policy, as the apex bank has continued to adopt the managed-floating strategy. His words, “Nigeria has not changed its foreign exchange policy. CBN has continued to watch the market and intervenes depending on its readings. ECONOMY products for the scheme has been agreed amongst the countries, the Nigerian Customs Service, NCS, is now working on the administrative protocols for the implementation. While admitting that Nigeria was behind some countries in terms of stage of preparedness for the implementation, Anatogu who is also the Secretary of the National Action Committee, NAC, for Nigeria’s •Says it has enough forex •As MPC retains rate at 11.5 % “It might interest you to know that CBN has not intervened in the E&I (Export and Import) Window since January. The exchange rate has moved at a point to N409 /$1, N412/$1 and even N413/$1. That is how it should be.” Retains policy rates Meanwhile, the MPC held the Monetary Policy Rate, MPR, at 11.5 per cent and retained all other parameters by maintaining the Asymmetric Corridor of +100/ -700 basis points around the MPR; Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 27.5 per cent; and the Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent. With an inflation rate of 17. 33 AfCFTA implementation, also said that efforts are ongoing in most of the 36 states of the country for the take off of Nigeria’s participation. The NAC, according to him, has already embarked on states mobilization programme, which has covered four states, in a bid to ensure that all Nigerian businesses are sensitized and prepared to take advantage of the scheme. He added that the states were being encouraged to concentrate and develop three or four products they could command Experts advocate framework to institutionalise social interventions ECONOMY By Babajide Komolafe FINANCE and social advocacy experts have called for a framework to institutionalise the social interventions of the Federal Government for sustainability and effective implementation. The experts include Founder, LAPO Microfinance, Godwin Ehigiamusoe, Executive Director, Microenterprises, Bank of Industry, Toyin Adeniji, Co-Founder/Chief Executive Officer, Bankly, Tomi Adejana and Chief Impact Officer, Rendra Foundation, Onyeka Akpaida and Prof Olawale Ajai, Policy Lead, Sustainable and Inclusive Digital Financial Services initiative (SIDFS). They spoke at virtual media parley on the impacts of COVID-19 on the informal sector and on people at the bottom of the pyramid. Speaking against the backdrop of the economic challenges being experienced by Nigeria’s informal sector, Toyin Adeniji emphasised the need for continuous concerted efforts and partnerships between the government and private sector players to deepen solutions to reach a wider number of vulnerable groups in our informal sector. In his presentation, Godwin Ehugiamusoe, spoke on the need to not just use data for quick fixes or interventions, but to institutionalize programmes that have worked so that the informal sector can actually start to build wealth and grow, rather than look to it as a fall back for hard times. He added that institutionalizing these interventions means going beyond business credits and looking into other areas like micro-insurance for healthcare, educational support, both of which require huge expenditure from lean financial resources by households at the bottom of the pyramid. Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2021 —19 per cent and a desire to stimulate growth in an economy that has just exited recession, Emefiele admitted that the MPC faced a dilemma at yesterday’s meeting. He, however, disclosed that after exhaustive deliberations on whether to cut, hold or raise the MPR, the majority of the members chose to hold the rate with all its parameters. He stated: “We were faced with contradictions. Tight monetary policy makes credit difficult and so people will not be able to easily access capital to stimulate output growth. As rising inflation confronts you, you want to take competitive advantage over any other African country in terms of quality and cost. He stated that the government’s national AfCFTA aspirations are to create economically viable states through the establishment of dominant industry/service cluster at every state, establish an emerging cluster(s) of products or service industries to provide stability during downturn as well as build strong linkages with other communities across states, geographical zones and countries. steps to reduce the rate of inflation. But if you do, then growth is affected. “The country just managed to crawl out of recession. Should monetary policy be tightened in a way that will be a disincentive to activities that will stimulate output growth and therefore reverse us back into recession or should we continue to stimulate the economic growth? “MPC deliberated on these and decided that we should continue to do those things that we did and more intesenly those things that took us out of recession: intervene in agriculture; ICT, services, the creative industry and health.” COVID-19: Entrepreneurs urged to innovate, digitise operations By Nkiruka Nnorom ECONOMY IN view of the disruptions in supply chains and other challenges to businesses occasioned by the outbreak of Covid- 19 pandemic, Mr. Adesola Adeduntan, CEO, First Bank of Nigeria, has called on entrepreneurs to innovate and leverage technology to scale their operation post-pandemic. He stated this while speaking at a webinar organised by Surrey Business School, University of Surrey, England, with the theme: “Digital Disruption: How Can Companies Thrive in Africa Post COVID-19”. He said though the pandemic brought a lot of barriers with it, in addition to pre-existing barriers to businesses in Nigeria and other African countries, it also brought a lot of opportunities, saying that serious minded institutions are now tapping the opportunities to change the ecosystem within which they operate by using technology to accelerate growth. “We have also seen a number of businesses on the back of reduced demand due to disruption to supply chain have constrained or very low cash flow/ liquidity and a number of them are about going to a kind of restructuring of their exposure to banks and suppliers to give them more breathing space to align their repayment with their cash flow. “We have also discovered that Covid-19 for some industries has been quite positive.”
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24032021 - Insecurity threatens 2023 elections, Ortom tells Buhari

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