Street hawking banned in Lagos, Nigeria

The Lagos state government has began a full roll out of a law banning street trading and activities of street hawkers.

A crackdown on street vendors started early July as authorities enforce a previously widely-flouted law.

Street hawkers and those who buy from them face a fine of more than 300 US dollars or a six month jail term.

The move has however been met with different reactions.

Chinedu Bosah, secretary of the Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights (CDWR) says

“What is going to be the alternative? The alternative will only be crime. And the government keeps spending money for security, reinforcement. It doesn’t pay society.”

Many hawkers have also raised concerns over how they will not be able to support themselves.

“We’re not criminals, we have (qualifications). We’re trained. Most of us are trained in one thing or another. Please, let the government do what is reasonable,” said street hawker Shedrach Ogona.

In spite of Nigeria being Africa’s leading economy, a large number of its citizens still live in poverty. Unemployment among young graduates has been estimated to be nearly 45 percent.

Africa News

The Naira is floating as Nigeria eases its grip

Following prolonged periods of a fixed exchange rate owing to depleted foreign reserves, last month, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) decided on a change of tack to adopt more flexibility. The new policy, the CBN said, would see the value of Nigeria’s naira currency determined by market forces and after the policy was adopted, the naira predictably fell sharply from around 199 naira per dollar to 282 naira per dollar.

But after the first day of the new floating policy, rather than the expected volatility in accordance with varying market conditions, the naira stabilized and it soon be came clear the naira had simply moved from one fixed peg to a new one. But in the past week, that appears to no longer be the case as the naira’s value has began to show the volatility expected of a floated currency related to market conditions.

Teneo Intelligence analyst Manji Cheto, who previously described the policy change as a”managed float” rather than a full float, says pegging the naira, rather than allowing a free-fall, was to be expected. “It was a little bit naive that the market and investors expected an immediate depreciation of the naira to around 350 after the supposed market driven system came into place.” Cheto says. “It betrayed a lack of understanding of the political reality in Nigeria.”

The perception of politics interfering with Nigeria’s currency policy is mainly due to president Muhammadu Buhari’s public statements. After months of strongly opposing a currency devaluation, when it finally happened Buhari immediately said he remained unconvinced that the float would be beneficial.

In part, the president was right. Even though his focus was on the impact of a devaluation on ordinary Nigerians, the new pegged value of the naira did not result in significant investment inflow due to uncertainty about the currency being traded for its actual value. Now though, it appears the CBN has been forced to enable a full market-driven system. However, even that alone will not fix all of Nigeria’s economic problems as the issue of a shortage of foreign exchange, which fuels investor reticence, still exists.

As Cheto says: “It’s not just about how quickly investors can get their money in, but about how quickly they can get it out.”

Quartz

Mikel's appointment as captain of Nigeria Super Eagles stirs controversy

The announcement by the Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Barrister Solomon Dalung that John Obi Mikel is captain of Team Nigeria to the Rio Olympics, has raised a lot of dust in Nigerian sports circles.

Immediate past spokesman of the Nigeria Olympic Committee, Tony Nezianya who is a Director at the News Agency of Nigeria expressed concern on the choice of Mikel, saying that the Super Eagles captain is a newcomer to the Olympic family and therefore, not qualified for such a revered position in the team.

"I must tell you that I find Mikel's appointment controversial. He has just come into the team and there is Segun Toriola, a veteran of the Games, who is breaking an African record of having attended the most number of Olympic Games. With Rio Olympics, he will be making his seventh consecutive Olympics. He should have been given that honour with the captaincy of Team Nigeria instead of creating an unnecessary controve-rsy."

Nezianya said the decision to make a footballer captain of Team Nigeria was fundamentally wrong.

"Mikel was brought in as an overage player who happens to be the captain of the national team. They should have let him play his game quietly, not as captain of Team Nigeria."

The former NOC media officer refused to elaborate on whether the minister was right to appoint the team captain or if it was the function of the Nigeria Olympic Committee.

"The NOC and the Ministry of Sports work as partners. Matters like that are discussed behind closed doors before such announcements are made. I am not competent to say anything on this because I do not know whether the minister and the NOC agreed before the announcement."

Another journalist, Ganiyu Oloyede reacted this way, "When I saw the release I thought that he was named the captain of the dream team. Haba minister! A player who refused to play in Beijing Olympics when we needed him most. I don't think he deserves that responsibility."

Basketball coach, Adeka Daudu said, the choice of Mikel underlined the poor judgement of sports administrators in the country. He buttressed his argument with a quote from the Holy Bible: "God said in the Bible, that my people perish for lack of knowledge. May it not be our portion".

Another Nigerian sports enthusiast, Simon Olajide was angry and in his reaction, he called for the immediate removal of the Sports Minister. Said he, "We need to change our minister of sports, the man knows nothing about sports. Let's join hands and change the man."

Vanguard

Video - University of Lagos' performance put in question

African universities overall have performed poorly in the latest global rankings. No Nigerian university made the top 1000 world universities list, though the country has nearly 80 accreddited institutions of higher learning. CCTV's Deji Badmus spent some time at the University of Lagos to find out more.

Video - FIFA President Gianni Infantino calls for greater focus on development

FIFA President Gianni Infantino says he's unaware of a leadership crisis within Nigerian football. Infantino has ended his visit to the country by urging administrators to focus on developing the game.