Suspended central bank chief of Nigeria facing criminal charges

Nigeria's suspended central bank governor is facing criminal charges, including misappropriation of funds, papers filed by government lawyers in court on Tuesday showed.

Godwin Emefiele was suspended by President Bola Tinubu earlier this month and detained by state security agents, who had not disclosed the charges he faced.

His lawyer asked the Abuja High Court to declare that the detention of Emefiele, who was not in court, breached his fundamental rights and that he should be released.

Emefiele has not been formally charged.

Government lawyers said they secured an order from the lower magistrate court to hold Emefiele longer as investigations continue.

Court documents deposed by the Attorney General's office and Department of State Security showed that Emefiele faced criminal breach of trust and criminal misappropriation of funds charges, among others, which carry long jail time if convicted.

The government lawyer opposed Emefiele's application challenging his detention, arguing that only a federal court was competent enough to hear the case.

Judge Hamza Muazu of the Abuja High Court said he will rule on July 13 on whether the court has jurisdiction over the matter.

By Camillus Eboh, Reuters

President Tinubu says Nigeria needs quick US funding for energy transition

Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu said on Monday the United States should help with more funding to help Africa's leading oil producer accelerate its energy transition plans as he pledged to meet the country's climate change goals.

Oil remains Nigeria's biggest foreign exchange earner and like many African nations, Nigeria argues that it still needs to exploit its hydrocarbons to help provide power to millions of citizens without electricity.

In a meeting with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Energy Resources, Geoffrey Praytt, Nigeria's president said the U.S. should speed up funding to help the West African nation achieve its energy transition goals.

"There are bottlenecks that must be unbottled in terms of how the U.S. bureaucracy responds to our needs. Help must be given when it is needed. Please take it home that we need help and very quickly too," Tinubu said.

"I want to assure you that Nigeria will honour her obligations on climate change and renewables," he said.

Nigeria's previous junior petroleum minister told U.S. climate envoy John Kerry last September that there was "some moral basis" for Nigeria to get funding from rich nations to meet its climate change goals.

Under Tinubu's economic plans, Nigeria would ramp up oil production to 4 million barrels per day, from an average 1.4 million bpd, which has raised questions on whether the country is still committed to its climate change goals.

By Felix Onuah, Reuters

Eight-week timeline to agree minimum wage with unions in Nigeria

Nigeria's main labour unions and the government on Monday set an eight-week timeline to finalise an agreement to raise the minimum wage to help cushion the impact of high fuel prices after the removal of a popular but costly petrol subsidy.

The Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) had threatened to strike after fuel prices tripled following President Bola Tinubu's decision to scrap the subsidy.

Talks with the unions are one of the first challenges the new administration faces as it pushes forward with a raft of economic reforms.

The parties agreed to set up work groups whose terms of reference will be agreed later on Tuesday with some expected to start submitting their reports next week.

"Both parties went through the list (of demands) and we ticked off the viable ones which are now broken into three categories; those that can be given immediate attention, those that can be achieved in the medium term, and long term," said Dele Alake, a spokesman for the president, said.

TUC President Festus Osifo said the process would be completed in eight weeks.

"Everything must be rolled out within that time, (it is) not something that we are going to leave endlessly," he said.

The parties will reconvene on June 26.

Tinubu, who took office last month, is embarking on Nigeria's biggest reforms in decades, seeking to tackle low growth, high debt burden, rising inflation and mounting insecurity in Africa's largest economy.

In 2012, a wave of strikes and protests ensued when the government tried to end the subsidy, with authorities eventually backtracking. Tinubu, then in the opposition, was among those who opposed the measure.

By Camilus Eboh, Reuters

President Tinubu Names Nuhu Ribadu to Oversee Security Agencies in Nigeria

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu named new security chiefs to replace those he inherited from former President Muhammadu Buhari as he continues to put together a team to implement pledges made during his campaign.

Nuhu Ribadu, a former chairman of the country’s anti-corruption agency, will be national security adviser. Ribadu, who last week was named special adviser on security, will now take up a more senior role as coordinator of the country’s security agencies. New heads were also appointed for the army, navy, air force and police.

The security chiefs must contend with rising turmoil that has ravaged Africa’s most populous country, including a decade-long insurgency perpetrated by Islamist extremists and bandits in the north, as well as an increasingly violent secessionist movement in the southern part of the country.

Hadiza Bala Usman, former managing director of Nigeria Ports Authority, was appointed a special adviser for policy coordination, while Hannatu Musawa will serve a similar role for culture and the entertainment economy.

Tinubu named eight others to advisory roles last week, including Wale Edun, former chair of Lagos-based investment bank Chapel Hill Denham Group, as his senior adviser on monetary policy.

Three weeks into a four-year term, Tinubu has already made several key decisions, including ending a fuel subsidy that cost $10 billion last year, removing a controversial central bank governor and promising to unify a web of varying exchange rates. The moves have helped lead to a rally in dollar bonds and the stock market climbing to a 15-year high.

By Ruth Olurounbi, Reuters

Related stories: Nuhu Ribadu uncovers large scale oil fraud

Former EFCC chairman Sani Ribadu's brother kidnapped

Video - President Tinubu allows states to license and regulate electricity in Nigeria

Nigeria is fast-tracking efforts to boost its power capacity following years of stifled growth. President Bola Tinubu has signed into law legislation to overhaul Nigeria's power sector. The new plan will also allow Nigeria's state governments to license and regulate electricity markets within their jurisdiction.

CGTN

Video - President Tinubu dazzles markets with first week of radical change in Nigeria

Nigeria's President, Bola Tinubu suspended the head of the country's economic and financial crimes unit, Abdulrasheed Bawa, over his alleged abuse of office. The move comes just a week after the president moved to suspend and detain the country's central bank governor, Godwin Emefiele. CGTN Africa spoke with Sopitan Segun, Principal Partner at Woodridge and Scott Consulting on his impression of the policy changes made by Bola Tinubu so far.

CGTN

Video - President bola Tinubu on a mission to change Nigeria

Less than a month into his tenure, President Bola Tinubu has begun implementing a raft of reforms long sought by bankers, economists and multilateral lenders in order to revive Africa's biggest economy. The radical changes include removing a fuel subsidy that cost the state 10 billion U.S. dollars annually.

CGTN

Nigerians languishing in prison for petty crimes

The Hope Behind Bars Africa has said that most awaiting trail inmates in Nigeria have been languishing in our Custodial facilities for petty crimes like loitering or hawking.

The human rights and criminal justice reform organisation said apart from such petty and misdemeanours cases, one would also find civil cases like disagreements between business partners that was given criminal correlations.

Executive Director Hope Behind Bars Africa, Mrs. Funke Adeoye revealed that 40 percent of the cases so far handled by the organisation are simple cases.

Adeoye said Nigeria’s prison population was 76,982 on the 30th of May 2023, the number which is spread across 240 custodial facilities, has about 69.3% awaiting trail inmates.

She said this yesterday in Abuja, during the organisation five years impact report/strategic plan launch and press conference.

She said, “40 percent of the cases we have handled are actually simple cases. Cases like people arrested for hawking, loitering and a lot of cases that the sanctions is less than three years. We also find very frequently people arrested by the Special Anti-Robbery squad for armed robbery but when we go into the nitty-gritty of the case we find their is no evidence, most of the cases are stalling for years on ending because their is really no evidence against the person on trail.


“We also find a lot of Civil cases that have been given criminal correlations, for instance, someone having a contract with another person and he gets the police to pick up the person, the person gets arrested and remanded.

“In the past five years, our organisation has dedicated major aspects of its work to providing free legal services to indigent pre-trial detainees, engaging in welfare, empowerment, reformation and reintegration interventions.

“Nigeria’s prison population was 76,982, on 30 May 2023. This number spreads across 240 custodial facilities. Inmates awaiting trial constitute about 69.3 percent of the prison population. This is the highest percentage of awaiting-trial prisoners in Africa,

“Hope Behind Bars Africa, having recognised this challenge, decided to leverage its legal network to foster access to justice. We started out directly representing inmates for free here in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and expanded to Kano and Edo states. Currently, we have a network of lawyers in Kaduna, Niger, Nasarawa, Edo, Kano and FCT. We have represented 420 indigent pre-trial detainees so far. About 40 percent of this number were charged with simple offences, 20 percent for misdemeanours, and the rest for felonies, capital crimes and fundamental human rights actions.”

By Matthew Ogune, The Guardian

Nigerians are feeling the brunt of President Tinubu's economic shakeup

Nigerians are feeling the strain as their new president pushes through a series of unpopular policies that have earned him praise from foreign investors.

Bola Tinubu, who was sworn in on 29 May, has surprised many observers by taking a running start to his tenure of Africa’s most populous country. In little over two weeks he has banished a longstanding petrol subsidy, ejected the country’s central bank governor and ended restrictions on the rate of the naira, Nigeria’s currency.

The steps have fired up markets, sending stocks in what is also Africa’s largest economy to their highest level in 15 years. But they have also increased living costs and drawn criticism from many Nigerians who have faced years of economic mismanagement.

Joseph Essien, 47, a taxi driver in Lagos, said he had stopped working altogether because he was no longer making any profit after the rise in petrol prices. He said he used to spend about 5,000 naira (£8.40) a day on fuel, which would last him for a day of eight hours and then into the next. Last week he was spending about 15,000 naira on fuel that barely lasted him a day.

“Over the weekend I just told myself it wasn’t worth it; I’m just working to pay Bolt [the ride-hailing company] their commission and I’m left with nothing,” he said.

Tinubu, 71, who won as the ruling party candidate in February’s election, last week suspended Godwin Emefiele, the controversial central bank governor, after criticising his botched replacement of naira notes in the lead-up to the election.

Inflation hit an 18-year high and Nigeria’s debt soared to more than $150bn (£118bn) under Emefiele’s watch.

On Saturday, the national domestic security agency arrested Emefiele “for some investigative reasons”, without giving further details.

Rid of its former governor, on Wednesday the central bank floated the naira to foreign exchange buyers, signalling the end of Nigeria’s control of its official rate, which soon dropped by about 40% – the biggest fall in its history.

Countries including the UK had lobbied for that move as essential to boosting foreign investment. A Whitehall source said it meant “short-term pain for long-term stability”.

Nigerians were already reeling from chaos triggered by Tinubu in the first minutes of his presidency when he declared in his inauguration speech, off-script, that Nigeria’s costly fuel subsidy was “gone”. The move sparked panic-buying before pump prices tripled, leaving travellers stranded. Two states have announced three-day office weeks for their civil servants in response, while one has reduced school teaching to three days a week.

Bolt increased its minimum fares earlier this month after the fuel subsidy was dropped but the union for drivers using ride-hailing apps said the increase goes nowhere near covering petrol prices that have roughly tripled.

Drivers went on strike last week in protest, and this week suspended the strike while negotiating with Uber and Bolt. Nigeria’s main workers’ union has also threatened to strike.

Dosunmu Oluwaseyi, 35, the floor manager of a restaurant in the Victoria Island commercial district of Lagos, said she like many had taken to “trekking” to work, choosing shorter, cheaper bush taxi routes and making up the difference on foot.

“Some people stay at work,” she said. “They will not be able to go home every day. By the grace of God they should reduce [the price].”

Ikemesit Effiong, head of research at analyst company SBM Intelligence, said Nigeria was in “national sacrifice mode”. The devaluation of the naira combined with the dropping of the fuel subsidy was already causing inflation, he said.

He added: “The hope is that the end of the subsidy regime frees up enough resources, political trust and transparency permitting, to be channelled towards desperately needed infrastructural and social investment.”

Some have urged Tinubu, an archetypal “big man” with a reputation for lavish spending, to tighten his own belt in these times of need. They suggest shortening his convoys of blackout-windowed 4x4s, which can stretch to more than 60 cars, or getting rid of some of the seven aeroplanes in his presidential fleet.

Charlie Robertson of the emerging markets investment firm FIM Partners praised Tinubu’s policies, saying they had prevented Nigeria defaulting on its debts, which would have led to rampant inflation. “We were heading to [the situation of] Venezuela,” he said. “Millions of refugees pouring across the border desperate for jobs and stability.”

He said the fuel subsidy was “simply unaffordable”, and freeing up the naira would encourage investment in the country and could boost a stagnant private sector, potentially creating jobs. But he added: “This is the easy stuff to do. The hard stuff is to make the country ready for industrialisation and a boom.”

For now Essien, the taxi driver, sits at home with his family, desperately learning the coding language Python. “By the end of this month I hope to be able to get a grasp of an aspect of it, and look for remote jobs,” he said.

By Richard Assheton, Reuters

Related story: President Tinubu stuns wary investors with quick reforms

President Tinubu stuns wary investors with quick reforms

Nigeria's new president, in office for less than a month, is pushing to put Africa's largest economy on a reform track that investors have eyed for decades, fuelling excitement that money could flow to a nation that many had deemed uninvestible.

President Bola Tinubu's bold actions, including removing restrictions on the naira currency that allowed it to hit a record 790 to the dollar and subsidy removals that tripled petrol prices, could take stress off the battered finances of Africa's largest economy.

But investors, burned by previous reforms that ultimately proved hollow, say it will take time to build trust and listed myriad questions over the final shape of the economy.

"The reaction is one of, 'finally'," said Tunde Ajileye, a partner at Lagos-based SBM Intelligence. "If this stays, then it would mean that (Tinubu) had been able to remove the two subsidies that have crippled Nigeria fiscally and monetarily for the last decade."

Tinubu is from the same party as predecessor Muhammadu Buhari, dubbed "Baba Go-slow" for his pottering pace - taking six months to appoint cabinet members.

By contrast, Tinubu lifted fuel price caps days after taking office on May 29, suspended controversial Central Bank chief Godwin Emefiele some 10 days later and on Wednesday removed FX restrictions.

The tangle of multiple exchange rates for everything from international school fees to food imports created foreign currency shortages and hobbled investment due to issues getting money out.

"Just the fact that you have seen quite a bit of movement in a relatively short space of time has gotten a lot of people in the market excited," said Goldman Sachs economist Andrew Matheny.

Nigeria's international dollar bonds and the country's stock market have been boosted by the speedy reforms.
BACKLOG, AND BURNED BEFORE

Investors, though, remained wary, citing years of damaging currency controls; Goldman Sachs pegged the backlog of FX demand at a staggering $12 billion.

"We are still to see whether this will allow the FX backlog to clear, where the new market rate will stabilise, whether this will catalyse inflows into the country and ... that there will be no issues pulling money out of the country," said John Mumo, a partner at Blakeney, an Africa-focused equities fund management firm.

Joe Delvaux, a portfolio manager at Europe's largest asset manager Amundi, said it could take months or more to lure longer-term cash.

"Ultimately, you also have to keep in mind that the biggest provider of FX will still be the CBN," Delvaux said.

"We need to see that the system works."

Tinubu will also have to tackle the perennial corruption that has hobbled the country for decades. Nigeria is ranked 150 out of 180 in Transparency International's 2022 corruption perceptions index - and has been on a downward trend since 2016.

Investors also worry about low tax receipts and falling oil output - structural reforms that will take far longer to sort.

Some are also hoping to see a more orthodox interest rate policy. Inflation hit a near 20-year high of 22.41% in May and a weakening naira will amplify price pressures. Meanwhile interest rates, which Tinubu has said he would like to see fall, were hiked by 50 bps last month to 18.5%.

"Investors will need to see positive real rates and evidence that they will be able to repatriate their earnings before local currency debt is back in play," said Patrick Curran, senior economist at Tellimer.

Investors also worry about low tax receipts and falling oil output - structural reforms that will take far longer to sort.

Some are also hoping to see a more orthodox interest rate policy. Inflation hit a near 20-year high of 22.41% in May and a weakening naira will amplify price pressures. Meanwhile interest rates, which Tinubu has said he would like to see fall, were hiked by 50 bps last month to 18.5%.

"Investors will need to see positive real rates and evidence that they will be able to repatriate their earnings before local currency debt is back in play," said Patrick Curran, senior economist at Tellimer.

By Rachel Savage, Reuters

Video - Search ends, recovery efforts intensify after tragic boat accident in Nigeria

Emergency crews in north-central Nigeria are searching for the bodies of dozens of people still missing after a boat capsized on the Niger River on Monday night. Around 140 people were rescued and more than a hundred are still missing. The accident happened on the Niger River - between the Niger and Kwara states. Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris joins us live on a boat close to the village of Egboti in Nigeria for the latest updates.

Al Jazeera

Video - President Tinubu says fuel subsidy removal will free up money for education, healthcare in Nigeria

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu defends the recent decision to remove the popular petrol subsidy. Tinubu acknowledged that the move would impose an extra burden on citizens but he maintained that the money saved would be diverted to development projects and improving public services. The subsidy kept petrol prices cheap for decades in Africa's biggest economy but it became increasingly costly for the country.

CGTN

Tallest man of Nigeria dies at 47

Afeez Agoro, popularly known as Nigeria’s tallest man has died. In a phone conversation with a female relative who did not want her name mentioned, it was confirmed to Daily Trust that the entertainer is dead. In an emotion-laden voice, when asked about Agoro, the lady simply said sobbing, “It is true. He is gone. He is dead. Please, I will call you back.” Then she hung up the phone.

It was gathered that Agoro died at a Lagos hospital on Wednesday evening, after a prolonged battle with Acromegaly, commonly known as gigantism.

Born Afeez Agoro Oladimeji on December 13 was previously recognised as the tallest man in Nigeria. At 2.25 metres (7 ft 5 in), he stood shorter than his 2.41 metres (7 ft 11 in) compatriot, Abiodun Adegoke, who is likely the tallest man in Nigeria.

Agoro was born in Sabo Yaba, Lagos State, as the last child of three children for his mother who was the second wife of his late father.

It was gathered that he had normal growth until he developed an ailment at the age of nineteen and when taken to a hospital, he was diagnosed with Acromegaly, known commonly as gigantism, which made him grow vertically at a very rapid rate. Agoro unsuccessfully tried to combat the ailment and stood at 7’5″ which made him among the tallest people in Africa.

As an entertainer, in 2003, upon graduating from the Lagos State Polytechnic, Afeez Agoro went for his compulsory one-year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme in Kolokuma Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Agoro later had the opportunity to feature in movies and in August 2018, I Am Agoro, a Reality TV show which centred around his life and what it feels like living as the tallest man in Nigeria aired exclusively on Linda Ikeji TV.

By Ademola Olonilua, Daily Trust

Inflation rises to 22.41% in Nigeria

Nigeria's annual inflation rose to 22.41% in May on a year-on-year basis from 22.22% in the previous month, its bureau of statistics said on Thursday.

Food and non alcoholic beverages were the biggest drivers of inflation, the bureau said.

Inflation has remained elevated in Africa's biggest economy, eroding savings and incomes, and prompting the central bank to hike interest rates to their highest level in nearly two decades.

On Wednesday, the central bank moved to liberalize foreign exchange trading, capping a dramatic day that saw the official naira rate devalued by more than a third.

By MacDonald Dzirutwe, Reuters

Anti-corruption agency head of Nigeria suspended

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has suspended the head of the economic and financial crimes unit, Abdulrasheed Bawa, indefinitely for abuse of office.

The suspension was due to “weighty allegations of abuse of office”, against Bawa, a statement from the presidency said late on Wednesday.

The move came a week after the president suspended the country’s central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele.

Local media have reported that Bawa is currently being interrogated by Nigeria’s secret police, like Emefiele.

A spokesman for the unit, officially known as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) did not immediately respond to calls for comment.

Created 20 years ago, the EFCC investigates and prosecutes financial crimes, including money laundering and corruption.

Bawa, the fifth head of the anti-graft commission, was appointed in 2021 after the Senate refused to approve the reappointment of his predecessor Ibrahim Magu who was in office for four years.

Previous occupants of the office have also been involved in controversies that eventually led to their removal; Magu was also suspended by then-president Muhammadu Buhari over allegations of corruption.

Al Jazeera

Video - More than 100 people feared drowned in boat accident in Nigeria

At least one hundred people are feared dead after a boat capsized. It happened on the Niger river between Niger and Kwara states. Witnesses say the vessel was carrying people returning from a wedding ceremony in Niger State. About 50 bodies have been recovered. Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris joins us now from the capital Abuja for the latest updates.

Al Jazeera

Video - Burna Boy gives Jamie Carragher dancing lessons

Burna Boy gives former Liverpool player Jamie Carragher some dancing tips during 2023 Champions League final televison broadcast.

Video - At least 55 farmers killed in Nigeria

Nearly 55 people have been killed in Nigeria's central-northern state of Niger. Bandits have been blamed for the weekend attacks, which included the abduction of dozens of women and children. The attackers were said to have invaded villages in the Rafi Local Government Area, forcing residents to flee their homes. 

CGTN

Related story: Nigeria’s fragile security architecture is collapsing

Video - Is Nigeria's security crisis out of control?

 

 

Video - Community in Lagos celebrates Osimhen's record season in Football

Nigerian forward Victor Osimhen became the first African player to win the Italian Serie A Golden Boot after his 26 goals powered Napoli to the Scudetto. Osimhen is also the first player since 2009 to win the Italian Golden Boot and Scudetto in the same season. His record-breaking achievements sparked celebrations in one small community in Lagos. 

CGTN

Eurobonds rise in Nigeria after suspension of Central Bank governor

Nigeria’s sovereign dollar-denominated bonds rose sharply as overseas investors welcomed the suspension late last week of Central Bank governor Godwin Emefiele, who oversaw multiple exchange rates that unsuccessfully sought to keep the naira strong.

The price of the West African oil producer’s eurobonds rose on Monday as much as 2.6 cents in the dollar before moderating slightly with many issues reaching their highest prices since late January, according to the Reuters news agency.

Longer-dated maturities saw the biggest gains with the 2049 maturity up 2.353 cents to 80.231 at 07:46 GMT, according to Tradeweb data.

Nigeria is facing severe dollar shortages, forcing many people to seek out foreign currency on the black market, where the naira trades much lower than its official exchange rate.

“We believe the changes signal a new era of focused, predictable monetary policy and a shift towards non-interventionism in the foreign-exchange regime,” Barclays economist Michael Kafe said in a note to clients on Monday about the suspension of the Central Bank chief.

President Bola Tinubu had criticised Emefiele’s handling of the naira and monetary policy at his inauguration two weeks ago.

Tinubu, who has promised to reset Nigeria’s ailing economy, has also removed a fuel subsidy and promised to consolidate the multiple exchange rates.

“The haste with which the newly appointed president has begun to tackle the country’s economic challenges (e.g. the immediate removal of the fuel subsidy…) suggests that he is keen to pursue all the difficult reforms at the early stages of his term,” Kafe wrote.

Folashodun Shonubi, a deputy governor, was named acting head of the Central Bank.

The suspended governor is now in custody and under investigation, police said on Saturday.

In December, a court order blocked Emefiele’s arrest for suspected “terrorism financing”, saying there was a lack of evidence. It remains unknown if the arrest at the weekend is for the same charge. 

Al Jazeera

Video - Parents pay school fees with recyclables in Nigeria

A school in Lagos, Nigeria accepts recyclable trash for tuition. The idea helps keep more children in school while keeping trash off Lagos city streets.

President Tinubu defends end to fuel subsidy

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday defended the West African nation’s decision last week to stop subsidizing fuel, a move that has pushed up prices for transportation and commodities.

Tinubu appealed for patience as millions of citizens face additional economic hardship. The money saved by ending the decades-old subsidy will help the government’s efforts to fight poverty and implement other initiatives, he told governors in a meeting in Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja.

“We can see the effects of poverty on the faces of our people. Poverty is not hereditary, it is from society. Our position is to eliminate poverty,’’ a statement from the Nigerian presidency quoted Tinubu as saying.

The governors supported the subsidy’s removal and promised to work together in implementing it, the presidency’s statement said.

Though Nigeria is an oil-producing nation, it depends on imported refined petroleum products, and the government has subsidized the cost for decades.

But with oil revenues dwindling amid chronic theft and decreasing foreign investment, the government said the fuel subsidies are no longer economically sustainable. It budgeted 4.4 trillion naira ($9.5 billion) for the subsidies in 2022, far more than for education, health care and infrastructure combined.

Analysts, however, faulted the government’s decision to withdraw the subsidy without incentives in place, especially at a time when many Nigerians already struggle to cope with record high unemployment and poverty.

Inflation is at an 18-year high. Unions have threatened strike in protest of the subsidy decision.

Nigeria’s states have begun to adopt various measures seeking to assist citizens, especially workers commuting to work daily. Edo and Kwara states this week cut the work week from five days to three. Other states said Wednesday they are considering such measures as increasing the minimum wage of 30,000 naira ($65).

In Abuja and other parts of Nigeria, The Associated Press found businesses struggling from having to spend more money on fuel for generators. As many as 46% of Nigeria’s people do not have access to electricity, the World Bank says.

In Kano state, the economic hub of northern Nigeria, Mahmud Mudi, a taxi driver, said he had to halt his transport business because he was losing money due to higher gasoline prices.

“The situation is unbearable,” Mudi said. “As a family man, the already unfriendly economy has been worsened by this removal of fuel subsidy. I have had to suspend my taxi operations and rely on divine intervention.”

Rafi’atu Audi, a government employee in the state, said it was difficult to commute to work daily because of the sharp increase in transportation costs.

“Transport fares have shot up, but our salaries remain the same,” said Audi. “It’s painful (and) I cannot bear the costs anymore.”

By Chinedu Asadu, AP

Related stories: Main union in Nigeria to suspend strike over petrol subsidy

The aftermath of fuel subsidy removal announcement in Nigeria

Naira Drops to a Record Low

Nigeria’s currency sank to a record low after the central bank auctioned dollars at a naira rate that was almost 30% weaker than on the tightly controlled official market.

Faced with heavy demand from industries and importers for the greenback, the central bank of Africa’s biggest economy sold dollars at 645 naira apiece, adding to speculation that a devaluation may be in the cards after the inauguration of a new president last month.

In official trading on the Nigeria Exchange, the currency slipped as much as 0.7%, the most in almost six months before paring losses to 467.04 naira a dollar as of 2:40 p.m. local time — a record low.

Nigeria’s dollar earnings and reserves are dwindling and the government uses multiple exchange rates to manage supply and demand for foreign currency. Most residents who can’t get hold of the greenback on the main market or at auctions are forced to turn to black market trading where the naira is about 40% weaker.

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu announced plan to adopt a uniform exchange rate during his inauguration last month, part of a program to boost investments and grow the economy. Last week, the central bank denied a report that there was a steep decline in the official naira rate.

“The president has said we don’t need all those windows, so it’s a question of time for the currency to find its real value at the oficial trade,” Adetilewa Adebajo, economist and chief executive with Lagos-based CFG Advisory said by phone.

CFG Advisory expects the currency to trade at about 650 naira a dollar following a devaluation, Adebajo said. “When you have multiple rates or a static exchange mechanism it works against you.” 

Bloomberg

2,998 nurses leave Nigeria for UK

The International Council of Nurses (ICN) has deplored poaching of professionals by rich nations such as the United Kingdom (UK) from poor countries, saying the development was becoming “out of control.”

The submission comes as Nigeria lost 2,998 trained nurses in 2021-2022 to British National Health Service (NHS).

ICN’s Chief Executive, Howard Catton, told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC): “My sense is that the situation currently is out of control.

“We have intense recruitment taking place mainly driven by six or seven high-income countries but with recruitment from countries which are some of the weakest and most vulnerable which can ill-afford to lose their nurses.”

According to a report first published by Daily Mail UK, the ICN said six or seven high-income countries are driving “intense recruitment” from places that “can ill-afford to lose their nurses.”

India and the Philippines account for the lion’s share of recruits for the period under review. But a fifth came from ‘red listed’ countries, where the NHS is banned from actively poaching nurses. They were Nigeria, Ghana, Nepal and Pakistan.

The data, from the UK’s Nursing and Midwifery Council, cover the period before Britain struck a special deal with Nepal to allow the NHS to recruit nurses from the country.

Ghana is one of the worst hit, with hospitals warning that their workforce had been slashed as staff rushed to fill NHS posts they found on social media.

Statistics from NHS England, which have 112,000 vacancies, suggest that approximately two-thirds of the increase in staff hired since 2019 were trained abroad.

Latest NHS, England data show that the service is recruiting more nurses abroad than ever before, with 44,000 joining the organisation since 2019, compared to the 22,000UK-trained attendants.

Most recruits were from India, the Philippines, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Ghana.
IN a related development, The British government has committed £2 million to strengthen Nigeria’s health workforce.

British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr. Richard Montgomery, who disclosed this in a statement yesterday, noted that the Nigerian health system, like many countries in the global south, has been beset with challenges in having a resilient infrastructure that is able to provide quality health services, promote health and prevent diseases.

He submitted that a well-skilled, motivated and adequate health workforce is critical to ending preventable deaths and building resilience against global threats.

The envoy said the UK International Development funding aligns with the Nigerian health workforce strategic plan geared at assisting the country to upskill its workers and improve health outcomes in the long run.

World Health Organisation’s (WHO) two-year HRH project aims to support government at national and sub-national levels, as well as regulatory bodies, professional associations and other key stakeholders to develop transformative strategies for scaling up the quantity and quality of health workers, including competency-based curricula development and reviews.

Montgomery said the UK provided the multi-million Pound to support healthcare staff recruitment and retention in three African countries, namely Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana to enhance resilience against global health challenges

Consequently, WHO has commended UK’s Department of Health and Social Care for a fresh funding commitment to help Nigeria develop its health staff in the pursuit of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

The global health body noted that the £2 million grant would assist Nigeria in optimising performance, quality and impact of its health workforce through evidence-informed policies and strategies over a two-year period.

It would help to align investment in HRH with the current and future needs of the population and health systems; strengthen the capacity of institutions, including regulatory bodies, for effective public policy stewardship, leadership and governance, optimise health workers’ retention, equitable distribution and performance, and strengthen the management of health workforce data for monitoring and accountability. The project would also implement interventions in Nigeria.

The project is to draw on the technical capacity of WHO to strengthen health systems, including experience of implementing similar projects with appreciable results in the past. Implementation at sub-national levels with a focus on six states of Cross River, Enugu, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano and Lagos will build on the presence and technical support being provided to state governments through the 37 WHO sub-national offices in Nigeria.

WHO Representative in Nigeria, Dr. Walter Kazadi Mulombo, said that the strength of every health system reflects the capacity and adequacy of its health workforce necessary to deliver quality services to address population health needs.

For a resilient and effective health system, he said Nigeria must have adequate numbers of health workers, who are fit for purpose, motivated to perform, and equitably distributed across sub-national levels to enhance equity in access to their services by the population in need.

By Chukwuma Muanya and Nkechi Onyedika Ugoeze, Reuters

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Main union in Nigeria to suspend strike over petrol subsidy

Nigeria's main labour union agreed after meeting with the government on Monday night to suspend a planned indefinite strike to protest the removal of a popular decades-old petrol subsidy, a signed resolution of the agreement showed.

The government had obtained a court injunction stopping Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) from embarking on the strike from June 7, after petrol prices nearly tripled following the subsidy removal last week. Trade Union Congress (TUC) was also cited although it had not yet called for a strike.

On taking office a week ago, President Bola Tinubu immediately scrapped the costly subsidy, which began in the 1970s, causing an uproar from unions.

In 2012, a wave of strikes ensued when Nigeria tried to introduce a similar measure, with authorities eventually reinstating some subsidies. Tinubu, then in the opposition, was among those who opposed ending the subsidies.

A meeting between government representatives and NLC and TUC leaders agreed on Monday that the NLC would "suspend the notice to strike forthwith to enable further consultations."

NLC's executive is expected to meet on Tuesday to approve the agreement with government.

The parties would continue discussions on the union demands, including the upgrade of state-owned refineries so they can produce petrol locally to keep prices low.

Another meeting would be held on June 19 to discuss how to implement any agreements.

TUC, in a statement on Monday, issued a raft of demands to the government, including a rise in the monthly minimum wage to 200,000 naira (433.79) from 30,000 naira with effect from this month and that the new wage should not be taxed.

Tinubu said last week Nigeria needed to review its minimum wage but did not say to what level.

By Felix Onuah, Reuters