Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote says Nigeria's economic crisis exaggerated

Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote, is of the view that Nigeria's economic crisis is exaggerated. He said that many businesses continue to thrive, despite the foreign exchange crisis.

The business mogul argued that the current situation cannot be described as a crisis because while some businesses faced serious challenges, others did not. "It all depends on the business," he said.

Dangote stated his view at the The Economist Forum in Lagos, yesterday, while answering questions on the potentials of the Nigeria economy in the face of the current economic challenge.

He said: "I think people are underrating the economy of Nigeria. They just go and look at foreign exchange because oil has gone down and believe that everything has gone out of the window. That is not correct."

He said that the Dangote Cement, as at January and February, recorded 47 per cent growth. The company, he said, estimated that in the next three months, it will witness 60 per cent growth. "We have seen growth in our sugar business of about 20 per cent" he said.

"If your business model is to import 100 per cent of your component and just be an assembly plant, then definitely you will face challenges because the influx of foreign exchange is not like what it used to be a year and half ago when we used to receive about 3.2 billion dollars on monthly basis and our outflow was around two billion dollars. Today, we are receiving just about a billion dollars.

"In our cement sector, we had that vision and we said let us properly industrialise. By this, we mean that our raw materials are almost 90 percent locally sourced. So we only need foreign exchange to buy spare parts, pay some of our expatriate staff salaries in dollars and a get a little bit of gipson which is not readily available here."

He said that the only option left for businesses in Nigeria was to export. "We now have capacity to export cement worth about 500 million dollars on an annual basis. With that, it means that we are self-sufficient.

"If you look at most of our projects, they are all very transformational projects because we saw this coming. In the last ten years, we said we want to do things in a manner that by 2018, we don't have to go to the Central Bank of Nigeria to ask for foreign exchange. We want to be people who will sale forex to the market."

Daily Trust

Ex-defence chief accused of stealing $20m

A former Nigerian chief of defence has been accused of stealing $20m (£14m) from the air force and buying a mansion.

Retired Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh denies 10 charges of fraud, criminal breach of trust and money laundering.

He was appointed chief of defence two years ago.

The BBC's Martin Patience says ACM Badeh is the latest of several officials accused of stealing billions of dollars from the armed forces.

ACM Badeh is accused of using the funds to buy a mansion in the capital Abuja along with a string of other properties.

More than $1m in cash was also reportedly found at one of his homes.

Our correspondent said he was appointed when the military was coming under sustained criticism over its fight against Boko Haram militants.

Under former President Goodluck Jonathan, front-line troops complained that they were ill-equipped to fight the militants and discipline in the army was breaking down as soldiers refused to carry out orders.

An investigation has alleged that a total of $2bn (£1.3bn) meant to buy arms to fight Boko Haram had gone missing.

The former national security adviser, Sambo Dasuki, was charged in December in connection with the case involving $68m that is alleged to be missing. He was accused of awarding phantom contracts to buy helicopters, fighter jets and ammunition, which he denied.

Twelve other senior Nigerian army officers were handed over to the anti-corruption agency in February for their alleged involvement in the arms scandal.

Muhammadu Buhari won elections a year ago on promises to tackle both Boko Haram and corruption.


BBC

Video - 76 Boko Haram militants surrender to Nigerian army due to starvation

It appears there's a new weapon in the fight against Boko Haram militants. Authorities have managed to cut off some fighters from their supply routes - and the militants are slowly starving.

Three kidnapped schoolgirls rescued in Lagos, Nigeria

Three secondary school students who were kidnapped from their school in Nigeria’s biggest city, Lagos, have been found, police toldAFP on Sunday.

“From midnight to the early hours today (Sunday) we were able to rescue them,” Lagos State police spokeswoman Dolapo Badmus said.

The three girls were seized from a dormitory last Monday at the Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary School in the eastern suburb of Ikorodu.

The abduction sparked a massive search for the teenagers and the prompted the state government to tighten security at schools across the megacity, which is home to some 20 million people.

No further details were immediately available and police have previously refused to comment on local media reports of demands for a 200-million-naira (nearly $1 million) ransom.

Abductions from schools are rare in Lagos, although kidnapping for ransom by armed criminals is common in southern states.


AfricaNews


Related story: Video - Gunmen kidnap 3 schoolgirls in Lagos, Nigeria

Nigerians fight anti-social media bill

There’s a battle going on in Nigeria over a dangerous bill that threatens free expression online. The good news is that people in Nigeria are fighting back, and it recently appeared that the draft law — nicknamed the “Social Media Bill” by concerned citizens — was beaten back. But this week, the Senate revived the bill with little notice. Unless the global community stands in support of those fighting for free expression in Nigeria, we may soon see this vaguely worded, misguided legislation move forward — and the bad ideas that it contains get copied and pasted into legislation in other countries where free expression is under attack.

Specifically, the draft bill — officially called “An act to prohibit frivolous petitions; and other matters connected therewith” — would require any person submitting a petition to the government to have an accompanying affidavit, making it much more difficult, and costly, for people to complain about public services or graft. Further, the text imposes harsh penalties for tweets or text messages that convey false statements about a wide range of actors — from “a group of persons” to an “institution of government.” Nigerians who violate these provisions could be fined up to N2,000,000 ($10,000) or spend up to two years in jail.

In short, the bill criminalizes speaking out against individuals or groups online, including expressing dissent against the government, with vague and disproportionate restrictions that do not strictly adhere to legitimate purposes.

What’s worse, the language in the draft bill is so broad that it’s not clear that internet users would even understand how to comply with the law. It would be difficult to determine whether a post is intended to “set the public against” a vaguely defined group. At the same time as being overbroad, the bill is illogically specific. It targets WhatsApp, the private messaging application, and Twitter, the microblogging platform. That’s a particular threat to journalists in Nigeria who use these platforms to report on issues of public interest, and it could knock out a vital tool for combatting corruption and keeping government accountable.

The threat to free expression is compounded by the threat to innovation in Nigeria. Already the continent’s largest economy, Nigeria has 15 million Facebook users and over 97 million mobile internet subscriptions. Its technology sector is rapidly expanding. This restrictive law would only deter investment and discourage further development of Nigeria’s internet ecosystem.

Fortunately, activists in Nigeria are continuing to speak out, protesting both on and offline. In addition, if the bill passes into law, there may be legal avenues for fighting it. There are strong protections for free expression in Nigeria’s constitution, and Nigeria has also ratified the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Right, which guarantees this right. Furthermore, free expression is protected under international law, and the United Nations has specifically stated that the right to free expression applies online.

Last week, Senate President Bukola Saraki reassured activists when he stated that section 4 of the bill would not be passed. (He appeared to be referring to section 3(4), which prescribes the penalties for social media.) Yet the Senate has since suddenly revived the bill and set a Public Hearing — part of the legislative process — for Monday, March 7. Whether or not section 3(4) is struck from the text, the Social Media Bill should not be passed.

Nigerian President Buhari has stated that he would not sign any bill that doesn’t comport with Nigeria’s constitution, and the Social Media Bill clearly does not. Yet the unrelated Cybercrime Act of 2015 is now in force, and through sections 24(a) and 24(b), imposes harsh penalties for speech in the name of security that violate the right to free expression. Clearly, it’s best to stop this bill now, before it gets any closer to becoming law.

It’s not only Nigeria’s leadership, free expression, and innovation that are at stake. In internet law and policy, even when a law is beaten back, it often gets reanimated in legislatures across the globe.

To fight back, the global community that cares about free expression needs to unite behind common principles,and spread the word: when users’ rights are under attack, we have your back. As members of the Nigerian Senate hold the public hearing, they should not be left in doubt regarding the dangers of the Social Media Bill or any other bill that clamps down on expression online. It should be withdrawn immediately. Nigerians have spoken out, and their leaders should listen.

TECHCABAL