African First Ladies move to strengthen collaboration for development

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*Nigerian First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu is also expected to deliver her maiden address at the 28th General Assembly of the Organisation of African First Ladies Sunday, February 18, in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia

Isola Moses | ����

The Organisation of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD) have met on the sidelines of the ongoing African Union (AU) General Assembly with the organisation, in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopian capital, with a resolve to strengthen regional collaboration for development.

The meeting, chaired by the Vice President of the Organisation and First Lady of Democratic Republic of Congo Mrs. Denise Nyakeru Tshisekedi noted that this collaboration must be encouraged to enhance more development and promote growth among member countries.

Busola Kukoyi, Special Assistant to
the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in a statement noted that the meeting, which had in attendance First Ladies from member countries in attendance, including Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, observed a minute silence in honour of the late Namibian President Hage Geingob whose wife was the President of OAFLAD until his demise February 4 this year.

The statement indicated the First Ladies also attended the opening session of the AU General Assembly alongside the Presidents of member countries.

The 28th General Assembly of the Organisation of African First Ladies (OAFLAD) continue Sunday, February 18 with the technical sessions and presentations of positions papers on its #We Are Equal campaign among other issues.

Nigerian First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu is also expected to deliver her maiden address at the Assembly Sunday, February 18, 2024, said the statement.

*Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, at the 37th Ordinary Session of the African Union, in Ethiopia, posits that addressing the continent’s complex healthcare challenges requires a multi-faceted approach, involving robust investments in healthcare infrastructure, training, re-training, skilled manpower retention, and improving access to essential medicines among others

Isola Moses | ����

As the just-appointed continental champion for the African Union (AU) healthcare delivery partnership, Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said the continent must forge partnerships that transcend borders and sectors.

President Tinubu, who opined this while speaking at the Ministerial Executive Leadership Programme on the margins of the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the weekend, stated the African continent should�� leverage collective expertise, knowledge, resources, and the private sector to address the complex challenges confronting the health sector.

Chief Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, in a statement noted the Nigerian leader said Africa’s effective collaboration with the rest of the world to tackle existential health challenges is “not merely a strategic choice, but a moral imperative.”

Tinubu, whom the continental body has appointed as the AU Champion for Human Resources for Health and Community Health Delivery Partnership, said the challenges confronting the continent are too complex and multifaceted for any one entity to tackle alone.

He also stated: “Together, we can catalyse meaningful change and unlock new opportunities for innovation and impact in our continent.

“Not Africa in isolation, but a global Africa, engaged in respectful and well-considered partnerships with the rest of the world.”

The President equally noted: “Our continent still grapples with numerous health issues that require urgent attention.

“Infectious diseases remain a significant burden, such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and cholera, and threats of re-emerging infectious diseases that can devastate communities and entire economies. “Access to essential healthcare services remain limited, especially in many rural areas, due to factors, such as inadequate infrastructure, financial barriers, and more seriously, an acute shortage of trained manpower that is aggravated by workforce migration to wealthier countries.”

The AU healthcare delivery champion further stated: “Noncommunicable diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer, are on the rise in our continent, further straining healthcare systems that are already struggling to cope.

“There still remains the critical need to address maternal and child health, as high maternal and child mortality rates continue to claim precious lives.”

Tinubu posited that addressing these challenges requires a multi-faceted approach, involving robust investments in healthcare infrastructure, training, re-training, skilled manpower retention, improving access to essential medicines, and promoting preventive healthcare measures.

The President as well linked the continent’s capacity to successfully address these problems with its ability to adopt a whole-of-government approach, recognising that health outcomes are intrinsically linked to a myriad of socio-economic factors.

“For instance, a healthy population is essential for a thriving economy as it leads to increased productivity and reduced healthcare costs.

“Similarly, education plays a crucial role in improving health outcomes by empowering individuals to make informed decisions about their health and well-being,” stated he.

The President emphasised that healthcare professionals are the backbone of the healthcare system, and as such, investments must be made not only in training but also in creating conducive environments that enable healthcare professionals to thrive.

He said community health delivery must be the cornerstone of Africa’s efforts, fostering partnerships with local stakeholders and empowering individuals to take charge of their own health.

He explained that the true measure of the continent’s success lies in its ability to reach the most vulnerable members of its communities.

Tinubu also said: “In our quest for universal health coverage, equity must be our central guiding principle.

“Health disparities, rooted in socio-economic inequality, gender discrimination, geographic isolation, and other systemic injustices, demand political will and targeted interventions to address them.

“We must listen to the voices of marginalised communities, amplifying their concerns and aspirations as we strive to build more prosperous, just, and inclusive societies.”

The President stated: “In Nigeria, we are making significant efforts, aimed at enhancing healthcare accessibility, affordability, and quality for all citizens, irrespective of socio-economic standing. “This initiative is driven by a multi-faceted approach focusing on strengthening leadership and governance within the health sector, optimising quality service delivery for efficiency and effectiveness.”

The President said: “The Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative (NHSRII), which I unveiled last December, stands as a pioneering endeavour, deployed through a Sector-Wide Approach, to improve health outcomes at scale. “This initiative is strategically crafted to swiftly improve health indicators and unlock the economic potential embedded within Nigeria’s healthcare value chain. “Central to its mission is the unleashing of the nation’s human capital, alongside the potential economic boon that has been long dormant in the healthcare sector.

“The Federal Government, under my leadership, has already signed a Compact with State Governments and Development partners in this multi-stakeholder effort to improve health in Nigeria.”

President Tinubu, therefore, urged Africa’s leaders to commit to concrete actions and policies that will drive positive change in healthcare delivery within their respective countries and regions.

“Together, we can build a prosperous, healthier, more equitable future, for all Africans, in line with Agenda 2063,” he declared.

*Some of the variables shaping the value of the Naira, Nigeria’s national currency include limited production resulting from insecurity, Nigerians’ high taste for imported products, dwindling exports, poor Dollar remittances, humongous school fees of Nigerian students abroad and medical tourism

Tunde Rahman

Those who know Mr. Olayemi Cardoso will agree he got his current job as the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria on a platter of solid professional background and strong personal attributes.

His pedigree is rich as his character is unsullied. Cardoso had a remarkable private sector career where he shone brilliantly in banking, stockbroking and consulting.

Cardoso also came from a very solid family pedigree. Nigeria’s late Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, appointed his late father, Mr. Felix Bankole Cardoso, as the first Accountant-General of the Federation in 1963. The late elder Cardoso served with enviable record till 1971.

Part of the remarkable private sector career of Olayemi Cardoso was his appointment as the Chairman of the Board of Citi Bank in Nigeria.

Cardoso began his public service journey when he became the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning in the cabinet of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Governor of Lagos State as he then was in 1999.

In addition to superintending that ministry, Cardoso was charged with several other responsibilities, including heading important cabinet committees that birthed landmark agencies in the state.

Cardoso was known for enforcing strict budgetary discipline that contributed significantly to the overall success of the Tinubu administration in Lagos. He refused to authorise the release of funds for projects or programmes that had no budgetary head.

For all of that and many more, Cardoso was nicknamed the Headmaster.

Armed with a Bachelor of Science degree in Managerial and Administrative Studies and Masters in Public Administration from the prestigious Harvard Kennedy School of Government and parading strong personal attributes, Cardoso is obviously a perfect fit for the CBN top job.

He is calm but firm, strict but fair, prudent but practical, straightforward and honest with loads of integrity.

These are the unique qualities he carried unto his job at the apex bank and his major selling points when September 23, 2023, he officially assumed office with the Senate confirmation of his appointment.

However, it does appear Cardoso will need much more than that to succeed in his present assignment. Under him, the CBN seems to be doing the right thing or doing things right: thinking and working on coming up with appropriate monetary policies, moving to rein in the rising Foreign Exchange rates, and particularly achieve an appropriate value for the Naira, which Cardoso believes has been undervalued.

But in the wake of the floating of the Naira, some of the variables shaping the value of the national currency, including limited production in the country as a result of insecurity, Nigerians’ high taste for imported products, dwindling exports, poor Dollar remittances, humongous school fees of Nigerian students abroad and medical tourism all of which engendered a strong demand for Dollar, far outweighing supply, seem to be clearly beyond his control.

Until these situations change for the better, no amount of monetary policies by the CBN will work any miracle, hence Cardoso’s predicament. For instance, in his presentation at the sectoral debate organised by the House of Representatives two weeks ago, the CBN governor lamented that the growing number of Nigerian students studying abroad, increasing medical tourism, and food imports have led to the depreciation of the Naira against the Dollar. According to him, over the past decade, Foreign Exchange demand for education and healthcare totalled nearly $40 billion, surpassing the total current foreign exchange reserves of the CBN, while personal travel allowances accounted for a total of $58.7 billion during the same period.

Another critical yet intriguing factor but seemingly odd in Cardoso’s reckoning is the perception in some quarters of some of the decisions of the CBN, which the apex bank considers purely administrative, but which some others give strange connotations.

One of such is the decision to move some departments of the bank; notably banking supervision, other financial institutions supervision, consumer protection department and payments system management department from Abuja to Lagos.

Indeed, until the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, spoke on this issue last week, I had reckoned that the imperative of the planned relocation of some CBN departments and the headquarters of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) from Abuja to Lagos was evident enough.

I had reasoned that the Northern politicians, including Senator Ali Ndume from Borno State, who had moved to bring down the roof over the development were merely playing politics.

The Emir of Kano, a highly revered royal father, raised the ante last Monday while receiving the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, who was in Kano to inaugurate the School of Law Building named after her by Maryam Abacha American University of Nigeria, and had stopped by to pay a courtesy call on the Emir.

Emir Bayero, whose speech was translated from Hausa into English Language by a senior palace counsellor, had told the First Lady to convey his message to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

He said among other things: “We are, indeed, suspicious on why Mr. President single-handedly relocated key departments of CBN, and outright relocation of FAAN to Lagos.

“We are receiving a series of messages from my subjects, and most of them expressed concern over the relocation of CBN and FAAN to Lagos. “President Tinubu should come out clean on this matter and talk to Nigerians in the language they would understand.

“Do more enlightenment on this matter. I, for one, cannot tell the actual intentions of the government.

“We should be made to actually understand why the relocation of the CBN and FAAN offices back to Lagos.”

Many will wonder why some members of the Northern elites are losing their cool, misinterpreting this move and, perhaps inadvertently, heating up the polity on this rather elementary matter.

Is their reservation altruistic? Or are they just being sincerely mistaken and reading unnecessary motives into the policy? With the benefit of hindsight, one can say that Cardoso and his team should have understood the political dimensions of the decision better and undertake a more effective public enlightenment on it rather than treat it as a purely administrative matter. Knowing the kind of people and country that we are and the fact that ours is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multicultural society where every action or decision is viewed from ethnic and religious lenses, the CBN ought not to have released the news about the movement of the departments concerned in a routine manner as it did.

It should have released the news with the detailed information and explanation behind the move.

The CBN Corporate Communications Department should have deployed all in its arsenal to explain the movement to its critical stakeholders and the general public. The apex bank should have seen the movement beyond a mere administrative move, which is within its remit to do.

The Bank should have situated the movement and anticipated the social and political meanings some may give it. That is how things run in Nigeria.

A deeper and detailed explanation was later provided when Cardozo appeared on the floor of the House of Representatives in Abuja. I was there at the session and witnessed it all.

Asked by one of the members of the House from the North, at the session, the rationale behind the movement, the CBN Governor said: “There is nothing political in the movement. We didn’t change any plan. It has always been like that to ease banking supervision. Most of the banks are based in Lagos.

“So, it works well for supervision if our officials are there with them and close to them and close to those the banks interact with. It’s for administrative convenience. It’s also cheaper for the CBN.”

He also disclosed that the movement of the departments concerned to Lagos is important because, according to him, the country is at the point where there is a need for more banking surveillance.

It is important that the CBN governor draws the appropriate lesson from this. He should learn from this experience that though his job of superintending the country’s monetary system is a professional and economic one, yet it has its political aspects. His decisions have consequences not only on the economy but also on the political front.

As such, the CBN Governor must always pay attention to the political ramifications of his decisions.

He must be political without being partisan.

Indeed, his situation is also not helped by the fact that he has had very political predecessors-in-office, including the high-sounding Professor Chukwuma Soludo, the soft-spoken but loud former Emir of Kano, Khalifa Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, and the immediate-past Governor, Godwin Emefiele (this one even attempted to contest for President while holding the office as CBN governor).

There are a couple of things to say on the hoopla about the staff transfer though.

One, President Tinubu is receiving attacks over the movement. Emir of Kano says he must reverse it, urging the First Lady to deploy the feminine soft power to actualise this. Yet, to all intent and purposes, the President that is being asked to reverse the transfer may not have been apprised of the decision because he does not micromanage those he gives responsibilities to where their unique expertise and experience are called to service.

The CBN on its part may not have briefed the President because Cardoso had seen the planned movement as purely administrative.

Two, and more importantly, those who are responding negatively to the policy are treating Abuja as if it belongs to the North rather than being the symbol of the entire country as the Federal Capital Territory.

In that capacity, as the FCT, Abuja belongs to all and belongs to no one. In the same vein, as the economic capital and nerve centre of the country, Lagos is a melting pot where representatives of virtually all ethnic and cultural groups in the country reside and earn a living.

There is absolutely nothing that says that the headquarters of all Federal Agencies must be located in the Federal Capital even when economic considerations and efficiency dictate otherwise.

Some Federal agencies reside neither in Abuja nor Lagos at present and their work go on unimpeded.

In any case, President Tinubu’s pan-Nigerian outlook and credentials are too well-known.

His ability to build political and personal networks and relationships across the length and breadth of the country was partly responsible for his victory in the keenly contested 2023 Presidential Election. He will be the last person to approve or support any policy designed to be detrimental to any part of the country.

But for CBN Governor Cardoso, all of that represents his baptism of fire and a wake-up call for him to be a little more flexible, particularly in matters that have wider political connotations.

*Rahman is a Senior Presidential aide.

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*Dr. AdamuAbdullahi, Acting Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, warns businesses engaging in activities contributing to price gouging in Nigeria’s food chain sector to desist immediately or face the full force of the law

Isola Moses | ����

Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has sealed off the popular Sahad Stores Supermarket, in Abuja, FCT, for price gouging.

���� reports price gouging is the practice of increasing the prices of goods, services, or commodities to a level much higher than is considered reasonable or fair.

The market regulatory Commission Friday, February 16, 2024, shut the store during an enforcement exercise Friday at Garki 2, in Abuja.

Dr. AdamuAbdullahi, Acting Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of the agency, who led the enforcement team.

Abdullahi, therefore, businesses engaging in activities contributing to price gouging in the food chain sector of the Nigerian economy to desist immediately or face the full force of the law.

*The Federal Government says President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration is attracting global investments in Nigeria’s health sector for the provision of cutting-edge infrastructure, equipment, and world-class manpower for improved access to quality healthcare by all Nigerian consumers

Isola Moses | ����

Sequel to his ambitious, innovative, and people-focused efforts in the sector in Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been appointed as the African Union (AU) Champion for Human Resources for Health and Community Health Delivery Partnership.

The Federal Government noted President Tinubu’s appointment is in recognition of his commitment to training 120,000 frontline health workers nationwide within 16 months while doubling the number of primary health facilities in communities across all Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the Federation from 8,800 to over 17,000 over the next three years; his doubling of health personnel enrollment capacity from accredited nursing and midwifery institutions to accommodate the new demand created by new facilities across Nigeria, and his resolve to establish a paid volunteer youth force of social accountability officers to monitor the operational functioning and financial integrity of primary health centres.

Chief AjuriNgelale, Presidential Spokesman, Friday, February 16, 2024, stated the African Union has identified the Nigerian leader as “the right champion for this noble and actionable continental effort.”

The Federal Government explained the Commission of the African Union (Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention — Africa CDC), in a letter to Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had said President Tinubu was appointed on the recommendation of the Committee of Heads of State and Government of Africa CDC, under the leadership of His Excellency, President Azali Assoumani, President of the Union of Comoros and Chairperson of the African Union.

The Spokesman also stated: “In his new role, the Commission subsequently invited President Tinubu to address the Ministerial Executive Leadership Programme (MELP) under the theme, ‘Impactful leadership in health: a whole government approach’, billed for Saturday, February 17, 2024, at the Africa CDC Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on the margins of the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of AU Heads of State and Government.”

Ngelale further noted: “The Tinubu administration is attracting global investments in Nigeria’s health sector for the provision of cutting-edge infrastructure, equipment, and world-class manpower for improved access to quality healthcare by all Nigerians.”

Nigeria’s poised to apply home-grown solutions to insecurity, food security challenges, child education –Tinub

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*President Bola Ahmed Tinubu affirms the Federal Government will continue to work diligently to improve Nigeria’s revenue profile, urging the State Governors to work together to address issues of insecurity, food security, and out-of-school children in the West African country

Isola Moses | ����

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has restated his administration’s

commitment to evolving home-grown solutions to tackle current food supply chain and security challenges head-on.

���� reports President Tinubu said this Thursday, February 15, 2024, after his strategic meeting with the State Governors in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, FCT.

The Nigerian leader also disclosed that his administration, among other domestic measures, would set up schemes to boost local food production and block all forms of rent-seeking hitherto tied to food importation into Nigeria.

Tinubu, in a communique after the meeting Thursday, stated: “I reiterated this commitment during my emergency meeting today (Thursday) at the State House, with all 36 state governors, the Vice-President, KashimShettima, the National Security Adviser, the Inspector-General of Police, the Director-General of the DSS, and some ministers.”

As regards security of lives and property of Nigerians, the President said he had approved the creation of a committee that includes state governors and federal government representatives to explore, among other things, the possibility of establishing the long-talked-about state police.

“I have also endorsed the training and equipping of forest rangers by sub-national governments to protect human and natural resources in our communities.

“My stance is unequivocal: we must move aggressively to examine the issues raised, including the potential for establishing state police,” he noted.

On food security for Nigerian consumers

Tinubu equally mentioned that his administration received reports about Kano and other areas in the country about large-scale hoarding of food in some warehouses.

In acting on the information, the President said: “I have instructed the National Security Adviser, the Inspector-General of Police, and the Director-General of the Department of State Services to coordinate closely to ensure that security agencies in the states inspect such warehouses and take follow-up action.”

Tinubu further assured that his administration would not allow speculators, hoarders, and rent seekers to undermine the government’s efforts at ensuring that food is widely available to all consumers.

The President noted: “I will not establish a price control board, nor will I approve the importation of food.

“We must extricate ourselves from this predicament because importation only enables rent seekers to perpetrate fraud and mismanagement at our collective expense.”

However, Tinubu disclosed his demonstration’s plan to “support our farmers with schemes that encourage them to cultivate more food for the nation.

“We must also rapidly but thoughtfully implement our livestock development and management plans, including dairy farming and others.”

Management of monetary policy and the CBN

President Tinubu also revealed part of his points of discussion with the State Governors at the Thursday meeting in Abuja.

He said: “I urge all Governors to trust the Central Bank of Nigeria with the management of our country’s monetary policy, and emphasised the need for designated institutions to effectively fulfill their mandate.”

He, nonetheless, frowned on what he described as the “cacophony of postulations” on the fluctuation of Foreign Exchange rates, affirming it is adversely affecting the market.

“Not everyone can be an expert. If we have assigned some a task, we must allow them to perform it. If they fail, then we must find a way to quickly remove them from the system,” said he.

President Tinubu as well reminded the Governor’s of their responsibilities to the Nigerian people.

He added: “I also asked our governors to always prioritise the welfare and prosperity of our people in their development programmes.

“I assured them that the Federal Government will continue to work diligently to improve the nation’s revenue profile.

“As leaders, we must all work together to address issues of insecurity, food security, and out-of-school children.”

*The State Governors should consciously situate themselves into roles and duties required of them in the federal hierarchy, as they are the first line of engagement with the people in their respective states

NiyiAkinsiju

There has been a growing concern over the dwindling roles of State Governors in the economic affairs of Nigeria since the country’s return to democracy in 1999.

Many of them are on record to have shown limited knowledge of the concept of federalism.

It appears that this confounding gubernatorial disposition to federalism is consequent upon an outright misunderstanding of the bolts and nuts undergirding the power relationships between the States and the Federal Government in a federal system.

Or perhaps it is that the Nigerian State Governors have, overtime, decidedly abandoned their roles as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in preference for waiting in line for Federal Government’s largesse.

Consequently, rather than have scenarios of federating states that are economically self-regenerating and sustainable with implications on the standard of life of citizens living within their respective borders, the Nigerian State is saddled with a collection of dependent states whose only claim to political standing are their constitutional mentions.

From the analyst standpoint, a large number of the states, overtime, have not had the good fortune of being entrusted to capable, resourceful, policy-minded individuals that could have positively impacted the whole gamut of existence of people in the states. This would have saved the

country from the untoward whining of Governors elected on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) that recently made a spectacle of themselves in the public space.

After a meeting in Abuja, FCT, the PDP Governors addressed the media on the economic challenges confronting the Nigeria at this time.

Typically espousing an abbreviated understanding of the nuances of federalism with intent on manipulating the larger populace’s perception of the current administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Governors declared, rather, in a tongue-in-cheek manner:

“But at the onset of this administration, we supported the removal of subsidy, we believed that there were safeguards, we believed that if we took collective decisions, we should go by it (sic).

“But certainly, we have seen that it is a free fall for the Naira.

“The cost of living is going high; we are almost on the road to Venezuela.”

The above extraction from the statement of PDP Governors merely captures a pedestrian understanding of the place of state governors in a federal structure.

Petroleum subsidy was a national policy not a Federal Government policy.

That was why payments were deducted from the Federation Account, not the consolidated account.

Federation Account receives all accruals on behalf of all tiers of the federating units.

It is from the federation account that Federation Account and Allocation Committee (FAAC) shares money to the three tiers of government on the basis of a legislated revenue formula; the Federal Government takes 52.68%, of distributable revenue while the States as a collective take 26.72% and the Local Government areas shares 20.60% .

The PDP Governors had also gone on to describe the withdrawal of subsidy and harmonisation of the Foreign Exchange (Forex) windows as obnoxious policies.

This, in our consideration, smacks of imprudence by Governors that refused to acknowledge the exponential increase in revenue they had been sharing from FAAC every month since the application of the twin policies of subsidy removal and exchange rates unification.

To put this in perspective, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reports that in 2023, State Governors got the most cash in FAAC allocations in at least seven years. This was after the petrol subsidy was removed and the currency reform availed a 40 percent increase to the country’s revenue.

According to the NBS, FAAC shared a total of N16.04 trillion to the three tiers of government in 2023, a 37.3 percent increase from N11.7 trillion in 2022.

From this, the States and their Local Governments received a total FAAC allocation of N6.57 trillion, twice the N3.16 trillion they received in 2022.

The NBS particularly, notes that the amount shared by the federation surged June 2023, following President Tinubu’s removal of the petrol subsidy and liberalisation of the Foreign Exchange market.

However, the increased revenue shared has not reflected in the lives of Nigerians residing in the states.

While we acknowledge the feverish efforts being made by the Federal Government to manage inflation through providing more food and enhancing supply of Dollar to the Forex market, except for Lagos State and a few others, we have not seen a replication of the Federal Government’s commitment to assuaging the challenged economic circumstances of citizens at the sub-national level.

We profile some of these States here: Delta State, a PDP-controlled State received the highest FAAC allocation of N214.74 billion between June and December 2023.

Rivers State, another PDP-controlled State followed with N179.81 billion, AkwaIbom State, yet another state with a PDP governor got the third highest sum of N145.57 billion, and Bayelsa, a PDP state with only eight council areas, received the fourth highest revenue allocation at N128.5 billion.

Despite this hugely increased revenue, a PCL State Performance Index (PSPI) released by Phillip Consulting Limited December 2023 ascribes a poverty rate of 13.10 percent to Delta State as well as an unemployment rate of 31.10 percent and an inflation rate of 24 percent.

According to the PSPI, Delta State faces significant challenges in the effective management of public institutions, provision of public transportation, and access to potable water.

While poverty rate is 7.3 percent in Rivers State, its unemployment rate is stated at 41.60 percent and inflation rate at 31 percent.

These figures are way above the national average of 33 percent unemployment rate and the 28.9 percent inflation rate respectively.

AkwaIbom, another high earning PDP State has a poverty rate of 22.9 percent, unemployment rate of 51 percent, and inflation rate of 26 percent with Bayelsa State recording poverty rate at 24.3 percent, unemployment rate of 36.7 percent, and inflation rate of 28 percent.

In summary, other data have shown that most of the states in the Federation are ill-managed, reflective of the fact that substantial FAAC allocations received by these states have not significantly improved the condition of their residents.

We further question the basis of the Governors’ insinuation that Nigeria is treading the path to the economic situation that had become the lot of Venezuela when, indeed, the policies being deployed by the Tinubu administration are the opposite of the policy undoing of Venezuela.

The South American country, like ours, used to binge on crude oil revenues by subsidising virtually all basic needs but when oil prices crashed, its economic vertebra couldn’t carry the burden of the populist-driven subsidies that had inflation rate skyrocketing to nearly 190 percent December last year.

Rather than castigating President Tinubu, we insist he should be commended for the courage of applying policies that will redeem the country from a possible Venezuela scenario.

Meanwhile, all State Governors in Nigeria need to be reminded of their roles as prescribed in various Nigerian laws.

To be sure, the management and control of all land in the territory of the federation is vested in the governor of the state, who is expected to hold the land in trust for the use and common benefit of the citizens.

This duty was conferred on all Governors by virtue of Section 1 of the Land Use Act.

The clear import of this is that the Federal Government can only contemplate possible agricultural interventions in states only in active collaboration with the State Governors who are the custodians of land. That was why we commended President Tinubu, in an earlier policy statement, for streaming the cultivation of 500,000 hectares of agriculture land in collaboration with the Governors.

We, however, wonder why the Governors have not actively employed the land at their disposal for agriculture even if it is to adopt the small holder farming (SHF) framework as a means of food production and employment?

Our understanding of the Nigerian circumstances is that for the country to develop and flourish, the states and their local government council components must be transformed into economic facilitators in their respective spheres of influence.

It is the aggregation of economically viable sub-nationals that determine the outlook of an economically prosperous country.

Even in the relationship between sub-nationals and Local Government Areas (LGAs), we have observed cases of inequity, especially in the administration of local governments’ shares of the federal allocations. Most governors are known to seize federal allocations that are supposed to be administered and managed by local governments for the development and the good of the people in LGAs.

We appeal to State Governors to consciously situate themselves into roles and duties required of them in the federal hierarchy. They are the first line of engagement with the people in their respective states. Thus, a chunk of the responsibility of assuaging the anxiety around economic issues being expressed by Nigerians lies with them.

It is on this note that we call on Vice-President KashimShettima to use the platform of the National Economic Council (NEC) to rally the state governors to action.

*Chief NiyiAkinsiju is Chairman, Independent Media and Policy Initiative.

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*The Nigerian Presidency highlights President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and State Governors’ major decisions to address some of the challenges currently facing the West African country, including insecurity, mechanism for state police, rising costs of food items in the economy, and prompt payment of staff salaries, gratuities and pensions to the deserving citizenry

Gbenga Kayode | ����

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, and State Governors across the country Thursday, February 15, 2024, held a meeting in the State House, Abuja, FCT, and emerged united in addressing some of the challenges currently facing the country, including the spate of insecurity and rising costs of food items in the economy.

���� reports President Tinubu in company of Vice President KashimShettima at the State House met with the 36 States Governors, Chief NyesomWike, Honourable Minister for FCT, and Mr. KayodeEgbetokun, Inspector General of Police (IGP).

Mr. BayoOnanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Thursday disclosed following extensive deliberations in Abuja, Tinubu and the Governors “agreed to work together to solve the problems and tackle the economic pressure being faced by the citizens.”

The Presidential aide noted some of the highlights of the meeting in regard to what the President told the Governors to do in moving the country forward are as follows:

The President and the Governor’s agreed to tackle insecurity, which is also affecting farming and food production.

On this, Tinubu said pronouncements more conventional Police personnel to be recruited to strengthen the Nigeria Police Force.

Onanuga also disclosed the President informed the Governors that the Federal Government would work with them and the National Assembly (NASA) towards putting in place a mechanism that will engender state police instead of the vigilantes that are being used in some states.

Tinubu equally charged the Governors to strengthen their Forest Rangers and arm them to keep all the forest safe from criminals, aside from evolving modalities for State Police, while addressing other security issues to be discussed further at National Economic Council.

Onanuga stated in regard to rising cost of food, the President has directed the State Governments and Federal Government should collaborate to increase local food production.

Tinubu also advised against the idea of food importation and price control, when local food producers should be encouraged to produce�� more food.

“President advised Governors to follow the example of Kano State in dealing with hoarding of food for profiteering by commodities merchants. “He directed the Inspector-General of Police, National Security Adviser, Department of State Services�� to monitor warehouses hoarding food items across the country and stop profiteering by merchants,” said the Presidential aide.

The statement as well noted President Tinubu charged the State Governors to pay attention to livestock development in their states and increase production most especially poultry and fishing products.

It said: “The President pleaded with Governors to ensure all salary arrears to workers, gratuities to workers and pensioners are cleared as a way to put money into the hands of the people since states are now getting more monthly FAAC revenue. Spend the money, don’t spend the people, he urged the governors.

Onanuga added President Tinubu implored Governors to “create more economic opportunities for the youths” in their states to keep them more productively engaged in the the country.

*The Federal Government says the appointment of fresh leadership in the sector is aimed at entrenching world-class standards in Nigerian public health administration to deliver affordable and quality care to all Nigerians under governance and regulatory frameworks in line with international best practice

Isola Moses | ����

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the appointment and reappointment of the following Board Chairpersons and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) under the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.

AjuriNgelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, show disclosed this development in a statement issued Thursday, February 15, 2024, said the move was part of the Federal Government’s efforts at entrenching world-class standards in Nigerian public health administration and commitment to deliver affordable and quality care to all Nigerians under governance and regulatory frameworks commensurate with international best practice. These are:

(1) National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC):

Board Chairperson: Dr. Mansur Kabir

Chief Executive Officer: Prof. Moji Adeyeye

(2) National Blood Service Commission (NBSC):

��Board Chairperson: Prof. Abba Zubairu

Chief Executive Officer: Dr. Saleh Yuguda

(3) Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN):

Board Chairperson: Prof. AfolabiLesi

Chief Executive Officer: Dr. Fatima Kyari

(4) Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN):

Board Chairperson: Pharm. WasilatGiwa

Chief Executive Officer: Pharm. Ibrahim Ahmed

(5) Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN):

��Board Chairperson: Dr. BabajideSalako

��Chief Executive Officer: Dr. TosanErhabor

(6) ModdiboAdama University Teaching Hospital, Yola (MAUTH):

Chief Medical Director / CEO: Prof. Adamu G. Bakari

(7) Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua (ISTH):

Chief Medical Director / CEO: Prof. Reuben Eifediyi

Besides, the statement also noted in the government’s efforts at enhancing the resilience of Nigeria’s public health surveillance and security architecture, President Tinubu approved the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer for the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to assume office on February 19, 2024:

(8) Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC):

Director-General / CEO: Dr. Olajide Idris

The Presidential media aide equally explained President Tinubu has “painstakingly considered the wealth of experience of each qualified and aforementioned Nigerian, who will be tasked with driving his Renewed Hope Agenda in the sector.

Profiles of new appointees at a glance

The government further said some details about the new leadership in the sector include the following:

NCDC Director-General/CEO, Dr. Olajide Idris, received his MBBS degree from the University of Lagos’ College of Medicine, after which he obtained a Master’s degree in Public Health (MPH) from the Ivy League’s Yale University in Connecticut, United States of America.

He had served as the Commissioner of Health in Lagos State from 2007 to 2019, after serving as the Permanent Secretary in the Lagos State Ministry of Health from 1999 to 2007.

NBSC Chairperson, Prof. Abba Zubairu, PhD, has served as the Medical Director of the world-leading Mayo Clinic in the United States of America, following a long career in which he served as a Resident Doctor at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) Hospital as a Post-Doctoral Fellow, and undertook a Clinical Fellowship at the Harvard Medical School’s Transfusion Medicine Programme during which he obtained a Master’s degree in Clinical Science at the same institution.

��MDCN CEO, Dr. Fatima Kyari, PhD, is a renowned ophthalmologist and Fellow of the Nigeria Academy of Medicine (FNAMed) who obtained an MBBS degree from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, after which she obtained a Master’s degree in Public Health (MPH) from the University of London’s School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine before she obtained a Doctorate degree in Public Health from the same institution.

It stated: “The President expects that the new leadership across this critical human development sector will substantially raise the standards of healthcare service delivery for the exclusive benefit of all strata of the Nigerian population.

Ngelale as well noted that Tinubu’s administration is committed to implementing a whole-of-government approach to transforming the sector to enhance aggregate national quality of life and productivity.

“Owing to the high cost of historical underperformance in the sector, the President anticipates the immediate and effective implementation of new policy frameworks to reposition the sector under the able leadership of the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social ExWelfare, Dr. Muhammad Ali Pate,” stated he.

*Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt, however, insists the United Kingdom economy is on the mend, ‘even if inflation stands at 4.0 percent, double the Bank of England’s target rate

Isola Moses | ����

The United Kingdom (UK) economy has receded into recession, according to official data released Thursday, February 15, 2024.

��ñ���� learnt the country’s latest economic data appeared to have dealt another blow to embattled British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

The PM’s Conservative party is forecast to lose a General Election expected this year.

The latest data also revealed the UK Gross Domestic Product shrank 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023 after contracting 0.1 percent in the prior three months, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement.

The development reportedly places the economy in recession, which is defined as two quarters of falling GDP in a row.

While economists predicted that the recession could be short-lived, the data is a big setback for Sunak, who has placed economic growth as a key priority, agency report also stated.

It comes as the Conservatives badly trail the main opposition Labour party in polls.

Ahead of the General Election, voters take part in two by-elections Thursday, with the Conservatives fearful of losing one-time strongholds in Wellingborough, central England, and Kingswood in the southwest.

Capital Economics analyst Ruth Gregory said: “The news that the UK slipped into technical recession in 2023, will be a blow for the prime minister on a day when he faces the prospect of losing two by-elections.

“But this recession is as mild as they come and timely indicators suggest it is already nearing an end.”

In a broad-based decline, all main sectors shrank in the fourth quarter — with manufacturing and construction among the biggest drags.

The economy was broadly flat last year with 0.1-percent expansion, down sharply from growth of 4.6-percent growth in 2022, the ONS added.

The news came on the same day it emerged that Japan has also entered recession.

“All told, it was a disappointing set of (British) GDP figures, but there’s no reason to panic just yet,” said Henry Cook, senior economist at MUFG Bank.

“For a start, the labour market remains firm with the unemployment rate stands… close to its historical low.

“Consumer confidence has also gradually improved over the last 18 months. That doesn’t scream ‘crisis’ to our minds.”

Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt, in a statement however, insisted the economy was on the mend, even if inflation stands at 4.0 percent, double the Bank of England’s target rate.

“High inflation is the single biggest barrier to growth,” Hunt said following the GDP data.

“Although times are still tough for many families, we must stick to the plan — cutting taxes on work and business to build a stronger economy,” Hunt said.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Hunt is widely expected to cut taxes in his budget next month, in a move seen as a way of closing the gap on Labour.

But with the Bank of England’s main interest rate sitting at a 16-year high of 5.25, millions of voters are suffering from soaring mortgage repayments.

Is PM Sunak pledge ‘in tatters’?

Commenting on Thursday’s data, Labour slammed the government’s stewardship of the economy.

“This is Rishi Sunak’s recession and the news will be deeply worrying for families and business across Britain,” said Labour’s finance spokeswoman Rachel Reeves, adding that his vow to deliver growth was in “tatters”.

While UK inflation has tumbled since striking a 41-year peak of 11.1 percent in October 2022, energy and food prices remain elevated.