Metro

Seven months not enough to fix decades of rot in Nigeria —Tinubu

Published

3 months ago

February 2, 2024

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has once again told citizens that his administration needs more time to fix the myriads of problems it inherited from previous governments, noting that seven months in office were barely enough for him to turn things around.

Tinubu, who made the plea on Thursday through the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris Malagi, in an interview on a national television programme, said though the administration was not out to make excuses, it was also apt that Nigerians should lower their expectations as it continued to work to change the dire conditions the country was currently facing.

“I want you to remember that the President is seven months old in office. I am not going to make excuses that seven months is just a short time,” the minister said.

“But for a long-term plan, you need a lot more time to put structures in place. But, of course, as you trudge along, there will be shocks, turbulence, and occasional dislocations that you would find. But the vision of the president is very clear: he wants to take Nigeria to the desired prosperity.”

He assured Nigerians that Tinubu, along with his team, was working day and night to see that the country was taken to the desired place of prosperity.

“He works day and night to achieve that. Every day, all the ministers and everyone else are working in that direction, but the results are not seen yet. We ask Nigerians to be a little more patient.

“I know it’s difficult, especially when people are finding it hard to purchase food items as a result of these policies, but the government is doing a lot to address them”, he said.

The minister added that the Nigerian vision was to have a nation that was safe, secure, equitable, and one that prioritized merit.

But he, however, argued that it was going to be a tedious journey for Nigeria, adding that only the building blocks could be laid in seven months for the country to get to the desired level.

Idris also defended the removal of fuel subsidy by Tinubu during his inaugural speech on May 29, 2023, despite the rising cost of living and inflation which have trailed the removal, arguing that things could have been worse if the subsidy had not been removed.

“You’re premising your argument on the fact that this problem just started yesterday. The foundation of our economy had taken a beating a long time ago.

”The substructure of our national economy has been one that cannot hold a meaningful substructure on it.

“So, it is important that Nigerians recognise that the President and his team would have to go back to reset that and that is why from day one, he said, ‘look, subsidy issue has to go’.

”He had to expect that there would be this pain, of course. He anticipated that Nigerians would encounter some difficulties but it would be worse if that subsidy did not go.

”It would have been difficult to carry out any meaningful development. We needed to free up resources”, he argued.

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Metro

Chipata youth calls for stronger media protections amid concerns over media independence

Published

7 hours ago

May 14, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Alepha Banda, a programmes officer at the Youth Development Foundation (YDF), says Zambia’s existing laws do not adequately safeguard journalists, thereby impeding media freedoms and their ability to report objectively.

Banda also argued that journalists’ lack of economic stability makes them susceptible to manipulation.

In an interview with Zambia Monitor in the Eastern Province, Banda stated the need for the government to develop policies aimed at protecting private media entities and journalists.

“The government should formulate a policy that will protect the private media and journalists,” he said.

Moreover, Banda pointed out that although individuals theoretically possess the freedom to express themselves, this liberty was frequently curtailed by factors such as fear and threats emanating from certain members of the political class.

“Individuals in positions of power have a tendency to interfere with the media, as evidenced by numerous incidents where media outlets have been stormed by individuals affiliated with certain political factions,” he said.

Nevertheless, he noted that there had been instances where the government respected media freedoms.

“At least we have seen some tolerance in some instances, where the government has not taken action that hinders media freedom,” he stated.

Additionally, Banda mentioned that the marginalised were often overlooked both in new media platforms and traditional mainstream media outlets.

“The marginalised are often neglected across television, radio, and newspapers,” he said.

This story is sponsored content from Zambia Monitor’s Project Aliyense.

Metro

Nigeria may need to raise supplementary budget to be able pay minimum wage— IMF

Published

14 hours ago

May 14, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says the Nigerian government may need to raise a supplementary budget to be able to pay the proposed minimum wage increase for workers.

The IMF which gave the advise in its latest staff country report for Nigeria on Monday, said a supplementary budget was necessary because the negotiated amount for the wage increase may surpass the budgeted amount in the original 2024 budget.

“The authorities noted that a supplementary budget may be needed to accommodate the outcome of the ongoing wage structure negotiations which may exceed what they had included in the 2024 budget,” the report said.

“Staff projects a higher fiscal deficit than anticipated in the 2024 budget, but broadly unchanged from 2023. The drivers are lower oil/gas revenue projections, reflecting IMF oil price forecasts but incorporating recent production gains; higher implicit fuel and electricity subsidies; continued suspension of excise measures included in the MTEF; and higher interest costs,” the agency noted.

The report also noted that the government might need to raise the domestic and external borrowing ceilings to prevent fresh borrowings from the apex bank’s Ways and Means.

“Over the medium-term, staff projects consolidation in the non-oil primary deficit. With rising interest costs, government debt stabilises towards the end of the projection period.

“Staff factors in an under-execution of capital expenditure in line with past outcomes and estimates an FGN deficit of 4.5 per cent of GDP relative to the 2024 budget target of 3.4 per cent of GDP.

“For the consolidated government, this implies a projected deficit of 4.7 per cent of GDP in 2024—compared to 4.8 per cent of GDP in 2023 measured from the financing side—which is appropriate given the large social needs and factoring in a realistic pace of revenue mobilisation.

“Based on staff’s projections, the authorities must raise the domestic and external borrowing ceilings to prevent renewed recourse to CBN financing.

“With higher interest rates, banks and nonbanks should have sufficient appetite—as indicated by market sources—conditional on careful management of system liquidity, including a likely reduction in the currently high cash reserve requirement.”

Organised labour in the country has continued to clamour for an increase in the minimum wage for government workers.

Labour leaders have demanded for N615,000 from N30,000 as salaries for lowest ranked workers, while a tripartite committee set up by the government have mulled N70,000 as the new minimum wage.

Despite the government allocating N6.48tn for personnel cost in the 2024 budget, the international lender argues that the amount may be insufficient, which could force the government to come up with a supplementary budget to fund the deficit, the report added.