As the presidency gets ready to emplace the federal cabinet to face the daunting economic challenges figures from the Debt Management Office, DMO, of the federation has indicated a massive reversal of debt relief obtained nine years ago. An official of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, told Vanguard last weekend that foreign debt would hover around USD10.7 billion by end 2015, showing over 200 per cent up from USD3.5 billion recorded by the debt relief deal of 2006. DMO records show USD10.3 billion as at June this year.

IMF Africa Director, Mrs. Atoinette Sayeh recently noted at a press conference at a World Bank event in Lima, Peru, that “…those measures introduced by CBN to restrict demand and limit access to official foreign exchange for certain imports are quite detrimental to economic activities and invariably led to a lot of unhappiness in the private sector”.

Against the back-drop of intense media speculation that national U-23 team coach, Samson Siasia would be sacked soon, a member of the Technical Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation, Ahmed Yusuf Fresh has informed that the football house has no intention of sacking the Olympic silver medal-winning coach.

The report in the NATION, October 13, 2015, page 7, titled “Fed Govt suspends quota issuance to rice millers”, brought tears to my eyes. It would be the third time in my life that the Federal Government of Nigeria would drive me to tears of frustration over the national policy on rice importation. Althogu, I no longer have any investment or involvement with the sector, it is the only sector in which personal monetary investments as well as sacrifice of well-paid job was made because of government policy announcement.

The Senate ad-hoc Committee on Works has inspected erosion sites across Ogun State, saying it had received numerous petitions on bad roads and ecological disasters across the country.