What shall we do about South Africa?
RIGHT OF REPLY Approximately 1,030 words Azu Ishiekwene asks the right question, and he is right that the World Cup answered it before any of us did. The hostility Bafana Bafana met in those stadiums was not football. It was a bill arriving. I take his question seriously and respectfully disagree with part of how […]
Budget ‘padding’: An opportunity for change?
QUARRELS in the legislative chamber are neither new nor strange. They are universal phenomena. They range from hot exchanges of words to fisticuffs.
Economy: The blind leading the blind
A seemingly responsible fiscal plan will become unimplementable, in the modern era, if the underlying monetary indices are out of sync with budget projections. Conversely, the stubborn sustenance of appropriate monetary benchmarks for inflation, cost of funds and exchange rate may still rescue the performance of an otherwise bad budget.
Have bandit bankers struck again?
“Banka’ toxic assets may hit N3.0 trillion”. Emeka Anaeto, Economy Editor, VAGUARD, July 17, 2016. When George Santayana, 1863-1952, warned that “Those who do not remember the past [mistakes] are condemned to repeat it” (VANGUARD BOOK p 93), he did not have Nigeria’s banking sector in mind. In fact, that sector had recorded more high profile crooks than any other since the first authentic Nigerian banks were established in the 1950s by individuals whose names would not be mentioned now.
Crowded lives
THE basic criterion for working in Nigeria is to either be a miracle worker or magician. The monthly Minimum Wage is N18,000; that is $45 or $1.5 daily. From this monthly salary – the equivalent of a bag of rice – the worker is expected to feed and transport himself to work, feed his family, pay rent and school fees.
Fallacy of the divine rights of kings
Paul says: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God.” (2 Timothy 3:16). This might well be true, but that does not make all scripture the word of God. If God inspires me to write a letter, it would not make my letter God’s letter. The letter would still be mine.
