THE news of government’s plans to establish Ruga, or cattle colonies, throughout the Federation, started filtering out after President Muhammed Buhari was returned as President and his party, the APC, also won majority of seats in the National Assembly after the conclusion of February 2019 elections.

THE discourse, this week, relates to the implications of the CBN Governor’s plan for banks “to increase their capital base above the present N25bn”, which incidentally, was equivalent, to $195m (N127-N130=$1) in 2004, but has become seriously eroded to barely $75m today! Notwithstanding, CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele did not reveal how the inexplicably, battered Naira Exchange Rate, which is actually, the prime cause of the sliding value of the capital base of Nigerian banks will be rescued.

By Henry Boyo THE CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, reportedly, laid out to journalists, the outline and objectives, of the proposed five years (2019-2024) Policy Thrust of the CBN, in a detailed statement, on Monday, June 24, 2019 in Abuja. IMF warns rising debt makes economy more vulnerable(Opens in a new browser tab) Emefiele announced that […]

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari’s endorsement, of the document establishing the AfCFTA, at the 17th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of African Union Heads of government in Niamey, Niger Republic, last week, (July 2019), suggests that 53 countries are now party to the same AfCFTA, which Nigeria, unexpectedly, refused to sign, even after 44 other countries had endorsed the treaty in a similar convention in South Africa in March 2018.

Public rejoinders to Newspaper Opinion Columns, may often provide, useful, feedback on how well the message is understood by the reading public. Evidently, not every critic of an article, will find the time or inclination to send rejoinders, which may serve as a barometer of the understanding between the reading public and the messenger.

THE Naira exchange rate has suffered severe battering in recent times and fallen from about N160 to the present N197=$; even when our national experience suggests a close correlation between deepening poverty and weakening Naira exchange rates.

A REPORT on Page 33 of the June 21, 2019 edition of The Punch Newspaper indicated that “between April 2018 and March 2019, the Central Bank of Nigeria injected over $42.3bn into the foreign exchange market to ensure liquidity in that segment of the economy.”

THE title above is from Tuesday, June 11 edition of the Daily Independent Newspaper. In the related report, CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, engaged stakeholders, at an interactive session in Lagos, on why he has rebuffed the incessant calls by some ‘experts’ to deregulate and float the naira exchange rate, as a product of  the actual market dynamics of demand and supply.

THE Late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola was the acclaimed, legitimate winner of the 1993 Presidential election, which was conducted, purportedly, to usher in a Democratic Administration, after Ibrahim Babangida’s eight years as Nigeria’s sole Military President.

THE calls for restructuring of the national space have become unceasing in recent years. Therefore, the narrative below has certainly become increasingly relevant this year and may hopefully serve as a wake-up call to abort inevitable the dire consequences which will clearly jeopardize our relationship as a nation and forestall the frustration of the misplaced hope of Nigerians for a better life. I wish you Happy 2019 Democracy Day! Please read on.

NIGERIA’s Currency   profile has, notably failed to serve the needs of our people and our economy. Arguably, lower denominations of primary kobo coins and low value notes have been largely rejected because of their extremely negligible purchasing power. Overtime, the Naira Currency has lost significant value, as the highest existing compact denomination of N20 (the popular Muri) in 1977 was equivalent to over $20.

THE primary reason for public rejection of lower Naira denominations, was identified, in this column, in the last fortnight, as their negligible purchasing values rather than the material of fabrication.

IN April 2019, CBN made good it’s over a year old promise, to tackle the acute shortage of lower Naira denominations by flooding the market with fresh supplies of N50, N20, N10, N5 Polymer denominations, to facilitate settlements and restrain compelled higher off-the-shelf prices in millions of retail outlets, nationwide. It is not clear, if the N100 paper denomination, which is alleged to bear an offensive religious symbol, was included in the fresh currency profile.

IN an apparent admission  of public rejection of lower Naira denominations for daily transactions, the CBN has embarked on a project designed to reportedly mop up, over-circulated and mutilated bank notes from the market. CBN Deputy Governor, Operations, Folashodun Ade Shonubi, announced, in April 2019, that the apex bank was putting in place strategies to enable “direct disbursement of lower bank notes to various market Associations and Merchants through their respective Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), in order to eliminate unfit and counterfeit currency from the system, to sustain public confidence and preserve the integrity of the National Currency, as enshrined in Section 2 of the 2007 CBN Act.”

NIGERIANS know too well, that sinking feeling when all items on the household shopping list cannot be covered by the usual monthly budget. The options invariably become whether to cut down or do without some basic items, or alternatively make do with less preferred but cheaper substitutes. The depressive impact of a continuous price spiral on the average family’s welfare is, therefore, a very familiar theme.