Independence address, endless promises no specifics
By Dele Sobowale Bayo Onanuga, the Senior Special Adviser to the President, accused critics of writing their responses without reading Tinubu’s address. That is certainly not true about me. In fact, the address was read to me by Uncle Sam, the Publisher of Vanguard, in his house – while asking for my comments on a […]
Vision 2040: Another wasteful fraud coming
History does not repeat itself. Man does.” – Prof Barbara Tuchman, Harvard University. One can only hope it is a joke. Even if it is, Nigerians, like Queen Elizabeth I should tell the Buhari administration: “We are not amused.”
Pity the presidential economic advisory council.
Members of the Presidential Advisory Council, PEAC, have my sympathies despite my serious disagreements with two of the appointees in the past. At any rate, it is a new situation and their success or failure will have lasting impact on all of us alive today and million more unborn for years to come. If a reader sensing espirit de corps in my anxiety for their individual and collective reputations, let me quickly admit guilt. They are my colleagues – practitioners of what one jealous critic had called the “dismal science”. He was furious at the common pronouncements by economists – “on the one hand..and on the other hand….”. “Why can’t you fellows talk of just one hand”, he exploded. So, I start with our usual caveat when making tough recommendations to our principals.
Pity Nigerian labour and ASUU on minimum wage
The Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, and Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU have my sympathies – even as they amuse me. When the President signed the new Minimum Wage Bill passed by the 8th National Assembly, NASS, into law during the last days of the assembly, he also ordered “immediate implementation”. NLC and ASUU officials were ecstatic. Soon, the gatemen and messengers will be receiving minimum of N30,000 per month and all will be well. I laughed. But, more than that, I told them that there would be no “immediate implementation” of the bill. It would require a few months and a lot of negotiations before anybody will lay their hands on the wage increase promised.“To be quite candid, if one was not aware that President Buhari did not take into account how the Nigerian Presidential system works, his orders would have been taken differently.“After Buhari made his unscheduled departure from office in August 1985, he went into political and social hibernation.
National Assembly or court jesters
Everybody agrees in OPEC that we need to stabilise the market. We cannot allow price just to plummet.” Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources.
Recession is here: Will depression follow? (2)
The first part of this series ended abruptly last week on account of space constraints. Pardon me if the last paragraph is repeated fully. Otherwise what follows might not make sense.
