There are two Ministries scaring the hell out of a lot of experts these days the Ministries of Justice and Finance. Right now, it is difficult to know which of the two will finish us in first. This is not the Law page, comments on the activities of the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation will be left to others versed in litigation. Finance is another matter and here what is easily discernible is that the Federal Government is setting a bad example in fiscal irresponsibility for the states by adopting a “borrow-and-spend” policy.

The report by Collins Nweze which dominated the financial news on that Tuesday ended weeks or even months of rumours and speculations that one or two banks were in distress. Even the unsolicited comment by one of the rating outfits, last week, stating that Nigerian banks are sound only served to increase anxieties among stakeholders. With the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, announcement on Monday afternoon of July 4, 2016, clients of Skye Bank, at least have now had their worst fears confirmed. The ripple effects in the banking sector are immeasurable but will certainly be considerable.

Taft was American President from 1909 to 1913; meaning he served only one term during which the US economy was in a recession. He paid the price for coming to power at the wrong time. Taft was not the first, and he would not be the last president, to learn the age-long lesson that economics, like rain, sun or earthquakes etc, respects no president’s wishes. When Karl Marx, 1818-1883, pronounced that “Men make history, but not just as they please” (VBQ p 93), he must have had leaders like Buhari in mind. Nigerians were aware that Buhari, until he went to London for “God-knows-what”, was adamantly opposed to the devaluation of the naira for reasons that were badly explained because he is not an economist.

The first part of this series appeared last week after the Federal Minister of Finance reversed herself by announcing that the Federal Government was again considering a bail-out package for the states. Even, before writing last week’s column, it was clear that advising governments in Nigeria is just about as useful as talking to a wall. They ask for “all hands on deck”; but they take cognizance of only the hands closer to the corridors of power and whose vested interests must be protected at all costs – even if the people pay dearly for it.

The same Chinese have been known to derisively refer to a person or government saying two opposite things at the same time as someone “speaking with forked tongues”. The Federal Government of Nigeria has been speaking with forked tongues with regard to fresh bail-out for the states, who despite a previous botched bail-out, are still in financial turmoil. Irrespective of political party in power, all the states are in various degrees in trouble. Even Lagos State, the Centre of Excellence, is feeling the pinch badly.