By Dele Sobowale “Ditch foreign aid or remain trapped”. Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, February 2025.  The call to African states in general and Nigeria in particular, to stop relying on foreign aids could not have come at a more appropriate time. The return of Donald Trump as President of America can be likened to two natural disasters which […]

By Dele Sobowale “An institution is the lengthened shadow of one man”- Emerson, 1803-1882, VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, VBQ p 105 “Every great enterprise starts off with enthusiasm for an exalted aim; and ends up bogged down in petty politics” – Charles Peguy, 1873-1914, VBQ p 49 The Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, is one of […]

By Dele Sobowale “We discouraged (the government) from borrowing and the Nigerian desk and the World Bank suffered the consequences. “If you check, you would see that if the World Bank country director does not lend, it is either he is demoted or removed. But, it is our responsibility to make sure that the lending […]

By Dele Sobowale “History does not repeat itself; man does.” Barbara Tuchman, Harvard University Historian. The Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, is adamant that the licence given to a private organisation/individual will not be revoked. In that statement, the Minister betrays ignorance four ways, historical, social, security and economic – as will be shortly explained. But, […]

By Dele Sobowale Report, December 14, 2024. “Stop this cash crunch.” Daily Trust Editorial, December 16, 2024. “Recurrent cash scarcity is unacceptable.” PUNCH, December 16, 2024 “OPS fears SMEs’ collapse as cash scarcity lingers,” PUNCH same day. Cash crunch: The way out In the past one week alone, virtually every paper in Nigeria has joined the national […]

By Dele Sobowale “Nigeria is no longer a potentially big market for multinationals. It is now increasingly regarded as a poor and declining economy.” Nigerian businessman who recently returned from Europe. Lafarge, formerly  West African Portland Cement, is one of the latest companies in Nigeria, whose core investors have thrown in the towel, after P&G […]

By Dele Sobowale “Liars ought to have good memories”. Algernon Sidney, 1622-1683 VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, VBQ p 127. Read online. Right now, the nation, and indeed the entire world, is still confused regarding the situation with the two Port  Harcourt refineries. Suddenly, in the last ten days of November, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, announced […]

“FCCPC warns Ikeja, Eko Discos to halt metre replacement amid compliance concerns — Report, November 14, 2024. The story went on to say that “The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has issued a stern warning to Ikeja and Eko Electricity Distribution Companies (Discos) against plans to replace metres”. The FCCPC under Mr Tunji Bello […]

By Dele Sobowale “We eagerly anticipate the coming on stream of the Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt refineries before the end of this year, as promised by the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of NNPCL, Mele Kyari. This milestone will not only end baseless rumours of monopoly but also position Nigeria as a refining hub […]

By Dele Sobowale “Currency outside banks hits N4.02tn  —  CBN.” Report. The story in the PUNCH went on to state that “Currency outside banks surged by 66.2 per cent in September 2024, reaching N4.02tn compared to N2.42tn in September 2023, a notable rise of N1.60tn in just one year.” It was speculated that some of the […]