Ardrey in that book was attempting to draw the attention of the developed world to the truth they were evading. That Africa was the birth place of mankind. My mission, today, is to warn Nigerians that, inadvertently, we have driven ourselves into a dead end, regarding food production. One crop, RICE, now is having such a disproportionate influence on our assessment of food availability and security than is in our own interest; now and in the future. 

“Yes, we will do anything for the poor man; anything but get off his back.” — Leo Tolstoy, 1828-1910.

IF the first year of  Tinubunomics is an indication of what is in store for the middle class and the poor people of Nigeria, then, it is time to abandon hope. Information available to us daily proves beyond reasonable doubt that while Nigeria’s globally rated billionaires have become increasingly richer, the rest of us have become poorer. Start with the banks. Despite the poor performance of the economy, all the banks have declared astonishing profits for the year 2023 and correspondingly high dividends as a result. The chairman of the bank, sitting on billions of shares will rake in billions of naira; the middle class owner of a few hundred thousand shares goes home with a few hundred thousand naira.

“New tariff: Discos get April 11, 2024 deadline to refund customers wrongly billed.” — THE NATION, APRIL 7, 2024.ON April 7, 2024, the Eko Electricity Distribution Company, EKEDC, distributed the bills for March consumption to customers in Lagos. Despite the order given by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, earlier in March, for all Discos to refund customers they have deliberately and illegally over-billed, EKEDC has adamantly refused to refund its customers.

Governor Sani’s confession has already sparked a political conflict in Kaduna State between the supporters of the former Governor, El-Rufai and his hand-picked successor. People, who detest the idea of out-going elected officials seeking to impose those to replace them on the people, smile knowingly.

Very few people now recall that the famed Onosode ran for the Presidency in 2007. Asked why an activist and already accomplished man like him wanted to go into the dirty waters of politics, the quote above was his reply. He did not win the election but he left food for thought or thought for food in that statement which I just re-discovered in my archive, buried since 2007.

Ardrey in that book was attempting to draw the attention of the developed world to the truth they were evading. That Africa was the birthplace of mankind. My mission, today, is to warn Nigerians that, inadvertently, we have driven ourselves into a dead end, regarding food production. One crop, RICE, now is having such a disproportionate influence on our assessment of food availability and security than is in our own interest; now and in the future.  At the risk of boring readers, it is important to restate, once again, that my experience with rice, in the North, was quite extensive. It included managing a modern rice mill in Sokoto, maintaining a 1050 hectare farm, engaging over 10,000 contract growers, getting involved in developing eight different varieties of the grain for different geographical zones of  Nigeria, the Fadama project and lobbying for the construction of the Goronyo Dam in Sokoto State.

And, as somebody has also reminded us: “As a people normally gets the government it deserves, so a society normally receives the punishment it asks for.” To me, it is now a precious waste of time whenever a frequent reader of this page calls to register his/her agreement with my article — only to launch into questioning Tinubu’s legitimacy as President. Millions of highly educated Nigerians have not developed the emotional maturity which makes it possible to accept with serenity what cannot be changed. Tinubu is President and nobody else. And, to him, I will continue to address myself. Cardoso is also Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. He will also be the focus of my attention. Nobody else.

Lekan, one of the most perceptive columnists in Nigeria today astonished me when he asked that question. Vanguard readers knew as far back as March 2023 that another round of cash scarcity was coming. It occurred in December. It will linger for a while – as long as the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, continue to miss the point. Nigerians should actually be asking two questions regarding cash scarcity: will it end? How? The answer to the first is “Yes”; but not next month or perhaps even March. It will certainly not end before a great deal of damage would have been done to the economy. The answer to “How?” will be left untouched for now. The FG and CBN will be shocked to know the major cause of the lingering scarcity. The stranglehold on cash supply is now assuming the characteristics of a plot.

President Tinubu’s appointed Special Investigator, Mr Jim Obaze, is turning out to be more of an inquisitor than a detached fact-finding inquirer. Before those already gullible enough to swallow everything he has published assume that I have been settled, let me state upfront that I have met only two victims of Obaze’s assault on their right to presumption of innocence. 

“Cash Scarcity: People are hoarding bank notes – CBN.” VANGUARD, December 14, 2023.

Governor Cardoso and his new team at the top of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, can be forgiven if the current cash scarcity being experienced has caught them by surprise.