been published today. But, a more urgent matter has arisen. The Federal Government announced what was called the 2020 Revised Budget. Keen observers would have noticed that there is little difference in the aggregate figure from the original budget.

The story by Nike Popoola went on to say that:“POLARIS Bank Limited said it recorded N27.8bn profit before tax in its first audited IFRS 2019-compliant financial result.

SOMETIMES, it is necessary to bring more than one indisputable news report to the notice of Nigerians who might not be able to read several newspapers and follow important developments regarding the economy and how it affects them. I must confess that it is often a daunting task to determine which reports to highlight.

“The Federal Government had, in the budget proposal, revised downward the revenue projection for the 2020 fiscal period by N3.3trillion from the initial approved amount of N8.4 trillion to N5.08 trillion.” Punch, April 14, 2020, p 21.

NOTE: Before launching into the substance of today’s article, permit me to repeat what was published last week. Some messages are so important, they need to be repeated many times in order to cross the threshold of peoples’ awareness of the dangers ahead for us as individuals and as a country. Here is the message.

Since writing the first column on the Business/Economic pages of VANGUARD in 1987, during the Babangida administration, nothing has first surprised, then amused me more than how the same set of fantasies/lies get recycled from one generation to the next. It is remarkable how appointed officials deceiving the Head of State and duping him into endorsing their dodgy schemes, go to great lengths to suppress the truth and intimidate those attempting to expose their lies.

Shakespeare, 1564-1616, must have had a situation like the one in which Nigeria now finds itself before pronouncing that: “All things do help the unhappy man to fall.” (Vanguard Nook of Quotations, VBQ p257).

By Dele Sobowale Coronavirus: FG Considers Reviewing 2020 Budget”  –  Daily Independence, March 5, 2020, p 1. “55 Nigerian oil cargo unsold as demand tumbles” – Punch, March 6, 2020, p 23. Shakespeare, 1564-1616, must have had a situation like the one in which Nigeria now finds itself before pronouncing that: “All things do help […]

FOR a country so long starved of any good news, even a minor triumph must be celebrated by all of us. A buoyant economy is, after all, still one of the pillars of a good society – if it can be sustained. Any small step in the right direction must be applauded. So, let me congratulate the Federal Government for this very modest achievement.
But before the Aso Rock “loudspeakers” and the Minister of Information inundate the media with cheap propaganda, the following observations need to be made about this result, otherwise, you can trust the President’s “Three Musketeers” of propaganda to make it appear as if Buhari has achieved the economic miracle of the century.

By Dele Sobowale Manufacturing declines as 2.27% GDP growth surpasses IMF projection—Punch, Tuesday, February 25, 2020, p 35. FOR a country so long starved of any good news, even a minor triumph must be celebrated by all of us. A buoyant economy is, after all, still one of the pillars of a good society – […]

We have been saying this for 20 to 30 years. If the North does not change, the North will destroy itself. The country is moving on. The quota system that everybody talks about must have a sunset clause —The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, Punch, February 19, 2020.

By Dele Sobowale We have been saying this for 20 to 30 years. If the North does not change, the North will destroy itself. The country is moving on. The quota system that everybody talks about must have a sunset clause —The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, Punch, February 19, 2020. THE Emir of […]

A pessimist is a former optimist who finally got all the facts— Dele Sobowale, VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, VBQ p 186 Transportation: BUHARI must love failures;  he has appointed more of them than any other head of government since 1960. His current team which includes Ministers of Power, Justice, Health, Education, Finance, Aviation – to […]

BUHARI must love failures; he has appointed more of them than any other head of government since 1960. His current team which includes Ministers of Power, Justice, Health, Education, Finance, Aviation – to mention a few includes several people who after almost five years in office, have very little to show for successful completion of any project.

By Dele Sobowale The poverty level of the North is 80 per cent; while in the South, the percentage is 20 per cent, simply because of the culture of marrying many wives and producing many children who, at the end, are left on the streets to beg for what to eat — The Emir of […]