‘Oil curse’: Nigeria has no viable future as a petrostate, by Olu Fasan
THE latest foreign trade data show that Nigeria recorded a trade balance of N6.52 trillion in the first quarter of this year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS. Expectedly, President Bola Tinubu seized on the figure as evidence that his economic reform is working. Given that the positive trade balance significantly reversed the […]
A living wage will reduce poverty in Nigeria: Pay it! By Olu Fasan
NIGERIA is a country where the government always resists a review of the minimum wage. Whereas in some countries, independent bodies, consisting of representatives of employers, workers and expert groups, fix the minimum wage without acrimony, it’s always a war of attrition between government and labour unions in Nigeria. Indeed, Nigeria is probably the only country […]
KFC, Chinese store closure: Stop the primitive enforcement actions! By Olu Fasan
LAST month, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC, behaved crudely when it stormed and shut down a Chinese supermarket in Abuja over allegations that it discriminated against Nigerians. When I saw the picture of FCCPC operatives dutifully sealing up the supermarket, my reaction was: Typical! Of course, it is typical. Nigerian law and regulatory […]
Nigeria’s low tax intake: Blame weak economy, breach of social contract, by Olu Fasan
RECENTLY, the International Monetary Fund, IMF, lamented Nigeria’ low tax revenues. Two weeks ago, when launching the IMF’s Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa, the Fund’s Director for Africa, Abebe Selassie, said: “For a country like Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, with all those development spending needs, we think it is problematic that the tax revenue […]
The trial of Emefiele: A lesson for all presidential yes-men, by Olu Fasan
THE images of Godwin Emefiele, flummoxed as he is chaperoned by state security agents from custody to custody, from courtroom to courtroom, contrast sharply with those of the man who, as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, bestrode, until just a year ago, the Nigerian financial and banking world like a colossus; the man who […]
Electricity tariff hike: Civilised nations don’t pauperise their citizens, by Olu Fasan
A nation is civilised not because of its aesthetic, its beautiful architecture. Rather, a nation is civilised because of how it treats its citizens, because of the duration and quality of life of its citizens. That’s why social security or safety net for the poor is a badge of the heathy society. However, Nigeria creates billionaires […]
