For the first time since 1999, Nigerians are celebrating Democracy Day on June 12, instead of May 29 which was the case in the past 25 years. This change in date is a fulfillment of  the promise made last year by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to honour the late Chief Chief   Moshood Kashimawo Olawale, MKO, Abiola whose June 12, 1993 presidential election victory was annulled by the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida on June 23, same year.

Ahead of the first celebration of June 12 as Democracy Day on Wednesday to mark the 1993 presidential election which was annulled by the military but
 generally believed to have been won by the late Chief MKO Abiola, one of Abiola’s former associates, Chief Adesunbo Onitiri, speaks on the Epetedo declaration which saw Abiola proclaiming himself as President, leading to his arrest by the Abacha junta and subsequent prosecution for treasonable felony. He died in detention.

There has been a progressive depreciation in the value of the Naira since 1999 while the nation’s external reserves have followed a somewhat positive trajectory within the past 20 years. An interesting observation is the decline of reserves between 2008 and 2014 at a time when the Naira was trading around N150. While it may seem like there is no correlation between the Naira exchange rate and foreign exchange reserves, the missing piece of the equation is Oil prices.

The optimal FX policy in Nigeria will likely be the subject of debate for some time. Over the years, many of the country’s resources have been utilised in order to achieve currency stability. While there would have been an obvious cost to higher inflation, it is not at all clear that the policy adopted by Nigeria has helped to bring about meaningfully lower inflation.

The news of the killing of 34 persons in fresh attacks by armed bandits on three villages in three local government areas of Katsina State has plunged the state into a new round of mourning.