The Point

Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, is stewing in a bind that he created. Out of N3.2 trillion of the old currency in circulation, he withdrew N2 trillion and pumped in a mere N300 billion in return. Now, there is about N1.5 trillion mix of old and new notes for Nigerians…

French political thinker, Jean Jacques Rousseau, once quipped that “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains,” an allusion to the many cultural, economic and political restrictions that man contrives to manacle his fellow men. Here is how a gentleman, obviously cast in the mould of a South African liberation fighter, puts it:…

Nigerian factories can only sputter for a period before they die off. Take this from someone who has run a factory, whilst also running its accounting function, within the extremely hostile economic environment of Nigeria. Note the choice of the word, “factory,” instead of the more grandiose “industry” that boastful Nigerian manufacturers appropriate for their…

In his poem, “The Road Not Taken,” American poet, Robert Frost, probably sighed in regret as he concluded, “I took the one less travelled by/ And that has made all the difference.” The same applies to Nigeria, whose wealth has not been managed according to the principles of best practices. To borrow a phrase credited…

The task of raising funds for government business is called “Ways & Means” by the British whose Parliament has a Committee for Ways & Means. In Nigeria’s National Assembly, it is called the Appropriation Committee, maybe because of the tendency of Nigerian governments to “appropriate” money from the citizens. Some time ago, the All Progressives…

After President Muhammadu Buhari presented a Budget Proposal Bill of N16.39 trillion for 2022, the usually rubberstamp National Assembly of Nigeria, apparently thinking that the Executive Branch was not spendthrift enough, upped the figure by N736 billion to N17.126 trillion. The budget deficit was raised from N6.26 to N6.39 trillion. One would have thought that…

The rate at which Nigerians relocate to other countries as economic migrants is unbelievable. The tragedy is that even the highly skilled and talented, who should lead in the task of Nigeria’s economic emancipation are the guiltiest these days. Nigerians with PhDs, professionals of all cadres, who are above middle-level managerial positions in the corporate…

You probably remember that President Muhammadu Buhari once pledged that his government, which many think is a drifting barge, will lift 100 million poor Nigerians out of poverty. If you do not mind the tautology, it’s just an amateur way of using the double superlative to describe the President’s lofty idea to make life easier…

Nigeria’s Federal Government is now an evangelist, willing to convert owners of illegal refineries into legit business cooperatives to make up for the failure of the three-and-half refineries owned by Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, or Company Limited, that gulps so much money without producing one litre of petroleum products. This is a more profitable and…

Africa has a lot going for its quest to be the richest continent in the world, if it so desires. It’s no news that when compared to other continents, Africa has a relatively youthful population. This suggests a future of energy and the ability to learn new technologies faster. And nearly all experts report that…