By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Ex- President Olusegun Obasanjo has lamented that Nigeria’s current economic situation is very bad and that the situation is made worse by the unwillingness of the leaders to take responsibility.

Obasanjo made this declaration in his keynote address at the Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum, held on Saturday at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, USA.

In his speech, titled: “Leadership Failure and State Capture in Nigeria,” he expressed concern over the country’s dire situation, noting, “as the world can see and understand, Nigeria’s situation is bad.”

Using Singapore as an example of a country with effective leadership, Obasanjo highlighted how the government there has remained responsive to the evolving needs of its citizens, making significant investments in sectors like healthcare, education, and social welfare.

He said, “Nigeria’s situation, as we can see and understand, is bad. The more the immorality and corruption of a nation, the more the nation sinks into chaos, insecurity, conflict, discord, division, disunity, depression, youth restiveness, confusion, violence, and underdevelopment.

“That’s the situation mostly in Nigeria in the reign of Baba-go-slow and Emilokan. The failing state status of Nigeria is confirmed and glaringly indicated and manifested for every honest person to see through the consequences of the level of our pervasive corruption, mediocrity, immorality, misconduct, mismanagement, perversion, injustice, incompetence and all other forms of iniquity. But yes, there is hope.”

The former President, while quoting from a short, classic treatise published in 1983 called, “The Trouble with Nigeria” by Chinua Achebe, said, “The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership.

The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example which are the hallmarks of true leadership.”

According to him, two prominent US intellectuals, Robert Rotberg and John Campbell, had once raised the alarm about the failing status of Nigeria and its inevitable effects on the African continent given the country’s size, economic viability, and population, among others.

He described state capture “as one of the most pervasive forms of corruption, a situation where powerful individuals, institutions, companies, or groups within or outside a country use corruption to shape a nation’s policies, legal environment, and economy, to benefit their own private interests.

“State capture is not always overt and obvious. It can also arise from the more subtle close alignment of interests between specific business and political elites through family ties, friendships, and the intertwined ownership of economic assets.

“What is happening in Nigeria – right before our eyes – is state capture: The purchase of National assets by political elites – and their family members – at bargain prices, the allocation of national resources – minerals, land, and even human resources – to local, regional, and international actors. It must be prohibited and prevented through local and international laws.

“Public institutions such as the legislature, the executive, the judiciary, and regulatory agencies both at the federal and local levels are subject to capture.

“As such, state capture can broadly be understood as the disproportionate and unregulated influence of interest groups or decision-making processes where special interest groups manage to bend state laws, policies, and regulations.

“They do so through practices such as illicit contributions paid by private interests to political parties, and for election campaigns, vote-buying, buying of presidential decrees or court decisions, as well as through illegitimate lobbying and revolving door appointments.

“The main risk of state capture is that decisions no longer take into consideration the public interest but instead favour a specific special interest group or individual.

“Laws, policies, and regulations are designed to benefit a specific interest group, oftentimes to the detriment of smaller firms and groups and society in general.

“State capture can seriously affect economic development, regulatory quality, the provision of public services, quality of education and health services, infrastructure decisions, and even the environment and public health.”

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

President Bola Tinubu will on Sunday host the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, for a State Visit at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday.

His visit to Nigeria will be the first by an Indian prime minister since Dr Manmohan Singh’s state visit in 2007 when the two nations established a strategic partnership.

The presidential spokesman said both leaders would have further talks on strengthening Nigeria and India’s ties.

“Both leaders will exchange signed Memoranda of Understanding to enhance collaboration in critical sectors,” Onanuga said.

See the full statement below:

President Tinubu To Host Indian PM In Abuja

President Bola Tinubu will welcome Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a State Visit at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Sunday.

Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to arrive on Saturday.

His visit to Nigeria will be the first by an Indian prime minister since Dr Manmohan Singh’s state visit in 2007, when the two nations established a strategic partnership.

President Tinubu and Prime Minister Modi will seek to strengthen Nigeria’s and India’s ties further during their bilateral discussions.

Both leaders will exchange signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) to enhance collaboration in critical sectors.

Bayo Onanuga
Special Adviser to the President,
Information & Strategy
November 16, 2024

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) said about 30,000 of its members will start lifting petrol from the Dangote Refinery The association’s president, Abubakar Maigandi, said that the refinery agreed to sell the product at N940 and N960, respectively He said the development means that petrol prices will crash at the pumps in the coming weeks following the new deal

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) says over 30,000 of its members are ready to buy petrol in bulk from the Dangote Refinery. The association revealed that the petrol price from the mega refinery was about N940 per litre via ships and N990 via trucks.

IPMAN president Abubakar Maigandi disclosed in a television interview on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, that the petrol pump prices at its outlets will drop following the deal with the refinery. The association reached a deal with the $20 billion refinery on Monday, November 11, 2024, to purchase petrol, diesel, and other petroleum products directly. The agreement comes after months of negotiations following the exit of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) as the sole off-taker of the refinery.

Petrol prices to crash by over N50 Maigandi explained that the Lekki-based facility had been obliged to let marketers buy petrol, diesel, and Kerosene to supply to their depots and retail outlets. The IPMAN boss updated Nigerians on the pricing, saying the refinery gave marketers two rates based on preferences. He said marketers can load at the gantry at N990 per litre or vial vessel transport at N940. Punch reports that the new price is lower than the N960 and N990 per litre on ships and trucks offered by the refinery last week.

The IPMAN helmsman disclosed that the partnership aims to ensure a consistent and affordable supply of petrol and other products nationwide. He stated further that petrol prices may crash by N50 or more, depending on the location.

PETROAN set up a meeting with Dangote Refinery According to Maigandi, the direct purchase of petrol from the refinery will end payments to intermediaries such as the NNPC and depot owners, saying that the cost will reflect on petrol prices in the coming weeks. The IPMAN president said the new arrangement will also end fuel scarcity as products will be available nationwide in all seasons.

Additionally, the management of the Dangote Refinery is set to meet with Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) officials to discuss petrol lifting. The group’s publicity secretary, Joseph Obele, said the refinery, through its president, Billy Harry, mailed seeking a business meeting.

Obele said Harry has inaugurated a team of seven persons to represent the association at the meeting. NNPC to now sell only Dangote petrol Legit.ng earlier reported that NNPC had announced that it stopped importing refined petroleum products. Mele Kyari, NNPC’s Group Chief Executive Officer, disclosed this while speaking at the Lagos’s Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists’ (NAPE) conference and said that the company now sources its fuel needs from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.

Kyari confirmed that NNPC has shifted away from importation and will source from local refiners, especially Dangote, according to BusinessDay reports.

Source: Legit