Ghana: "Don't stain my white".
Money Update: £1 = about ₦690; Price of bread about to go up (By 30% according to the Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria)
In today’s issue
The President Hates Harassment
Greenfield University kidnap survivors released
Ghana weighs in on insurgency in West Africa
FG borrows a lil loot for “operations”
CBN getting into crypto
Suspected suicide bomb in Imo was really police error?
The President hates harassment.
Buhari, an ex-military officer who is also the commander-in-chief, would apparently stay hidden because he does not like it when his security personnel harass citizens on his account, says 'spokesperson' and Special Assistant Garba Shehu
Also, last week: the president sent a press statement via Shehu to address insurgency.
He, via the statement, dismissed the ban on open grazing in the South that Southern governors concluded 2 weeks ago, saying they presented no real solution.
According to Buhari('s statement), the governors have violated the constitutional rights of Nigerians to do business wherever they want.
The statement claimed that he, the president, already approved a "number of measures" suggested by the Minister of Agriculture, Sabo Nanono, to curb the crisis.
———————————————————————————————————————————————
Ghana to West Africa: "Don't stain my white".
Ghana’s President, Nana Akufo-Addo, urged Buhari and other West African leaders to get their act together and fix the insurgency.
He cited Niger, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria's current situation, emphasising that it’s forming a reputation that is terrible for West Africa as a whole.
The US, UK, Canada and other nations have Nigeria and West African nations on their “Danger travel” lists for insecurity and kidnapping.
Mali?
On Monday, Malian soldiers were visibly upset with the, raising fears of a second coup within a year (Assimi Goïta - Bah Ndaw - Assimi)
The fears were confirmed on Thursday when Military head Assimi Goïta declared himself president.
In Sept 2020, Goïta led a group that overthrew then-president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta (president from 2013, reelected in 2018). Ndaw took over a month later.
In 2020, pressure from ECOWAS forced Goïta to promise he'd hand over to a democratically elected president in March of 2022 (18 months). No word on if he still intends to.
Nigeria?
Acting Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, says that security in Nigeria is worsening because SARS has been scrapped.
Baba said police morale has "drastically reduced" since the #EndSARS protest and incessant attacks on police facilities.
But, don't worry, they're now training them to fill the SARS void. They're also hiring new officers to replace them.
More on police: a man initially assumed to be a suicide bomber in Imo state has been identified as a police officer who allegedly unintentionally killed himself by accidentally setting off a hand grenade
Witnesses say the bomber attempted to walk into a school but was turned back by school security, and "He immediately started running inside a nearby bush" before they heard a loud bang. Police say it was a tragic mistake. End of story
In Kaduna,
South and Northern Kaduna have agreed to split into two states. Both sides want a constitutional amendment to reflect it. The president of the Southern Kaduna people's union said:
"We demand the creation of Gurara State after the amendment. This will help in solving the incessant conflicts between our people and the other divide".
———————————————————————————————————————————————
For the kids!
If you've ever worried about hitting a kid while driving, the Federal Government hears you, and they have a solution: child-size customised reflective jackets.
Abuja Minister for State Education, Chukuemeka Nwajiuba, says the jackets (+armbands) will be distributed to children aged 4-14 in select schools nationally.
Also for safety reasons, the House of Reps is considering scrapping NYSC
The Bill sponsor, Awaji-Inombek Abiante, said they’re doing it to curtail insurgency and increased kidnap cases
Reason 2: employers take advantage of corps members to exploit the job market: hiring them instead of qualified job seekers, underpaying, then discarding them at the end of the service year.
The Bill passed its first HOR reading, second reading coming.
Update: After 40 days in captivity, the remaining 14 Greenfield University have been released
Parents were aggravated when police officers wanted to hold the survivors for questioning. They argued that they needed to take their kids to the hospital.
They also said, having to pay N150 million in ransom with no support from the government, law enforcement has no right to their children
22 students were kidnapped from the school premises in April. Reports say the kidnappers killed 5
———————————————————————————————————————————————
Trigger warning: Inflation, FG
The Minister of Finance appeared before the HOR loot investigation committee to answer claims that the FG has used some of the loot recovered from all the people who stole.
She said they took it for "operations", but the unusual circumstances in the country made it difficult to pay back, so they're "hoping'' to give it back by 2022.
But said she has no idea how much they took.
NLC warned this week that if the NEC increases fuel price, even by 1%, they'll go on strike.
Last week, the 6-man committee led by El-Rufai proposed a government policy that would increase fuel price.
NLC president, Ayuba Wabba, said with the current unemployment situation, any increase in oil price would be irresponsible
On unemployment: CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele urged "bandits" to drop their arms and turn a new leaf with the CBN's Anchor Borrowers’ Programme.
CBN created ABP in 2015 to provide smallholder farmers with financial aid and buyers. The CBN reports that in 2020, they financed 221,450 in 32 States.
Despite these numbers, the agriculture sector grew by 2.28% in Q1 2021.
Emefiele believes that more growth ("double digits”) will require N35 trillion in infrastructure investments.
El-Rufai
People's Gazette reports that El-Rufai seized from senior civil servants' homes and assets when he was first elected in 2015. No comments from El Rufai's reps.
Gazette claims that Kaduna residents said El-Rufai promised to publicly release a list of people and companies that would benefit from this re-shuffle but didn’t.
Gazette says they have documents confirming he reallocated all of it to his family and friends.
One of the alleged beneficiaries, Ms Kadaria Ahmed, published a response on Premium Times. In it, Ms Ahmed said she applied when the Kaduna government advertised land for sale but couldn't afford to pay soon enough. She says she wasn’t given anything.
———————————————————————————————————————————————
More on Money
CEO of The Nigerian Exchange, Temi Popoola, is advocating for Islamic investments for economic growth.
Popoola and the Director of Taj Bank said the finance penetration is slow but growing and gaining interest internationally.
They noted that Nigeria's economy is red and proposed catering to the underbanked Muslim communities as a growth opportunity.
But EFCC says Nigerians don't need bank accounts since nearly "40% of Americans don't have accounts", and they're FINE.
After almost a year of amending regulations to ban it, the CBN Governor said they see the value in cryptocurrency and will be working to integrate it.
++
The World Bank has approved a $700 million loan for Sustainable Urban and Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Programme (SURWASH) in Nigeria to facilitate water and hygiene needs to 2,000 schools and health care facilities assist 500 communities in achieving open defecation-free status.
———————————————————————————————————————————————
Fraud and Brisk Capital
EFCC arrested the 21-year-old founder of Brisk Capital, Dominic Joshua, for allegedly diverting investors’ funds worth over N2 billion
Brisk Capital's website describes it as a “visionary group of companies” where investors could gain over 50% interest in < 6 months.
BC is one of many in a cluster of companies that seem to put a lot of money into brand image-- hiring celebrity (they had Rema) and even business publication endorsements.
(Another one to look out for is Millionaires Club Investment)
DNB reports that Joshua and BC were lauded by Business Day in October 2020 (the post has since been removed)
———————————————————————————————————————————————
Other news
Buhari has hired a new Chief Of Army Staff, Major-General Yahaya (Channels TV)
A group of women activists has called for additional special seats for women and vulnerable groups in the federal and state legislative houses to ensure equitable participation and inclusion (Daily Trust).
Abidemi Rufai, Special Assistant to Ogun State Governor arrested for fraud in the USA, has been indicted. Still no reaction from the governor (Channels TV)
NBC suspended 'ordinary president' Ahmed Isah’s Human Rights Radio for “recurring unprofessional conduct”— he slapped a woman (who set a child on fire) on camera (The Cable).
Some lawyers have asked the Senate to consider implementing Sharia law in the South-West to "protect Yoruba Muslims" (Pulse)
recommended:
Dominic Joshua’s Brisk Capital ‘hedge fund’ paid out 30% monthly returns. Then the scam unravelled
A paediatrician on why you should vaccinate your children (The Atlantic)
Jemele Hill writes about Athlete’s activism and how the 2020’s Black Lives Matter protests reframed the role of sports in American public life. (The Atlantic)