If you're tired, drop everything and rest.
There was no light, that's why this newsletter is late.
This newsletter was written on a return trip to Zaria from Kaduna.
This newsletter spent four days at KABAFEST.
This newsletter will take less than 5 minutes to consume. Welcome home, how was the office today?
There is a serial killer in Port Harcourt, please stay safe. The crime is not sex work, it's the person killing women in Rivers State.
Air Peace to the rescue!
ATTN!: Not to be confused with the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Since the federal government has taken little action towards the wails of Nigerians in South Africa, Air Peace has offered an evacuation plan to fly Nigerians out of South Africa.
The airline has already flown its first batch of 187 Nigerians back, of about 640 others expected to be returned to Nigeria in a matter of days. But, the government of South Africa frustrated the efforts of Air Peace and delayed the process of getting the Nigerians back.
But, there are whispers that this Federal Government wants to give returnees ten thousand Naira in Trader Moni loans. What do we say to the god of mediocrity? Come right this way. Na Naija we dey.
Riot!
Something about the local man that thought xenophobia was a name of one Igbo man killed in South Africa was wicked humour. But contrary to popular belief, Nigerians are not the only victims of xenophobic attacks.
This misinformation ignited some Nigerians and lead to riots around the country. Many South Africa-owned businesses around suffered the repercussions -- they've been torched, looted and forced to close shop.
NIGERIA has the most people missing in the world
The International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC, has registered Nigeria as the country with the most number of people missing in the world and nearly 22,000 are related to a decade of Boko Haram crisis.
These are not just sums of numbers, subtraction and division. There is an actual number of fellow citizens that are missing from their families and homes.
In his speech of acceptance at KABAFEST, Nigerian playwright, Professor Ahmed Yerima, said that Nigeria constantly continues to provide him with materials to write about! So much material.
Boko Haram vs Buhari
Contrary to the President's claim that Boko Haram has been degraded, The New York Times reports that the insurgents continue to roam parts of the north-east with more sophisticated gears than the Nigerian army. But, isn't it stale news when Nigerian soldiers run for their lives, because the enemy is a step ahead?
Also, if you call Boko Haram by Boko Haram, the Nigerian Army will arrest you and have you charged with aiding terrorism.
Increase in VAT could unleash hell on Nigerians
If the proposed increment in value-added tax gets passed the federal lawmakers, its detriment plainly translates to a higher cost of living. Remember this is Nigeria, the economy is not so friendly and it doesn't seem to promise change anytime soon, especially by 2020, when it's supposed to be implemented.
Nigerians asked for an increase in the minimum wage, guess it is coming with a 2.5% jump in the current 5% VAT. The math is that if 5% tax rate is N50 of your N1000, 7.5% is N75 cut off the same note. And in a supply chain, it would affect the cost on each stage, that is, from the producer, manufacturer, down to the final consumer. That is to say, everything would start to get expensive than it should.
Needless to say, but we bet a thousand naira the implementation will come twice faster -- who can say otherwise? The lesson here is, be careful what you wish for.
Nigeria Police Force Esusu
In other news, if you own a tax corporate business you are expected to complement Nigeria Police Force Trust Fund levy of 0.005% for a period of six years.
The bill was signed in April, however, it was just recently made public. The trust fund is to be used for enhancing facilities, funding of training for personnel, skills acquisition, and welfare of the Nigeria Police Force.
While this bill address NPF funding problems, there are possible hard knocks to be suffered by businesses in Nigeria - add the effect of the proposed increment in VAT in mind and the ease of sustaining businesses over time flies out of the window.
Recommended reads
The Cable explains why many individuals and organisations tend to migrate toward private health insurance schemes, despite Nigeria's national health insurance efforts.
Boko Haram is back! Flying better drones, the New York Times reports.
Economic policies in Nigeria keep making the poor suffer a lot more. Food prices keep rising as Nigeria's borders remain closed.
Oluwatosin wrote about Chale Wote for VICE UK. It's a good read. Tweet at him if you want to see the longer uncut version.
Zweli Ndaba is the chair of the Sisonke People’s Forum. He penned the flyer that spurred hostel dwellers and truck drivers to take part in the shutdown that led to xenophobic attacks in Gauteng.
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