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Showing posts from December, 2016

2016: The high and low points for Nigeria

It is three days to the end of 2016. In another 72 hours, we will be shouting Happy New Year 2017 with a lot of handshaking, backslapping, phone calls, text messaging and other expressions of joy for seeing the end of this year and the beginning of a new one. It is thus in order at this point in time to weigh in and consider how Nigeria and Nigerians have fared in the last 12 months. I must say that this is a subjective analysis due to the fact that it is my personal view of the situation on the ground. My analysis shall span different sectors such as the economy, politics, education, security, and sports. ADVERTISING inRead invented by Teads In the outgoing year, the biggest news about the economy was the official announcement that the country had slipped into recession. The budget for the year was passed late having been embroiled in controversies over “padding” by both the executive and legislative arms. By the time the appropriation bill was signed into law in May, th

How realistic is Buhari’s 2017 budget estimates?

On December 14, 2016, President Muhammadu Buhari presented financial estimates of N7.3tn to the National Assembly.  The financial plan was labelled as the Budget of Recovery and Growth. It is based on a benchmark crude oil price of US$42.5 per barrel; an oil production estimate of 2.2 million barrels per day; and an average exchange rate of N305 to the US dollar. The N7.298tn budget is a nominal 20.4 per cent increase over the 2016 estimates. However, 30.7 per cent of this expenditure will be capital. The fiscal plan will result in a deficit of N2.36tn for 2017 which is about 2.18 per cent of the GDP. The deficit, according to government,  will be financed mainly by borrowing, which is projected to be about N2.32tn. About 46 per cent of this borrowing, which translates to N1.067tn  will be from external sources while, N1.254tn will be borrowed from the domestic market. ADVERTISING inRead invented by Teads Last Thursday, a day after the budget proposal was presented to the

The shabby treatment of Nigeria’s Super Falcons

“Don’t forget that nobody even knew that the team would emerge victorious; if we were confident they would emerge victorious, all the federation would have done is to plan for process of participation and entitlement…” ADVERTISING inRead invented by Teads – Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung After two weeks of trading tackles (November 19 – December 3, 2016) Nigeria’s Super Falcons in Yaounde, Cameroon won the 2016 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations for the eighth time after beating host Cameroon 1-0 before a capacity 40,000 crowd. An 84th minute goal from Desire Oparanozie was all Nigeria needed to retain the trophy they won in Namibia two years ago, when they beat the same Indomitable Lionesses 2-0. To get to the final, the Super Falcons beat Mali 6–0, played 1–1 with Ghana and trounced Kenya 4–0 to get to the semi-final. In the semi, the Super Falcons defeated South Africa 1- 0, the same margin with which they beat Cameroon in the final. Super Falcons have dominated

Perspectives on Ghana and Gambia 2016 elections

Today, December 7, 2016, about 15.7 million Ghanaians are filing out to vote a new president and 275 members of parliament. Ghana, since the coming into force of her 1992 Constitution, has established herself as a bastion of democracy in Africa. The Electoral Commission of Ghana under the leadership of Dr.   Kwadwo Afari-Gyang was able to conduct successive peaceful and credible elections that have become reference points in the continent and the world at large. Unlike in Nigeria where chairman and members of the Independent National Electoral Commission holds office for a maximum of two terms of five years each, chairman of Ghana electoral commission has the same terms and conditions of service as a Justice of the Court of Appeal while the two Deputy Chairmen of the Commission have the same terms and conditions of service as are applicable to a Justice of the High Court according to Article 44 (2) and (3) of 1992 Constitution of Ghana. This security of tenure helps to strengthen t