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Opinion

Mission Sunday and Digital Missionaries: The Day After

Bishop Emmanuel Adetoyese Badejo
Bishop Emmanuel Adetoyese Badejo

 

The period right after Mission Sunday is time to appreciate the good effort of Catholic parishes and communities in responding so positively and contributing to the universal celebration. Thanks to priests, consecrated persons, catechists and others pastoral agents who catechized and mobilized the faithful about their indispensable role as missionaries by virtue of their baptism. I applaud the generosity of the faithful who keep giving their resources to support the missions despite tough times and competing demands all around. I acknowledge the creativity of the youths who did drama songs, skits and decorations and even took to the streets, from house-to-house, inviting people to listen to Jesus’ message of peace and love. I do not doubt that the fervent prayers of the faithful on Mission Sunday that more people come to know Jesus Christ and the Good News will receive God’s favour. May all these efforts bear abundant fruits.

What may not have been too obvious in the Church on Mission Sunday is the all-important effort of the digital missionaries among us who vigorously promote the spirit and the message of the gospel in the digital space. Many of us engaged in physical activities to promote the mission but surely, many more of our faithful would have done even more on the social media and other digital platforms. Such efforts which must be considered indispensable for the future of mission, deserve commendation and encouragement. To this end, I now call on our youths and other digital inhabitants to do more, be more deliberate and more committed in promoting the Gospel and Christian values online.

For that same purpose, in the Vatican, on the afternoon of Sunday October 20 2024, thousands of digital missionaries who had been proclaiming the Gospel online met virtually and in person with Vatican officials who encouraged them in their service to the Church. At the meeting Msgr. Ruiz, Secretary of the Dicastery for Communication announced the upcoming Jubilee for Missionaries and Catholic Digital Influencers, which will be held on July 28-29, 2025, just ahead of the Jubilee for Youth. The digital missionaries and influencers were also encouraged to “Go and invite everyone to the banquet,” according to the theme of Mission Sunday. They were urged to abandon their own comfort zones, to bear witness to Christian joy. They were invited to ensure that they never seek to create cliques but rather to engage with “the dust of the road and the mud of history.” The Prefect of the Dicastery for Communications, Dr Paolo Ruffini also urged them to take responsibility for the wounds afflicting our modern society and to do their part in healing them.

Such beautiful dreams and words cannot fail to influence and drive the activity of our African, digital-savvy faithful as well in these demanding times. In fact, everyone who owns a cell phone can become a digital missionary, offering the beauty of Christianity to the whole nation continent and the world. Time is now overdue for every Christian to deliberately overwhelm the vices and evil in this world with messages of God’s goodness and Christian values. The clear positive message of the ongoing synodality period is that we must overwhelm war with peace and always seek communion over division and discrimination. This, in fact is the agenda which our digital missionaries must pursue. With the almost limitless reach of the digital tools available to our youth for example, they can become the salt and leaven of our world to counter the satanic, fake and misleading messages that rupture the peace, solidarity and communion all around us and rather spread good news in this world that is so starved of it.

Thus, now that specific Mission Sunday activities are done with, let the digital missionaries take over in our parishes, communities, families and circle of friends. Everybody using a cell phone must know that in the cell phones they carry, they have all the tools they need to be effective, apart from their witness of life. This is especially important for us Africans in our continent where there are an estimated 650 million mobile phone users. Smart phone are also growing in number, although with much less penetration. Most of these phones are in the hands of teenagers and young adults who are already driving change in many ways, especially in the political, economic, educational and entertainment realms. You can imagine what power exists here for evangelization and transmission if Christians among them take the responsibility for changing the world and their country for the better.

For so long now we have heard that information is power. That saying is still true and much more. Those who already use mobile phones for communicating, listening to the radio, watching movies, transferring money, shopping, mobilising for action, mingling on social media and more, should now also use it for spiritual, positive values, counselling, evangelization and catechising others. If the internet and social media are today polluted with fake news, bad news, violence, pornography negativity and other vices, it is only because somebody put those vices there.

Changing that requires only the willingness and action of others who believe in a better, positive world to feed the internet and social media with the good news of truth, reconciliation, compassion, justice solidarity, selfless service, generosity, respect for human life and dignity and other virtues. Thus, in showing the vales and beauty of faith we show that the world is still beautiful. Everyone who then engages the internet and social media in that capacity, will thus become a “missionary of Jesus Christ” who said: “Go out to the whole world; proclaim the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16;15). Methinks the greatest obstacle to making that happen now is the awareness and acceptance of that mandate by digital missionaries who wield so much power to transform the world and humanity with the message of the Gospel spread online.

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Business Latest News Opinion

African Energy: Making it work for everybody By Luca Vignati

African Energy: Making it work for everybody By Luca Vignati
African Energy: Making it work for everybody By Luca Vignati

Africa is a continent with a growing economy demanding sustainable development for its millions of inhabitants. This is particularly true as it is such a “young continent” in terms of population age. At the same time, the continent is blessed with multiple energy opportunities to fuel this transition phase – from oil to gas to renewables, such as solar and wind, to agri-feedstock for biofuel. 
Africa is now in an exciting position to address all the elements of the energy trilemma (security, affordability, and sustainability) in the framework of a just transition.
For us at Eni, being an integrated energy company that has been committed to Africa since the late 1950s, we continue to see the continent as a fascinating energy-investment frontier because of the variety of energy vectors from traditional to renewables and so we continue to invest here. 
The year 2023 was very fruitful for us delivering two key projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, namely Baleine in Cote d’Ivoire and Congo LNG in the Republic of Congo, while also reaching the final investment decision (FID) on the Structures A&E project in Libya, the first major project in the country for decades. All these were possible as we continue to solidify our fast-track development project model, capitalising on our technical expertise, such as our “development while appraisal” strategy.
The continent is fertile ground for business expansion, from established producers in North Africa to emerging territories such as Mozambique and Cote d’Ivoire where we again confirmed our exploration success with Calao in early 2024. By adopting a neutral stance on energy vectors and technologies, we aim to foster socioeconomic development that prioritises both affordability and sustainability, leaving no one behind.

Collaborative process

African energy development requires collaboration, with exciting opportunities for stakeholders – businesses, governments, and communities – to work together for the best possible outcomes.
Effective dialogue and shared values remain pivotal for successful collaboration. This entails ensuring access to energy at the domestic level as well as to international markets, all while maintaining its affordability and minimising carbon emissions. For such reason, we retain that gas is emerging as the optimal vector to address these three crucial elements.
In pursuing the development of the energy industry, and its challenge in this energy transition scenario, we believe in an approach of inclusivity and mutual benefit that grows local economies –by integrating local content into development projects as well as collaborating on sustainability initiatives.
As  discoveries continue to be made in new African frontiers, from Cote d’ Ivoire to the Orange basin, it’s important to bear in mind that new frontiers and mature countries both require an approach rooted in sustainability and local content, intertwined within the trajectory of growth.
From the very inception of projects, it is vital to maximise benefits and deliver tangible results for host countries.  In line with our values of dual flag model, Eni looks to integrate local-content strategies throughout the project life cycle, from exploration to production, which includes not only developing local business capabilities and workforces, but also running training initiatives in-house, or with non-profit organisations and international agencies.
Recently in Mozambique and Cote d’Ivoire, we have seen the benefits of maximising the involvement of nationals in providing goods and services, promoting the transfer of skills and technologies, bolstering employment opportunities and fostering a dynamic business environment in both countries. We continue to be committed that our future projects such as Coral North and further Baleine phases will continue expanding local content and further strengthen these economies.
We continue uncovering business opportunities, leveraging phased and fast-tracked projects. For example, Baleine will further increase its production with its Phase 2 start up by Q4 2024 targeting a total field production of up to 60kbopd and 70MMscf/d of gas – confirming immense potential!
This success owes much to open engagement with local authorities and contractors that stems from a shared vision from the projects’ beginning, underpinned by common goals and a win-win approach of mutual trust.
The same principles opened the way for the Calao discovery in Block CI-205 in Cote d’Ivoire – a commercial success in a petroleum play where others had previously been unable to succeed.
Eni has been present on the continent for decades, creating a strong bond based on equal partnership and dialogue, embracing the cultural diversity and uniqueness of each country.
This similar approach is promoted in our first business combination in the continent, Azule Energy – a bp and Eni company – operating in Angola who could well become a regional player in the Orange basin. As the frontier develops, Azule could leverage on approaches that have been so successful in other geographies to continue to create real local value in Angola and regionally. 

New partnership approaches

In recent years, our business model has undergone a transformative evolution, from technical and managerial competencies to deliver projects and operational results, to a deeper understanding of our industry. We have embraced the complexities, all while remaining committed to our hallmark: delivering the best time-to-market results (two-three years from exploration success).
Recognising the need for further innovation, we’ve unlocked new capabilities, fostering shared values between headquarters and our geographic units. Integrated, entrepreneurial local teams are better able to articulate and boost local approaches while relying on central technical competences. This allows us to efficiently develop solutions to fast-track projects, improve plant operations, and apply lessons learned.
This efficient shared use of resources is what attracts partners in the African energy sector, ultimately ensuring operational and business effectiveness, quick time to market, real value creation and true progress towards Net Zero.

Luca Vignati is Director Upstream at Eni

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Editorial Latest News

Not a Laughing Matter: Hardship in Nigeria advancing to tipping point

Not a Laughing Matter: Hardship in Nigeria advancing to tipping point
Not a Laughing Matter: Hardship in Nigeria advancing to tipping point

 

Not a Laughing Matter: Hardship in Nigeria advancing to tipping point

Anyone holding position of authority in Nigeria currently should not be seen in public places laughing. What are they laughing at? The citizens are suffering and this should reflect in the mood of all policy makers. As Nigerians await the decision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on the minimum wage contention, there are indications already that what the government will come up with will not be something cheering.

By sheer removal of fuel subsidy and devaluation of Nigeria’s currency, the cost of living in Nigeria has quadrupled. It is important to note that this sharp rise in the cost of living happened unexpectedly and drastically. In his inaugural address, Tinubu said fuel subsidy was gone. Immediately, the cost of the premium motor spirit went from a little above 200 naira to about 700 naira. Immediately after, the government also tampered with the exchange rate which has taken the exchange rate to a dollar from 600 naira to 1500 naira currently. While these things are happening, the government has not implemented any economic policy to cushion the effect of the policies. For instance, salary earners are still on their old salary structures; farmers are still finding it difficult to go to their farms because of insecurity and things are still in their lowest ebbs.

How are Nigerians, especially the poor ones who depend on their daily earnings for survival actually survive? This is the background of the minimum wage controversy.

These economic policies have taken the average Nigerian to a very bad position. Indications that the government could raise minimum wage beyond 100,000 naira is not there. The orgnaised labour unions have taken their demand down to 250,000 while the government is still at 62,000. Before arriving at its current stage, negotiations between the government tripartite committee and the Organised Labour had consistently hit a brick wall with both parties offering conflicting quotations.

Recall that the unions had earlier given the May 31, 2024 deadline for the conclusion of new minimum wage negotiations after demanding N615,000.

However, the government only raised its minimum wage offer from N57,000 to N60,000, just as the labour unions reduced their demand to N494,000 from N497,000 they later proposed.

Despite several calls and threats from Organised Labour to shut down the economy if its minimum wage demand was not met, the government insisted on not increasing its minimum wage offer beyond N62,000.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, in a statement by his media aide, Rabiu Ibrahim last Saturday, said the proposed N494,000 minimum wage being demanded would result in an annual expenditure of N9.5tn, a burden he described as untenable for the nation’s finances.

Corroborating this, the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the President, Bayo Onanuga, also said the Organised Labour should be reasonable in its demand, except if it was using the declared strike to display its frustration over the loss of the Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election.

“Labour leaders need to be reasonable and not paralyse our economy unless they are using the strike as a continuous ventilation of the frustration they had when their party lost the 2023 presidential election.

“Can you pay your driver or cleaner N500,000 a month? Let’s not befuddle the issue: the government is not saying it is not reviewing minimum wage, it is saying it will pay something affordable and sustainable. N500,000 or N615,000 is out of it,” Onanuga wrote on his verified X handle.

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, also threatened legal action if the Organised Labour should go ahead with its industrial action move, describing it as “premature, ineffectual, and illegal”.

In a letter dated June 1 and addressed to the leadership of the TUC and NLC, Fagbemi noted that it was wrong for the Organised Labour to have declared a strike because the negotiations between them and the Federal Government on the new national minimum wage had not reached a conclusive end.

He said that Organised Labour should have considered the interests and capacities of all employers, including the organised private sector, in setting a minimum wage that benefits the entire working population.

Drawing attention to legal provisions, Fagbemi cited Sections 41(1) and 42(1) of the Trade Disputes Act 2004 (as amended), which mandate both NLC and TUC to issue mandatory strike notices of at least 15 days.

He argued that the failure of the labour unions to comply with these provisions renders their strike action illegitimate and unlawful.

Furthermore, Fagbemi questioned the legality of the proposed strike action, pointing out that the labour unions had not initiated trade disputes with their employers or issued any strike notices as required by law.

He emphasized the gravity of non-compliance with the mandatory 15-day notice, highlighting the criminalization of such actions under Sections 41 and 42(1) of the Trade Disputes Act.

“I wish to further draw your attention to the fact that the conditions outlined by our national legislation for exercising the right to strike are in tandem with the International Labour Organization principles concerning the right to strike.

“It is the position of the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association that the obligation to give prior notice, the obligation to have recourse to conciliation, mediation, and (voluntary) arbitration procedures in industrial disputes, etc are prior prerequisites for declaring a strike,” the AGF said.

However, despite the legal threat and intervention from the National Assembly, the Organised Labour commenced an indefinite strike on Monday, June 3, 2024, to press home its demand.

The move expectedly plunged the country into total blackout following the alleged shutting down of the National grid by members of the National Union of Electricity Employees in compliance with the strike.

Also, there was an utter breakdown of economic activities across the country as banks, airports, public schools, and courts were shut.

This triggered nationwide outrage and forced the Federal Government to convene an emergency meeting to find a way out of the impasse.

In a bid to move the negotiation forward, the Organised Labour on Tuesday temporarily suspended the industrial action for five days after President Bola Tinubu agreed to pay a national minimum wage higher than N60,000 and the tripartite committee pledged its readiness to convene daily until a new minimum wage is announced.

However, irrespective of the agreement reached at the national meetings, the issue of minimum wage has been the subject of heated public debates in recent times with many public analysts and social commentators supporting either the government or the striking unions on the contentious arguments.

While those on the side of the government argued that the demands from the Organised Labour were utterly outrageous and would further worsen the inflationary pressure afflicting the country, those with the counterargument said the labour unions wouldn’t have even resolved for industrial action if the government had been very sensitive to their plights and those of over 200 million Nigerians they represent.

In an article he shared on his verified X handle on Tuesday, a retired judge in the United Kingdom and good governance advocate, Dr Charles Omole, stated, “The demand by Labour for over N400,000 minimum wage is outrageous and unhelpful. Asking for over 1000% increase in minimum wage is bad economics in many ways. How do you take seriously Labour leaders who seem to be living in their imaginary world? Their basis for their demand is not good economics. Listing the average cost of transportation; food etc and coming to a figure is not the way to calculate minimum wage.

“Firstly; prices go up and down all the time. So will the wages awarded be reduced if there is a sudden crash in prices of goods and services?  Secondly; Minimum wage is not supposed to meet all your needs. It isn’t anywhere in the world. If you can meet most of your needs with minimum wage; what is the incentive to get an education and earn much more than minimum wage?

“A minimum wage of over N400,000 will also mean a similar increment for all wage levels above the minimum as well. So a director who earns 300k at the moment will now need to be paid over N1m per month.  As the minimum goes up; all levels get increased as well.

“Also, many in public service earn more than the basic salary. There are all manner of allowances and awards that are also paid. An increase in the minimum wage is not just an increase for the lowest-paid staff. All staff (including the Permanent Secretary) will also get an increase. This outrageous demand by Labour will bankrupt any economy and the government must resist their blackmail,” Omole posted.

He argued that “In saner climates; you don’t see labour going on strike over minimum wage. The government simply announces the percentage increases in the minimum wage without any organised protest. The misuse of strike actions by the NLC and TUC has become damaging to the collective bargaining in this country.

“The government should stand firm with the 100 per cent increase in minimum wage it has offered. Anything more will just be playing to the gallery. Some states have not been able to pay the current N30,000 up until now. How do you expect them to pay N60,000 much less over N400,000.”

However, in a contrary argument, Nigerian lawyer and former Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms, Dr Joe Abah, said, “A minimum wage of N60,000 per month is just N2,700 per day, using a 22-day work month. You cannot say that people should not factor in the cost of transportation, food, electricity, and petrol in calculating minimum wage. That’s bizarre.”

He argued that “It is also not true that most public servants have all manners of allowances. Finally, anyone trained in negotiation skills knows that you don’t give your best offer first. That is why if something sells for an average of N100 and you tell me it’s N500, I will price you N10. When you reduce to N400, I will increase to N20 until we both decide to stop wasting each other’s time.”

He said, “I am ideologically opposed to strikes as a means of resolving labour disputes, but we have always had people negotiating for the government based on the offices they hold not because they have had any negotiation training.

“Until there was a tiny increase a few months ago, a fresh graduate in the civil service took home about N48k (all in, including allowances). A Director who has put in 27 years of meritorious service, with a PhD on top, took home less than N300k (all in, including allowances). The pay and allowances of a few agencies like CBN, NIMASA, NCC, and others can give the impression that people are reasonably compensated in the rest of the public service. That is not the case at all.

“The majority are performing miracles just to get to work every day. Any economic shock like sickness or a Caesarean delivery immediately plunges them into abject poverty. That is the context. As a private citizen, I pay my domestic staff more than the government pays many of its staff,” Abah added.

Aside from the pro and con arguments, some analysts have also shared the minimum wages payable in some advanced countries and the procedures as well as legal principles that underpin the payment of these minimum wages.

It was gathered that both the National Minimum Wage and the National Living Wage exist in the United Kingdom. A health and safety specialist based in the UK, Babatunde Soile, told Sunday PUNCH that the current minimum wage payable in the British country was £13.

However, a publication obtained from the UK government website showed that every year on the 1st of April, the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage of the country change with stipulated wage payment rate for all age grades within the country. For instance, since April 1, 2024, the new NMW in the country, stood at £11.44 per hour for workers of age 21 and above, £8. 60 for those between 18 and 20 years of age, £640 for workers between ages 16 and 17, and £6.40 for apprentices.

Providing more insights, Soile said only the UK government and a few private establishments often pay the fixed annual Minimum Wage as some private employers, who can’t afford it, do lay off their workers, who mostly would have no choice than to rely on the government monthly social intervention payment to survive pending the time they would be able to secure another job.

“There is a fixed Minimum wage in the United Kingdom, which I have told you. But most times, it is mostly those working under government agencies that can pay, even though it is established by law. Some private establishments sometimes may not be able to afford it and they end up downsizing. Their laid-off workers would have no choice in the interim than to rely on the government’s monthly social intervention payment, which may not even be enough for an individual to take care of himself and his family. So, getting another job as quickly as possible remains the best, but it is not always as easy as it may sound,” the UK health specialist told Sunday PUNCH.

However, in the United States, though the Federal minimum wage has remained at $7.25 per hour, many states in the country have minimum wage laws. In cases where an employee is subject to both the state and federal minimum wage laws, the employee is entitled to the higher of the two minimum wages.

Offering more insights on this, a US-based media personality identified as General Oluchi on X said, “No one earns minimum wage in America, not the toilet cleaners, garbage disposal guys, fast-food workers, or even those who greet you in front of Walmart! No company pays $7/hour today. No Nigerian in the Diaspora earns $7/hour! A minimum wage is only a baseline of what a company can’t pay less than. Not what a company must pay you.

“The minimum wage is just a law that says you can’t pay anyone less than that amount no matter how bad things get. To be competitive, employers consider other factors before paying someone. The lowest hourly salary I have ever seen today is $15 – $17/hour and that’s for a low-skilled worker.

“The more skilled you are the more money you earn. My first salary 17 years ago was $12/hour (while the minimum wage was $6+), and I was fresh from Nigeria, fresh out of secondary school. I doubt that company pays that low to anyone today — even unskilled workers,” Oluchi posted recently.

Sharing similar perspectives, an environmental consultant based in the United States, Patrick Omenye, said, “The $7 per hour is for Federal government limit. Virginia minimum wage is $11 per hour and most people who earn the lowest earn $15 per hour. Even McDonald’s pays $15 at least.”

Similarly, a user identified on X as Gabriel N, who is a software engineer based in Brookfield, a city in Wisconsin, United States, posted, “It’s not even realistic for anyone to make any permutations based on the federal minimum wage of $7 per hour because almost every state has their operating minimum wage. For example, the minimum wage in Wisconsin is $7.25 per hour, while that of neighbouring Illinois is $15 per hour. And while New York minimum wage is $16 per hour, the District of Columbia has $17 per hour minimum wage.”

However, another user identified as Agba Man on X said, “That minimum wage has not been changed since 2009. The pernicious argument about raising the minimum wage to $15 has kept it there. Yet people are being paid more than that and the United States economy has not collapsed.”

OLADIPUPO@Best_2123 also said, “In summary, every job title in the United States has a customary pay level which means you can’t be paid below the level of your job title. The rate can even be dragged up if you have experience to back it up. I don’t think anyone is getting below $10/hour unless you’re a gig worker.”

Comparing this with the Nigerian situation, some observers have said it was expedient that each state of the federation be allowed to determine the minimum wage benchmark it can successfully pay its workers, even if there would be a Federal minimum wage for the country as being practiced in the advanced countries. However, it is still yet to be seen whether this will ever materialise in Nigeria as the minimum wage controversy lingers on.

However, there is no doubt that the current debate has stretched beyond the expectations of Nigerian workers, especially those in the public sector. While the payment of the new minimum wage ought to have begun in May, stakeholders are still engrossed in the haggling about what the new wage should be at the minimum level.

This story is written with excerpts from report by Punch newspaper.

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Opinion

Nigeria’s low tax intake: Blame weak economy, breach of social contract, by Olu Fasan

Olu Fasan
Olu Fasan

 

RECENTLY, the International Monetary Fund, IMF, lamented Nigeria’ low tax revenues. Two weeks ago, when launching the IMF’s Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa, the Fund’s Director for Africa, Abebe Selassie, said: “For a country like Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, with all those development spending needs, we think it is problematic that the tax revenue to GDP is only 8-9 per cent when it should be a lot higher.”

A few years ago, in its 2019 Article IV Consultation with Nigeria, the IMF made the same point. It said Nigeria suffered from “low tax mobilisation”, adding: “The revenue base is simply too low to address the current challenges”. Compared with the sub-Saharan African average of 18.6 per cent, Nigeria’s 8-9 per cent is minuscule and truly shocking. Like the IMF, successive Nigerian governments have fretted about it.

In August 2019, President Buhari’s then chief of staff, Abba Kyari, sent a query letter to Dr Tunde Fowler, then chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, asking him to explain why there were “significant variances between the budgeted tax collection and the actual collection for the period 2015 to 2018” and why “the actual collections for the period 2015 to 2017 were significantly worse than what was collected between 2012 and 2014”. Subsequently, in December of that year, the Buhari government refused to reappoint Fowler as head of FIRS. Fowler’s query and denial of another term of office reflected the anxiety within government about the perennial low tax generation amid deep fiscal challenges.

When Bola Tinubu became president, he made boosting Nigeria’s tax revenue a priority, and said his administration would increase Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio to 18 per cent by 2026. In July 2023, Tinubu inaugurated the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, headed by Taiwo Oyedele, a tax expert at the accounting firm PwC. The committee submitted its report in October 2023, highlighting what it described as “quick wins” through the simplification and digitisation of the tax regime. Last week, Tinubu met Bill Gates, the Microsoft founder, at the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Saudi Arabia, and they discussed how digital technology could be used to ease tax collection in Nigeria. Gates told Tinubu he would work with his administration to create a digital identity platform to ensure payment efficiency and make tax collection easier.

But while tax administration is extremely weak in Nigeria, the absence of a digital payment system is not the reason most rich people don’t pay tax or pay the requisite amount of tax. For instance, the Federal Ministry of Finance once said that just 241 people paid more than N20 million in personal income tax in a year, while the then head of the Federal Inland Revenue Service was quoted as saying that “over 6,772 billionaires don’t pay tax”. Surely, it cannot be because of the lack of a digital payment system that the billionaires were not paying tax. No. The problem, simply put, is corruption. A lot of rich people avoid and evade tax and get away with it, aided and abetted by complicit tax officials, who are in the pocket of wealthy tax dodgers. Moreover, the government grants tax exemptions to many favoured companies and wealthy individuals, effectively giving subsidies to the rich.

Yet, the tax-dodging billionaires are not the only problem. Are there enough people able to pay tax in Nigeria? In most countries, the middle classes, the micro, small and medium enterprises, MSMEs, the employed and the self-employed, collectively, account for the largest proportion of tax payments – about 70 per cent in the UK. But the strength of the economy determines the strength of these categories of taxpayers and, thus, the robustness of the tax intakes. As Martin Woolf, the chief economics commentator of the Financial Times, rightly put it, “the main source of greater prosperity and higher fiscal revenue must be faster economic growth”. Truth is, tax revenue is a function of economic activities.

Unfortunately, the Nigerian economy is not producing enough taxpayers. The middle classes are disappearing, and those left are mostly managing to eke out a living. According to an estimate by the International Labour Organisation, ILO, 93 per cent of all employment in Nigeria is in the informal sector. And, of course, everyone knows that most of those in the informal sector don’t pay tax. First, because they earn very low income or depend on a daily income to survive. Second, because the state cannot even track them for tax purposes.

In his book, Reclaiming the Jewel of Africa, Dr Segun Aganga, a former Minister of Industry, Trade and Investments, said that MSMEs account for about 48 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP, but added: “Most MSMEs are nano, micro and small businesses that do not make sufficient profit to pay high tax or they are not in the tax net.” If those accounting for 48 per cent of a country’s GDP can’t pay tax, where will high tax revenues come from? Indeed, according to one analysis, 67 million of Nigeria’s labour force of 77 million are not registered taxpayers.

So, it’s not rocket science: any economy where businesses and individuals are not earning enough to pay high tax, or to pay tax at all, will have a small tax base and a low tax revenue. Thus, to boost its tax revenue intakes, Nigeria needs a robust economy, needs businesses of all sizes to flourish and create well-paying jobs and needs to incentivise those in the informal sector to join the formal, tax-paying sector.

But there’s another problem: systemic non-compliance with tax requirements. A Nigerian once told the Financial Times: “In Nigeria, the government pretends to tax people and people pretend to pay.” But why is there such poor tax-compliance in Nigeria? Well, because the Nigerian state has violated the social contract with the people and can’t induce loyalty.

The Magna Carta established the principle of “no taxation without representation”, which means that taxation is predicated upon representation. But representation is more than elections; elected governments must meet the basic needs of the people. Sadly, the Nigerian state does not. Ordinary Nigerians lack the basic things of life. The state can’t protect them or improve their living standards. That can’t engender voluntary tax-compliance.

In sum, if Nigeria wants to boost tax intakes, it must grow the economy and honour the social contract. Digitalisation, yes. But, in the end, only a robust economy and loyalty-inducing governance will boost fiscal revenue!

 

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Contributors Opinion

OPINION: Israel-Hamas war: When will Enough be Enough?

 Israel-Hamas war: When will Enough be Enough? By Kelechi Okoronkwo
Israel-Hamas war: When will Enough be Enough? By Kelechi Okoronkwo

 

It is now exactly five months after the paramilitary arm of the Hamas and allied groups led a coordinated attack on Israel’s conclave of the Gaza strip. The attack happened in the wee hours of October 7th, 2023, by 6:30 am Local Time, when most of the Israeli civilians were either asleep or at rest. And given the fact that there had been relative calm on the Gaza strip since about 50 years after Operation Badr and the greater Yom Kippur War of October 6th, 1973, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) protecting the civilians in Gaza were also at ease. Hamas took time to plan the attack. For instance, they converted tunnels initially built for smuggling purposes to militia use and readied it for the attack. There were snippets of military intelligence about Hamas readiness for attack. But Israel seemed not to have taken them seriously. Then the fateful day came. There was no immediate overt provocation. The IDF was not expecting any fracas. Then suddenly, the attack happened. Israel said the attack was the deadliest in its entire history, because, in other wars, the IDF readied itself. But on the October 7th, 2023 attack, the force was not ready.

Reports say the early morning attack started with a rocket barrage of at least 3,000 rockets launched against Israel. Armoured Vehicles transported the Hamas and military equipment into Israel’s side. The highly planned and sophisticated Hamas military fighters breached the Gaza–Israel barrier, attacked military bases and massacred civilians in Israel’s closest communities, including in Be’eri, Kfar Aza, and Nir Oz, and at the Nova music festival.

Reports also state that the October 7th attack resulted in 1,139 deaths—695 Israeli civilians (including 36 children), 71 foreign nationals, and 373 members of the security forces. Approximately 250 Israeli civilians and soldiers were taken as hostages to the Gaza Strip, including 30 children, with the stated goal to force Israel to release Palestinian prisoners.

Mohammad Deif, the head of Hamas’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades, said in a recorded message on 7 October that the attack was in response to what he called the “desecration” of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and Israel killing and wounding hundreds of Palestinians in 2023. He called on Palestinians and Arab Israelis to “expel the occupiers and demolish the walls”. Deif also called on “Muslims everywhere to launch an attack” against Israel and urged supporters to “kill them (the enemy) wherever you may find them”. He continued, “in light of the continuing crimes against our people, in light of the orgy of occupation and its denial of international laws and resolutions, and in light of American and western [sic] support, we’ve decided to put an end to all this, so that the enemy understands that he can no longer revel without being held to account.”

There have been numerous other accounts of rape and sexual assault on Israeli civilians by Hamas fighters. A United Nations team this March concluded its investigation of alleged rape and sexual abuse of civilians by Hamas during the attack.  The report insists that there are “reasonable grounds to believe” sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, was committed during the Hamas attacks in Israel on 7 October.

While Hamas have dismissed such allegations, the UN report insists there was “convincing information” that hostages had been subjected to sexual violence. The Pramila Patten—UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict—led investigation was detailed that sexual molestation happened in at least three locations – the Nova music festival site and its surroundings, Road 232, and Kibbutz Re’im, it added.

Israel has been responding violently to the October 7th attack and sexual abuse of Israeli hostages by launching a military campaign in Gaza. The IDF launched Operation Swords of Iron in Gaza and only declared a state of emergency for areas within 80 kilometers (50 mi) of the Gaza border. The IDF Chief of General Staff, Herzi Halev noted that Hamas “made a grave mistake” in launching its attack and pledged that “Israel will win”. The IDF declared a “state of readiness for war”. At the last count, 30,500 people have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. And Israel does not seem to be backing down

The situation in Gaza has generated a global debate with the world polarising along historical, political and religious blocks. While at least 44 countries have denounced the attack as terrorism, Arab and Muslim countries have blamed Israel for continued occupation of the Palestinian clove of Gaza. Muslim communities and their allies accuse Israel of mindless killings and starvation of ‘innocent’ Palestinians in the Gaza strip. 

There are concerns that the situation in Gaza may snowball into a bigger global crisis if not properly managed. There are calls from various world leaders asking Israel to sheath its sword, that enough is enough. Few days ago, more than 100 persons (Palestinians) were reportedly killed and about 750 of them wounded after Israeli forces fired at Palestinians trying to get flour for their families as famine stalks the Gaza Strip.

Israeli fighters had prevented all forms of aid from getting into Gaza, a decision which fuelled hunger and starvation in the strip. Then last month, Israeli and Hamas reached a truce which allowed aid to go in. Last week, people had congregated at al-Rashid Street, where aid trucks carrying flour were believed to be on the way. As people queued to get food aid, Israeli forces reportedly fired on the scene. Al Jazeera said its verified footage showed the bodies of dozens of killed and wounded Palestinians being carried onto trucks as no ambulances could reach the area.

“We went to get flour. The Israeli army shot at us. There are many martyrs on the ground and until this moment we are withdrawing them. There is no first aid,” said one witness to Al Jazeera.

“The numbers will rise. Hospitals are no longer able to accommodate the huge number of patients because they lack fuel, let alone medicine. Hospitals have also run out of blood.”, another witness said.

There were reports of how Israeli forces targeted a hospital in Gaza where wounded Palestinians were receiving treatment; and a number of women and children were killed. Six months down the line, Israel has not soft-pedalled on bombarding Gaza in retaliation.

Across the globe, there are concerns about Israel’s continued onslaught on Hamas in Gaza. No matter which way the United States presidential election goes this November, it is most likely that neither Joe Biden nor Donald Trump will openly strongly oppose Israel’s stance on Hamas. This will take the end of Israel’s retaliation even farther. A lot of people believe that enough is enough, while others still believe that Israel’s retaliation is in order. To Israel, however, enough is not enough until Hamas openly confesses that it made a grave mistake launching that attack on October 7th, 2023.

 

Kelechi Okoronkwo, a journalist, writer and public relations executive sent this piece from Abuja, Nigeria.

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Brighter Tomorrow through African Educational Partnerships, Student Exchange

Africa
Africa

 

A Brighter Tomorrow through African Educational Partnerships and Student Exchanges

By Yaya Moussa

Investing in education is not merely a choice but a necessity, and a path towards a brighter future. While the idea of educational partnerships and student exchanges is not new, there is a compelling argument for nurturing the transformative power of these programs.

The benefits of these programs are not limited to individual growth, extending to the economic and diplomatic realms. International experience further prepares students for the global workforce, a critical asset in today’s interconnected world.

Global partnerships

Exchange programs serve as effective tools in building international bridges, influencing diplomatic decisions, and advancing economic interests. A report by Universities UK International in 2017 found that participants in exchange programs experience a 20% higher likelihood of securing employment within six months of graduation, a golden ticket of boosted career prospects.

However, these skills do not stop at economics; they also help make friends across borders, fostering better international relationships. Academic Abdullah Atalar highlights their impact on global interactions, defending that, in the 21st-century era of globalisation, businesses seek employees with skills that enhance international market competitiveness and the ability to interact with people from diverse cultures and backgrounds.

China’s two-way engagement with African students exemplified this impact, with Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe ranking as the top five African countries sending students to China, and approximately half a million international students in China were from Africa alone.  This interaction and mobility will contribute positively to Sino-African diplomatic engagement for decades to come, and is a model others should follow.

African Students and Global Competitiveness

African students stand to gain significantly from exposure to diverse educational systems and approaches, providing them with a competitive edge in the global job market. Recent findings from the Institute for the Study of Labour indicate that African leaders who have some education abroad have a more positive impact on their country’s political, civic, and economic growth, attracting more sustained foreign investment to their home countries compared to those trained exclusively locally.

It is about much more than just getting a degree; it’s about building social capital, the web of social relationships that extends education into the professional world—a key factor in driving economic development and attracting FDI to Africa.

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Fast forward to the present, and education in Africa is once again drawing attention from other continents, albeit with a current emphasis on ‘partnerships’ rather than aid, with initiatives like Student Exchange Africa, where medical students engage in gaining clinical experience in public hospitals, enriching their academic journey and contributing towards the local communities by strengthening healthcare infrastructure.

Regional exchanges

The Africa Regional International Staff/Student Exchange: Food Security and Sustainable Human Wellbeing (ARISE II) Programme is a shining example, focusing on agriculture, food security, and health services and is committed to enhancing mobility and research throughout the four regions of Africa, promoting gender equality in education and contributing to sustainable community development.

While global student exchanges have brought significant benefits, the potential for equally advantageous opportunities lies in harnessing regional exchanges within Africa and promoting educational and sustainable development on the continent.

The Africa Regional International Staff/Student Exchange: Food Security and Sustainable Human Wellbeing (ARISE II) Programme is a shining example, focusing on agriculture, food security, and health services and is committed to enhancing mobility and research throughout the four regions of Africa, promoting gender equality in education, and contributing to sustainable community development.

The Intra-Africa Academic Mobility Scheme (2022 – 2027), part of the Youth Mobility for Africa initiative, hosted by the European Commission aims to enhance Africa’s development. Focusing on competencies in climate change and green sectors, the program addresses capacity-building, cooperation with businesses, knowledge transfer, and many more skills that contribute towards Africa’s long-term educational and sustainable development.

Overcoming Challenges and Ensuring Long-Term Impact

Despite the promise of intra-African exchange programs, challenges such as financial constraints, logistical issues, language barriers, and visa restrictions persist, especially in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The crisis led to the suspension of exchange programs, causing the elimination of positions and permanent closures of programs and has prompted discussions about ‘virtual’ study abroad experiences.

As institutions grapple with change, the role of international programs may be reevaluated, shifting perceptions from revenue generators to resource drains. The experience has raised essential questions about the nature and purpose of student exchange programs, the development of intercultural competency, and the meaning of ‘internationalisation’ at its core.

By addressing these challenges head-on, Africa can fortify intra-continental exchange programs, transforming them into not just a cornerstone of the continent’s cultural and political unity but also a driving force for lasting growth and development.

This article is written by Yaya Moussa, the founder of Africa Prime, an online video streaming service that provides African talent with a platform to showcase their work internationally, and the Africa Prime Initiative (API), a philanthropic project that provides grant funding to African artists. He has also held various positions in finance, including several roles at the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

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‘President Geingob Does Not Need Lectures from Hopwood’s IPPR’

President Hage G. Geingob
President Hage G. Geingob

 

The Presidency of the Republic of Namibia (https://OP.Gov.Na) would like to provide clarity with regards to slanted articles published in The Namibian newspaper on the 22 September 2023 and 17 October 2023, under the headlines “Geingob advised to reject award from Cameroonian oil lawyer” and “Geingob attends energy conference despite controversy”. These articles contain attempts at commentary, particularly from Mr. Graham Hopwood and other dial a quote analyst who shared gratuitous opinions about the process used to identify President Hage G. Geingob as the recipient of the African Energy Chamber (AEC) Lifetime Award under the guise of a bogus concern for the legacy and reputation of the President. The Presidency is of the conviction that there is nothing that should concern Mr. Hopwood about the legacy of President Geingob. Therefore, he can store his futile concerns in a box somewhere.

The Geingob legacy of exceptional service to the Namibian people as a freedom fighter and as a post-independence leader, working hard for the improvement of the living conditions and the prosperity of Namibians is solid. That in itself is a result of wisdom and leadership pedigree. Therefore, the concerns of Mr. Hopwood are mislaid and the President does not need lectures from Mr. Hopwood on which awards to accept.

The facts of the African Energy Week speak for themselves, where President Hage G Geingob was conferred an award in recognition of his stellar contributions to the energy sector through the development of a world-class energy mix, which includes green hydrogen and the discovery of oil and gas. As a researcher, Mr. Hopwood might have done a far better job of acquainting himself with the scale of the African Energy Week 2023. President Geingob was invited to deliver the keynote statement to an audience of 5 000 policy-makers, captains of industry and energy specialists. Among these leaders, were energy industry giants such as Exxon-Mobil, Chevron, Total Energies, Sonangol, including senior officials from the Government of the United States, Ministers of Energy and Hydrocarbons from across the African continent. The US Department Secretary of Energy was represented at a high level by Mr Joshua Volz, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Africa, Middle-East, Europe and Eurasia who lauded the quality of the event. This is important to mention, solely to demonstrate that even senior US Government officials who Mr. Hopwood may hold (based on Eurocentric views) to a higher canon of governance were present at the event that celebrated the positive achievements of President Geingob and Namibia in the energy sector.

Namibia is emerging from the past difficult 8 years, in which Namibians experienced in one Presidency an economic downturn occasioned by commodity cycle busts; the most severe droughts to have ever been recorded in the history of the country; and later the devasting Covid-19 pandemic, which decimated sectors of the economy. The award President Geingob received this week at the AEC was in recognition of his leadership in turbulent times and the resilience of Namibians and their Government by championing through the Harambee Prosperity Plan II complementary engines of growth, including green hydrogen and non-renewables.

The narrative of Namibia today is positive as a result of the turn-around in fortunes that the country is experiencing through the development of green hydrogen and green industrialization; the discovery of deposits of oil and rising demand for its large deposits of critical raw materials, which are crucial in the green energy transition.

The demand on the time of the President to participate in various domestic and global forums, and to undertake state visits is phenomenal. Unfortunately, the President cannot honour a fraction of the demand. However, with the time that is left in the Presidency, President Geingob will continue to work diligently for Namibians. The President will continue to promote and add the voice of Namibia at platforms (at home and abroad) in order to advance the domestic agenda of development and prosperity. There will be the likes of Mr. Hopwood who serve as dial a quote analysts and commentators. But the majority of Namibians can witness a resurgent Namibia, which is a hotspot and a poster child of processes, systems and institutions that promote and facilitate investments in key sectors of the economy, including energy for which the President received the AEC Lifetime Achievement Award.

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Editorial Latest News

Urgent! Fuel subsidy removal in Nigeria: A call for responsibility

Urgent! Fuel subsidy removal in Nigeria: A call for responsibility
Urgent! Fuel subsidy removal in Nigeria: A call for responsibility

 

Urgent! Fuel subsidy removal in Nigeria: A call for responsibility

The Government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu truly braved the occasion of his inauguration on May 29, 2023 and announced that fuel subsidy was gone! It was a decisive pronouncement because several past governments have planned to say this but could not. Other governments, particularly that of former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011 seemed to be more interested in the after-effect of subsidy removal on the poor Nigerians than scoring that political point. A lot of protests sprung up, led partly by the incumbent President, Tinubu. Jonathan was not allowed to go on with the execution of his planned phased removal of the subsidy of fuel. Former president Muhammadu Buhari also had plans about fuel subsidy removal but could not implement it until he left the office. Then came Tinubu who did not want to entertain any excuse for not removing the subsidy that ran into N1 trillion in two months.

Defending his intentions, Tinubu said he had to insert the pronouncement against the advice of his media handlers. They had removed the ‘fuel subsidy is gone’ statement from the President’s speech. But when Tinubu was about mounting the pedestal for his inaugural speech, he re-introduced the statement himself. His conviction was that there was no better opportunity to make the pronouncement than in his inaugural address.

That was the pronouncement that has changed the life of ordinary Nigerians for worse in the last two months. Nigeria is a mono-product economy which is driven by petroleum products. Anything that affects petroleum affects the whole economy. The removal of fuel subsidy which took the retail price of the product from N198 to N617 currently is causing untold hardship to a lot of Nigerians.

Economy watchers believe that the ‘subsidy is gone’ statement should not just a mere statement. But a statement backed with responsibility. More than a two-third population of Nigerians are poor people who depend on daily income for survival. Workers are poorly remunerated. The rate of Unemployment and underemployment is often rated so high at about 70 percent. That was before the removal of subsidy. Bearing these circumstances in mind, one would expect the Government to have been able to roll-out subsidy palliative measures within one month of its removal, to be able to cushion the adverse effect on the population. It’s two months already after this pronouncement yet the citizens are not getting any better for it.

The government has introduced more economic policies that heighten the pressure rather than ameliorate it. One is foreign exchange policy which has now taken the exchange rate is about N800 per a $USD. With this, a lot of Nigerians cannot afford to pay school fees in $USD. There are also increases in school fees and other basic issues of the ordinary Nigerians.

Nigerians are now more than two months into this harsh economic reality. And they are getting to a tipping point if the government fails to revise some of these policies or introduce a robust palliative to cushion the effects on Nigerians.

The proposed N80,000 monthly for 12 million households is an absurd proposal. It should not have been announced that anybody. It was in bad taste and does not seem to have been put together having the interest of Nigerians at heart.

The government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should urgently think out solution to these problems to ease these burdens on the ordinary people. If this fails, in the coming months, the situation will become unbearable to the majority of Nigeria and that may start a revolution the government wound not be able to contain.

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Opinion Politics

Opinion: I Have Never Been So Proud of My Fellow Nigerians, Adichie

Opinion: My country is in a fragile place, By Chimamanda Adichie
Opinion: My country is in a fragile place, By Chimamanda Adichie

My country is in a fragile place, By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

News Update: On Wednesday, Bola Tinubu was declared the winner of Nigeria’s presidential election.

Imagine standing patiently in line, waiting to vote, and suddenly men with guns arrive on motorcycles and start shooting. Imagine men dashing into your polling unit, violently seizing ballot boxes and taking them away. Imagine other ballot boxes being destroyed. Imagine being beaten to keep you from voting for a particular candidate. Imagine a crowd of people chanting “We must vote! We must vote!” when polling workers failed to arrive as expected. Imagine the police doing very little. All these things happened during the Nigerian presidential elections on Saturday. Through it all, there was a chilling lack of transparency from the Independent National Electoral Commission, or I.N.E.C., which oversees elections.

Nigerian elections have a history of being rigged, of cooked-up numbers and stolen ballot boxes. This time, though, Nigerians were asked to place their faith in a new electronic voting system that would make tampering more difficult. Technology would be the savior: In each polling unit, votes would be counted in the presence of voters and then immediately uploaded to a secure central portal. Failing to upload the results in real time was the most egregious of the many irregularities of this election because it has destroyed the cautious trust with which many approached the process.

The I.N.E.C. blames technical issues for the delay. How, Nigerians wonder, can a well-funded electoral body that had four years to prepare for an important presidential election make such a significant blunder? It is reasonable, then, that many voters have assumed purposeful intent, that election workers were instructed not to upload results so that they could later be secretly manipulated.

I know Nigeria, the country of my birth, intimately. I know the political culture, where the exchange of large amounts of money makes so many people conscience-deficient, where the mainstream media’s instinct is political deference and where the will of the people is often ignored. Nigerians, especially young Nigerians, are determined that this time, their votes will matter. A majority of Nigerians are below the age of 35. They are a bright, innovative and talented generation, a hungry generation, starved of good leadership, who do not merely sit back and complain but who act and push back and want to forge their own futures.

On Saturday, many went out to vote, enthusiastic but cautious, their phone cameras ready to record any irregularities. They waited for election workers who arrived many hours late to polling stations. They braved the harassment and beatings of men paid to create chaos. They went off and bought their own ink for finger-printing when election workers claimed to have run out of it. They provided their own light from their phones as they stood in line in the dark, and according to one recorded case, a voter brought a small generator to a polling place when the voting machine stopped working. They refused to leave even though they had to wait so long that it was almost dawn when they could finally vote. And when it began to rain, they came together and sang beautiful songs. I have never been so proud of my fellow Nigerians. Many were voting for the first time, inspired by one candidate, Peter Obi, who has brought to them that ineffable thing that we humans need to thrive: hope.

Now, as results are being counted, there is growing disillusionment. A sludge of tension is in the air. A simmering rage. Some voters say that the official numbers trickling in do not match the numbers from their polling units, that the results tell a story different from what they witnessed on Saturday. They are convinced of the complicity of those who should be caretakers of the democratic process.

Demonstrators accusing the election commission of irregularities and disenfranchising voters marched in downtown Abuja, Nigeria, on Tuesday. Credit…Ben Curtis/Associated Press

Elections must always be transparent, of course, but for an abysmally low-trust society like Nigeria, a radical transparency is needed for credibility. Elections must be completely transparent and must be widely seen to be completely transparent; sadly, neither seems to apply to Nigeria’s presidential election.

African democracies are criticized, often condescendingly so, in ways that stoke resentment, not because the criticism isn’t valid, but because it isn’t fair. Africa is full of young nation-states, and democracy takes time to establish its roots, and even when it does, the fragility always remains.

I’ve always found it curious that African countries were expected to form functioning democracies right after independence, even though the colonial governments they had only just freed themselves from were dictatorships in everything but name. Nigerians want a functioning democracy, and they are starting on the path to it but might be derailed unless the international community pays attention now.

Nigeria is Africa’s tottering giant, the continent’s most populous country, the most politically and culturally dominant. To pay real attention to Nigeria is to signal that Africa matters, as the United States has always maintained. The Biden administration needs to stand behind the Nigerian people now and make a firm commitment to support election transparency. Besides — my tongue is lodged in my cheek — you don’t want a wave of Nigerian asylum seekers fleeing the unbearable discontent of living under an illegitimate government.

Sometimes democracies are threatened by foreign invasions and sometimes democracies are most at risk from internal forces. All of them need support.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a novelist and the author, most recently, of “Notes on Grief.”

First published by The Times

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Editorial Politics

Nigeria 2023 Election: Muslim-Muslim Ticket is Insensitive and Cruel

Nigeria 2023 Election: Muslim-Muslim Ticket is Insensitive and Cruel
Nigeria 2023 Election: Muslim-Muslim Ticket is Insensitive and Cruel

Nigeria 2023 Election: Same-Faith Ticket is Insensitive and Cruel

In less than 24 hours, Nigerians will again throng the polls to elect their president. There are three top contenders: Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressive Congress and Peter Obi of the Labour Party.

Nigeria, easily the giant of Africa in terms of population and size is multi-ethnic and religious country. In terms of religion, the predominant ones are Christianity (predominantly in the South of Nigeria) and Islam (predominantly in the North). In terms of ethnicity, the Hausa in the north are predominantly Muslims, more than 80 percent. The Yoruba in the South-West have about 70 percent Christians and 40 percent Muslims. The Igbo in the South-East and South-South of Nigeria are predominantly Christians, more than 90 percent. Historically, the people of Nigeria know their differences; a panacea to which is their creed for equitable representation in government.

There have negative consequences for lack of equitable representation in terms of religion and ethnicity. The Nigerian civil war fought between 1967 and 1970 was a major consequence of perceived imbalance in the representation of the various segments of the country. In order to forestall further crises, Nigerian leaders are careful to balance appointments into federal positions.

Political parties also tow this path by ensuring that their candidates for any national positions reflect the diversity of the people.

In the build-up to the 2023 elections, the All Progressive Congress is the only major political party that failed to recognise the diversity of the people as it fielded a same-faith ticket: Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a Southern Muslim and Ibrahim Shettima, a Northern Muslim for the positions of the President and Vice respectively. This ticket fails to observe that Christians in the country need representation in the government. a lot of Muslim who defend Muslim-Muslim ticket will be opposed to Christian-Christian ticket for the same reason of equal representation.

The level of insecurity, often heightened by religious issues are already high in Nigeria. Installing a same-faith ticket at this time will further aggravate the situation and make it worse. It is our considered view that the same-faith ticket of the APC is insensitive and cruel and as such is not good for the people of Nigeria.

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