Nigeria Update–Tinubo Says No More Petrol Subsidies & more –1st June 2023

st of June: 2023

On Monday the 29th, Bola Tinubu was sworn in as Nigeria’s 16th president!

Tinubu succeeds former President Buhari who ruled for eight years.

In his inaugural speech, President Tinubu said Nigerians should expect a couple of changes in the coming weeks. Tinubu said that one of the changes would be the removal of the fuel subsidies since they were an economic failure. He also said that he would improve security by recruiting more police officers and introducing special task forces, while agriculture would thrive under programs that will reduce food prices and promote efficient storage. Tinubu added that his administration will create more jobs and work towards improving electricity, health, education, foreign relations, inclusion, and diversity at all levels of government.

World leaders including King Charles of the UK, US President Joe Biden, and other African leaders have all congratulated the new president and expressed their support for the improvement of their relationships.

Meanwhile, shortly after President Tinubu announced the cancellation of petrol subsidy, queues for fuel resurfaced in parts of the country. Residents in Abuja said that some filling stations decided to stop selling when they were informed of the subsidy removal. However, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria said panic buying caused the resurgence of queues and said that fuel stations could have at least waited for the new president to fully resume work before acting.

Apart from Tinubu's inauguration, twenty-eight governors were sworn in. In Kano state, Abba Yusuf, the new governor said that the outgoing administration left behind over 241 billion naira (about 523 million dollars) in debt in the state. Other new state governors have also made similar complaints but they have all promised to improve the situation.

Let’s move on.

On Sunday the 28th, Rauf Aregbesola, the former minister of interior introduced ‘The Brown Card’, a new document for eligible foreigners to secure permanent residency in Nigeria. He gave Nigerian citizenship to 385 adult foreigners from different countries. Foreigners qualified to have the permanent residency card are nationals of African descent who desire to invest in Nigeria following established guidelines and have demonstrated exceptional talents, knowledge, and skills in rare fields of science, technology, medicine, engineering, arts, sports, and other areas. Qualified male foreigners must have also been married to Nigerian women for a minimum period of one year.

There appears to be a period of changes as the Senate has amended the Central Bank of Nigeria (best known as CBN) Act and increased the “ways and means borrowing” limit for the federal government. For those who don’t know, ways and means is a loan facility through which the CBN finances the government’s budget shortfalls. This means that the facility allows the government to borrow from the bank if it needs short-term or emergency finance to fund important projects. In an emergency meeting on Saturday the 27th, the senate raised the five percent borrowing limit to a maximum of fifteen percent. Ibrahim Gobir, senate leader, said that the bill was necessary to enable the federal government to embark on very important projects that will enhance and restructure the economy..

On Friday the 26th, in Anambra state, workers of the Anambra Joint Enforcement Team arrested two fake medical doctors for operating illegal health facilities in the state. Afam Obidike, commissioner for health in the state, said that one of the suspects, who was the owner of Favour of God Hospital and Maternity, was a fake doctor without any knowledge of medicine. The commissioner said that the suspect was also using the facility as an unregistered nursing institution while the second suspect was arrested following a complaint written to the ministry about the deaths of patients in the health facility. According to the commissioner, five illegal health centers have been shut down so far, adding that the purpose of the exercise was to ensure that both private and government hospitals are operating on appropriate standards.

While Anambra state is recording some successes in defeating insecurity, Imo state is not doing so well. On Sunday the 28th, the Peoples Democratic Party (or PDP) in the state said that it had the necessary documents to prove that human rights abuses and extrajudicial killings had been committed. The PDP said they will file a petition against Hope Uzodimma, the governor of the state, at the International Criminal Court. The PDP said that the state has been overrun by killers, arsonists, kidnappers, and bandits and that a good number of residents have become victims of forced disappearance while many more have fled the state for fear of being profiled and killed. The PDP added that it has also reached out to the American and European embassies to enforce a visa ban on Uzodimma.

Let’s have a look at the education sector.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (best known as ASUU) has sued the federal government over the “unfair and illegal treatment” of its members. Recall we told you how ASUU members went on strike for eight months last year over unpaid salaries and harsh working conditions. The strike had led to some altercations between the ASUU and the federal government, but there was no headway. The federal government eventually sued them over a refusal to resume work after a court ruled that they had to end their strike without their issues resolved.

ike from September to October: 2021

Meanwhile, China has pledged increased economic cooperation with Nigeria, saying Nigeria is important to Africa and the world. On Wednesday the 31st, in a meeting between a special envoy from the Chinese President and President Tinubu, China said that the two countries had good bilateral relations and economic cooperation. China said that Chinese companies were already doing well in the Nigerian infrastructure sector and called on the two countries to share ideas and align strategies, and create a more conducive environment for investment.

In other sad news, Raymond Dokpesi, founder of the African Independent Television (best known as AIT) and DAAR Communications, passed away. His son, Raymond Dokpesi (or JNR), announced the passing of his father in a statement on Monday the 29th. Tony Akiotu, the group managing director of DAAR Communications, said that the AIT founder had been ill for a few weeks and that he died after he fell off his treadmill during a routine gym exercise. Funeral arrangements will be announced later.

Ending the week with some joyful news, Davido, the Afrobeats star was awarded the Officer Of The Order of The Niger (best known as OON).The OON is one of the highest civilian awards in Nigeria which recognizes outstanding contributions and achievements of individuals in various fields. In an Instagram post on Wednesday the 31st, Davido said he was honoured to have been nominated for the award and said that he always wanted to use his fame to make Nigeria proud. Other notable Nigerians listed for different award categories include the CBN governor, Terry Waya, Victor Osihmen, Herbert Wigwe, and others.

Aaaaaand that's it for this week! You may not know it but we do updates for some other countries too. If you know anybody who might be interested, let them know. Ready? Here they are, West to East: Argentina, Venezuela, Spain, Poland, Serbia, Turkey, Malawi, Ethiopia, Georgia, Japan. Think of anybody?

Sai gobe