Years after the #endsars protest that rocked Nigeria, especially at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos, where security forces shot at peaceful protesters, most of the people that actively participated are still living in palpable fears of being arrested.

A victim of such arrest was one Ahmed Olawale who led some youths during the #endbadgovernance protest on August 1st, claiming that his friend was killed during the 2020 protest.

Olawale narrated how he was arrested on a fateful night after this year's endbadgovernance protest having been pursued by the Police on several occasions.

He said, "it was a replica of what i faced after the endsars protest when i survived by whiskers. Infact with this new onslaught my family at present is hoping for the worst".

Similar reports of missing people are being silently recorded in other parts of the country as it appears the abductors are operating with names and faces to reach their targets through informants and records.

Civil rights Organisations believe that this is a way of suppressing people's voices through allegedly through arrests, intimidation and extra judicial killings.

Years after violent suppression of nationwide #EndSARS protests against police brutality, at least fifteen protesters arrested in 2020 are allegedly still being arbitrarily detained – the majority of them without trial – in Kirikiri Medium Correctional Centre and Ikoyi Medium Security Correctional Centre in Lagos.

The Nigerian authorities have filed trumped-up charges including theft, arson, possession of unlawful firearms, and murder against many of the protesters. Some of those detained allege that they have been subjected to torture.

Isa Sanusi Director Amnesty International Nigeria, who revealed this said seven #EndSARS protesters – Daniel Joy-Igbo, Sodiq Adigun, Sunday Okoro, Olumide Fatai, Oluwole Isa, Shehu Anas, and Akiniran Oyetakin – arrested in Lagos in 2020, are being arbitrarily held in Kirikiri Medium Correctional Centre.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State police command was said to have released 22 persons arrested in connection with the #EndSARS memorial protest this year.

The protesters were arrested at the Lekki tollgate area of the state.

The protesters called for full implementation of the reports from the judicial panels of inquiry set up after protests.

Blessing Joseph has been weaving bags, sandals and jewellery earning enough money to feed her son and send him to school. But since November, she has fallen on hard times as customers have stopped coming and she and her son routinely go to bed hungry.

She is among millions in Africa's largest economy, grappling with the worst cost of living crisis in decades, that has deepened since President Bola Tinubu assumed office last May.

Last year, Joseph could easily make 30,000 naira ($18.83) a week but now she will be lucky to get 5,000 naira, she said.

"People used to place orders. I'll design for them, sometimes even (for) weddings I'll make souvenirs for them, but now those orders are not coming," said the 29-year-old Abuja resident.

"It has been very, very difficult, especially that I have a son and he needs to go to school, he needs to eat."

Tinubu inherited an economy that was already struggling with record debt, high unemployment, low oil output, subsidies that drained government finances and power shortages that have crimped growth.

Reuters Graphics

Nigeria imports food and fuel and was buffeted by high global prices due to the Russia-Ukraine war, just as it had exited a Covid-19 induced recession in 2020.

Tinubu, who campaigned on a "Renewed Hope" slogan, removed a costly petrol subsidy and foreign currency controls, in an effort to improve government finances, restore credibility with investors and kick-start the economy.

But inflation has soared to its highest in three decades and the naira currency is slumping to record lows, pressured by acute dollar shortages. Prices of food, cooking gas, medicines, fuel, and public transport have shot up, squeezing household budgets.

Reuters Graphics

"With about 8 percent of Nigerians deemed food insecure, addressing rising food insecurity is the immediate policy priority," the International Monetary Fund said on March 4. after a staff visit.

Nigeria's problems have also rippled through company boardrooms.

Foreign companies like Procter & Gamble will stop manufacturing in Nigeria, while drug makers GSK Plc and Bayer AG will contract third parties to distribute their products, in part due to tough operating conditions and the naira slump.

Africa's biggest telecoms operator MTN Group (MTNJ.J) posted a big fall in full-year profit citing naira devaluation, which also prompted soap maker PZ Cussons Plc (PZC.L) to issue a profit warning.

FOOD PRICE SURGE

At Agodo market in Lagos, tomato seller Farouk Dalhatu has just served his first customer in eight hours. The market is unusually quiet for the time of day when there is often a cacophonous din of traders and customers haggling over prices.

A basket of tomatoes now costs 55,000 naira - about double the national minimum wage - up from 12,000 naira in December. That has forced many of Dalhatu's friends to quit the business.

Reuters Graphics

"They are just trying to find what they can eat now and not do the tomatoes business," he said, pointing to several empty stalls.

Escalating food prices are the major driver of inflation.

Widespread insecurity in food growing areas - including abduction for ransom by armed gangs, a long-running Islamist insurgency and farmer-herder clashes - is adding to the woes by keeping many farmers away from their fields.

"We have an emergency on our hands in terms of the social consequences of this reform, in terms of this food insecurity," said Muda Yusuf, CEO at business advocacy firm Promotion of Private Enterprise, referring to the currency and fuel subsidy reforms.

Labour unions led some protests last month and have threatened to shut down the country to demand a tenfold rise in the minimum wage.

In response, the government on Thursday started national consultations on a new monthly minimum wage, which has been pegged at 30,000 naira since 2019.

A presidency spokesman declined to comment, but Tinubu's administration has announced handouts of cash, grains, fertiliser and seed to vulnerable groups.

Unions say this is not enough and that focus should be on "substantive issues" that have been under discussion with the government since June 2023.

"These include critical matters such as wage increases, social welfare programs, infrastructure development, and the revitalisation of key sectors such as education and healthcare," the Nigeria Labour Congress said in a statement.

For Joseph in Abuja, a thriving business and providing for her son is all she wants.

"I am just thinking about what he will eat if he comes back (from school)," she said while shuffling through empty pots.

($1 = 1,593.3400 naira)

Reuters

The Peoples' Democratic Party, PDP in Abeokuta South Local Government has challenged Mr Mikky Kazeem to stop misleading the public by laying claims to the Sustainable Development Goals, SDG Projects of the Federal Government, but come out openly to show his personal projects in the Federal Constituency.

The Vice Chairman of the Party in the LG, Mr Kamal Shodipo who was reacting to the claim of Micky Kazeem as the facilitator of the SDG projects in Abeokuta South Federal Constituency said it was not only a lie and absolute falsehood but a fraudulent act to be projecting such projects as a personal efforts of his, even when he is in no position to do so.

He explained that, "the SDG projects are budgeted and paid for by the federal government of Nigeria, while only a sitting member of the National Assembly can nominate or facilitate such projects".

According to Shodipo, "Micky is not a sitting member, how can he lay claims to nominating such projects? He could not have facilitated any project because presently he is just like every other Nigerian.  It is fraudulent for him to lay claim to such". 

"The public should be wary of these kind of politicians who try to deceive them. if they can openly lie to the public this way, then such people can not be trusted. This is a style of politicians who lie to curry favour from the public when elections are coming. The projects are SDG programmes, budgeted and paid for by the federal government, Shodipo said"

"I am not the type who go about discrediting people on frivolity, but i can not close my eyes to such deceits,when we are working to see a changed political system manned by credible people, thus the need to set the records straight. In what capacity would he say he is facilitating the project? ". 

Mr Shodipo said, " I am assuring you that our political Party will always say the truth when our candidates facilitate government projects or personal projects. Projects done by tax payers money are the people's entitlement". 

According to Shodipo, Micky Kazzim in a bid to deceive the public had on Wednesday commissioned and inscribed his name as the facilitator of various SDG projects at St Augustine Primary School Adatan;  Imo Methodist School, Okeyeke, Our Lady of Lord's Primary School, Onikoko; C.A.C Primary School Lantoro Abeokuta; St James Primary School Idi Aba; and A.N.L.G Primary School, Ilugun Abeokuta.

A former Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Mrs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, is the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on SDG. 

The Ogun state governorship candidate of the People's Redemption Party, (PRP), Prof. David Bamgbose is dead.

Prof. Bamgbose who on August 28, 2022 emerged the governorship candidate of the PRP in the state after quitting the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), died at the Lantoro hospital after a brief illness, on Friday morning.

The news of his passage was disclosed by his Personal Assistant and Asst. Senior Pastor of Peace and Love Church, Mr Oduntan Olayemi.

He was said to have complained of tiredness a day earlier, and was taken to an hospital around Olomore, where he was referred to the Federal Medical Central, (FMC), Abeokuta.

He was then admitted at Lantoro where he was given oxygen till today (Friday). 

"He complained of tiredness yesterday and we decided to take him to an hospital around Olomore. We were referred to FMC for further checks 

"We opted for the state hospital, Lantoro because of the urgency and he was admitted at the emergency ward where he received oxygen till today (Friday).

"I got back to the hospital this morning and I met him breathing too fast and heavy. I was at where I went to get him some prescribed medication when he passed on", Olayemi narrated.

The Professor of Education management and Administration who contested in 2015 as the Governorship candidate of APGA was until his death the Provost, Yewa Central College of Education, Abeokuta.

Aged 54, Prof. Bamgbose is survived by his wife, Mary Bamgbose and six children.

Officers of Owo Community local Vigilante Group in Ondo State have declared a lady identified as "Jane Abdulazeez" wanted for engaging in bisexual activities. 

The statement which was released by the Public Relations Officer, PRO of the security outfit, Mojeed Ajetunmobi said both male and female expressions of homosexuality are illegal in Nigeria and punishable by up to 16 years of prison in the conventional court system.

According to the statement, "there is no legal protection for LGBT rights in Nigeria. It is an abomination to the culture and values of the quiet and descent people of our Community".

The PRO in the statement said, "one Jane Abdulazeez, female, Muslim, a single lady adult, was caught in the abominable sexual act in an uncompleted building, but escaped while her partner (names withheld) was arrested through the assistance of her husband whom had initially reported her bisexual act to the neighbourhood police station. 

"Since such is not allowed by the law of the land and it is an abominable act to our community, the Vigilante group is hereby declaring Jane Abdulazeez wanted."

"Her picture is already attached and in circulation. Anyone, who sees her or have any vital information about her should report to any of our Vigilante command or the nearest police station", the statement reads.

Nigeria spent at least N155bn within the last two years on the importation of salt and other locally available products from Asia and South America even as domestic industries struggle with high production costs.

This is as the country allocated about N198bn within the same period for the development of natural resources, including salt.

According to Foreign Trade Statistics report by the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria spent the N155bn to import salt, palm oil and coals.

Another report by the Federation Account Allocation Committee said the country earmarked N198bn for the purpose of developing natural resources in the country.

Checks on the different quarters of Foreign Trade Statistics of the NBS showed that Nigeria imported palm oil majorly from from China and Indonesia while crude salt was imported from Brazil.

Salt is one of the most common mineral resources in Nigeria. Salt is found in larger deposits in Ebonyi State whose slogan is “the salt of the nation.” Other places of deposits include Abia, Akwa Ibom, Benue, Cross River, Anambra, Imo, Katsina, and Sokoto State.

There are fewer than five salt makers in Nigeria as the existing ones are squeezed by high production costs, foreign exchange scarcity and energy crisis.

Salt development in Ebonyi has been abandoned despite previous funds from the Japanese government.

Amid the huge salt deposits and the billions committed to developing natural resources in the country, Nigeria spends billions of naira on the importation of salt in the country.

Also, according to findings by our correspondents, over N100bn was spent on importation of palm oil from Asia within the past two years.

In the past decades, before the discovery of crude oil, Nigeria’s palm oil sector generated about 43 per cent of the world’s total production. Nigeria was considered as the biggest player in the global palm oil market. The production of palm oil went beyond domestic consumption, with the excess produce contributing to foreign earnings via exports.

Nigeria now has about 20 million out-of-school children, according to the latest global data on out-of-school children by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

UNESCO, which says a new and improved methodology was used to arrive at the latest figures, said there are “244 million children and youth between the ages of 6 and 18 worldwide (who) are still out of school.”

According to the statistics, India, Nigeria and Pakistan have the highest figures for out-of-school children globally.

The figures in Nigeria have oscillated between 10.5 million and around 15 million for more than a decade, with the situation growing worse due to the degenerating security situation in the country.

UNESCO announced the figures in a statement issued on Thursday by Dafalia Dimitra, a media specialist, with the Global Education Monitoring Report (GEM), which is developed by an independent team and published by UNESCO.

The global organisation said the team developing the report “has the official mandate of monitoring progress in meeting the Sustainable Development Goal on education, SDG 4.”

The statement read in part: “The new estimates, published online by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) and the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report, show that sub-Saharan Africa remains the region with the most children and youth out of school with 98 million children and young people excluded from education. It is also the only region where this number is increasing; out-of-school rates are falling more slowly than the rate at which the school-age population is growing.

“The region with the second highest out-of-school population is Central and Southern Asia with 85 million. The top three countries with the most children and youth excluded from education are India, Nigeria and Pakistan.”

According to the Director of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Silvia Montoya, efficient use of the available data is important to address the gaps towards achieving the fourth goal of the SDGs.

“UNESCO has long underscored the need to make more efficient use of the data we have. That’s why we’ve brought together administrative data with information from surveys and censuses. By using multiple data sources, gaps are filled, data trends are smoothed, and we can draw consistent time series,” the official said.

New methodology

According to UNESCO, the new methodology combines multiple data sources, and it has been used in the past to estimate flagship health indicators, such as maternal and infant mortality rates.

It said this is the first time it has been used in education, “marking a significant improvement to the robustness of the estimates.”

Speaking on this, UNESCO’s Assistant-Director General for Education, Stefania Giannini, said; “Global out-of-school numbers are lower than we thought, but far too many children are still missing out. Countries have committed to benchmarks to slash out-of-school numbers by over half by 2030. We must identify solutions during the Transforming Education Summit called by the United Nations Secretary-General this September so that countries can deliver on these pledges. All children should have access to quality education.”

UNESCO said important data gaps have been filled in countries with large out-of-school numbers “but where no administrative data of good quality has been available for over a decade.” It listed the countries in this category to include Nigeria “which has an estimated 20 million children and youth out of school, Ethiopia (10.5 million), the Democratic Republic of Congo (5.9 million) and Kenya (1.8 million).”

“With UNESCO’s help, 90% of countries have now set national SDG 4 benchmarks for 2025 and 2030, including on out-of-school rates. We must step up our support for those who are being deprived of their opportunities, keeping a watchful eye on those who have struggled on their return after Covid-related school closures,” said Manos Antoninis, Director of the Global Education Monitoring Report.

The statement further noted that the estimation process incorporates the latest country data in 2021 to be released by the UIS on September 13. “A preliminary assessment suggests that while primary and lower secondary education enrolment has not been affected, there might be some impact on upper secondary enrolment. More information is needed in the coming year to assess the impact.”

Gender gap

The global body said the new estimates confirm that the difference in the rate of girls and boys out of school has been considerably reduced.

“Globally, the gaps of 2.5 percentage points among primary school age children and of 3.9 percentage points among upper secondary school age youth in 2000 have been reduced to zero,” UNESCO noted.

The United Kingdom (UK) has mandated foreigners or overseas entities that own land or property to declare beneficial owners and/or managing officers.

The law entitled ‘Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022’ established the new ‘Register of Overseas Entities’, held by the UK’s Companies House.

The law, which took effect on August 1, 2022, also made provisions for “severe sanctions” for those who do not comply, including restrictions on buying, selling, transferring, leasing or charging their land or property in the UK.

Under the new law, overseas entities who want to buy, sell or transfer property or land in the UK must register with the Companies House and declare who their registrable beneficial owners or managing officers are.

The law also required overseas entities who already own or lease land or property in the UK to register with Companies House and disclose registrable beneficial owners or managing officers by January 31, 2023.

“This applies to overseas entities who bought property or land on or after: 1 January 1999 in England and Wales, 8 December 2014 in Scotland,” the UK government said.

“Overseas entities only need to register property or land bought in Northern Ireland on or after 1 August 2022.”

It added that entities that disposed of property or land after February 28, 2022, would need to give details of those dispositions.

The development comes almost a year after the Pandora Papers exposed how world leaders , politicians and billionaires use shell companies to move wealth offshore, anonymously buy real estate or luxury goods, and avoid paying huge sums of tax revenue.

The Pandora Papers project is led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which Premium Times is a part of.

Findings by the project revealed that Peter Obi, a former governor of Anambra; Gboyega Oyetola, Osun governor and Stella Oduah, a serving senator, are among those who have allegedly benefitted illegally from offshore service firms.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has said Nigeria is gradually moving towards dictatorship.

The former president stated this at the 70th birthday celebration of Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Hassan Kukah, held at Sheraton Hotel in Abuja.

Speaking on the theme of the event, ‘Nigeria’s Unfinished Greatness: Next Steps’, Jonathan urged Nigerians to remain vigilant and united to choose leaders that will lead the nation to the promised land.

He said, “The task before all of us is not to lower our guard, lest the democracy we cherish today, succumbs to threats and recedes into fascism tomorrow and there are signs already.

“Looking at the states and so on, we are derailing towards quasi fascist form of government but democracy is not only about winning elections alone, it is about accommodation.

“We as leaders at the centre and at the state level, especially at this time when elections are coming must accommodate different views.”

Jonathan urged the youths that have registered for the 2023 elections to endeavour to walk their talk by making sure they vote on election day.

Dignitaries at the occasion were Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu; his running mate, Kashim Shettima; Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi; Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong and Secretary to Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha.

Others were Governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos, Dapo Abiodun of Ogun, Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom, former governor of Imo State, Emeka Ihedioha; and former governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson.

Chairman, Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Ango Abdullahi has described 2023 Muslim-Muslim ticket for the presidential election as crudest and most unproductive.

Though, Abdullahi who is a former Vice Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria was short of mentioning the political party behind the Muslim-Muslim ticket, said it is designed to separate Christians from Muslims, Hausa from Fulani in Northern region.

The NEF Chairman who spoke at a book launch yesterday in Kaduna, added that North will participate in all electoral activities and respect Nigerians who respect the region.

“We will participate in all political and electoral activities as equals, and concerning other Nigerians who respect us. In the North, we consider attempts to create divisions and conflicts around religion as hostile acts.

“We have paid a high price in conflicts around religion in the North, and we do not need to do more. Our insecurity and collapsing economy do not discriminate between Christians and Muslims.

“We cannot seek solutions from them as Muslims or Christians. I have to state here that we are witnessing some of the crudest and most unproductive campaigns to create divisions between Hausa and Fulani people, and create distances between Christians and Muslims in the North.

“We warn that these contemptible attempts will fail because they find no support in history going back centuries, or in the recent past. While we differ in faith and ethnicity, history, geography and our experiences in living as Nigerians have created roots and bonds that cannot be destroyed by desperate political gambits.

“The North will participate in all political and electoral activities as equals and with respect to other Nigerians who respect us.The North want leaders who will lead with integrity, competence, compassion and the fear of God.