Nigeria's debt to petrol suppliers has surpassed $6 billion - doubling since early April - as state oil firm NNPC struggles to cover the gap between fixed pump prices and international fuel costs, six industry sources said.

President Bola Tinubu announced an end to expensive fuel subsidies last year, allowing pump prices to triple. But state oil company NNPC capped pump prices shortly afterward as citizens chafed under rising cost of living.

The cap, coupled with a naira crash, allowed the subsidy to creep back. Tinubu's government expects the subsidy to cost at least $3.7 billion this year.

Analysts, NGOs and even government officials have slammed the subsidy for years as wasteful and corrupt. But Nigerians, who get few government services, have long seen cheap fuel as their right, especially in the current cost-of-living crisis.

Last week, deadly riots forced Kenya's debt-burdened government to cancel planned tax rises, casting a shadow over efforts elsewhere to inflict any further pain on citizens stung by rising inflation.

Senegal's energy subsidy bill remains high, at 3.3% of GDP, while Egypt and Angola are also trying to axe subsidies to shore up state finances.

NNPC began struggling early this year when late gasoline payments surpassed $3 billion.

The company has still not paid for some January imports, traders said, and the late payments amount to $4 billion to $5 billion. Under contract terms, NNPC is meant to pay within 90 days of delivery.

NNPC declined to comment.

"The only reason traders are putting up with it is the $250,000 a month (per cargo) for late payment compensation," one industry source said.

At least two suppliers already stopped participating in recent tenders after hitting self-imposed debt exposure limits to Nigeria, the sources said, meaning they will not send more gasoline until they receive payments.

Traders thrive in risky environments, but they place limits on how much credit they allocate per trade in order to avoid too much exposure on one borrower. These limits vary by company based on their size and where they operate.

As a result, Nigeria's tenders to buy gasoline in June and July were smaller, traders said. NNPC will import via tender about 850,000 tonnes in July, two of the sources said, down from the typical 1 million tonnes in previous months.

Fresh fuel queues have already started to form in Lagos and Abuja this week, and some Abuja stations stopped selling gasoline.

Nigeria, Africa's largest oil exporter, imports virtually all its fuel due to years of neglect at its state-owned oil refineries. The newly opened 650,000 barrel-per-day Dangote refinery has not yet produced marketable gasoline, and is selling other fuels abroad.

The country has few savings to fall back upon as corruption and wasteful spending have eaten up decades of oil revenues. Cash-strapped NNPC has also mortgaged much of its spot oil cargoes, limiting what it can sell for cash.

In late 2023, NNPC secured its biggest-ever oil-backed loan worth $3.3 billion from Afreximbank and a consortium of traders, including Gunvor, to shore up the country's foreign exchange.

 

Reuters

PRESS RELEASE

On 28 June 2024, Nigeria signed the Samoa Agreement at the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS) Secretariat in Brussels, Belgium.

The partnership agreement is between the EU and its Member States on one hand, and the members of the OACPS on the other.

Negotiations on the agreement started in 2018, on the sidelines of the 73rd United Nations General Assembly. It was signed in Apia, Samoa on the 15th of November 2018 by all 27 EU Member states and 47 of the 79 OACPS Member states.

The agreement has 103 articles comprising a common foundational compact and three regional protocols, namely: Africa –EU; Caribbean-EU, and Pacific-EU Regional Protocols with each regional protocol addressing the peculiar issues of the regions.

The African Regional Protocol consists of two parts. The first is the Framework for Cooperation, while the second deals with Areas of Cooperation, containing Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Growth and Development; Human and Social Development; Environment, Natural Resources Management, and Climate Change; Peace and Security; Human Rights, Democracy and Governance; and Migration and Mobility.

Nigeria signed the Agreement on Friday 28 June 2024. This was done after extensive reviews and consultations by the Interministerial Committee, convened by the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning (FMBEP) in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Federal Ministry of Justice (FMOJ). It was ensured that none of the 103 Articles and Provisions of the Agreement contravenes the 1999 Constitution as amended or the laws of Nigeria and other extant Laws.

In addition, Nigeria’s endorsement was accompanied by a Statement of Declaration, dated 26th June 2024, clarifying its understanding and context of the Agreement within its jurisdiction to the effect that any provision that is inconsistent with the laws of Nigeria shall be invalid. It is instructive to note that there is an existing legislation against same-sex relationships in Nigeria enacted in 2014.

It is necessary to assure Nigerians that the President Bola Tinubu Administration, being a rule-based government will not enter into any international agreement that will be detrimental to the interest of the country and its citizens. In negotiating the Agreement, our officials strictly followed the mandates exchanged in 2018 between the EU and the OACPS for the process.

The Samoa Agreement is nothing but a vital legal framework for cooperation between the OACPS and the European Union, to promote sustainable development, fight climate change and its effects, generate investment opportunities, and foster collaboration among OACPS Member States at the international stage.

Mohammed Idris
Minister of Information and National Orientation.

The signing of the $150 billion Samoa Agreement by the federal government, which implicitly mandates the recognition of LGBTQ+ rights, is a grave misstep that contravenes the nation's 2014 law prohibiting such acts. While the dire state of Nigeria’s economy undeniably necessitates substantial financial support, it is imperative that this assistance does not come at the expense of the country’s laws and the deeply held cultural values of the Nigerian people.

The Samoa Agreement, named after the Pacific Island where it was signed, requires participating countries to support LGBTQ+ rights in exchange for financial aid and other supports from more advanced nations. This is a blatant challenge to the cultural and religious beliefs prevalent in Nigeria, where both Islamic and Christian teachings strongly oppose same-sex relationships. The government’s attempt to downplay the implications of this agreement by asserting that it only pertains to economic development is misleading and disingenuous.

According to reports, the agreement includes clauses that fundamentally alter Nigeria’s stance on LGBTQ+ rights, making this financial aid conditional on the acceptance and support of these rights. This directly contradicts the assurances given by officials that the deal does not mandate support for LGBTQ+ rights. It is a clear deviation from the spirit of the 2014 law, which was enacted to reflect the moral and cultural values of the Nigerian populace.

Civil society organizations, clerics, and legal experts have rightly expressed their outrage over this development. The signing of the Samoa Agreement undermines Nigeria’s sovereignty and threatens to erode the moral fabric of its society. It is essential for the National Assembly to withhold approval for this agreement and for President Bola Tinubu to repudiate it unequivocally. The government's priority should be to uphold the laws and values of Nigeria, not to succumb to external pressures that compromise the country’s national integrity.

Moreover, the concerns raised about the hasty and uninformed manner in which international agreements are often signed by Nigerian officials must be addressed. There needs to be a thorough review process involving all relevant stakeholders to ensure that such agreements align with national interests and values.

In conclusion, while economic support is crucial, it should never come at the cost of compromising the country’s legal and cultural standards. The Samoa Agreement is a dangerous precedent that must be rescinded. The government should seek alternative means of financial support that do not undermine Nigeria’s sovereignty or the deeply held beliefs of its people. President Tinubu must take a firm stand and ensure that Nigeria’s laws and cultural values are respected and preserved.

KuCoin, a cryptocurrency exchange, says it will commence collection of a 7.5 percent value-added tax (VAT) on transaction fees for users in Nigeria.

The company said a regulatory update in Nigeria led to KuCoin’s decision to introduce the VAT.

In a statement on July 3, the cryptocurrency platform said the deduction of the VAT would be effective from July 8.

KuCoin said for every trade, the 7.5 percent VAT will be applied to the transaction fee — not the total transaction amount.

“We are writing to inform you of an important regulatory update that impacts our users from Nigeria,” the company said.

“Starting from July 8th, 2024, we will begin collecting a Value-Added Tax (“VAT”) at a rate of 7.5%  on transaction fees in each trade for users whose KYC information is registered in Nigeria.

“Nb: The 7.5% is only charged on the 0.1%/0.05% transaction fee and not your total amount which will be remitted.”

According to KuCoin, if a user buys $1,000 worth of bitcoin with a 0.1 percent fee rate, the transaction fee would be $1.

The VAT, the crypto platform said, would be 7.5 percent of the fee which is $0.075 — the net amount for the transaction would be $998.925.

“Please note that the VAT will be applied to the transaction fees in each trade, not the transaction amount, and covers all transaction types on KuCoin platform,” the crypto exchange said.

In 2022, Zainab Ahmed, former minister of finance, budget, and national planning, had initially hinted at government’s plans to tax cryptocurrencies and other digital assets. 

In the 2023 Finance Act, the government imposed a 10 percent tax on profits from digital assets, including cryptocurrencies.

However, the particular provision of the act was not enforced.

In May, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced plansto delist naira from all peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms.

SEC said the decision was taken to avoid the level of “manipulation” happening in the cryptocurrency space.

 

The Cable

Israel sends delegation to negotiate hostage release deal with Hamas

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday he has decided to send a delegation to resume stalled negotiations on a hostage release deal with Hamas, their administrations said.

A source in the Israeli negotiating team, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was a real chance of achieving agreement after Hamas made a revised proposal on the terms of a deal.

"The proposal put forward by Hamas includes a very significant breakthrough," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Israeli response to the Hamas proposal, submitted via mediators, was in marked contrast to past instances during the nearly nine-month war in Gaza, where Israel has said the conditions attached by Hamas were not acceptable.

An Israeli official said the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency would lead the Israeli delegation for the talks.

Netanyahu was scheduled later on Thursday to have consultations with his negotiating team, then discuss the hostage release talks with his security cabinet.

The White House said Biden and Netanyahu, on a phone call, discussed the response received from Hamas on possible terms of a deal.

"The president welcomed the prime minister’s decision to authorize his negotiators to engage with U.S., Qatari, and Egyptian mediators in an effort to close out the deal," it said in a statement.

In the phone call, Netanyahu repeated his position that Israel would only end its war in Gaza when all its objectives had been achieved, his office said in a statement.

The source in the Israeli negotiating team said: "There’s a deal with a real chance of implementation."

The source cautioned, though, there was a risk a deal could be scuppered by "political considerations".

Some far-right partners in Netanyahu's ruling coalition have indicated they may quit the government if the war ends before Hamas is destroyed. Their departure from the coalition would likely end Netanyahu's premiership.

HAMAS FLEXIBILITY

Israel received Hamas' response on Wednesday to a proposal made public at the end of May by Biden that would include the release of about 120 hostages held in Gaza and a ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave.

A Palestinian official close to the mediation effort told Reuters that Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, has shown flexibility over some clauses that would allow a framework agreement to be reached should Israel approve.

Two Hamas officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Hamas has said any deal must end the war and bring a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israel maintains it will accept only temporary pauses in the fighting until Hamas is eradicated.

The plan entails the gradual release of Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza and the pullback of Israeli forces over the first two phases, and the freeing of Palestinian prisoners. The third phase involves the reconstruction of the war-shattered territory and return of the remains of deceased hostages.

It was not clear where the Israeli delegation would go to resume the talks. Prior efforts to end the Gaza conflict were mediated by Egypt and Qatar, with talks held in both locations.

On Thursday, Gaza's health ministry said the Palestinian death toll in the nearly nine months of war had passed 38,000, with 87,445 wounded. The health ministry does not distinguish between civilians and fighters in its figures.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led gunmen burst into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killed 1,200 people and took around 250 hostages back into Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

'ENOUGH IS ENOUGH'

In Gaza, Palestinians reacted cautiously to the prospect of renewed talks.

"We hope that this is the end of the war, we are exhausted and we can't stand more setbacks and disappointments," said Youssef, a father-of-two, now displaced in Khan Younis, in the south of the enclave.

"Every more hour into this war, more people die, and more houses get destroyed, so enough is enough. I say this to my leaders, to Israel and the world," he told Reuters via a chat app.

An Israeli strike hit a school in Gaza City and the Civil Emergency Service said five Palestinians were killed and others wounded, while other Israeli strikes on Gaza City's old town on Thursday killed a woman and wounded several others, medics said.

The Israeli military said it had been operating to dismantle Hamas' military and administrative capabilities. It said it was acting in accordance with international law and taking feasible precautions to minimise civilian casualties.

Israeli tanks also shelled several areas on the eastern side of Khan Younis after the army issued evacuation orders on Tuesday, but there has been no movement by the tanks into those areas, residents said.

 

Reuters

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Putin makes missile announcement

The Russian defense industry is ready to start producing intermediate and shorter-range missiles that had been banned under a now-defunct treaty with the US, President Vladimir Putin announced on Thursday.

The Cold War-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) had prohibited these systems, but the US withdrew from it in 2019. Moscow chose to maintain the ban so long as Washington abided by it as well.

“As I’ve said, in connection with the US withdrawal from this treaty and the announcement that they are starting production, we also consider ourselves entitled to start research, development, and in the future, production,” Putin said on Thursday at a press conference following the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Astana, Kazakhstan.

“We are conducting this R&D, and we are ready to start production. We have already, in principle, given the relevant instructions to our industry,” he added.

Putin mentioned during a meeting of the National Security Council in Moscow last week the possibility that Russia might resume production of previously banned missile systems, citing the “hostile actions” of the US.

“We now know that the US is not only producing these missile systems, but has also brought them to Europe, Denmark, to use in exercises. Not long ago, it was reported that they were in the Philippines,” Putin explained at the time.

Washington’s moves left Moscow with no choice but to revive its intermediate-range and short-range programs, he said, adding that they would be deployed “based on the actual situation, if necessary.”

The 1987 INF treaty had banned both the US and Soviet Union from producing and fielding ground-based ballistic and cruise missiles – as well as their respective launchers – with ranges of 500 to 5,500 km (310 to 3,420 miles). The treaty did not affect air- or sea-based systems with the same range. This helped lower the tensions over the deployment of nuclear weapons in Europe.

Russia as the successor to the USSR continued to adhere to the treaty, while raising concerns that US installations in Eastern Europe – ostensibly designed as missile defenses – violated the treaty because their launchers were capable of deploying ground-attack munitions as well. In 2019, Washington pulled out of the treaty, accusing Moscow of having violated it without offering evidence to back up that claim.

 

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russian attacks kill two, wound 26 in Ukraine

Russian strikes killed two people and wounded 26 on Thursday in Ukrainian regions stretching from the south to the east and northeast, local authorities said.

A missile strike in southern Odesa region killed a woman, injured seven people and damaged port infrastructure, regional governor Oleh Kiper said on Telegram.

In northeastern Kharkiv region, a second woman was killed and a man wounded in a strike by a Russian guided bomb on the village of Ruska Lozova, according to regional governor Oleh Syniehubov.

Nine others, including four children, were wounded in a drone attack and shelling in the town of Novohrodivka, in the frontline Donetsk region, governor Vadym Filashkin said.

Dnipropetrovsk regional governor Serhiy Lysak reported seven wounded in the southern town of Nikopol. He had said earlier that Russian forces had attacked areas near Nikopol with drones and artillery on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.

Lysak later reported that a woman died of injuries sustained on Wednesday in the region's main city, Dnipro. Seven people died in that attack.

Two civilians in the southern city of Kherson were wounded in a drone strike, the local administration said.

All the affected regions have been subjected to repeated attacks since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Russia denies targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure, but thousands of people have been killed and wounded.

 

RT/Reuters

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak came to the job as an afterthought, yet his days in Number 10 were numbered before he received the ceremonial blessings of King Charles III.

For a long time after Brexit, the Tories and sections of the British public, still in post-Brexit ecstasy, were madly in love with Boris Johnson. He was incompetent and a congenital liar but a good poster boy of that era. After David Cameron fell on his sword, the Brits wanted someone to extend the comedy of post-Brexit, and Johnson was a good fit.

Then came Covid-19, a global crisis that tested the leadership of nations. Johnson, US President Donald Trump, and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro wereperhaps among the world’s most incompetent leaders of the pandemic era. Their denial and mishandling of the situation took a tragic toll on their citizens.

The former Sunak

In Britain, Sunak was Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time. While he let his appetite for beer get the better of his judgment once or twice during the lockdown, his boss, Johnson, observed lockdown rules only in the breach. As the British economy – like economies around the world – reeled under the effects of Covid-19, Johnson, the sailor of the British ship, was floating on his sea of beer in garden parties while, at the same time, asking people to keep the rules he was breaking.

Much of the credit for steering Britain through that problematic time must go to Sunak, whose programmes, including £330 billion in emergency support for businesses and a furlough scheme, helped keep the country afloat.

Of course, it was only a matter of time before the chaotic Johnson era ended. You would think Sunak would naturally step in, given his outstanding role in managing the Covid-19 crisis and his sound knowledge of the economy.

But no. The mild air of xenophobia, which was also partly responsible for Brexit, had heavily infected Tory backbenchers, too. Even though Sunak’s parents (with Pakistani and Indian roots) immigrated to Britain from East Africa in the 1960s, in a world where you discount identity politics at your own risk, there was still a certain “otherness” about Sunak’s ancestry, his family fortuneand his Hindu religion, that made the British establishment uncomfortable.

Britainistan

With Sadiq Khan as London Mayor, Suella Braverman in the Tory top brass and Hamza Yousaf highly placed in Scotland – not to mention Savid Javid and Priti Patel – therising profile of Indians and Pakistanis, the Raj-anisationof British politics, real or imagined, was a concern. But there was even a more profound concern – the rising economic clout of these ethnic minorities.

In 2017, the Indian diaspora in the UK was estimated to contribute around six percent of the country’s GDP, and by 2019 the combined wealth of this ethnic nationality was estimated at £338 billion. With an average income of £34,300 in that same year, British Indians had the highest average income among ethnic nationalities in that country.

When it was time to replace Boris Johnson, the country that copied Piper’s art from Egypt and popularised it didn’t need anyone to tell the Tory party that handing over the keys of Number 10 to Sunak could signal the echo of an unfamiliar tune. They kicked the idea of having Piper Sunak further down the road.

Liz mishap

Instead, they settled for Liz Truss, a former rebel and basher of the Crown, but a Brit, through and through, to lead the party. Truss didn’t last; her incompetence threatened to bring Britain to its knees. The Tories soon got rid of her, but apart from further endangering the British economy, her brief reign had also emboldened the Labour Party. Keir Starmer, Labour leader and the next British Prime Minister is a gift to Britain from Tory hubris.

After the fall of Truss, with the Tories bereft of options and confronting the threat of an early election, backbenchers exhumed Sunak to clean up the Augean stable. Things were so bad two years ago when Sunak was chosen to lead the Tories that The Economist’sOctober 19, 2022 edition likened the situation to Britaly, a sarcastic reference to the carnage in Italy in the 1940s.

Inflation in Britain was at a record high, with basic foodstuffs and energy prices going through the roof. About 33 percent of the population outside fixed mortgage contracts was struggling to pay, and the British economy, which was 90 percent the size of the German economy, had shrunk to 70 percent.

Sunak record

The story is different today. Inflation is down 2.8 percent, compared to around 8 percent two years ago, and unemployment is also down. The British economy is more robust than two years ago, and fewer people outside fixed mortgages struggle to pay. All of that would hardly matter now. As Britain goes to the polls, Sunak has onlyone in four chances of keeping his seat, and the Tories are bracing for one of the worst defeats ever in nearly two centuries.

Fourteen years of Tory reign have tested the party’s ingenuity and revealed its resilience, especially in the wake of Covid-19 and the aftermath of Russia’s war in Ukraine. But the years have also revealed Tory dark racial underbelly and brought upon it the inevitable consequences of overstay and familiarity. The party was rotting from the inside. Sunak only managed to defer its eventual collapse.

But Sunak was not a saint. He was not altogether blameless. Those who cheered the rise of the first non-Caucasian to Number 10 are shocked that the pair of Sunak and Braverman, both ethnic minorities, hasinflicted a human repatriation policy worse than anything known in recent history.

Weep not Africa

Africa will not shed a tear at his departure. The continent owes him nothing. In his two-year premiership, he only used “Africa” when discussing the UK-Rwanda asylum repatriation in Parliament. His nearest visit to the continent where he was born in 1980 was at the English Channel, from where immigrants were bundled off to Rwanda in defiance of the rulings by the European Court of Human Rights (EUHR) and the UK Supreme Court.

His penchant for dodging Parliamentary scrutiny, the perception that he lacks the common touch, and his inability to rein in party rebels have also combined to put a nail in his political coffin.

But Britain will remember him as a godsend in its hour of need. I’m not too worried about what’s next for Sunak. A brief look at what far less gifted former British Prime Ministers are doing shows that he’ll be all right.

Next life

Boris Johnson earns significant amounts from speaking and writing, as do Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Teresa May. Tony Blair, unfairly despised as the poodle of George Bush because of the war in Iraq, even earns up to £200k for a single speech and has the Tony Blair Institute, which advises governments worldwide.

This must feel like a funeral moment for the Tories and the obsequies of the third prime minister in five years. But Sunak is young and immensely gifted. He is not finished quite yet. His death might have been slightly exaggerated.

** Ishiekwene is the Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP and author of the new book Writing for Media and MonetisingIt.

Sometime in 2022, we (some friends and I) were driving through a village in Kenya when I saw this giant billboard with the face of a presidential candidate named William Ruto. The tagline was, “Every hustle matters!” I thought it was a funny slogan for a presidential candidate, and a friend (who would vote Ruto) gave me a quick rundown of his candidacy. It boiled down to the usual platitude deployed to justify voting a candidate: he is on the side of the people, the masses, the common man (and whatever pejorative labels we assign). I recall thinking, I know how this ends. From Goodluck Jonathan’s “I had no shoes” to Muhammadu Buhari’s claim of 150 cows, politicians like to frame what they have in common with the common man until they actually need to demonstrate it.

The belief was that Ruto who, having once hustled his way to the top, would empathise with the people eking out survival was punctured with the introduction of a tax bill that would increase taxes even on essential commodities such as bread, cooking oil, and diapers. During the stand-off between the leader and the led, it came to light how much Ruto had extended his legendary hustle to public funds. Out of the window flew the image of a man who, having once suffered, would innately understand what it meant to stretch the Kenyan Shilling until its frail edges cover up your nakedness. Ruto eventually backed down from signing the bill, but much had been lost. The protest took the lives of about two dozen protesters and fractured Ruto’s relationship with Kenyans.

Overall, the Kenyan protests should be a lesson for African leaders like Ruto and his Nigerian counterpart Bola Tinubu who think they can tax their way out of the economic troubles. To some extent, their resort to taxes is understandable. The prognosis of the post-Covid is—depending on the rung of the social ladder you occupy—a gloomy one. Africa, which was barely doing well before Covid, is now seriously reeling from the effects of the global pandemic. People are similarly facing dire times in countries around the world, and our social, political, and even spiritual lives are being rapidly upended by the reality of the economic crunches.

Even the United States, with its thriving economy, still presents the contrast of a post-Covid recovery. While the figures show that their economy is strong, millions (especially people of lower income range) are held down by inflation. African countries that were not doing that well before Covid are vertiginous from the global downturn. Countries are urgently looking to recapitalise, which is why leaders like Ruto came up with the very innovative idea of taxing people more. In Nigeria too, we have witnessed a similar strategy. In addition to abruptly withdrawing (at least going by official pronouncements) the subsidies on fuel and forex, the administration also stopped subsidies on electricity. Energy costs have since gone up, stratospherically increasing the cost of darkness. The same administration also introduced the Green Tax, Import Tax Adjustment Levy, Expatriate Tax, and the Cybersecurity tax, some of which had to be reversed either because it made no sense or was ill-timed.

Unfortunately, Africa cannot be taxed out of its economic morass. People are too poor—just too poor—and the national economic means are too singular for people to come up with the taxes necessary to bridge the gaps in revenue generation. The country has a lot of debt to repay, yes, but those borrowed monies never did anything for those being asked to contribute. If those loans had truly impacted their lives, we would not be groaning as much over the mounting tax regimes. Government officials are the ones who take hefty loans, mismanage them, make a public show of pursuing their cronies who stole the money, and after they deem everyone sufficiently amused by the drama of anti-corruption, they pass on the costs to those who had nothing to do with it. It is those who did not enjoy any part of the loans they took that are frequently squeezed to pay; never their friends, many of whom still living large from the stolen wealth.

In serious societies, taxes have meaning because they are used to fund public amenities. But in a society like ours, what good does it do? Our Nigerian public education system is comatose because we barely fund it. Consequently, “private schools” mushroom in every corner of the country. Cheap and unstandardised, they freely toy with the future of millions of children. The same applies to public health. In fact, every aspect of our lives now has to be privatised because the government that will squeeze taxes out of the hands of the dead does not make judicious use of them. Many communities across Nigeria provide their own electricity, security, water, sewage, and even the social governance system. It is an unfortunate truth that in Nigeria, every household is its own government. Amidst all these supplementing of governance, we still pay taxes to a government increasingly indifferent to our plight!

It is almost trite to point out that nobody in the world likes taxes, and Kenyans would likely have resisted anyway. The US is an example of how taxes influence democracy. Their wealthy class typically supports the Republican Party because those ones will cut their taxes and Democrats—when they win—will reinstate it. Presently, rich people are throwing money at the Republican candidate Donald Trump because of his promise to cut taxes. So, yes, while taxes are always political, what we have in our own societies is a case where the people who are already impoverished are still being taxed for simply existing. Taxes are useful when an economy is thriving, not when people are already scraping the bottom.

For Africa to boost its capital, our leaders will need to transcend the loans-and-taxes economies they presently run. We are impoverished because many of the countries on this continent operate extractive companies, solely relying on natural deposits. We are one of the most naturally resourced continents, yet our leaders lack the vision to utilise these resources for our own development, instead choosing to use them as collateral for foreign loans. This undervalues our resources and results in a lack of control over what should be enhancing our value. It requires significant innovation and hard work to act otherwise, but our complacent and unimaginative African leaders seem content with the bare minimum of borrowing. African countries have created a situation whereby they borrow money from China to build the public infrastructure that ultimately serves in transporting the finished products also imported from the same China!

Finally, several commentators on the Kenyan crisis have pointed out the role of international organisations such as the IMF in the tax bill. Indeed, Ruto purported the bill to cover Kenya’s approximately $80 billion of the country’s domestic and external debt. About half of that amount is owed to China, IMF, and the World Bank. It is easy to demonise foreign organisations for their role in taxing already burdened Africans, but the truth is that they do not owe us that much responsibility. Global capitalism is not founded on sentiments, and its administrators are not our elected leaders. They do not live among us, and they perhaps have only a remote idea how hard our lives are already. The people who should know better are our African leaders. Unfortunately, their actions always leave the impression that the only skill they have honed in the decades of interacting with global capitalist institutions is to beg. If they have no sense of obligation or duty of care to us enough to develop the sophistication and savviness to negotiate better deals, why should those institutions act any differently?

 

Punch

Many of my career mentors have given me a similar tidbit of advice: Do what you know.
For the most part, it seems wise. I personally couldn’t imagine being in a job I knew absolutely nothing about. How long would it take for me to be successful? Would I get on my colleagues' nerves having to constantly ask for assistance?
But if you asked billionaire Richard Branson, it’s the worst advice he’s ever received. He broke through by doing the complete opposite.
“Most of my successful businesses were in industries where I had no industry experience at all,” Branson said on a recent episode of the Work Life with Adam Grant podcast. 
Exploring new projects and fields is smart, said Grant, a Wharton organizational psychologist: People who stay in a single, familiar industry sometimes develop “cognitive entrenchment,” he said.
In other words, as employees and scholars gain expertise, they can lose “flexibility with regard to problem-solving, adaption and creative idea generation,” according to research from Rice University published in 2010.
Instead, “when you’re fresh to an industry, from the outside, you get that ability to see what’s taken for granted and challenge it,” Grant told Branson on the episode.
I find Branson’s perspective insightful — after all, you can’t learn something new without trying something new.

 

CNBC

Some clerics, rights activists, and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Nigeria are furious following the decision of the federal government to sign the controversial Samoa Agreement.

The agreement reportedly has some clauses that compel underdeveloped and developing nations to support the agitations by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community for recognition, as condition for getting financial and other supports from advanced societies.

Named after the Pacific Island Samoa, where it was signed on November 15, 2023, the agreement is gradually gaining traction, despite opposition by many countries that cherish Islamic and Christianity values, in addition to the sensitivity of their cultures.

Information about the ratification of the deal by Nigeria came to public knowledge on Monday, July 1, when the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu confirmed the development at a reception organised by the European Union (EU) in Abuja.

But when contacted yesterday, Bagudu’s media assistant, Bolaji Adebiyi, said the documents signed by the federal government, which the Minister of Budget made reference to during the reception by the EU, were strictly for economic development of Nigeria.

He said nowhere in the documents were LGBT or same sex marriage mentioned even remotely, and emphatically stating that it would be wrong for anyone to imply that Nigeria had accepted those tendencies.

He insisted that what Bagudu signed was in relation to $150 billion trade component.

When contacted yesterday to know whether they were aware of recent controversies surrounding the Samoa Agreement, Kamarudeen Ogundele, who is the spokesman of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, said he had to make some findings.

He did not call our reporter back to share the information requested up to press last night.

A Lagos State based lawyer and Chairman, Human and Constitutional Rights Committee, African Bar Association (AfBA), Sonnie Ekwowusi, had raised an alarm on the development on Wednesday, in an article on the matter.

He said that the development was nauseating, occurring despite several meetings held with Nigerian officials, and memoranda sent to them. He questioned the judgement of the Nigerian officials in proceeding to sign the Samoa Agreement.

“The Samoa Agreement, named after the Pacific Island, Samoa, where it was signed on November 15, 2023 is a celebration of perversity. Certain Articles of the Agreement especially Articles 2.5 and 29.5 legalise LGBT, transgenderism, abortion, teen sexual abuse, and perversity in African countries. The signing of the Agreement by Nigeria constitutes a threat to the sovereignty of Nigeria and Africa. It further debases our democracy.

“I can wager that neither Bagudu nor the Nigerian officials or diplomats who signed the Samoa Agreement on our behalf, understand the import of the agreement to Nigeria’s sovereignty, let alone the destructive impact of the Agreement in Nigeria. This explains why many African bodies including the AfBA have condemned the agreement and respectfully urged African countries not to sign it.

“Not infrequently, Nigerian officials in Geneva, New York, and other places sign international agreements or treaties over a cup of coffee or a glass of wine with little or no knowledge of their contents,” Ekwowusi said.

He further queried: “Were the Nigerian officials who signed the offensive Samoa Agreement representing their own interests or the interests of the Nigerian people? Having refused to sign the Agreement earlier, why did Nigeria change its mind and proceed to sign the Agreement?”

He recalled that on November 15, 2023, Nigeria, to the bewilderment of the EU, refused to sign the “offensive” deal.

He also said that apart from Nigeria, 34 other African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries, including the Republic of Benin, Senegal, Liberia, Botswana, Burundi, Jamaica, Mali, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia, Namibia, Grenada, Eritrea, Malawi, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea, the Kingdom of Eswatini, the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, the Republic of Maldives, Mauritania, the Republic of Nauru, the Republic of Palau, Saint Lucia, the Republic of Saint Kitts and Nevis, the Kingdom of Tonga, the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and Tuvalu, also refused to sign the LGBT Agreement.

“In fact, on that fateful November 15, 2023, Nigeria not only refused to sign the LGBT Agreement but was conspicuously absent in Samoa on the day of the signing. Frustrated by the refusal of these 35 countries to sign the Agreement, the European Union issued a significant threat dated November 24, 2023,” he said.

He said that the signing of the Samoa Agreement was completely unacceptable and Nigeria must undo the damage, by immediately withdrawing from the LGBT agreement.

He also urged the National Assembly to invite the Nigerian officials who signed the agreement to explain why they did so.

It won’t stand –NSCIA

When contacted Wednesday night, an official of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), said that the council’s stance on same sex marriage or LGBT remained unchanged.

Abubakar Akande, who is the Administrative Secretary of the council, said that though they were invited and attended the meeting in March this year, it was not for them to ratify or oppose the draft shared with them.

He said that the 403-page document containing 104 articles was given to the Legal Director of the NSCIA, and that there was no same sex marriage in the draft.

“We (NSCIA) would not welcome such agreement. Our stance remains the same since the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan. We cannot agree to what is against the injunction of our Creator, Allah, on this matter, and which also disrespects Nigeria’s sovereignty,” he said.

On his part, the Ameer (leader), Abuja Muslim Forum (AMF), Abdulrazaq Ajani, said that the African civil society organisations (CSOs), which the AMF is a part of, had met top government officials and members of the two chambers of the National Assembly yesterday, especially the chairmen of the relevant committees in the House of Representatives, and also the administrative leadership of the legislators.

He said they rejected the move completely.

N/Assembly didn’t consider Samoa Agreement – Rep Yusuf

When contacted yesterday, Rabiu Yusuf, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Treaties, Protocols, and Agreements, said that the Samoa Agreement had not been brought before the National Assembly for consideration.

“To the best of my knowledge, nothing has happened in the National Assembly regarding the Samoa Agreement,” he said.

 It’s a disgrace, if true-African CSOs

Speaking with Daily Trust Wednesday night, a coalition of some African CSOs said that it will be a huge disappointment for Nigeria and its citizens, if it turns out to be true that the deal was signed, and that it is toxic to the moral standing of the citizens of Nigeria.

Richard Kakeeto, a Kenyan lawyer with Family Watch International, Africa Region, told Daily Trust that Africa was counting on Nigeria when it decided not to sign the Samoa Agreement, initially.

“Many African countries, people of goodwill, were hoping that Nigeria will remain in that situation of not signing and probably even withdrawing from the Samoa Agreement totally.

“However, we have received information that on the 28th day of June 2024, the Ambassador of Nigeria in Brussels was given a go-ahead but we don’t know who signed the Samoa Agreement.

“As a result, Nigeria has committed itself to the human rights agenda of the European Union that involves the mainstreaming of sexual and reproductive health and rights, a term or a euphemism that is used to talk about abortion on demand, the sexualization of our children through comprehensive sexuality education, and the proliferation of reproductive sexual and reproductive health services, including hormones to sustain the homosexual lifestyle and transgender practices.

“The word LGBTQ++ that Nigerians have been contesting is now part of our law because Nigeria has decided to sign it. So, Nigerians should be very bitter with what is going on. They should challenge their legislators and policy makers to explain why they chose to commit to this dangerous agreement,” Kakeeto said.

On her part, Mrs. Omoye Olaye, Media Coordinator, World Council for Health (WCH) International and Foundation for African Cultural Heritage (FACH), said the federal government must rescind the deal.

“Our stand is very clear. Whoever signed on behalf of Nigerians needs to apologise to Nigerians. But we need more than the apology. We need President Bola Tinubu, to rescind that signature.

“All he (Tinubu) needs to do is to apologise on Nigeria’s behalf very nicely and tell them that the truth is we have not signed. We are withdrawing from the ACP EU Treaty. That is all we ask the President to do. That is all we will accept. Anything less than that will not be accepted,” she said.

Minister’s speech wrongly interpreted – Spokesman

Speaking more on what the budget minister said, Adebiyi said Ekwowusi’s article was misleading.

“The article does not represent the content of the Samoa Agreement signed by Nigeria. The Articles 2.5 and 29.5 cited made no mention of LGBT rights but rather 29.5 guarantees “support [for] universal access to sexual and reproductive health commodities and health care services, including family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes”, he said.

“Article 2.5 states that: “The parties shall systematically promote a gender perspective and ensure that gender equality is mainstreamed across all policies.

“I fail to see how these articles imply the protection of LGBT rights. Please, note that this is a negotiated agreement among the 27 EU countries and 79 OACPS, which is subject to domestic laws. All 27 EU countries and 74 of the 79 OACPS have signed. Nigeria was the 73rd to sign last Friday, 28th June, in Brussels.

“Following the controversy around the agreement, the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning organised a stakeholders meeting in March in Abuja, comprising NGOs and religious bodies during which concerns were addressed.

“Meanwhile, the EU reception the Minister attended was for the 9th Nigeria-EU Business Forum. It was held in Abuja (not Enugu) on July 1,” he said.

Ex-President Jonathan signed anti-gay law in 2014

Former President Jonathan in January 2014, signed into law a bill that criminalises same sex relationships, defying western pressure over gay rights and provoking United States criticism.

The law contains penalties of up to 14 years in prison and bans gay marriage, same sex ‘amorous relationships’ and membership of gay rights groups.

Various religious bodies across Nigeria have reiterated their commendations to past administrations for maintaining Nigeria’s strong objection to the LGBT tendencies.

 

Daily Trust