Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has countered President Bola Tinubu over the claim that N1 trillion has been saved since his government stopped payment of fuel subsidy.

In a nationwide broadcast on Monday, the president had said a total of N1 trillion had been saved since subsidy payment was stopped.

“In a little over two months, we have saved over a trillion Naira that would have been squandered on the unproductive fuel subsidy which only benefitted smugglers and fraudsters. That money will now be used more directly and more beneficially for you and your families,” he had said.

But speaking during the ongoing nationwide protest of labour, Joe Ajaero, NLC President, said the committee that the Federal Government set up to negotiate with the unions disclosed that not a single kobo had been saved since subsidy was removed.

Ajaero spoke when he. alongside Festus Osifo of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), led protesters to the national assembly complex on Wednesday.

“Mr President talked about N1trillion saved. The committee where we meet, they told us that no one kobo has been saved so far. Therefore, we have not agreed on what to pay anywhere,” he said.

During his inaugural speech on May 29, President Tinubu had announced removal of fuel subsidy, leading to increase in the price of petrol from N195 to N540 per litre.

Later in July, the price was increased to N617 per litre.

Nigerians have been lamenting the effect of subsidy removal on their lives, but the Tinubu administration has repeatedly promised relief.

Daily Trust

Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has asked Google to delete 18 digital money lending companies’ (DMLs) apps from the Play Store, over violation of registration rules.

The commission spoke in a statement issued on Wednesday, signed by Babatunde Irukera, its chief executive officer (CEO).

The DMLs include; Getloan, Camelloan, Cashlawn, Nairaloan, Eaglecash, Moneytreefinance Made Easy, Luckyloan Personal Loan, and Joy Cash-Loan Up to 1,000,000.

Others are Cashme, Easynaira, Swiftcash, Crediting, Swiftkash, Hen Credit loan; Nut loan; Cash door; Cashpal, and Nairaeasy gist loan.

FCCPC said the aforenamed companies, although registered, will cease to operate unless they provide a proof of compliance with the limited interim regulatory/registration framework and guidelines for digital lending, 2022.

The commission, therefore, gave the DMLs five days to submit proof.

“The commission entered an order to Google LLC (Google) to remove the same from the Play Store, and prohibited payment gateways or services from providing or continuing services to the affected businesses,” the statement reads.

“The commission, as part of its continuing investigation and audit, has identified additional apps operating on the Google Play Store without regulatory approval or in violation of the guidelines.”

As a result, the FCCPC said it asked “Google to immediately remove, withdraw or drawdown” the aforementioned apps.

“The commission will continue engaging Google to clarify how and why apps that have not received relevant regulatory approvals are available on Google’s platform (Play Store),” the consumer agency said.

“Under the guidelines, only DMLs that have been subjected to regulatory scrutiny and compliance evidenced by written approval from the commission are allowed on Play Store.”

FCCPC DEMANDS COMPLIANCE EVIDENCE FROM DMLS

The FCCPC, speaking further on compliance, said some DMLS have resorted to the use of Android package kits (APK) file formats to reach consumers outside of Google’s Play Store.

This, the commission said, appears to be a device by some of the DMLs to evade or avoid regulatory compliance.

“Compliance with the guidelines is mandatory for all DMLs regardless of whether they intend to be placed on Play Store, operate by APK file formats or any other means for that matter,” FCCPC said.

“Failure to comply with the guidelines is a violation of law, and renders any such operation illegal. DMLs operating by any means or on any platforms whatsoever are, hereby, required to provide evidence of compliance with the guidelines within five days from the date of this release.”

The consumer body also urged all existing and approved DMLs providing digital lending services through APK file formats in addition to Play Store, to provide evidence that such APK operations are in compliance with the law.

The FCCPC added that all previously approved DMLSs or otherwise must “revalidate the information provided to the commission by filling DL form 001 and resubmit the same to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.“.

The commission said companies that refuse to adhere to the directive will be permanently delisted and prohibited, and subjected to a law enforcement action, including prosecution.

The Cable

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine says Russians fail to advance but are well dug in

Russian forces have made no headway along the front lines, but are entrenched in heavily mined areas they control, making it difficult for Ukrainian troops to move east and south, Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday.

Russian accounts of the fighting on the frontline said 12 Ukrainian attacks had been repelled in Donetsk region - a focal point of Russian advances for months.

Much of Russian military activity focused on air attacks that damaged grain infrastructure in Ukraine's Danube port of Izmail. Russia's Defence Ministry also said its forces had destroyed a Ukrainian naval drone that tried to attack a Russian warship escorting a civilian vessel in the Black Sea.

Ukrainian forces launched a drive in June to retake occupied areas and have been pressing southward toward the Sea of Azov to sever a land bridge between occupied eastern Ukraine and the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula.

Kyiv also says it has retaken areas near Bakhmut, an eastern city seized by Russian forces in May after months of battles.

Deputy Ukrainian Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said Russian forces had "tried quite persistently to halt our advance in the Bakhmut sector. Without success."

Russian forces, she wrote on the Telegram messaging app, were beefing up reserves and equipment in three areas further north, where heavy fighting has also been reported in recent weeks.

Oleksiy Danilov, the Secretary of Ukraine's Security Council, said Russian forces had ample time in months of occupation to prepare defences and lay extensive minefields.

"The enemy has prepared very thoroughly for these events," he told national television. "The number of mines on the territory that our troops have retaken is utterly mad. On average, there are three, four, five mines per square metre."Danilov restated assertions by President Volodymyr Zeleskiy that the advances, while slower than hoped, could not be rushed as human lives were at stake.

"No one can set deadlines for us, except ourselves... there is no fixed schedule," he said. "I have never used the term counter-offensive. There are military operations and they are complex difficult and depend on many factors."

Russia's Defence Minister, in its account of the fighting,

said Ukrainian forces had made unsuccessful attempts to advance in several sectors in both southern and northern parts of Donetsk region.

It also said Russian forces had launched strikes on towns around Bakhmut, including Kurdyumovka on the city's southern fringes and Chasiv Yar, the first major town to the west.

** Ukrainians forced to become Russian citizens, US-backed research finds

Ukrainians living in Russian-occupied territory are being forced to assume Russian citizenship or face harsh retaliation, including possible deportation or detention, U.S.-backed research published on Wednesday said.

Yale University researchers said that as part of a plan by Moscow to assert authority over Ukrainians, residents of the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions are being targeted by a systematic effort to strip them of Ukrainian identity.

A series of decrees signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin compel Ukrainians to get Russian passports, in violation of international humanitarian law, the report said.

The Kremlin has consistently denied allegations of war crimes in Ukraine by forces taking part in a "special military operation" it says was launched to "de-Nazify" its neighbour and protect Russia.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said in May that Moscow has given passports to almost 1.5 million people living in the annexed parts of Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions since last October.

Ukrainians in occupied territory who do not seek Russian citizenship "are subjected to threats, intimidation, restrictions on humanitarian aid and basic necessities, and possible detention or deportation – all designed to force them to become Russian citizens," the report said.

"What is concerning here is that it represents, basically, a violation of the Hague and Geneva Conventions," said Executive Director Nathaniel Raymond of the Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School of Public Health. "It is very widespread and very ongoing."

Ukrainians in areas under Russian control have no choice but to accept a Russian passport if they want to survive, or they face potential detention and, as the team has documented, deportation into Russia if they fail to comply," Raymond said.

Responsibility lies at the Kremlin with Putin, who has been indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of deporting Ukrainian children and occupation authorities, he said.

The Kremlin has said that the ICC's decision to issue an arrest warrant for Putin is a sign of the "clear hostility" that exists against Russia and against Putin personally.

The report was released as part of the Conflict Observatory program, with the support of the U.S. State Department and conducted by research partner the Yale School of Public Health's Humanitarian Research Lab.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

West’s plan to cancel Russia going nowhere — Putin

The policy of the Kiev regime and its Western handlers, who seek to destroy everything related to Russia, has no future, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with members of the government.

Touching upon the integration of Russia’s new regions into Russian culture, Putin pointed out, "Strictly speaking, the inhabitants of those new regions have never left this space, as they cherish their native language and have a great interest in Russia’s great heritage of literature. I know that they love the works of our prominent compatriots."

"And this is despite all the attempts of the current Ukrainian authorities to ban Russian classics and contemporary books, to remove them from shops and libraries, and on top of that, to wipe them out. Both they and their Western handlers daydream about doing this to everything or everyone who thinks, speaks or reads in Russian," the president stated.

In his opinion, "such a policy has never had and will never have any future."

"And the people have responded unambiguously," the president said, recalling how people from the four regions had voted on joining Russia.

"The Russian lands of Donbass and Novorossiya since time immemorial have returned home, have come back into the fold. We are rebuilding them step by step, establishing peaceful life in the liberated territories, including in the cultural and educational fields," Putin said.

** Ukraine giving up on Western battle tactics – NYT

The Ukrainian military is abandoning the battle tactics of its Western trainers and returning to a strategy of longer-range stand-offs against Russian forces, the New York Times reported on Wednesday. However, it remains unclear whether Kiev has enough ammunition to sustain such a plan.

Since it began in early June, Ukraine’s ongoing counteroffensive has been acknowledged by officials in Washington and Kiev as disappointingly slow at best, and a failure at worst. Attacking through Russian minefields without air support, Ukraine’s Western-supplied tanks and armored vehicles have been picked off by Russian aviation and artillery, and Moscow estimates that the offensive has cost Kiev at least 30,000 men.

At the forefront of the offensive were Ukraine’s nine NATO-trained brigades, one of which – the 47th Mechanized Brigade – reportedly lost 30% of its American-made Bradley Infantry Fighting vehicles in two weeks.

In response to these losses, “Ukrainian military commanders have changed tactics, focusing on wearing down the Russian forces with artillery and long-range missiles instead of plunging into minefields under fire,” the New York Times wrote, citing “US officials and independent analysts.”

With training times limited, the Ukrainians struggled to put NATO-standard combined arms tactics into practice, the newspaper noted, citing incidents where one Ukrainian unit strayed from a safe path into a minefield, and another where an infantry unit failed to follow an artillery bombardment with an assault on Russian lines, giving the Russian defenders adequate time to prepare a counterattack.

American military planners began training Ukrainian troops in maneuver warfare in a bid to conserve ammunition. “As they place more emphasis on maneuver… there’s a good chance that they’ll require less artillery munitions,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin explained in February. 

Although NATO military doctrine typically assumes that maneuver warfare will be conducted after Western forces have established air superiority, Ukraine launched its counteroffensive lacking this critical component of the strategy. Nevertheless, Western officials and media outlets heralded Ukraine’s new NATO playbook as a “hidden advantage” that would help “give Ukrainian forces the agility and speed they need to overcome Russia’s preferred war of attrition and to recapture Russian-occupied territory,” according to Foreign Affairs magazine.

The fact that this did not happen “raises questions about the quality of the training the Ukrainians received from the West and about whether tens of billions of dollars’ worth of weapons…have been successful in transforming the Ukrainian military into a NATO-standard fighting force,”the Times wrote.

With the Ukrainian military apparently returning to an artillery-heavy fighting style, the issue of ammunition will likely return to the forefront. US stockpiles are already depleted to the point where Washington is sending cluster munitions instead of NATO-standard 155mm shells, and the Times stated that by burning through its limited ammo, Ukraine risks “disadvantage” in a “war of attrition.”

** US frustrated with Zelensky – CNBC

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s conduct is a source of annoyance in Washington, CNBC reported on Wednesday. Zelensky angers his American backers by ignoring their orders and issuing ever-greater demands, anonymous officials told the network.

Zelensky lashed out at NATO leadership before the bloc's summit in Lithuania last month, claiming it was “unprecedented and absurd” that the US-led bloc hadn’t offered Ukraine a timeline for membership. His outburst “did not really resonate well in Washington,” an anonymous source “with knowledge of the matter” told the American broadcaster. “The US administration was very annoyed.”

The incident drew sharp criticism from the normally-supportive UK, and left Washington so “furious” that it considered withdrawing its support for Ukraine’s eventual membership, the Washington Post reported.

CNBC’s source said that the pre-summit incident was one of several clashes between Washington and Kiev that have taken place since the conflict with Russia began last year. 

“So the US is strongly advising Ukraine not to do certain things, but Kiev does them anyway, brushing aside or not addressing US concerns,” the source said. “And [then] they come at the United States, or Washington or the Biden administration, complaining about not being involved in NATO talks.”

The battle for the Donbass city of Artyomovsk (known as Bakhmut in Ukraine) was a source of major tension between Zelensky and the US, pro-Ukraine military analyst Konrad Muzyka told CNBC.

“The Americans were encouraging, to put it mildly, the Ukrainians not to fight certain battles in the way that Russia wanted them to fight, as it could have long-term consequences in terms of manpower losses and artillery ammunition expenditure,” Muzyka explained. However, Zelensky insisted on trying to defend the city in the face of mounting casualties, before Wagner Group fighters declared it captured in May.

“The result is that they’ve lost a lot of men,” Muzyka said. “They expended a lot of artillery munitions, which would otherwise be used for this counteroffensive, and lastly, they burned out a lot of barrels for their guns, meaning they are unable to fully support their forces in the Bakhmut area.”

By the time Kiev did launch its counteroffensive against Russian forces in June, the US knew the Ukrainian military was unprepared. Zelensky first insisted that his troops would penetrate Russian lines and cut Russian forces’ access to Crimea. When the battle began to slow as Washington knew it would, he then lashed out at his Western patrons for apparently not providing enough weapons and ammunition to ensure success. 

“As long as the war continues, nothing can be enough,” Zelensky told Brazil’s Globo News broadcaster last week. 

Successive administrations in Nigeria start out by apprehending demons, or enigmatic forces, against which they will test their political strength and define the character of their government. Those forces are the factors on which all evil bedevilling the nation must necessarily be blamed. From coup speeches to inauguration addresses, each administration launches itself by stating what the others have done wrong and how they—the new government, that is—will fix it. Hell is always the previous government. For the eight years the last administration spent in power, they had a favourite demon—the whipping boy of their failures. The name they called it was “16 years of the Peoples Democratic Party.”

Apart from diabolising political opponents, former President Muhamadu Buhari, whose selling point to the nation was “anti-corruption,” accused even legitimate businesspeople of wrongdoing. The anti-elitism he elicited in his devoted supporters morphed into anti-enterprise and anti-wealth attitudes. In their talakawa mentality, everyone who was either doing well (or just not towing their path), was “corrupt” and somehow responsible for the pitiable state of Nigeria. I know some people who lost their businesses because their associates got tired of endless scrutiny of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and folded up the projects they were executing.

Buhari’s populist policies that successfully reduced millions to poverty could not have been implementable without the buy-in of the resentful multitude who thought they were helping him bring down the rich and powerful corrupt.

So, you can understand why Bola Tinubu’s Monday speech where he—finally! —addressed the nation on the direction of his economic agenda piqued my interest. Items three to five of that speech dragged out all the familiar Nigerian demons. He said the money spent on subsidy “was being funnelled into the deep pockets and lavish bank accounts of a select group of individuals. This group had amassed so much wealth and power that they became a serious threat to the fairness of our economy and the integrity of our democratic governance. To be blunt, Nigeria could never become the society it was intended to be as long as such small, powerful yet unelected groups hold enormous influence over our political economy and the institutions that govern it. The whims of the few should never hold dominant sway over the hopes and aspirations of the many.” Then, in item number 10 he added, that “the defects in our economy immensely profited a tiny elite, the elite of the elite you might call them.”

If Tinubu, as the president, cannot identify who these people are, then why did he bring them up for blame? There is no point in giving such information if not followed up with accountability. Even a child born last night already knows that the political class comprises robbers, so what is new? Precisely what stopped Tinubu from either giving us the relevant details of who these people are—plus, their hold over the government and what will become of them now that they are no longer getting stolen money—or leaving it out entirely? Mystifying them suggests an evasion of moral responsibility.

We deserve to know who these “tiny…elites of the elites” whose power not only supersedes that of the current president but every other leader that tried—but failed—to remove the subsidies. Even Tinubu’s chief of staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, contributed some inanity by stating that this mysterious cabal robbing everyone is more powerful than the government and the security agencies. Really? What is the source of their power?

We have had leaders in this country who were not only controlling enough to oversee massacres, but also stood up defiantly to every western institution that intervened in the name of human rights. If those “strongmen” could not remove fuel subsidy, it must mean that the power that this cabal’s power is beyond political and/or economical but also supernatural! How did they get so powerful that they make a whole president, with all the instruments of near unrestrained administrative power at his disposal, comparably impotent? In fact, Tinubu is still so afraid of them that he can only speak of them like he is a conspiracy theorist: deep pockets, select group, powerful yet unelected, the few, the elite of the elite. He might as well call them “spirits”!

Meanwhile, now that their powers have been clipped enough for the subsidies to have been removed, what will they do for a living? I find it hard to accept that the people who could be so powerful that they held down the nation’s destiny for so long control just that one aspect of the economy. They must be into some other affairs through which they are strengthened against the might of the nation; the end of the fuel subsidies cannot possibly be the end of their power over the nation.

By speaking crookedly, these politicians turn apprehensible political characters into metaphysical forces. The trouble with a government official spiritizing economic problems is that the war they will wage against these unseen and unseeable forces will not stay in the spiritual realms. It will get to the physical. So, watch out. Those invisible “elites of the elites” will supposedly be deprived of fuel subsidies, but guess who will bear the material brunt of policies designed to punish their corruption? You! Yes, you, dear gentle reader. You will be asked to endure the indefinite hardship. Even when your material condition remains unchanged, they will ask you to take some vicarious delight in knowing that some “powerful yet unelected” forces somewhere are also being depreciated. That tactic is also going to be their victory declaration. You still do not have electricity to power your home or cannot pay for the supply? Your salary cannot keep up with reality? Worry not, cosmic justice has come for even the “elites of the elites!” That was the narrative the Buhari administration used to pacify people while he wrecked everywhere.

To be clear, this is not a criticism of the fuel subsidies removal policy. I remain convinced that the fuel subsidies should go. One of the reasons was that the woes they predicted would happen if they were removed did while those subsidies subsisted. I also do not believe that the subsidies were maintained because the government did not want the masses to suffer. Fuel subsidies stayed for as long as they did because they served successive governments. When there was nothing left to plunder and no prospect of a windfall coming, they finally let go. Their choices have nothing to do with the masses. Those deep pockets, select group, powerful yet unelected, the few, the elite of the elite Tinubu identified did not dip their hands into Nigeria’s pockets; they were businesspeople who did shady business with a corrupt government that used legitimate tools to siphon public funds.

Tinubu can speak in all the metaphorical terms he likes, but he cannot convince any reasonable person that the corruption merchants he calls the “elites of the elites” are spectres whose names can only be mentioned in codes. A man who has maintained his hold on power since 1999 and amassed enough political capital to become president has no credible ground to stand on to accuse some “elites” of corruption. He cannot morally distance himself from the vast crime scene Nigeria has become; the changing colours of the chameleon deceive only the foolish.

See, when Tinubu describes the corruption of these elites by saying the money was being funnelled into the deep pockets and lavish bank accounts of a select group of individuals, notice his sly use of the passive voice? Good. Using active voice to construct that sentence would have required identifying a subject who would need to be accused of the heist. Not only would such straightforwardness indict his circle, but it is one more responsibility he cannot afford.

Punch

Our interactions with others greatly influence our thoughts and actions. When we surround ourselves with individuals who embody qualities, values, and behaviors that we admire, we are more likely to emulate those traits.

One of the best business and life tips I have ever received is finding the right inner circle to push you toward career growth or business success. The advice I got comes down to one simple sentence:

Choose to surround yourself with people who are smarter and better than you.

The Lesson

As the saying goes, "Birds of a feather flock together." We tend to adopt the habits and mindset of those with whom we spend the most time. 

If you associate with people further down the path, smarter than you, more skilled than you, and with life experiences different than yours, you'll drift in an upward, positive direction. I took this strategy to heart in my young career while moving up the ladder, but not without first learning some tough lessons. 

A few years into my corporate journey, it became painfully obvious that the network of friends I inherited in college and into my 20s was holding me back; my priorities shifted and I became more serious about making my mark in the business world while they still wanted to treat life as one big fraternity party.

The people you choose to be around truly matter for your career progression. When you choose to surround yourself with better and smarter individuals and learn from their success habits, you absorb their knowledge and become better and smarter yourself. 

That's the choice I had to make, and it has since paid off tenfold. The first step is to decide which people to surround yourself with and learn from. 

Here are three types I recommend:

1. Choose people with character

People operating with character and integrity can be trusted; you never have to worry about their actions or whether they're hiding anything from anyone. 

A person with character brings more truth and truth-tellers to the business or workplace, which makes it very attractive for others – partners, customers, suppliers, employees – seeking the same. 

Hiring and promoting people with character is a great way to build a superpower culture of high performers and high achievers – which is at the core of any great company.

2. Choose people who have experienced life to the full

By consciously seeking out individuals who possess qualities and behaviors that we aspire to have, we expose ourselves to new perspectives, rich life experiences, stories of excruciating failures and incredible resilience to beat the odds, and knowledge we can absorb and attain. 

Their experiences and journey inspire us, their optimism rubs off on us, and their success becomes a benchmark for our own aspirations. We begin to believe in our own potential and strive to achieve our own goals and aspirations.

3. Choose mentors

Associating with people who are better than us not only fosters personal development – when we surround ourselves with mentors, we gain access to their networks, resources, and opportunities. 

We are more likely to engage in constructive conversations, learn from their experiences, and receive valuable guidance and honest feedback. Through these associations, we expand our horizons and push ourselves to new heights.

In closing, it's essential to note that seeking out individuals who are better than us does not imply feelings of inadequacy or competition. Rather, it is about cultivating a mindset of growth and continuous improvement. 

It is about being inspired by the achievements of others and using them as motivation to push beyond our limits. When we surround ourselves with exceptional individuals, it encourages us to strive for excellence without fear of judgment or comparison.

Inc

The organised labour comprising Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and its Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart, has ruled out suspension of nationwide mass action against fuel price hike and other policies of the federal government.

Joe Ajaero, President of NLC, disclosed this to journalists Tuesday night at Labour House, Abuja.

Earlier, Festus Osifo, TUC President, had said labour leaders were going into a meeting to decide the final outcome on the protest.

Osifo said this after a meeting with Federal Government representatives led by Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu.

Gbajabiamila had said there were indications that labour would not go ahead with the protest.

But in his address, Ajaero said the protest would go on as planned.

The labour leader said the meeting held with representatives of the federal government did not change the union’s position on protest.

He directed state councils of the congress to mobilise heavily for the action.

“We have neither reconsidered nor suspended the nationwide mass protest. We want to inform all Nigerians that we have just risen from a meeting with the federal government where we sought to get them to listen to the demands of the people and workers of Nigeria.”

“The outcome of this meeting earlier today has, however, not changed anything or the course which we have set for ourselves tomorrow as custodians of the interests and desires of Nigerian workers and people.

“Nigerians are advised to ignore the work of fifth columnists who are working hard against the wishes of the people. We urge everyone to gather in our respective states and wherever we may be across the nation to give vent to this collective resolve. Once again, the Nationwide Mass Protest will start tomorrow,” Ajaero told journalists.

He listed labour’s demands as immediate implementation in good faith, of their resolutions with the congress jointly signed with the government and the TUC as well as “immediate reversal of all anti-poor policies of the government such as hike in school fees of tertiary institutions and fuel price”.

Other demands include fixing of local refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna; release of 8 months withheld salaries of university lecturers and workers; accord appropriate recognition and support to the presidential steering committee and the work of its sub-committees and put a stop to inhumane actions and policies of government.

Daily Trust

President Bola Tinubu has barely been in power for two months but his radical reforms are already trying the patience of fellow Nigerians.

Surging gasoline prices and rampant inflation following the abolition of fuel subsidies and exchange rate reform are hammering the poor in Africa’s most populous nation, where 40% of its citizens live in dire poverty.

The same measures have been celebrated by foreign investors, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The stock market has risen more than 20% and the country’s dollar-denominated eurobonds have seen double-digit returns since the president’s May 29 inauguration.

That’s no comfort to Seun Ameke as he surveys the relatively light traffic around the patch of ground where he runs a roadside car-repair business.

“There is no more traffic in Lagos because of Tinubu” Ameke, 35, said, laughing at the thought that the city’s notorious congested streets are a beneficiary of higher fuel costs.

He voted for the president but confesses surprise at how much harm that choice has done to his livelihood, with the number of his weekly customers down by 75%.

“When I call some of them, they tell me that they have stopped driving because of the higher cost of fuel,” he said.

Frustration has not yet sparked the sort of mass protests that turned deadly last month in Kenya, and Tinubu on Monday announced a $652 million package of measured designed to cushion the impact of his reforms, asking for patience for the measures to work.

“I plead with you to please have faith in our ability to deliver and in our concern for your well-being,” he said in a televised national address. “We will get out of this turbulence.”

Even so, observers worry that the pain from Tinubu’s actions could boil over as it did in 2020, triggered back then by fury over police brutality.

High gasoline prices are also keeping Bellow Ariyo off the road. The 35-year old single father and Uber driver says he’s sent his four-year-old daughter back to live with her grandmother because he can’t make ends meet.

“There’s no coping. I just have to survive like everybody,” he said, describing how the increased fuel cost has made it barely worth his while to venture out looking for customers because of the pinched profit margin. “We are basically living from hand to mouth now,” he said, adding that the only solution was to reinstate the fuel subsidy.

The subsidy cost the country an estimated $10 billion last year and it was highly vulnerable to corruption while encouraging smuggling into neighboring countries. Likewise, Nigeria’s exchange rate controls fostered an expensive and inefficient system that hurt investment and created profit opportunities for the well-connected with access to foreign exchange at the subsidized rate.

Tinubu, who last month declared a state of emergency over high food prices, channeled popular hostility toward the system by calling out the “handful of people who have been made filthy rich simply by moving money from one hand to another.”

The money saved by his reforms can now be better spent on improving services for the nation’s more than 200 million citizens, and in upgrading public infrastructure that will yield long-term gains.

“The pain is short to medium term but the nation will be better off for it and the people will be better off for it,” said Kola Karim, a prominent businessman and chairman of domestic oil producer Shoreline Natural Resources Ltd.

Nigeria spent 96% of its revenues to service its debt in 2022 and Tinubu is trying to work that staggering burden down.

“If it stays the course, Nigeria and Nigerians will thank this man after so many have tried and failed,” Karim said.

The boldness of Tinubu’s actions stands in stark contrast to the region’s other economic powerhouse, South Africa, where President Cyril Ramaphosa faces criticism for excessive caution in tackling the country’s challenges.

“The pain is short to medium term but the nation will be better off for it and the people will be better off for it,” said Kola Karim, a prominent businessman and chairman of domestic oil producer Shoreline Natural Resources Ltd.

Nigeria spent 96% of its revenues to service its debt in 2022 and Tinubu is trying to work that staggering burden down.

“If it stays the course, Nigeria and Nigerians will thank this man after so many have tried and failed,” Karim said.

The boldness of Tinubu’s actions stands in stark contrast to the region’s other economic powerhouse, South Africa, where President Cyril Ramaphosa faces criticism for excessive caution in tackling the country’s challenges.

“It is clear to a lot of people that the subsidy and the foreign exchange arbitrage were not benefiting majority of the population,” said Cheta Nwanze, lead partner at Lagos-based consultancy SBM Intelligence.

Such recognition has dimmed the appetite for protest at the short-term costs of the reforms, he said. The currently fragmented nature of the opposition and a lack of forceful pushback from labor unions also gives the government room to run.

The last widespread public protests over the removal of fuel subsidies was in 2012 and encouraged back then by Tinubu himself. The absence of a similarly galvanizing figure this time around is playing into the government’s hands, Nwanze said.

Kamilu Sani Fagge, a professor of political science at Bayero University in Kano, said Nigerians also appear to lack a “culture of resistance” that could generate effective, nationwide mass protests.

The county is divided along ethnic and religious lines, which the government can exploit. And people may mistrust the labor movement, believing its leadership will sell them out in negotiations, Fagge said.

The Nigerian Labour Congress has called for nationwide protests starting Aug. 2 over what it calls the “anti-poor” policies. But the action faces a court injunction and the NLC is holding talks with authorities.

The World Bank, which estimates that 4 million Nigerians were pushed into poverty between January and May 2023, says ending the fuel subsidy will lift inflation this year. But it sees that as a one-off effect while the reforms open a “window of opportunity.”

In the meantime, the dent in disposable income is going to be a drag on growth, something that Omotayo Olokede is already witnessing.

The manager of the upscale Westgate Shopping Mall on the Isheri road near Ikeja, the capital of Lagos state, said grocery store sales have been dwindling all year and the trend has gotten much worse.

“Sales have dropped by about 30% to 35% and there is nothing in the horizon that gives optimism,” he said.

Bloomberg

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says President Bola Tinunu’s broadcast on Monday was “bereft” of “concrete” plans to address the nation’s problems.

During the broadcast, Tinubu laid out plans by his administration to improve the living standard of Nigerians, grow the economy and mitigate the effect of petrol subsidy removal.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Debo Ologunagba, PDP spokesperson, said Nigerians should not believe Tinubu with “his staged address in feeble defence of his badly planned and hurriedly-executed policies that have worsened economic hardship and uncertainty across the country in the last two months”.

“The PDP is appalled that the address is another litany of false promises hurriedly put together by his handlers in the desperate bid to hoodwink and beguile Nigerians, blackmail labour fronts and divert public attention from the life-discounting experiences imposed by the APC government,” the statement reads.

“Such antics and play on the psychology of Nigerians with propaganda and empty promises are consistent with the deceptive trajectory of the APC since its emergence in 2014.

The opposition party alleged that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last administration with Tinubu as the leader “never fulfilled any of the promises made to Nigerians.

According to the statement, the PDP said the ruling party has remained unaccountable and “turned our once prosperous nation to the poverty capital of the world where over 130 million citizens cannot afford their daily meals and other necessities of life”.

“We invite Nigerians to note that a comprehensive review of the speech shows that it is merely aspirational, meant only to mesmerize the citizens as it is completely bereft of any concrete plans to tackle the energy crisis, production issues, monetary challenges and worsening insecurity in our country,” the PDP said.

“It is instructive to observe from the speech, that the APC has no marshal plan to stimulate domestic crude refining as an answer to the crippling energy and manufacturing deficits in the country, instead the APC has committed our nation to the mercies of foreign interests and market forces.

“The submission in the speech that there are no other ways but for Nigerians to suffer hardship and high costs further exposes APC’s scandalous cluelessness, lack of capacity and deficiency of innovative ideas to effectively steady and manage a nation like Nigeria.

“It also shows APC’s insensitivity to the suffering of Nigerians and lackadaisical approach to serious issues of governance. It is like the case of you take it or leave it! The APC should know that there is frustration in the society in the face of its apparent lack of ideas and leadership focus.”

The PDP asked Nigerians “not to despair over the new challenges presented by the speech but to remain calm and continue to support one another at this perilous time while hoping in the judiciary to restore their mandate for the enthronement of a purposeful, people-oriented and effective administration that will work only for the interest of the people”.

The Cable

On their tenth day at sea, the four Nigerian stowaways crossing the Atlantic in a tiny space above the rudder of a cargo ship ran out of food and drink.

They survived another four days, according to their account, by drinking the sea water crashing just meters below them, before being rescued by Brazilian federal police in the southeastern port of Vitoria.

Their remarkable, death-defying journey across some 5,600 kilometers (3,500 miles) of ocean underlines the risks some migrants are prepared to take for a shot at a better life.

"It was a terrible experience for me," said 38-year-old Thankgod Opemipo Matthew Yeye, one of the four Nigerians, in an interview at a Sao Paulo church shelter. "On board it is not easy. I was shaking, so scared. But I'm here."

Their relief at being rescued soon gave way to surprise.

The four men said they had hoped to reach Europe and were shocked to learn they had in fact landed on the other side of the Atlantic, in Brazil. Two of the men have since been returned to Nigeria upon their request, while Yeye and Roman Ebimene Friday, a 35-year-old from Bayelsa state, have applied for asylum in Brazil.

"I pray the government of Brazil will have pity on me," said Friday, who had already attempted to flee Nigeria by ship once before but was arrested by authorities there.

Both men said economic hardship, political instability and crime had left them with little option but to abandon their native Nigeria. Africa's most populous country has longstanding issues of violence and poverty, and kidnappings are endemic.

Yeye, a pentecostal minister from Lagos state, said his peanut and palm oil farm was destroyed by floods this year, leaving him and his family homeless. He hopes they can now join him in Brazil.

Friday said his journey to Brazil began on June 27, when a fisherman friend rowed him up to the stern of the Liberian-flagged Ken Wave, docked in Lagos, and left him by the rudder. To his surprise, he found three men already there, waiting for the ship to depart. Friday said he was terrified. He had never met his new shipmates and feared they could toss him into the sea at any moment.

Once the ship was moving, Friday said the four men made every effort not to be discovered by the ship's crew, who they also worried might offer them a watery grave.

"Maybe if they catch you they will throw you in the water," he said. "So we taught ourselves never to make a noise."

Spending two weeks within spitting distance of the Atlantic Ocean was perilous.

To prevent themselves from falling into the water, Friday said the men rigged up a net around the rudder and tied themselves to it with a rope. When he looked down, he said he could see "big fish like whales and sharks." Due to the cramped conditions and the noise of the engine, sleep was rare and risky. "I was very happy when we got rescued," he said.

Father Paolo Parise, a priest at the Sao Paulo shelter, said he had come across other cases of stowaways, but never one so dangerous. Their journey paid testament to lengths people will go in search of a new start, he said. "People do unimaginable and deeply dangerous things."

Reuters

The Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC) has reserved judgment on the petition which Peter Obi, Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP), filed to challenge the victory of President Bola Tinubu in the February 25 election.

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Tinubu winner of the election but Obi rejected the outcome and headed for the tribunal.

In their final written address dated July 20, Obi and Datti Baba Ahmed, his running mate, said Tinubu was not qualified to contest the election.

But a five-member of justices led by Haruna Tsammani said the date for the ruling would be communicated.

Obi and Datti were in court accompanied by renowned Novelist and scholar, Chimamanda Adichie.

Earlier, the court  had adjourned ruling in the petition of Atiku Abubakar, Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Daily Trust