Employment scams surged last year, as criminals leveraged artificial intelligence to steal money and personal information from unsuspecting job seekers, experts said.

Consumer reports of job scams jumped 118% in 2023 from the prior year, according to a recent report by the Identity Theft Resource Center.

Thieves generally pose as recruiters and post fake job listings to entice applicants, then steal valuable information during the “interview” process.

Often, they put these phony listings on reputable websites like LinkedIn and other job search platforms, ITRC said, making it tough to disentangle truth from fiction.

The typical victim loses about $2,000

A chief danger is divulging information about financial accounts or sensitive personal data (like a Social Security number) that criminals can then use to steal a job seeker’s identity.

Consumers reported losing $367 million to job and business opportunity scams in 2022, up 76% year over year, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

The typical victim lost a “whopping” $2,000, the FTC said.

Job scams aren’t the most prevalent fraud: They accounted for only 9% of total identity scams in 2023, second to Google Voice scams, which totaled 60%, ITRC said. (Google Voice scams trick people into sharing a Google verification code, which scammers can use for nefarious ends. They often target people on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace.)

However, employment scams are an “emerging” threat, said ITRC president and CEO Eva Velasquez.

“Job scams have been around since there were jobs,” Velasquez said. ”[But] they’ll continue to grow because of a number of external factors that are occurring.”

AI and remote work fuel job-scam growth

AI advancements are one of those factors: They allow scammers to generate job listings and recruitment messages that look and feel more legitimate, experts said.

“AI tools help refine the ‘pitch’ to make it more believable as well as compensate for cultural and grammar differences in language usage,” according to the ITRC report.

What’s more, the rise of remote work during the pandemic era have made workers and job seekers more comfortable with digital-only transactions, Velasquez said.

Job seekers may never see a physical person during a phony hiring or interview process: They may interact with a supposed recruiter only via text or WhatsApp message, Velasquez said, which amounts to a “big red flag.”

Recent college grads, immigrants or other people new to the U.S. workforce may think such digital-only hiring normal, especially for fully remote jobs, she said. But hiring generally doesn’t work this way, she added.

How job scams can rip you off

Con artists will “push you for money” during the hiring process, the FTC said.

They may send an invoice for advance payment of on-the-job equipment (like a computer ) or job training. They promise to reimburse you, but won’t, according to the federal agency.

Scammers may also ask for your personal information — like a driver’s license, Social Security number or bank account details — upfront in order to fill out “employment paperwork,” the FTC said.

“Scammers will promise you a great job, but what they really want is your money and your personal information,” New York Secretary of State Robert Rodriguez said in a consumer alert this year.

Job seekers should not expect to have to hand over personal information until after they’ve received and accepted a job offer, Velasquez said. (While this is a good screen for legitimacy, it may not provide a safety guarantee in all cases, she said.)

How to protect yourself from job scams

Ultimately, “there’s no sure-fire way to detect” job opportunity scams, according to the FTC.

Here’s what you should know and how you can better protect yourself, according to Velasquez and the FTC:  

• Don’t have a false sense of security on well-known job search platforms.
• Independently verify the company exists and is hiring. Don’t accept a job offer until you’ve done your own research.
• Be wary if you didn’t initiate contact with a prospective employer or recruiter. Instead, reach out to the company directly using contact information you know is legit.
• Only limited personal information is generally required during the application process: name, phone number, job and education history, and perhaps email and home address, Velasquez said.
• Digital-only interactions are a red flag. However, phone calls are also not a guarantee of security.
• Honest employers won’t send you a check to buy supplies or anything else, then ask you to send back the leftover money. This is a fake check scam.
• Be wary of something that sounds too good to be true. For example, a job ad for 100% remote work that requires few skills and a huge salary “is not realistic,” Velasquez said.

CNBC

The Informal Economy Report 2024 has shown that only 1.3 per cent of Nigerian informal businesses reach over N2.5 million profit on a monthly basis.

The report, which was compiled by financial technology provider, Moniepoint, revealed that the network of unregistered businesses, which contributed over half of the country’s GDP with teeming street vendors, artisans and service providers, appeared prosperous based on revenue figures.

The report, which was launched over the weekend in Abuja, also showed that businesses in the informal market contributed over half of Nigeria’s GDP as 72.3 per cent of informal businesses surpassed the N1m mark in monthly revenue.

“Put together, businesses in the informal market contribute over half of Nigeria’s GDP. This is evident in their revenues with the bulk of them (72.3 per cent) hitting monthly revenues of over N1,000,000 monthly. But their actual profit deviates from these high figures. Individually, most of them make less than N250,000 monthly. On the higher end of the spectrum, only about 1.3 per cent of businesses in Nigeria’s informal economy earn above N2.5m monthly,” it said.

The report also revealed that a significant portion (68.2 per cent) of their income went towards feeding and family expenses. This was followed by reinvestment in the business (29.7 per cent), with only a small percentage (3 out of 10) prioritising reinvestment.

Doris Anita, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, expressed confidence that the report would help the government to better understand the informal sector to know their needs and enhance growth and inclusion in the country.

She said, “We will see how we can take every recommendation and move the report forward. We will support you to do much better. We will rely on this report to better understand the informal sector and know their needs.”

On his part, Charles Odili, Director General of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), said, “The numbers support this reality as reaffirmed by this report. The vast majority of Nigeria’s approximately 40 million small businesses reside in the informal sector. They are all around us, from the unregistered beauty shop that began with a simple stool under a tree for customers to sit while the stylist worked her magic to the fruit store that grew from a wheelbarrow. Born of both necessity and entrepreneurial zeal, they exemplify the famous ‘hustling’.”

In his remarks, Babatunde Olofin, Managing Director of Moniepoint MFB, noted that the report was focused on the significance of Nigeria’s informal economy, the challenges faced by informal businesses in accessing credit, the impact of credit access on business growth and the challenges in formalising businesses.

Daily Trust

The recent declaration of a state of emergency on oil production by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) rings hollow in light of the ongoing and escalating crisis of crude oil theft in Nigeria. Despite the grandiose rhetoric from NNPCL's Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, at the 23rd Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition Week, the reality on the ground tells a starkly different story.

Kyari's proclamation of "war means war" and his assurances that NNPCL possesses the "right tools" to combat the challenges crippling crude oil production are belied by the persistent and worsening theft in the production areas. According to some estimates, the officially declared daily crude production is barely half of what is actually being produced. This discrepancy points to a massive and systematic siphoning off of Nigeria's crude oil by a network of thieves that remains largely untouched by the current measures.

The NNPCL's focus on overcoming procedural delays and engaging partners, while necessary, fails to address the root of the problem: the pervasive and entrenched criminal enterprise that is crude oil theft. It is not merely the occasional foreign oil thieves who should be the targets of law enforcement; the major culprits are often prominent players within the industry itself, who operate with impunity.

The current management of NNPCL, despite their public declarations and posturing, has proven woefully inadequate in curbing this menace. There has been a glaring lack of accountability and transparency. Not a single major figure within the industry involved in oil theft has been prosecuted or even named. This points to either a severe incompetence or, more alarmingly, a collusion between the management and the thieves.

The financial repercussions of this failure are profound. Nigeria is hemorrhaging valuable foreign exchange earnings, the value of the Naira continues to decline, and local refineries struggle with insufficient crude supply. Each day that the NNPCL fails to effectively address oil theft is a day that Nigeria’s economic stability and development are further compromised.

It is time for a significant overhaul in the leadership of NNPCL. The current management, having demonstrated an inability to combat oil theft effectively, must be relieved of their positions. Fresh leadership, untainted by past failures and with a genuine commitment to transparency and accountability, is urgently needed. This new leadership must prioritize the identification and prosecution of the major players in the oil theft network, irrespective of their status or connections within the industry.

Only through decisive action and true accountability can Nigeria hope to stem the tide of crude oil theft. Empty threats and hollow declarations will no longer suffice. The NNPCL must move beyond words and take real, concrete steps to safeguard Nigeria's oil assets and restore integrity to the industry.

Netanyahu: Gaza deal must let Israel resume fighting until war goals met

Any Gaza ceasefire deal must allow Israel to resume fighting until its objectives are met, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday, as talks over a U.S. plan aimed at ending the nine-month-old war were expected to restart.

Five days after Hamas accepted a key part of the plan, two officials from the Palestinian militant group said the group was awaiting Israel's response to its latest proposal.

Netanyahu was scheduled to hold consultations late on Sunday on the next steps in negotiating the three-phase plan that was presented in May by U.S. President Joe Biden and is being mediated by Qatar and Egypt.

It aims to end the war and free around 120 Israeli hostages being held in Gaza.

Hamas has dropped a key demand that Israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire before it would sign an agreement. Instead, it said it would allow negotiations to achieve that throughout the six-week first phase, a Hamas source told Reuters on Saturday on condition of anonymity.

But Netanyahu said he insisted the deal must not prevent Israel from resuming fighting until its war objectives are met. Those goals were defined at the start of the war as dismantling Hamas' military and governing capabilities, as well as returning the hostages.

"The plan that has been agreed to by Israel and which has been welcomed by President Biden will allow Israel to return hostages without infringing on the other objectives of the war," Netanyahu said.

The deal, he said, must also prohibit weapons smuggling to Hamas via the Gaza-Egypt border and should not allow for thousands of armed militants to return to northern Gaza.

U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns is to meet with the Qatari prime minister and the Israeli and Egyptian intelligence chiefs on Wednesday in Doha, said a source familiar with the issue who asked not to be further identified.

Burns is also expected to visit Cairo this week, along with an Israeli delegation, Egypt's Al Qahera News TV reported on Sunday, citing a high-ranking source.

There was no letup in fighting inside Gaza, where late on Sunday the Israeli military renewed orders for residents and displaced families in several districts in Gaza City to leave their homes. Some residents said they were surprised by the sounds of tank shells and gunfire from Israeli drones, as some managed to flee and others were trapped at home.

"This is the sixth time we have been displaced, we don’t know where we should go. To be honest, I don’t know. I have a three-storey building and now it was hit, I just got the news," a displaced woman who asked not to be identified told Reuters in Gaza City.

"My husband is an amputee and he is stuck in Shejaiya. We have heard no news about him," she said.

Palestinian health officials later said an Israeli air strike on a house in Jabalia on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip had killed at least 10 people, with many wounded and others still missing.

The new talks follow months of failed attempts to reach a ceasefire in stop-start negotiations that several times led nowhere after Washington said a deal was close.

A Palestinian official close to the talks said the proposal could lead to a framework agreement if embraced by Israel and would end the war.

"We have left our response with the mediators and are waiting to hear the occupation's response," one of the two Hamas officials told Reuters, asking not to be identified.

Another Palestinian official with knowledge of the ceasefire deliberations said Israel was in talks with the Qataris and that a response was expected within days.

PROTESTS IN ISRAEL

In Israel, protesters took to the streets across the country to press the government to agree to the Gaza ceasefire deal, which would bring back hostages still being held in Gaza.

They blocked rush-hour traffic at major intersections across the country, picketed politicians' houses and briefly set fire to tyres on the main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway before police cleared the way.

In Gaza, Palestinian health officials said at least 15 people were killed in Israeli strikes.

Among them were Ehab Al-Ghussein, the Hamas-appointed deputy minister of labour whose wife and children were killed in May, and three other people killed in a strike at a church-run school in western Gaza City sheltering families, Hamas media and the Civil Emergency Service said.

The Israeli military said that after it took steps to minimise the risk of civilians being harmed there, it struck militants hiding in the school and a nearby weapon-making facility.

In central and northern areas of Rafah, on the southern Gaza border with Egypt, Israeli tanks deepened their raids. Health officials there said they had recovered three bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire.

The Israeli military said its forces had killed 30 Palestinian gunmen in Rafah in the past day, and that one of its soldiers was killed in combat.

In Shejaia, an eastern suburb of Gaza City, the military said its forces had killed several gunmen and located weapons and explosives. It published a drone video showing gunmen, some appearing to be wounded or dead, in a house.

Reuters could not immediately verify the video.

The conflict was triggered on Oct. 7 when fighters led by Hamas, which controlled Gaza, attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.

More than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's military onslaught, according to Gaza health officials, and the coastal enclave has largely been reduced to rubble.

Reuters

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Iskander crew strike destroys two launchers of Patriot air defense system near Odessa

The crew of the Iskander complex destroyed two launchers of Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems and a Giraffe radar in the Odessa region, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

"The crew of the Iskander operational-tactical complex attacked the position of a battery of the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system of the Ukrainian armed forces near the village of Yuzhnoye in the Odessa region. As a result of the strike, two Patriot air defense missile launchers and a Giraffe radar were destroyed," the ministry said.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia claims strikes on two Ukrainian Patriot systems that Kyiv says were decoys

Russia said on Sunday it struck two Patriot air defence launch systems, but Ukraine said Moscow had hit decoy targets designed to squander expensive enemy missiles.

Russia's defence ministry said in a statement the attack took place in the area of the Black Sea port of Yuzhne, adding that a radar station was also destroyed. It said Iskander-M ballistic missiles had been used.

Commenting on videos of the attack circulating on social media, Ukraine's air force commander Mykola Oleshchuk said in a post on Telegram on Saturday evening, that Russia had hit Ukrainian decoy Patriot systems.

Reuters could not independently verify either side's claims.

Ukraine has previously exhibited cheap decoys built to look like multi-million dollar western air defence and missile systems for which Moscow is hunting in Ukraine.

The Patriot system, which has proved extremely effective in this war and of which Ukraine has very few, is at the top of Moscow's target list.

Oleshchuk added that Russia had also hit decoy planes in a missile attack on a Ukrainian military airfield on Wednesday.

"Thank you to all who help with quality decoy planes and air defence systems. The enemy now has fewer Iskanders, but we will bring up more decoys."

A video released on Telegram by the Russian ministry showed daylight explosions on uninhabited land near a coastline, after zooming in to identify objects.

RT/Reuters

Witchcraft is the exercise or invocation of alleged supernatural powers, typically involving sorcery, magic, incantations, manipulation and deception to control people or events. With the collaboration of people and egregore of inferior astral, witchcraft influences the world of the living.

Witchcraft practitioners manipulate people, create dubious fantasies, mystify realities, and propagate Eldorado to their victims. The lower astral entities feed on human energy, and in return, their human collaborators get wealth, power and fame, which are destructive to society and humanity.

Tinubunomics, in concrete reality, is witchcraft-economism. Its advocates have been desperately trying to present it as President Bola Tinubu’s “economic philosophy and policies”. But there is nothing original or new about Tinubunomics! It is the continuation of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) neo-liberalism in Nigeria. This is what different Nigerian governments have been implementing since 1984.

What is “new” about Tinubunomics is its uncritical, slavish, aggressive and reckless implementation of this neoliberalism.

The ground for Tinubunomics was secured during the prolonged years of military despotism (1984-1999). The despots could not aggressively implement neoliberalism, primarily because of the organised power of democratic and progressive students, workers, academics, journalists, market people, and lawyers. These forces stubbornly resisted neoliberalism. Besides, the despots, as brutal cowards, were afraid of being disgraced out of power.

The Obasanjo and Jonathan administrations cleared the ground for the emergence of Tinubunomics. President Olusegun Obasanjo capitalised on the popular sentiments against military despotism to do so. Major leaders of the Labour Movement collaborated with his government to implement neoliberalism. Further, the Student Movement, led by degenerate student-politicians, aligned with politicians to subvert democracy and development.

The extremely inept, insensitive, divisive and disastrous government of President Muhammadu Buhari fertilized the ground for the germination of Tinubunomics. Tinubunomics in fact sprouted and immediately began flowering from 29 May, 2023.

Just as witchcraft incantations sound poetic, so does Tinubunomics. It poetizes that the harsh operating environment of the manufacturing and other productive sectors, will be eliminated. That agriculture will be promoted. Raw materials scarcity will be eradicated. High interest rates will be reduced! Multiple taxation will be abolished. High energy costs will be reduced.

Reckless borrowing will be checked. Forex illiquidity will be tackled. Access to capital will be ensured. Steady power will be ensured. Corruption will be fought. Insecurity will be checked. State-owned refineries will be operational. Infrastructure will be developed. Nigeria’s foreign affairs will be subordinated to national interests!

Tinubunomics, like witchcraft, involves lying to clients. Which was why it promised creating “prosperity for all”, especially for the youth, who are “Nigeria’s most important asset”. It posited that inclusivity, training, skills acquisition, entrepreneurship, free education up to secondary level, and affordable higher education will be given adequate attention. That food supply, security and affordability will be ensured. Poverty alleviated, if not eliminated. Health and social security safeguarded. Employment created. In fact, that “50 million jobs” will not only be created. “Living wage” will be paid, as it is “not only good economics … [but] also a morally and politically correct thing to do”.

But grammar is one thing, reality is another. Within a year, Tinubunomics increased petrol pump price by over 194.5 per-cent; diesel by 67.6 per cent and electricity tariff by 330.8 per cent. Naira was devalued by 220.4 per cent. Inflation rate was 31.15 per cent; and food inflation, 37.52 per cent. Also, interest rates rose from 18 to 26.25 per-cent; public debt increased by 11.4 per cent; and foreign reserve decreased by 11.4 per cent.

The Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (MAN) disclosed that about 767 manufacturers shut down operations in 2023 alone. Additionally, 335 companies were distressed financially. Market instability, unfulfilled promises, breaches of contract, foreign exchange market, and general economic instability were said to be mainly responsible. The Tinubu administration absorbed itself. Assuming for the sake of argument, this claim were true, didn’t he promise his government would right the wrongs?

Just as witchcraft insist on sacrifices and patience, so Tinubunomics insist that workers should sacrifice for the nation. Workers are, accordingly, being pressurised to technically accept a decreased National Minimum Wage (NMW) by accepting N60,000 (US$40). The current average take-home pay of the organised private sector is N70,000, that of federal workers N77,000, and Edo State workers, N70,000.

Corruption and primitive accumulation continue, notwithstanding the Tinubunomics rhetorics on economic engagement, anti-corruption, transparency, accountability, answerability, rule of law, and the promises of delivering effective, efficient and cheap services. It is hemorrhaging Nigeria into indebtedness, bankruptcy, and de-industrialisation. It is deepening the culture of despotism, weakening state capacity to deliver services to the citizens, and broadening state-society alienation.

Tinubunomics, contrary to its lyrics, is bleeding the working and other vulnerable people by enthroning more hunger, poverty, illiteracy and diseases. It is destroying family and societal cohesion by increasing unemployment, straining relationships, delaying or aborting marriages, promoting single parenthood, and inflicting hardship on Nigerian children and youth. All these, for the wealth, power and fame of imperialists and their Nigerian allies.

Tinubunomics is not just witchcraft-economism; it is also witchcraft-politicism. It speaks tirelessly from both sides of the mouth; endlessly makes promises but hardly fulfills any; religiously elevates propaganda as governance; and habitually tries to mystify reality. It passionately talks of democracy but promotes praise-singing, political entrism and suppression of opposition, even within its ranks! It glorifies press freedom but arrests and illegally detains journalists for simply doing their jobs!

As is typical of witchcraft-politicism, Tinubunomics throws palliatives at workers and other vulnerable people. Palliatives which further enslaves, dehumanizes and depersonalizes the poor by promoting dependency on the witches/wizards, discouraging innovation, encouraging laziness, eroding self-sufficiency, and destroying peoples’ initiatives to creatively and sustainably tackle their problems. It also divides the vulnerable, as well as weaken their power, solidarity, empathy and struggles. Tinubunomics, therefore, is a nomics, which is undemocratic, anti-democratic, anti-development, and anti-justice.

But witchcraft is impotent on the crowd. It is thus bound to generate resistance from the ground. It will surely propel and accelerate the struggle for progress, democracy, development and social justice. In June 2024, it happened to Rutonomics in Kenya, where the Gen Z forces led a popular uprising for democracy and progress.

The factors and forces necessary for igniting popular uprising are in Nigeria – flourishing and flowering for that matter. Besides, the Nigerian students have a history of organising, struggles, and a culture of resistance. So notwithstanding the control of the students’ movement by hedonist student-politicians, anything can happen!

Tinubu should, therefore, completely negate Tinubunomics by totally discarding IMF and WB neoliberalism. His administration should religiously pursue a Nigerian-made and driven development plan like those of the 1960s and 70s. It should, as a matter of necessity, importance and urgency, fully implement “Chapter Two” of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, which, amongst others, states that: “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.”

** Ahmed Aminu-Ramatu Yusuf worked as deputy director, Cabinet Affairs Office, The Presidency, and retired as General Manager (Administration), Nigerian Meteorological Agency, (NiMet). Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The average salary that Americans say would make them happy is $94,696, according to a Moneyzine.com survey of more than 1,200 people done in 2023. But research shows that money can’t buy happiness; happy people just seem to be more successful.

Tami Muller is a happiness trainer and positive psychology coach who has studied the science of happiness for the past five years. Through studying the topic, Muller learned that the hedonic treadmill of chasing happiness by trying to land the best job or make the most money isn’t an accurate way to attain it.

“Happy people make more money, have better relationships [and] are more successful in life, not vice versa,” Muller says.

“You can be happy now, and at the same time, you can save money,” she adds. “This is really active acceptance.”

Unless you’re using money to buy experiences, get extra time or donate to others, it can’t buy you happiness, social scientist and happiness expert, Arthur C. Brooks, teaches in his Harvard course about managing happiness.

Choosing to engage in practices like building strong social connections and finding a purpose that fuels you is what actually leads to happiness and fulfillment, not achieving a specific financial goal, Brooks emphasizes.

But being happier in life can lead to financial increases and success, Muller says. “Happiness is the thing that’s actually causing us to succeed,” she notes.

A 2005 systematic review of 225 papers found that being happy can lead to success in different areas of life including income and health.

And when it comes to having better relationships, the happiest people who live the longest prioritize and strengthen their personal connections often, according to a Harvard study with more than 80 years of data.

“We really need to focus not on how to be more successful, but how we can be happier,” Muller says, “Then success will follow.”

CNBC

Matthew Hassan Kukah, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto was a Guest Speaker at The Platform Special Edition held on June 12 and organized by Poju Oyemade under the auspices of The Covenant Nation in Lagos. Held under the theme, Democracy and the Free Market Economy, Kukah spoke on Nigeria’s 25 years of unbroken democracy and the way forward for the country. However, he said Nigeria’s democracy is in recession. Excerpts:

On using technology to fish out those stealing Nigeria’s money and stashing it in banks

I am in full support if such technology exists. If there are drones that can go around and find out those who have what… There must be a way of resolving this problem.

On the sorry state of Southern Kaduna

Talking about the demand side of economics, I come from the southern part of Kaduna State and we have been demanding for Southern Kaduna State since Kaduna State was created because, across the whole of Southern Kaduna, there is not a single sign of federal presence.

On Labour, FG & minimum wage

The Catholic Bishop of Nsukka Diocese, Rt. Rev Godfrey Onah, told me a story, it is a common story that animals gathered. I don’t know whether it was an elephant that died and they gathered to share the elephant and the tortoise came from somewhere and said “I must get the thigh of this elephant” and other animals looked at him and the lion said “who made that demand?” Other animals said it was tortoise and lion replied: “You are asking for the thigh? If you get the intestine, that is what we are going to give you”.

The tortoise said “actually that’s what I wanted but if I didn’t ask for the thigh I would not even get the intestine”. My friends in Labour are asking for the thigh by asking for 1 million naira minimum wage and the President has already committed himself to solving the problem as he said in his speech on Democracy Day. And coming from the background of Labour I think with himself (president) and people like Senator Adams Oshiomhole (former NLC President and erstwhile governor of Edo State) and a few other labour activists, our problems should be on the way to being solved. But let me read out a quotation which will surprise you: “There is indeed worldwide economic recession. “However, in the case of Nigeria, the impact was aggravated by mismanagement.

“The situation could have been avoided if our legislators were alive to their constitutional responsibilities.

“The legislators were preoccupied with determining their salary scales, fringe benefits and unnecessary foreign travels.

“As a result of our inability to cultivate financial discipline and prudent management of our economy, we have come to depend largely on internal and external borrowings to execute government projects.

“The corrupt, inept and insensitive leadership in the last years have been a source of immorality and impropriety in our society, but we should do our best to settle genuine payment of salaries to which government is committed including the backlog of workers’ salaries”. I will give $1 million which I don’t have… but I will give anybody who can tell me who said this? This is taken from a speech delivered by General Buhari on the 31st of December 1983 (when he seized power from civilian President Shagari). 41 years ago. I’m not disappointed that you don’t remember because Nigerians don’t remember anything and that is why we are where we are today, we don’t remember anything.

On 25 years of uninterrupted democracy

We are celebrating the fact that we’ve had 25 years of “uninterrupted democracy” and we are anxious about the things we’ve not done and we’re also anxious about why we’ve not succeeded. American elections are coming up in November and there’s a lot of anxiety perhaps even more than there is in Nigeria and yet it is exactly 245 years since America elected their first President in 1789. It is to make the point that democracy is not an event; democracy, the way we understand it, I mean there’s a lot of anxiety across the board. I prefer to take a fairly historical view because too many of us are too careless about our expectations and it’s legitimate to have expectations, but those expectations must be founded on reality. Professor Huntington, the famous American professor who was actually my teacher, he did say something that there were three waves of democracy.

There is the democracy of the 19th century which is the wave that took America and other countries to where they are and then the post-World War II wave which took most of the countries in Europe to where they are today. And then, of course, the third wave happened in 1970 that saw Africa, Asia and Latin America becoming democratic or at least embracing the principles of democracy. But as you can see, across Africa, democracy has manifested in different shapes and in different forms.

Nigeria’s democracy pays little attention to intellectual conversation

I think what is missing in our conversation is that, unlike Europe where the principles of democracy were founded on the thinking of several philosophers like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and John Locke, etc, the whole lot of our democracy has paid very little attention, it’s not been the subject of a very serious intellectual conversation. We have been involved in intellectual conversations about democracy but modern western liberal democracy, as we understand it today, benefited extensively from the work of people like St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas. It is also quite significant that (US President) Joe Biden, even in his presidential address, had to quote St Augustine and it means, therefore, that it is the teachings, the philosophies and the theology of some of these scholars that laid the foundation for what we call democracy today.

On why Nigeria’s democracy is in recession

Unfortunately, our democracy is in recession, is in decline, precisely, because it is evident to us that what we are working with is not something that has come from our own historical, cultural or even anthropological experiences.

But, having said that, even after embracing democracy, it must be clear to us that there are different ways of talking about democracy, there are different models of democracy. The British left us with the Westminster parliamentary system; we quarreled with it and then we decided we wanted the American presidential system. Of course, I was Secretary of the Political Reform Conference in 2005 when the discussion went on about term limits; there was so much anxiety almost like there are all kinds of anxieties that Nigerians have. Nigerians can’t think beyond a particular period. Right now our obsession with politics is 2027. If you tell Nigerians about what might happen in 2040 or 2050, Nigerians don’t want to hear that, so all our plotting, all our scheming is what is going to happen in 2027.

On China’s 100 years plan to rule the world

I read a book earlier in the year which, I think, if you can find it, please read it, the title is: ‘100-Year Marathon’, with the subtitle ‘China’s Secret Plan To Rule The World’. It’s a fascinating book because it talks about the fact that after the Communist Party won elections in 1949, the Chinese now decided to put a plan in motion in which the plan is 100 years old from 1949 to 2049. And China, within that period, is to be the greatest nation in the world. I don’t have to tell you where China is now.

Nigeria’s democracy needs clarity, long-term plan

It was very interesting I flew Air Peace (airline) yesterday and it was very nice to see a Chinese air hostess speaking very good Nigerian English; that tells you that if we are going to go on the path of democracy, there needs to be some kind of clarity about what are we looking at now while we are debating term limits.

For example, I remember that Tony Blair was British Prime Minister for 10 years, Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister for 11 years, Lee Kuan Yew, people would speak eloquently about Singapore, but Lee Kuan Yew became Prime Minister, I think, 1958 or 59 or thereabouts and he remained so consistently. He conducted elections and won elections, the party he founded, People’s Action Party, is still the party in power today.

What people don’t remember about Lee Kuan Yew, which also speaks to other issues, is that Lee Kuan Yew studied in Cambridge and got a First Class; his son, who just stepped down as Prime Minister, went to Cambridge and he too got a First Class; Lee’s wife went with him to Cambridge and she also got a First Class. Imagine the quality of his imagination and, immediately he became Prime Minister, the first thing he did was to go to Harvard where young people like Henry Kissinger (former US Secretary of State) were just young lecturers, he established a relationship with them and from there they led him to Washington.

But one of the critical things that Lee did, which, I think, should speak to the reason why democracy is failing so badly in Africa is that Lee Kuan Yew identified the Public Service as the most important vehicle of governance, and so, if you got a First Class in Singapore, you went into the Public Service and he so incentivized the Civil Service that it became the place to go.

The salaries of civil servants in Singapore were 80% more than what people were getting in the private sector. Now, in Nigeria, if somebody wants to marry your daughter and your daughter tells you “the guy I want to marry is working in the ministry”, I’m sure you know that is a no-brainer, it’s most likely your prospective father-in-law will look the other way.

On corrupt Civil Service corrupting good intentions of the government

Every governor, President is full of good intentions. (But) the question is, what is the quality of the container, the quality of the conveyor belt for carrying the good wishes of the government? Because we have a thoroughly corrupt Civil Service, the result is that no matter the vision, no matter the dream because we tend to focus on what the President is not doing and what the governor is not doing, we forget the quality of those who are conveying the intentions of government.

It is to make the point that when somebody like Lee Kuan Yew stayed and conducted elections, he won elections over 30 years. Putin has over 20 years as President; we don’t know when he’s going to go. Museveni, we are celebrating 25 years of his being in power for about 38 years in Uganda; it started in 1986; we have no idea when he’s going to go.

Nigerian elite are shameless

Nigerians are quite shameless, especially the Nigerian elite. I don’t know what Nigerians were thinking when they started visiting South Africa for holidays and they probably have houses in South Africa, but which South Africa are you adoring? Is it the one that was built by apartheid or the South Africa of today? Criminals have so much money; they’ll go anywhere they hear there is a good place. Nigerians are now shamelessly going to Rwanda and they come back telling stories about Rwanda, but which Rwanda do you want to be in? Is it Rwanda in which you can contest the election? Here in Nigeria, you can fight, you can go to the Supreme Court, but tell me, who has stood in front of (Rwanda leader) Paul Kagame and is still standing to talk? We need to make a point about what exactly we want. Paul Biya has been President of Cameroon since 1982. Mbasogo has been President (of Equitorial Guinea) for 43 years now and he’s still president. Saso Ngusseo (leader of the Democratic Republic of Congo) is still there since 1979, he has been in power for 38 years.

Correlation between stability & development

I think somebody made the point that there’s a correlation between a certain kind of stability and development. It depends though, but the volatility in our system suggests that we need to be a little bit calmer. The situation in which we are all quarrelling with the quality of the tools that we are working with doesn’t address the issue. Martin Wolfs, who worked with the Financial Times, wrote a very beautiful book, ‘The Crisis Around Liberal Capitalism’, and he makes the point that the beauty of the economy is that it is a “Marketplace and a Marketplace is beautiful because it’s a place of choice”.

But the truth of the matter is that Adam Smith made the point about the ‘Invisible hand of the market’ where only spirits are invisible, but it also speaks to the fact that the invisible hand cannot regulate the market. Wall Street, which is really the temple of the world economy, after its collapse, hundreds of millions of Americans became homeless, it’s impact reverberated across the world, but the very interesting thing is that nobody, not one single person from Wall Street is in prison. Now, Michael Douglas talks about the glory of greed and this is the challenge for many countries in Africa beginning with Nigeria.

On the need to restrain the greed of political elites

How do you restrain the greed of the political elite, and not only the political elite but also the greed and the appetite of ordinary Nigerians because it is feeding this beast that has made it impossible for this country to grow? And, of course, you know that Labour is asking for N516, 000 minimum wage and government says it’s unable to pay.

Economist talk about what they call incentive compatibility, we cannot talk about people being corrupt when it is clear to us that the incentives for doing the right thing don’t exist. On the discussion of what economic choices to make, are we to be socialist or capitalist? Nigeria is neither and it’s not a choice of either. China has demonstrated very clearly to us that we don’t have to make those kinds of choices.

The monkey story

There is the story of a woman, she came back from the market and she had a set of twins. She came back with a small cake. When she brought out the cake, she had a monkey and the mother was about to give the cake to the twins and the monkey said, “Look, you are a mother; you cannot give this, you know you are going to create problems for your children. How will they share this cake? I am a neutral person; so, let me share the cake”.

The monkey collects the cake; he breaks the cake into two and discovers one is bigger than the other. Because they are twins, he bites it off in order to equalize it and, in biting it, this one became bigger and he continues this and then the children are waiting for the cake and they’re looking and by the time the monkey turns around the cake is finished. That is exactly what we have before. Socialism has not worked for us, but it doesn’t mean that capitalism will work for us.

It means that there has to be something internal in the heart. It’s very interesting we don’t like to talk about religion and the people say religion has become so abused. There’s no amount of abuse they have not heaped on religion. But the point is that it is religion that stops the poor from killing the rich.

Papa encyclicas relating to economics

What we are debating now about wages, Pope Pius the 13th (1891), let me read out what the Pope was saying at that time. He said: “Today, working men, all over the world, are allowed in their demands that they shall, in no circumstance, be subjected to arbitrary treatment as though devoid of intelligence.

And freedom working men insist on being treated as human beings with a share in every sector of human society in the social economic sphere in government and in the realm of learning and culture.” In (1963), Pope Paul the 6th came out with an encyclical called: ‘Pacem in Terris; Peace on Earth’.

And one of the things he said is: “It is only by labour of working men that states grow, rich, justice therefore demands that the interest of the working class should be carefully watched over by the administration so that they who contribute so largely to the advantage of the community may themselves share in the benefits which they create.”

On way out: Democracy Ideals & Intellectuals

Nigerians talk about “monkey dey work, baboon dey chop”. The challenge before us is not so much a question of how the market works. The challenge is that the human person in Nigeria must become the thermometer for gauging whether systems are working or not working.

We have provisions in the Nigerian Constitution and I think that the challenge before us is that the National Assembly and the government must go back to the Constitution. I hear the criticisms against the Constitution but there is enough in our Constitution to give us the things we are asking for. If you just go through Chapter Two of the Constitution, of course the frame has said that the issues we are asking for there are fundamental as to how Nigeria is going to grow. There are provisions there, for example, encouraging us to inter-marry, encouraging us to form association, encouraging us about religious freedom. But a lot of these issues are operated in their breaches. For example, when you look at the United States of America, when their Constitution was made, they didn’t anticipate the Constitution was essentially for white men who were rich and with property, but, within three years, by 1865, America realized mistakes had been made.

They couldn’t have foreseen everything, so, the 13th Amendment in 1865 said that there will be no more slavery and nobody should be engaged in forced labour and they tried to make it happen. The 14th Amendment, which followed almost immediately, allowed people, American common citizenship was established. Achievable? Maybe not, but a system of inclusion was beginning to develop. The 15th Amendment gave people, including black people, the right to vote.

And guess what? All the conversations we’re having now about gender and so on didn’t start with Nigeria; it’s not as if Africans don’t like women. Actually, with all these amendments, women still could not vote.

Black people could vote in America but women could not vote including white women; it was not until the 19th Amendment in 1920 that women were now free to vote, so women have travelled a very long journey. I know you still have a long way to go, but it’s important to know how you have come to where you are today. In fact, a writer has said that, in reality, American democracy did not come on stream until 1965.

A lot of our women, I hear women say “we want to be like Rwanda because Rwanda Parliament is full of women”, but I said “hey, talk slowly because you need to lose many of your husbands as men died in the Rwanda genocide”. What is very interesting in all of this is that we work for one generation to be better than the next.

But the problem with the Nigerian situation is that we today want to make sure if life is not good for us then life is not likely to be good at all. Moving forward, and by way of conclusion, is to go back to some of the things that have been articulated here. What does it really mean to be a Nigerian irrespective of your economic status? These are the things that Chinua Achebe spoke about eloquently; you know he spoke about his people because he always insisted that Igbo must not allow these people who have money miss road to take over their communities.

When you talk about the elite, Nigerians measure elitism by the size of your house or the size of your car. It doesn’t matter whether you are educated or not educated.

I was here in Lagos for a wedding and the groom was so well dressed; beautiful, so when we now went through the ritual, I said: “Say I Thomas”, the guy replied, “You said I Thomas”. And I kept going on and on. It was quite embarrassing.

I didn’t know the man was a stark illiterate, but he was marrying this gorgeous woman who must have married him for whatever reasons. Love, if it happens, but at least there were things that were obvious.

On democracy ideals

I think we must redefine what it is to be a Nigerian, we must also make sure that the elite claim this argument and claim this space because I have not seen anywhere illiterate people have built a civilization.

It is important that we understand that democracy has its ideals but those ideals must be enunciated by intellectuals. There needs to be a much firmer foundation and finding a place for the moral guardrails that can protect our people. Otherwise, those who dismiss religion forget that even if religion didn’t exist, it will be invented because there are so many things we cannot explain in life. But in the final analysis, people need to be reminded constantly that this world is going to end. The Catholic Church teaches a principle that it calls ‘the Universal Destination of Goods’, and Pope Francis wrote an eloquent encyclical called Laudato Si in (2015) to make the point that everything God created is for a purpose. It is not for the greedy, it is for all his children. Those of us in the religious business, let me put it this way, have to continue to refine the arguments, we have to continue to hold certain ideals because what we need is not necessarily empires or emperors. What we need is a clean society; where we measure our progress not by the presence of the rich but by the absence of the poor.

And finally, the only way democracy can work is that democracy has to be an instrument of development and, if we use democracy to develop, then we will be developing democracy.

Vanguard

Nigeria’s electricity grid on Saturday collapsed yet again, throwing several cities into darkness.

The latest collapse is coming months after the national grid collapsed in April.

Confirming the collapse, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) said the grid collapsed around 3:10 p.m. on Saturday affecting the power supply to its franchise areas.

“Dear valued customers, please be informed that the power outage being experienced is due to a system failure from the national grid at 3:10 p.m. today, affecting the power supply to our franchise areas.

“Rest assured, we are working with the relevant stakeholders to restore power as soon as the grid is stabilised. Thank you for your understanding,” it said.

The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company PLC (EEDC), in a statement signed by its Head of Corporate Communications, Emeka Ezeh, said: “The EEDC wishes to inform her esteemed customers of a general system collapse which occurred at 15:09 hours today, 6th July, 2024.

“This has resulted in the loss of supply currently being experienced across the network. Due to this development, all our interface TCN stations are out of supply, and we are unable to provide services to our customers in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo states.

“We are on standby awaiting detailed information of the collapse and restoration of supply from the National Control Centre (NCC), Osogbo. Thank you,” it said.

In recent years, the power sector has experienced many challenges in areas of electricity policy enforcement, regulatory uncertainty, gas supply, transmission system constraints, and significant power sector planning shortfalls.

In November 2013, the federal government privatised all power generation and 11 distribution companies, with the FG retaining the ownership of the transmission company. This was to improve efficiency in the sector.

However, since privatisation, the grid has continued to collapse amid efforts to reposition the power sector.

The national electricity grid, on February 4, collapsed for the first time in 2024.

Also, the country suffered another nationwide blackout on March 28.

On April 14, the nation’s electricity grid experienced another system collapse.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria(TCN) has yet to officially speak on the issue as of press time Saturday evening. TCN General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, did not return a phone call as of press time.

PT/The Cable

Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, three military-led West African states, signed a confederation treaty on Saturday, underscoring their determination to chart a joint course outside the regional political and economic bloc that has been urging them to return to democratic rule.

The signing took place at the first summit of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) and signals an ever-closer alignment between the neighbours in the insurgency-torn central Sahel. Juntas seized control in a series of coups in the three states in 2020-2023 and severed military and diplomatic ties with regional allies and Western powers.

Niger's military leader Abdourahamane Tiani described the AES summit as "the culmination of our determined common will to reclaim our national sovereignty".

Formalising the treaty to establish a confederation confirms the rejection by Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso of the 15-member Economic Community of West African states (ECOWAS). Its signing comes a day before a summit being held by ECOWAS, which had hoped to persuade the three to reconsider their decision in January to quit the bloc.

"Our peoples have irrevocably turned their backs on ECOWAS," Tiani said in a speech. "It is up to us today to make the AES Confederation an alternative to any artificial regional group by building ... a community free from the control of foreign powers."

It is not clear how closely the AES will harmonise political, economic and defence policies as it struggles to contain a decade-old battle with Islamist insurgents and grow economies that are among the world's poorest.

In March, the three states agreed to set up a joint force to tackle security threats across their territories.

In a communique issued after the summit, the countries said they had agreed to coordinate diplomatic actions, create an AES investment bank and stabilisation fund, and pool their resources to set up projects in strategic sectors including mining, energy and agriculture.

The heads of state "welcomed their irrevocable withdrawal without delay from ECOWAS," it said.

ECOWAS has made diplomatic efforts to dissuade the three states from quitting the 50-year-old alliance. The split will reverse decades of regional integration and threatens a messy disentanglement from trade and services flows of nearly $150 billion a year.

The falling-out is linked to the ECOWAS decision to respond to the trio's coups with stringent sanctions and its unrealised threat to use force to restore constitutional rule in Niger last year.

Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso accuse the regional bloc of abandoning its founding ideals and giving too little support against the Islamist insurgencies that have killed thousands of people and displaced over 3 million more.

The policies of the juntas have reshaped international influence in the central Sahel, with the three states fostering closer defence, diplomatic and business ties with Russia at the expense of former colonial power France, regional heavyweight Nigeria, and the United States.

Reuters