Nigeria Content Online

Nigeria’s
cement industry is gearing up for a sharp increase in output in the
coming years, as government and private sector infrastructure spending
rises, the country’s industry body said on Friday.

The Cement
Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (CMAN) said production was set to
rise to 20 million metric tonnes by 2012, almost double the level
expected this year and a figure which could turn the country from a net
importer to an exporter.

A shortage of
reliable and timely data in sub-Saharan Africa’s second-biggest
economy, particularly on industrial output, means analysts rely on
proxies such as cement production and demand to paint a broader picture
of its economic health.

“Next year, we
expect demand to be 16 million tonnes and production to be a bit above
18 million,” James Salako, CMAN Executive Secretary, told Reuters.

“In 2012 we will be
producing over 20 million. We have under construction 14 million metric
tonnes which will all be completed by next year,” he said.

Total cement
production in 2010 is expected to be around 11 million tonnes, below
demand of around 15 million, but up on last year’s production of around
8.1 million, Salako said.

Africa’s most
populous nation is in dire need of upgrading its infrastructure and
providing new roads and housing to support a rapidly growing population
of 140 million people.

Its commercial hub
and biggest city, Lagos, is in the process of completing its first toll
road, a 50 billion naira expressway which is the country’s first public
private infrastructure project, while a spate of new hotels and
apartment blocks have also sprung up in recent months.

Shortfalls in cement production are covered by imports from Asia, but the local industry is keen to close the gap.

Export outlets

CMAN chairman
Joseph Makoju said local firms were already exploring export outlets in
readiness for a rapid increase in production which will take supply
beyond Nigeria’s needs.

Nigeria’s largest
cement manufacturer Dangote Cement, part of a conglomerate owned by
Nigeria’s richest man Aliko Dangote, has said it aims to reduce the
country’s import dependence.

The firm controls
more than half of the Nigerian cement market with its wholly-owned
Obajana and Ibese cement plants, a controlling stake in Benue Cement,
its role as a joint venture partner in Unicem Cement and four import
terminals.

Makoju said Dangote
planned to double capacity at his Obajana plant to 10 million tonnes
before the end of next year while adding an additional one million
tonnes to Benue Cement and 6 million tonnes in Ogun.

Lafarge Cement
Wapco, a subsidiary of the world’s biggest cement maker Lafarge, is
increasing its capacity by 2.2 million tonnes, Makoju said.

The managing
director of Ashaka Cement, in which Lafarge also has a stake, told
Reuters last year the Nigerian market could absorb annual supply of 20
million tonnes.

He said Ashaka was
planning to expand its capacity to 1 million tonnes from 850,000 tonnes
within two years and was considering adding further lines.

Even
the coolest folks in the financial world sometimes lose their
composure. Arunma Oteh, director general of the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) lost hers two Fridays ago when a reporter called for
her response on her agency’s efforts to cleanse the capital market.

Ms. Oteh, a public servant, was more interested in
how the reporter obtained her phone number than answering questions
about the agency that recently removed the Nigerian Stock Exchange
director general, Ndidi Okereke-Onyuike.

“I am telling you that I do not respond to calls
from people I don’t know and you are asking me when I would respond to
your text. This is invasion of privacy, even for security reason. It is
just not right. We have totally lost our culture in this country. You
just call somebody who does not know you and you expect a response,”
she said.

Ironically, the enquiry was supposed to highlight
the new bite that Ms Oteh has brought into the office especially as SEC
has been docile and nearly visionless for several years. But, six hours
later, perhaps after some reflective moments, her assistant called
apologising for his principal’s action and responded to the enquiries.

On August 5, when SEC removed Mrs. Okereke-Onyiuke
and suspended the president of the council, Aliko Dangote, quite a lot
of market operators and financial analysts applauded the move as one
that was long overdue. It came after initial opposition to the
appointment of Arunma Oteh as SEC director general on December 11,
2009. Some groups had taken the Federal Government to court for
appointing Oteh who they claimed does not have enough experience in
capital market which they considered requisite for the head of the
regulatory institution.

Profile

But Ms Oteh has over 16 years of capital market
experience including being the Vice-President (Corporate Management
Services) of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB). The portfolio
includes responsibility for overseeing the Language Services Unit, the
General Services and Procurement Department, the Human Resources
Management Department, and the Information Management and Methods
Department. She was appointed as part of a programme of institutional
reforms that are taking place within the Bank.

Previously, she was the Bank’s Group Treasurer for
five years in addition to working variously as Division Manager
Investments and Trading Room and Senior Investment Officer/Senior
Capital Markets Officer from 1993 to 1997.

Prior to joining the AfDB, she worked in corporate
finance, consulting, teaching and research for several institutions,
including the Harvard Institute for International Development, United
States, and Centre Point Investments Limited, a Lagos based
stockbroking and investment firm.

In the struggle against corruption, Oteh is known
to be an advocate of action not only at institutional and governmental
level, but also on the personal level. “We can only win the fight
against corruption if each and every one of us has zero-tolerance for
it. Each of us is a potential taker or a giver, and we need the courage
to say no,” she was quoted as saying in 2008 about her functions at the
AfDB.

It is this conviction that she has brought into
SEC, as her actions in the last few months have shown. Apart from the
intervention at the NSE, the commission has also concluded moves to
sanction about 260 stockbroking firms alleged to be involved in
unethical practices. An indication of her focus came last May in Abuja
at the International Conference on Good Governance and Regulatory
Leadership. In her keynote address, she observed that government’s
macroeconomic policies will come to naught if financial institutions
are not well governed. “Financial institutions which are poorly
governed pose a risk to themselves and also to others and could pull
down financial markets. Recent experience in the Nigerian financial
market attests to this fact.” She said capital markets and its
operators need to engender good corporate governance through their
disclosure, reporting and transparency requirements.

As part of moves to determine the true state of
affairs, SEC in April engaged a team from the US Securities and
Exchange Commission which compiled a confidential report detailing lax
oversight at the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the financial regulators.
The report detailed cases of bribery inside the Stock Exchange,
dysfunctional enforcement, “complicated and entrenched governance
problems”, “clear instances of insider trading and market manipulation
that resulted in no action”, and “woefully inadequate” surveillance, a
clear indictment of the NSE authorities. This prompted SEC to direct
the council to implement a clear succession plan and for the DG to
handover to a successor by June. But, a source at SEC said, “Remember
we had given the NSE till 30 June to complete this process. They
slipped, and asked for an extension till the end of July.”

Wielding the big stick

It was the failure of the NSE to carry out these
that prompted the SEC move, with Oteh revealing that the exchange has
not submitted its audited financial statement for 2009, a clear
violation of the SEC reporting rules. “The allegations regarding the
leadership and membership of the council of the exchange against the
NSE are very grave and that is why in our opinion, the SEC has decided
to take this step in exercising its powers under the Investment and
Securities and other applicable regulation.” This view was corroborated
by a senior stockbroker who spoke off record saying that the NSE
council which was supposed to call the NSE DG to order was unable to do
it.

Ope Banwo, a lawyer said the fact that two
principal officers of the stock exchange were heads of quoted companies
already showed that there was no transparency. “I think that beyond the
personalities recently removed, the public policy on the management of
the stock exchange should be formally changed to reflect the need for
transparency.”

“SEC is a responsible regulator. We cannot just
fold our hands and watch things go wrong,” said Lanre Oloyi, the
spokesperson for SEC in defence of its action. Mr. Oloyi said the
commission’s action was in line with its mandate to protect investors
and sustain confidence in the market.

To Mr. Banwo, SEC’s move was expected before now.
“The way Ndi conducted the listing and sales of shares in Transcorp
alone is enough for her to be removed if not prosecuted for misleading
the public. Yet, she continued to run the exchange for months after the
transcorp debacle.” He said the suspended president of the NSE council
had disobeyed the order of a competent court. “How do you even begin to
defend a man who was contemptuous of court orders on him before the
sack? It will be interesting if he willow expect the same court whose
previous orders he held in contempt to help him.”

He added that SEC as a responsible regulator must
be seen to have given the two individuals fair hearing.”I think the SEC
complied with the relevant provisions of the law and also afforded them
reasonable fair hearing. If they want to challenge that in court, I
believe that’s their right and we wait to see what the court has to say
on the points raised by Ndi.”

The SEC source explained that the former NSE DG
was given every opportunity to explain all allegations of infractions
levelled against her. “There is a clear provision in the ISA for giving
fair hearing and we did that with the DG and gave her an opportunity to
respond to allegations that have been leveled against her. We took that
response into consideration before the decision by SEC to remove her,”
the source added.

If Oteh continues in her strides, maybe there’s hope for Nigeria’s capital market eventually.

In an effort to
fast track the implementation of Cross River State Geographic
Information System (CRGIS), the state executive council at its meeting,
approved $1.7m (about N252 million) for the services of consultants for
the project.

Bassey Oqua, the
lands and housing development commissioner, said an American firm,
International Land System Incorporated, in partnership with Teq Bridge
Nigeria Limited, was chosen as the preferred bidder for the job, after
a technical and financial review of the four companies that applied for
the job.

Mr. Oqua said that
GIS, when fully operational, will address all challenges arising from
land administration and management, pointing out that the ratification
is the component of the phase II of the implementation process, which
started with the inauguration of a steering committee headed by the
state governor, Liyel Imoke.

The committee’s
assignment is to quicken the process and thus meet contractual
agreements on delivery of certificate of occupancy in six months.

Housing too

On the expansion of
the Urban Street light project to Federal Housing Estate and State
Housing Estates and Calabar south local government area to enhance the
aesthetics and security of Calabar, the state capital, Bassey Ekefre,
the commissioner for works, disclosed that N2.7 billion has also been
approved by the council in favour of Lileker Nigeria Limited to effect
the installation, with a three and half years moratorium at N64, 000
monthly payment.

Mr. Ekefre added
that the contractor has already been mobilised to site, as work is
expected to commence soon, adding that with a new power plant at New
Secretariat to power the street lights which were hitherto fed from
Tinapa power plant, there is a guarantee of uninterrupted power supply
to the streets.

Rosemary Achonwa,
the special adviser, mortgage finance, said that the state, in its
quest to provide affordable houses to the citizenry, secured N1.5
billion from the Federal Government to boost the development
process,while Cross River State Property and Investment Ltd. (CROSPIL)
is working on a modality to disburse the fund for development.

Ms Achonwa said the
state government, in addition to the Akpabuyo Housing Estate which
physical work commences next month, has acquired 40 hectares of land at
Odukpani to further expand the development, stressing that with the
recent enactment of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Law 2010 by
the state, government is obliged to define accurately a housing
delivery standard for Cross River citizens.

South African police fired rubber bullets to disperse crowds blocking roads, and healthcare workers prevented patients from entering hospitals as a strike by more than one million civil servants grew on Thursday.
The strike for higher wages that started a day earlier has slowed the treatment of the sick and shut schools across Africa’s largest economy, worrying investors and adding pressure on the government to reach a deal.
The finance minister said he did not see a protracted strike as having a major economic impact. But analysts have said the labour action that also includes customs workers, police, and clerks, could slow commerce and trade.
Crowds in Soweto blocked a main road near a hospital running through the densely populated area, bringing traffic to a halt and preventing patients from entering.
“When they refused to move, minimum force had to be used. So rubber bullets were fired,” police spokeswoman, Nondumiso Mpantsha, said. Water cannon were also deployed and there were no major injuries, Ms. Mpantsha said.
The unions staged a one-day warning strike last week and said the action that began on Wednesday was the start of an indefinite strike aimed at grinding the government to a halt.
Analysts expect a deal to be reached in the next few days at the earliest or by the start of September at the latest, with any agreement certain to swell state spending as the government tries to bring its deficit down from 6.7 percent of gross domestic product.
“We’re not seeing the impact in day to day figures, but certainly it would have an effect on sentiment,” said Nema Ramkhelawan, a currency analyst at Rand Merchant Bank.
Money Problems
Unions are demanding an 8.6 percent pay rise, more than double the inflation rate, and 1,000 rand a month for housing.
Last week, the government offered to add to the housing allowance 700 rand from a previous offer of 630 rand, but refused to increase its wage rise offer of seven percent.
The housing allowance alone would be equal to about one percent of all budget spending and the government has said it does not have the money to pay more.
“We had to make a choice between increasing the salary bill to unaffordable levels by meeting the union demands, and cutting other urgently needed services,” the cabinet said in a statement.
Adding to the mix was a threat to expand in the coming days a strike of auto factory workers, who are seeking a 15 percent wage hike, to the car components sector. The autoworkers’ strike that began last week has slowed production in one of the country’s most important industries.
The state workers’ strike increases pressure on President Jacob Zuma’s ruling African National Congress to reach a deal with organised labour and appease the party’s longstanding union allies who also have been a reliable source of votes.
But pressure will also mount on unions as rank and file members lose pay from being off the job and some look favourably on the government’s offer.
Public opinion could turn against the unions if a prolonged work stoppage forces parents to find day care for their children, delays treatment at hospitals, and slows paperwork at government agencies.
A mid-range civil servant already makes about 40 percent more than the average worker, who earns 6,383 rand a month in salary and benefits, but bottom grade civil servants make about 40 percent less than the average.
Those feeling the pinch the greatest from the strike are the poor who are most dependent on government services.

The media is a very
powerful industry and reports on any organisation go a long way in
shaping and moulding public opinion of the organisation’s corporate
image and services. This is because of the media’s role as purveyor of
information. The media sets agenda for public discourse on any issue
and as a result, media monitoring is critical and important.

The media
monitoring service, to a large extent, goes a long way in determining
the media rating of an organisation. It also helps the organisation to
analyse and evaluate its reach in terms of media projection.

A media monitoring
service provides clients with documentation, analysis, or copies of
media content of interest to the clients. Services tend to specialise
by media type, size, geography, publication, journalist, editions, or
content type. Though media monitoring is more often used for capturing
editorial content, sometimes it may also be used to capture advertising
content. Media monitoring covers all media types including print,
online, TV, and radio.

Most companies do
not attach value to media monitoring, while a handful appreciate the
laudable role of the media in setting agenda for public discourse on
their corporate activities. It has also shown from experience that some
companies do not have strategy plan until negative reports are
published on their operations. It thus become essential to monitor the
media to correct any bias or misrepresentation, as well as inaccuracies.

Beyond gauging the
media perception, the monitoring is also a vantage platform to engage
the media on a consistent basis. It is a veritable tool to maintain a
one-on-one relationship with the media and touch base with them. Media
interface is key to delivering unquantifiable results. Some corporate
affairs managers and public affairs directors do not know the address
of media houses, not to even think of meeting the media partners.

Key tasks in media monitoring

Media monitoring
involves a critical and analytical review of media reports as they
apply to the industry of operation. This helps the organisation’s
spokesperson to have a strong base to meet the individual reporter and
have an engagement session to correct inaccuracies or any form of bias.

It gives a factual
account about the perception of the services of an organisation by the
target audience. It is a feedback mechanism to gauge the perception of
the public about an organisation. Media monitoring tracks competitive
analysis and provides intelligence information about the operations of
competitors. It also involves environmental scanning to assess the
impact of the communication of competitors within the same industry,
and regular communication and consistent dialogue with journalists. A
monitoring of some key writers in the industry and a follow-up call to
them or email communication is also a good avenue to follow reporting
patterns and trend of issue analysis.

One good thing about this is that the reporter is always on his toes as he knows that he is being monitored.

Due to the quantum of work and analysis in media monitoring, an
organisation needs the services of independent monitoring firms to
execute professional work. This will enable the organisation obtain an
objective assessment of its corporate image.

The Central Bank
sold a total of $1.61 billion dollars at the official bi-weekly
Wholesale Dutch Auction System (WDAS) during the month of July.

By this figure, the
CBN met 90 percent of the $1.79 billion demanded, which is 37.8 percent
lower than the $2.6 billion sold for the month of June at the auction,
out of $2.75 billion demanded by traders. This is indicative of a
decline in demand for foreign exchange, even as the Central Bank has
promised to meet legitimate demand.

Already, for
August, $1.1 billion have been sold, which represents 80.2 percent of
the $1.37 billion demanded in the auctions held so far, while there are
three more auctions before the end of the month.

The decline in
forex demand and sales comes at a time when the country is making
efforts to shore up its foreign reserves. From a record $62.24 billion
in Nigeria’s foreign reserves in mid-May 2008, it dropped to $36
billion on July 6 this year, its lowest level in over two years. The
figures climbed to $38 billion on Tuesday.

Nigeria’s foreign
reserves is capable of financing 17 months of imports, above the
internationally recommended threshold of three months.

Sale by oil majors

A financial market
analyst, who spoke off record, said the decline in forex demand does
not come as a surprise, even as he hinted that the increased sale by
foreign oil companies could account for the reduced demand at the
official window.

The Central Bank
allows banks to source for foreign exchange from other sources, which
must however, be adequately reported. He said forex demand was directly
linked to import level, which has also reduced during the period.

“The real issue is
that since the end of 2008, foreign portfolio investment and diaspora
investment have reduced in Nigeria. NNPC (Nigeria National Petroleum
Corporation) and oil majors have been selling more than usual and
people have been buying cheaper than from the Central Bank.”

He said the current forex demand was the normal cycle, adding that by the last quarter, the level would improve.

Doyin Salami, a
member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the CBN, said the government
has to make a choice whether to defend the value of the naira, in which
case, it could commit huge sums from the reserves to meet demand; or
could decide to devalue the naira in order to reduce pressure on funds.

“Should I defend
the naira or should I defend the exchange rate? That is the question
for the Central Bank to answer. Whatever happens is going to have
effect on inflation,” he said.

The naira currently
sells at N148.75 at the official window and above N150 at the interbank
market. At the beginning of July, the naira exchanged for N148.5 to the
dollar at the official window.

Reduced instability

Analysts at FSDH
Securities Limited, however, observe that market risk has reduced and
the perceived instability in the local financial system has stabilised.
In its forecast for the second half of the year, it observed that the
ability of the CBN to meet genuine foreign exchange demand in its
weekly auction sales has helped sustain the premium at low level
throughout the period.

“It is expected that the eventual implementation of the budget 2010
will provide enabling macroeconomic environment that will help Nigeria
withstand the challenges posed to it by the global economic and
financial meltdown.”

In an apparent deference to what many Nigerians have always
known, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revised inflation figures,
backdating it to last November. The figures, which are yet to be released
officially, said year on year consumer inflation stood at 13 percent, compared
to 14.1 percent revised for June. Previous official inflation figures for June
were given as 10.3 percent.

Apart from November figures, which remained unchanged at 12.4
percent, all other inflation figures for each month within the period were
revised upward. The revised figures were due to adjustments to previous data
available to the bureau. By these revised figures, the inflation figures for
July were still lower than that of the previous month.

For instance, previous inflation figures for December, January,
February, March, and April, which were given as 12.0 percent, 12.3 percent,
12.3 percent, 11.8 percent, and 12.5 percent, were revised to 13.9 percent,
14.4 percent, 15.6 percent, 14.8 percent, and 15 percent.

More reflective

Wale Abe, chief executive officer of Financial Market Dealers
Association (FMDA), said the inflation figures for July was more reflective of
what is on ground. Mr. Abe said the inflation figures were likely to continue
due to increased spending by government.

“The CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) will try its best to manage
the situation, but we know that unfortunately, it has little control over
fiscal policies of government. This is an election year and a lot of money will
find its way into the system,” he said.

Razia Khan, head of Macroeconomics, Regional Head of Research,
Africa, at Standard Chartered Bank, London, made a similar observation in her
forecast of the economy released yesterday.

Ms. Khan said the Central Bank would need to adopt measures in
order to keep inflation within manageable levels. “Increased OMOs (Open Market
Operations) may be necessary if excess liquidity feeds into unsustainable
demand for FX, and the potential for pressure on the naira,” she stated in her
forecasts.

She said there were palpable concerns for the value of the naira
as a result of factors that would be outside the control of the CBN.

“A bigger issue is the sheer amount of liquidity that has been
pumped into the system, with spending ramped up dramatically in this year’s
budget, and an increased pace of disbursal from the excess crude account,
eroding much of Nigeria’s saved oil windfall.”

Ms. Khan expressed concern that much of the inflation pressure
was from food items, with food inflation rising to 14 percent year on year,
from 12 percent the previous year. She said much of the pressure is from local food
items rather than imported food. “The pressure is much more likely to be
localised, but with August and September traditionally seeing food prices
coming off, we are not yet overly concerned about the near term outlook for
Nigerian inflation.”

Efforts to get further clarification on the revised inflation
figures were not successful.

Sunday Ichedi, NBS head of statistical information, said that the revised
figures were yet to be released officially and so he would not comment on the
issue. “I am yet to get the hard copy myself,” Mr. Ichedi said.

The global economic
growth during the first half of the year exceeded expectations, thus
necessitating a marginal upward review of the remaining half of the
year, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has
said.

OPEC, in its Oil
Market Report, August 2010, stated that the recovery was led by “a
strong pick up in both manufacturing and international trade,” adding
that “recovery in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) countries, in contrast, was more modest and relied
primarily on continued monetary and fiscal support, creating the
appearance of a two-speed world.”

The report said the
world gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2010 is estimated at 3.9
percent, marginally above July’s 3.8 percent. The 2011 forecast remains
unchanged at 3.7 percent.

Meanwhile, Mansur
Ahmed, director general of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory
Commission (ICRC), last weekend, said in spite of problems and poor
infrastructure in Nigeria, the country’s economy has grown considerably.

Mr. Ahmed said the
nation’s GDP at 7 percent was a positive indicator to growth. “I think
it is fair to say that the Nigerian economy, in spite of all its
problems and hurdles of poor infrastructure and so on, has still
continued to grow positively. The growth of the economy measured by GDP
in this quarter and for the rest of this year is in the region of 7
percent,” he said, adding that the figure is high compared to the
average growth of the most successful economies.

However, an analyst
said that the full reliance of the nation’s economy on oil revenue will
do Nigerians no good. Oladimeji Akintayo of Resource Cap Limited, an
investment advisory firm, said a country’s economy should be built
across different sectors.

“In developed
countries, revenues are generated from the processing of different
commodities into finished products. By this, jobs will be created
through manufacturing industries, distribution and marketing companies.
Government can also get revenues from taxes because a larger part of
the citizens are gainfully employed,” Mr. Akintayo said.

Forecast

Despite the
better-than-expected economic performance, OPEC said recovery in oil
demand in the first half of the year remained relatively modest.

“Global oil demand
rose by 0.7 millions of barrels per day (mb/d) and 1.3 mb/d during the
first and second quarter, respectively, but from the extremely low base
of the previous year. Looking to the second half, the pace of economic
growth is projected to slow, not only in OECD, but also across most
emerging and developing markets, indicating that oil demand growth will
remain moderate,” it further said.

The report said
global economic recovery is projected to continue through the whole of
2011, with an even distribution between the first and second half of
the year. The bulk of the recovery in oil demand is expected to occur
at approximately the same pace throughout the entire year. As in 2010,
next year’s oil demand growth is expected to take place in the
non-OECD, mainly China, India, the Middle East, and Latin America.

Nigerian businesses
need to focus on the exchange rate, just as government needs to focus
on foreign reserves management during the remaining period of 2010,
declared Doyin Salami, a member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)
of the Central Bank and lecturer at Pan African University.

He added that the
political transformation of President Goodluck Jonathan will determine
how the economy will fare in the remaining part of the year.

Speaking at the
August breakfast meeting of the Nigerian-South African Chamber of
Commerce, held in Lagos yesterday, Mr. Salami said the exchange rate of
naira against the dollar will be the biggest issue for business
managers to monitor.

“If foreign
reserves stabilise, there may not be pressure on the naira. If not,
depletion of the reserves may not be good for the economy. The biggest
points will not be interest rates, but exchange rate. Reserve
management is going to be at the heart of stability going forward and
management of exchange rate is going to be key,” he said.

Nigeria’s foreign
reserves, which stood at $62.24 billion in mid-May 2008, dropped to $36
billion on July 6 this year, its lowest level in over two years. It
climbed to $38 billion on Tuesday. Naira currently exchanges for
N148.75 to the dollar on the CBN official window, while the benchmark
interest rate is currently 6 percent.

Election spending, job creation

Salami said
election spending would have economic impact in the medium to long
term. He said there is likely to be an improvement in demand for credit
between now and January, which will be driven mostly by electoral
considerations. For this, he said the Central Bank would face a
daunting challenge managing the fallout of such venture, and the
attendant repercussion on the private sector.

He explained that
government would need to concentrate on job creation in order to
empower the youth, adding that the economy has grown in the last five
years without a commensurate creation of jobs.

“Issues of jobs and
youth empowerment have to be planned 10 to 20 years. If the economy has
to create jobs, key impediments have to be taken away,” he advised.

Such impediments
include restructuring the education sector so that institutions can
churn out employable graduates. “Not only do we have unemployment, we
also have the unemployable. So even if jobs are created, where are the
people to be employed?” He advocated for massive retraining of youth so
that many of them can be useful to the economy.

Razia Khan, Head of
Macroeconomics, Regional Head of Research, Africa at Standard Chartered
Bank, London, said in a recent report that the amount of liquidity that
has been pumped into the system, with spending ramped up dramatically
in this year’s budget, has decreased Nigeria’s savings.

Mr. Salami said
that solving the problem of power may not necessarily translate to
growth as expected unless there is efficiency in other sectors of the
economy.

“We need industries that would rely on agriculture that is high quantity, high quality, all year round.”

One way of doing
this, he added, is a review of the Land Use Act, which should be taken
out of constitutional legislation so that it becomes a policy issue.

“The Land Use Act
must be reorganised such that it makes verification and transfer of
title easy. Currently, farmers cannot pledge land, which is why banks
are not willing to finance agriculture,” he stated.

He said it is
ironic that agriculture, which contributes about 42 percent of the GDP,
does not attract credit due to the distortion in the Land Use Act,
which requires the consent of the governor before deed of title is
issued.

A new dimension was added to the saga of 27 months unpaid salaries for the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) workers.

A group of workers,
under the rather nebulous name Combative Association of NITEL/Mtel
Workers, in a letter addressed to embassies and high commissions in
Nigeria, has threatened to disrupt the 50th independence anniversary
celebrations if the federal government failed to settle the salary
arrears before then.

In the letter signed by one Teddy Umoh, the group’s national coordinator, the association said,

“We simply want to
assure you and indeed the Nigerian government that we have volunteers
across the length and breadth of this country with whom we shall
embarrass the government in such a way that no one can contemplate. We
have been pushed to the wall and we have decided to take our destiny in
our hands. We shall remain quiet while we await the approach of October
1, 2010.

“It is
inconceivable that this evil phenomenon by the name of Goodluck
Jonathan is wasting billions of naira to celebrate the country’s
independence anniversary, as well as buying presidential jets, while we
have been left to suffer this cruel fate for no just cause.”

“We are not aware”

However, the union
leaders said that their association was not aware of Mr. Umoh’s plans,
but are also working on solutions on how to handle the issue.

In a telephone
interview, Elias Kazzah, a NITEL union leader said, “I am not aware
about this plan and cannot say anything on that matter.” Also, Emmanuel
Abu, the chairman of Senior Staff Association of Communications,
Transport and Corporations (SSACTAC), NITEL, Abuja, said,

“No, we don’t have
plans towards such attack, and I don’t believe that a militant approach
would help in solving the situation at hand. We believe in solving
issues like this peacefully.

“As I speak to you, we are planning on holding a meeting tomorrow in Abuja to discuss our unpaid arrears.”

The 27 months
salary arrears have become an albatross on the federal government’s
neck, as no concrete decision has been reached on how to settle them.

In June 2009, the
federal government revoked NITEL sale to Transcorp for failure to
fulfil the terms of the sale after three years and then decided to
privatise NITEL for the fifth time.

The workers were
owed 13 months arrears as at June 2009, which cumulatively is now 27
months, with only one month salary paid to the workers last December.

Then, the federal
government promised to pay the workers five months salary in three
tranches before the end of January 2010. A sum of N3 billion was meant
to be borrowed from the accounts of NITEL Pension Fund in liquidation,
but that also failed because the liquidator decided in February to stop
all payment because of alleged harassment by some NITEL workers.

Sule Shehu, NITEL spokesperson, could not say exactly when the arrears will be paid, claiming to be “on leave.”