NIGERIAN NOTCH

The Federal Government has announced that 260 Nigerians are expected to return from India on Saturday, June 13. Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, disclosed this on Friday night via his official Twitter handle. He also explained that the government’s planned evacuations commenced as scheduled, and that some 102 Nigerians had already been successfully evacuated from Egypt. The evacuees from Egypt arrived Nigeria on Friday, June 12 with EgyptAir, while the evacuees from India will be conveyed by Air Peace Nigeria. Also, the evacuation protocols announced by the Minister have been implemented, with the arrival of the first evacuees. According to Ms Sarah Sanda, Onyeama’s Special Assistant on Media, the returnees who arrived via the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, are already self-isolating and will undergo the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing within 72 hours. Sanda said in an interview with NAN that the same procedures would be applied with the ex

The rising cost of Nigeria’s debt  profile   breached a new milestone  with the country’s  debt service as a percentage of revenue rising to 99% in the first quarter of 2020. This is  contained   in the  Medium-Term  Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy (MTEF/FSP) report  recently  released by the Federal  Ministry  of Finance, Budget, and National Planning   A cursory review of the  data obtained from the  MTEF/FSP report  shows that  in Q1 2020, Nigeria  incurred a total  sum of N943.12 billion  in  debt  service  while the federal government retained revenue was  put at N950.56 billion. This implies Nigeria’s debt service to revenue is estimated to be 99% during the period.    This is the highest on record and  it  suggests  a lmost all the revenue generated from both oil and non-oil sources was used to meet debt service  obligations.    Debt service , recurrent expenditure,  and Revenue Breakdown    Nigeria like the rest of the world has been battling with th e COVID-19 pandem

Brent crude closed at $38.73 a barrel, while U.S crude oil futures settled at $36.26 a barrel, by the end of the week’s trading session on Friday night. Both benchmarks for crude printed weekly declines of about 8% – their first after six weeks of bullish run that rallied crude prices off April’s lows. The recent dip is as a result of fears that a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic will disrupt the market once more. “This market is at a crossroads. If demand continues to improve, the oil market has a lot more to go on the upside,”  said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group.  “If we get into a situation where we start to take steps back with the coronavirus, the market is going to go down.” In addition, U.S. crude oil inventories surged to a record of 538.1 million barrels, as cheap imports from the Saudis flooded the American oil market. Why OPEC+ decided to cut oil production:  Demand for crude oil dropped, in spite of a deal brokered by the Saudis, Russians, and oth

Despite the market and economic uncertainty due to the coronavirus pandemic, investors expressed a lot of confidence in Nigeria’s debt market. The Debt Management Office (DMO) has announced an oversubscription of the third sovereign Sukuk for which it offered N150 billion to investors. The offer attracted a very high level of subscription from investors, with total subscriptions of N669.124 billion. This represents a subscription level of 446%. The DMO said, “This impressive demand for the Sukuk came from a wide range of investors which included Ethical Funds, Insurance Companies, Fund Managers and Retail Investors amongst others. This participation by a wide range of investors is in line with the DMO’s objectives of diversifying the investor base for Government Securities and promoting financial inclusion. “The issuance of the third Sovereign Sukuk, which followed the debut issuance of N100 billion in September 2017 and a second issuance of another N100 billion in December 2018, is ba

The Senator representing Anambra South Senatorial District at the Senate, Senator Dr Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah in his Democracy day message to Nigerians, called on Nigerians to take advantage of our uniqueness and diversity as a source of strength to foster unity and oneness amongst Nigerians. Democracy Day Celebration in Nigeria marks a turning point in our history, when we as a Nation defied all odds and chose to rebuild our Motherland on the Principles of Democracy and Sovereignty.   He said that " Each year as new events unfold, we find good reason to rejoice in the celebration of new milestones achieved in the course of  building our core national values . We equally find time to review the challenges faced in nurturing and growing the institutions and value systems that support the sustenance of  Democracy in our country. According to him , this year's Democracy day is an opportunity to recall that democracy is about the people. Democracy is built on inclusion, equal treatmen

By Prince MacDonald Enwere. Today is June 12. As our nation commemorate  the anniversary of June 12 celebration today, there is need for us to strive towards sustaining and consolidating democratic principles in Nigeria. Indeed, June 12 is a turning point and watershed in the nation’s political history. It also remains the unequivocal demonstration of popular will in our democratic history, it is also the story of resilience, unity and people’s commitment to our democracy. Figuratively speaking, there is a correlation between the living ideals of the late political sage Chief M.K.O. Abiola, and the dilemma of our democracy today. There is also an explicit intercoure between the ideals of June 12 and the quest for consolidation and sustenance of our democratic principles. Today, sustaining the gains of political development through consistent democratic good governance practices have remained the major challenge staring our nation on the face. The ideals of June 12 have no doubt provide