APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The warning by monarchs from Northern Nigerian that the hardship, insecurity, poverty and unemployment in Nigeria and the North, in particular, was getting to a level they could no longer pacify the people from revolting dominates the headlines of Nigerian newspapers on Thursday.
The Vanguard reports that the monarchs from the North, under the umbrella of Northern Traditional Council, NTC, led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, yesterday, told the Federal Government that the hardship, insecurity, poverty and unemployment in Nigeria and the North, in particular, was getting to a level they could no longer pacify the people from revolting.
Addressing members, yesterday, at the Arewa House, Kaduna, during the 6th executive Northern Traditional Council Committee meeting, the Sultan informed the government that the traditional rulers, religious leaders, as well as state governors, had been pacifying the masses and the jobless youths from revolting against political leaders at the helm of affairs.
According to him, “It is getting to a level that traditional leaders could no longer pacify the people from revolting against government and political leaders that supposed to find solutions to their lingering socioeconomic plight.
“And let’s not take it for granted; people are quiet, they are quiet for a reason, because people have been talking to them. We have been talking to them, we have been trying to tell them that things will be okay and they keep on believing.
“I pray to Almighty Allah that they will not one day wake up and say we no longer believe in you that would be the biggest problem. We can’t continue to keep these people quiet as traditional, spiritual leaders and diplomats forever.
“We have reached that level, people are very agitated, people are hungry, they are angry, but they still believe there are people who can talk to them. They believe in some of their Governors, some other traditional rulers and some of their religious leaders, fortunately some of us double as traditional and religious leaders.
“So, we have this onerous task of reaching out to everybody, calm them down and assure them that things would be okay. And that they should continue to pray and still do something good because prayer without work will not bring anything good.
“To make matters worse, we are faced with rising level of poverty of most of our people. They lack normal sources of livelihood by the common man to have even a good meal a day.
“But I believe talking about insecurity and the rising level of poverty are two issues that we cannot fold our arms and think everything is fine. I have said it so many times and at so many fora that things are not alright in Nigeria. Of course, things are not okay in the North.
“What are the real issues bringing about poverty and rising cases of insecurity? I don’t think it is the issue of new government. To me, this government is a continuation of the former government. It is the same party. So, what really is the problem? I think that is one of the reasons we are here to talk to ourselves.”
The newspaper says that the real estate sector in Nigeria is forecast to grow to $2.26 trillion in 2024, of which residential estate will contribute $1.93 trillion or 85.4 percent.
Analysts who made the forecast noted that the growth would be happening at the backdrop of challenges of weakening currency, poor infrastructure, multiple taxation, high construction costs, among others confronting the sector.
Speaking at the Real Estate Outlook 2024 launch organized by Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce, NBCC, in partnership with FIABCI, an International Real Estate Federation, Founder and Chief Consultant, B. Adedipe & Associates Limited, Dr. Biodun Adedipe, who outlined the challenges also noted that the sector will grow at compound annual growth rate, CAGR, of 7.52 percent to $3.02 trillion between 2024 and 2028.
He said that housing development is a driver of investments that stimulate an economy and serves as a major source of job creation.
He pointed out that Nigeria’s 22 million units housing deficit, mostly in urban areas was home to about 51.7 percent of the population, adding the country’s population estimated at 223.8 million is growing at 2.44 percent annually.
Giving specifics for business growth in 2024, he said: “For your business to be truly agile, not only must processes be continually reviewed and updated to environmental peculiarities, as many of them as possible should be automated and the use of digital technology maximized.
“The future of operations management is both agile and digital. Agile as the business unit teams no longer work in silos but collaboratively, learning every step of the way and nimble enough to learn from mistakes, carry the learning forward into the next tasks and keep improving.”
The Punch reports that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery has issued tenders to sell two fuel cargoes for export, the first from the newly commissioned refinery, trading sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
Nigerians have been eagerly looking forward to the release of products from the $20bn Dangote refinery after it was inaugurated in May last year by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Recall that on February 8, 2024, The PUNCH reported that indications emerged that lingering regulatory approvals had stalled Dangote Petrochemical Refinery’s plan to release aviation fuel (Jet A1) and diesel for sale in the Nigerian market in January.
The report had stated that one week after the January 31 timeline set by the management of Africa’s largest refinery to begin sale of its petroleum product in the local market, the refinery was still battling to cross the hurdles of the several layers of regulatory approvals.
It stated that the development came almost a month after the refinery began the production of petroleum products at the expansive facility.
On January 12, 2024, Dangote refinery announced that it had commenced the production of Automotive Gas Oil, popularly called diesel, and aviation fuel or JetA1.
The refinery, Africa’s largest with a nameplate capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, was built on a peninsula on the outskirts of the commercial capital Lagos by the continent’s richest man Aliko Dangote.
The newspaper says that the Federal Government is seeking to raise N2.5tn in its second FGN bonds auction of the year.
The Debt Management Office in a circular issued on Wednesday, stated that the offerings consisted of N1.25tn with a maturity date of February 2031 and N1.25tn with a 10-year tenor.
The FGN savings bonds are part of the domestic borrowing plan of the Federal Government.
Last year, the Federal Government raised about N7.06tn from the fixed income market.
This year, the Federal Government has projected its new borrowings to hit N7.83tn.
President Bola Tinubu had sought approval from the National Assembly for about $8.69bn and €100m as part of the external borrowing plan for 2022 to 2024.
The latest FG bonds have a face value N1,000, with a minimum subscription requirement of N50,001,000 and subsequent increments in multiples of N1,000.
GIK/APA
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