Nigerian press focuses on protests by lawyers over brutality against lawyers, others

APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The report that a human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Femi Falana, has called on the Nigeria Police to conduct proper investigations into the case of brutality against lawyers in Lagos State is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Friday.
A human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Femi Falana, has called on the Nigeria Police to conduct proper investigations into the case of brutality against lawyers in Lagos State.
Falana made the call on Thursday during a peaceful protest organised by members of the Nigerian Bar Association, Lagos, against the unlawful arrest and detention of a lawyer, Olumide Sonupe, by the police in the state.
The lawyers who are members of about five branches of the NBA marched from its Ikeja secretariat, while displaying banners, to the Command headquarters where the state Commissioner of Police, Adegoke Fayoade, addressed them.
This is coming hours after the CP had ordered the removal of the Divisional Police Officer of Moshalashi Police Station, Austin Arase, who ordered Sonupe’s detention, as reported by PUNCH Metro on January 4.
PUNCH Metro had reported that the 36-year-old Sonupe was hospitalised after he was said to have been detained by the police while seeking the bail of his client at the Moshalashi Police Station in the Alimosho area of the state on December 30, 2023.
It was learnt that the lawyer’s health deteriorated upon his release from the police station on January 1, 2024, after spending two nights with his client in the cell.
The newspaper says that multinational firms in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods subsector may exit the country this year if the operating environment does not improve, according to a new report by a financial solutions firm, Cardinal Stone.
The report, titled ‘Strategic Resilience: Sailing Through Business Disruptions’, said high operating costs would persist for firms operating in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods sector.
According to the report, the FMCG sector remains heavily exposed to changes in commodity prices, exchange rates, import and clearing duties, and freight costs.
It noted that FMCGs might not benefit from the moderation in global commodity prices because of the significant depreciation of naira, which weakened from N422.00/$ in June 2023 to N951.94/$ in December 2023, after the Central Bank of Nigeria floated the country’s exchange rate.
The CBN floated the exchange rate in June 2023 to bridge the gap between the official rate and the alternative market and address the challenge of forex scarcity that the country has been grappling with.
The report read in part, “In 2024, we expect companies to continue to re-imagine their operational strategies to achieve cost efficiency.
“We also see legroom for more collaboration between FMCGs to boost economies of scale, product portfolio diversification, revenue and cost synergies, technological innovations, and financial power of the resultant entity.
“The alternative path may eventually degenerate to exit from the operating environment or high-cost segments, similar to the cases with Procter and Gamble, GSK, Pernord Ricord, and Unilever.”
The Guardian reports that dollar benchmark in the 2024 budget was aimed at addressing uncertainties.
Speaking to State House correspondents, Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu, said that before settling for the initially projected exchange rate of N750 to the dollar (later raised by the National Assembly to N800), the government thoroughly assessed and scrutinised the average performance of the naira.
“For budgeting purposes. You don’t use the spot rate of anything. Oil price can go to $120 today, maybe there is a shortage, may be there is a collision between two ships that will block a channel. It would be foolish to use that as a reference price, I should take a period, maybe six months to one year and say let me observe this average behaviour, so you don’t use spot prices. So, it is the same with the exchange rate,” the Minister said.
He explained that “much as we are hoping that it would soon come below, but at the time you are doing the budget you will take a view on average performance. And that’s what we took.”
The minister also said that President Bola Tinubu respected the National Assembly in allowing further raise in the exchange rate considering his high respect for institutions and democracy.
The minister noted that the Federal Government was sure that with the measures it is currently taking, there will soon be a significant increase in the supply of foreign exchange into the economy.
The Budget Minister, who also spoke on the level of borrowing to fund the deficit in the 2024 budget, said the difference between this year’s borrowing compared to 2023 remains significant.
“In 2023, the budget anticipated a borrowing of close to N14 trillion. This year’s budget is N9.1 trillion. So, we think that is significant, because 2023 took us to about 6.11 per cent of our GDP as borrowing. This year is 3.8 per cent. So, the quantum had decreased,” Bagudu added.
He further explained that the Federal Government within the 2024 fiscal year intends to operate strictly within the dictates of the fiscal responsibility law, which provides for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to lend to the government through its Ways and Means window, only five per cent of the total budget.
The newspaper says that the Federal Government, through the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) has unveiled plans to up the skills of artisans in the country to boost Nigeria’s economy through skilled manpower and labour export.
Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Publicity, Mr Temitope Ajayi, disclosed this in a statement yesterday.
According to Ajayi, the Nigerian government via a national framework – ‘Skill-Up Artisans (SUPA) programme, is collaborating with Abu Dhabi for the supply of 14,000 qualified artisans to work in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
He said the overarching objective of SUPA was to drive national development, ensure availability of skilled artisanal workforce for domestic industries and create a sustainable pipeline for labour export.
He noted that Denmark, Germany, UAE, Estonia, United Kingdom, Ireland and many other countries were introducing various Visa categories to attract artisans from Africa.
“To boost the pool of local artisans with proficiency in in-demand skills, President Tinubu has mandated the ITF to retrain and ensure 20 million artisans in Nigeria are properly certified over the next five years.
“This is so they can become competitive and be able to take full advantage of job openings locally and abroad.
“The President also directed that the ugly trend of artisans from China, Philippines and neighbouring West African countries taking up jobs meant for artisans in Nigeria should be reversed,” he said.
GIK/APA