The French President, Emmanuel Macron, has commended the Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul Rabiu
for his commitment to developing lasting relationships between French and Nigerian businesses.
This came as the French Minister for Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness, Franck Riester, paid
a visit to the BUA Group HQ in Lagos Nigeria where he handed over a personal invitation from
President Macron to Abdul Samad Rabiu to attend the Choose France Summit in June in Paris
representing business leaders from Nigeria and Africa.
The French minister also witnessed the signing of a progress acknowledgement statement between
BUA Group and Axens of France for BUA’s proposed 200,000 barrels per day refinery in Akwa Ibom. During the visit, it was also announced that the Chairman of BUA Group had been appointed
Chairman of the France Nigeria Investment Club.
Speaking during the ceremony, Mr Rabiu thanked the Minister and President Macron for their
unwavering support in bringing BUA and French businesses together.
He further added that so far, BUA had initiated partnerships and have developed personal
relationships with a few French businesses, including Axens whilst expressing confidence in the
quality of expertise and technical know-how of the French companies BUA has partnered with. In his comments, Jean Sentenac, President of Axens said that he is pleased that the project is
advancing on schedule.
He also praised the very good cooperation between all the involved parties and reiterated the
commitment of Axens to delivering the BUA Refinery Project on time and with the highest standards. Represented by Franck Riester, the French Minister for Foreign Trade and Attractiveness, Mr Marcon
invited Abdul Samad to the “Choose France Summit” and said the French Government is ever ready
to support people-oriented and developmental projects in Nigeria. “I am very pleased to see how
committed Abdul Samad Rabiu is for the refinery and in the space of philanthropy.”
“I want to stress how keen you were in promoting the interest of Nigeria and its people during our
meeting in Paris and how committed you were to make the economy stronger and more resilient. I
want to congratulate you for the vision and ambition you demonstrate in many sectors in your will to
build projects shaping the future of Nigeria. We think that we have to support long term investment of
French companies in Nigeria and Nigeria companies in France and this project of refinery is a
wonderful project for Nigeria,” Mr Macron was quoted to have said.
Earlier, Mr Rabiu who stated that Nigeria imports most of its crude oil consumed daily noted that
BUA Refinery when fully operational will reduce the huge cost transporting crude oil offshore, refining
it, and bringing it back into the country.
Mr Rabiu added that the decision to site the refinery in Akwa Ibom – Southern Nigeria was strategic
due to huge availability of raw materials and its proximity to export petroleum products to regional
countries.
Mr Riester was accompanied by a high-powered delegation of Jerome Pasquier, Ambassador of France
in Nigeria; Laurence Monmayrant, Consul General of France in Lagos; Quentin Teisseire, Chief of Staff,
Alexis du Boisberranger, Technical advisor for export and strategic partnership; Benedicte Constans,
Advisor to the Minister, in Charge of Communication; Pascal Furth, Regional Economic Counsellor,
Nigeria’s external debt to total revenue increased from 8 per cent in 2011 to 400 per cent in 2020, a
former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) , Sanusi Lamido, has said.
Mr Sanusi lamented the situation last Thursday while participating in an online roundtable
discussion tagged: “Debt Relief for a Green and Inclusive Recovery in Nigeria”, organised by Heinrich
Böll Foundation.
The former CBN governor said Nigeria has a debt services ratio of up to 90-96 per cent but there are
certain other elements of debts that analysts have not paid attention to.
He said: “If you go through the CBN statistical bulletin, in 2011, the total federally collected revenue
from all sectors was 18.9 trillion Naira at 165 Naira to the dollar. This will have placed federally
collected revenue in 2011 at $55.5 billion.
“Meanwhile, debt at that time was 5 billion so we had an external debt to external revenue of about 8
per cent in 2011. By 2020 we have an external debt of about $33.4 billion but all revenues in 2020 were
about $8.3 billion. So it has moved from 8 per cent to 400 per cent between 2011 and 2020.
“And this is a serious red flag that I’ve not seen being pointed out in the conversation around debt
sustainability especially given the facts that exports are yet to be diversified at the book of our
revenues from oil sectors given what we’ve seen and what have been discussed today about the
prospect of hydrocarbons as we move into a greener world.”
Nigeria’s debt position has been a source of concern for development experts in recent years, especially
in the midst of dwindling oil revenue.
Mr Sanusi, who was recently deposed as Emir of Kano, noted that in measuring debt sustainability,
the debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio is a useless metric.
“You do not service debt out of GDP, you service debt out of revenues,” he said. “If only 20 per cent of your GDP is paying taxes, if you have a debt GDP ratio of 20 per cent, you are
likely to have a debt service to revenue ratio of 100 per cent.
“So, for a long time, I have been concerned about this idea that if (having) 25, 30 or 35 per cent debt to
GDP ratio is fine, because you’ve got countries that are activating 90 per cent.” He added that in the countries where debts to GDP numbers are high, tax is a major component of
government revenues.
Interest Rate Meanwhile, Mr Sanusi explained that high interest rates with high debts could lead to difficult
financial situations.
He also explained further that another key part of the nation’s debt profile is the components of
bilateral loans, of which China is a major player, with $3.2 billion of Nigeria’s $4.1 bilateral debt, that’s
about 78 per cent.
He explained that any talk about debt sustainability has to involve China as a very dominant player. The former CBN governor agreed that the call for debt relief is in the right direction, but the nation
needs to show serious commitment and review the structure of its government and economy.
He noted that as countries begin to lift COVID-19 restrictions on travels, there will be increased
demand for forex on travel, further putting pressure on the country’s exchange rate.
“When the world reopens and people start travelling, that is going to lead to an increase in demand on
forex for travel and that is going to exert further pressure on the balance of payments.
“Now, these are the kinds of considerations I think we need to bear in mind when we talk about the
sustainability of a debt situation.
“Honestly, I think debt relief is very necessary if this country is going to have the fiscal space to pursue
any kind of developmental objectives. We can’t be spending 90 or 100 per cent of our revenue on debt
service and don’t have anything to invest in development.”
According to Mr Sanusi, the country needs to invest in education and agriculture, stressing that these
two sectors will help play a key role in lifting Nigerians out of poverty.
Part of the problem Nigeria faces, he said, is that there has been significant under-investment in
education and health care, and the productivity of agriculture.
“And these are the kinds of things that we need to lift people out of poverty and bring sustainable
growth,” he argued.
Population The former chief executive of First Bank also explained that the rapid rate of growth in population is a
source of concern, adding that the country needs to have social policies around demographic growth.
“There are parts of this country where the fertility rate is more than eight (8) live births per woman,
and again some societies are also polygamous,” he said.
“Now there’s no way that you are going to continue growing at 3.4 or 4 per cent when your economy is
growing at a slower rate and expect to deal with poverty. And that is an unsustainable model.” He also noted that setting up factories could help lead to economic growth.
He said: “One of the issues I have with people when they talk about removing the subsidy on
electricity tariffs and how the tariffs are going to go on to avert some problems is that we worry so
much about tariffs because we use electricity for consumption and the buck of the population is yet to
understand that electricity is an import into production. You can’t burn it.
“So, if you take away the subsidy by having a cost recovery tariff, you could put that money into small
and medium enterprises that will turn that electricity into real production of goods and services and
lift people out of poverty.
“Now, it doesn’t have to be fossil fuels electricity, you can in the same way, for example, use these
bonds to encourage setting up factories to produce solar panels. People talk about renewable energy
but if you are going to be importing solar panels from China or the UK, it is not as effective as if you
set up factories to produce these panels in Nigeria. You’ve got all the raw materials you need to
produce solar panels.
“So set up factories, produce these panels and then the subsidy comes in, in form of making these
panels affordable and the kind of financing you give to the micro-enterprises to turn this renewable
energy into goods and services.
“Not just about producing renewable energy that will continue to be fueling television sets, water
kettles, video games, no; we want electricity so that micro, small and medium enterprises can begin to
generate.”
Mr Sanusi argued further that a very smart way of dealing with debt relief is to effectively ensure that
government puts in the right policies and that money goes into the right areas that will lead to
sustainable development.
He noted that what happened when debt relief was granted to Nigeria in the past was that Nigeria
went back on spending on overheads, unnecessary petroleum subsidies, and subsidies on fertilisers,
which has not helped the country.
“What happened in the past was that we had this debt relief and then we went back to borrowing
money, spending on salaries, overheads, and unnecessarily petroleum subsidies all sorts of fertilisers
sub discount and those are the kind things that need to end,” he lamented.
“But we also need to bear in mind that as we take them out, the way to minimise impact is to address
the real SDGs considerations, education, healthcare, renewable energy accompanied by training, the
productivity of agriculture and this is really about the policy deficit that we’ve had in the last few
The movie star died in the early hours of Saturday after a prolonged battle with diabetes.
Monalisa Chinda-Coker, Director of Communications Actors Guild of Nigeria, confirmed the news in a statement sent to Our Newsroom
“On behalf of the entire members of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, the National President, Ejezie Emeka Rollas commiserate with the immediate family members, friends and fans. He prays that God comfort them at this moment of grief. May the souls of all faithful departed Rest In Peace,” the statement read.
Background The veteran actor went public about his ailment during an interview with Brekete Family, on Human Rights 101.1 in Abuja in 2015.
According to the talented actor, he never knew he had diabetes until a violent armed robbery attack that landed him in hospital.
He was quoted as having said, “said “I’ve gone to so many places; within the country, outside the country for treatment, until finally…finally, the thing [diabetes] claimed one of my sights (eyes). As I look at you now, I’m using only one sight (eye). They call that glaucoma.
“And gradually, it’s affecting the other one. I discovered that this thing [the illness] is a lifetime something. And it has robbed me of the job [acting]. And now, if I get a script, it will be hard for me to read it very well. And if I read it, if I strain my eyes for so long, it would look as if someone would lead me around the house or anywhere I want to go because it will affect the only one [eye]. So that’s my problem.”
At the time, he said he needed to be transferred to a U.S.-based hospital where he is required to have N3.5 million.
Aliko Dangote and Abdul Samad Rabiu, Africa’s richest and sixth richest men respectively according to Forbes’s estimate, have squabbled over compliance concerns relating to the backward integration policy of the Nigerian sugar industry, compounding an already messy dispute over the ownership of a cement site.
Mr Dangote, chairman of Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, told the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo, in a letter, the establishment of a sugar plant by BUA International Limited, owned by Mr Rabiu in the Port Harcourt free trade zone was out of tune with export laws.
“The mid-term review conducted by the NSDC (National Sugar Development Council) was clear in its conclusions – BUA has failed to invest substantively in local production or comply with its undertakings under its BIP,” Mr Dangote said in a letter jointly signed with John Coumantaros, chair of Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, a fellow maker of the product.
“BUA intend only on importing and refining raw sugar whilst claiming to be investing in developing sugar plantations in order to qualify for quotas to import raw sugar.”
Relations between both men became frosty in June 2020 when BUA Cement, majority owned by Mr Samad, got a restraining order against Dangote Cement, where the Africa’s wealthiest man wields the majority stake, after the police invaded its three sites in Obu Okpella, Edo State.
BUA Group said Dangote Cement initiated the action.
“BUA takes serious exception to the ludicrous claims by its two major competitors that it aims to circumvent the BIP of the sugar industry – an initiative in which it has invested billions of Naira and is almost nearing completion,” it said in a rejoinder to the sugar policy contravention indictment.
“To thus claim that the BUA PH export focused refinery in an Export Zone will amount to an undermining of the NSMP (National Sugar Master Plan) is false.”
President Muhammadu Buhari gave the go-ahead for developing the Port Harcourt plant, according to Mr Rabiu.
Muhammad Dingyadi, minister of police affairs, has spoken on why Mohammed Adamu, former
Inspector-General of Police (IGP), did not complete his three months tenure extension. Recall that President Mohammadu Buhari on Tuesday approved the appointment of Alkali Baba as
the acting IGP.
Baba replaces Adamu who was given a three-month tenure extension by the President on February 4. However, while briefing state house correspondents on Tuesday, the police minister explained that it is
the prerogative of the President to decide on when to make or terminate an appointment.
“Mr. President is the one who is in charge of appointing or extending tenures.
“He has now decided to appoint a new person. So please allow him that responsibility and we cannot
do anything about it.
“He is also grateful to the outgoing IGP for his professionalism and dedication to duty during the
period of his tenure,” he said.
He further explained that the new IGP was picked after a “thorough check of a shortlist of suitably
qualified police officers from the rank of DIGs and AIGs, who are eligible for appointment as IGP. ”
“Baba’s appointment is in line with the president’s goal “to restructure the security system in the
country, to ensure that the security challenges crippling the nation are brought to an end,” he added.
President Muhammadu Buhari has announced the appointment of DIG Usman Alkali Baba as the
Acting Inspector General of police.
The Minister of Police Affairs, Maigari Dingyadi made this known to State House correspondents on
Tuesday.
Usman Alkali Baba replaces Mohammed Abubakar Adamu whose tenure was recently extended. Recall that Buhari had on the 4th of February, extended the tenure of Mohammed Adamu as the
Fisayo Michael, a Nigerian hype man popularly known as MC Fish and husband to popular Nollywood actress, Anita Joseph, has revealed that he washes his wife’s underwear because of the way she respects him.
The master of ceremonies, who shot into the limelight after he wedded the actress in 2020, disclosed this in a viral video published on Friday.
He said he has a wife that treats him like a king and that is the reason he would do anything for her, including washing her underwear.
He said, “Before she makes decisions she tells me before she cooks or does not anything she tells me. What more can I ask for? A woman that respects me and treats me like a king, I must respect her back.
“If I have to wash her shoes in public, I will wash it. If I have to wash her undies, I will. It’s not like I am not even doing it already, no be say I no dey do am. If she fit dey wash my boxers, why I no fit wash her pants? I dey run am o. That is my wife, e no concern anybody.”
A few months into their marriage, MC Fish told PREMIUM TIMES that they re-enact his wife’s sex scenes at home.
He also revealed a lot about his recent marriage to his bride who is known to court controversies as well as his job as a hype man.
“For me, it’s all about understanding and just effortlessly getting along with the other party. What Anita and I have is more than marriage; it’s more spiritual.
“For example, whenever we are faced with an issue we both sit down, talk, and sort it out. So both of us are like Bonny and Clyde. We just get along easily so why shouldn’t I have a happy home with someone like that? As long as both parties have good communication, that’s all that matters,” he said in the interview with this newspaper.
Like Neo, like MC Fish Back in September 2020, Big Brother Naija Season 5 housemate, Emuobonuvie ‘Neo’ Akpofure, was the butt of social media jokes for washing the panties of his love interest, Victoria ‘Vee’ Adeyele, on live television.
Riding on the heels of the incident, Joseph revealed that her husband washes her panties.
The actress made a video reproving those that criticised Neo for washing his girl’s pants, while her husband drummed his support in the background.
She added that the people that were condemning the act are those that engage in oral sexual activities the most and that their criticisms are hypocritical.
Other Nigerian celebrities also took to their social media pages to air their opinion on the matter.
The couple tied the knots after a whirlwind romance that lasted three years.
