Interrogating Ndume’s Self-Serving Agenda

When a privileged officer of state makes public a determination to talk to power, his intention must be subjected to objective interrogation. As a privileged official, it is natural to assume that such officer had binged on power and manipulated the influence associated with his or her political station to expropriate the commonwealth. 

When such an individual launches an advocacy purportedly on redeeming governance to serve the purpose of the mass of the people, it is natural to question the populist undertone of such manoeuvres. 

It is in this context that we situate the recent outburst of Senate Chief Whip, Senator Ali Ndume outburst against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his administration on sundry issues of state, chief of which is that the President lacks a quality team of people working with and for him. And that he (the President) had become unapproachable even by his own cabinet members and by extension, influential state officials like himself. 

In this particular case, our opinion is that Ndume’s grumpiness as expressed during a live television interview is not only self-serving but a subterranean blackmail which politicians of his ilk have become adept at deploying when they desire to manipulate the public to side with their narrow objectives. 

As a body of analysts, we acknowledge Nigeria’s state of precariousness in, perhaps, all segments of its existence, but we are of the candid belief that to mitigate the impact of the array of challenges arising from this precarious state, senior officials of state and other critical stakeholders must individually and collectively commit to sterilising emotions and base sentiments in favour of issues and policies in ways that enlighten rather than being vitriolic.

So we wonder what exact purpose the Senator desired to serve when he declared during the television interview that people are hungry but the President was not aware of it. We consider that quite obtuse and a typical manoeuvre of playing to the gallery. In four public announcements over the course of the past 12 months, President Tinubu had variously sought the understanding of Nigerians concerning the impact of his policies and promised implementation of various intervening measures, the latest being the removal of taxes and tariffs on food items to be imported into the country during the pendency of a 150-day state of emergency on food affordability in the country. 

In the particular case of rice importation for instance, the Federal Government’s policy measure has suspended 70 percent tax and levy that were hitherto charged on the import. Expectedly, this will reflect in eventual reduction in retail price and also force traders to offload their current inventory because of the cheaper imports expected in the market shortly.

In addition, the commendable strides towards mechanising the nation’s agricultural system through the acquisition of 2,000 tractors, 4,000 disc ploughs and 1,200 tractor-trailers among other equipment under the National Agricultural Mechanization Programme (NAMP) will definitely confirm the nation’s status as a major food producer in Africa.

When Ndume dismissed the talents around the President as ineffectual, we feel rather perturbed in consideration of the extent a primary-minded individual can go to establish a privately-held prejudice. 

At no time did we have a head of government who has minted and deployed set of policies with intent at causing a paradigm shift in the nation’s economic structure in profound and fundamental ways like now. Yes, we are also willing to be upfront about the side effects of these policies which have led to the country been ranked as the fifth African country hit hardest by the global cost-of-living crisis as pressure continues to pile on households.

Be that as it may, it is obvious to a conscientious mind that the high cost of living is merely an early reflection of a more fundamental impactful change on the country’s economy. For instance, Nigeria is reported to have recorded the highest private equity deals on the continent for the first time in two years. A report by a South African-based firm, which tracks Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) and corporate finance activities across the continent, shows that the value of M&A in Africa’s most populous nation rose to $2.59 billion, 322 percent higher than $614 million in the same period of 2023 and 47.2 percent higher than $1.76 billion reported in Q1 2022. 

This increase in private equity in Nigeria also mirrors foreign investments into the country which rose to the highest in four years in Q1 2024 largely on the back of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reforms.

The latest capital importation report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that total foreign investments into the country stood at $3.38 billion, an increase of 210.2 percent from $1.09 billion reported in the previous quarter. 

Even as there are expressed misgivings towards the depreciation of the Naira, it has turned out that the policy of harmonisation of the foreign exchange windows is generating profit for manufacturing concerns in the country. The weaker naira has tripled manufacturers’ export sales in the first three months of 2024.

The latest financial statements of Unilever Nigeria Plc, Nestlé Nigeria Plc, Okomu Oil Palm Plc and Dangote Cement Plc show that their combined revenue from exports surged by 201.1 percent to N387.2 billion in the period, the highest in at least nine years.

That’s up from N128.6 billion in the first quarter of 2023 when their export revenue rose by 41.2 percent. Further findings from the companies’ statements show that Nestlé recorded the highest growth in exports of 275 percent to N964 million in Q1 2024 from N257 million in the same period of 2023 followed by Dangote Cement with 201.7 percent to N381.3 billion. Okomu Oil Palm and Unilever’s own increased by 194.4 percent and 62.7 percent respectively.

This development is a positive one for the country as it creates an opportunity for manufacturers to get more naira to source for more foreign exchange needed for production.

Relatedly, on year-on-year count, foreign capital inflows into the country rose by 198.1 percent from $1.13 billion recorded in Q1 of 2023. This is because the harmonisation of the foreign exchange rate market, clearance of forex backlogs, naira devaluation, and high interest rates had sent positive signals to investors and influenced investments within the quarter.

Other sources of foreign capital inflow into the country include the announcement by Chapel Hill Denham, on February 12 2024 of a $7.4 million securitised funding for an off-grid solar programme by d.light, a solar-powered solution provider. 

In January this year, Access Bank announced the acquisition of a 69.7 percent majority stake in Uganda’s Finance Trust Bank. In March, the acquisition of KCB Group by Access Bank Plc was also announced, with the value of the deal being undisclosed. There was an announcement of a 60 percent stake in Presco Plc by Oak and Saffron, though the value of the deals remains undisclosed. 

In the same January, fintech platform, Cleva, received a $1.5 million pre-seed funding from a group of venture capitalists. Zanza Finance also received a $2.3 million funding from venture capitals. Indeed, Nigeria is still the country to beat despite the negative perception, as opportunities abound for growth and profitability for investors.

So it is shocking that Ndume would derogatorily describe a government presiding over these developments as a “kakistocracy”, a system run by the most incompetent, corrupt and unscrupulous individuals. 

As a group of analysts that has been scrutinising policies of the Tinubu administration since the beginning of the year, we view the senator’s comment as a political one that is not backed by facts. 

Our ardent desire is that state officials like Ndume will deliberately seek out information which we know are at their beck and call and cause an advocacy around these, rather than the self-serving agenda that has become the public staple of the Chief Whip of the Nigerian Senate.

Signed
Chief Niyi Akinsiju, F. Cifian
Chairman, 
Independent Media and Policy Initiative