Former Nigerian Vice President Atku Abubakar has said that Nigeria is caught up in a modern-day Malthusian Trap even as he argued that the country is technically out of recession but practically not out of it.

“What is happening in Nigeria is that as a nation, we are caught up in a modern-day Malthusian Trap. For years, our population has been growing faster than our Gross Domestic Product, bringing us to a point where we have an ever-increasing population competing for resources that are not keeping pace with population growth.

“After contracting for five consecutive quarters, Nigeria came out of recession in the second quarter of 2017 with a GDP growth rate of 0.55%. In the third quarter, we fared better with 1.40%.  While this looks somewhat like we exited the recession, the reality is that when you factor in our population growth rate of 2.3%, which is one of the highest in the world, have we really exited a recession? Technically, yes, but in reality, it is doubtful.”
Atiku Abubakar, who is currently the chieftain of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), spoke yesterday, Friday in a lecture at the Silverbird Man Of The Year 2017 Award in Lagos.

He argued that the social economic and security challenges which Nigeria is facing are actually symptoms and not the ailment.

“And as any doctor will tell you, you cannot get genuine long-lasting relief if you treat symptoms. You have to target and treat the root cause of the disease.
“It may sound simplistic, but if Nigeria can assemble a leadership focused on getting us out of this Malthusian Trap by gradually reversing the trend where population growth exceeds GDP growth, many of these challenges we are currently facing will slowly but surely fade away.
“Last year, we celebrated the fact that we exited our first recession in 25 years. To me, that celebration was premature.
“This month of February 2018, according to the World Poverty Clock, Nigeria has just overtaken India as the world’s capital of extreme poverty. There are more extremely poor people in Nigeria than there are in India, a country that has six times Nigeria’s population.
Atiku Abubakar said that when people do not have jobs and the means to start a business are beyond their reach, they are incrementally much more likely to engage in criminal behaviours like terrorism, kidnapping, militancy and armed robbery.
according to him, Nigeria has a median age of 18.3 years, adding that the nation’s population is young “so when we have successful and laudable initiatives like YouWIN, which according to the World Bank, was two and a half times more effective than Mexico’s similar youth job initiative and ten times more effective than Turkey’s own version, we must continue them even when there has been a change in administration.
“We talk of fighting corruption, but let us move beyond sentiments and media trials and look at the facts.
“We must try to identify why, though we have been ostensibly fighting corruption for the past few years, Transparency International, the official global anti-corruption monitoring agency, has not increased our Corruption Perception Index rating. The last time we made progress was in 2014.
“Not to belabour the point, but we have to kill the snake of corruption that swallows the commonwealth that should lift our people up from poverty. Whether that snake is in a JAMB Office or any other government office, we must kill it or it will kill us.
“Einstein said that insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. We have been in denial about restructuring, but with a failing economy, worsening insecurity, and negative indices in almost all spheres of the human development index, we can no longer run from the obvious.”
the former Vice President said that Nigeria needs to be restructured to fix Nigeria’s broken systems “and not just a campaign gimmick that we fish out of our magic hats and deny after we have gotten what we want.
“Let me say this: The Restructuring that I, Atiku Abubakar, envisions, will see no state receive less money from the federation account than it currently does. I hope that will ease the anxieties of some who oppose restructuring. Restructuring will not cheat you. It will free you.
“When I was in government, we reduced recurrent expenditure by introducing the monetization Policy and by privatizing many government enterprises, especially those that were consuming resources without generating revenue. Those policies have been bastardized today and we have seen a ballooning of our recurrent expenditure and shrinkage of our capital expenditure. We must return to the basics.
“We cannot spend 70% of our budget on recurrent expenditure at a time Nigeria has more unemployed or underemployed people than the entire population of the Republic of Cameroon.” [myad]

The governor of Kaduna state, Malam Nasir El-Rufai has filed a N2 billion suit against the senator representing Kaduna central district, Shehu Sani.

In the suit he personally filed at the Kaduna state high court today, Friday, Governor El-Rufai sought amongst other things, reliefs for injuries statements made by Senator Sani.

The governor said that Sani referred to him as a “drunk, loose cannon and an embarrassment to President Muhammadu Buhari,” and that such remarks are totally false and injurious to his person as a public servant.

However, Senator Shehu has referred to the suit by governor El-Rufai as another way of intimidating him but that he will not go far.

In a statement issued by his special adviser on political matters, Suleiman Ahmed, Senator Shehu said that though he is yet to be served, he and his lawyers are “ready and well prepared.”

President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed great respect for the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-corruption (PACAC), Professor Itse Sagay.

The President, who received in audience, the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Ikenwoli at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, seized the opportunity to thank Professor Sagay, who hails from Warri himself.

“Buhari thanked Warri people for producing a man like Professor Itse Sagay, “who is defending us robustly and stepping on many toes in the process. If he’s not a man of conviction, he couldn’t have done that.

‘‘What he is doing is exceptional. Despite coming from a minority area, he’s showing overwhelming influence at the centre.

‘‘Prof. I never had the opportunity to thank you personally for all you’re doing. Thank you very much,’’ the President said.

The Permanent Secretary in the State House, the Presidency, Jalal Arabi, today, Friday appeared before the House of Representatives to defend the allocation to the Presidency in the 2018 budget.

Arabi, who defended the 2018 budget proposal for the State House and the utilization of the 2017 budget releases before the House Committee on Special Duties, said that the 2018 budget proposals of the State House will focus on completing all on-going projects.

The Permanent Secretary, who said that several ongoing projects have been stalled or delayed due to funding constraints, said that the budget proposals are aimed at delivering on Nigeria’s Economic Growth and Recovery Plan (EGRP) 2018-2020.

According to him, the budget will maximise scarce resources in a manner that the State House functions optimally to the point that security of the State House is not compromised.”

He told the Committee that the State House administration caters for the offices of the President, the Vice President, the Chief of Staff, the Chief Security Officer to the President, the State House Medical Centre and the State House Liaison office in Lagos.

The State House budget proposal for 2018 is N15,479,178,778 for capital and recurrent expenditure.

The Chairman, House Committee on Special Duties, Hon. Nasir Sani Zangon-Daura, described the State House as the nerve-centre of the nation, adding that there is need to be fair in the allocation of resources so that it can effectively service the strategic offices located therein.

He assured that the committee will be open-minded in its recommendations without compromising quality.

“You are a man of hope, courage and action. May all the good things you want for Nigeria come to pass.”

This was the verdict of the Ohinoyi of Ebira land in Kogi State, Dr. Ado Ibrahim when he paid a royal visit to President Muhammadu Buhari today, Friday, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

 The Ohinoyi of Ebira land commended the President for his renewed interest in reviving the Ajaokuta Steel and expressed the hope that the project will come back to life and be inaugurated under Buhari’s administration.

This was even as President Buhari thanked the royal father for his continued support of his administration even as he also assured the people of Niger Delta that his administration would continue to support rapid development in the region by consolidating on all ongoing projects and initiating new ones to create more economic opportunities and jobs for the people.

The President, who also received in audience at the Villa, the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Ikenwoli, reiterated the Federal government’s commitment to maintaining peace and security in the Niger Delta for economic and social activities to thrive.

The President said that developing the region remains a priority for his administration, adding that under his watch every region in the country would witness increased investments in critical infrastructure even as he appealed to the people of Niger Delta to complement ongoing efforts by the Federal government to bring more development in the region by maintaining peace, security and harmony.

President Buhari promised to look into some of the concerns raised by the delegation including the dredging of Escravos bar for Warri and Koko ports, the gas revolution industrial park and EPZ project in Ogidigben, the ecological challenges in Ode-Itsekiri, Ugborodo, Orere/Yanagho and Ogheye-Eghoroke, among others.

The President also used the occasion of the visit by the Royal Majesty to commend Itsekiri people for producing men of strong convictions like Professor Itse Sagay, the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-corruption (PACAC).