statistics
NBS: Nigerian government, states’ debt profile rise to N32.92 trillion
Nigeria’s total public debt portfolio as at December 31, 2020, stood at N32.92 trillion, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reveals. It made the revelation in its Nigerian Domestic and Foreign Debt report for Quarter Four, 2020, obtained from its website on Monday in Abuja. It added that the debt profile was for the States and the Federal Government. According to the bureau, Nigeria’s total public debt showed that N12.71 trillion or 38.60 per cent of the debt was external, while N20.21 trillion or 61.40 per cent of the debt was domestic. “Further disaggregation of Nigeria’s foreign debt showed that 17.93 billion dollars of the debt was multilateral, 4.06 billion dollars was bilateral from the African Development Bank (AfDB), Exim Bank of China, Japan International Cooperation Agency (...
Presidency: Atiku Abubakar can’t extricate himself from Nigeria’s rot
The Presidency has attacked former Vice President Atiku Abubakar for his comment on the Bloomberg report that Nigeria may emerge the country with the highest unemployment rate in the world. The position of the Presidency was stated by the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, on a Channels Television programme: Sunday Politics, on Sunday. Adesina said the recent report released by the National Bureau of Statistics that 23.2 million Nigerians are unemployed was not new. He said: “You will recall that in the build-up to the 2015 elections, when the APC (All Progressives Congress) was campaigning, the figure that was used by then candidate Buhari was that a minimum of 30 million Nigerians were unemployed, particularly youths, and that his governme...
NANS flays ‘commercialisation’ of tertiary institutions
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), has decried an alleged clandestine move to commercialise public tertiary institutions stressing that it might deprive many the access to quality education. The NANS National President, Com Sunday Asefon, said this on Thursday at the Lagos State University (LASU), while speaking on the decadence of the Nigerian educational system. Asefon in a statement entitled : ‘Need to Perceive Education As a Social Service’ , and made available to newsmen in Ado Ekiti, on Friday, said any developing nation that views education from the prism of commercialisation would fail in giving the youth the right attitude to life. The students leader described education as a veritable weapon to rid the society of ignorance, criminality, and building of future l...
Enugu community lament over dilapidated school classes
Residents of Aguobia-Nomeh, a community in Enugu state have expressed concern over the dilapidated conditions of the Community Secondary School. The school in Aguobia is a public junior and senior secondary located in Aguobia-Nomeh in Nkanu East local government area of Enugu State. Residents have on several occasion lamented the chronic state of the Community Secondary School calling for urgent repairs of the school class rooms but all efforts yielded no result. According to an indigene of the community, Michael Chigbo, the school was largely known as one of the best in the area before now. He recounted: “Community Secondary School, Aguobia Nomeh used to be one of the dream learning places most indigenes of Nkanu East LGA had wished to attend. “But today, it has become a different story. ...
NECA decries increase in Nigeria’s unemployment rate
Dr Timothy Olawale, Director-General, Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) has expressed concern of the association, at the growing unemployment rate, as released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Olawale told newsmen on Wednesday, in Lagos, that the recently released data by the NBS was worrisome. NAN also reports that a recently released Labour force report, published by the NBS shows that Nigeria’s unemployment rate as of the end of 2020, rose to 33.3 per cent from 27.1 per cent recorded as of Q2 2020. The report indicated that about 23,187,389 (23.2 million) Nigerians remained unemployed. “While the figure shows that the unemployment crisis is worsening at an alarming rate, it is also instructive to note that the socio-economic factors that increased the figure t...
Nigeria’s inflation rate hits 17.33 percent
The consumer price index, which measures the rate of increase in the price of goods and services, increased to 17.33 percent in February. This is the highest point since April 2017. According to the CPI/Inflation report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday, the food inflation stood at 21.79 percent, the highest point since the 2009 data series began. According to the NBS, food inflation also grew by 21.79 percent year-on-year compared to 20.57 percent recorded in January. The headline inflation for month-on-month also increased to 1.89 percent from 1.83 percentage points. It explained that the upward movement in food inflation was caused by increases in the prices of bread, cereals, fish, potatoes, yam and other tubers, vegetables, meat, oils and fats, fruits and ...
NCC boss: Over $70 billion spent on telecoms infrastructure in Nigeria
Vox Media Over $70 billion have been invested in telecommunications infrastructure deployment in Nigeria since the liberalisation of the industry in 2001. The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Prof Umar Garba Danbatta, who made this known said the amount represented a larger chunk of local and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) attracted into the sector within the period. Danbatta made the remarks on Thursday while delivering the Bullion Lecture 2021 Edition organised by the Centre for Financial Journalism (CFJ), Lagos. According to him, the investment in infrastructures has boosted the economy and provided more opportunities for more Nigerians have access to telecoms services. “Today, the number of active telephone lines being used by Nigerians has signi...
APC boycotts Delta local council elections
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State said it pulled out of the Saturday local council elections in the state. The APC spokesperson in the state, Sylvester Imonina, said this in a statement in Asaba on Saturday. Imonina said the party boycotted the election because the Delta State Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC) and others “cheated the Delta people again.” “I told the people of Delta some days ago that there were evil machinations to deprive them of their right to choose who to lead them at the local government level. “Yesterday, March, 5, 2021 at DSIEC headquarters in Asaba, Delta APC representatives were not allowed to take statistics of the materials that it intended transporting to the different LGAs in the state. “This is despite the insistence of the party’s rep...
Nigerian government approves new debt management strategy
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved a new Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy for Nigeria (MTDS) for the period 2020-2023. With the approval, announced during Wednesday’s virtual FEC meeting, the DMO which is saddled with managing the nation’s debt matters, has promised full implementation to support economic development while ensuring that public debt is sustainable. The MTDS is a policy document which provides a guide to the borrowing activities of the government in the medium-term, usually four years. It is recognised as one of the best practices in public debt management and is recommended by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to ensure that public debt management is driven by a well-articulated strategy that is structured to meet a country’s broader mac...
How Davido, Wizkid, Olamide, Burna Boy broke streaming records in 2020
From all available statistics, facts and figures no other Nigerian musical artiste, male or female, was able to pull off what the quartet of Davido, Wizkid, Burna Boy and Olamide pulled off in 2020. The duopoly of Davido and Wizkid, which has been going on for years was questioned most especially by Burna Boy and the new face on the international scene, Olamide. Each one of them released an amazing album and it was a staggering success story on all streaming platforms. The figures showed Nigerian music has arrived on the international stage. Particularly of interest is Olamide, whose music has not really been able to cross the continent to the international stage. Well, thanks to his international connection, which has given wings to fly over the Atlantic. For Burna Boy, his fortunes have ...
PTF: Nigeria records four cases of UK coronavirus variant strain
Mr Boss Mustapha, Chairman, Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, said Nigeria recorded four cases of COVID-19, B117 variant strain, first reported in the UK. The PTF chairman made the disclosure at national briefing on Monday in Abuja. Mustapha said; “over the last few weeks, the PTF had been closely following the rising number of infections reported daily in Nigeria and in other jurisdictions. “Similarly, our scientists have been sequencing the variants of the virus. “There have been reports of cases with the B117 variant strain first reported in the UK, found in Nigeria. Three of these were in travelers out of Nigeria and one in a resident,”. He also stated that the daily statistics for Nigeria as at January 24, 2020 showed that cas...
15 people die of coronavirus in Nasarawa
The Deputy Governor of Nasarawa State, Dr Emmanuel Akabe, has disclosed that 15 persons have died from COVID-19 since the outbreak of the virus. He said in Lafia after a security meeting that, ” As at Tuesday December 22, the state has discharged 668 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 26 under home care and 3 in isolation. “85% of the cases are found in Karu, Keffi and Lafia local government areas, while the rest are found in the remaining 10 councils of the state.” He said. The Deputy Governor disclosed that Dr Rebecca Isaac Umaru, Former Provost of College of Education Akwanga died of the virus on Monday, December 21. He also said Dr Janet Angbazo, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism was tested positive of the virus and she is currently on isolation. Ac...
