Bleak Christmas for Ondo Workers As Government Turns Back On salary Promise

Civil Servants in Ondo State may celebrate this year’s Christmas in low key as the state government backed down on its earlier promise of paying the workers October salary and leave bonus before the Christmas day.

It was learnt that the State Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Yele Ogundipe and the Accountant-General had earlier met with union leaders and agreed that the workers would be paid their October and leave bonus by December 15, (today).

But, investigations conducted by News men revealed that the government may no longer pay the workers the leave bonus but would only pay the October salary in batches.

The purported non-payment of leave bonus has already demoralized the workers, who had hinged their hope on it for the Christmas celebration.

Speaking on the matter, the state chairman of the workers Joint Negotiating Council, JNC, Mr. Sunday Adeleye confirmed the meeting of the unions with state the government representatives.

Adeleye, who disclosed the series of meetings held with the government, dismissed allegations by the workers that the union had been compromised.

He said “you will remember that on September 30, workers were on strike, and at the end of the day, we were paid two salaries and four months deductions.

“We as union, we have been doing everything within our power but you know in Nigeria, when you are doing something some people may believe you are not doing enough.

“We have met with the commissioner for finance and the accountant general and they both promised that by tomorrow (Today) salary of October and leave bonus will be ready. The question is why are they paying salary of October in December?

“The major issue is leave bonus which is entitlement of all workers and as I am talking to you, they have not been paid.

“Just last Friday, I met with Ogundipe to remind him, because there was a circular that came out from the office of Accountant General requesting for the PR which means Payment Request i.e they are ready to pay.

“But just this morning, we were with the Chief of Staff to the Governor because we heard rumours that government is not ready to pay to pay leave bonus again.

“The most painful part of this is that most of the workers are expecting this leave bonus not for Christmas alone but to pay school fees of their children when the school resumes next year.

“We are thinking beyond Christmas, we are thinking of what we come of our children, it will be shameful if by January, our children were not allowed into the school.

“Don’t forget, November and December salaries are still there and nobody is talking about that one for now. Financially Ondo State workers may have a bleak Christmas, spiritually, I pray they have a good Christmas.

“We are very practical and sensitive to the government because of the depression of economy in the country. Looking at other states it is only Lagos in south west that is paying at when due.

“We have an agreement with the government that they will be owing us one month in arrears but it now two month and that is breach of agreement. As am talking to you now, government is owing us two months and by next week, it becomes three months.

Meanwhile, the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the Governor, Mr. Dayo Fadahunsi said the government is doing all its possible best to ensure that workers in the state are paid before Christmas.

Fadahunsi noted that despite the financial crisis in the country, Ondo state was among states that still seriously seeks for means of paying the workers.

He said “as at today in Nigeria, there is no workers either at state or federal level that is better taken care of more than Ondo state workers.

“If we compare us with other states, we are far better. This government value our workers but allocations have dropped below 50 percent government and this is a great challenge for a government,” the Governor’s aide stated.

Source: Daily Post News

Nigeria's Economic Policy Tripod

Monetary and financial stability, investment in infrastructure, and structural transformation of the economy have emerged as the thrusts of economic policy of the Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. Domestic and global investors can be assured that this policy trifecta is not just the priority of President Buhari, it is also what is needed to transform Nigeria's well-known economic potentials into reality for the benefit of the citizenry and various Nigerian market participants.

The ideal of monetary and financial stability is shared everywhere by policymakers, investors and the consumers. In this regard, there is strong agreement between the monetary and fiscal authorities to uphold socio-economic and financial stability in Nigeria. This is part of the policy direction that business leaders and investors have been anticipating. We now have the good news of the affirmation of the saliency of stability. 

This should instil investors' confidence in Nigeria and spur new investments in the country.

However, sections of the market had been apprehensive about whether stability is feasible for Nigeria, especially with the downward pressure on the naira exchange rate, and under the present circumstance of lower oil prices. Agreed, the fiscal headwind of lower oil prices would suggest accommodation of a floating currency, but with the attendant downside risk, including monetary, and potential financial instability. 

This cannot be the right policy to implement even for a day; its negative effects would remain long after the policy has wound up. But then, knee-jerk recursive currency devaluation has never been the only policy option the country has in responding to the cycle of lower oil revenue. One of the pertinent policy options is for the country to ratchet up investment in infrastructure. To do so is to stimulate the economy and avoid a recession that could be precipitated by austerity measures and economic instability. Therefore, President Buhari has said his Administration will invest in road and rail transport infrastructures as well as support the power sector. A plan to raise $25 billion infrastructure bond has been hinted at by the Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, giving further credence to the Government's commitment to investment in infrastructure.

At a time of lower revenue, this policy choice is definitely audacious. But these infrastructure investment plans can prove to be the masterstroke that will remove the constraint of lack of infrastructure which is the staunchest barrier to broader domestic investment, trade and economic growth. This will pave way for structural transformation of the economy. For Nigeria to overcome the harsh adjustments that arise every so often when the price of oil falls, structural diversification of the economy has to happen with much stronger results. One aspect of the restructuring relates to government raising more revenue from a wider tax net. The other aspect is for Nigerian businesses to export finished products and services, thereby broadening the sources of foreign exchange flows into the economy.

The Nigerian Export-Import Bank has continued to support the Government policy for non-oil exports growth through its advisory and financing activities. More than half a decade of working with Nigerian SMEs at NEXIM Bank has continued to reveal the potentials in Agro-processing, Manufacturing, Solid Minerals and Services (MASS) sectors. I often come in contact with the passion, sheer resolve and innovativeness of Nigerian entrepreneurs in the SME space, especially in the MASS sectors where we have focused our interventions as the Trade Policy Bank of Federal Government of Nigeria.

The other major hurdle Nigerian real sector businesses face is high cost of lending. But, since Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, came into office last year, he has been advocating a paradigm shift in which the real sector would benefit more from supportive monetary policy. 

This stance has been put beyond question at the November 2015 Monetary Policy Committee meeting when the Bank decided to bring down anchor interest rate by 200 basis points (from 13% to 11%) - the first rate reduction in six years; reduce Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) from 25% to 20%; and make manufacturers the target of lending of over N770 billion that the combination of these decisions will inject into the banking system as additional liquidity. It is also very good that the CBN, one of the shareholders of NEXIM, has recently declared that it is disposed to providing additional funding opportunities to enable the Bank provide more facilities at single digit lending rate to the SMEs towards boosting non-oil sector exports.

This is a positive follow-up to the import curbs the CBN introduced a few months back through its forex sales policy. The use of both policy and financing instruments to spur local production to promote import-substitution and export-manufacturing sits quite well with the fiscal programme the Federal Government has been hinting at. And so the required synergy and coordination of monetary and fiscal policy are in action.

No doubt, what Nigerian businesses need are roads and other modern infrastructures, not a weaker naira. What will create sustainable economic growth and improvement in the welfare of Nigerians is a virile local manufacturing industry, not availability of imported toothpick. And what will help remove downward pressure on the naira is more export revenue from the non-oil sectors, not devaluation at every turn of lower oil prices. The authorities needed courage in their decision for this policy tripod. They surely need to be resolute and stick to the decisions. The authorities also need the support of Nigerians as well as local and international financiers.

To complement our resources at NEXIM, the Bank has been in a collaboration with Africa Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank). In a recent interview by Ignite - the quarterly journal of Nigerian Export-Import Bank, Afreximbank CEO, Dr. Benedict Oramah spoke of some of the instruments the Bank uses to support SME manufacturers as well as financial institutions offering trade finance services in Africa. NEXIM Bank is working with the Cairo-based Development Finance Institution to identify local opportunities in Nigeria's non-oil sectors for financing. Both institutions are also working on regional initiatives to facilitate intra-Africa trade.

To address the issue of trade debt, which can be very knotty in international trade, NEXIM Bank is working with Afreximbank to introduce "factoring" to Nigerian SME exporters. Factoring is a risk-mitigating instrument in which a business owner sells accounts receivable at a discount to a third-party funding source to raise capital. This instrument can help Nigerian non-oil exporters participate more in export value-chains. 

In one form or another, the world's economies are implementing programmes of adjustment in responding to a slower global growth. Nigeria is not alone in making the necessary policy adjustments which are very capable of transforming the structure of the economy in very remarkably positive ways. This is why we all need to support the change agenda and the transformational policies of the Government.

Source: All Africa News

Nigeria's Economic Policy Tripod

Monetary and financial stability, investment in infrastructure, and structural transformation of the economy have emerged as the thrusts of economic policy of the Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. Domestic and global investors can be assured that this policy trifecta is not just the priority of President Buhari, it is also what is needed to transform Nigeria's well-known economic potentials into reality for the benefit of the citizenry and various Nigerian market participants.

The ideal of monetary and financial stability is shared everywhere by policymakers, investors and the consumers. In this regard, there is strong agreement between the monetary and fiscal authorities to uphold socio-economic and financial stability in Nigeria. This is part of the policy direction that business leaders and investors have been anticipating. We now have the good news of the affirmation of the saliency of stability. 

This should instil investors' confidence in Nigeria and spur new investments in the country.

However, sections of the market had been apprehensive about whether stability is feasible for Nigeria, especially with the downward pressure on the naira exchange rate, and under the present circumstance of lower oil prices. Agreed, the fiscal headwind of lower oil prices would suggest accommodation of a floating currency, but with the attendant downside risk, including monetary, and potential financial instability. 

This cannot be the right policy to implement even for a day; its negative effects would remain long after the policy has wound up. But then, knee-jerk recursive currency devaluation has never been the only policy option the country has in responding to the cycle of lower oil revenue. One of the pertinent policy options is for the country to ratchet up investment in infrastructure. To do so is to stimulate the economy and avoid a recession that could be precipitated by austerity measures and economic instability. Therefore, President Buhari has said his Administration will invest in road and rail transport infrastructures as well as support the power sector. A plan to raise $25 billion infrastructure bond has been hinted at by the Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, giving further credence to the Government's commitment to investment in infrastructure.

At a time of lower revenue, this policy choice is definitely audacious. But these infrastructure investment plans can prove to be the masterstroke that will remove the constraint of lack of infrastructure which is the staunchest barrier to broader domestic investment, trade and economic growth. This will pave way for structural transformation of the economy. For Nigeria to overcome the harsh adjustments that arise every so often when the price of oil falls, structural diversification of the economy has to happen with much stronger results. One aspect of the restructuring relates to government raising more revenue from a wider tax net. The other aspect is for Nigerian businesses to export finished products and services, thereby broadening the sources of foreign exchange flows into the economy.

The Nigerian Export-Import Bank has continued to support the Government policy for non-oil exports growth through its advisory and financing activities. More than half a decade of working with Nigerian SMEs at NEXIM Bank has continued to reveal the potentials in Agro-processing, Manufacturing, Solid Minerals and Services (MASS) sectors. I often come in contact with the passion, sheer resolve and innovativeness of Nigerian entrepreneurs in the SME space, especially in the MASS sectors where we have focused our interventions as the Trade Policy Bank of Federal Government of Nigeria.

The other major hurdle Nigerian real sector businesses face is high cost of lending. But, since Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, came into office last year, he has been advocating a paradigm shift in which the real sector would benefit more from supportive monetary policy. 

This stance has been put beyond question at the November 2015 Monetary Policy Committee meeting when the Bank decided to bring down anchor interest rate by 200 basis points (from 13% to 11%) - the first rate reduction in six years; reduce Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) from 25% to 20%; and make manufacturers the target of lending of over N770 billion that the combination of these decisions will inject into the banking system as additional liquidity. It is also very good that the CBN, one of the shareholders of NEXIM, has recently declared that it is disposed to providing additional funding opportunities to enable the Bank provide more facilities at single digit lending rate to the SMEs towards boosting non-oil sector exports.

This is a positive follow-up to the import curbs the CBN introduced a few months back through its forex sales policy. The use of both policy and financing instruments to spur local production to promote import-substitution and export-manufacturing sits quite well with the fiscal programme the Federal Government has been hinting at. And so the required synergy and coordination of monetary and fiscal policy are in action.

No doubt, what Nigerian businesses need are roads and other modern infrastructures, not a weaker naira. What will create sustainable economic growth and improvement in the welfare of Nigerians is a virile local manufacturing industry, not availability of imported toothpick. And what will help remove downward pressure on the naira is more export revenue from the non-oil sectors, not devaluation at every turn of lower oil prices. The authorities needed courage in their decision for this policy tripod. They surely need to be resolute and stick to the decisions. The authorities also need the support of Nigerians as well as local and international financiers.

To complement our resources at NEXIM, the Bank has been in a collaboration with Africa Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank). In a recent interview by Ignite - the quarterly journal of Nigerian Export-Import Bank, Afreximbank CEO, Dr. Benedict Oramah spoke of some of the instruments the Bank uses to support SME manufacturers as well as financial institutions offering trade finance services in Africa. NEXIM Bank is working with the Cairo-based Development Finance Institution to identify local opportunities in Nigeria's non-oil sectors for financing. Both institutions are also working on regional initiatives to facilitate intra-Africa trade.

To address the issue of trade debt, which can be very knotty in international trade, NEXIM Bank is working with Afreximbank to introduce "factoring" to Nigerian SME exporters. Factoring is a risk-mitigating instrument in which a business owner sells accounts receivable at a discount to a third-party funding source to raise capital. This instrument can help Nigerian non-oil exporters participate more in export value-chains. 

In one form or another, the world's economies are implementing programmes of adjustment in responding to a slower global growth. Nigeria is not alone in making the necessary policy adjustments which are very capable of transforming the structure of the economy in very remarkably positive ways. This is why we all need to support the change agenda and the transformational policies of the Government.

Source: All Africa News

Nigeria's Economic Policy Tripod

Monetary and financial stability, investment in infrastructure, and structural transformation of the economy have emerged as the thrusts of economic policy of the Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. Domestic and global investors can be assured that this policy trifecta is not just the priority of President Buhari, it is also what is needed to transform Nigeria's well-known economic potentials into reality for the benefit of the citizenry and various Nigerian market participants.

The ideal of monetary and financial stability is shared everywhere by policymakers, investors and the consumers. In this regard, there is strong agreement between the monetary and fiscal authorities to uphold socio-economic and financial stability in Nigeria. This is part of the policy direction that business leaders and investors have been anticipating. We now have the good news of the affirmation of the saliency of stability. 

This should instil investors' confidence in Nigeria and spur new investments in the country.

However, sections of the market had been apprehensive about whether stability is feasible for Nigeria, especially with the downward pressure on the naira exchange rate, and under the present circumstance of lower oil prices. Agreed, the fiscal headwind of lower oil prices would suggest accommodation of a floating currency, but with the attendant downside risk, including monetary, and potential financial instability. 

This cannot be the right policy to implement even for a day; its negative effects would remain long after the policy has wound up. But then, knee-jerk recursive currency devaluation has never been the only policy option the country has in responding to the cycle of lower oil revenue. One of the pertinent policy options is for the country to ratchet up investment in infrastructure. To do so is to stimulate the economy and avoid a recession that could be precipitated by austerity measures and economic instability. Therefore, President Buhari has said his Administration will invest in road and rail transport infrastructures as well as support the power sector. A plan to raise $25 billion infrastructure bond has been hinted at by the Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, giving further credence to the Government's commitment to investment in infrastructure.

At a time of lower revenue, this policy choice is definitely audacious. But these infrastructure investment plans can prove to be the masterstroke that will remove the constraint of lack of infrastructure which is the staunchest barrier to broader domestic investment, trade and economic growth. This will pave way for structural transformation of the economy. For Nigeria to overcome the harsh adjustments that arise every so often when the price of oil falls, structural diversification of the economy has to happen with much stronger results. One aspect of the restructuring relates to government raising more revenue from a wider tax net. The other aspect is for Nigerian businesses to export finished products and services, thereby broadening the sources of foreign exchange flows into the economy.

The Nigerian Export-Import Bank has continued to support the Government policy for non-oil exports growth through its advisory and financing activities. More than half a decade of working with Nigerian SMEs at NEXIM Bank has continued to reveal the potentials in Agro-processing, Manufacturing, Solid Minerals and Services (MASS) sectors. I often come in contact with the passion, sheer resolve and innovativeness of Nigerian entrepreneurs in the SME space, especially in the MASS sectors where we have focused our interventions as the Trade Policy Bank of Federal Government of Nigeria.

The other major hurdle Nigerian real sector businesses face is high cost of lending. But, since Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, came into office last year, he has been advocating a paradigm shift in which the real sector would benefit more from supportive monetary policy. 

This stance has been put beyond question at the November 2015 Monetary Policy Committee meeting when the Bank decided to bring down anchor interest rate by 200 basis points (from 13% to 11%) - the first rate reduction in six years; reduce Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) from 25% to 20%; and make manufacturers the target of lending of over N770 billion that the combination of these decisions will inject into the banking system as additional liquidity. It is also very good that the CBN, one of the shareholders of NEXIM, has recently declared that it is disposed to providing additional funding opportunities to enable the Bank provide more facilities at single digit lending rate to the SMEs towards boosting non-oil sector exports.

This is a positive follow-up to the import curbs the CBN introduced a few months back through its forex sales policy. The use of both policy and financing instruments to spur local production to promote import-substitution and export-manufacturing sits quite well with the fiscal programme the Federal Government has been hinting at. And so the required synergy and coordination of monetary and fiscal policy are in action.

No doubt, what Nigerian businesses need are roads and other modern infrastructures, not a weaker naira. What will create sustainable economic growth and improvement in the welfare of Nigerians is a virile local manufacturing industry, not availability of imported toothpick. And what will help remove downward pressure on the naira is more export revenue from the non-oil sectors, not devaluation at every turn of lower oil prices. The authorities needed courage in their decision for this policy tripod. They surely need to be resolute and stick to the decisions. The authorities also need the support of Nigerians as well as local and international financiers.

To complement our resources at NEXIM, the Bank has been in a collaboration with Africa Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank). In a recent interview by Ignite - the quarterly journal of Nigerian Export-Import Bank, Afreximbank CEO, Dr. Benedict Oramah spoke of some of the instruments the Bank uses to support SME manufacturers as well as financial institutions offering trade finance services in Africa. NEXIM Bank is working with the Cairo-based Development Finance Institution to identify local opportunities in Nigeria's non-oil sectors for financing. Both institutions are also working on regional initiatives to facilitate intra-Africa trade.

To address the issue of trade debt, which can be very knotty in international trade, NEXIM Bank is working with Afreximbank to introduce "factoring" to Nigerian SME exporters. Factoring is a risk-mitigating instrument in which a business owner sells accounts receivable at a discount to a third-party funding source to raise capital. This instrument can help Nigerian non-oil exporters participate more in export value-chains. 

In one form or another, the world's economies are implementing programmes of adjustment in responding to a slower global growth. Nigeria is not alone in making the necessary policy adjustments which are very capable of transforming the structure of the economy in very remarkably positive ways. This is why we all need to support the change agenda and the transformational policies of the Government.

Source: All Africa News