Wisdom is life

                                         What's the Fuss About Foreign Exchange Reserves? Earlier in March 2018, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced that the country's foreign currency reserves were steadily growing and that the reserves stood at $43 billion. This represented almost 100 percent increase from about $23 billion recorded in October 2016 when Nigeria was in a recession. The last time the FX reserves hit the $40 billion mark was in January 2014, five months before global oil prices began to fall in mid-2014. Subsequent to the apex bank's announcement, the reserves reached $45.3 billion as of 21st March, 2018. To the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari and the CBN, the accretion in FX reserves is hardly about economics. They consider it as a tool for wielding political clout. However, many Nigerians have different opinions about the ris...

Is the retail sector Nigeria's next big industry ? Nigeria's population of 186 million people and the country's rapid urbanisation present a huge opportunity for global retailers. Moreover, its fast-growing middle class makes Nigeria a formidable consumer market in Africa. However, the key to making the retail sector more competitive and contributing more to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) lies in the government's ability to formalise the sector.  Some of the bottlenecks that policymakers must address include improving the level of physical infrastructure, reducing the high unemployment rate, and boosting GDP per capita to support consumer spending growth. The demographic advantage, high population growth rate, and rising urbanisation will not automatically translate to high consumer spending. But a formal retail industry has the potential to employ millions of Nigeria's teeming youths and improve incomes.  In my November 2017 column in Financial Nigeria, I ...

Syria conflict: Six dead in Ghouta airstrikes day after ceasefire agreement At least six people have been killed in new airstrikes on eastern Ghouta despite a 30-day ceasefire agreement from the UN Security Council. The Syrian Civil Defence in Damascus Province said aid at least one man was killed in Saqba town, one was woman killed in Hamoria town and one man in Otaya town. The Damascus Media Centre said that two children and their mother were killed in strikes on Douma city. The deaths come after the ceasefire in Syria was agreed to allow aid deliveries and medical evacuations. Meanwhile, Islam Army (Jaish al-Islam), the biggest opposition faction in eastern Ghouta, said that they had killed 25 regime fighters while attempting to advance. Activists said there were some clashes on the southern edge of eastern Ghouta along with two airstrikes just hours after the resolution was unanimously adopted on Saturday night. Ghouta-based opposition activist Anas al-Dimashqi sai...

                                                     HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN NIGERIA  Human trafficking is an unyielding menace that infiltrated the society of Nigeria especially in years 2016 and 2017 when substantial number of her nationals were involved in making perilous trips across the Sahara. The nation has teeming workable population seeking solace in travelling out of the country for greener pastures they assume they'd find in their destination. However they aren't even sure of circumstances they would encounter to reach promise land of their dreams.  Human trafficking dates back to early 60s when people moved out of the country to find resort in common destination of Europe, several factors led people to engage in this deadly Journey across the Sahara, but the major cause is the poor economic situation that has led to ...