Business

”Our children are suffering abroad” – Parents with children abroad cry hard as Dollar scarcity increases

Published

9 years ago

February 20, 2016

As dollar scarcity worsens in Nigeria, parents who have children oversea have expressed their grieve and taken their frustrations to banks, with some of them weeping openly, as Saturday PUNCH observed.

Investigations by our correspondents revealed that the frustrations by some parents who cannot access forex to send to their children abroad have brought out their emotional sides, while affected students have been crying out for help in foreign lands.

When one of our correspondents visited some banks along Muritala Muhammed Way, Unity Road and Taiwo Road in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, on Wednesday and Thursday, some bank customers, who were there to buy dollars, expressed disappointments at the scarcity of the currency.

One of the customers, Alhaja Salamatu Ajibola, who practically broke down in tears, lamented that the education of her two children schooling in the United States had been threatened by the development.

She added that her children had been going without food due to her inability to send them money for their upkeep.

Ajibola said that it had been difficult for her to send her children dollars for their personal and educational needs. She said she had visited one of the banks several times, hoping to send dollars to her children, only to be told that the currency was insufficient to meet customers’ demands.

Another tearful parent, who spoke to Saturday PUNCH on the condition of anonymity, in a first generation bank in Bauchi State, said it had become impossible for him to meet the financial needs of his children schooling abroad.

She said she was seeking other ways of sending money abroad due to the difficulty she was facing in getting dollars to send to her children.

“Our children abroad are crying and we parents are also crying,” she said.

“They are confused and we are also confused because we can’t send money to them and they can’t receive. They are in misery, hunger and depression.

“They can’t even feed well because they can’t get money for their upkeep.”

She, therefore, called on the government to “create an escape route so that children will not continue to suffer.”

Also, Mr. Jimoh Abdulganiyu, whose son is studying medicine in Ukraine, said he could not get dollars, even at the black market, to send to him.

Abdulganiyu said his son was given a warning letter by the school authorities over delay in payment of accommodation fees and he risks being asked to vacate the dormitory soon.

He expressed fears of the possibility of buying fake dollars because of the pressure of getting dollars, which has been pushing parents to the parallel market.

He said:-

“Sometimes, I would get to the bank by 6.40am, before the official opening hour, to stand a good chance of getting dollars through the Western Union or Money Gram.

“And this does not mean that I would automatically get the dollars, I still have to lobby before I could get it. Even at that, there is a limit to the amount I can get.”

One of our correspondents, who visited two commercial banks in the Sabo, Yaba area of Lagos on Thursday, observed that there were no dollars for sale. Sabo is a black market hub for forex activities in Lagos.

There, a 65-year-old man, Mr. Obafemi Solomon, who also expressed frustration with the situation, struggled to fight back tears as he narrated his ordeal.

Solomon said he was indebted to some of his friends in the United States, where his daughter was schooling.

Solomon said his friends had had to bail him out of the financial problem because he felt it was unwise to exchange naira for dollars at the present exchange rate.

He said:-

“What I am doing right now is to beg my friends who are in the US to help me pay for my daughter’s tuition. It does not make any sense to change naira for dollars and send to her. There is even no dollar to buy.”

A pensioner, Mr. Olu Ajibade, who resides in Ekiti, also shared his plight, saying things had not been this tough in the past four years that his son had been in Middlesex University, London.

Calling for the liberalisation of the foreign exchange market, Ajibade said, “Now we rely on the black market and the forex rate is very high. If you don’t go to them then you are left to face the bank and they have so many rules you have to oblige to before you can get money from them.

“You will have to fill so many forms, get a letter from the school and go through so many rigorous processes. With that, it is not even guaranteed that you would get money from them. Honestly, it is not easy at all. Unfortunately, there are no other alternatives. The black market that could have been an alternative is not properly funded. The truth is that if you want to buy £3,000 in the black market, they tell you that they don’t have more than £800. For instance, we needed to pay school fees of about £10,000 but all we could do was pay half because of the scarcity of foreign currency.”

A Nigerian student studying in a US university, Adebayo Kabiru, told Saturday PUNCH that he would have gone bankrupt if not for the menial jobs he was doing.

In a telephone interview with one of our correspondents, Kabiru said, “My parents have not been able to send me money since January. At a point, I got frustrated, but I had to do something. So now, I do some menial jobs to pay for my upkeep.”

Also, a student studying in Russia, who spoke with Saturday PUNCH, said she was about to be deported because her visa had expired and her parents could not send her money to renew it.

She said:-

“My father has been trying to send me money for the past two weeks for me to settle my visa problem and other things, but has been unable to do so. I am about to be deported and when that happens, I will lose the opportunity of rounding off my last session here in Russia.”

Simon Uwem, a student studying for his Master’s degree at a university in Indiana, US, revealed that Nigerian students abroad have been having rough times.

He said:-

“I have been able to survive because I have a research position in school and I get paid very well. I was hired by the school for the job. The truth is that if you are intelligent, you will survive.

“But it has been so tough for some students here. Asking your parents for $1,000 means they need to look for N400,000. Some students don’t even get to hear from their parents any longer. They have resorted to doing menial jobs or marrying Akata (American citizens) here.

“A professor recently spoke to me about getting more foreign students from Africa and I told him that finance had become a challenge even if such students get scholarships. A textbook here costs up to $200. It has been quite tough.”

Business

Oil marketers counter Dangote

Published

7 hours ago

November 5, 2024

Sahara Weekly

Oil marketers counter Dangote over allegation of substandard product importation

The Depots and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) has countered the claim by Dangote Refinery that any oil importers landing petrol at a price cheaper than what the refinery is selling are importing substandard products and conniving with international traders to dump low quality products into Nigeria.

The refinery had made the claim on Sunday.

In a statement yesterday, DAPPMAN’s Executive Secretary, Olufemi Adewole, said none of its members was engaging in activities that could shortchange Nigerian fuel users by conniving with anyone to bring in low quality product into the country.

“We’ve said this for the umpteenth time, and it bears repeating, those in the downstream sector business of petroleum products trade are patriotic Nigerians who will not shortchange Nigerian citizens for filthy lucre. Our members are in this business to add value to the businesses of their fellow Nigerians and not to defraud them.

“Prices of products in the international market are dynamic as they’re dictated by prevailing circumstances at every given situation. We calculate our landing costs based on the dynamics of market forces, and the templates are always in the public domain. To claim that if the landing cost of imported product happens to be lower than that of the refinery indicates importation of low quality product is not only preposterous, but also fallacious. In any case, the management of the refinery has, until now, kept its cost and prices close to its chest and put it away from public scrutiny. “

“This type of submission, targeted at projecting our members negatively before the public, cannot help the management’s desire to have oil marketers patronise its products. What will ensure such patronage is transparency, fair play, and readiness to compete with others, including foreign refineries, on an even keel and on a level playing field.”

Adewole said the disclosure by the refinery’s management that the facility has a huge stock of 500 million litres fuel reserve came to its members as news.

“We were surprised because we believe that if the refinery has such huge stock, it’s the marketers that should be put in the know first.

‘Secondly, it was even more surprising given that the news came about the time the refinery was working on rationing what each marketer could pick from the refinery. If they had such huge stock, how is it then that they’re rationing what marketers could buy?

“On all these developments in the industry, the position of our members is very clear: we’ve always played by the rules, and we’ll continue to play by the rules. We’ll not be tired of advocating for a level playing field and a highly competitive and transparent sector that’s devoid of arm twisting and devoid of any form of dominant tendencies,” he said.

Similarly, the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) said it had concluded plans to import the best quality petroleum product and sell at far cheaper prices.

The association said it was awaiting the NMDPRA to grant it import licence, saying it “has successfully incorporated a strategic business unit called PETROL.”

Its spokesman, Joseph Obele, said PETROAN had concluded plans with her foreign refinery counterparts and financial partners to import the best quality of PMS and “then sell far less than the present selling rate of PMS in Nigeria.”

He said the allegations that PETROAN would import inferior products and that an international company was trying to establish a PMS blending plant in Lagos “are all strategies for Dangote Refinery to push others out of the market…”

Also, Pinnacle Oil and Gas Limited, in a statement by its Chief Executive Officer, Bob Dickerman, denied blending substandard petroleum products.

Business

Why Protesters demanded Kyari’s resignation

Published

8 hours ago

November 5, 2024

Sahara Weekly

Why Protesters demanded Kyari’s resignation

Scores of youths stormed the headquarters of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited on Monday, demanding the immediate resignation of the Group Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mele Kyari.

The protesters, led by some Civil Society Organisations, described Kyari’s leadership as incompetent, citing skyrocketing fuel prices, endless fuel queues, and economic hardship in Nigeria.

The protesters carrying placards with different inscriptions such as “we demand the immediate resignation of Kyari”, among others, said the leadership of the NNPCL boss has failed.

The aggrieved youths led by Abdullahi Bilal of the (Two Million Man March Against Oil Scam Cabal) and Barrister Napoleon Otache and Olayemi Isaac from Citizens and Economic Freedom Rights Activists in Nigeria demanded immediate action to address what they described as failed leadership in managing the country’s oil sector.

Central to the protests were grievances over skyrocketing fuel prices and the never-ending queues, which they argued have driven inflation and plunged millions of Nigerians into poverty.

They also decried the importation of adulterated fuel, which they said is a corrupt practice that harms citizens by damaging vehicles and businesses.

They demanded an immediate halt to these imports and accountability for those responsible, questioning how substandard fuel continues to enter the country despite quality control assurances.

Additionally, the group criticized the unfulfilled promise of the Dangote refinery to resolve Nigeria’s fuel crisis, expressing frustration over the billions of dollars spent on refinery development and refurbishing existing facilities.

They argued that despite these investments, fuel shortages persist, leaving Nigeria reliant on costly imports even as an oil-producing nation.

They urged President Bola Tinubu to intervene by overhauling leadership in the oil sector, enforcing greater accountability, and putting citizens’ needs first. The protesters vowed to continue mobilizing until their demands for reform and transparency are met.

Speaking to journalists during the mass demonstration, Abdullahi Bilal said, “The Two Million Man March stands as a united voice for every citizen who has been betrayed by a system that continues to enrich a few at the expense of many.

“Today, we call for the immediate resignation of the current leadership in the country’s oil sector. Their management has failed Nigerians.

“Under their watch, we have seen fuel prices skyrocket without consultation or consideration of the devastating impact on the people. We have endured fuel scarcity while substandard, adulterated fuel is imported, causing further hardship.

“We demand the complete removal of the fraudulent fuel subsidy regime that has only served to enrich a select few. Full deregulation is necessary to introduce transparency, competition, and fairness to our oil sector.”

On their part, Otache and Isaac, insisted, “This act of economic sabotage has led to endless fuel queues, skyrocketing fuel prices, and unprecedented disruptions in the daily lives of Nigerians.

“We demand an immediate end to fuel queues, transparency, and accountability from all involved parties. We want to know how substandard fuel continues to enter the country despite assurances of quality control.”

On July 7, 2019, former President Mohammadu Buhari appointed Kyari as the 19th GMD of NNPC, but with the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act, his current portfolio is without recourse to previous employment ranks in the company.

NNPCL reacts

Reacting, the NNPCL spokesperson, Femi Soneye, said the protestors lack understanding of the sector.

He explained that contrary to their agitation, the GCEO ensured Nigerians had access to fuel at N620 per litre for over a year, even when the landing cost was above N1,100.

Responding via a chat, Soneye said, “Unfortunately, they lack understanding of the sector. If they were informed, they would know that the GCEO is not responsible for the fuel price increase; in fact, he ensured Nigerians had access to fuel at N620 per litre for over a year, even when the landing cost was above N1,100.”

Business

Renewed Hope Agenda and Impacts in Aviation* By Mary Odoma

Published

9 hours ago

November 5, 2024

Sahara Weekly

Renewed Hope Agenda and Impacts in Aviation

By Mary Odoma

President Bola Tinubu’s knack for selecting top talent is unparalleled. In his quest to build a prosperous Nigeria, he’s assembled an exceptional team. By leveraging their expertise, experience, and strategic insight, he’s fostering national stability, economic growth, and a sustainable future.

His latest win is in Aviation and Aerospace Development, where he’s appointed a fearless and straightforward leader, Festus Keyamo, SAN. Keyamo’s commitment to excellence makes him an ideal fit. President Tinubu’s vision for Nigeria is taking shape, and his leadership choices are truly commendable.

A dedicated, charismatic and impactful lawyer, the dynamic and astute developer is a terror to mischief makers and enemies of progress. A tough and forceful personality who is determined with an ultimate goal to change Nigeria.

Appointed on 21st August 2023 as the helmsman of the Ministry, Keyamo has been unwavering in his drive for positive transformation, reforming the sector and bringing about enduring positive impact in a transparent manner.

His Ministry has the core mandate of regulating air travel and aviation services in the country. It is also responsible for overseeing air transportation, air development, maintenance, provision of aviation infrastructural services and other needs.

A very patriotic Nigerian, Chief Festus has several achievements, in line with the Renewed Hope Aviation Roadmap approved by President Tinubu to his credit.

In a steadfast commitment towards revitalizing the nation’s aviation sector, Mr Keyamo was able to ensure the approval of the concession of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja and Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano Airports. This is in line with the initiation of the Nigerian Airport Concession Strategy.

Also, in line with the Federal Ministry of Aviation Roadmap, Chief Keyamo initiated the signing of an MoU with the Nile University for the take-off of African Aviation and Aerospace University (AU). This milestone achievement of the Minister aims to integrate and create an avenue for the training, research and development of ready middle-class manpower for the sector.

Equally, under his watch, the pragmatic leader led the Ministry into partnership with the ICRC and also a collaboration with the IFC on infrastructural development. This partnership is to both develop and implement a comprehensive and durable framework that will meet the infrastructural needs of the sector over a long period.

Through Keyamo’s congruence and dynamism, the BASA arrangement is another revolutionary innovation aimed at ensuring the operationalization of direct flights between Nigeria and Brazil.

Keyamo’s motivation and altruistic devotion to having a functional aviation and aerospace sector also moved him to upgrade the Muhammadu Buhari, Airport, Maiduguri to the standard of an international airport. This airport is ready to commence full operation on January 1, 2025

In the area of staff motivation, retirees of the Ministry now have no cause for alarm as their interest is covered. Recently, the Ministry honoured 24 retirees drawn from the lowest rung to the highest. It is in a bid to acknowledge those who have contributed immensely to the growth and development of the sector as Nation-builders.

His prompt response to issues including distress reveals an empathetic personality and someone who is very much alive to his responsibilities. Recently, while reacting to the accident involving a helicopter on the 24th October 2024, Mr Keyamo, immediately upon receiving the distress call, activated protocols aimed at search and rescue operations, mandating all relevant bodies to do everything humanly possible to ensure the safety of the passengers on board the ill-fated vehicle.

The Minister was also actively involved with all the relevant agencies towards ensuring a coordinated response. His active and physical involvement led to the minimization of casualties.

In a show of collaboration and solidarity, the Hon. Minister travelled to far away Marrakesh, Morrocco, to give support to the 2024 International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) congress. His presence was to underpin the importance the federal government attaches to the role of the transport workers in stabilizing the aviation sector.

Festus Keyamo as the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development is certainly the best thing that has happened to the industry. He has exhibited passion, dedication and selfless forthrightness in the discharge of his duties and a total comprehension of what it takes to carry out his roles. He is well-groomed for the job and his background has helped him greatly towards shaping the positive impact he is making on society.

Today, Festus has proved that a faithful, disciplined, and dedicated Nigerian can stand out of the crowd because he symbolizes what governance is all about. These feats can only be achieved by a man with the right comportment and conduct in the service of humanity and the fatherland.

Deserving of note is that Chief Keyamo, through the foresight of President Tinubu has well-prepared team leaders appointed as heads of the agencies of the Ministry.

The supportive and collaborative roles of the Nigeria College of Aviation Technology, Nigeria Metrological Agency, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, Nigeria Airspace Management, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, and the Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), have brought about those tangible and noticeable volte-face experienced today in the Aviation sector.

With Keyamo at the helm, Nigeria’s aviation sector is experiencing a transformative shift, thanks to President Tinubu’s foresight in appointing well-prepared team leaders. The Nigeria College of Aviation Technology, Nigeria Metrological Agency, and others are working together to bring about tangible change. Keyamo’s dedication, discipline, and commitment to service have improved Nigeria’s image and reformed the aviation and aerospace sectors.

Odoma is the President of New Nigeria Network [NNN[ writing from Abuja.