National

By Uzair Adam Imam

In the nine months leading up to September 30, 2023, Dangote Cement has reported a remarkable 15.2 percent increase in its pan-African sales volumes, reaching 8.5 million metric tons (Mt) compared to the 7.4 million Mt in the same period in 2022.

Pan-African volumes represent the sales volume from Dangote Cement plants located outside Nigeria.

These figures were revealed in the company’s unaudited results on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) portal. The surge in volumes was primarily driven by exceptional sales performances in key locations.

The Dangote Cement Plant in Senegal saw a substantial 66.9 percent increase in sales, while the Dangote Cement Plant in Congo reported a 60.5 percent surge in volumes.

Dangote Cement Zambia experienced an 18 percent increase, with Ghana and South Africa following closely at 15.5 percent and 18.5 percent growth, respectively. Ethiopia and Tanzania also contributed to the positive trend with 6.5 percent sales volume increases.

Furthermore, Dangote Cement noted a 20.5 percent increase in profit before tax, rising from N335.9 billion to N404.89 billion, while the profit after tax increased by 30.2 percent, from N213.10 billion to N277.55 billion.

Arvind Pathak, the Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Cement, commented on the results, stating, “This positive nine-month result reflects our strong value proposition, enhanced operational efficiency, and our commitment to cost containment in the face of rising inflation. Group revenue reached ₦1,514.6 billion, with EBITDA reaching an all-time high of ₦662.8 billion, marking a
28.5 percent increase.”

He also highlighted the impressive growth of the company’s pan-African operations, which contributed 41.9 percent to Group volumes, with a record revenue growth of 103.9 percent and EBITDA growth of 255.4 percent.

Pathak emphasized that the growth was a result of sustained demand across the regions in which Dangote Cement operates.

Looking ahead, Pathak expressed optimism about the company’s future, particularly with
the final stages of a new grinding plant in Cote d’Ivoire nearing completion.

He reaffirmed the company’s commitment to delivering quality cement products to
its customers and expressed confidence in a strong finish to the year.

Dangote Cement is Africa’s leading cement producer with a capacity of 52.0 million metric tons across the continent. Through strategic investments, the company has not only eliminated Nigeria’s dependence on imported cement but has also transformed the nation into an exporter, serving neighboring countries as well.

Dangote Cement’s extensive operations include plants in Cameroon, Congo, Ghana, Ethiopia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia, in addition to its prominent presence in Nigeria.

By Bilyamin Abdulmumin

Last week, during the FEC meeting, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, made a groundbreaking announcement by revealing the budget forecast for 2024. It sent shockwaves through the nation, and understandably so, as the projected budget of 26 trillion naira was unprecedented; it was a staggering  4 trillion compared to the previous year.

Nigerians have consistently expressed concerns about the ever-increasing budget forecasts year after year. Regrettably, this budget inflation trend has persisted. For instance, the budget started at 299 billion during the Obasanjo government in 1999 but ballooned to 2.3 trillion when he left office. Yar’adua handed over a 4.4 trillion budget to Jonathan, who returned the exact figure in 2015 (despite presenting a 4.9 trillion budget in three previous years). The budget increase went wild during President Muhammad Buhari’s tenure, reaching a staggering 21 trillion in 2023 when he left office.

Although I am not an expert on budget matters, it’s apparent that every budget must consider factors such as market dynamics, inflation, and the growth of the national population and its demographics.

Rather than fixating solely on the budget figures, we, as citizens, should focus on the prudent and effective utilisation of these budgets. If the Nigerian budget had been prepared and executed more efficiently, we might have already achieved the promised Eldorado.

For example, 43 years have passed since the Shagari and Gowon green revolution, 33 years since Vision 2000, and a decade since Jonathan’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda. However, the majority of Nigerians still lack access to quality housing and healthcare, and we continue to struggle to feed ourselves. Similar ambitious visions have come and gone, including IBB’s structural adjustments, Abacha’s Vision 2010, Obasanjo’s Vision 2020, Yar’adua’s seven-point agenda, and PMB’s Vision 2050.

One crucial issue highlighted by BudgIT, a civic organisation monitoring the Nigerian budget, is the disconnect between our budget and national planning, hindering the realisation of the promised utopia. Our budget is not aligned with our national planning, and it seems that from the beginning, Nigeria has not been drawing the budget structure from national planning.

In the words of Oluseun Onigbinde, Global Director of BudgIT, “The Nigerian budget has delivered sub-optimal results because it has not been linked with national strategic plans written for the medium or short term. The current President has a public manifesto, and the Federal Government recently, at a significant cost, also delivered strategic plans that terminate in 2025 and 2050. It does not make sense if the national budget is not linked to these documents. The budget needs to stop just being a contract vending machine stuffed with varied interests but a thorough planning document.”

If the masses can redirect their attention to this issue rather than merely reacting to budget forecasts, expecting more effective and desirable results is plausible.

Interestingly, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, has pledged to address this issue and reached out to the public for understanding and engagement. This outreach occurred during an official visit by the House of Representatives Committee on Alternative Education. The minister reaffirmed the government’s commitment to the APC comprehensive plans, particularly Agenda 2050 and the 5-year development plan.

Dear Nigerians, it’s time to refocus our priorities and stop chasing after the shadows.

By Aliyu Nuhu

No easy way for a country with bizarre economic behaviour. The economic laws are there for easy implementation in a normal society. But Nigeria is not normal. Everyone, from the leases to the ordinary citizens, is looking for ways to damage the country for personal gain. NIGERIA operates its economy with laws made from hell.

We all know our huge appetite for the dollar is driven by our need for foreign goods which we are unable to produce. If we don’t need foreign goods, there will be no demand for dollars since we only need the currency for imports. But who is not guilty among us here?

Naira supply affects inflation since too much money is chasing a few goods but is not the direct cause of the fall of the Naira in the forex market. Laws of demand and supply drive the forex market. More Dollars available will lower its value and vice versa with Naira. But these laws don’t work in Nigeria because of distortion in all economic policies created by the government, mostly by greedy Nigerians and the officials themselves.

The forex window allows funding of critical sectors with dollars by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). But the distortion here is that those given dollars to import goods will take the money to the money market for round-tripping. The CBN officials will also take the dollar and exchange it for quick gain. Each governor that gets FACC allocation in Naira will take it to market chasing the dollar.

With such behaviour, the Naira can never get a breather. It is this distortion that makes it difficult to explain the reasons why Naira is not only weak but unstable. Currency instability is the worst thing that can happen to a country. At any point in time, investors can never know their profits and losses. It is the reason why companies like Emirates, ShopRite and Game are closing shop.

After looking at some of our promising macro trends, Nigeria is still unable to keep Naira strong because of the depletion of the country’s foreign exchange reserves. The major function of foreign reserves is to keep the Naira strong. But regime after regime keeps spending the reserve account to a point that no one can precisely say the balance of NIGERIA’s foreign reserve.

World Bank said irrespective of all other macroeconomic shortcomings, the Naira can still be exchanged for a dollar one-on-one if we can have $900bn in our foreign reserve. But what do we have today? Less than $30bn!

Kuwait is a consumer country like Nigeria, but because it has a foreign reserve of $137bn and a gold reserve of 78.97 tonnes, it has the strongest currency in the world. But Nigeria has 21.37 tonnes of gold in its reserve and a $34bn reserve for an economy with a GDP of $489bn. Kuwait is able to save with a GDP of $106bn! There is evidence that shows that GDP growth and employment growth increase in response to positive shocks to foreign currency reserves (forex reserves) accumulation, whereas unemployment declines.

Read the reports on the new government report on CBN, and you will understand that the Naira is only competitive by sheer luck, if not a miracle. Everyone, including people in charge of Naira’s health, is out to destroy the Naira.

By Uzair Adam Imam

Translators, language experts, and advertising practitioners in Northern Nigeria are irritated by shoddy Hausa on billboards, TV and radio stations, with some calling for an end to the practice.

The role of translation is to communicate ideas and messages across the audience. However, as those concerned individuals opined, shoddy translation is doing the opposite.

Beyond the expert communities, poor translation, especially from English to Hausa, is generating outrages in many quarters, especially as native speakers of the Hausa language demand better translation of their language.

A report by The Daily Reality disclosed how the Three Crowns Milk, Taira, and Stanbic IBT, among others, came under attack over poorly translated advertisements from English to Hausa placed on their billboards.

Experts have associated the flagrant flaws of advertising agencies and personnel with unprofessionalism. They said that the practice has grown into a disease which has since been ravaging the translation business in Nigeria.

Authority to blame

There are outrages by the relevant authorities that feel very disappointed by the terrible things in the name translation that continue to unfold these days.

A lecturer at the Department of Nigerian Languages, Bayero University, Kano, Dr. Muhammad Sulaiman, described the situation as unfortunate.

He said the way some people bastardise the translation business, especially English-Hausa translation, despite making a fortune in the business is pathetic.

Dr. Muhammad said, “Some of these people mostly do not bother about such violations but rather the money they are tapping out from the business.

“Even though translation is a profitable business, its knowledge should be considered above the profit. If you don’t have the knowledge, learn it or allow people with the skill to do the business.”

Also, a Kano-based translator, Bello Sagir Imam, decried the menace of quack and unprofessional translation ravaging the translation business today in Nigeria as unfortunate.

Imam, the CEO of English Domain, a translation company, blamed the relevant stakeholders for merely lamenting the menace without taking bold action to address it.

He added that the lack of English-Hausa translation companies in the country exacerbates the menace.

He argued that the loopholes gave space to the quack companies and will continue to bring more and worse translators until the proper measures are taken.

Imam stated, “Failure of the Northern Nigerian relevant stakeholders is an easy and thriving business environment for the quack but well packaged and connected companies mainly based in Lagos and few others in Abuja, but amazingly not in Kano.

“For instance, in the North, with the entire daily complaining razzmatazz, there is no single English-Hausa-English translation company or one where such service is among their services.

“These loopholes birthed the quack companies and will continue to birth more and worse translators until the right measures are executed.”

We need support

Imam further lamented how the lack of support from relevant stakeholders discourages aspiring English-Hausa translators.

He said, “Most stakeholders do not help the aspiring English-Hausa translators despite being Hausa native speakers and linguists, Hausa or English graduates, simply because they don’t have a prior relationship with the helpers.

“For instance, if you are not their student, those in academia will not help you. The journalists will not help you if they don’t know you.

“I feel challenged as a relevant stakeholder to walk the talk, to mitigate the problems and inspire others to wake up from their deep sleep.”

What is the root cause of quack translation?

A communication scholar from the Mass Communication Department, Professor Mainasara Yakubu Kurfi, traced the root of quack translation, shedding light on the impact of a shoddy translation on advertising.

Professor Kurfi said, “If you look at what is happening in advertising industries, you can simply conclude that there is no professionalism – lack of professionalism in the sense that most of the advertising agencies and agents did not undergo practical formal education that will avail them the opportunity to understand what advertising is and what advertising is not, as well as understanding the techniques of advertising in appealing to the public without going into their religion, culture and even norms and practices.

“That is why you see several problems, particularly with billboards and adverts. I remember I did my master’s dissertation on billboards.

“Most of these translators, either from English to Hausa or Hausa to English, are not native speakers. They are generally from Lagos, probably Yoruba by tribe, and they do not really understand the nature of the language of reception – from English to Hausa or from Hausa to English.

“Some of the techniques that you consider in terms of translation they understand, they don’t have knowledge of that.

“Also, you find out that most of these translators are based in Lagos. They are not from Northern Nigeria. Therefore, they don’t understand the language itself.

“And we do not have many advertising agencies here in Kano that will now take cognisance of those traditions and norms. Therefore, it is not surprising to see this kind of problem.

Native speakers must key in the advertisement

Professor Kurfi said that to tame the menace of native speakers, in this sense, typical Hausa/Fulani must key into the advertisement business.

He said, “The only way forward is to allow our people to enter the advertising industry. I don’t know why our people, particularly typical Hausa Fulani, are running away from advertising. Let our people be into advertising.

“Let them understand the techniques and practice of advertising, the procedures, the rules and regulations governing advertising, in the print media, in the broadcast media, even on the online media platforms, as well as billboards and adverts.

“When they understand that, you discover these problems will undoubtedly be minimal. They will be contracted to translate from English to Hausa or From Hausa to English.

“Another way out is to let our people, particularly the graduates of mass communication, establish independent advertising agencies responsible for all this kind of advert placement in the media organisations. 

“But when our people are running away, the advertising agencies or the producers or manufacturers have no option but to contract the service of the people from the southern part of Nigeria – and this is why you see all these kinds of problems happening.”

It’s posing a serious challenge to us – APCON 

The President of the Advertising Practitioners of Northern Nigeria, Sammani Ishaq, lamented the rising number of cases of poor translation.

He said that Advertising Practitioners have been working to end the problem over the years.

Sammani Ishaq said shoddy Hausa translations usually affect the persuasive aspect known for advertising and that consumers patronise the product out of desperation, not because they are being persuaded.

He said, “This is a serious issue we have been trying to address over the years. In doing so, we held many meetings and organised different programs. We even formed a forum we named Advertising Practitioners of Northern Nigeria.

“The issue is beyond imagination because most advertisers are from the southern part of the country and are either Igbo or Yoruba. It was not for ten years that northerners started advertising businesses. And, up till now, the advertising agencies are not numbered to ten.

“And what they mostly do is to hire their friends from southern Kaduna, who do not fully understand the language, let alone translate it correctly, or people who have served or had been in the north for a while.

“For this reason, the translators are not even Hausa and don’t fully understand the language. So, they usually hire people from southern Kaduna or those who have served in the north for translation.

“And, sometimes, even in the north, people mostly hire Kannywood or Nollywood actors and actresses for advertising. These people are unprofessional and lack the basis of advertisement. Hence, people purchase products not because they are persuaded to but only because the product has become necessary for them to buy.

We will deal with unregistered advertising agencies

Sammani also threatened that any unregistered advertising agency caught would be dragged before the court to face the music.

He stated, “And for this reason, APCON provided a law signed by the former president of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, before he left office on May 16, 2023. The law stated that any unregistered advertising practitioner caught practising advertising must be dealt with.”

 By Sabiu Abdullahi

President Bola Tinubu is set to induct three new ministers into his 48-member cabinet today, marking the second Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting since his May 29 inauguration.

Jamila Bio, Ayodele Olawande, and Balarabe Lawal from Kaduna State will assume key roles, emphasising the government’s commitment to strengthening its leadership.

The ceremony precedes the FEC meeting, symbolising a renewed focus on governance and policy-making under President Tinubu’s administration.  

By Ibrahim Isa Wada

When the current administration was advised by some economic experts to withdraw the subsidy on fuel and allow the Nigerian Naira to find its own value in the international arena, I got so much worried for fears of what would be the outcome. Being a nonexpert on economics, banking or finance, but only a bloody retired broadcast regulator with a fair understanding of day to day current issues, I decided to drop this piece and I hope it will be carefully considered by the experts. All I know is that, life is so hard for all of us since the Naira decided to take a flung and the fuel prices shoot up.

Sadly, some of the experts disappeared while others started to blame the past administration and/or their village people for making our lives so miserable.

Defending the value of the Naira amounts to defending the Tinubu/Kashim administration, and surely the interest of the Nigerian people.

How can any government, businesses or persons successfully plan and execute meaningful projects; how can Nigeria join economic groups, like the BRICS, with such a rickety currency?

I understand that the value of the Nigerian Naira is a function of her balance of trade. That is for the Naira to be strong and stable, the total value of goods and services Nigeria imports must be the same or less than the value of goods and services Nigeria exports over the period of time.

In the present circumstances, we tend to import almost everything including PMS, and even charcoal for smoking Shisha! While we export gold and dollars in cash etc, to safe havens. To be frank, any Nigerian leadership that wants to succeed must have a strong and stable Naira to begin with, which can be achieved by taking the following measures, among others:

1) Bring back the policy of Export Promotion and Import Substitution of the late 70’s.

This should be done with vigour. Any product that could be manufactured in Nigeria shall not be easily imported into the country, while all products that can be exported should receive a boost from the government.

There are means and ways to manuver around international trade politics, like the WTO, to achieve that.

2) Formalise all international transactions, including our transborder trade with ECOWAS and other African countries. Currently the Nigerian Central Bank serves as the unofficial African Central Bank, providing the foreign exchange requirements for many African countries that route their trade through Nigeria.

The trade formalization entails the systemic deployment of adequate personnel and infrastructure that would make international trade between Nigeria and other countries smooth, yet documented.

3) The CBN, Commercial Banks and Bureau De Change operations should have a joint universal forex transactions software that will ease, unify and speed up forex trading.

4) From 3 above, all foreign currency transfers including PTA above $250 must be in digital form.

5) Also from 3 above, the commercial banks and BDC Forex Operator window should capture a basket of about seven major foreign currencies that Nigeria transacts in, i.e Dollar, Yuan, Euro, Pound, CFA, Saudi Riyal and Dirham.

Therefore the BDC operators should have multiple currency accounts with their banks to receive and transfer funds in digital form.

6) The Nigerian government should be bold enough to block all foreign exchange leakages, in form of waivers and favours to individuals and institutions.

7) Develop key institutions targeted towards the elimination of Forex Guzzlers thus:

a) Establish more private universities to reduce students high foreign exchange remittances.

b) Establish more world class hospitals to save foreign exchange from medical tourism.

c) Establish companies for the local fabrication of low technology agricultural and industrial machinery to reduce foreign exchange outflow.

d) Fuel imports should stop at the shortest possible time, by developing more modular refineries, privatising existing ones and ensuring the early take up of the Dangote refinery.

8) In line with the Export Promotion and Import Substitution Strategy, invest heavily in agriculture to reduce food and dairy products import, as well as encourage the exports of cocoa, cashew nuts, sesame seeds, beef, etc.

This is my political perspective of the basic economic issue, because if the politicians fail to defend the value of the Naira and the poor, they will fail utterly in politics.

Ibrahim Isa Wada, writes from Kano, Nigeria. He can be reached via; ibrahimisawada@gmail.com

By Muhammad Aliyu Gombe

The Centre for Reading, Research and Development (NCRRD) Bayero University Kano, Nigeria, has organized its Fourth National Conference on the promotion of reading culture among students and researchers. The event which took place at Ɗangote Business School, New Site, (BUK) was a 5 day even which included a Pre-Conference Workshop which aims at sensitizing the participants on the new methods of improving teaching especially from the basic level. The theme of the conference reads ‘Children’s Books and The Teaching of Early Grade Reading in Nigeria.’

The Director of the Centre Professor Talatu Musa Garba, during her speech, says that, as part of the mandate, of the Centre, it “had instituted the annual conference in 2019 to provide a platform for teachers, researchers and other educationists to share ideas on the best practices for the promotion of teaching of reading in Nigeria.” The Director, together with the Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Sagir Adamu Abbas, commissioned the Centre’s resource room which is named Rebecca Rhodes Resource Room. The room has a modest collection of books and e-resources. It is open to researchers, teachers and students as a reference library.

It has been noted by various participants during the occasion that reading culture is past dying not only in Nigeria but across the globe. There is a huge need to revive it through practical methodologies which will guarantee and assist young readers to be taken right from the tender age.

Some of the participants, especially students and other invited guests, showed their appreciation and happiness with these gigantic efforts which the center is putting to revive reading culture in Nigeria.

By Abdurrahman Muhammad

Following his failure to honour the police invitation successfully sent to him since the commencement of investigation into the circumstances leading to the death of Mr Ilerioluwa Aloba, aka Mohbad, the Lagos State Police Command, via its PRO, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, now declares wanted Owodunni Ibrahim aka Primeboy.

Ibrahim is approximately 1.64-m tall, dark-complexioned, with tribal marks and Yoruba by tribe. His last known address is 3rd Power, Oke Eletu, Ikorodu.

If seen, contact the nearest police station or call 0803 688 5727. The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, CP Idowu Owohunwa, hereby offers a handsome reward of N1,000,000 (One Million Naira Only) to anyone with useful information leading to his arrest.

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Kano State Cancer Center has disclosed plan to establish Cancer Care Trust Fund to help the vulnerable indegene patients in the state with the cost of their health treatments.

The co-odinator of the Center, Dr. Aminu Magashi, stated this on Monday in a Facebook post sighted by The Daily Reality.

Magashi said the effort was in collaboration with some international development partners, NGOs and business community among others.

He added that it was also part of their plans to set up a Cancer Registry/Directory in collaboration with the Kano State Bureau of Statistics.

He further stated that also distinguished health committee members tasked them to establish the governing board and open the centre soon as well as be updating.

In the post, Magashi said, “In my humble capacity as the Coordinator of the Kano State Cancer Care Center, today, Tuesday 3rd October, I received in my office a powerful delegation of the Kano State House of Assembly Health Committee led by Hon. Zakariyya Alhassan Ishaq, Chairman Health Committee, Hon. Usman Abubakar Tasiu, Deputy Chair and other esteemed members of the committee and Clarks.

“It was a familiarisation visit. With me is our Legal Adviser/Secretary, Barrister Maryam Jibrin, from the Ministry of Justice.

“We updated them on our plans to commence work at the Cancer Centre with our ‘PPP’ partner H360 as well as our intention to establish the Cancer Care Trust Fund in collaboration with our international development partners, NGOs and business community to cater for indigent patients/vulnerable people’s cost of treatment, set up of Cancer Registry/Directory in collaboration with Kano State Bureau of Statistics.

“Distinguished health committee members tasked us to establish the governing board and open the centre soon as well as be updating,” he added.

As observed by The Daily Reality, many people who commented under the post have expressed their gratitude and prayed for the centre to succeed.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

President Bola Ahmad Tinubu yesterday, named Balarabe Abbas Lawal from Kaduna State as minister-nominee to replace former governor Nasir el-Rufai, who was rejected by the Senate in August.

This replacement was communicated through a letter read by the Senate President, GodsWill Akpabio, during the plenary session on Tuesday.

Balarabe’s nomination was announced alongside Dr. Jamila Ibrahaim and Ayodele Olawande, who were nominated by the President for the roles of Minister of Youths and Minister of State for Youths, respectively.

In August, El-Rufai’s name was conspicuously absent from the confirmed list of ministerial nominees presented to the Senate.

During the screening process, which took place about a month ago, the Senate approved and confirmed a total of 45 out of the 48 nominees sent by President Bola Tinubu.

Several petitions, including those from Senator Sunday Karimi (APC, Kogi West), were presented against the former governor during the screening.

Senator Sunday Karimi, representing Kogi West, voiced his opposition to the former Kaduna State governor during the ministerial screening.