TheNewsGuru

Tag: Naira

  • Naira depreciates by 0.16% against Dollar

    Naira depreciates by 0.16% against Dollar

    The Naira on Friday recorded loss at the official market, trading at N1,483.99 to the Dollar.

    Data from the official trading platform of the FMDQ Exchange, a platform that oversees the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), revealed that the Naira lost N2.50.

    This represents a 0.16 per cent loss when compared to the previous trading date on Thursday, trading  at N1,481.49 to the Dollar.

    However, the volume of currency traded increased to $269.27 million on Friday up from $213.31 million recorded on Thursday.

    Meanwhile, at the Investor’s and Exporter’s (I&E) window, the Naira traded between N1,507.00 and N1,399.00 against the Dollar.

  • CARTOON OF THE DAY: Naira should be changed to Pound

    CARTOON OF THE DAY: Naira should be changed to Pound

    CARTOON OF THE DAY: Naira should be changed to Pound

  • Naira depreciates by 0.05% against dollar

    Naira depreciates by 0.05% against dollar

    The Naira on Tuesday recorded loss at the official market, trading at N1,476.95 to the dollar.

    Data from the official trading platform of the FMDQ Exchange revealed that the Naira lost 83 kobo.

    This represents a 0.06 per cent loss when compared to the previous trading date on Monday when it traded at N1,476.12 to the dollar.

    However, the volume of currency traded increased to $236.99 million up from $121.87 million recorded on Monday.

    Meanwhile, at the Investor’s and Exporter’s (I&E) window, the Naira traded between N1,500.00 and N1,362.15 against the dollar.

  • The God of all things (1) – By Femi Aribisala

    The God of all things (1) – By Femi Aribisala

    “God is behind the devaluation of the Naira”.

    The internet has spawned a panoply of conspiracy theories. We have a handful here in Nigeria. Buhari died a long time ago. The man in Aso Rock for years was not Buhari. Some people conspired to steal the 2023 election. There is a secret cabal ruling this country.

    But the word of God says we should not call a conspiracy what men call a conspiracy. (Isaiah 8:12-13). According to the scriptures, there is no conspiracy in life. There is no conspiracy in the world. There is only one Conspirator, and it is God. He is the one behind everything. He is behind the good, the bad, and the ugly. Therefore, fear Him and Him alone.

    He is the One who causes men to stumble. He is the Rock of Offence against Whom they hit their cars. He is the One who makes foolish men think they can plan to rob a bank and get away with it. He is the One who makes them rig the election and they think they succeed when they are declared the winners.

    He is the One:

    “Who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense.” (Isaiah 44:25).

    “Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the Earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless. (Isaiah 40:21-23).

    Questions and questions

    While driving on a bridge in Lagos, I asked God a question.  When I looked up, the answer was boldly written on a billboard. It had always been there, with its words as dead letters, waiting for me to pass by. But God gave life to those dead letters and used them to answer my question precisely when I asked Him. 

    Now here is the challenge. How come the very instance I asked the question was the same instance I was at the billboard? Did I ask the question, or did God make me ask it? Did I look up at the billboard when I got near it, or did God make me look up? 

    Who put up the billboard? Did someone put it up or did God put it up? Was it put up specifically for me, waiting to answer my question? Now that it has been used to answer my question, is the billboard still useful? Will God use it to answer other questions from other people?

    Let me tell you what I have learnt at the feet of the Lord.

    Everything, without exception, is the work of God. God put up the billboard. God wrote the letters on the billboard. God made me pass by the billboard. God made me ask my question when I got to the billboard. God made me look up when I got to the billboard. God caused the billboard to answer my question.

    God is the uncaused Cause of everything. One hundred per cent.

    God says: 

    “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. (Revelation 22:13). 

    God orchestrates all things. He determines all things. He controls all things, including every human being.

    God is God

    God is God over everything. He decrees everything. He is the Alpha and the Omega of everything. (Revelation 1:8).

    Charles Spurgeon says: “I believe that every particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or less than God wishes. The fall of leaves from a poplar is as fully ordained as the tumbling of an avalanche.”

    God says:

    “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.’” (Isaiah 46:9-10).

    God is not mentioned even once in the Book of Esther. Nevertheless, God is the One that manipulates everything from the ending to the beginning.

    Take a look at this scripture:

    “Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son.” (Ruth 4:13).

    She did not have a child. God gave her a child. God gave her conception.

    The Bible testifies that fishes obey God. (Jonah 1:17). Worms obey God. (Jonah 4:7). God shuts the mouths of lions. (Daniel 6:21). Snakes become harmless at God’s command. (Isaiah 11:8). Lice, flies, and locusts obey God, as they did in Pharaoh’s Egypt. (Exodus 10:13). The wind and the seas obey God. (Mark 4:39).

    God commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts the waves of the sea. (Psalm 107:25). Fire and hail, snow and ice, hurricanes obey His orders. (Psalm 148:8). He calls for a famine in the land; He destroys all the provision of bread. (Psalm 105:16). He calls for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock. (Haggai 1:11).

    He declares:

    “I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things.” (Isaiah 45:7).

    God was the cause of all the calamity that befell Job:

    “All his brothers, all his sisters, and all those who had been his acquaintances before, came to him and ate food with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversity that the Lord had brought upon him.” (Job 42:11).

    God is behind the devaluation of the naira. He is the One who caused the price of petrol and diesel to skyrocket. He is the one responsible for the high inflation rate. When your pencil falls to the ground, it is God.

    Solomon says:

    “We may throw the dice, but the Lord determines how they fall.” (Proverbs 16:33).

    Jesus says:

    “Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny? Not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s permission. Every hair on your head has been counted.” (Matthew 10:29-31).

    The Scriptures tell us God works: 

    “By the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control.” (Philippians 3:21). 

    “(He) works all things according to the counsel of His will.” (Ephesians 1:11).

    Men only do: 

    “Whatever (God’s) hand and (God’s) purpose determined before to be done.” (Acts 4:28). 

    “A man’s heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9).   

    We do not even understand why we do the things we do. Only God knows. (Proverbs 20:24). 

    God says: 

    “My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.” (Isaiah 46:10). 

    God’s sovereignty

    David acknowledges to God a fundamental truth about God and all mankind known to, and accepted by, only a few men: 

    “My times are in (God’s) hands. (Psalm 31:15). 

    He notes furthermore that God programs beforehand every minute detail of the lives of every man: 

    “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in Your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.” (Psalm 139:16).  

    God creates every man for a specific purpose in the counsel of God, to play a specific role in life. There is a purpose that God has purposed in your life. It is a purpose only you can fulfil.

    The righteous are:

    “A chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, (God’s) own special people, that (they) may proclaim the praises of Him who called (them) out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9). 

    But the wicked are made for the day of doom. (Proverbs 16:4).

    “The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.” (Psalm 58:3). 

    Knowledge and understanding

    It is God who gives knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. (Proverbs 2:6). Elihu says:  

    “There is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding.” (Job 32:8).

    If God wants us to know something, He will ensure we know it. Thus, Luke says of Lydia: 

    “The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul.” (Acts 16:14).

    But if God does not want us to know something, He will ensure that we will not know it. This was the predicament of biblical Israel:

    “God has given them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear, to this very day.” (Romans 11:7).

    If a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord:

    “He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” (Proverbs 16:7). 

    But if we offend God, He ensures that our enemies prevail against us.

    The psalmist recognises this. He says to God: 

    “You make us turn back from the enemy, and those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves.” (Psalm 44:10).

     

    CONTINUED

  • Naira appreciates by 0.7% against Dollar

    Naira appreciates by 0.7% against Dollar

    The Naira on Wednesday further appreciated at the official market, trading at N1,329.65 to the Dollar.

    Data from the official trading platform of the FMDQ Exchange, a platform that oversees the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market, shows that the Naira gained N9.68.

    This represents 0.72 per cent gain when compared to that of the previous trading date,  Tuesday, when it traded at N1,339.33 to the Dollar.

    The volume of currency traded on Wednesday increased to $336.54 million up from $328.32 million recorded on Tuesday.

    Meanwhile, at the Investors’ and Exporters’ (I&E) window, the Naira traded between N1,506.00 and N1,010.00 against the Dollar.

  • May 29: What Tinubu’s economic indices show first year in office

    May 29: What Tinubu’s economic indices show first year in office

    Bola Ahmed Tinubu started his tenure as the 16th president of Nigeria with the inauguration of his government on 29 May 2023, taking over the reins of power from Muhammadu Buhari.

    In his inauguration speech, Tinubu announced the removal of fuel subsidy, and subsequently went on to announce floating of the Naira, through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    Since then, the economic fortune of the nation nosedived, with the President and key government officials promising that the economy would get better.

    When Tinubu took over as president, the pump price of premium motor spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, was on the average N238.11 per litre. As it stands, the pump price of petrol is N701.24 per litre.

    Similarly, the pump price of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), popularly known as diesel, at when Tinubu assumed office, was N844.28 per litre, but as it stands, diesel sells at N1,415.06 per litre.

    According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) since the inception of the Tinubu government, food inflation saw steady astronomical increase. While food inflation rate stood at 24.82% before the Tinubu era, it is presently 40.54%. Inflation rate in the country was 22.41% but now 33.69%.

    The nation’s interest rate was 18% when Tinubu assumed office but it is now 26.25%, while the foreign reserves saw a reduction from $35.09 billion to $32.74 billion. Public debt saw an increase from N87.38 trillion to N97.34 trillion.

    While the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate was 2.51%, it is now 2.98%. and the Naira, which was $1 to N461.76 saw a devaluation of $1 to N1.479.69. All Share Index (ASI) as of May 30 2023, saw an increaser from 55.738.35 points to 97.612.51 points as of May 24 2024.

    Tinubu’s economic policies painful – Nigerians

    Meanwhile, some Nigerians have expressed divergent views about the Tinubu administration, saying his economic policies are painful but that they look promising.

    Residents in Gombe State said that the economic reform policies introduced by the Tinubu’s administration are necessary to achieve sustainable social and economic development in the country.

    The residents, who spoke in separate interviews in Gombe on Tuesday, said that though the implementation of the policies exposed Nigerians to hardship, it would lead to a promising future at the end.

    A resident, Aminu Mustapha said the Tinubu administration implemented sound but harsh policies for the betterment of the people.

    He said that such policies were imperative for the administration to rejig the economy and move the country forward.

    “Before correcting the ills committed by the previous administration, tough decision which might cause suffering to the public must be introduce.

    “The government took a good but difficult decision with sincerity of purpose, the current hardship will be a thing of the past.

    “I am a Nigerian; I want a good future for my children, I’m sure that the current challenges is temporary, there is glimmer of hope for our country,” he said.

    Mustapha enjoined Nigerians to show resilience and support the administration in its economic transformation drive.

    However, Cliff Stanley, a political analyst, said the Tinubu administration’s policies exposed Nigerians to hardship rather than improving their social and economic wellbeing.

    “Although, the government said that such hardship are necessary change process the nation must to go through for things to get better at the end.

    “Less privilege and middle income earners are worst hit in terms of hike in pump price, high rate of unemployment, increased electricity tariff, among others.

    “There is no tangible achievement to point out in his one-year anniversary,” he said.

    Corroborating Stanley, Laraba Yakubu said the administration’s economic policies plunged the country into economic woes and exposed the people to more hardship.

    She said: “living standards for most people drastically dropped even the necessity of life become difficult for the common man”.

    Tinubu told to tackle food inflation

    Assessing Tinubu’s performance after one-year in office, some Agriculture stakeholders on Tuesday in Lagos State in separate interviews commended the President, while others urged him to be more intentional in ensuring growth of the sector.

    Mr Mojeed Iyiola, Chairman, Poultry Association of Nigeria, Lagos Chapter, lauded President Tinubu’s impact after one year in office, saying that he had contributed to the poultry sub-sector’s survival.

    “To be candid, President Tinubu has really helped local farmers since the administration began. Within a year of this administration, the poultry sector has enjoyed and benefitted from his policies, either from the Federal Government or state government.

    “The palliatives from the federal government have really been of tremendous help to farmers in this period. If this administration can continue like this, it will definitely boost the poultry sub-sector.

    “The palliatives we are expecting now is  very huge. We do not want to blow it open yet, until we receive it,” Iyiola said.

    Another stakeholder, Dr Ismail Olawale, an Agricultural Development Communication Expert, berated unscrupulous Nigerians for sabotaging the government efforts in stabilising food prices.

    Olawale said that there are unseen market forces that are influencing and frustrating food prices, trying to sabotage the government’s efforts.

    “This administration has taken some steps to address food insecurity and if the citizens support the steps and aid its materialising, it will be beneficial to all and sundry.

    “Some traders’ arbitrary increment of food prices can be blamed for the food inflation, recently some markets and supermarkets were shut down due to this consistent price hike,” he said.

    An Agriculture Consultant and Co-Founder, Corporate Farmers International, Mr Akin Alabi, urged the administration to tackle food inflation in the country.

    “For the past one year, food inflation has risen. It is being felt by the common Nigerian.

    “Even if we blame the rise on transportation and logistics cost,  government needs to study the dynamics of food systems and fashion out ways to cushion the effects of the inflation and reduce food prices.

    “There are so many things government should do. This administration should introduce subsidy in terms of transportation and provide major farm inputs,” he said.

    Alabi said further that government should expand farmers’ access to farming machinery and tools, adding that this would boost productivity.

    He said that government had done well in making palliatives available, but added that it should intensify efforts at reducing prices of basic food items.

    “This administration called a state of emergency on food security as soon as they got to power, which is good.

    “However, they need to sustain the tempo at ensuring food security by consistent implementation,” Alabi said.

    Restating the importance of ensuring food security, an Agriculture Analyst, Mr Omotunde Banjoko, urged the administration to tackle the current hunger situation in the country.

    He urged the president to ensure that the dams that were to be in operation to aid irrigation farming become operational.

    According to Banjoko, the food commodity boards to help in food price regulation also need to be set up.

    He also noted that the budget set aside for Agriculture may not revolutionise the sector.

    “When the government came to power, it changed the name of the ministry to Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, and our hopes were very high.

    “Our hopes, expectations and prayers are high that in this second year, the government will meet its target for the sake of the people and food cultivation,” he said.

  • Official market: Naira appreciates by 9.7% against Dollar

    Official market: Naira appreciates by 9.7% against Dollar

    The Naira on Monday experienced huge appreciation at the official market, trading at N1,339.33 to the Dollar.

    Data from the official trading platform of the FMDQ Exchange, a platform that oversees the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), revealed that the Naira gained N143.48

    This represents a 9.67 per cent gain when compared to the previous trading date on Friday, May 24, 2024 exchanging at N1,482.81.

    However, the total daily turnover reduced to $180.80 million on Monday down from $556.25 million recorded on Friday.

    Meanwhile, at the Investor’s and Exporter’s (I&E) window, the Naira traded between N1,501 and N1,310 against the Dollar.

  • EFCC arrests young lady in Gombe over Naira abuse

    EFCC arrests young lady in Gombe over Naira abuse

    Operatives of the Gombe Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested a young woman, Janty Emmanuel, for allegedly abusing the Naira.

    EFCC spokesman Dele Oyewale in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja, said that the woman was arrested on Monday following intelligence that spotted her spraying Naira notes at a social event.

    ”Upon arrest, the suspect was shown the video where she was dancing at G-Connect, Tumfure, Gombe State, and spraying N1,000 denomination of the Naira notes,” he said.

    ”She admitted committing the crime and shall be charged to court as soon as investigation is  concluded,” he said.

  • Naira gains N3.31 against Dollar at official market

    Naira gains N3.31 against Dollar at official market

    The Naira gained N3.31 at the official market on Tuesday, trading at N1,465.68 to the Dollar.

    Data from the FMDQ Exchange, which oversees the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), revealed a 0.22 percent appreciation for the Naira compared to Monday’s rate of N1,468.99 to the dollar.

    The volume of currency traded also increased, with the total daily turnover rising to 268.17 million Dollars on Tuesday from 161.41 million dollars on Monday.

    At the Investor’s and Exporter’s (I&E) window, the Naira traded between N1,549.00 and N1,401.00 against the Dollar.

    The Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) commended the CBN’s reforms for the Naira’s appreciation at the official market.

    ABCON President, Dr Aminu Gwadabe, urged the CBN to sustain policies benefiting the local currency.

    Gwadabe cited multifaceted efforts through fiscal and monetary policies, alongside security agency interventions, as key to the Naira’s recovery.

    “Volatility is like runoff water; if not directed, it will direct itself. I am happy to see multiple agencies coming together to confront these challenges,” he said.

    Gwadabe called for technological upgrades and collaboration among operators, regulators, the government, and security agencies.

    This, he noted, was to improve control over the foreign exchange market and to establish a bylaw to mitigate volatility.

  • Naira gains N28.34 against dollar at official market

    Naira gains N28.34 against dollar at official market

    The Naira on Monday gained N28.34 at the official market, trading at N1,468.99 to the Dollar.

    Data from the official trading platform of the FMDQ Exchange revealed that the gain represented a 1.89 per cent appreciation for the Naira.

    The percentage increase is impressive when compared to the previous trading date on Friday, May 17, 2024 when the local currency traded at N1,497.33 to the Dollar.

    Also, the volume of currency traded appreciated as the total daily turnover increased to 161.41 million dollars on Monday up from 83.50 million Dollars recorded on Friday.

    Meanwhile, at the Investor’s and Exporter’s (I&E) window, the Naira traded between N1,550 and N1,400 against the Dollar.