
News
Nigeria in danger as subsidy drains foreign exchange income
Petrol subsidy and other major expenses being incurred by the Federal Government are taking a bite out of Nigeria’s declining foreign exchange earnings.
Nigeria is in the middle of a serious crunch that has strained its forex reserves, stifled the value of the naira, spooked foreign investors, and raised the cost of doing business in the import-dependent economy.
“The official foreign exchange receipt from crude oil sales into our official reserves has dried up steadily from above US$3.0 billion monthly in 2014 to an absolute zero dollars today,” Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said at an industry event in bemoaning the consequence of subsidy claims on the country.
Analysts and industry operators identified four activities that are eating into the government’s already lean FX income, and if discontinued, would free up more cash for the government to spend on critical infrastructure that would stimulate inclusive, robust and sustainable growth.
Struggling oil production

Findings showed Nigeria’s forex challenges became obvious in 2016, when oil revenue, which accounts for more than half of totally collected revenue, declined significantly owing to a collapse in global oil prices and a plunge in domestic oil production volume attributed to activities of militants in the oil-rich Niger Delta.
While oil prices rebounded, Nigeria’s oil production struggled to recover from an average of 2 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2016.
Calculations by BusinessDay showed the country’s output averaged 1.34 million bpd in the first 10 months of 2022 against the 2022 budget benchmark of 1.88 million bpd, costing the nation about 161.58 million barrels in lost production worth about $16.7 billion.
The country has also been unable to meet its OPEC quota since November last year at a time of rising oil prices and severe revenue and FX woes at home.
Analysts blamed massive oil theft, vandalism of major assets, dilapidated infrastructure and declining upstream investment for Nigeria’s inability to earn more petrol dollars.
“For other countries, the rally in oil prices means more foreign exchange reserves, higher revenues, and potential economic growth. In Nigeria’s case, this blessing could turn into a curse,” Lukman Otunuga, senior research analyst at FXTM, said in a note.
Fuel subsidy
Nigeria has over time held on to the policy of capping the prices at which it sells refined fuel in the domestic market. This is irrespective of whether Brent crude — the benchmark of oil prices at the international market — increases or not.
This makes Nigeria’s state-owned oil company remit a small amount of money and sometimes zero amount into the federation account.
“It’s simple; a large chunk of Nigeria’s FX goes into payment of petrol subsidies,” Ayodele Oni, an energy lawyer and partner at Bloomfield law firm, said.
Despite its strain on Nigeria’s fiscal with foreign exchange earnings plummeting, the controversial petrol subsidy regime has also remained, with the latest end date set for June 2023. In the meantime, the practice continues to dig holes in the government finances and is set to gulp a quarter of the total budget for 2023.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who has dilly-dallied on scrapping the subsidy, shocked everyone during the presentation of the 2023 budget last October when he admitted it was unsustainable. That’s after spending N7.3 trillion subsidising petrol.
This amount is more than four times the amount it spent building new schools, health centres and equipping new science labs during the period.
In September 2022, the Economist wrote a report detailing how Nigeria is a “conspicuous absentee from this year’s merry petro-party” caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.
“Price controls are the biggest reason the boom is ruining the public purse,” the Economist said about Nigeria.
FX subsidy
Under renewed pressure from Nigerians trying to ditch expiring naira notes, Nigeria operates a multiple foreign exchange window where the US dollar can be sourced at a rate of N444/$ and another where it can be bought at a weaker rate of N780/$.
Findings showed the disadvantages of Nigeria’s current practice far outweigh its gains.
While the hard peg has the benefit of dampening imported inflation, its disadvantages include reducing the naira amount of oil revenue that goes to the federation account and undercharging duty on imports.
“A possible solution to the foreign exchange crisis in the market is for the government to ditch the failing hard peg policy and allow the naira to weaken in line with the long-term inflation rate of the currency and that of the dollar,” said Bode Agusto, chief executive officer of consulting and credit rating firm, Agusto & Co.
Agusto says Nigeria may also struggle to fully float the currency due to the volatility of its main source of dollar inflows – crude oil exports.
Debt servicing
Since the government is cash-strapped, Nigeria has resorted to huge borrowings to fund ballooning budgets thus; this has made its debt servicing obligations to widen.
New data seen by BusinessDay show Nigeria’s borrowing costs on local bonds jumped to a five-year high, adding pressure to a debt service burden that eats up more than two-thirds of revenues in Africa’s biggest economy.
As of August, debt service consumed 84 percent of Nigeria’s revenues, and the World Bank projects it could rise to 169 percent of income by 2025 if the government fails to implement fiscal reforms.
Source: Business Day
Business
Enugu Air Launches New Website
…moves online services to www.enuguairlines.ng
Enugu Air has announced the launch of its new official website, enuguairlines.ng, as part of efforts to provide passengers and customers with a better, safer and more convenient digital experience.
The airline said the migration to the new website is designed to improve how passengers connect with Enugu Air and access its services online, including flight bookings, schedules and the latest updates.
Announcing the development, the airline said: “We’ve moved! We’re innovating! We’ve migrated to a better, safer and convenient website to connect you to the world.”
Passengers can now access Enugu Air’s online services through its new web address, enuguairlines.ng, which the airline described as its new digital home.
The airline urged passengers and prospective travellers to save the new web address and use it for flight bookings, checking schedules and obtaining the latest information about its operations.

“Same Enugu Air. New web address,” the airline stated, emphasising that the change represents an improvement in its digital platform while retaining the Enugu Air brand and services.
The airline further encouraged customers to visit, www.enuguairlines.ng for all flight-related information and online services.
It further stated that the old website, enuguairlines•com has been discarded and no longer in use.
News
Kidnapped female Police officer found dead in Ebonyi
A kidnapped female police officer has been found dead in Ebonyi State after a suspected member of a kidnapping syndicate was arrested and led police operatives to the scene where her remains were recovered.
The Nigeria Police Force disclosed this in its state-by-state operational update issued by Force Public Relations Officer
Force Headquarters, Ani Iniedu on Monday, detailing several arrests, rescues and recoveries recorded across the country between September 19 and 20, 2026.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested following a sustained intelligence-led and technology-based investigation into the kidnapping of the female officer.
The suspect reportedly led combined police teams to the crime scene, where the remains of the officer were recovered.
The police said the case is being investigated by the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) in Abakaliki.

In a separate operation in Adamawa State, police operatives rescued two kidnapped victims from a suspected kidnappers’ hideout in Shako Forest, Toungo Local Government Area.
The operation, carried out on September 20 following actionable intelligence, also led to the recovery of two magazines containing 10 rounds of 7.62×39mm live ammunition.
A National Identification Number (NIN) card, mobile phone, passport and chain were also recovered from the suspected hideout.
In the Federal Capital Territory, police arrested 334 suspects during coordinated raids on criminal hotspots, black spots and uncompleted buildings across several locations.
The operation, conducted on September 19, also resulted in the recovery of various quantities of substances suspected to be illicit drugs.
Meanwhile, police in Anambra State arrested a suspected child trafficker who was allegedly intercepted while travelling with a six-month-old baby boy.
The baby was recovered and handed over to the appropriate authorities for necessary action, according to the police.
In Kaduna State, four suspected members of a kidnapping syndicate were arrested following intelligence-led operations.
Police said the suspects confessed to their alleged involvement in kidnapping and provided information about fleeing accomplices. A locally made Dane gun was recovered.
Another suspected kidnapping syndicate member was arrested at Soba Market in the state. Police said the suspect also confessed and gave information implicating five fleeing accomplices.
In Ogun State, police arrested a suspect linked to a fatal shooting incident in Isara, Remo North Local Government Area.
One single-barrel gun, one live cartridge and one expended shell were recovered during the operation.
In Imo State, a suspect was arrested during a raid on a suspected criminal gathering at Nekede, Owerri West Local Government Area, with police recovering a locally made cut-to-size single-barrel gun.
Police in Ekiti State also arrested two suspects linked to multiple shop-breaking and stealing incidents in Ado-Ekiti and recovered suspected stolen iron rods.
In another operation in Ado-Ekiti, police recovered an abandoned white sack containing a pump-action gun loaded with two live cartridges and a locally made single-barrel gun from a farmland.
In Benue State, police tactical teams, supported by personnel of the Police Mobile Force and military, intervened in a renewed communal conflict at Akpa-Mbakor Community in Tarka Local Government Area.
The security teams dispersed the rampaging youths and restored normalcy in the area, according to the police.
In Oyo State, police arrested a truck driver allegedly involved in a fatal road traffic incident along the Ijebu-Ode/Idi Ayunre Road.
The truck was impounded for further inspection and investigation.
The police said all the cases remain under investigation by the respective State Criminal Investigation Departments.
News
UK excludes Nigerian, Ghanaian-trained teachers from teaching qualification list
Teachers trained in Nigeria and Ghana are no longer eligible to apply for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in England under the United Kingdom’s overseas-trained teacher application route.
The change took effect on September 9 and means teachers trained in the two West African countries can no longer use the route to obtain QTS, a status recognised by many schools in England.
The UK Department for Education said countries included in the scheme must meet specific requirements to ensure that applicants’ qualifications, professional standing and teaching experience can be properly verified. One of the requirements is that a country must have a national regulator capable of confirming a teacher’s professional status and providing authenticated references.
According to the department, Nigeria and Ghana did not meet the reference-verification requirement.
“Our data shows that more than 70% of applications from teachers in Ghana and Nigeria include work history references that use public email addresses, such as Gmail or Hotmail, rather than a school’s official email domain. This means assessors spend additional time and resources trying to verify information provided in applications,” the department said.

The UK department said about 90 percent of applications are assessed within 12 months.
India was also removed from the eligible list because it does not have a national regulator capable of confirming teachers’ professional standing.
South Africa is now the only African country remaining on the list of countries whose teachers can use the QTS application route.
The department said the verification process was necessary to ensure that information provided by applicants was genuine and that teachers awarded QTS possessed the required skills and experience to teach in England.
To apply for QTS, overseas-trained teachers must have a valid passport, an undergraduate degree equivalent to a UK bachelor’s degree and professional recognition as a teacher in the country where they trained.
Applicants must also have completed any mandatory induction requirements needed for full teacher registration in their country of qualification.
They are required to demonstrate that they are qualified to teach children aged between five and 16 and have at least nine months of teaching experience gained after qualifying as a teacher.
Applicants must also provide employment references that verify their work history and use an email address linked to the school’s official domain.
Depending on the country where a teacher trained, additional requirements may include qualifications to teach pupils aged between 11 and 16 and a specialism in subjects such as mathematics, science, biology, chemistry, physics, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Mandarin, Russian or Spanish.
However, because teachers in England are employed by individual schools rather than the Department for Education, schools may consider alternative routes into teaching.
The department said teachers who are no longer eligible to use the QTS application service can explore other routes into teaching in England.
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