JULY 11, 2023

By Funmilayo Fabunmi

Unknown persons have allegedly carted away the recently reinstalled airfield lighting systems at the domestic runway 18/36L of Murtala Muhammad Airport.

The PUNCH gathered that the disappearance of the approach lighting systems had raised security concerns in Nigeria’s busiest airports.

According to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity, those who carted away the lighting systems took advantage of the closure of the runway for over three months.

The source alleged that some FAAN workers connived with outsiders to steal the airport lighting equipment.

“The criminal took advantage of the closure to commit the crime. I cannot give the actual worth of the theft, but almost all the lighting was removed. The permanent secretary came around to see for himself the huge damage done. A lot of FAAN officials have been suspended,” the source confirmed.

The PUNCH also gathered that some heads of relevant departments at FAAN have been suspended over the missing lighting equipment on the directives of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Aviation, Dr Emmanuel Meribole.

The source also disclosed that investigations had since commenced to unravel those responsible for the missing safety equipment.

According to the source, the regular incursion and stealing of safety components at the airports are carried out by a syndicate, consisting of some workers of the agencies, who have access to the restricted areas and accomplices from outside.

A top official with FAAN, who did not want his name in print, said the agency’s Managing Director, Mr Kabir Yusuf, was displeased with the development.

He stated that FAAN MD had also ordered the suspension of security personnel who were in charge of guarding critical airport facilities.

Reacting to the latest development, a former Military Commandant at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, Group Capt. John Ojikutu (retd.), said, “This is not new at MMA. I wish the FAAN management could go back to 1990 when similar things happened in the airport. I was convinced that it was an ‘insiders threats’. What did I do? I positioned soldiers on the runways and ensured that no FAAN maintenance staff went near the runways for anything without my approval; otherwise, it was shoot at first sight. It stopped completely. Runway lightings were being stolen and my conclusion then was that runway lightings can only be useful for runways and not roads or houses.

“Those stolen were being sold to FAAN by the same workers. That is why I am not in support of the unions carrying the picketing of their employers to the airport’s security controlled areas.”

The Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, FAAN, Mr Yakubu Funtua, told The PUNCH stated that investigations had been launched and that the agency would do all within its powers to avoid a reoccurrence.

He said, “FAAN is doing all it can to get to the bottom of this. You are very aware that there are many agencies within the airport, including the different ones that are supposed to be taking care of security there. So, it would be unfair to put this (the theft) on our (members of) staff and I don’t think there is any FAAN (member of) staff that wants the agency to crash.

“Note that most of our revenue comes from Lagos. So, what kind of staff will ‘kill the goose that lays the egg?’ However, we can’t say exactly who did it, but we are doing all that we can to recover what is lost. We are going to recover it because we are going to find out those people who did it and then block all those loopholes.”

For 15 years, the Lagos Airport domestic runway 18L was shut down to night operations due to the absence of airfield lighting.

Domestic airlines were forced to use runway 19 at the international airport, which consumes more aviation fuel because of the longer distance.

The equipment, which aids aircraft to take off and land at the domestic airport at night, was installed on the 2.7 kilometres long runway last November.

JULY 11, 2023

By Olusegun Koiki

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Westlink Airlines, Capt. Ibrahim Mshelia, has shed more insights on why airfares on the Nigerian routes are more expensive than its other African countries, especially in the West African.

Speaking with our correspondent on phone over the weekend, Mshelia said that apart from the foreign exchange (forex) unification policy of the Federal Government, which eradicated the black-market rates and increased the value of dollars against the naira, the operating environment and charges on the Nigerian routes also contributed to the high airfares on the country’s routes.

According to Mshelia, the handling rates and other levies, including navigation charges in Nigeria are higher than other countries in the West Coast, saying that this further pushes the cost of air tickets up on the Nigerian routes.

He said: “Air tickets are higher because to come into our airspace and get out, costs the airlines more than it do elsewhere. There was a time I computed what it costs British Airways to fly a Boeing 777 aircraft from London to Accra and then from London to Abuja, flying the same aircraft.

“I tried to look at air navigation, the handling charges and some other things to rotate the aircraft from the airspace of Ghana and exit at the same point back to London, the difference between that and when it enters from Kano end to Abuja and exit our airspace back to London again. 

The difference between the charges of that airspace and the one of Ghana is about $200 difference and the distance from the borders of Ghana to Accra and the border of Nigeria to Abuja, Nigeria’s own is shorter by about 110 miles or thereabout.

“Also, the handling; to rotate a B777 out of Accra, the handling company in Accra is charging about $1,000 and in Nigeria here, it is close to about $3,000. So, if you look at it by and large, the operators have to recoup their investments with some profits. Therefore, tickets out of Nigeria have to be commensurate with what they spend. That is why Nigeria has to pay more, but who is punishing who? We are punishing ourselves.

“Nigerians should not pay much, but we are struggling to run our aviation the way others run it. It was like this when I came in. I came into the industry and I have now clocked about 40 years in it and it is still like this. I am sure if we do not do anything on it, it will remain like this.”

Also, Mrs. Susan Akpoariaye, the President of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agency (NANTA), said that with the forex unification, air travellers, particularly those travelling on the international routes should expect fluctuating airfares based on the exchange rate between the Nigerian naira and the US dollar.

Akpoariaye, however, said that the forex unification was good for the Nigerian economy and would make the repatriation of ticket sales funds easy and possible.

She, however, clarified that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) does not have the power to fix foreign exchange for airlines as claimed in some quarters.

“So, that policy they brought was to unify the rates so that we will have only one rate, and that one rate will be determined by the I&E window, and anyone that understands this, will know that there will be a lot of fluctuations in the rates,” she said.

She explained that airfares are denominated in dollars and converted to naira at the prevailing exchange rate at the time of booking or payment.

Therefore, if the naira depreciates against the dollar, airfares would increase accordingly. Conversely, if the naira appreciates against the 

JULY 11, 2023

How one woman made a desperate cross-border sacrifice to build a better life for her family and get them out of poverty.

By Kent Mensah

This article is part of a series on intra-Africa migration.

Accra, Ghana – Diamond’s childhood dream was to become a famous hair stylist and make enough money to travel around the world, connecting with other businesswomen and empowering vulnerable girls.

She never imagined then that at age 32, circumstances would leave her closer to the women she wanted to help than the ones doing the helping.

The second of seven children, nicknamed Diamond (real name withheld to protect her privacy), was born into a poor family in Nigeria’s Delta State but dreamt of a better life.

“I love styling hair so I decided to learn it as a profession and to become popular across the world,” she smiled, reminiscing to Al Jazeera. But her excitement dims when she recalls that due to a lack of funds, “unfortunately, I couldn’t see my training through … There was nobody to help me.”

At 16, she became pregnant with a man from Benin City. A second baby arrived three years later. But he left them for another woman, kicking Diamond out of the house.

Then in 2010, tragedy struck when the 20-year-old’s father died, and circumstances that were difficult became unbearable.

Diamond’s brother, the eldest sibling, squandered the little savings their father bequeathed them, leaving her the sole breadwinner. Desperate to provide for her mother, siblings, and children, she took on low-paying or menial jobs, depending on handouts from the neighbours to get by.

But it was not enough.

Her mother’s health was deteriorating and medical bills to help her weakening heart were piling up. None of the younger siblings had work, and Diamond’s two growing children needed money for school fees, food, and clothes.

She became desperate. So, in November 2019, she made a difficult choice.

“My family was battling financial problems, and someone suggested I come to Ghana to do kpokpor [prostitution],” Diamond said.

Her best friend told her about a Nigerian acquaintance in Ghana looking for call girls and suggested it could be the solution to Diamond’s financial problems.

Although initially hesitant, she says life’s pressures, like going to bed on an empty stomach, forced her to accept sex work as the light at the end of the dark tunnel her life had become.

“I knew it was a risk,” she shrugged. “But isn’t taking risks all that life is about?”

Choices and regrets

A week after the conversation with her best friend, Diamond made a call to Auntie Angela, the madam in Ghana, to accept her offer to be a call girl. The terms of the deal were for Diamond to work for three months, earning an estimated 600,000 Nigerian naira (8,900 Ghanaian cedi or $780) for Angela. After that, Diamond would be free to leave and work independently.

“She promised to give me accommodation in Ghana, transportation to and from work, clothing and any other necessities that may arise while I was doing the sex business,” said Diamond, her short hair dyed blonde and flanked by two sets of matching earrings.

So she borrowed money for the Ghana trip.

Three days after calling Angela, she embarked on the road journey with 10 other Nigerian women, all headed through Benin and Togo towards Ghana’s capital Accra where they would begin working as migrant sex workers.

“We had no travelling documents and experience,” Diamond shared. “I was scared we could be arrested and returned to Nigeria anytime we got to the checkpoints.”

“The French language was a problem for us. They [officials] wanted to know our mission in Ghana. We lied that we are traders. They took money from us in Benin and Togo before allowing us to continue to Ghana,” Diamond added, sharing that because they had no form of identification, they bribed border officials to cross.

In Accra, they were received at the bustling Tudu truck station near the Central Business District by a man who took them to their madam in Kasoa, a peri-urban town of about 120,000 inhabitants, 33km (20.5-mile) drive from the capital. A hub for trade and commerce, Kasoa is home to people from several Ghanaian ethnicities as well as foreigners from Nigeria, Liberia, Togo, and Ivory Coast.

A booming trade

Prostitution is a thriving business in West Africa, especially in Liberia, Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone, whose economies were ravaged by civil wars that all ended in the late 2000s.

A January 2023 study from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), estimated that there are 2.5 million female sex workers aged 15 to 49 in sub-Saharan Africa.

Although commercial sex work is illegal in Ghana, it is a booming business in areas like Lapaz, Cantonments, Osu, East Legon, and Kasoa where select local pubs are often inundated with young girls in revealing clothes seeking potential clients.

At their residence in Kasoa, Diamond and her 10 friends shared a single room containing just five thin mattresses without bedsheets on the floor. It felt like a prison – no TV or radio set or chair. The paint on the wall had faded with marks of dirty human hands. The room was poorly ventilated with a rusted, noisy ceiling fan. The only window had a net meant to prevent mosquitoes and other insects from entering but that was torn.

“I was promised heaven but I came to meet hell. I was very disappointed when I was ushered into the room,” Diamond said, shaking her head and sipping her energy drink. “My madam lied to me. She was only interested in exploiting us and the money.”

Despite the disappointment, Diamond hit the ground running – to make money for her children’s education back in Nigeria. But after a week of working, she realised her madam was not fulfilling her side of the bargain.

“She was taking all the daily sales. She was not providing us with food as promised. She gave us as little as 10 cedi [$0.87] a day as transport [cost] – that can take us to the pubs, but not back. Meanwhile, she doesn’t want us to touch the daily sales. We survived on tips from clients.”

Did it not cross Diamond’s mind to flee, far beyond her madam’s reach?

“Well, I could have, but remember I was only an alien resident, one without any resources or legal documents for that matter. It wasn’t like I had any options,” she said.

By February 2020, Diamond – a lover of music and movies – had finished serving her three months, and had managed to scrape together some savings to send back home.

“It was quite the ordeal,” Diamond paused, trying to hold back painful memories. After scrolling through her phone messages and cutting off some incoming calls, she regains her composure and continues. “But I still tried my best to pay her [the madam] money, handing her every pesewa I made. By the time I was done, I was exhausted, and, frankly, fed up with the work.”

“Sleeping with men for a fee — ranging from 200 cedi [$18] to 300 cedi [$26] per session, and double that for the occasional threesome — wasn’t what I wanted to do with my life. Now free of my madam’s tentacles, my debt fully paid, I quit the profession and tried to figure out what to do next for myself.”

But then more bad news arrived: the sudden death of her 61-year-old mother on March 3, 2020.

“She woke up one morning to go about her regular chores, I was told, only to collapse in the bathroom and … and that was it,” Diamond said.

That ruined any dreams of a blissful homecoming but Diamond’s consolation was that her mother never knew what her eldest daughter did for a living.

Only Diamond’s younger sister, who now takes care of her children, knows about her real profession. The others, including her two children, think she works as an attendant at a big supermarket in Accra.

“All [my mother] wanted was to have me back as soon as I was done with my endeavours in Ghana,” Diamond said. “That I couldn’t fulfil that earnest desire of hers is the only regret I have in that sense.”

Risky business

When news of her mother’s death came, Diamond briefly resumed her call-girl work to help fund her trip back home – and got help from some friends.

In Nigeria, she initially decided not to return to Ghana, preferring to take care of her children and siblings in her mom’s absence.

But when the harsh financial reality at home deepened, the lure of Ghana returned so she went to her former madam, Angela.

“She promised me free lodgings, and all I’d ever have to pay her back was the cost of transportation to Ghana,” she said.

Once again, the madam reneged on her pledge after Diamond returned to Ghana. That led to a falling-out. Diamond eventually moved out to live on her own, surviving on what had, by now, become her life: prostitution.

These days she lives in a single-room apartment a few metres away that she rents for 200 cedi a month. In it, she has a single bed, a second-hand sofa and a modest home theatre system to enjoy her music and movies.

No longer being at Angela’s beck and call helps her take certain liberties, such as not working when she is not physically or psychologically inclined to. She no longer works the streets at night and clients have to call her to book in advance. She does not entertain customers at her place, preferring hotels or brothels operating in disguise as private movie houses.

On average, Diamond makes $500 a month – that is 13 times Accra’s minimum wage of $39.

But her earnings are not fixed and fluctuate when business is slow or if she falls sick. Still, she always sends something home. “Every month, I remit between $150 and $200 back home to take care of rent, utility bills, school fees, and the children’s upkeep and some of my siblings. I wish I can do enough to cater to their needs,” she said.

Sex workers in Ghana are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse and cannot report to the police because they have little legal recourse. There is also the real risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases, which Diamond counters by insisting on the use of condoms.

These days, she only engages clients she is already acquainted with and new ones recommended by friends and fellow call girls. But things are not easy.

“There are times when a john would pay for two rounds of sex, only to ask for a third at the end of his second, and will sometimes make you fine by giving you more. Not all would do so politely, with some even resorting to aggression or outright violence,” Diamond said. “Then there are those men who have no intention at all of sleeping with you; all they want to do, instead, is rob you of your valuables, and I’ve fallen prey to such ones at least once.”

A million-naira dream

Diamond does not keep a number but estimates that since 2019 she has slept with about 50 men – mostly regular customers. It is a number she does not intend to add to if she has her way. After almost four years, she wants to do something else.

“I’m tired,” she said, banging her right hand on the table, holding her energy drink.

“This is not a life worth living. It only helps keep body and soul together, barely leaving enough to send remittances to my dependents. And that’s why I’m now trying to find a way to return to Nigeria, as quite a number of my peers have done. Also, I miss my family.”

Would she miss Ghana, though?

“I will just miss going to the beach — which, along with watching movies and listening to music, I do for relaxation — and also some good people I have met here.”

“And oh,” she laughed, “I will miss Ghana jollof [rice] too — which I think is as good as the Nigerian version, by the way.”

Diamond currently has $200 in savings. Her aim is to raise 1,000,000 naira ($1,307) to return to Nigeria to operate a pub or clothing business.

“Alternatively, if I get someone to rent a house for me in Ghana, I will bring my kids and start my business here.”

“Someone?” Al Jazeera asked.

“Yes,” she responded, “and that could be anyone, but, specifically a destiny helper.”

The concept of “destiny helper” is one that has surfaced only recently in Christianity, particularly in Africa, referring generally to a person an individual believes God has sent to help fulfil their purpose in life. That help could come in the form of influence, money among other things.

Not long ago, it appeared she had found that person, but it was a mirage.

“I met somebody, a Ghanaian, who promised to give me money for business before he travelled to the United Kingdom. Ever since his departure, though, I have not heard from him … so I just decided to leave him alone. I can only keep praying, hoping that one day God will bring the right person that will change my story,” she said.

Diamond’s optimism, as she speaks about her faith as a Christian and her future, is only matched by the passion with which she speaks about her faith in the future of her children – a 16-year-old son and a 13-year-old daughter.

“I would like my daughter to become a doctor and my son to join the military,” she said, a ray of hope flashing across her face in the form of a broad smile. “And, yes, I wouldn’t mind if there is a genuine chance to settle down with a man who loves me. I do believe in love.”

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

JULY 11, 2023

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, (FAAN) has commenced into the theft of the runway lighting system on the runway which recently took place at domestic runway, Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos.

Funtua Yakubu, the new Director Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at FAAN told BusinessDay that FAAN has commenced investigations into the issue and assured that the authority will do its best to get those behind the criminal act and get them to face the law.

“Once the investigations are concluded, we will let the public know,” he said.

Yakubu said the allegations making rounds that FAAN staff connived with outsiders to carry out the theft are still speculations and can only be proven after the investigations are completed.

He also hinted that the investigations would help FAAN find out the lapses that must be addressed so that such incident doesn’t occur again.

Barely Nine months after FAAN installed the multi-million Naira airfield lighting systems at the domestic runway 18 Runway/36Left of the Murtala Muhamed Airport, BusinessDay’s findings show that the entire lighting system on the runway were carted away by thieves.

The thieves were able to carry out the operations by taking advantage of the closure of the runway for over three months.

A source close at FAAN said that the airfield lighting components were carted away by some workers at the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) in connivance with some outsiders who have access to the runway site.

The sad development has led to the suspension of some heads of relevant departments at the organisation on the directives of Emmanuel Meribole, the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Aviation, after inspecting the site.

For 15 years the Lagos airport domestic runway 18Left was shut down to night operations due to the absence of airfield lightings which put the domestic airlines through financial stress as they were forced to make use of the runway 19 at the international airport which consumes more aviation fuel because of the longer distance.

With the Airfield Lighting installed, the unnecessary 10-20 minutes spent and fuel burnt when an aircraft lands on the international runway before taxiing to the domestic, stopped. It also made for aircraft usage maximisation.

JULY 11, 2023

Seychelles has placed a ban on Nigerian passport holders applying for short-term visa or holiday purposes. A travel content creator, @munafromtravelletters, raised the alarm on Saturday evening with a screenshot of a rejection email.

The screenshot read: “We regret to inform you that your application has been denied, as per immigration regulation. For now, we are not accepting any Nigerian passport holder for holiday purposes. Kindly contact http://www.ics.gov.sc/ (Seychelles Immigration) or call 248 4 293 636 for more information.”

The ban came just six months after Nigeria signed a pact for direct flights between the two countries. Before the restriction, Nigeria had a long-standing visa-free agreement with Seychelles, which allows Nigerian citizens free entry without a visa for 30 days.

The country’s border security confirmed the development yesterday. Speaking through its customer support service, the Seychelles government corroborated the travel content creator’s screenshot without giving reasons for the ban.

“Yes, but no further information is available at this time,” the border security said. In December 2022, Nigeria and Seychelles signed a pact that would enable direct flights between both countries.

Hadi Sirika, then minister of aviation, and Anthony Derjacques, the Seychelles’ minister of transport, both agreed that the pact would promote the African Union agenda 2063, while enhancing business and promoting tourism.

The restriction has elicited mixed reactions from social media users, with many lamenting increase in foreign bans against Nigerian passport holders.

JULY 12, 2023

BY  Temitayo Jaiyeola, Deborah Tolu-Kolawole, Sami Olatunji and Funmilayo Fabunmi

Many Nigerian students are facing tough times in the United Kingdom after the naira equivalent of their tuition fees increased by over 60 per cent following the recent move by the Central Bank of Nigeria to unify the nation’s foreign exchange rates.

About two weeks after President Bola Tinubu promised to unify the nation’s multiple exchange rates, the apex bank decided to float the naira at the Investors and Exporters’ Window of the foreign exchange market. Since then, the naira has fallen from N471/dollar to N750/dollar and N589.4/pound to N957.2/pound.

This has led to about 60 per cent increase in tuition fees for students in the UK.

This rise in exchange rate has put more pressure on many Nigerians that are schooling in the UK and beyond.

The UK is one of the destinations of choice for many Nigerians as 128,770 Nigerian students enrolled in universities in the United Kingdom between 2015 and 2022 according to data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency of the UK.

According to the CBN, study-related foreign exchange outflow to the UK rose to $2.5bn in 2022. Nigerian students and their dependants in the United Kingdom contribute about £1.9bn annually to the UK economy, according to an analysis by SBM Intelligence.

Many of these students may now struggle to pay the balance of their tuition due to the sharp decline in the value of the naira.

UK universities are currently on break.

Students lament hike

A Nigerian student resident in Manchester, Adejoro Deborah, who sounded stressed told The PUNCH, “This policy is affecting those of us here and even intending students. My sibling has had to forfeit her admission because of this policy.

“Many students have fallen victim to online scammers just because they want to buy pounds, a friend of mine, for example, was a victim of third-party purchase as the banks at home are not dependable.”

Another Nigerian student studying in Leeds explained that the major challenge was that many kept their tuition fees in their naira account at the former rate.

The student said, “Now they have to start looking for more money because the rate has gone up. If the official rate is not different from street rate, so what’s the essence of waiting for several weeks for your bank when you can just get it from third-party platform. It has only put more pressure on the students to look for more money.”

The student added, “If you put N5m in your account in March when the rate was around N560/£, that means it will pay around £9k tuition fee, but by July, the N5m will only be able to pay around £5k since the rate is now around 1k/£, so that’s where the real problem is. You need to start looking for an additional £4k. That’s the challenges many students are facing.”

Another Nigerian, who is currently studying at Liverpool John Moores University, has become stranded after the school withdrew his access to the school portal.

His access to the university’s portal was withdrawn by the school following his failure to pay his tuition. The Nigerian (name withheld) could not raise the required 4,800 pounds to complete his tuition.

Narrating his ordeal to The PUNCH, he said, “The school has withdrawn my access to its platform. As a result, I can’t check the results of my last exam. Everything is done via the platform. I cannot also access my official email given by the school. I can’t attend both online and in-person classes again. It is very frustrating, I am completely shut out.”

The depressed student, who is allowed to work for 20 hours a week as a student, said he could not get a better job because prospective employers were demanding proof that he is allowed to work as a student.

He added, “In fairness to the school, I was given several deadlines which I missed. I could not pay because I was unable to raise enough funds to buy foreign exchange. The exchange rate is very high.”

Another student (name withheld) of the school, said he was on the verge of losing his studentship before he managed to borrow money from friends in Nigeria to pay his tuition.

He shared a copy of a letter that had been addressed to him giving him a final deadline to pay the outstanding tuition.

The letter read in part, “According to our records there is an outstanding balance of £4800 on your university tuition fee account. LJMU has advised you of this situation via emails to both your LJMU and personal email addresses.

“Despite this correspondence, the debt remains outstanding and accordingly, we are now arranging for you to be withdrawn as a student of the University. If this happens, UK Visas and Immigration will be informed that you are no longer a student at LJMU.”

The letter was sent by the Head of Registry Services of the school.

A student, studying IT Project Management at Teesside University, lamented to The PUNCH that many Nigerian students are still in shock.

She said, “Some people are not totally stable because they used to convert their naira to pounds for school fees payment.”

She explained that while she did not benefit from the official rate initially, she still has to pay more now. She said “When I got in initially, I converted at the rate of N920-935 thereabout. But after the CBN reforms, it has been a nightmare. The highest I did a while ago was N990. But today, it is about N1008, if not more.”

Another Nigerian student (name withheld), who is studying at Strathclyde University, explained that the new exchange rate might cause him to drop out of school.

He said, “This new reality has called for a review of the whole plan entirely. Everything has to reset at the end of the year.

“My year is ending in October/November but I now have to review everything. I am running a Ph.D. programme and the cost is 20,000 pounds a year. When we were using Form A and the official rate was about N600, it was about N11m.”

He noted that his budget when he started was between N33m –N35m for the entire programme. He stated, “Now, I will be looking at N20m for the second year and N40m in total for my remaining two years.

“This is causing me to rethink my plans, because I can’t spend that type of money on this. N40m is a lot, especially on those at home that are sponsoring this, it doesn’t sound reasonable. This will impact how I will continue with my course.”

Speaking on the matter, a student currently studying in the UK, who simply identified herself as Shalewa said, “When I started schooling in London in 2017, pounds was about N300 or less. I am still in school and now I had to pay N1,000 for one pound. 19,500 pounds to naira means that my mum will be coughing out millions that she should be using for retirement.”

An international multimedia journalist and student based in the UK, Michael Orodare, noted that the suffering of many Nigerian students is an open secret.

He said while many people had tried to use Form A to pay their tuition fee balance, earlier, banks had delayed with excuses, including issues around tax clearance.

He said, “A lot of students are finding it difficult to pay their tuition. What many Nigerian students here are now trying to do is to use the naira in their account to try and buy pounds which is now more than N1000. This is now more expensive and making fee payment very difficult for Nigerian students.”

Intending students worry

The increase in the cost of forex is also affecting many Nigerians intending to study in the UK.

For many of them, Proof of Funds is the most problematic part of their application process now.

According to an education consultant, Oyebode Omolewa, Proof of Funds is a student’s tuition balance plus living expenses. She stated that it is a crucial requirement for students planning to go to the UK as it proves to the UK government that a student has the capacity to take care of themselves while studying.

She noted that the rates are now dependent on when student submit their visa applications. She explained that when the official rate was around N560 – N600, students’ proof of funds was lower.

Omolewa said, “Proof of funds is the student’s tuition balance plus living expenses. For example, if a student’s tuition is about 15,000 pounds, and they pay 5,000 pounds to the university, their proof of funds will be the 10,000 pounds balance plus living expenses.

“If the school is located outside of London, the cost of living is 9,207 pounds, if it is in London, it is 12,006 pounds. Let’s say we have a 10,000 pounds balance, if the school is outside London which is 9,207 pounds, when you add the two together, you will have 19,207 pounds multiplied by the exchange rate on the day you applied for a visa.

“If it was N1000 on the day it was 19,207 pounds multiplied by N1,000 before it used to be about N580 multiplied by 19,207 pounds.”

Omolewa further explained that PoF has been affected a lot, especially for students trying to go with their family members.

She noted that PoFs have almost doubled. She said, “PoF has almost doubled. This is likely to affect the number of people applying for study Visas now because if you were planning N15 million initially and now you need about N6 million extra if you don’t have it, you will just have to wait until you get it.”

Another student, who is planning to leave by August, said the PoFs had increased considerably with many intending students struggling to meet up.

He said, “When you calculate PoF now, the least you will get is about N1,100. It has really affected it, and it is not a good one. If you wanted to do a PoF of 19,000 pounds, before now you would need N16 million in your account. But now, you would have nothing less than N24 million for a 19,000 pounds PoF.”

Another intending UK-bound student, who only gave her name as Titi, stated that when she started her visa processing, PoF was pegged at N600/pound. According to her, she would have fallen victim to the new exchange rate if not that she applied less than a week before the change.

She noted that her PoF which was N9.8 million is now over N16 million. She told The PUNCH, “I am still good on my PoF, it was still less than N9.8 million. The Friday before the 12th of June, someone asked me to apply for my visa.

“Thank God for countries like the UK where your PoF will be determined based on the exchange rate of the day you apply. That was my saving grace. I applied on that Friday, and by the following week, exchange rate had gone up.

“My PoF was a little above N9.5 million. By the following week, it hit N16 million. I was going to be judged according to the exchange rate on the day of my application, but the thing is if I had applied a little later than I did, my PoF would have risen to over N16 million. I am just an average Nigerian, I don’t have one N6 million, N8 million somewhere. I would have needed about N17 million if I was late.”

According to her, she would have deferred her admission if she had applied after the exchange rate went up.

A Nigerian student in the UK, who didn’t want her name in print, explained to The PUNCH that her brother is currently in the process of relocating to the UK through the study route.

She noted that her family is currently looking for an extra N7 million to N8 million because of the new exchange rate.

She said, “We are on the PoF matter for my brother, and we just have to get more money. He has not yet applied as we are just getting his CAS, this new exchange rate is biting.

“Under the old exchange rate, we needed about N6 million to N8 million, but now we need N14 million to N15 million. As of this morning, a pound is N1000+. When it was my turn, all my calculation was at N600, for my brother it is at N1000. There is a N400 difference that is choking everyone. It is financially more demanding and constraining.”

Form A challenge

Form A, which is an application form designed by the CBN to pay for service transactions such as school fees, medical fees, and more, allows customers to purchase funds at the CBN or interbank rate to make payments for these services.

Lamenting on how frustrating the Form A is, an LLM student at the University of Birmingham, who did not want her name disclosed told The PUNCH, “I opened my Form A in April and at the time, I was to pay N1.8m and of course, I was waiting for processing days.

“Now, with the new policy, I need N3.1m. So, even though I have the N1.8m, the money that I require now is twice the amount. So, I can’t have the Form A processed.”

A senior officer of a popular commercial bank who spoke to our correspondent under the condition of anonymity noted that despite the floating of the naira which has highly affected the exchange rate, the bank still receives huge requests of FX [Form A].

The officer said, “We still have a long queue and what we do is that we give priorities to our corporate customers. It was expected that the new policy would actually make things better, but it has not. The rates are higher, and people still come in. Some of the Form A requests were even brought in before the new policy was implemented. “

A travel consultant, Samuel Agboola, affirmed to The PUNCH, “Many people who left to study in the UK still don’t have their fees processed by Nigerian banks. The banks deducted the money from their accounts but have yet to do the conversion and pay their schools. Now the exchange rate has changed, and they have to pay more. That is the reality.”

78,679 Nigerians

Meanwhile, no fewer than 78,679 international students from Nigeria are currently studying in the UK, United States of America, Canada, and Ukraine, an analysis by The PUNCH has shown. The figure excludes Nigerians who study in these countries but did not process their admissions from Nigeria.

According to the Higher Education Statistics Agency of the United Kingdom, as of December 2022, there were about 44,195 international students from Nigeria in UK institutions with average tuition fees between £11,000 – £32,000.

Findings by our correspondent also revealed that Nigerians are most concentrated in schools like the University of Hertfordshire, University of Salford, University of Leeds, University of Portsmouth, University of Birmingham, and the University of Nottingham remained some of the universities in the UK.

Nigerian parents plead with FG

The National President of the National Parents Teachers Association, Haruna Danjuma in an interview with The PUNCH pleaded with the Federal Government to intervene in the FX crisis.

Danjuma said, “If you ask for my honest opinion, I will say the Federal Government should help all those involved because when you look at it, it is not their fault.

“Also, one of the reasons people even go abroad in the first place is because of the situation of things in our institutions. We need the government to work together with parents and academics to find a way in which we can solve the problems in the education sector.”

Commenting on next steps, he stated, “I will raise the issue with my executives, and we will issue an official position. You know as the national president I can’t just take any position without other members. I will raise the matter.”

While lamenting the effect of the new forex policy, a parent, Akinjagunla Paul, though resident in the United Kingdom begged the President to help out students who applied for Form As before the new FX regime was implemented.

He said, “It is important for the President to be informed that he needs to urgently grant concessions to Nigerian students abroad who initiated their Form A requests for payment of school fees before the new FX regime was introduced, rates have increased from about N550 to N1,000.”

JULY 12, 2023

By Damilola Aina

Some road fittings installed on the newly inaugurated Second Niger bridge have been stolen by vandals, The PUNCH can exclusively report.

A source in the works ministry confirmed the theft on Wednesday, saying that the expansion joint walkway on axis 330 of the bridge had been stolen.

The source said, “Unfortunately, It’s true. The stolen fitting is an element from the expansion joints of the bridge. Drivers on that road have to be careful as the damaged part can cause discomfort to motorists.”

Another source who spoke to our correspondent corroborated the report adding that supervising engineers are not happy about the incident.

Recall that on May 23, the former president, Muhammadu Buhari, commissioned the N336 billion bridge, via an online platform, Zoom alongside seven other infrastructural projects.

The former Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, announced the completion of the bridge at a briefing in October 2022 after almost five decades of failed promises by successive administrations.

On December 15, 2022, the Federal Government also opened the Second Niger Bridge for use to ease traffic in the South-East during the festive season.

The Second Niger Bridge was first proposed during the 1978/79 political campaign by then-candidate Shehu Shagari of the National Party of Nigeria.

Patterned after the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos, the 1.6 kilometres long bridge linking Anambra and Delta states is to decongest traffic on the existing Niger Bridge, boost economic activities, and connect the South-East with the rest of the country.

Efforts to reach the ministry spokesperson, Blessing Adams-Lere, for official confirmation, proved abortive, as phone calls were not responded to as of press time.

Details shortly…

JULY 12, 2023

By Anozie Egole

The Chief Commercial Officer of Vertex group, Shitij Taneja, has said Nigeria will be one of the leading technology hubs in West Africa in the next five years.

In a statement, Taneja, said this recently while speaking at the just concluded 2023 IoT West Africa conference & exhibition in Lagos.

Taneja added that already, a lot of companies had started investing in Nigeria.

He also stressed that with the coming on board of Vertex Group with more manufacturing companies, there would be more employment opportunities and training centers for the youths.

He recommended renewable energy and digitising energy usage as the way forward towards improving electricity in Nigeria.

The Vertex Group COO explained that when energy was digitalised, it could be monitored to be able to know what was happening and where it was happening, adding that it could also help to determine where there was energy leakage.

He said, “We see a lot of startups and investors investing in Nigeria’s technology as startups, and what we are trying to achieve is to position West Africa as the hub for digital energy.

We are bringing Indian industries to Nigeria to help drive the technology because India is known as a technology hub.

We are trying to move the technology solutions that India has to Nigeria because Nigeria already has the capacity as more people are into information technology as a career.”

JULY 12, 2023

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) says all Nigerian licensed carriers would begin to operate their inbound flights and airlift pilgrims to Nigeria on Wednesday.

Mousa Ubandawaki, deputy director of information and publications at NAHCON, announced the development in a statement on Tuesday.

Ubandawaki said the arrangement is expected to ease the agitation by some of the pilgrims who have been anxious to return home after the conclusion of Hajj on June 30.

He said the delay in airlifting pilgrims back home was due to the limited slots given to the airlines by Saudi authorities, adding that only 26 flights were recorded on the inbound airlift operation.

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“Beginning from tomorrow Wednesday, 12th July, 2023 all the Nigerian licensed carriers would begin to operate their inbound flight to Nigeria optimally,” the statement reads.

“This was the outcome of the high-level meeting between the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) and the Saudi authorities, General Authority on Civil Aviation (GACA) on the slow pace of the airlift operation.

“With the situation, Max Airline with three aircraft in its fleet will be able to operate all the aircraft to Nigeria everyday, the same with Aero Contractors, Air peace, Azman and Arik Air which is dedicated to the airlift of private tour operators.

“The new development is expected to ease the strain on the agitation of Nigerian pilgrims who have been anxious to return to Nigeria since the conclusion of the Hajj rites on the 30th of June.

“It will also increase the pace of the airlift operation which has been bogged down by the non-availability of slots to the Nigerian licensed carriers, especially by the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority.

“The commission has been disturbed about the situation which solution she had been battling with since the commencement of the second phase of the airlift operation. The GACA has refused to allot slots to Nigerian airlines to speed up the return of pilgrims to the country.

“Several representation, meetings were held. The intervention of the Nigerian ambassador to Saudi Arabia Amb. Dauda Yahaya Lawal achieved little success until the issue was escalated to the highest level of government before the situation was finally resolved.”

JULY 12, 2023

BY Emily Nicolle, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- Issuers of stablecoins should take immediate measures to comply with new European Union crypto regulations that come into effect a year from now, the European Banking Authority said.

The EBA expects issuers of stablecoins — tokens that are pegged to an asset like the US dollar — to have sound governance and effective risk management in addition to proper arrangements for handling redemptions, among other things, the watchdog said in a statement on Wednesday. 

Under the EU’s Markets in Cryptoassets (MiCA) regulation, stablecoin operators will be required to hold a license from a national financial regulator in at least one member state by June 2024. 

Making preparations to comply with the rules ahead of time will help avoid “potentially disruptive and sharp business model adjustments at a later stage,” the EBA said. The watchdog on Wednesday started the first in a series of consultations on its proposed guidelines, which cover areas such as investing in stablecoin issuers.

Read more: How Europe Wants to Impose Some Order on Crypto World: QuickTake

Stablecoins are digital tokens that rely on reserves of assets to maintain a one-to-one redemption value with a less volatile asset like the dollar. Under EU rules, assets like Circle Internet Financial Ltd.’s USDC that use a reserve denominated in a single currency are considered electronic money tokens. Stablecoins based on a basket of different assets — like crypto-backed stablecoin DAI — are referred to as asset-referenced tokens.