Evritinnaija

Naira is the official currency of Nigeria. We use Naira every day to do almost everything but a lot of people don’t seem to know much about it. If you have ever wondered how this term became the system of money that became generally accepted in Nigeria and when we started using it, then this piece is written to tell you something about the currency you spend every day. On Monday,  January 1, 1973, the Federal Government of Nigeria introduced a new money system. Before then, the official currency was the Nigerian Pounds which was introduced in 1907 while the minor unit of the currency was Shillings. According to the Central Bank of Nigeria, the decision to change to decimal currency followed the recommendations of the Decimal Currency Committee set up in 1962 which submitted its report in 1964. Meanwhile, prior to the introduction of the new currency in 1973, Chief Obafemi Awolowo was the Federal Commissioner for Finance between 1967 and 1971. And as the Finance Minist...

Ahead of the 2019 presidential election, the All Progressives Congress, APC, has declared that there will be no automatic ticket for President Muhammadu Buhari and other presidential aspirants in the party. National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Yekini Nabena said there will be no automatic ticket for Buhari because other aspirants will also be given the opportunity to prove their worth at the primaries. Speaking with Daily Independent, Nabena said, “There is going to be primaries. Other aspirants will also be given a chance to test their popularity. “So, it is not as if there is an automatic ticket that has been given to President Muhammadu Buhari”. Speaking on other aspirants who have indicated interest to contest for the presidency other than Buhari, Nabena said, “Though one or two have shown interest, the actual number will be known when the forms go on sale. “Yes, there are people. One or two persons have indicated interest but when the forms go on sale, the aspiran...

The greatest threat to national security and the national interest is a President that cannot appreciate the sanctity of the rule of law and the sacrosanct nature of the constitution. If this rhetoric of national interest and national security being more important than the rule of law continues it will have grave, disasterous and cataclysmic consequences for our country. It will lead to strong resistance, subversion of the state, conflict, war and the disintegration of Nigeria. This is because we are not prepared to live in or accept the imposition of a totalitarian police state where dissent, opposition, free speech, human rights and civil liberties have no place. This is Nigeria where freedom flourishes and where democracy thrives and not Saudi Arabia or North Korea where it is dead. Martin Luther King said “if you are not prepared to die for something then you are not fit to live for anything”. He said “If we are wrong, justice is a lie and love has no meaning”. Every Niger...

A Former military head of state, General Abdusalami Abubakar (retd), has revealed the process that led to former President Goodluck Jonathan conceding defeat to President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015. The former military leader made the disclosure at the 2018 Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, yesterday. Abdulsalami said that the genesis of Africa’s political problems was “the action of its sit-tight leaders, who amend the constitution in order to perpetuate themselves.” “These leaders have the tendency to manipulate very vital democratic organs, particularly the legislature and, sometimes, the judiciary, to suppress any dissenting voice. “Despite all these, Africa is now harvesting an influx of leaders and politicians. The young people who are emerging are more educated and internationally exposed than the current old leaders we have all over Africa. “And these young men and women are trying to make their marks. However, as you know, they are hamper...

President Muhammadu Buhari has fired back at the United States President, Donald Trump over alleged claims by the American leader referring to the Nigerian president as “lifeless”. President Buhari an President Donald Trump The reaction which came through the Buhari Media Organisation BMO was in response to Monday’s report by the Financial Times that the American President had made disrespectful comments imputing ill health on President Buhari. “President Muhammadu Buhari is fit and capable to run for the 2019 elections and oversee the affairs of the country for four more years President Donald Trump’s hate speech notwithstanding”, the group said. The BMO in the statement signed by Niyi Akinsiju and Cassidy Maduekwe, its Chairman and Secretary respectively, noted that this was not the first time the US President was heard to make such derogatory remarks at World leaders, and thus President Buhari would not be distracted by such. “We are aware that President Trump’s disrespect fo...

A former Vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has said he has no plans of leaving the opposition PDP and believes he will get the party’s presidential ticket for next year’s election. Mr Abubakar stated this in a statement by his campaign office on Sunday. “The campaign office of former Vice President of Nigeria Atiku Abubakar debunks the story from a section of the media that frontline presidential aspirant for the 2019 election, Atiku has defected from the PDP. “A press statement on Sunday describes the report as a malicious attempt to confuse the public about the aspiration of Atiku ahead of the forthcoming presidential primaries election of the PDP. “For the avoidance of any doubts, Atiku remains the frontline aspirant for the presidential ticket of the PDP. “In the past two months, Atiku Abubakar has moved across states in the country consulting with stakeholders of the PDP and explaining to them his agenda encapsulated in the acronym JOBS: Jobs, Opportunity, Being united and Se...

A former governor of Anambra, Mr Peter Obi, at the weekend said that Nigerian economy is currently on life support due to government’s rising debt profile estimated at about N22.7 trillion. Obi, disclosed this at the ‘2018 This Generation Conference’, organised by the Summit Bible Church, with the theme: “Taking Respon￾sibility, Making Nigeria Great,” held on Saturday, in Abuja. According to him, a high  unemployment rate orches￾trated by bad governance has remained a perenial challenge to the economy and noted that even if 50 per cent of the country’s revenue was used to settle its huge debt, Nigerians will continue to groan. The former governor, who was the guest speaker at thye occasion, implored voters to weed out people who lacked the technical know–how to revamp the nation’s economy and render good services. “Our educational system is too low. Our per capita is N2000, and since our population growth is higher than the growth of our GDP, the conse￾quences in the future ...