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Naira Redesign Policy: Abuja High Court Rules Against CBN Deadline Extension

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A high court in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, has mandated the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to not rescind on its set plans and timeline for the implementation of the naira redesign policy.

In a suit encoded FCT/HC/CV/2234/2023, the judge of the Abuja-based high court, Eleojo Enenche, on Monday, gave a standing order which restrains the CBN from extending the deadline on the use of old naira notes pending the determination of the suit.

The lawsuit whose defendants include the CBN, President Muhammadu Buhari, and several banks and whose plaintiffs include Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), and National Rescue Movement (NRM) has the following extant ruling:

“An order of interim injunction is hereby made restraining the defendants whether by themselves, staff, agents, officers, interfacing banks or whosoever not to suspend, stop, extend, vary or interfere with the extant termination date of use of the old N200, N500, and N1000 bank note being 10th day of February, 2023, pending the hearing and determination of motion on notice.”

An order of interim injunction is also made “directing and mandating the defendants whether by themselves, staff, agents, officers, interfacing banks or whosoever described to comply with, implement and give effect to the currency redesign and restructuring of the old N200, N500, and N1000 bank note on or before the last day of 10th of February, 2023, pending the hearing and determination of motion on notice”.

Furthermore, the court directs the bank heads, chief executive officers, managing directors and/or alter egos “to forthwith show cause as to why they shall not be arrested and prosecuted for the economic and financial sabotage of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by their illegal act of hoarding, withholding, not paying or disbursing the new N200, N500 and N1000 bank note, being the legal tender of the federal republic of Nigeria to their respective customers, despite supplies of each such currency note by the 2nd and 3rd defendants, thereby leading to the present scarcity of currency notes in circulation”.

The Cable reported that the court order will be for an initial period of seven days until the motion of notice is heard on February 14.

Twitter Has Been Saved From Bankruptcy, Elon Musk Reveals

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Twitter CEO Elon Musk has recently revealed that he saved the social media platform from bankruptcy while overseeing his two other companies, noting that the firm is currently on track to break even.

The billionaire owner took to Twitter where he wrote, “Last 3 months were extremely tough, as had to save Twitter from bankruptcy while fulfilling essential Tesla & SpaceX duties. Wouldn’t wish that pain on anyone.

“Twitter still has challenges but is now trending to break even if we keep at it. Public support is much appreciated!”

Recall that when Elon Musk offered to buy Twitter for $44 billion in April, while speaking at the TED2022 conference, he disclosed that he didn’t care about the economics of the purchase, rather he was more concerned about having a platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive which he believes is extremely important to the future of civilization.

Several months later, Musk seems to have changed his tune, haphazardly suggesting ideas to his advisors, and even his Twitter followers, in an attempt to make the platform profitable.

Since acquiring the company for $44 billion in October last year, which saw him sell about $4 billion worth of shares in Tesla to help pay for a transaction in which he took on billions of dollars in debt, Musk has been carrying out a series of revamp on the platform to ensure it generates more revenue.

Reports reveal Twitter generated less money than what it owes its lenders annually, as the company was also unprofitable for eight of the last 10 years before Musk’s takeover.

Since acquiring the platform, Musk has openly and frequently talked about the possibility of bankruptcy for Twitter. Still, the platform made its first interest payment on the $12.5 billion in debt that the new owner used to take it private last year, bolstering confidence in his ability to avert bankruptcy in the near term.

This spurred the Tesla billionaire to come up with ways to generate revenue for the company, by introducing different paid features on the platform.

In November last year, Musk introduced an $8 per month payment for the Twitter blue badge, while noting that the price will be adjusted according to purchasing power parity of a country in an attempt to expand Twitter’s paid subscription.

Musk is also trying to minimize Twitter’s infrastructure costs. In meetings with engineers, his advisers have proposed saving from $1 million to $3 million in infrastructure costs a day.

Musk and his advisers have dispatched product teams to brainstorm any and all ideas that could quickly bring in money.

One product team is working on paid direct messaging, which appears to be focused on Very Important Tweeters, or V.I.T.s, on the network, said the two people with knowledge of the work and according to the internal documents.

According to the product mock-ups seen by The Times, users would be able to send private messages to their favorite celebrities for a nominal fee. A fee structure, which had not been set in stone, could be as little as a few dollars per direct message.

Nigerian Restaurants Worldwide: A Research Agenda Part 3

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Part 3 in my series of Nigerian Restaurants Worldwide has been a long time coming. In my last two explorations, Rwanda was the last thing on my mind (see part 1, part 2).

Alas, lately, something did happen in its capital city of Kigali. And guess where? The reputable and upmarket Kigali Business Centre or KBC.

While “Danfo by The Grid” is a new entrant following in the footsteps of Jollof Kigali, there are some interesting differences. Unlike the former, the latter seems to have a bit more space and selection of Nigerian beverages – both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. But that’s about it.

Location and atmospherics are central to marketing good food.

As for Danfo by the Grid, the location is sublime – the Kigali Business Centre is a prime location next to Kigali Heights and the Kigali Convention Centre. What’s more the menu can only be accessed by scanning a QR code on the table.

As I had early pointed out in the first series “Nigerians in the diaspora know the exact needs of their brothers and sisters at home visiting these new climes. But the question is how have they responded to these clientele?”

Against the backdrop of my diaspora sojourn – having I lived in Dubai, London, Scotland and visited Berlin, Houston, Atlanta, Florida, Tanzania and South Africa in the past decade or just over – I have been rather unimpressed by the ambience of Nigerian restaurants in these locations (when compared with their counterparts).

Made in Lagos – surely

Another eye-catcher is the creative naming convention of the Cocktails highlighting/ celebrating everything Lagos from “Lagos Island” to “Ikeja Margaritas.”

  • LAGOS ISLAND (Rum, Vodka, Gin, Coke, Triple sec, Tequila, Lime juice).
  • OJUELEGBA MOJITO (Mint Leaves, Brown sugar, Rum, Soda water, Wedges, Choice of fruit).
  • ELEGUSHI DAIQUIRI (Strawberry puree, Strawberry syrup, Lime juice, Vodka).
  • ALLEN AVENUE WHISKY SOUR (Wild turkey bourbon, Lemon Juice, Simple syrup & Egg White).
  • OLOSHO WHISKY (Lemon juice, Jameson, Sprite, Lemon wedges).
  • IKEJA MAGARITA (Tequila, Triple sec, Lime juice & Choice of fruit).

Last, but surely not the least, the Jollof Rice is awesome irrespective of who won the debate of this popular Nigerian dish.

As I usually do, I sign off with managerial and theoretical implications, “Nigerian restaurateurs need to up their game and provide the appropriate ambience, quality of service and innovativeness” a theme that resonates with my inaugural research “Nigerian restaurants in London: bridging the experiential perception/expectation gap” published in 2007.

At the theoretical level, academics should encourage students to undertake research projects on how to make Nigerian restaurants competitive especially in climes outside Nigeria.


For more on this topic, visit here and here.

The academic festival has started – Tekedia Mini-MBA; Join us

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Ladies and Gentlemen, we have started. Yes, the 10th edition of Tekedia Institute Mini-MBA began this morning. The Week 1 courseware is already in the Board. The Live session will begin on Saturday; all details are in the Board.

I want to welcome everyone to this academic festival on the mechanics of market systems. This is the #best school, and we’re here to make scholars noble, bright and useful.

If you have paid and yet to receive your login details, please quickly get in touch with my team or message me (my account is set in such a way that anyone can inmail me).

Registration continues here . Register for Tekedia Mini-MBA and accelerate your professional ascent.

Telecom Consumers Drag Nigerian Government to Court Over Plans to Increase Tax on Telecom Services

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Telecommunications consumers in Nigeria under the aegis of the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATCOMS) have taken the Federal Government to court over a plan to impose a five percent excise duty on telecom services.

Displeased with the federal government’s proposed tax increase on telecom services, the National President of NATCOMS Adeolu Ogunbanjo while speaking to the press, stated that the plan to increase taxation in telecom services is unfair, noting that there are too many taxes already.

In his words, “There are too many taxes on telecom service. Putting too many taxes on it is not fair. When you buy airtime, you pay VAT. Why are we still paying VAT for the services.”

A part of the suit read, “A declaration that the imposition and implementation of Value Added Tax on telecommunication services, as taxable services by Section 2 of the VAT ACT as amended, by the 7th – 9th Defendants and the imposition and implementation of Excise Duty on telecommunication services by Section 21(2) of the Excise Act as amended by Section 37 of the Finance ACT, by the 7th – 10th Defendants amount to double taxation on the plaintiff’s members, who are telecommunication services consumers or subscribers in Nigeria, and therefore unconstitutional, illegal, unfair and null and void.”

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Minister of Finance Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, disclosed that the tax was necessitated to help boost the government’s revenue.

Reports reveal that the imposition of the tax is a continuation of the federal government’s aggressive move to generate more revenue through tax to finance the 2023 national budget.

It is interesting to note that the federal government had mooted such an idea last year, but suspended it over citizens’ outcry, only for it to resurface in the Finance Bill currently before the National Assembly(NASS) for passage into an Act. 

It would be recalled that in 2022, a report by SB Morgen, titled “Inside Nigeria’s Subnational Fiscal Crisis, “revealed that the telecommunications industry appears to suffer disproportionately from the problems of over-taxation in Nigeria.

The report disclosed that there are over 40 different taxes and levies meted out on the service providers, especially, mobile network operators (MNOs) rendering telecoms services in Nigeria.

It further revealed that the aggressive taxation of the telecom sector is negatively impacting service quality, which has suffered a series of degradation as Nigerians continue to suffer the consequences.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, faulted the plan of the government to implement a five percent tax increase on the telecoms sector, noting that such a plan is detrimental to the growth of telecoms in Nigeria.