As the 2023 presidential elections is only less than five months away, many Nigerian electorates still look forward to a jaw contest among the various presidential aspirants. At every electioneering period, it is customary to have manifesto-driven debates to enable aspirants to openly address issues they intend to solve if voted into power, and to enable electorates to determine their preferred candidates or parties.

In light of the foregoing, the Nigeria Elections Debate Group (NEDG) has announced its readiness to kickstart its presidential debate by mid November this year towards the 2023 presidential and general elections. The debate according to NEDG will provide a fair and equal platform to various party candidates to present a comprehensive and in-depth knowledge of their economic policies and agenda to the Nigerian electorates.

Addressing Journalists at a joint news conference with the organising partners in Abuja the Executive Secretary of NEDG, Dr Eddie Emessiri noted that the initiative is geared towards ensuring that Nigerians are better informed on the economic and political policies of the presidential candidates and take informed decisions as they go to polls in February 2023. According to him:

“It is against the preceding that the participants of the Presidential debate are expected to share their insights on how Nigeria can sustainably grow its economy while addressing core issues in the following areas: Macroeconomic environment and indicators.”

Mr Emesseri said candidates that would feature in the debate would be selected from the outcome of the ongoing opinion poll which is already open to the public. According to him, due to financial and time constraint, the NEDG will limit the number of presidential candidates to the four most popular ones based on the poll results.

The NEDG Executive Secretary also disclosed that the results of the opinion poll would be made known early next month and the debate would follow almost immediately.

“The final list with the names of selected candidates and the methodology for the selection process will be announced on Nov. 8, a week before the first debate,” he said.

“This year’s debate will be taken closer to the people beginning from Abuja and subsequently to Port Harcourt, Lagos and Kano” Emessiri said, adding that the debates would be broadcast by all Federal government and state government-owned Radio and Television stations.

Emessiri expressed optimism that such debates would enable the electorate make informed decisions at the polls that would evolve leaders that would positively transform the country in the interest of all. He also assured the candidates of a fair platform for engagement, saying that all stakeholders will be duly carried along.

The organising partners include the Broadcasting organisations of Nigeria, the Nigeria Economic Summit Group, the Nigeria Union of journalists, and the guild of editors, among others.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the NEDG is a coalition of broadcast organisations, civil society organisations and professional groups, who are committed to the deepening of democracy in Nigeria.
The NEDG is also committed to entrenching an enduring democratic culture through organised television debates since the return to democratic rule in Nigeria in 1999.

In the Igbo Nation, when a person dreams of going to fetch water, that person is dreaming of life, and plenty, because the road to the stream is never covered by weeds since in seasons and out of seasons, humans need water. But when someone dreams of fetching firewood, it is a bad dream since the road to fetch firewood is always abandoned when the firewood has been harvested!

That takes me to the business of NFT (non fungible tokens) which exploded recently. You buy a virtual dog, a virtual meat, a virtual school, a virtual river, etc – and you feel happy.

Not sure about that happiness. What is happening is that you have excess money and are just entertaining yourself as you spend it. But when the cheap money is out, we can see the dance steps clearer.

People, the NFT market is dying: “OpenSea, the world’s largest nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace, has witnessed a substantial drop in its daily trading volumes. Data from DappRadar revealed that the marketplace processed nearly $5 million worth of NFT transactions on August 28, approximately 99% lower than its record high of $405.75 million on the 1st of May.”

In other words, OpenSea trading volume plunged by 99% in just weeks, and that is to say that there are many ephemeral business models in this world. Your model must focus on how to get to the stream to fetch water and not going to the farm for firewood!

What a quarter and the power of innovation. Thank you TradeGrid team. You have demonstrated the power of innovation and how unveiling of category-king products can unlock new vistas of growth. Team TradeGrid,  I just finished reading your Q3 2022 quarterly report; you made my day.

Tekedia Capital is very proud to have invested in you guys: “The product enjoyed instant fandom, has recorded ~N1.4Bn in transactions value YTD and still growing 380% (QoQ avg.) – on track to hitting N1Bn+ in monthly recurring transactions in less than 6 months out.”

People, Nigeria is a great place to do business. You just have to THINK and INNOVATE. In TradeGrid, a leading energy trader is emerging out of Nigeria.

To learn more about the TradeGrid, go here 

To learn more about Tekedia Capital, go here 

Let us discuss inflation and currency deterioration and how we can build financial defenses for our wealth.  In this presentation, I will explain how you can build a resilient economic playbook that mirrors Nigeria 1994 World Cup team.

I will explain how you can have Eguavoen, Keshi, Iroha  and Okechukwu in your defense with Rifai controlling at the goalpost of money. Chidi Nwanu, Ezeugo, Okafor and Emenalo will ensure you have the best economic defense possible. But it is not going to be defense only, I will explain how you can score financial wins with Yekini,  Siasia, Okocha, Finidi and Ikpeba. With Adepoju and Oliseh, you will score and defend; balance and you will have the best team ever in the history of Nigerian football. But here, it is finance!

Register for the next Tekedia Mini-MBA which begins Feb 6 and ask for access to the Zoom link to join this important session tomorrow (Saturday). Begin here 

Join me and I will explain a winning playbook that depicts the incomparable Super Eagles Fifa 1994 World Cup team; the all-time greatest team for Nigeria. We will discuss inflation and currency deterioration on a topic I have titled “Protecting and Growing Wealth During Era of Inflation and Currency Deterioration”.

(This team won the Africa Cup of Nations in 1994; I watched the game in hostel C while in FUTO. The next day, students declared celebration day. It was magical because Amuneke, the hero of the game, is from the village which partly hosts the university. Nigeria needs more wins)