Nigeria’s Composite Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 13.4 percent year-on-year in October, according to the monthly price statistics report just released by the National Bureau of Statistics.
“This is slightly lower than 13.6 percent recorded in the previous month in the new CPI series. The monthly change of the CPI was 0.3 percent increase when compared with September 2010,” the report dated 16 November stated.
A Consumer Price Index is expected to measure changes over time in the price level of goods and services, purchased especially by households. The annual percentage change in a CPI is usually used as a measure of inflation.
The nation’s bureau said the urban all items monthly index rose by 0.5 percent, while the corresponding rural index recorded 0.1 percent increase when compared with the preceding month; and that the year-on-year average consumer price level, as at October 2010, for urban and rural dwellers, rose by 11.5 and 15.0 percent respectively.
Food Index
The bureau said average monthly food prices remained stable in October, when compared with September, adding that the level of the Composite Food Index was higher than the corresponding level a year ago by 14.1 percent.
“The average annual rate of rise of the index was 14.9 percent for the twelve-month period, ending October 2010. The marginal fall in the index was caused mainly by slight decrease in the prices of some food items like yam, potatoes, and other tubers, due to the harvest season,” the National Bureau of Statistics said.
Lydia Olushola, an economist and consultant at Skytrend Nig. Ltd., said for the everyday consumer, a rise in CPI means prices of goods go up.
“The problem is when their average wages do not increase in accordance with the CPI, that is, if the CPI rises faster than people’s average wages, then the consumers’ purchasing power declines. They can’t buy as much as whatever it is they usually bought,” Ms. Olushola said.
Experts say inflation effects on an economy can be positive or negative, as the case may be. Inflation rates in Nigeria have peaked as high as 15.6 and as low as 11.6 between October 2009 and October 2010.
Bismarck Rewane, managing director, Financial Derivatives Company, a finance firm, said “Inflation on items less farm produce increased from 1.3 percent to 12.8 in September, though that of food decreased by 1.1 percent to 14 percent, from 15.1 per cent and 11.3 percent in July respectively. Presently, inflation is running at 13.6 percent. The current inflation record is weak, due to fiscal spending,” adding that inflationary pressures are likely to persist in November.
The Central Bank said inflation depicts an economic situation where there is a general rise in the prices of goods and services, continuously. It could be defined as “a continuing rise in prices, as measured by an index, such as the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or by the implicit price deflator for Gross National Product (GNP).”
The bank said price stability does not connote constant (or unchanging) price level, but it simply means that the rate of change of the general price level is such that economic agents do not worry about it. Inflationary conditions imply that the general price level keeps increasing over time.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Nigerian army arrests militant gang behind kidnaps
The Nigerian army has arrested a militant gang leader and more than 50 of his followers believed to be behind the kidnapping of 19 people in the oil-producing Niger Delta, a spokesman said on Saturday.
The hostages, including two Americans, two Frenchmen, two Indonesians, one Canadian and 12 Nigerians, were freed late on Wednesday after being held by a gang leader known as Obese at a camp in Rivers state.
"We have arrested Obese and some of his boys, more than 50 of them," Timothy Antigha, a spokesman for the military taskforce which polices the Niger Delta, told Reuters. He would not elaborate, pending a statement to be issued later.
A security source said Obese had been detained with 51 of his followers after a shootout near Bonny in Rivers.
"The military has him and 51 of his boys and is presently transferring the criminals to Port Harcourt in military-escorted gunboats," said the source, who asked not to be named.
Nigeria says heroin was shipped from Iran
Nigerian authorities said Friday they had seized 130 kilograms (286 pounds) of high-grade heroin in a shipment that originated in Iran.
The drugs were hidden inside auto parts and were discovered because of intelligence reports from foreign collaborators, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency said in a statement.
The shipment was seized in the Apapa port in Lagos, Nigeria's largest city.
Some arrests were made, the agency said, though it did not provide any details.
"Drug barons will be frustrated out of the illicit drug business through similar undercover operations. We have successfully established links with our foreign collaborators and will maximize every opportunity to dismantle drug trafficking cartels in the country and West Africa," said Ahmadu Giade, head of the agency.
Last month, Nigeria's security service said that it had seized 13 shipping containers filled with illegal weapons, including rockets, grenades and bullets -- believed also to have come from Iran.
Nigeria reported Iran to the U.N. Security Council after the arms seizure.
Nigerian Foreign Minister Odein Ajumogobia said Tuesday the issue of the weapons shipment would be reviewed by a U.N. sanctions committee that was appointed by the Security Council to monitor the Iranian regime.
U.N. Security Council resolutions prevent Iran from sending weapons abroad.
The drugs were hidden inside auto parts and were discovered because of intelligence reports from foreign collaborators, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency said in a statement.
The shipment was seized in the Apapa port in Lagos, Nigeria's largest city.
Some arrests were made, the agency said, though it did not provide any details.
"Drug barons will be frustrated out of the illicit drug business through similar undercover operations. We have successfully established links with our foreign collaborators and will maximize every opportunity to dismantle drug trafficking cartels in the country and West Africa," said Ahmadu Giade, head of the agency.
Last month, Nigeria's security service said that it had seized 13 shipping containers filled with illegal weapons, including rockets, grenades and bullets -- believed also to have come from Iran.
Nigeria reported Iran to the U.N. Security Council after the arms seizure.
Nigerian Foreign Minister Odein Ajumogobia said Tuesday the issue of the weapons shipment would be reviewed by a U.N. sanctions committee that was appointed by the Security Council to monitor the Iranian regime.
U.N. Security Council resolutions prevent Iran from sending weapons abroad.
Mosque Attack Signals a New Round of Violence
Two men were killed and one child was wounded after suspected members of Boko Haram, an Islamic sect whose name means “Western education is sacrilege” in the Hausa language, ambushed a mosque in northeastern Nigeria during Friday Prayer, in what a police spokesman said was the first daytime attack by the group in a new wave of violence. More than 1,000 worshipers were at the Gomari Jumat mosque in Maiduguri on Friday afternoon when two men arrived by motorcycle and used Kalashnikov assault rifles to kill their victims. The child was wounded by stray bullets, he said. Thirteen suspects were arrested in the attack and other killings in the area, he said.
Ijaw leader urges JTF, militants to embrace peace
As tension mounts in parts of Niger Delta over renewed hostilities between militants and operatives of the Joint Military Taskforce (JTF), Ijaw leader and elder statesman, Thompson Okorotie and the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) have urged both parties to maintain restraint and embrace dialogue.
Okorotie, a former Political Adviser to the Bayelsa State Government, called on the militants not to return to the past that had brought so much destruction of lives and property.
The Ijaw leader and chairman of Bayelsa State Conciliators Forum (BSCF), who spoke on Thursday in Yenagoa, at an interactive session with journalists, said the citizens are worried over the renewed war in the coastal region.
He went on: “Clearly, we are seeing the scenario of some Niger Delta agitators flexing their muscles violently and attacking oil installations leading to losses as it were.
“The Federal Government and security forces are talking tough. This is a similar situation that characterised the environment when the Niger Delta agitators were uprooted in Delta State from their different camps by JTF with all its might resulting in the deaths of hundreds of our people in the Niger Delta and those alive rendered homeless, hungry and deceased. We are not sure these problems have been totally solved.”
The gun battle between security forces and militants at Foropa and Ogodobiri in Bayelsa and Delta States, had resulted in casualties, thereby generating anxiety as there are fears that innocent people may be affected in the war.
Okorotie, therefore, appealed to ex-militants to apply dialogue in making their demands, rather than opting for confrontation.
“We must remember at all times that when we make our demands with violence, the little development that we already have is depleted. This cannot be a sensible way of asking for development.
“On the other hand, the Federal Government should ensure that whatever department is responsible for implementing the different aspect of the amnesty programme should do so with efficiency and transparency,” the chairman said.
The ex-political adviser condemned the October bomb blast in Abuja and the stoning of Governor Timipre Sylva during the visit of President Goodluck Jonathan to the state, stressing that it was right time the people remove violence as a core component of their character.
He said: “Violence at the beginning was justifiable because hitherto no government listened to our cries. We have now made our points. We have been listened to and there is an amnesty programme that is running. Any hiccup in the process of implementation of this laudable programme should best be corrected through negotiation.”
Okorotie, a former Political Adviser to the Bayelsa State Government, called on the militants not to return to the past that had brought so much destruction of lives and property.
The Ijaw leader and chairman of Bayelsa State Conciliators Forum (BSCF), who spoke on Thursday in Yenagoa, at an interactive session with journalists, said the citizens are worried over the renewed war in the coastal region.
He went on: “Clearly, we are seeing the scenario of some Niger Delta agitators flexing their muscles violently and attacking oil installations leading to losses as it were.
“The Federal Government and security forces are talking tough. This is a similar situation that characterised the environment when the Niger Delta agitators were uprooted in Delta State from their different camps by JTF with all its might resulting in the deaths of hundreds of our people in the Niger Delta and those alive rendered homeless, hungry and deceased. We are not sure these problems have been totally solved.”
The gun battle between security forces and militants at Foropa and Ogodobiri in Bayelsa and Delta States, had resulted in casualties, thereby generating anxiety as there are fears that innocent people may be affected in the war.
Okorotie, therefore, appealed to ex-militants to apply dialogue in making their demands, rather than opting for confrontation.
“We must remember at all times that when we make our demands with violence, the little development that we already have is depleted. This cannot be a sensible way of asking for development.
“On the other hand, the Federal Government should ensure that whatever department is responsible for implementing the different aspect of the amnesty programme should do so with efficiency and transparency,” the chairman said.
The ex-political adviser condemned the October bomb blast in Abuja and the stoning of Governor Timipre Sylva during the visit of President Goodluck Jonathan to the state, stressing that it was right time the people remove violence as a core component of their character.
He said: “Violence at the beginning was justifiable because hitherto no government listened to our cries. We have now made our points. We have been listened to and there is an amnesty programme that is running. Any hiccup in the process of implementation of this laudable programme should best be corrected through negotiation.”
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