By Bolanle BOLAWOLE
turnpot@gmail.com 0705 263 1055
The decision of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to probe the scandalously high price of cement could not have come at a more auspicious time. If anything, the question we should ask is, what has the Commission been doing all this while? What has been holding it back from action?
The cement cabals have fleeced hapless Nigerians endlessly for years, even decades, with help coming from nowhere. It is as if the cabals have the government’s consent or, at the least, are untouchables for whatever reason! Now that the FCCPC, the agency the Federal Government has charged with the responsibility of protecting consumers and preventing sharp business practices, has swung into action, its investigations must not be arrested. Its findings must not be swept under the carpet or kept on the shelf to gather dust in the typical Nigerian fashion. Succor must come the way of suffering Nigerians this time around.
According to reports, the FCCPC launched a formal investigation into major cement manufacturers over suspected price manipulation. “Prices for a 50kg bag surged from about ₦9,300 to ₦9,700 in January to as high as between ₦13,000 and ₦15,000 by mid-year 2026, despite local production capacity greatly exceeding domestic consumption.”
Can you beat that? This is not a question of scarcity or of demand chasing supply. Despite that the country is awash with cement, meaning that production outstrips demand, consumers still pay through the nose for a bag of cement!
A 40-page report by the FCCPC’s Anti-competitive Practices Department following a three-month study comparing Nigerian prices with regional African markets discovered “a mismatch where Nigeria produces an excess surplus of 60–65 million metric tonnes annually against a demand of 25–30 million tonnes; yet, retail prices continue to climb.” This stands the law of supply and demand on its head. Cement producers blame high energy, logistics, and foreign exchange rates for maintaining elevated pricing.
The FCCPC has therefore issued official summons and notices of investigation to key industry operators to determine if unfair coordination or market abuse is occurring. The answer is not hard to fathom: When the cement market was a free-for-all, the price was not as high as it is today. If the market is thrown open tomorrow, the likelihood is that the price of cement will tumble. The high price of cement is a result of the monopoly of the market enjoyed by a handful of local producers.
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Unfortunately, encouraging local production, which was the lofty reason for the ban placed on importation of cement by the government, has returned to haunt us. This is a classic example of how individuals allow their selfish interest to thwart lofty government policies and programmes to the chagrin of all of us. Those who thought the typical Nigerian business person would act like his south Asian counterparts were wrong.
Defenders of the failed economic policies of erstwhile President Olusegun Obasanjo said it was tailored to imitate South Korea’s chaebol system; if it was, it ended up as a mimicry that failed to meet its desired objectives and deliver its intended goals.
The privatization and commercialization policies of the Obasanjo administration, overseen by his deputy, Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, gifted the commanding heights of the country’s economy to cronies who ended up stripping the assets but adding no value. The billions of dollars spent on power supply produced more darkness and no light. The repeated turn-around maintenance of the refineries only turned around corruption and malfeasance. The result is the cut-throat prices we pay for petroleum products today and the Band A to D nonsense that inflicts costs without rendering services.
Defenders of Obasanjo – and also of Atiku – should mention one sector of the economy where their economic policies succeeded and what benefits have accrued to Nigerians. A few individuals were singled out by the Obasanjo administration for favours, but they have largely feathered their own nests to the utter neglect of the rapid economic development and transformation of the country.
In South Korea and the other Asian Tiger-nations of Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, the chaebol system led to rapid industrialization and massive economic prosperity; in Nigeria, its imitation stunted the country’s economic development and further impoverished the populace.
The monopolists created by Obasanjo’s economic policies and carried forward by succeeding administrations only created shylocks who, rather than patriotically grow the economy, pursued selfish interests. They competed among themselves to be the richest-this and richest-that. They took over the stock exchange market and crashed it. Shares that I bought for N14.95 at one point crashed to less than N1.00 per share! Many investors died as a result, some through suicide. They took over the banks and played monkey games with depositors’ funds, causing massive bank failures. Again, many died as a result – also some through suicide.
Everything they touched, everything that was handed over to them they stripped and ruined. They took over sugar and the price became exorbitant. The price of every byproduct of the commodity shot through the roof. They took over salt, the same sordid experience. Cement has not been an exception. A commodity produced here costs far more than in neighbouring countries the commodity is exported to! What kind of economics is this!
A fellow pastor grinned from ear to ear when it was reported that a massive local refinery of petroleum products had come on stream. He swore that the price of a litre of petrol, which was less than N500.00 at the time, would be cut by half at the very least – but how mistaken! Today, petrol costs over N1,200:00 per litre! And this is because there is still the fear of competition through the importation of fuel products.
Capitalists, especially of the vicious monopolistic brand, detest competition, whereas the lifeblood of any free market economy is competition. Remove competition; breed monsters. Oligarchs are a danger, not only in politics but also in business. Give them free rein and they deny both the nation and the people the right to breathe!
But it remains to be seen whether the FCCPC can tame the cement monsters. Will it bark and not bite? Will “orders from above” compel it to back off from going after the oligarchs? We watch with keen interest!
Why is the Presidency mute on Jingir?
I had thought the Presidency would respond to Jingir more ferociously than it had done to Cardinal John Onaiyekan, but days after the provocative and incendiary vituperations of Jingir, mum has been the word from the Presidency! How come? Who is afraid of rabid attack dogs pretending to defend Islam?
I read another rabid so-called defender of the North accusing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of stripping the North and giving what belongs to it to the South! And what are those, if I may ask? They are national institutions that have long been monopolised for decades by the North to the total exclusion of the South. Now that just a few of them are being extended to the South, bedlam!
But why is the Presidency quick to respond to critics from the South – and everyone condemning genocidal acts against Nigerian Christians – but take flight when the critics are of Northern origin? Is it fright? Or is it a display of Biblical wisdom?
Proverbs 26: 4 says: “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.” I consider this Bible verse apt for the two so-called Northern folks mentioned above. But for the purpose of the general public, I think the Presidency should also consider the next verse, Proverbs 26: 5, which says: “Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.”
I therefore think it appropriate to bring this reader’s viewpoint on Jingir to the attention of the President’s media minders: “…The deafening silence of the presidency to the undisguised hate speech by the National Chairman of the Council of Ulama of Jama’atu Izalatil Bid’ah Wa’Iqamatis Sunnah, Sheikh Sona Jingir, sends an unequivocal message of federal government’s tacit approval of his dangerous views.
“This is in addition to the fact that at the event where Jingir gave his incendiary speech, the governor of Kano State, Abba Kabir Yusuf, and Jigawa’s Gov. Umar Namadi, were present and were caught on camera cheering.
“Jingir infamously said: ‘I urge you to prepare your votes. Let us show the world that the infidels are lying when they say they outnumber us. Show the infidels their limit. Nigeria is a Muslim country, and if you don’t want to accept a Muslim-Muslim ticket, you should leave Nigeria because it belongs to us. If not for the Muslim-Muslim ticket, Christians in Nigeria would think they are more than us. This is why we must make sure the Muslim-Muslim ticket continues to succeed so that our dominance remains sustained.’
“With a Quranic injunction such as Surah At-Tawbah 9:5 that categorically specifies harsh treatment for infidels; and based on the several extra-judicial deaths that Islamists have meted out to Christians in Nigeria, including Deborah Samuel Yakubu who was falsely accused of blasphemy and killed by a Muslim mob on May 12, 2022, it is really of utmost concern that President Bola Tinubu and the presidency’s (media aides) have not deemed it necessary to openly call Jingir to order the way they had Onaiyekan…
“Of course, Nigeria is not an Islamic country, however hard Muslims like Jingir might try to make it one. Nor is there any census whatsoever to support the acrimonious lie that Muslims are the majority in Nigeria. But assuming for a moment that the atrocious and often-repeated lie is true, should that be a reason for attempting to subjugate the country under a religion that brooks no personal liberty?
“Here’s a reminder: When Nigeria’s founding fathers fought for independence, the idea included freedom from fear. But fear-mongering is one weapon Islamists have not only continued to use against the rest of the country; they have also carried out pogroms against people of other faiths and ethnicities living among them in the region where Jingir made his criminal speech against Nigerian Christians.
“This is not just a fight for the eternal and unstoppable continuation of Christianity in Nigeria. Rather, it is also a call to all well-meaning citizens and the international community to ensure that Nigeria is not made another Sudan or Somalia just because of the vaulting ambition of hate-mongering creatures like Jingir.”
My comments: Jingir is neither a supporter of Tinubu nor of his so-called Muslim-Muslim ticket. Jingir (or “jiga”, as my people would call it!) is an enemy (that must be extricated like the “jiga” that he is!). He is only trying ingeniously to incite Christians against Tinubu. Why? Because he knows – and his ilks know – that Muslim votes alone cannot make or mar Tinubu’s electoral chances or that of his Muslim-Muslim ticket! Whoever will be president in 2027, Christians hold the aces!
*Former editor of PUNCH newspapers, Chairman of its Editorial Board and Deputy Editor-in-chief, BOLAWOLE was also the Managing Director/Editor-in-chief of The Westerner news magazine. He writes the ON THE LORD’S DAY column in the Sunday Tribune and TREASURES column in New Telegraph newspaper on Wednesdays. He is also a public affairs analyst on radio and television.
