Chinese state energy major PetroChina has been waiting to unload a cargo of U.S. crude at Nigeria's giant new refinery for nearly a month due to payment issues, according to four trading sources and shipping data.

The impasse highlights difficulties the $20 billion plant funded by Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote faces in its aim to be the biggest refinery on the continent and in Europe when it reaches full capacity this or next year.

Dangote aims to reverse the trend by which the oil-rich country exports its crude but almost totally relies on imports of fuel and other refined products.

The 2-million-barrel West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude cargo shipped by PetroChina onboard supertanker Maran Mira has, however, been floating off Nigeria since March 28, shipping data on LSEG and Kpler showed.

The completion of the oil sale from PetroChina to Dangote has been delayed as the refinery has yet to issue a letter of credit to the Chinese trader, one source familiar with the matter said.

A letter of credit is the most common form of trade finance. A buyer's bank sends a letter to the seller's bank guaranteeing payment to the seller once goods arrive.

PetroChina was also not keen to receive oil products as payment, one of the ways that Dangote has been paying for its crude, the source said.

Two of the sources also told Reuters that the refinery has had difficulty accessing dollarsthrough the Nigerian government, with the naira's slide against the U.S. dollar as global oil prices have risen straining Nigeria's finances.

The government did not immediately respond to a request for comment and a Dangote executive did not directly address the issue in comments to Reuters.

PetroChina has another 2 million barrels of WTI crude onboard supertanker Kondor that is making its way to Nigeria, according to another source and LSEG shiptracking data.

Potential sellers of U.S. WTI crude to Dangote have been confronted with difficult payment terms: either a 60 to 90 credit or an exchange of refined products for the crude oil, three of the sources said. Credit terms for oil deals are typically 30 days.

PetroChina did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

A shipbroker estimated that the ship is incurring demurrage costs of around $65,000 a day.

Dangote group executive Edwin Devakumar told Reuters that seeking favourable sale prices and credit terms were normal business practices.

"If someone gives me one year credit, I'll grab it and if not, I'll negotiate the best possible deal," he said. "When you go to a shop to buy something ... You'll try the best possible deal and I do the same".

"We are not delayed. If someone's business is delayed, he is not giving us a good deal," Devakumar said, without specifically addressing the issue with PetroChina.

RAMPING UP

The refinery started operations in January and has reached half its capacity in recent weeks but a further increase is being slowed by its need to borrow billions of dollars in working capital to be able to buy large volumes of crude, trading sources said.

Devakumar declined to comment on the current run rates at the refinery.

The facility is importing around 10 crude oil cargoes a month, two traders said, roughly half the capacity of 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) it seeks to reach this year or next, which would make it the largest refinery in Africa and Europe.

The amount of Nigerian and U.S. crude discharged at Dangote totalled 8.4 million barrels in March and 5.4 million barrels so far in April, Kpler data showed. Another 1 million barrels of Nigerian crude is expected to arrive on April 27.

Trafigura, Mercuria, Vitol, Shell and NNPC were among Dangote's suppliers of crude last month, according to Kpler.

Reuters

The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) FCT Command has confirmed the escape of 119 inmates from the Suleja Custodial Centre in Niger State. Samson Duza, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the command, issued a statement in Abuja on Thursday detailing the incident.

Following a rainstorm that battered the facility on Wednesday night, numerous inmates took advantage of the damaged sections to flee. The FCT command, responsible for Kuje and Suleja Medium Security Custodial Centres, said it immediately activated recapture protocols in collaboration with other security agencies.

The rainstorm not only inflicted damage on the custodial centre but also wreaked havoc on surrounding buildings and parts of the perimeter fence, facilitating the mass escape.

Out of the 119 escaped inmates, 10 have reportedly been recaptured.

Duza acknowledged that many correctional facilities, constructed during the colonial era, have deteriorated over time and are now vulnerable. To address this, the NCoS is vigorously pursuing the construction of modern custodial centres across all geopolitical zones, including ongoing reconstruction and renovation projects.

Despite the escape, the FCT command assured the public of its capability to manage the situation and urged residents to carry on with their daily activities without fear.

The public was encouraged to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activities or sightings of the escaped inmates to the nearest security agency.

Gunmen attacked a military base in Allawa town, Niger State, causing residents to flee for safety. The incident occurred around 1:30 am, with witnesses reporting that about 200 armed insurgents on motorcycles invaded the town.

It is believed that the attack may have been a reprisal following a previous clash where the military neutralized around fifty insurgents. The gunmen overpowered the military camp and looted properties from residents before the military deserted the area.

Residents from Allawa town and neighboring communities, such as Pandogari, Kukoki, and Bassa, have begun fleeing to safer areas.

Just last week, suspected Boko Haram members ambushed and killed six military officers in Karaga, Shiroro Local Government Area. Efforts to confirm the incident with the state police command spokesperson, Wasiu Abiodun, were unsuccessful as his contact could not be reached.

ISRAEL’S REPORTS

IDF: On Wednesday, IAF fighter jets struck Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in the area of Maroun El Ras, as well as a Hezbollah observation post in the area of Markaba.

Additionally, a Hezbollah military structure was struck in the area of Aalma El Chaeb earlier in the day.

Furthermore, throughout the day, IDF artillery struck in several locations in southern Lebanon in order to eliminate imminent threats.

Attached is video footage of the strikes: https://bit.ly/4detUKU

** IDF: Fighter jets struck two terrorists who attempted to launch rockets toward Israeli territory; an additional Hamas terrorist cell was eliminated in the area of Nuseirat; IDF troops continue to operate in the central Gaza corridor

IDF troops continue to operate in the central Gaza corridor, eliminating a number of terrorists and destroying terrorist infrastructure in the area over the past day.

During one of the strikes, IDF troops identified two terrorists who attempted to launch rockets toward Israeli territory. In response, IAF fighter jets struck the terrorists and destroyed the launch pit, as well as the weapons storage facility in which one of the terrorists was located following the launch attempt.

In addition, IAF fighter jets struck terrorist infrastructure in the area of Shati in which Hamas terrorists, who fired launches at IDF troops located in central Gaza, were operating.

Still on Wednesday, IAF aircraft eliminated a Hamas sniper terrorist cell in the area of Nuseirat during a precise airstrike.

Furthermore, IAF fighter jets and aircraft struck over 30 Hamas terror targets in the Gaza Strip throughout the day, including weapons storage facilities, terrorist cells, military structures, and additional terrorist infrastructure.

Attached is video footage of the IDF strikes in the Gaza Strip: https://bit.ly/4dcJ1nW

Attached are photos from the IDF troops' operational activities in the Gaza Strip: https://IDFANC.activetrail.biz/ANC2504202483475043

** IDF: Fighter jets struck two terrorists who attempted to launch rockets toward Israeli territory; an additional Hamas terrorist cell was eliminated in the area of Nuseirat; IDF troops continue to operate in the central Gaza corridor

IDF troops continue to operate in the central Gaza corridor, eliminating a number of terrorists and destroying terrorist infrastructure in the area over the past day.

During one of the strikes, IDF troops identified two terrorists who attempted to launch rockets toward Israeli territory. In response, IAF fighter jets struck the terrorists and destroyed the launch pit, as well as the weapons storage facility in which one of the terrorists was located following the launch attempt.

In addition, IAF fighter jets struck terrorist infrastructure in the area of Shati in which Hamas terrorists, who fired launches at IDF troops located in central Gaza, were operating.

IAF aircraft eliminated a Hamas sniper terrorist cell in the area of Nuseirat during a precise airstrike.

Furthermore, IAF fighter jets and aircraft struck over 30 Hamas terror targets in the Gaza Strip throughout the day, including weapons storage facilities, terrorist cells, military structures, and additional terrorist infrastructure.

Attached is video footage of the IDF strikes in the Gaza Strip: https://bit.ly/4dcJ1nW

Attached are photos from the IDF troops' operational activities in the Gaza Strip: https://IDFANC.activetrail.biz/ANC2504202483475043

** IDF: Throughout today, three launches were identified crossing from Lebanon into the area of Arab al-Aramshe in northern Israel. Four additional launches were identified toward the area of Har Dov. No injuries were reported.

A short while ago, IAF fighter jets struck a Hezbollah military structure in the area of Aalma El Chaeb in southern Lebanon, as well as Hezbollah launch posts and terrorist infrastructure in the area of Kfarchouba.

Earlier today, IDF forces struck to eliminate a threat in several areas in southern Lebanon.

Attached is a video of the strikes: https://bit.ly/3QhIpn8

** IDF: IDF efforts to support the U.S. JLOTS initiative to enhance the entry of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip

The IDF, through the coordination of COGAT, has approved collaborative efforts for the new Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (JLOTS) initiative led by the United States Central Command (CENTCOM). The initiative will create an enhanced ship to shore distribution system to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The IDF will operate to provide security and logistics support for the JLOTS initiative, which includes the establishment of a temporary floating pier to deliver humanitarian aid from the sea into Gaza.

The IDF's involvement in the JLOTS initiative is one of many humanitarian aid efforts, further demonstrating the IDF's commitment to working with the international community to ensure the continuous entry of humanitarian aid to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.

** IDF: Overnight, two anti-tank missile launches were identified crossing from Lebanon into the area of Har Dov in northern Israel. IDF artillery and tanks struck the sources of fire. In addition, IDF soldiers identified and struck a launch post by tank fire in the area of Chebaa in southern Lebanon.

A short while ago, IDF fighter jets struck Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in the area of Kfarchouba in southern Lebanon, as well as Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure and military structure in the area of Markaba in southern Lebanon.

HAMAS’ REPORTS

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades - Tulkarm: With God’s help and strength, our fighters are engaged in fierce clashes with the soldiers of the Zionist enemy storming the city of Tulkarm from several directions with machine guns and explosive devices.

#Al-Aqsa Flood

** Mujahideen Brigades:

In response to the ongoing Zionist aggression against our people and on the path of the martyrs..

By the grace of God, our mujahideen were able to destroy the Zionist enemy’s headquarters for the Gaza Division in the Re’im settlement with a missile salvo today.

** Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades: We bombed crowds of Zionist enemy army vehicles with mortar shells east of the city of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip.

** Al-Qassam Brigades destroy a new surveillance and espionage site east of Juhr al-Dik in the central Gaza Strip with mortar shells.

Israel Defense Forces/Hamas Brigade al-Qassam

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

US to announce $6 bln in weapons purchases for Ukraine, US official says

The United States could announce as soon as Friday new weapons purchases for Ukraine worth $6 billion, a U.S. official said on Thursday.

The weapons could include counter-artillery radar, tactical vehicles, Patriot interceptors, drones, artillery, precision munitions and counter-drone systems, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The weapons package was first reported by Politico.

** Russian attacks kill at least three in Donetsk, wound 10 in Kharkiv, Ukraine says

Russian shelling killed at least three people in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region on Thursday and a missile attack further north in Kharkiv region hit a railway station, wounding 10, local officials said.

Donetsk regional Governor Vadym Filashkin, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said shelling killed three people and injured four in the village of Udachne, west of the city of Donetsk that is held by the Russians.

Ukrainian Railways said a Russian strike killed three of its workers in Donetsk region, but gave no details of where the incident occurred. It was not clear if those victims were the same as those mentioned by the governor.

In Kharkiv region, a frequent target of recent Russian assaults, regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said the attack hit the city of Balakliia, which was occupied by Russia at the start of its invasion and recaptured by Ukraine months later in 2022.

"The injured were in the passenger train carriages," he said on Telegram messenger.

Synehubov said the train was standing 15 metres (50 feet) from the focal point of the strike.

Kharkiv, which lies about 30 km (18 miles) from the border with Russia, and the surrounding region have long been targeted by Russian attacks but the strikes have become more intense in recent weeks, hitting civilian and energy infrastructure.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Moscow reacts to secret US delivery of ATACMS missiles to Kiev

The long-range ATACMS missiles that the US has supplied to Ukraine will not help Kiev turn the tide of the conflict against Moscow despite “extremely dangerous weapons,” Russian ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov has said.

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters on Wednesday that US President Joe Biden had ordered the provision of Kiev with a “significant” number of ATACMS missiles for use inside Ukraine back in February. The ATACMS, which have a range of 300km, “were transferred quietly to Ukraine in order to maintain operational security,”Pentagon spokesman Major Charlie Dietz stressed.

The delivery of long-range missiles to Kiev is “impossible to justify,”Antonov wrote in a post on Telegram on Thursday. The move by Washington “increases the threat to the security of Crimea, including Sevastopol, the new Russian regions [the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, and the Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions] and other Russian cities,” he added.

The assurances by the US officials that the long-range missiles will not be used against Russian territory are “particularly cynical,” the ambassador stressed. “How can we ignore the numerous terrorist attacks by Kiev’s criminals? Deadly strikes on hospitals, schools, kindergartens, bridges and even their own servicemen?”

Antonov reminded that the Russian forces have already shot down mid-range ATACMS missiles, which Ukraine had received last September. The same will happen with their long-range counterparts, he assured, adding that “neither these missiles nor other weapons can help defeat Russia.”

“Aren’t local politicians [in the US] afraid of drowning in the quagmire of conflict? Washington will not be able to get out of the horrible swamp that has absorbed the blood of ordinary soldiers,”the ambassador warned.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova pointed to the fact that Washington’s acknowledgement of the delivery of long-range ATACMS to Ukraine comes amid attempts by Kiev and its Western backers to “deceive the international community into some kind of conference on the ‘Zelensky formula’.”

“Washington’s plan is sickeningly simple: drag everyone into a pointless meeting under the pretext of ‘peaceful intentions’, while at the same time boosting [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky’s terrorist potential,” she said on Telegram.

Switzerland said earlier this month that it is going to host a peace conference on Ukraine in June, without Russia’s participation.

Zelensky’s plan for ending the conflict, which he has been promoting since 2022, calls for Russia to withdraw from all territory held by Ukraine prior to 2014, for Moscow to pay reparations, and for the formation of a war crimes tribunal. Russia instantly rejected the plan as “unrealistic” and a sign of Ukraine’s unwillingness to look for a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

Reuters/RT

Nigeria’s three main political parties – the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the Labour Party (LP) – are in turmoil. They have been infested by little foxes that threaten to damage and, potentially, destroy them.

I know that discipline is not a virtue of political parties in a presidential system. In Nigeria’s own version, however, indiscipline governs everything. 

Whether the political parties are winning or losing – of course, it is worse when they’re losing – politicians never forget that the party is simply a convenient tool, serviceable only when it can help them get to power, but certainly dispensable immediately afterwards.

See what is happening in the PDP, the party which lost its way after 16 years in power. The same forces led by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar that snatched defeat, not once, from the jaws of victory, are still determined to bury what is left of the sick party alive.

To be fair, Abubakar has paid his dues. He has done so with the generosity of a rolling stone, gathering moss from PDP to the Action Congress of Nigeria (AC), then to n-PDP, and from there to APC, and back again to PDP. At each point, never failing to leave a mark in pursuit of the prophecy of a marabout about 26 years ago that he would one day become Nigeria’s president.

Ambition, what price?

Ambition is not a crime. For a man of Abubakar’s political accomplishments, however, not knowing when to stop is a bad thing. He not only abandoned the PDP for years, he worked against it openly by running against the party as the AC presidential candidate in 2007. It was bad enough for him to abandon the PDP and return to it to fight for a presidential ticket at a most ill-advised and inauspicious time.

But what is worse was for him to take a front-row seat at the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Abuja last week, plotting if not to run again as president, then to decide who runs the party. While this was happening, one of the party’s altar boys, Emeka Ihedioha, was resigning with a heavy heart from the PDP, perhaps casting one eye at his grandfather, Abubakar, the remaining dinosaur among the founding fathers present at the Abuja NEC meeting.

It was one meeting Abubakar should not have attended – or if it was inevitable, he should have come at least shedding crocodile tears in remorse for his role in how the party snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in the 2023 general elections. But he came, as we say, with his full chest.

Accuser and accused 

I looked at the press photos from the event twice to believe he was actually the one sitting there in the front row at the NEC meeting. As if that was not heartbreaking enough, some folks – governors/landlords of the party –lined up behind him, asking not for him to account, but that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, NyesomWike, who sustained the party while Abubakar was in exile, should be disciplined for “anti-party activities.”

Wike has his problems, but they do not include political prostitution. Or trashing the party’s constitution (as Abubakar did) which clearly provided that it was not the North’s turn to field a presidential candidate. When will the PDP learn?

Humpty Dumpty

I’m told that after separate meetings with Abubakar and Wike by the PDP governors (four of whom appear to be leaning towards Abubakar, seven for Wike and two undecided) the party is considering setting up a reconciliation committee headed by former Senate President Bukola Saraki, to mend Humpty Dumpty.

I wish Saraki luck in his task of doing what all the king’s horses and all the king’s men have failed to do. But as surely as six follows seven, the record of all known attempts to settle intra-party conflicts by indulging the hubris of the instigator have ended in futility. There’s not much time left before the party’s congresses in June and all the drama at the Abuja NEC was about control of the party ahead of that congress. 

With Umar Damagum still in the chair as acting Chairman – the last thing that Abubakar wanted before the NEC meeting – the former vice president’s grip is more tenuous than it ever was and his relevance in decline.

Proxy wars 

The PDP can, however, take comfort that it’s not alone in keeping the foxes out of its garden. Even the ruling APC and Labour are having torrid times of their own. APC Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, has been fending off petitions and attacks from his state, Kano, by persons who not only want him out, but also want him tried on charges ranging from bribery to diversion of funds, misappropriation and criminal breach of trust.

What is happening in Kano is a continuation by other means of the long-running war between NNPP leader, Rabiu Kwankwaso, and his former deputy-turned-adversary, Ganduje. Of course, APC members in Ganduje’s Kano ward are being used against him in this proxy war, but his real foe is Kwankwaso.

There has been talk of party members in the North Central eyeing Ganduje’s chair. But party insiders insist that the main issues remain the potential return of Kwankwaso to the APC and who between him and Ganduje has more strategic value for 2027. 

Musical chairs 

Party chairmanship is perhaps the ficklest of positions. Ganduje is the sixth APC chairman in 10 years and three national election cycles, while its older cousin, the PDP, has produced 18 in 25 years, with only two – Barnabas Gemade and Ahmadu Ali – completing their tenure. Even Labour, just one-year-old, cannot keep one chairman safe.

Ganduje knows he is on a hot seat, held only at the pleasure of the president, as we have seen from the days of President Olusegun Obasanjo. Changing Ganduje is hardly President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s problem. His headache is whether with the North’s growing unease about his administration, he can find someone else to replace Ganduje that he can trust. 

Tinubu can also hardly ignore the anti-Nasir El-Rufai stirrings in Kaduna, which not a few have suggested may have been instigated by Abuja. There’s a double imperative for Tinubu first to secure Kano, the North West’s vote bank; and also, to keep El-Rufai, an influential politician in the region, on a leash. The jury is out on who, between Kwankwaso and Ganduje, would be the better battering ram.

The leper and the milk 

The party chairman is like a leper. He may not be able to drink the milk that nourishes his appointor’s position, but he sure can spill it. And the perfect fit, often, is someone with something around their neck, which if they ever forget, can be used to constantly remind them of their vulnerability. Since Kwankwaso and Ganduje cannot possibly sit in a room without a referee in protective gear, a middle ground is out of the question. Tinubu will have to choose who to work with between the two. 

While he is at it, party administration will continue to drift and Ganduje’s authority will continue to ebb. 

Labour in vain 

But again, this is not significantly different from what is happening in Labour, where two factions of the party – one headed by Julius Abure and the other by Lamidi Apapa – have brought the party to its knees, raising speculations of the possible exit of the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

With the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) taking a stand against Abure and splitting the party’s executive right down the middle, it won’t be long before Obi decides whether he can save this ship or risk drowning with it.

The moment of decision for the parties may seem far off, if you count three years until the next general elections. But in politics it is not the years before the next election that count; it is the events that shape those years. And those events are lining up at a speed that suggests that if the campaign for 2027 has not started already, it might be upon us sooner than later.

** Ishiekwene is Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP

Key Takeaways

• Small businesses could significantly improve their odds by starting the right business at the right time and taking the right steps.
• Don't rush the following steps. They set the foundation for beating the odds and growing a great business.

There is no such thing as the perfect time to start a business. I know. Growing up in a family business, I always thought I would love to own my own business, but I was waiting for the perfect time. Then, I got fired from my job in broadcasting and had to decide what to do. Was I ready to take on being a business owner? Did I have enough experience? Where would the start-up funding come from? Did I want to own one, or was I just enamored with the American dream of being a business owner?

The hard truth is that most people have no business starting a business because they have unrealistic expectations and have not done the hard work to ensure its success. The statistics bear that out. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "20% of new businesses fail during the first two years, 45% during the first five years, and 65% during the first ten years."

I have been in business for more than 35 years, which puts me in the category of only 25% of the companies that make it 15 years or more. Am I clever or lucky? Or a little of both? I believe that small businesses could significantly improve their odds by starting the right business at the right time and taking the right steps.

The right business

Ideally, there are two things to consider. First, the type of business. The right business for one person is very different than the right business for another. In my case, broadcasting experience was a great foundation for starting a media production company. I had worked for several television stations in a variety of roles, so I understood both the production aspects, what might be compared to operations in other businesses, and the financial considerations.

When you start a business in an industry where you know you have an edge, you see the opportunities and the pitfalls. You can become a recognized leader faster than someone who is just getting started. You also may have recognition or awards that give you instant credibility. In my case, I have won over thirty broadcast awards, indicating that I was a seasoned professional.

One side note: I know people who have been very successful in starting businesses without a specific background in the product or service. These are, however, well-educated businesspeople who can successfully lead an operation and have found others with the skills and understanding of the industry. Being a franchisee is another way to get started because the franchise owner has put the products, systems and training in place to jumpstart ownership.

The second thing to consider is the business owner's passion and commitment level. Even knowledgeable and prepared individuals must work hard during the first few years to set the foundation. Business owners know that means missing family events, long hours, and plowing money back into the operation instead of putting it in their pockets. If you have a passion for business, it is easy to stick it out. If you don't, resentment builds, and the business suffers.

The right time

You might think that timing is about the age at which you start a business. It is not. Entrepreneurs start businesses at all ages. Over the years, we have seen many young people and their parents on Shark Tank trying to find an investor for their businesses. One might argue that the business is really the parent's idea, but not always.

At the other end of the scale, there are encore entrepreneurs. These are successful business owners who sold their businesses and could not sit still or who left corporate America and struck out on their own late in life. Of course, many of those who are starting businesses are millennials and Gen Zers. The right time is at any age.

What's more important is whether or not the product or service is ready for the market and in demand. Media production as an industry has been consistently in demand since I started but was even more popular during and after the pandemic as people needed to communicate but did not want to travel or meet in person. Many side hustles have soared in popularity, and there is still room for new entities. But others have crowded fields. It's important to look at the competition and see how your offer measures up. Is it different, a better value, or more convenient?

One last thing to consider: Sometimes, you are so far ahead of the market that you need to do more than just sell; you need to educate and create demand. Think about it. Things like computers, meatless burgers and even kitty litter changed or created an entirely new industry. Timing here is tricky. Get in too early, and it takes huge resources to get noticed. Too late, and you can't catch up.

The right steps

Benjamin Franklin said it best, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." To be successful, you need to take the right planning steps. You need to do the tedious work of creating a business plan. This is the roadmap for how to start, operate and grow the business. There are lots of different templates and resources to create a plan, whether you are starting a traditional business or a lean start-up. Just pick one that meets your needs. You also must find and surround yourself with a great team of advisors, including a business attorney, financial professional, insurance and risk management team and more.

Don't rush these steps. They set the foundation for beating the odds and growing a great business.

Entrepreneur

Some disgruntled politicians and citizens often wish that the army takes over after shambolic elections or economic mismanagement. Army coups swept out post independence democracies across Africa, and ruled for decades until it became obvious that they had no business with politics and governance. Since returning to democracy, we have been in search of the right political systems and economic ideologies to bring prosperity to our people, but the current political class has no solutions of how to attain the prosperity of the industrialized world.

George Washington, the largest slave owner became a soldier to protect the local slave economy from British colonialists, while Alexander Hamilton, a soldier, is the acknowledged father of USA big business. Following the mid 1800s railroad boom, the iron merchants turned to building skyscrapers with the surplus iron, before finally using it to build armoured plates for the Navy and armoured vehicles. The First World War caused widespread public discontent that the USA had been dragged into what was essentially a European Colonial War, and led to the 1934 Gerald Nye Senate Committee Hearings that showed that the Navy/Army were the main salesmen of arms makers that dragged the USA into war to sell their munitions.

In what is known as Peace Dividends, the production plants of war goods incorporated producing consumer goods, producing consumer cars alongside armoured vehicles, radios with radar, etc, which brought a long period of prosperity and employment by what was aptly named the Industrial Military complex.

Not only in USA has the military been at the economic foundation of nations, as the British Empire was built on the efficiency of turning slave ships into battleships. This was known as Mercantilism whereby nations used their army to back their businessmen to takeover natural and human resources.

In actual fact, the prosperity of Eurasian empires dating back to Babylon was based on war economics.

At the end of the 350 year slave based economy came colonization that led to the First World War, and the start of the Industrial military complex of turning war goods into consumer goods, followed by the Second World War when production facilities of fighter jets were adapted for passenger jets and air travel, before the Cold War and its military intelligence became computer technology and the internet, which is the current economic growth driver.

California, currently the world's fifth largest economy, was a desert that first attracted people during the short-lived 1848 Gold Rush, whose fortunes were turned around by the airborne military industrial complex. Its clear skies and huge expanse of land was conducive to testing of airplanes and siting of huge factories that employed millions of people. Its Peace Dividend was Hollywood. With the advent of computer technology, the military industrial complex built the Silicon Valley which also worked with Hollywood, its Chief marketer. In time, California became the most populous and richest USA state with a GDP of nearly $4 trillion. Texas also became second richest due to its abundant oil and the relocation of the military industrial complex facilities there.

The most pronounced use of the army to build an industrial military complex is the Peoples Liberation Army, which built the Chinese railways that stimulated industrialization to liberate their people from poverty. So did South Korea's General Park Chung Hee. Unfortunately unlike other races, African national armies evolved from slave/colonial armies used to suppress their peoples, and after independence used to protect neocolonial interests. Nigeria's army originated from the 1863 Lieutenant John Hawley Glover's Constabulary Force, largely composed of freed Hausa slaves, primarily established to protect the Royal Niger Company and push British colonialism. After the defeat of Benin Empire, it was consolidated in 1900 into the Royal West African Frontier Force (RWAFF), before finally becoming the Nigerian Army in 1956. Despite becoming national armies in Nigeria and Ghana, senior military were set up to protect Western neocolonial interests and sometimes overthrow their national democratic governments.

Due to their misconceptions, the armies never saw themselves as the liberators of their peoples, especially by building their own industrial military complexes that would not only make them truly independent but provide employment and prosperity. Initially the Nigerian army bought its arms from about 13 different nations.

However, in 1964 the Nigerian army set up the Defense Industries Corporation of Nigeria, which became more functional with the 1967 Civil War, assembling other nations weaponry like AK 47. Over time, it produced more weapons and even started building furniture for the civilian populations. So one wonders that if it knew that it could make profit from consumer sales, why not develop the whole industrial military complex?

Coloniality of knowledge robs us of the philosophical foundations of what the army and industrial complex is about.

Olusegun Obasanjo, then military leader, probably the most pro-development head of state, went about Operation Feed the Nation, instead of Operation Industrialize the Nation, which should have been done through the army. As a politician, he established Transcorp as a massive investment vehicle to build an industrial complex, but it takes more than investment, and requires political will which civilians can't summon.

Part of the military’s mandate is simply to lay economic foundations, and the first step had been taken with the establishment of DICON. Since defense industries needs consumer industries to share overheads, the army should present plans of how to lay iron rails across Nigeria in record time like the Peoples Liberation Army. Unless we don't want our army to be self sufficient would politicians obstruct them.

At present, only China can build railways and unfortunately our political class is tied to the West that would sabotage Chinese involvement. Left to the politicians, we will wait another generation through nepotistic contracts. The Army is the most disciplined and technically skilled institution that can carry out the task of laying our railway foundations for industrialization, which it will then protect from internal and external saboteurs with weapons that it makes.

The extant two North-South railways will become a grid by laying three East-West railways - Lagos-Calabar, Ilorin-Yola and Sokoto-Maiduguri in three years. Government and public institutions are not good managers of business, so once the infrastructure are built it must be privatized, and either the army builds the rest to fill up the 9 box grid or the privatized companies and state governments can build the feeder routes to every corner. Railways provide the highest return on investment of USA industries at 50.93%, and could bring close to $100b annually to Nigeria, in addition to the fact that it has the highest income and employment multiplier effects across the economy. For every Naira or person employed in the railway it stimulates N20 and 20 new jobs in agriculture, car manufacturing and other heavy manufacturing, logistics, freighting and other new sectors. Being the largest contraption of Iron and Chemicals, it will multiply tenfold the combined contribution of a mere 1.6% that iron and steel, plastic and rubber, and electrical and electronics currently make to the economy.

Since President Bola Tinubu's hands are tied by the West from doing business with China, especially on economic liberating infrastructure, the army should leave chasing terrorists and bandits to the politicians that should restructure, decentralize and specialize the police force, and instead focus on building an industrial military complex through Defense Industries Corporation (DICON) with plan for 10,000 kilometers of railways to employ millions and liberate us from poverty.

** Justice Faloye, President ASHE Foundation, Afenifere Deputy Publicity Secretary, is an Economist and author of The Blackworld Evolution to Revolution.

German authorities announced on Wednesday the apprehension of 11 suspected members of a Nigerian mafia faction linked to a widespread dating scam.

The group, known as the Black Axe gang, was found to be engaged in various criminal activities internationally, with a focus on romance scams and money laundering in Germany, according to Bavarian police.

Describing the dating scam as a "modern form of marriage fraud," law enforcement officials revealed that the fraudsters utilized false identities to feign intentions of marriage and subsequently extorted money from their victims under false pretenses.

The funds obtained were then funneled back to Nigeria through financial intermediaries, employing a commodity-based money laundering scheme that involved purchasing and sending goods to Nigeria, often under the guise of charitable contributions.

Bavarian authorities received around 450 reports of romance scams in 2023 alone, resulting in damages amounting to 5.3 million euros ($5.7 million).

The arrested suspects, all Nigerian nationals aged between 29 and 53, were detained in nationwide raids on Tuesday, during which law enforcement officers raided 19 properties, including homes and asylum shelters.

According to police statements, the Black Axe gang operated under strict hierarchical structures with leadership based in Nigeria, exerting significant influence over politics and public administrations in the country. Their global operations spanned human trafficking, fraud, money laundering, prostitution, and drug trafficking.

The gang operated under the guise of the Neo Black Movement of Africa, presenting itself as a charitable organization to conceal its criminal activities.

This crackdown on the Black Axe gang marks the first of its kind in Germany, signaling a significant effort by law enforcement to combat organized crime networks operating within the country's borders.

On Wednesday, the naira experienced a depreciation to N1,300 per dollar in the parallel section of the foreign exchange (FX) market, marking a 3.17 percent decline from the N1,260 recorded on April 22.

Currency traders, operating as bureau de change (BDC) operators, set the buying rate at N1,260 and the selling price at N1,300, maintaining a profit margin of N40.

Meanwhile, at the official window, the naira dropped to N1,308.52 against the dollar, reflecting a 0.64 percent decrease from the N1,300.15 traded on April 23.

According to data from the FMDQ Exchange, the naira reached a low of N1,367 and a high of N1,098. Despite this, the official window rate remains N8.52 lower than that of the parallel market.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently adjusted the FX rate for dollar allocations to BDC operators, selling $10,000 at the rate of N1,021/$ to each BDC. This move follows previous adjustments, including the sale of FX at N1,101/$ on April 8, compared to N1,251 offered to parallel market operators on March 25 and N1,301 announced on February 27.