As from 22 November, 2021, the General Assembly of the International Police, INTERPOL, would converge in Istanbul, Turkey, where between 23-25 November 2021, it would hold the 89th session of the Assembly, as well as elect seven CCF members of the INTERPOL.
The CCF is the acronym for the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL’s Files, which processes a large volume of personal data through notices and databases on criminals and crimes, such as names, photos, and fingerprints. It is the duty of the CCF to ensure that the processing of personal data by the INTERPOL complies with the applicable rules.
Nigeria, is amongst the countries that have indicated interest in vying for one of the key senior positions, the office of the Vice President, Africa.
Member Countries have been invited to nominate persons with the required qualifications and expertise to perform the duties of a member of the CCF, bearing in mind the strategic importance of INTERPOL in the global fight against terrorism, human trafficking and all manner of criminality.
As the largest global gathering of senior law enforcement officials, which is the supreme governing body, comprising representatives from each of the 94 member countries, the General Assembly also provides an important opportunity for countries to network and share experiences, especially with respect to the activities of terrorists and international saboteurs.
With a membership strength of 194 countries, the INTERPOL is the world’s largest police organization, that is working together with the General Secretariat to share data related to police investigations. Each country hosts an INTERPOL National Central Bureau, (NCB), which links national police with the global network.
In Nigeria, the NCB plays a central role in preventing the country and surrounding regions from internationally organized crimes, as well as bringing criminals to justice.
Since coming to office in 2015, and worried by the raising activities of terrorists in and around Nigeria, alongside the growing number of reported cases of cybercrime across the globe, a phenomenon that is fast ravaging the world, President Muhammadu Buhari made the establishment of the Nigeria Police Force Cybercrime Unit a priority of his administration. And by the year 2017, almost two years in office, the President supported the Inspector General of Police to establish the unit at the Force Headquarters, Abuja.
Domiciled at the National Central Bureau(NCB) Abuja, under the leadership of Assistant Inspector General of Police, AIG Garba Baba Umar, the unit, which is equipped with modern forensic tools and manned by well-trained detectives, has been responsible for the numerous successes recorded in tracking and repatriating many fugitives, to come home for trial, among whom are the former Attorney General of the Federation, Bello Adoke, Abdulrasheed Maina, former Chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT) and Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
It may be recalled that in 2015, shortly after assuming office as President, and pursuant to his determination to place Nigeria on a better international pedestal, contrary to the thinking of many, PMB supported the candidature of Akinwumi “Akin” Adesina, who served as minister in the Government of Jonathan, to be elected as the President of the African Development Bank. Again in 2020, the same PMB supported his re-election for a second term.
Also in 2017, and pursuant to his determination to place Nigeria on a better international pedestal, PMB supported Amina Mohammed, a Nigerian diplomat and politician, to clinch the position of the fifth Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. This is despite the fact that she served as minister of Environment in the cabinet of the man he defeated.
In 2019, also pursuant to his determination to place Nigeria on a better international pedestal, PMB supported the candidature of the Permanent Representative of Nigeria at the UN, His Excellency Mr. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, to be elected as the president of the United Nations General Assembly.
Early this year, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former minister in Nigeria, was equally supported by PMB, to become the seventh Director-General of the World Trade Organization, WTO, making her the first woman and the first African to serve as Director-General.
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Certainly, or undoubtedly driven by the same zeal and enthusiasm in the pursuit of getting Nigeria on a better international pedestal, especially after seeing the incredible performance of Alkali Usman Baba as the 21st indigenous Inspector General of Police, who has brought sanity to the police and boosted staff morale and confidence, PMB has endorsed the candidature of AIG Garba Umar, the AIG INTERPOL and Head of Nigeria’s NCB, to go for the position of the Vice President, Africa, at the forthcoming INTERPOL conference in Turkey.
AIG Garba Baba Umar, who is an excellent officer with the required qualifications and expertise, would exploit the credibility of Nigeria under the globally acclaimed and applauded qualities of President Muhammadu Buhari, alongside the intimidating policing credentials of IGP Usman Alkali Baba, who is the one supporting him, to market himself for success at the conference.
And if he succeeds, the accruable benefits for Nigeria and the Nigeria Police would be unquantifiable, particularly at a time like now, when the country is recording successes in the war with terror, and the President is giving more votes of confidence to the security agents.
So in support of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari and IGP Alkali Usman Baba, I also add my voice in prayers, for the success of Mr. WONDERFUL, as AIG Garba Baba is called, by those who know him.
CBN and the furore over forex
As President Muhammadu Buhari arrived in the USA, where he is expected to address the 76th General Assembly on Friday, one issue begging for attention at home is the hue and cry over the exchange rate of the naira against other foreign currencies, particularly the American dollar.
Since penultimate week, when the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, banned the sales of foreign exchange to Bureaux De Change, BDC, the financial market situation has been visited by anger and anguish, as the move is apparently pushing the naira into an unprecedented free fall.
The CBN announced the ban, after it accused the BDC operators of fraud and round-tripping, the result of which is making the currency to fluctuate in value.
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The naira fall has fueled price instability in the country, because most businesses rely on the black market for dollar sales, despite the fact that the CBN said commercial banks have been directed to meet all legitimate requests.
While the CBN is accusing the private financial practitioners of sabotage, by talking tough and pointing accusing fingers at one Oniwinde Adedotun, founder of AbokiFX, a web platform that reports movements in the foreign exchange market, as being responsible for the sliding of naira against dollar at the parallel market, AbokiFX is furiously denying it.
The CBN is insisting on recognizing only one exchange market, the Investors and Exporters window, as stated by the Governor, Godwin Emeriele. “The only exchange rate market is the Investors and Exporters window, which is the market that we expect everybody that wants to buy or sell dollars should use,” said Emefiele.
But forex observers and those familiar with the financial market are putting the blame on the CBN Governor, whom they accused of mismanaging the system and misleading the government, through fraud and the introduction of the multiple exchange rate.
In April last year, Nigeria had more than five exchange rates. The CBN’s official rate, which the government uses, the NAFEX rate, which is used in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window, two Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) rates, the Bureaux De Change (BDC) rate, and the black market rate.
This was changed to the dual exchange rate, which was created and made to work in a way that keeps the naira at a fixed official exchange rate and a separate floating rate applied to specified goods, sectors or trading conditions.
The financial experts say the multiple exchange rates are discriminatory in nature. If there is an over-all depreciation of currency, the adverse effect is widely spread over many commodities, and that is precisely the position of Nigeria today.
Another disadvantage of the multiple exchange rates is that it allows cheap imports from abroad, which affects domestic production, as is evident in recent days, where inflation is hitting every sector of the Nigerian economy. Prices of goods have gone through the roof everywhere in Nigeria today.
The proliferation of black marketing in Nigeria is also attributed to the multiple exchange rates, which is encouraging arbitrage, as the foreign exchange is bought at a cheaper rate from the CBN, mostly given to cronies and fronts of those in charge, and sold higher at the black market.
Apart from the wastefulness of the multiple exchange rates, it also leads to large stock¬piling of exportable goods in anticipation of more favorable reclassifications of some of them, resulting in the accumulation of inventory stocks.
As PMB is scheduled to have high level meetings and bilateral discussions with different world leaders and representative samples at the General Assembly, to discuss issues of common interests, one challenge he would face is the question of how far Nigeria has gone in the fight against corruption, the paramount problem he promised to fix.
Nigeria must change the narratives in order for the world to believe in it’s global vision, and there is no better time to demonstrate the seriousness of the President to the world than now, by arresting the scourge at the CBN, the apex bank of the country.
Reports have it that before his departure to America, the President had directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to investigate the CBN on its foreign exchange policies. Good.
For long, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele has been accused of running policies that are undermining the economy and running at cross purpose with the economic ambition of the Buhari administration.
From 412 to the dollar few weeks back, the naira is now heading for 600, courtesy of Emefiele’s economics, which looks clearly incapable of restoring the strength of the naira.
The question on the lips of many is the reluctance of the President to act decisively on the Governor, despite the numerous lapses on the foreign exchange policies of the Central Bank.
Last year, the president directed the CBN not to provide forex for the importation of food items or fertilizer, but there is nothing to prove absolute compliance.
For a President that promised Good governance and anti corruption, he must act properly on the alleged wrongdoings at the CBN, by setting example, and letting the world see that he has acted.
That way, investors confidence would be restored. The value of the naira would be strengthened. And the trust, firm belief and faith everyone has on the credibility of Mr. President, would seize to be a part of the forex furore.
