Free the kids
FG wants Nigerian kids to sit at home till they turn 18 and SSANU isn’t having it
Good morning, Big Brains. Can we come together as a country and talk about how prices are actually going crazy? All I did was fill my gas, buy groceries, prep some food and pay my light bill – tell me why all the money I planned to spend in September is already gone. Please tell me that it’s not just me because I’m ready to throw hands. Thankfully, FG has a plan to regulate prices soon.
- Margaret
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This Week’s Big Question - “What have you spent the bulk of your money on in the last 6 months? Survival or impulses?”
Share your responses with us and if we think it’s fun enough, we’ll feature it in the newsletter :) so be on the lookout.
Let’s get into the news you missed during the weekend:
SSANU criticises FG over WAEC and NECO age requirement policy
FG gives traders one-month deadline to lower prices
The Big Deal
SSANU criticises FG over WAEC and NECO age requirement policy
Taking a gap year is a foreign concept to many Nigerians. Not because it's a bad idea but because it has become a privilege that some people cannot afford. The federal government has recently proven that whatever Nigerians think about gap years is their own cup of tea.
How? The ministry of education put up a new rule that will bar secondary school students below 18 from taking university entrance exams like West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and National Examination Council Senior School Certificate Examination (NECO).
As expected, the new rule isn’t sitting well with many people, especially parents and education experts. The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has now intervened and is presently asking the government to reconsider the policy and how it affects Nigerian students. The association called the policy limiting and old-fashioned, saying it could hurt both students and their parents.
Why is this a big deal?
It’s one thing to impose a new policy that people don’t obviously want, it’s a completely different thing to at least try to create a soft landing for students and parents who will be affected by the policy.
Students below the age of 18 will now be forced to sit at home till whenever they reach the new minimum age. For 23-year-old Bukunmi, that would have been a 3-year waiting period.
“I finished secondary school at 15. I’ve always been brilliant, everybody was confident that I was ready for a university degree. I passed my JAMB exam so getting admitted was easy. I went for a 4-year course but I ended up staying in uni for 6 years because of ASUU strike. Thinking about it now, I’m glad I got started early.”
In the last 23 years, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has gone on over 16 strikes. While all students will be affected by this policy, public university students will be affected the most. They will no longer have access to early starts like Bukunmi and these persistent strikes (that will most likely continue to happen) will make their university years longer than they need to be.
FG gives traders one-month deadline to lower prices
One consistent thing about Nigeria – yesterday’s price is never today’s price. In most cases, today’s price will leave you wishing you didn’t delay gratification.
With inflation running wild at 33.40% and food inflation at over 40%, prices are bound to increase every day. But the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has arrived at the conclusion that some traders have been doing the most by adding extra zeros to the original price of items. The commission is now stepping in to tackle those outrageous prices you’ve been seeing.
It has just given these traders a one-month warning to slash their prices or face the consequences.
FCCPC’s boss, Tunji Bello, also threatened that if these prices don’t come down after the notice period, they’re ready to crack down hard.
Bello revealed that their recent market research helped them discover some seriously jaw-dropping price hikes.
“We’ve got a real issue here,” Bello said. “Prices are going through the roof, and some market groups are making it worse by fixing prices unfairly.”
He also admitted that “the exchange rate isn’t great, but that doesn’t mean you can justify those sky-high prices. Imported and local goods alike are being overpriced, and it’s hitting people hard, especially in retail.”
Bello made it clear that inflating prices is illegal, and they’re ready to use the full force of the law on offenders. So if you know a business owner who’s into inflating (read “DM for price"), tell them that you’ll be reporting them to FCCPC if they don’t stop their bad behaviour.
The Big Picks
Hounded South African beauty queen wins Nigeria contest: After facing intense scrutiny over her nationality and having to withdraw from the Miss South Africa pageant, Chidimma Adetshina has now been crowned beauty queen in a different country.
SERAP sues Akpabio and Abbas for ‘fixing running costs’ of lawmakers: The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the leadership of the National Assembly for setting what it calls the running costs of lawmakers.
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