Gov. Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State on Wednesday, congratulated the Minister of Interior, Mr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, on  his 42nd birthday anniversary.

This is contained in a statement in Akure by his Chief  Press Secretary, Mr Ebenezer Adeniyan.

The  governor celebrated Tunji-Ojo’s vigour, strength, ingenuity and the positive spirit that every Ondo indigene carried in their blood.

Aiyedatiwa said since his appointment as minister of interior, he had remained the poster child of the Renewed Hope Agenda of the present administration.

He said that the minister had done so with his unprecedented achievements that had brought relief to Nigerians,  home and abroad.

“I am particularly proud of his achievements in driving the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.

*He has shown the world the stuff we are made of in Ondo state. He has soared our ‘can do’ spirit in the Sunshine State.

“Tunji-Ojo is flying higher among his peers with unprecedented substantial reforms in the ministry of interior through his relentless sacrifices, ingenuity and patriotism.

“The ease with which Nigerians now get their passports can only be considered magical.

“At 42, we are proud of the exploits of our darling Tunji-Ojo. I congratulate him on his birthday and I pray that his wisdom and strength will increase in order to do more for his fatherland,” he said.

Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo is a former member of the house of representatives for Akoko North East and Akoko North West Federal Constituency and served as the chairman, house committee on NDDC.

The Nigerian Technical Aid Corps (NTAC) has urged employers of labour to use the occasion of the International Labour Day to demonstrate love for Nigerian workers.

The Director-General of NTAC, Dr Yusuf  Yakub, said this in a statement signed by Mr Nkem Anyata-Lafia, his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity on Wednesday in Abuja.

The former lawmaker said Nigerian workers should be appreciated for  their contributions to national development.

“On May 1 every year, the entire world recognises the central role workers play in harnessing the productive capacities available to different workforces across endeavours, and countries.

“The efforts are to ensure that the global economy is sustained and that the place of man as the centrepiece of global activities is preserved.

“We choose to pause for a day to honour those whose hands fertilise the earth, whose brains birth grand ideas that  rule our world and whose efforts power the wheels of daily living and activities across countries ,homes, professions and the like.

“This year’s May day is no different from the others gone by,” he said.

Yakub added: “It is, however, another opportunity to celebrate our workers, to wish them well, to show that we care and to give them a soothing pat on the back for the days they stay out when others are home.

“For the times they lose sleep when others are in bed and for the efforts they make  daily to ensure that the machine of daily life and living does not grind to a sudden halt!

“Today offers us the rare opportunity to bring to the front burner, issues concerning our workers, their welfare and their general well-being.

“As we join other parts of the world to celebrate May Day as a nation, the celebration offers us the opportunity to, in all honesty.”

“Review issues concerning the Nigerian worker and appreciate the sacrifice and commitment he/she makes to national progress and development.

“I wish to congratulate our leaders and the Nigerian workers on the occasion of the 2024 workers’ day celebration.”

The Central Bank of Nigeria has again justified its reliance on the Loan Deposit Ratio to control the country’s rising inflation.

The apex bank also said it is ready to do whatever it takes to reduce the inflation rate.

The CBN’s Acting Director of the Banking Supervision Department, Dr Adetona Adedeji, disclosed this in ‘CBN Talk Today,’ a podcast recently uploaded to the bank’s website titled “Loan to Deposit Ratio Adjustment.”

Recall that CBN reduced the LDR of banks from the previous 65 percent to 50 percent, a move the regulator said would stabilise the economy.

Adedeji said the use of LDR as a control measure for inflation started in 2019 when it was observed there was a massive slowdown in credit growth.

“This policy was created to ensure that money flows into the real sector of the economy. The LDR then was set at 60 percent, and later increased to 65 percent before it was last week reduced to 50 percent. And if you want to combat inflation using the orthodox method, you need to balance what you do with the monetary policy tools and other measures,” he said.

Speaking about the nexus between the LDR and rising inflation, he said the last Monetary Policy Committee decided to purge the financial system of excess cash by raising the Monetary Policy Rate.

At the last MPC, the bank raised the MPR by 200 basis points to 24.75 percent from 22.75 percent; and adjusted the asymmetric corridor around the MPR to +100/-300 basis points.

He explained that although the MPC decision limited the ability of bank customers to take loans and reduce the volume of loans accessed by borrowers, it also limited the volume of cash in circulation, a move he noted is good for the financial health of the country noting that any policy that enables banks to lend more, will indirectly increase the money supply and raise the inflation rate.

“There is an inverse relationship between loan-to-deposit ratio, monetary policy rate, and cash reserve ratio. If you are going contractionary, you have to increase both the Monetary Policy Ratio and Cash Reserve Ratio. But to achieve your results further, what you need is to reduce the LDR to control inflation, and that was what the CBN did,” he said.

Explaining further, he said that when the money supply is reduced, the interest rate will also go up.

The contractionary measure of the CBN means that it wants to reduce money supply. And when an economy is experiencing inflationary pressure as it is currently with Nigeria, it is the duty of the apex bank to ensure price stability.

“To achieve this, the apex bank uses diverse means including the option of adjusting the money supply, the best option is to bring down the LDR to ensure that banks’ ability to lend more to the economy and circulate more cash is reduced,” he said.

While acknowledging the adverse effects of the policy, Adedeji said there must be a tradeoff for the economy to move forward.

If you look at the traditional Phillips curve, it says you cannot fight two things at the same time, there could be a trade-off. If you are fighting inflation, you cannot fight unemployment at the same time.

“The Phillips curve states that inflation and unemployment have an inverse relationship. Higher inflation is associated with lower unemployment and vice versa. Even if you are going to fight it, it will not be at the desired level.

“So, you have to choose either to fight inflation or unemployment. Both are key macroeconomic objectives that are very critical to the development of the economy,” he stated.

He said that looking at other economies suffering from high inflation rates, the best thing to do at this time is tracking inflation rather than looking at economic growth at this time.

“We will continue to fight inflation, and when we bring inflation down, we will start talking of economic growth,” he said.

The National Bureau of Statistics reported that in March, the country’s inflation rate rose to an all-time high in the first quarter of the year, at 33.2, which is higher than 31.70 percent in February and 29.90 percent in January.

The apex bank listed key drivers of inflationary pressure as the strong exchange rate pass-through to domestic prices, the high cost of energy and other production inputs, lingering insecurity, especially in food-producing areas, and legacy infrastructure deficits.

He said the CBN is committed to ensuring that the inflation rate in the country drops using the right monetary policy tools, adding that the current LDR is aligned with the CBN’s current monetary tightening plan.