The number isn’t what you think
Four real numbers reported in Nigeria in September and October. Each tells a different story from the one you might assume. Can you see what’s behind the headline? Four questions. Two minutes.
Every answer comes with its source.
In September, ₦3.86 trillion left Nigeria’s banking system in a matter of days. Where did it go?
Nothing was lost. The Central Bank held an Open Market Operation — it sold short-dated securities, and the banks bought them. . The money is on deposit with the CBN for between 69 and 153 days, earning interest, and then it comes back.
The cash is sitting at the Central Bank earning 19 per cent. “Disappeared” is doing a lot of work in that headline.
The government says Nigeria’s free zones have created 500,000 jobs. How many of those are direct jobs inside the zones?
The minister gave both numbers in the same remarks: . The $200bn carries a similar shape — .
Both numbers came from the same minister on the same day. Only one of them made the headline.
SERAP has taken the Central Bank to court over $6.23 million and ₦1.63 trillion. What has been established about that money so far?
. The Auditor-General’s wording is that the money “might have been lost through fraudulent payments” — a question put to the CBN, which it has not yet answered.
Nobody has been found guilty of anything. The CBN was asked a question in August and still has not answered it. That is the story.
The government cleared ₦758 billion in pension arrears for 957,045 people. Where did the ₦758 billion come from?
. Across 957,045 people that is an average of roughly ₦792,000 each, covering arrears that in some cases had been owed for seventeen years.
The pensioners got paid. The bill moved.
Every number here was accurate. Not one headline was false. All four could still leave you with the wrong idea.
Get the next one before anyone else.
One email when a new piece goes up. The working, the sources, and what we couldn't stand up. No more than that.
Subscribe on SubstackFree. Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell or share the list.