The word Black Market does not refer to trading that takes place at night or transaction conducted in a black painted building or relationship tied together by black attired customers or negotiations written on black papers.
Black Market is a recognized illegitimate Nigerian phraseology that captures all forms of illicit transactions, paid for, obtained by misrepresentations, dealt at unofficial corridors, approved by the sleigh of the hand manipulations, written and stamped with forged signatures, approved by anticipatory lacunas, executed with the tacit approval of law enforcement officers, accepted in adjudication as technicality, tenable in police stations for bail bond execution by means of affidavit, adopted by politicians as delegates largesse, executed in courts as exparte motions, obligatory in banks as round tripping, sanctioned in NNPCL as under recovery or subsidy payments and practiced in the civil service as sale of employment slots and purchased promotions.
Black Market in Nigeria therefore is the unofficially approved levels of criminality arising from deliberate loopholes uncovered in statute books, Policy measures, plans, guidelines, parliamentary bills, budget padding, ghost workers, forex (mis)allocations, exchange rate speculations, fractured national data of census, Bureau of statistics, university admissions racketeering, including fake DNA reports of family infidelity records.
Black market is the right and wrong thing happening simultaneously and acceptable both officially and unofficially as a queer way of inconceivable coexistence.
The notable institutions in Nigeria where Black Market thrives are:
The Banking System.
The Civil service.
The Oil and gas industry.
The University system.
The Judiciary.
The Legislature.
The Presidency.
The INEC.
*BLACK MARKET IN THE BANKING SYSTEM.*
The Nigerian banking system operates dual level currency models called:
Official exchange rate.
Unofficial or Parallel exchange rate or Aboki forex.
Nigeria's foreign currency reserves are domiciled with the CBN which allocates it to all banks in accordance with prudential guidelines.
However, most of Nigeria's banks outsource their hard currency components to middle men(Black marketers) also known as Parallel market or street currency hawkers at arbitrage costs.
Rather than provide foreign currencies to the real sector of manufacturing businesses for medium and long-term investments, banks make quick trading of hard currency through middle men for profits and balance sheet buffers.
This is how the Nigerian economy was turned from a production driven economy to a consumption economy because forex has been channelled to trading or importation rather than for capital investments in the manufacturing sector.
*BLACK MARKET IN THE CIVIL SERVICE.*
There exists a huge black market in the civil service set up.
Nigeria's burgeoning civil service does not have entry and exit notices inspite of the existence of the Federal character Principle as enshrined in the 1999 constitution of Nigeria.
There has never been any year since the birth of Nigeria in 1960 where the number of new recruitments and retirements in each year is made public by the civil service commission.
The Nigerian civil service is the doyen of forged dates of birth, forged certificates, forged employment and retirement dates.
It was in the Federal ministry of Immigration that over 20,000 Nigerians attended an interview in 2017 and some of the candidates were trod down to death because of the inability of the consultant (Black marketer) to handle the crowd of job applicants.
The opaque nature of the civil service operations describes the black market context of its service rendition methodologies.
*BLACK MARKET IN THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY.*
Nigeria's oil and gas industry is the worst managed institution since the discovery of oil in 1956 at oloibiri in Rivers state.
The black market components of NNPCL operations are captured in unexplainable, irreconcilable, irrepressible terminologies like under recovery, Direct sales, Direct Purchase(DSDP), subsidy payments, Joint Venture Cash Calls(JVCC), Gas flaring penalties, Energy tax, OPL and OML licencing fees.
Since its establishment in 1973, NNPCL does not have accurate data of what quantity of crude oil that has been drilled and sold and how much Nigeria has earned in oil revenues and its contributions to economic development, per capita income and standard of living of Nigerians.
The first official audit of NNPC operations was conducted in 2018 and the financials showed a loss laden enterprise with decrepit non functional refineries.
The total number of Nigerians that have worked in NNPC from 1973 to 2023(50 years) have earned more income than the current foreign reserves of Nigeria because of the Black Market facade employed as trade and transactions policy in NNPC.
Crude oil theft can only be possible by the official connivance of NNPC facilities managers in divulging pipelines routes to known vandals working as fronts for insider moles in NNPC.
*BLACK MARKET IN THE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM.*
The Black market in the university system is driven by cash and carry admissions procedures, cash payments for examination scores amendments, cash payment for dissertation or project outsourcing, cash payments for university degrees award by Heads of Departments in collusion with lecturers, sex for grades negotiations and cash to reverse resit exams.
Some university lecturers use the cliché class or course Rep to extort monies from students on flimsy excuses or assignments that does not count in the departmental grading system.
*BLACK MARKET IN THE JUDICIARY.*
The dawn of democracy in 1999 has exposed the Judiciary to it's worst form discredit, trust deficit, judicial rascality, window or forum shopping through nonsensical judicial applications, and judgements that are questionable and lacking in moral piety.
The use of technicalities in obviating the facts of the case and the spirit of the law have made justice rendition cumbersome and incongruous with natural Justice.
We saw how a gubernatorial election was upturned and the fourth runner-up was declared winner when the law has provided for a rerun in matters of inconclusive elections
The judicial Black market rendition is driven by corrupt politicians with cash to buy justice and security agencies with the penchant to collapse investigations for fees.
A recent retiree Justice of the supreme court accused the high bench of inappropriate adjudications in the dispensation of justice.
*BLACK MARKET IN THE LEGISLATURE.*
The key functions of the Nigerian Parliament is to make laws and conduct oversight functions of the implementation of the laws they have made for the good governance of the country.
The Legislator's three pronged Black market transactions are seen in:
Lack of credible outcome in the several amendment exercises of the 1999 constitution from the first to the tenth Assembly without any fruitful result but at humongous cost of tax payers money.
Poor work at the promulgation of a non resilient Electoral act that engenders manipulations by the election umpire.
Proliferation of house committees in both chambers without effective oversight functions capability .
Nigeria has spent huge sums in constitution amendments whereby the joint committee on constitution amendment is carrying the toga of the Black market cartel in the national Assembly.
The national Assembly is culpable in the proliferation of post election litigations arising from a non definitive provisions for Direct or Indirect primaries or consensus arrangement.
The national Assembly failed to restrict INEC to adopt technology model only for the conduct of the elections.
The national Assembly allowed INEC to prepare an elections guidelines that hoodwinked some of the provisions of the Electorate act.
The several committees of the national Assembly are more like middle men and contractors in Nigeria's civil service behemoth.
*BLACK MARKET IN THE PRESIDENCY.*
The wheelly dealing in the Presidency is located in:
Budget padding.
Secret recruitments.
Customs Waivers.
Public procurement.
Tax waivers.
Payments Platforms (Remita).
The budget breakdown is symptomatic of wastes, duplicity and manipulation of figures for intended siphoning.
It is in public domain how a former Accountant General of the federation stole #109 billion from remita accounting platform under his watch.
Other Black market transactions are seen in how Nigeria's nauveur rich rather than pay tax to government, will circumvent road projects to do whereby they will transfer part of the costs to unsuspecting Nigerians.
*BLACK MARKET IN INEC.*
The INEC Black market comes in terms of:
Election process sabotage.
Sensitive Election records sabotage.
Logistics sabotage.
Election results sabotage.
Between 1999 to 2023, INEC has not delivered on credible and transparent elections in Nigeria.
INEC is being aided and abated to truncate the mandate freely given by the electorates through:
Presidential interference.
Security agencies compromise.
Judicial connivance.
The budget of INEC from 1999 to 2023 has not been subjected to Audit investigations to determine the assets and liabilities of INEC.
The whole world witnessed the massive election corruption that happened in the 2023 general elections.
No explanation has been given as to INEC's refusal to upload the Presidential election results online real time upon the dubious allegation of technology glitches.
The arrogance of the INEC chairman in charging election outcomes complainers to go to court is tacit admittance of inconclusive elections occasioned by gross incompetence.
It is in the public domain how written election results were circulating publicly I the November 11,2023 kogi state gubernatorial election a day before the election held.
The world saw how INEC Resident Electoral officer in Adamawa state in a show of Black market manipulation announced a forged gubernatorial election results under security cover of the Adamawa state commissioner of police.
A Black market is a non transparent, non credible, non reliable, activity process that constitutes a criminal imitation of an original process being contrived to work concurrently to fester the dubious intentions of it's designers.
Black market is the corrupt phrase for criminal transactions perpetrated by those that hold public office in trust but have betrayed their oath of office for fiduciary benefits.
The National orientation agency needs to unbundle expunge Black market lexicon or tendencies in critical institutions and existing in Nigeria's body politic.
Who will deliver Nigeria from Black market syndrome?
Nigeria needs to banish Black market in all facets of its existence if corruption must be eradicated.
God bless Nigeria.
Steve Nwabuko.
19/12/2023.
