The Nation Newspaper

Category: Building & Properties

  • Small businesses report successes

    Despite the situation, small and medium-sized businesses are doing well and creating jobs.

    They offer hundreds of products and services at competitive prices to Nigerians.

    Survey conducted by The Nation revealed that startups are achieving successes.  Most of the entrepreneurs interviewed expressed optimism on SMEs driving growth and job creation.

    They are taking advantage of the business-friendly environment and collaboration  and can-do attitude provided by   Lagos State government to set up businesses.

    One of the business practitioners, Mr. Salam Rasheed, a shoe maker, said going into the business has created a steady income for him.

    He said: “I decided to go into this business because I have passion for shoe making, it is handwork and I don’t want to depend on a white collar job.”

    According to him, he started the business 10years ago . “I went in as an apprentice. When I got my freedom, I started up the business with N20, 000,”he said.

    Speaking on his challenges, he said: “Since I started this shoe making business, I have encountered a lot of challenges. Sometimes, I might not have a client to work for in a month. While on the other hand some customers will make you feel so depressed by saying your work is not good enough.”

    Asked on how much he makes from the business, Rasheed said shoe making is a very lucrative business, but profit does not come easily, therefore, patience is needed.

    On the whole, he said, he has   achieved success in the business.  ”I do  research online on the  latest shoe designs, most times I advertise my design on YouTube, my face page and WhatsApp status,” he said.

    Rasheed advised aspiring entrepreneurs to be hardworking and patient.

    A bicycle repairer, Mr Matthew Nwafor, said the business has put food on the table for him.

    He recalled: “I went into this business because I wanted to be  self-employed. I started up this business with N50,000,”he said. According to him, bicycle repair business is a very profitable one.

    He, however, added that he has  faced a lot of difficulties in the quest to achieving  financial independence.

    Nwafor advised   those aspiring to come into the business to be focus, well determined and hardworking.

  • Teaching students to start business on campus

    Entrepreneurship is becoming more desirable. Schools are teaching students to start their businesses on campus and graduate to become self-employed, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    Some universities tend to be dedicated to lofty ideals such as the advancement of literature, science and art. These days, they seem just as dedicated to the advancement of the next Dangotes and Mark Zuckerbergs. They are increasingly offering courses in entrepreneurship, start-up workshops and summer programmes for students seeking to start their own companies. There are hundreds of student start-ups and no shortage of high-flying success stories.

    One such institution is Ashesi University, Ghana where several entrepreneurs have launched their businesses before completing their first degree.

    This was the dream of  its  founder and President, Dr Patrick Awuah.

    He was the keynote speaker at Leap Africa’s Social Innovators Programme and Awards, in Lagos.

    Ashesi University is known for its high-tech facilities and strong emphasis on business and technology.

    After leaving Ghana in 1985 to the United States to study, Dr  Awuah benefited from the liberal arts education from Swarthmore College, in Pennsylvania, which showed him the power of critical thinking, a stark contrast to his prior schooling. After graduating, Awuah had a very successful career at Microsoft, where he spearheaded the design for dial-up Internet access.

    Working his way up to reckoning at Microsoft in the United States, in just a few years, he found himself suddenly getting disconnected to  his job. It was the calling for entrepreneurship beckoning on him. While he had taken on greater challenges in his career as an IT expert, making a professional name for  himself, he has also developed a real love for giving back.

    He made up his mind that he was going to return to Ghana to make a difference in his country. He considered starting a software company, but realised that people, who had studied programming in Africa had learned to code on paper without a chance to develop their ideas on computers.

    Based on this, he changed his mind to establish an entrepreneurial driven university, which grooms young leaders to drive sustainable businesses.

    After the initial challenges, the project took off. Construction of the Ashesi campus began in 2009 and it was ready for academic life about two years later.

    Today, Ashesi University is a reference point in entrepreneurship oriented education.

    Looking ahead, Awuah said he hopes Africa’s universities will cultivate a new generation of bold and innovative leaders, helping the continent to transform itself.

    Co-founder, Leap Africa, and Group Managing Director of SO&U Group, Mr Udeme Ufot, said Awuah’s story  was unique in his awakening to the role of renewed ethical leadership in social transformation, particularly in Africa.

    According to him, the university is training young people, who will be leaders in business and government.

    Ufot said Nigeria needs social entrepreneurs to create solutions that will have impact on the society. According to him, social entrepreneurs are key stakeholder segment to engage in delivering such basic services and opportunities efficiently and effectively to Nigerians.

    He said Nigeria faces many challenges from poverty to educational gaps and healthcare concerns.

    He   said social enterprises offer an opportunity to fill the gaps. They, according to him, not only create jobs, but become catalysts for growth and development.

     

  • Quantity surveyors renew clamour for construction development board

    Against the backdrop of the lull in the construction industry and the attendant adverse impacts on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, (NIQS) last week renewed the clamour for the formation of a development board.

    Its President, Mr. Obafemi Onashille, the board will be responsible for the formulation, implementation and regulation of policies that will galvanise and breathe life into the ailing sector which is regarded as the barometer for measuring the economic health of a country.

    Onashile, who briefed newsmen at the Institute’s liaison office on Victoria Island, Lagos canvassed a partnership between the government, built environment professional bodies and contractors to midwife the birth of the Board which is expected to play a leadership role in the construction industry.

    He listed the challenges impeding the growth and development of industry to include housing deficiency, degradation of the urban environment, over-stretched infrastructure, high construction costs, government’s non-patronage of local experts and non-payment of contractors and consultants for completed jobs.

    The NIQS President who decried the gradual but persistent lowering of standards and quality of construction materials, called on the government and industry stakeholders to collaborate with a view to forming  a Construction Industry Training Board, (CITB). The Training Board, according to Onashile will promote and manage technical/vocational training of skills for the industry.

    Reeling out the panacea to the festering challenges confronting the industry, Onashile also canvassed the creation of  what he called “purpose-fit judicial systems for the industry”. This will involve the creation of Construction Courts and enactment of laws that would recognize and promote faster dispute resolution mechanisms such as arbitration and mediation.

    Worried by the dearth of decent and affordable shelter, the NIQS President enjoined the Federal and State governments to play more active roles in the production of social housing in the country. According to him, the government should build and deliver affordable houses to civil servants and other vulnerable members of the society.

  • Ways home automation will change way you live

    Picture yourself jumping from the era of walking over to the wall to switch off the lights to one where you can control the lighting, temperature, security, refrigerator and ventilation from your smartphone? Welcome to the era of smart homes.

    Homes are getting smarter, thanks to technological advancement. You are gradually moving to that point in the future where the voice assistant becomes integrated into your home; everything in your home will be controlled by your voice.

    Things are going to change from what you currently experience in your home. Here are 5 ways home automation will change the way you live.

    Monitoring Your Home Gets Easier

    You will eventually move away from installing expensive spy cameras all over your house to being notified the moment there is a breach of your security protocols.

    With home automation, you will be able to check in on your family even when you are away using your mobile phone or tab.

    Motion sensors in the home will notify you the moment suspicious movement is detected inside or around your house. These motion sensors can be attached to a hidden 360 camera, which captures pictures of the spot where the movement occurred. You will also receive an alert if your oven or gas cooker is left on and unattended to.

    Reduces Anxiety

    Have you ever found yourself in that awkward situation where you just can’t remember if you locked the door to your house or not? This can easily trigger anxiety but with a smart home, you will know for certain. From the comfort of your office, you will be able to see if your door is locked or open.

    Relax better

    Smart technology will make it possible for your house to understand your mood and help you rest better. For instance, when you return home from work, your house can sense your presence and play an appropriate song and accompany this with appropriate lighting.

    Your home becomes capable of doing things like welcoming you home and playing your favourite playlist. In a smart home, the nightlight knows when you get out of bed and brightens your path to the bathroom.

    Parenting assist

    Home automation will go as far as switching on the light in your bedroom and send you a notification when your newborn or young children wake up in the middle of the night.

     

    • Samod Biobaku…PrivateProperty.com

  • APM Terminals raises awareness on plastic pollution

    Concerned about experts’ report that by 2050, there could be more plastic than fish in the oceans by weight if concerted efforts are not made to address the issue, the Managing Director of APM Terminals, Apapa, Martin Jacob, has made a case for the proper disposal and recycling of plastic wastes to reduce its harmful effect on the oceans, wildlife and humans.

    Jacob spoke during a cleanup exercise organised by his firm in partnership with Wecyclers at the Ogogoro Island, a riverine community in Apapa, Lagos.

    The exercise was part of the company’s 2018 “Go Green” campaign. No fewer than 120 employees of the company, Wecyclers volunteers and residents of the community took part in the exercise, collecting trash and other litters from the shoreline of the island. The total waste collected weighed 228kg.

    “Go Green” is a worldwide campaign set up by a number of leading container terminal operators and port authorities, with the aim of raising awareness of the global natural and social environment and improving conditions in these areas. The campaign is carried out annually through volunteer activities such as creating and upgrading local green spaces, launching educational programmes, adopting waste recycling measures and community engagement.

    Jacob said the clean-up was aimed at raising the awareness of APM Terminals’ members of staff and the general community on the importance of environmental care through proper management of plastic waste.

    He noted that it may be difficult to abolish the use of plastic bottles, but nonetheless said there is an urgent need to take action against plastic pollution in the country to protect the marine environment.

    He said: “In Nigeria, very often you see the whole place flooded. This is all because of the plastic bottles we throw in the drains. So we just want to spread the message among our communities and also our employees to inculcate the culture of disposing plastic waste in a proper manner, in other words, recycle it.

    “We can’t stop using plastics. Plastic nowadays has become part of our lives. Even if you buy chocolate in the supermarket, they give nylon and you accept it and that is the reason we find it everywhere. This in turn causes more damage to our environment. Plastic gives us a lot of benefits but careless usage is what is giving us the problem we face today.

    “There are islands of plastic bottles floating around the ocean. Depending on how we handle plastics, we can avoid the dangers in our environment. So this is not just going to be a one-day thing for us, it is what we should take home, at work and in our families. We have spread the culture, so this should become a movement to prevent abuse of plastic.”

    A community leader in the Ogogoro Island community, Alade Isaiah, expressed appreciation to APM Terminals for taking up the clean up exercise, even as he urged other port operators to emulate the good gesture of the port operator.

    “We love what APM Terminals has done by cleaning our environment. Our women and children have also supported them in this cleaning exercise. We will emulate this fine example by keeping our environment clean so that the dirt around do not go inside the water,” he said.

    Environmental pollution caused by plastics is capable of causing harm to land, waterways and oceans. Living organisms, particularly marine animals, can be harmed either by mechanical effects, such as entanglement in plastic objects or problems related to ingestion of plastic waste, or through exposure to chemicals within plastics that interfere with their physiology. Humans are also affected by plastic pollution, such as through disruption of various hormonal mechanisms.

    About 380 million tonnes of plastic is produced worldwide each year. From the 1950s up to 2018, an estimated 6.3 billion tonnes of plastic has been produced worldwide, of which less than 10 percent has been recycled and another 12 percent incinerated.

  • Dangote Cement unveils BlocMaster

    A premium high strength cement from the stable of Dangote Cement Plc has been introduced into the Lagos market.

    The new product, BlocMaster, unveiled last Monday, was described by the Group Managing Director of Dangote Cement Plc, Joseph Makoju, an engineer, as the “final answer” to the yearnings and expectations of block and concrete makers who desire a product that could combine all the qualities of the existing range of cement in the market. He explained that BlocMaster is a product of intensive research, laboratory and field tests backed by regulatory authorities’ approval.

    Makoju stated that stakeholders in the value chain of cement were part of the research and the eventual formulation of BlocMaster.

    “We identify an opportunity and a gap that has to be filled and we went ahead to design and formulate the BlocMaster. In addition, we are giving the product out at the best price that gives the best quality,” Makoju said of the product, while assuring blockmakers and cement distributors of steady supply of the new product.

    Listing the qualities of the new product, the Dangote Cement Group Chief Marketing Officer, Oare Ojeikere, said Dangote BlocMaster is a premium high strength Portland limestone cement that gives users up to 50mpa in compressive strength after 28 days. He pointed out that the product is ideal for concrete applications that require very high final strength and durability.

    “BlocMaster has been tested, and proven to provide the best performance for all concrete applications that require rapid early strength, higher final compressive strength, and fast setting. It outperforms all other bagged cement products in Nigeria, and it is the cement of choice for all major construction projects,” he added.

    “We are the king in this business as we control more than 60 per cent of the cement market. We introduced to you 3X, 42.5R, we have Falcon, and now we are rolling out BlocMaster, and as the name suggests, we want the name to resonate anywhere cement is mentioned, that is why we called it BlocMaster,” Ojeikere explained.

    He said the unique selling proposition of the new cement is its unparalleled strength as it is 15 per cent stronger than any 42.5 grade in the Nigerian market.

    “It is 50 per cent stronger after one day. This means that blocks made could be quickly demoulded, and will be ready for sale faster, increasing the speed at which block makers can meet customer demand.

    “BlocMaster with its higher compressive strength will deliver stronger blocks at the same mix ratio as used currently, and can deliver more blocks, if same quality block as achieved currently is desired. BlocMaster is a high grade technical product that allows users achieve higher concrete strength qualities with less cement, lowering in the process, users’ concrete cost,” he said.

  • FG, international body to develop parks

    The Federal Government and Conservation International (CI) have signed a five-year agreement for the development of the National Parks.

    The tripartite agreement was signed among CI Senior Vice President, Africa Field Division, Michael O’Brien-Onyeka, Conservator General of the National Parks Ibrahim Goni and the Executive Director of Human Rights Advancement, Development and Advocacy Centre (HURIDAC), Ayodele Ameen, in Abuja.

    At the pact signing, O’Brien-Onyeka said the partnership would include fund mobilisation from the Global Environment Fund to strengthen the service, build capacity of forest rangers well as improve livelihoods of the host communities in the states hosting the parks.

    He emphasised that the implementation process would be gradual as it is expected to further improve wildlife protection.

    “Conservation International believes that forest protection must have people at its centre. We are working to realise the Sustainable Development Goals especially through nature, clean air, water and protecting the ecosystem.

    “So, the scale of challenge is not a quick fix but a gradual process. At the moment the MoU is for 5 years.

    “We have used the MoU to capture range of areas we can collaborate. The next step is for the technical team of national parks, CI and other partners. When it comes to training and employment of rangers, we may have a different team that might dona better job.”

    “For instance, if it is to allow a more robust wildlife enforcement system, which might require changes in the law, then we will get more legal people to work on the draft legislation to work with the parliament.

    “There are additional funding coming for wildlife specifically within the GEF that does not affect the star allocation of the country,” O’Brien-Onyeka added.

    Goni applauded the international body for its commitment to supporting the service though the partnership.

    He pledged to provide needed support to ensure the partnership yields result.

    Executive Director of the implementing partner, Ameer Bashir said it took over 24 weeks of planning and meetings before the agreement could become a reality.

    Applauding the seriousness of the service, Ameer restated commitment of development organisations to improving the NPS.

  • ‘Anti-GMO group vilifying us, creating fear’

    The Director-General of the  National Biosafety Management Agency, Rufus Ebegba, has accused some civil society organisations of creating unnecessary fear in Nigerians over the acceptance of Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) products.

    He faulted the deliberate act to run down the agency, stressing that the nation cannot afford to be backward on issues of modern biotechnology.

    Ebegba spoke during an exclusive interview with The Nation at the weekend in Abuja.

    He said the agency was equipped with modern laboratory, adding that such attitudes are capable of misleading the public and creating apathy towards innovations.

    He described the perceived controversy as a trade war between agrochemical companies and biotechnological industries, alleging that the said group connived with agrochemical companies to make their business thrive.

    His words: “There is deliberate attempt by some civil society groups to deliberately vilify the agency, creating fears and misleading the members of the public. I have said it, there is a trade war going on between the biotech companies and the agrochemical companies.

    “The situation where you have products hitherto the application of chemicals to control insects or diseases and now you have organisms that can on their own control pests, the tendency is that the chemical companies are being threatened. So, these people connived with these activists to constantly want to run down the agency despite all we are doing to ensure the system is protected.”

    Ebegba stated that the anti-GMO group has refused to visit the agency to assess its capacity to affirm their proactive capability in case of likely GM escape.

    “Unfortunately, these people have never one day said let’s go and see the capacity of this agency and what they really have. We have this laboratory that can detect organisms whether they are genetically modified or not.

    “In Africa today, Nigeria cannot be said not to be effective. We are rated very high today in Africa in matters of biosafety. I say this with all modesty.”

    However, he assured that no unsafe and unapproved GM products would be allowed into the country. According to him, to allay public fear, the agency has intensified awareness, assuring of safety of the products for human consumption and for the environment.

    “We have constantly informed members of the public that no unsafe GMO will be allowed into the environment or market. They should trust our judgement. Within three years, we have done enlightenments but Nigeria is big and there are many media houses, people may not listen.”

    When the Executive Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Revd. Nnimmo Bassey, was contacted he denied any connivance with chemical companies, adding that the use of toxic chemicals for agricultural purpose is harmful to farmers, communities and biodiversity.

    He denied vilifying the agency, saying the foundation was committed to agroecology and safeguarding the environment and food systems.

    His words: “It is most ridiculous for anyone – especially someone as knowledgeable as the DG of NBMA – to suggest that those who oppose genetic engineering are supporting chemical companies. Truth is that toxic chemicals harming farmers, communities and biodiversity are produced by the same companies that produce genetically engineered seeds. A bulk of genetically engineered or GMO seeds are engineered to withstand herbicides produced by the same companies. They go hand in hand. The rest of GM crops are engineered to be pesticides themselves.

    “We are for agriculture that works with nature. We are for agroecology, not artificial seeds engineered to tie farmers to the apron strings of corporations.”

    He added that: “HOMEF is sharing the concerns of consumers all over the world concerning genetically engineered crops and organisms. Our interest is to safeguard our environment and food systems. Nigeria should support wholesome food production. NBMA should regulate as an unbiased umpire and not promote unproven technologies.

    “As someone said, we cannot take care of oil spills that we can see, is it invisible genetic pollution that we will control?

    “We are against a system that is tied to corporate interests, will flood our foods with toxic chemicals, expose our farmers and communities to harm, and colonize our food systems. We are calling for responsible regulation where public concerns are considered.”

  • Setting the stage for affordable housing in Africa

    The opportunity for African countries to support the growth and development of affordable housing is immense. This and other issues will take the centre stage at the 34th African Union for Housing Finance (AUHF) conference and Annual General Meeting, which hold in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire, this month, MUYIWA LUCAS reports.

    When eggheads in the African housing and finance sector converge on Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire, between  October 23 and 25, the focus will be on primarily providing solutions to the housing challenge confronting the continent.

    This is because providing affordable housing opportunities for Africa’s rapidly urbanising population is a major policy driver for African governments. It also provides opportunities for both local and international investors and developers. This is hinged on the recent estimates by the World Bank, which suggested that more than one billion people will live in African cities by 2040- a figure which more than doubles the current urban population on the continent.

    According to experts, Africa’s cities’ capacity to respond to this challenge and to turn the demand for affordable housing into an opportunity for stimulating local economic growth and development, is critically dependent on an efficient flow of finance.

    The conference, with the theme: “Building Africa’s Housing Financing Chain,” will provide stakeholders with an opportunity to examine the housing needs in the region, including addressing the challenges and opportunities in Africa’s housing finance chain.

    It will also explore key links in the housing financing chain: the finance instruments that support each link in the housing delivery chain, and the funding instruments that make these possible.

     

    Mortgage lending

     

    Stakeholders are convinced that as the conference holds in a leading regional economy like Cote D’Ivoire, which is also the hub for West Africa Monetary Union (UEMOA), one of its focal points will be building UEMOA’s housing finance sector. Considering that mortgage lending is a key issue, Director General of the UEMOA mortgage refinance institution, the Caisse Regionale de Refinnacement Hypothécaire de l’UEMOA, Christian Agossa, will deliver a keynote address on this key area.

    According to Agossa, mortgage lending products need to be well-targeted to the demand side; however, adjustments to product design, including mechanisms to underwrite informal incomes, savings-linked and micro-mortgage products, and pension-backed lending will expand the potential market for mortgage lending dramatically in affordable housing.

    “The affordable housing challenge promises to be a significant driver of economic activity,” the executive director for the Centre for Affordable Housing Finance’s (CAHF), Kecia Rust, said.

     

    Economic opportunity

     

    Yearly, CAHF analyses the most affordable homes, which are being built on the continent. In Nigeria, it is reported that Millard Fuller has developed a starter house for a cost of $7,500.  According to the body, if this was available for purchase with a mortgage across the continent, the potential effective demand would translate into about 52 million houses.  This activity, it further said, could generate $400 billion in economic activity and provide more than 1.3 million jobs in the construction sector alone.

    Based on this, the CAHF maintained that investors are clearly interested in the continent. It further noted that although such gesture is still relatively small in relation to the potential opportunity, investment in residential real estate and affordable housing in particular, is growing.

    “Development finance institutions, as well as international and local investors all working towards maximising the impact investment potential that the numbers suggest.  The 34th Annual AUHF conference will give them a platform for the growing number of affordable housing stakeholders to accelerate their conversation,” CAHF said.

     

    Policy drivers

     

    Rust argued that African governments have a critical role to play in land assembly and the awarding of development rights that support affordability. Infrastructure investment, he further said, must accommodate the expected densities and should ultimately be funded over a longer time frame than the housing itself. Besides, he noted that the capacity of developers to deliver truly affordable housing at scale is an issue that will require policy support and private sector construction financing.

    “And then there is the question of end user financing, the cost of capital, and the trust lenders have in the underlying security. These are all policy and regulatory issues on which the government will need to focus – beyond simply visioning a magic number,” he admonished.

    Indeed, the interest of policy makers to ensure that housing needs of the continent are surpassed needs to be sustained. It is encouraging to know that policy makers as well as several other stakeholders are responding with supportive rhetoric and explicit programmes. For instance, President Kenyatta’s commitment to see the construction of half a million affordable homes in Kenya is one example. Similarly, governments in Nigeria, Uganda, Côte d’Ivoire, Rwanda, South Africa, and others have all expressed a commitment to affordable housing in the past years.

     

    Top thought leaders

     

    Financial Sector Development Department Director, African Development Bank, Mr. Stefan Nallemtaby, is already upbeat about the conference. “We will have a robust discussion on the affordable housing value chain and Abidjan, as one of Africa’s high growth economies is the perfect host city for this conference and AGM,” he noted.

    His assumption may not be faulted given that more than 200 delegates and stakeholders are expected at the summit in October. Some of the confirmed regional speakers include: Mr Christian Agossa, Directeur Général at Caisse Régionale de Refinancement Hypothécaire de l’UEMOA, the Chief Executive of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Ahmed Musa Dangiwa; acting Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Mortgage Refinancing Company, Kehinde Ogundimu, among others.

    The summit is a strategic platform for the continent’s affordable housing financing thought leaders to build a more robust housing finance value chain.

  • Group decries excessive taxation at Sand park

    A GROUP,  HURMA has urged Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to stop the illegal collection of taxes and harassment by officials of Apapa Iganmu Local Council Development Area (LCDA) at Ifesowapo White Sand Trailer Park.

    In a petition to the governor, the group’s Executive Director (ED) Buna Isiak, said the park is owned by the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO), adding: ”They came together to use their acquired land as a parking space as well as repair their faulty vehicles to avoid constituting nuisance by the road side.”

    The association’s members, Isiak affirmed, pay tax yearly to the LCDA. ”They all pay loading and offloading fees whenever they are out on operation to load at Apapa port.”

    Despite this, the ED claimed, Apapa Iganmu LCDA officials still want them to pay for loading and offloading at the park. But members, he said, found it funny as they neither loaded nor offloaded at that park.

    However, Isiak quoted a former Chairman of the LCDA, Olusola Adebayo, as saying that the issue of loading and offloading fee at the park was illegal. He added that the LCDA chairperson when she was its Executive Secretary also agreed with her predecessor.

    He alleged that some hoodlums, who attacked the park operators claimed they were working for the LCDA.

    Isiak urged Ambode to wade into the matter. He said: ”We, therefore, demand as earlier stated that you use your esteemed office to promptly investigate and stop further harassment of our people, who are peaceful and would prefer that issues are better addressed from the position of law rather than resulting to self-help.

    ”We stated that is our belief that double taxation is a financial crime and could be investigated by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and ICPC. We equally reiterated that ignorance is not and should never be an excuse before the law and the supremacy of law is guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. But all these were neglected.

    ”Finally, we would appreciate if all the money so far exploited from the poor Nigerians, in the process of their legitimate business, is returned to them for such might be passed by our office as a proceed of corruption, which we have always fought alongside the Federal Government.”