Category: CEO

Group Chairman, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Tony Elumelu says investing in critical sectors of the economy is key to improving people’s lives and transforming the African continent. In this interview, Elumelu speaks on a broad spectrum of macroeconomic and fiscal issues. COLLINS NWEZE, who monitored the interview on Arise News, presents the excerpts:

Heirs Holdings recently acquired a 45 per cent stake previously held by Shell, Total and ENI in OML 17. Does that deal give Heirs Holdings operatorship or is that going to be handled by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company?

The acquisition of investment in oil and gas by Heirs Oil and Gas is one that speaks to our overall energy strategy.

Our energy strategy is integrated to ensure we help the last person in Nigeria and Africa to have improved access to electricity. So, we acquired the OML 17 from the international oil companies you mentioned and then we made a case to the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and we justified that we have the capacity and capability to operate the asset and they approved for us to operate.

I am happy to say that it is a truly indigenous oil and gas company owned by Nigerians, operated also by Nigerians and between when we took over and now, there has been an improvement. Today, we produce over 31,000 barrels of oil per day which is a slight improvement from what it was. We think we are just starting. Actually, the CEO of the company resumed recently. Our ambition is to produce over 100,000 barrels of oil per day because the asset in the past has produced close to that. We want to do what we know how to do which is extracting value for stakeholders. So, yes, we are really happy to have that responsibility to operate this asset and we think it will be done to the benefit of all stakeholders, the government, host community and the investors.

There are concerns expressed by market observers that those acquisitions are funded by UBA. Is that true? What’s UBA’s exposure to your companies by the way of insider lending?

Let’s start with the oil and gas acquisition we just made. UBA did not even participate in the funding. It’s a club of international and local lenders. For people to know, the local receiving bank for our proceeds is Union Bank of Nigeria.

The international receiving bank for the proceeds of our oil sales is Standard Chartered Bank, London. The transaction, if people read, they would have seen it was funded by a consortium of banks, Standard Chartered Bank, ABSA in South Africa, Union Bank, AFREXIM, Fidelity Bank in Nigeria, and a host of others. We are mindful of all these issues and we are very prudent in making sure we do not put pressure on the bank. So, we do go out to seek funds to support our operations. We also put in equity investment, our own investments but when we need to get funding, we try not to put pressure on the institution. The other businesses like Transcorp Power, UBA, participated in the syndication that was done for the Transcorp power acquisition. In total – UBA, AFC, FCMB, Fidelity, and two other banks. This is the limit of the exposure, but what is important to note is that it is within the single obligor limit and by  the way, it is performing very well.

In 2010, you left your position as the GMD/CEO of UBA and then ventured into serial entrepreneurship. Today, you run Heirs Holdings, Transcorp, you are into oil and gas, the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) and many more. How do you manage to juggle all of these and what are the challenges you face in terms of managing all your businesses?

In 2010, when I left United Bank for Africa  (UBA), I founded Heirs Holdings, which is a family investment company that invests in key sectors of the African economy.

We are driven by the philosophy of Africanism. We want to see the private sector-based role in the economic development of our continent and that is why we founded Heirs Holdings.

When we started, the ambition was to help to improve lives and transform the continent and we thought that the way to do this is by investing in critical sectors of the economy such as power. Access to electricity we believe, is very critical for the economic up-liftment of our people and the development of our country.

We also decided to make sure we have an integrated energy, not just power, but we had to ensure there is gas that helps the power to operate. That is why we are also investing in oil and gas.

For us, it’s just to make sure the ecosystem is complete, and we help to power our country out of poverty and into economic prosperity. We also believe hospitality is critical for attracting investment into our country and the continent hence the acquisition of Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja and today, we are doing a lot. In the area of healthcare, we are also doing quite a lot to help improve the human capital of Nigeria.

With the pandemic, we have seen that health is wealth.

Talking about the challenges and how we have been able to juggle all of this, as I have always said, investment and success in the private sector to a large extent depends on leadership. It is about having capable hands that are even more intelligent than the leadership.

In our group, we have quite a lot of work and it could be stressful, yes it’s tough, but I’m blessed with capable hands. If you look at Transcorp, we have competent leadership. The President/Group CEO of Transcorp Owen Omogiafo; CEO of Transcorp Hotel, Dupe Olusola; CEO of Transcorp Power, Chris Ezeafulukwe; CEO of Trans-Afam Power, Vincent Ozoude; and others, are very capable people.

They help to fire our growth. Also, if you look at the area of healthcare, Dr. Awele Elumelu, my wife, runs our Avon Medical business; while Simbo Ukiri leads Avon HMO, our health insurance firm.

These are great leaders who help to make this enterprise not to be as difficult as it would have been. My job today is more of thinking, sitting at board sessions with them, providing some strategic direction at that level, while also allowing them to do what they know how to do.

The challenge we face is basically the challenge as it is with any other enterprise, which is how to manage the macro and socio- economic issues. But basically, we are happy with what we are doing, and with the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), we are also happy that we are able to impact lives and help to transform our continent through the economic empowerment of our young ones.

 Taking it back to 2010 when you were forced to step down as Managing Director/CEO of UBA at the age of 47, with so much to offer the bank, would you look back and say – especially with the huge success you have achieved – that the then governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Lamido Sanusi did you a huge favour?

I will tell you this story. So that day, we had a Bankers ‘Committee meeting and at the end of the meeting, the then CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, said the bank CEOs who had done 10 years will have to step aside.

I immediately called the Chairman of UBA to explain what happened, and the next day, we conveyed an emergency board meeting.

At the board meeting, it was a divided household for the first time – some directors said no, we have to go to court to contest it, and about one or two other directors did not think so.

But I spoke and I told the board members that there are five critical stakeholders: the customers of UBA, will they like to know that we took our regulator to court? No. Then the staff of UBA, will they be comfortable working in a bank that took their regulator to court? No. Then the shareholders, and then the regulators themselves, they all wouldn’t like it. So, four constituents will not like us going to court, there is only one constituent that may like it and that’s Tony Elumelu, which makes it one over five, that’s 20 per cent which is certainly not enough to go to court.

And by the way, 10 years is not bad. Also, I had been planning to move on and leave at the age of 50; so what happened kind of fast-tracked this. It was also why within 24 hours; we appointed a successor.

The pipeline for succession at UBA is always there, about one to five people are always there to step in.

Looking back today, we have come a long way, and it’s always been about impacting humanity, improving lives and transforming everything we do.

In business, we are known as turnaround experts, we take businesses and transform them. In philanthropy, we are also catalyzing the creation of a new crop of African leaders. It is all about transforming our society and making sure we leave the society better than we met it. For me, that opportunity to start all these three years ahead of the planned time, is a blessing.

What’s your take on the power sector in Nigeria? What do you think needs to be done to make it more efficient, particularly in terms of service delivery?

In the power sector, there are three parts to it: the generation, the transmission and the distribution. Transcorp, through Transcorp Power and Trans-Afam Power as at today in Nigeria, owns the highest generating capacity in the country. We have a generating capacity of about 2,000 Megawatts (MW) of electricity a day but, unfortunately, we do less than 500 MW at this point in time. A major constraint in this area is gas, then there is the issue of transmission and evacuation of the generated electricity, and there is also the issue of payment. For us to be able to generate more, we need to have gas, and this is why our Group invested in oil and gas. Investing in oil and gas as a Group isn’t necessarily because of oil, it is more because of gas.

We want to be able to ensure that we have gas from our oil and gas production to convert it to electricity.

With the acquisition we did recently, I am happy to say it is already supplying gas to our Trans-Afam power plant; but we also need to make sure we stabilise our transmission lines.

This country needs at least 100,000 MW of electricity a day to power the economy, far less than the 5,000 we operate today.

We need to do more. Some other critical parts are payments, distribution, and metering. I must commend the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele. He has done very well because he came in to help increase revenue in that space. Up until the end of last year, we used to get less than 20 per cent payment for power supplied, but today, it has improved to 50 per cent. Transcorp Power alone is owed over N100 billion, but it’s gradually improving. For  the power sector in Nigeria to work well – if we want to drive this economy – we need to increase generation, make sure we address gas supply to generating companies, we need to make sure the transmission lines are capacitised to evacuate the power.

We also need to ensure that power generated is taken by DisCos and the metering should be right for the end users to pay. If I generate electricity, I should be able to get money so that I can service my obligations as well as ensure that all the parts in particular are serviced for the generating plants keep running.

It is a critical sector, we need to invest in it, and the stakeholders need to make sure that it works. If it works, the country’s economic development becomes more real, if it doesn’t work, it’s going to be a problem.

I, through the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), empower young entrepreneurs and if you ask them what the challenges they face in this country are, they will tell you that it’s poor access to electricity. And so, any amount you give, some of them will not succeed because they spend so much on electricity. Even in the hospital business, healthcare, every sector in our economy, we need to fix the power sector. We need to prioritise it more, but I commend the efforts going on now as the government has been making sure we privatise the remaining GenCos.

But the transmission lines need to be fixed and the payment system needs to be improved.

Should the government hands off power transmission and are you going to make a bid for some of those GenCos that the government is proposing to privatise?

We will be interested in one of the Hydros. In the area of the transmission line, I think that ultimately, it should be privatised. What some of us have advocated is that the GenCos and the DisCos, the entire power stakeholders should come together and have a deal with the Federal Government, take over the transmission lines, and it will be in our self-interest to make sure it works.

If you have the transmission lines and it doesn’t work, there is no way to evacuate your power. That sector is so critical and pivotal for the survival of our power sector, it’s critical for improving access to electricity.

What is important to us as operators is to have expanded capacity, but I’m sure if you talk to people in the transmission line, they will also give you reasons they have their own constraints.

But to us, we want to see massive improvement, we should be able to capacitise that space. I think the Ericsson deal I’m told is able to make that happen, the details of that I don’t know but I’m told it will help to capacitise the transmission line.

Do you think there is the need to unbundle the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) for power sector efficiency?

What I do know is that we need to improve capacity in the area of transmission, and whatever we need to do to make that happen should be done.

The time is now because we are all suffering this challenge. At times, the generating plant runs into difficulties because you generate and it can’t be taken, and the power plant can just break down. We don’t need all that frustration in the power sector.

 

Whatever it takes to fix that sector, we should do so. Some of us in the power generating space have signified interest to be involved in the transmission so that collectively, we will be able to make it work. But even when that works, we need to make sure that people are metered and they pay.

The distribution companies should also take what is supplied to them and they pay to NBET who will in turn pay the GenCos. So, each of the three critical parts must work well; the generating companies must generate, the transmission company must transmit, and the distribution company must make sure it gets to end users because that’s where people feel the impact of electricity.

 For Transcorp, you announced that you will be building a hotel in Ikoyi, Glover Road to be precise. Is this still in the pipeline?

It is in the pipeline. We had issues with certain government authorisations and that slowed things down. We have done a lot and we are in a good place now. I must commend the leadership in our hospitality space; it is about having good people work with you. They are doing quite a lot, being very creative and innovative. Watch this space, I believe before the end of this year, you will see a lot. The hotel is a medium-to-long term plan but in the short term, the team want to do certain things. I think before the end of this year, you will see some commercial activity going on there.

 AFAM Power plant costs over N100 billion, but Transcorp is yet to complete payments of both plants: that’s AFAM power station and AFAM Three East. Could you clarify the situation?

Transcorp has two companies in the power sector: Transcorp Power and Trans- Afam Power and they are all limited companies. Transcorp Power owns the Ughelli power plant- the installed capacity of Ughelli Power plant is about 980 to 990 MW of electricity, we own that 100 per cent. The second plant is the Afam Power plant – TransAfam Limite is a $300 million acquisition. Our deal with the Federal Government is hinged on the fact that the plant has not been completed. General Electric (GE) is handling the fast power and they promised to complete it this year, but the Government believed in what we had done at the Ughelli power plant. When we took over the Power Plant, it was generating 150MW of electricity per day. We took Ughelli’s daily generation to 750 MW and in record time and the Federal Government was very impressed – that was under President Jonathan’s regime. Now, under President Buhari’s regime, we did the Afam power plant deal. The current government,  impressed with our track record in Ughelli allowed us to invest there, and the understanding is that GE will complete it.

But pending that, we wanted to take over the plant and so they  said, pay 25 per cent, take over the plant and take over the supervision of the completion of the installation which is ongoing now.

Again, thanks to the Federal Government, thanks to the Minister of Finance, and the CBN, because they are making the payment so that GE can complete it. When they do, we make the final payments. Trans-Afam Power and Transcorp Power combined have about 2,000 generating capacity, which I earlier spoke about. That is the fact. It is all about comfort with us. We have a track record of turning around businesses, and in this case the generating plant, seeing what we did at Ughelli, moving it from 150 to over 750MW per day, and also the need – Nigeria needs huge electricity, we don’t have enough. I think the government is doing the right thing in encouraging people who have the capacity to help improve electricity to do so. We want to do that and we want to even do more in the country in this space. With our gas supply to the power plant, we think we are just starting.

 What are your view on the forex management situation in Nigeria and how the CBN is going about it?

In 2018/19, there was a time when the Vice President  convened a meeting of a few of us to express our opinion on the economic issues. I took a position there, people were in attendance, and I was quite critical of certain things at the time, it had to do with some  things you mentioned. But today, as things improved, you must also be bold to commend and say when things are moving in the right direction. Today, things are moving in the right direction. I support convergence a 100 per cent and I think we are there. On the issue on convertibility and other things, I think at times it’s easier to prescribe and when you are saddled on the seat, you see issues differently.

Let’s look at Nigeria, we generate foreign currency largely from oil. We used to produce about 2.5 million barrels of oil before, today I think we do about 1.4 million barrels of oil a day. That should have an impact on our foreign currency, it is not rocket science. Also, there was a time oil was $100 per barrel, it dropped to $40, and thankfully today it’s back to $69 per barrel. There’s a basket of so many things you have to watch as economic managers in making decisions, there’s a lot of pressure on our foreign currency earnings.

What people want to see from outside is a low exchange rate, but in the business world, people want predictability –  that this will be available when I need it, and I think to a large extent, that’s happening in Nigeria. But we need to do more, we need to improve our productive base as a country to make sure we diversify our foreign exchange earning sources as a country. We need to make sure that the ease of doing business and creating the right environment that will enable people, businesses and entrepreneurs to thrive, to succeed, we need to put that in place, so that collectively we can create prosperity. To ensure demand and supply. All this will help in what we have in the basket of our foreign exchange. So, convergence? Yes, are we there now? I will say we need to fix the supply side.

How many start- ups has Tony Elumelu Foundation funded and what’s its impact across the continent with regards to job creation?

The Tony Elumelu Foundation was put together to help create more successful African businesses, because we believe the future of Africa is in our young ones. Also, entrepreneurship has a key role to play in developing our continent and some of us have been lucky growing up, and for me, it was an opportunity to democratise luck and give luck to those who have ideas.

We all are who we are today because at some point in our lives, people gave us a helping hand to pull us up. I felt that it will be useless of me to say I have money in my bank account if there’s poverty all around us. The Foundation was set up to support young Africans, male, female, Nigerians, Africans. Every year, we support them with $5,000 each in non- refundable seed capital, at least a thousand people every year, we train them for 12 weeks and we appoint mentors to guide them , we created a networking platform, TEFConnect, the largest networking platform for African entrepreneurs so that they do well. This is the seventh year, and as a Foundation we support on our own, 1000 people, but fortunately because when we go out, we preach our global advocacy that in the 21st century you must engage with Africa, not from outside, but from within.

While we appreciate aid and donations for natural disasters, we know that we want our youth to become fishermen to provide for themselves.

We want to create entrepreneurs that will feed their families and maintain the dignity of existence and support our overall economic growth. Today, we have partners including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the European Union which just gave $25 million which is going to impact us this year. It will help to support 2,000 females across Africa.

So, with the Tony Elumelu Foundation, we are happy with what has happened so far. About 10,000 Nigerians and young Africans have benefitted from the programme and we are still counting. Every year, the participation and support is increasing. We empower our own 1,000 entrepreneurs, and our partner institutions also help to scale to more thousands. We have done a lot with the UNDP in the Sahel region, the EU, the ICRC in Nigeria’s North East and Niger Delta, etc. and so, it is growing and for us, ultimately, we want all stakeholders to join hands in fixing unemployment. Our young ones are suffering, there is hopelessness. Through the intervention of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, we want to encourage them and give them hope, through the seed capital we provide, training and mentoring. Collectively we can all fix the unemployment situation we have in Nigeria. Job creation is very important for us to have peace in our society.

What are your thoughts on girl child education, women empowerment and the role of women in society?

You guys are touching the real points. It’s good to talk about business, but I wish that I had more time to talk about youth empowerment, what the foundation is doing and gender equality and inclusion. I am so passionate about that. In fact, from home to office, I am all about that. To a large extent, my mom played a role in shaping me. My colleagues wonder why I don’t ever give up, it is because of her. I am a direct beneficiary of the catalytic impact of women in moulding and shaping society and I want to continue to encourage that. Beyond my mom, I have sisters, one of my biggest confidants and advisors is my sister, Agatha, she says it the way it is. My daughters, Oge and my wife, my refuge and strong pillar, quiet but extremely supportive. So one appreciates their power. They get things done. Women are loyal, very reliable. Girl child education, it goes beyond that, making sure that at the table, everyone is there. In some countries where we have very bad stifling/discriminatory land policies, I speak against this, I engage their presidents about this and I am happy that in some countries, especially in Senegal, this has been improved. It is something that everyone must know, the time has come for us to realise the immense potential of women in shaping and making a good society.

Your vast business empire, will you be leaving it to the girls or the boys?

My number one is Oge. I see her as the head. But I think the best thing is to give kids good education and upbringing and to allow them to make their decisions. My daughter in LSE, she gets monthly stipend, she gets $500 every month. And she is expected to save. It is a way of training her. I encourage her to make sure she saves and invests in stocks and all that. It may be tough, but it is something we must do.

You champion the concept Africapitalism, what is this about?

It is not an ideology, I have seen first-hand the poverty around us. I was born and bred in Nigeria. I have seen both sides of the coin have worked in Africa, done my business in Africa and made some earnings in Africa and I have seen that the private sector has a role to play. Africapitalism is a call to private sector leaders that we all have a role to play in the development of the Africa. How do we do this? By investing in critical sectors of the African economy, not trading; but investing in critical sectors; power, electricity, railways. We need to do all of this to help the continent develop, and so, by investing longterm in these sectors, you create economic prosperity for you the investor but also create social wealth, it becomes a win-win for everyone.

It is a new way of investing, of being involved in a true and meaningful way in the development of our continent. For example at Transcorp, we invest in power to make money but more importantly, we also invest in power to help catalyse the economic development of Nigeria. These students, patients, businesses, both small and big need electricity. Our young ones are multi-talented, extremely talented, I tell you that if we improve access to electricity in this country, we will create our own silicon valley, our own Steve jobs, our own Bill Gates. What is holding our people back is the absence of power.

And so, Africapitalism is realising all of this and calling everyone, the private sector to invest in the real sectors and also the government to create the enabling environment that allows the private sector to invest and do well. To our international partners, come, we have a new crop of leaders in Africa today. We have tangible investment in Africa, come and let us team up together to create a new Africa. That is Africapitalism, it is not an ideology, it’s the way we must operate henceforth if we are truly serious about the economic development of Africa from within to  a large extent, and with the support of our friend and government creating the right environment for the private sector to do well.

I will like to talk to you about Afriland, Fashola gave approval for redesigning the Old Falomo shopping complex shopping mall, and it was later stalled by Ambode. We will like to know, Is the project of the Old Falomo shopping complex still ongoing, what is the state of that?

About the Falomo shopping complex, we were extremely excited, we wanted to put up something very magnificent because Falomo is kind of in the heart of Lagos. We ran into difficulty with the Ambode government. Again, it had to do with government authorisation and we went to court but as you know, sometimes, there is a limit to how you can litigate on these things. But where we are at now is very good. Last Sunday I had meetings on this and I’m happy to say that the government, the company, the investors in the company, are finally coming together to start it again. This time, we are thinking of putting up an office complex, a hotel and a small mall because there is also concern about the traffic conditions there. We have finally come to terms under the new leadership in Lagos State, which is quite interesting as it started with Fashola’s regime, Ambode’s regime truncated it, and now the current government, Sanwo-Olu is reviving it. So, we are happy we are there now. Unfortunately, it costs more to do now compared to what we would have achieved if we had put it up then because of the exchange rate then compared to today, it’s totally different, it will cost three times more. That’s why we are also changing the initial concept; but we want something extremely iconic in that place.

 

 

 

A very fundamental factor for survival is food. This is why nations strive to attain food security. But this requires countries’ increasing their farm yields. OCP Nigeria, a sub-set of OCP Group, a fertiliser producing company with headquarters in Morrocco, is partnering the Federal Government, through Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), in developing the ammonia fertiliser industrial plants. Its Managing Director, Mohammed Hettiti, speaks on the firm’s plans, and efforts at increasing the food basket in the country, among others, in this interview with DANIEL ESSIET.

 

Nigeria is set to emerge as one of the largest fertiliser producers. What role is OCP Nigeria playing in this?

As a global player in phosphate fertiliser production, OCP is partnering the Federal Government, through the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), in developing the Ammonia and DAP industrial plants. This will help utilise and transform the abundant gas the country possesses as well as the phosphate from Morocco to fertilisers for the benefit of Nigeria’s farmers and neighbouring countries. With over a century experience, OCP will bring on board the needed expertise and knowledge needed to maximise/optimise the utilisation of this natural resource for the benefit of the agriculture landscape and economy in general through downstream economic balance.

Where does Nigeria’s advantage lie in fertiliser production?

It lies in its access to large gas reserves, access to international water, huge agricultural potential, young, intelligent, and energetic work force. Nigeria will be the hub for fertiliser for the West African region in no time. This abundant gas will be used to produce either urea or ammonia-based fertiliser and, if combined with other elements, like phosphate and potassium, NPK fertiliser can be produced from it. The drive by the government and its West African counterparts to improve logistic infrastructure, for example, rail and highways, across the sub-region, will be a big boost to trade in Nigeria produced fertiliser.

What factors do you think would stand in the way of this country becoming one of leading producers of chemical fertiliser?

I see nothing standing in the way, because President Muhammadu Buhari has also shown strong support and commitment to see the project come to reality. If you agree with me, President Buhari’s desire for the country has been that of driving self-sufficiency in the production of food and for you to have food self-sufficiency, the country needs to optimise the natural and human resources available to it to support its agriculture agenda. Now some challenges that should be overcome include logistic and infrastructural development e.g. rails, and road network.

How will rising production level across Africa and an increasingly competitive global market limit returns in the long term?

Rising production in Africa will help in servicing the increasing demand for food. The world’s population is projected to increase by additional 1.9 billion people between 2020 and 2050, out of which 1.2 billion will be from Africa. This means the bulk of the world’s population growth is predicted to take place in Africa; hence the need to increase production level in Africa to help cushion the effect of increasing demand for food for now and the future. The challenge before Africa is such that players have to rather focus on collaboration than competition in meeting the immediate and future food and all-round productivity need of the continent.

There is a growing partnership between Morocco and Nigeria to promote a large-scale expansion of the chemicals industry. How will this impact the value of fertiliser exports?

The Nigeria-Morocco partnership has helped Nigeria become a local producer of fertiliser as against being an importer of finished fertiliser. This is so possible with the partnership between Nigeria and Morocco as nitrogen (that is in abundance in Nigeria) is blended with phosphate from Morocco to produce locally blended NPK fertiliser. With partnership on the development of an industrial fertiliser plant, Nigeria will be an exporter of fertiliser. This development will help reduce the pressure on the exchange rate as more foreign currency will be earned in addition to the jobs to be created.

Is there any way changing trends in the global market may have put on your company stepping up exports to some rapidly expanding markets? Where do you have your largest buyers of fertiliser?

Across African countries regardless of language, the developmental approach of OCP towards agriculture is very well embraced and appreciated. We are making significant impact in many countries through collaborative engagement with the local private players and governments.

In terms of growth markets, which countries in Africa do you see as key focus areas for the future?

Obviously, I am in Nigeria, because of its huge and enormous potential ranging from current population, to future projected population, land size, arable land and, finally, the percentage of youth population. But my colleagues in other regions will say the same that way I will say we are not losing sight of the fact that the entire Africa has to develop, especially leveraging agriculture as we have a drive to reposition Africa into the future and spread opportunities for its people.

What is your message to investors outside looking to invest in the agric sector?

Given all the above potential in Nigeria, Nigeria will be the next big destination for whoever intends to access the African market.

When it is the Sokoto phosphate-based fertiliser plant taking off?

The Sokoto Plant is ongoing and will be delivered by the end of this year.

You have blending plants in Kaduna and Ogun states.  What is going to be the status of the Akwa Ibom Ammonia plant?

The blending plants in Kaduna and Ogun states will commence operation this year. These blending plants are expected to introduce various formulas tailored to farmers’ customised needs, provide modern production capacity for the players in the fertiliser industry, help expand supply to meet market growth and stabilise the market, especially during the peak season. The Ammonia and DAP plants in Akwa Ibom,which is a Joint Venture (JV) investment between OCP and NSIA, is taking complementary benefit of both countries’ natural resources for fertiliser production and it is expected to be delivered in 2025. The plant, at completion, will produce DAP as raw materials needed for local fertiliser blenders as well as ammonia to be exported to OCP Morocco.

Beyond this year, what are your plans for expansion, especially for agri-solution to many states?

Since its inception in 2016 in Nigeria, OCP has partnered several state governments and private entities to provide agri-solution to  farmers. Several initiatives have been developed and implemented to address different problems along the agricultural value chain.  Also, the execution of research and development project with research institute to develop the right fertiliser solution for the farmers taking cognisance of our diverse soil conditions and crops of interest as we are working on more than eight crops (maize, rice, tomato, palm oil, sorghum, wheat, potato, cocoa, and cassava).

Other OCP initiatives that are linked directly to the farmers are OCP Agri-booster- an end-to-end value chain solution – that provides farmers with access to quality farm input, training/extension services, input financing and market linkage for increased productivity.

OCP School Lab (OSL) – a mobile soil testing laboratory that provides farmer training, soil testing and fertiliser recommendations.

OCP Farm & Fortune Hub – a last-mile distribution channel solution that provides access to farm inputs, training, extension service and soil testing to farmers in underserved and interior farming communities. OCP Empowering African Youth (EMAY) project is committed to raising certified young Agric community leaders who are empowered with digital soil testing kits, tricycles and electronic tablets to become agricultural experts who provide Agri-solution smallholder farmers.

Other initiative include Farm & Fortune TV & radio programme for stakeholder sensitisation and Farm and farm Fortune Digital Platform, a platform where Farmers and Stakeholder access valuable information provided by other initiatives; such as Agribooster, School Lab, Farm & Fortune Hub, and Agronomy through the Udongo App.

How can Nigeria leverage Morocco’s increasing investment in education and research and development (R&D) to support the development of the fertiliser industry?

Firstly, Nigeria has been among the topmost beneficiary of Morocco’s investment in fertiliser R&D. Morocco, through OCP, is investing significantly in research & development as a means of modernising farming in Nigeria. Over the past four years, OCP has invested over $3million in sponsoring research and development of soil and crop-specific fertiliser formulations for staple crops such as rice, maize, oil palm, wheat, potatoes, soybean, cassava, sorghum and tomatoes in partnership with local and international research agencies such as the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA); National Cereal Research Institute (NCRI); Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN); and the National Root Crops Research Institute (NCRI). Other research partners include the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR); National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT); Institute of Agriculture, Research and Training (AR&T), Ibadan; the Institute of Agricultural Research (IAR), Zaria; Nigerian Institute of Soil Science (NISS), Soil Science Society of Nigeria (SSSN) among other.

Another area is the partnership between University Mohammed VI Polytechnic – UM6P and Nigeria university in sharing of knowledge and resources. Examples of this partnership are UM6P – University of Abuja partnership, UM6P – Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi (ATBU) Partnership, UM6P – Bayero University, Kano partnership.

Also is the OCP partnership with Kaduna State University, where grant for research, supply of agricultural textbooks, supply of laboratory equipment and awarding of scholarship for students. That is the one of many projects that are in the pipeline. Others will be revealed in no time.

What type of partnership do you have with NSIA, FESPAN and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to boost food production through increased fertiliser usage?

For the first time in the history of Nigeria, the country was able to aggressively promote investment capital in the development of local production capacity for blended fertilisers through the partnership between NSIA, the Fertiliser Producers and Suppliers of Nigeria (FEPSAN) and OCP Africa under the programme of the Federal Government known as Presidential Fertiliser Initiatives (PFI). Morocco supplies some raw materials for local blender at competitive price on a Country to Country Support Collaboration to Nigeria, to help support the domestic blending of NPK Fertilizer and create jobs for Nigerians since 2017. Two years into the partnership, Nigeria could produce the totality of its need locally; also, technical support was provided to the players, supporting them to develop the industry.

Currently, the country can boost of over 40 blending plant with over five million metric tonne (mt) blending capacity, and over 100,000 jobs created, thanks to the partnership.

What about the media and technology channels you are using to enable smallholder farmers to access agronomic advice?

Farmer development using technology is OCP’s primary goal. OCP has developed a digital platform called Udongo, that aims to unlock digital opportunities in the agricultural sector and spur collaboration between actors in the value chain.

 

 

The Udongo platform cuts across OCP Nigeria projects (Agribooster, School Lab, One-Stop Shop, Agronomy, etc) with the aim of enhancing the productivity of farmers and collaborations in the Agric value chain.

Other objectives for setting up Udongo is to enhance collaboration among value providers and consumers in the ecosystem, improve operational efficiency of the actors in the value chain, create easy access to quality inputs and agriculture produce, increase the use of improved agricultural inputs in farming and promote digitisation in the industry. This digital solution is available for stakeholders to access and use free of charge. Also, we used COVID-19 opportunities to develop new channel to communicate with farmers through TV and radio: indeed, Farm and Fortune TV show and radio programmes are our new tools to reach farmers and give them advise on good practice. Also these programmes allow them to know their soil better because we do soil analysis for different region. We also invite expert to advise stockholders around farming activities and we evaluate the lesson learnt as we analyse the success story or fall for better understanding and lessons for others; Radio transmission have the same objective but aired in different languages and at different time .

Aside from teaching farmers the latest in fertilisation technologies, do you have software to assist farmers to predict yields?

This is the part of technology called OCP Agro+. OCP Agro+ is a digital platform for soil nutrient management that help farmers make informed decisions on the new specific formulas per territory (site-specific fertilisers) that will help to guarantee yield increment through provision of adapted fertilisers recommendations. This solution will provide a smart method for developing new adapted formulas based on machine learning, artificial intelligence, and geo-referenced soil tests all aimed at increased fertiliser productivity.

What Hettiti about the tailor-made turnkey solutions you provide to farmers in the form of fertiliser, pesticides, and seeds, among others?

OCP Agribooster- an end-to-end value chain solution that help provides farmers with access to quality farm input, training/extension services, input financing and market linkage for increased farmers’ yield and revenue through stakeholder partnerships. From 2017 to date, 210,000 farmers across rice and maize value chains have benefited on this project and they have increased their yield by as much as 39 percent to 45 percent in some cases. Because we cannot go alone, that is why we partnered with several stakeholders to make it possible. Our  input providers includes OCP, Bayer, Pioneer,while we also partner with  farmer training provider s such as  International Fertiliser Development Centre (IFDC), Palm Valley, GFFL. We work with farmer aggregators such as  Thrive, AFEX, Syngenta, Foundation, Nehemiah, Agrolog, Novus Agro. Financial Partners – LAPO, ABU MFB,  Offtake Partners – PANDA, THRIVE, AFEX, GUINNESS, OXFAM.”

Also, our investments in the development of retail and farmer training structures across remote farming communities in the country termed “Farm and Fortune Hubs” has created a one-stop shop access for farmers to interact with diverse quality input providers and every other relevant value provider in the agriculture industry. This has created a platform for seed providers, agrochemical providers, fertiliser providers and every other service provider to reach farmers at the most remote of farming communities.

Is there any way changing trends in the global market may have put on your company stepping up exports to some rapidly expanding markets?  Where do you have your largest buyers of fertiliser?

Across African countries regardless of language, the developmental approach of OCP towards agriculture is very well embraced and appreciated. We are making significant impact in many countries through collaborative engagement with the local private players and governments.

In terms of growth markets, which countries in Africa do you see as key focus areas for the future?

Obviously, I am in Nigeria, because of its huge and enormous potential ranging from current population, to future projected population, land size, arable land and finally the percentage of youth population. But my colleagues in other regions will say the same that way I will say we are not losing sight of the fact that the entire Africa has to develop especially leveraging Agriculture as we have a drive to reposition Africa into the future and spread opportunities for its people.

What is your message to investors outside looking to invest in the agric sector?

Given all the above potential in Nigeria, Nigeria will be the next big destination for whoever intends to access the African market.

 

 

Prof. Eustace Iyayi is the Chief Executive, Nigerian Institute of Animal Science (NIAS) – a parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. In this interview with DANIEL ESSIET, Iyayi speaks on the livestock industry and efforts being made by the institute to boost its growth.

 

What is your institute’s role in delivering sustainable livestock industry?

As an agency of the Federal Government, we are working to increase agricultural productivity in the country’s agro-ecological zones. We are promoting the adoption of climate-relevant innovations in livestock production systems and improving primary health care of animals at the farm and post farm levels.

Our institute’s goal is to regulate the livestock industry to ensure a sustainable and profitable business environment for the operators in accordance with good agricultural practices.

In alliance with other government and private sector partners, we are seeking to help smallholder dairy farmers to advance their sustainable farming practices and to ease the shortage of dairy products and reduce the huge import bill for dairy products, which stands at $1.5 billion yearly.

The institute has held meetings with groups of private-sector, non-profit and research organisations to increase the supply of nutritional dairy products and other animal source foods available to local communities.

The institute has also been guiding smallholder farmers in methods that would bolster their production of nutrient-rich forages for their dairy and beef cattle and small ruminants,  which should in turn raise their milk and meat yields while reducing their production costs.

We have focused on how technological, economic and financial innovations can accelerate livestock’s contribution to ending hunger and contributing to other United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Despite concerns about livestock’s negative contributions to greenhouse gases and dietary risks, demand for livestock in Nigeria and the rest of the developing world will continue to grow rapidly. Already, we have seen that consumption of beef, pork, milk and chicken has grown  across the country, driven by urbanisation, rising income and the growing population.

As an institute,  we are committed to seeing that livestock play a critical role in alleviating hunger and malnutrition. The institute has been in the forefront of the campaign that animal-source foods (ASFs)  remain  a critical source of indispensable nutrients.

More research is needed into better feeds, breeds and health,  and we are determined to ensure we use appropriate technologies to  enhance the contribution  of livestock to food and nutrition security.

We believe what will revamp the livestock industry is a determined effort to improve  local Research and Development (R & D) capabilities and livestock management practices. Through a combination of private-sector investment, local expertise, applied data and technologies, the institute intends to contribute to raising our livestock productivity and enhance product delivery.

 What are the achievements of the institute?

The institute has been able to galvanise the interest of operators in the livestock value chains in embracing practices that will ensure that our animal source protein foods are safe and of high quality. Specifically, we have been able to come up with gazetted regulations for feed milling, poultry breeder farms, hatchery, day-old chick marketing and Animal Science Practice. We have also been able to work with sister agencies who are involved in the livestock industry to build a holistic approach and synergy for efficient service delivery by the operators in the industry.

What R&D is on ground to support the vision of doubling the value of red meat industry?

Innovation platforms in the areas of breed improvement for improved milk production are currently being worked on. Also, the development of pasture varieties is engaging the attention of experts in the institute.The response to climate change for adaptive performance of our livestock is also an area of interest for R&D.

Tell us about your goal for the Nigerian red meat and livestock industry to be recognised as the world-leader in animal health, welfare, biosecurity and production practices.

Our goal is to have a livestock industry that will respond to the changing population and shifting consumer pattern and preferences. In this regard, our animals must be produced under humane and healthy conditions.

In what  ways  are you supporting the livestock industry  to  build   and implement  feedlots in the sustainability of  the  industry?

We are providing technical assistance in the operation of feedlots for those already set up. We also provide technical expertise to those intending to set up feedlots. Since feedlot has to do with ensuring optimal weight gain of the animal within a short period of time, the formulation and delivery of the feed to the animal is very important. Also, planning to ensure that feed supply is sustained from when the animals come into the lot to when they grow out is very important. Feedlot is like an assembly line…you start it, you have to finish it well.

A major priority of the government and the private  sector is to increase the quality of red meat and  its production methods. Tell us about this project and how it came about?

We engage in stakeholders’ awareness a lot to educate both the producers and consumers. Producers must adhere to standard operating procedure which is operator specific. The consumers have the right to know what they are consuming. The thread that ties both is traceability. All products must be traced to their sources of production and the methods of production

How are promoting Nigerian beef domestically and internationally?

We promote Nigerian beef by helping producers with information that can lead to scale up in their businesses and therefore more meat for the country. We insist on compliance with regulatory guidelines to ensure safe products that can meet international standards for export

We have seen the rise of E. coli  and  other animal diseases. Have you made advancement and safety technologies to the assurance that  livestock products are  disease free?

Diseases are emerging and re-emerging in our livestock industry. While it is a herculean task to achieve 100 percent disease-free environment, incidences like E.coli, listerosis, etc can be reduced to very safe levels. The aspect of handling and meat hygiene is also engaging the attention of the institute and other sister agencies.

Do you  have the mandatory recall authority? Would you say the government has provided the  minimal protection that consumers deserve?

This is a problematic area at the moment. The meat we consume is informally prepared and delivered. We still have challenges with our abattoir and slaughter slabs. A lot will have to be done to regulate the activities here to ensure that products are handled and packaged safely. In addition, there should be a traceability policy. It is only when these measures are in place that the government can be effective in recalling products. The institute is developing a regulation on this.

Stakeholders spends a lot of money promoting beef as a wholesome product. Why is it so important to you?

It is because the beef is supposed to be a wholesome product. There is the need to continue to engage consumers on this because our average protein intake in the country is still very low.

More than a year after the global pandemic, how would you say the chick, piglet and calf sectors are faring?

The livestock sector as a whole took a huge bashing by the pandemic. The effect was much and the scars are still there. Some farms, especially poultry farms, folded up. Others were on the brink of collapse. Currently, the sector is trying to stabilise and move on.

Some scientists are building synthetic versions of meat. Do you see them as competitors?

Synthetic meat or non-animal meat is not a strong competitor. The world population, which is about 7.7 billion, will grow up to about 10 billion in 2050, which is less than 30 years. Perhaps, then, it can be a strong alternative to animal meat.

What were the main concerns/market challenges on the minds of  stakeholders?

Anything new is resisted. Non-animal meat is viewed by consumers and other stakeholders as something not natural. Others believe its consumption has health implications.

What are the main future market opportunities for  livestock and the industry in general?

The main future market opportunities for livestock are various. The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) has opened up new opportunities for producers. The Economic Commission of West African States (ECOWAS) sub-region is also there and if we produce according to prescribed standards, we have the global market space to sell our products

Have states adopted livestock component  in agriculture? What are the merits and challenges?

Some states are doing  well while others are still trying to advance their plans. The African Development Bank (AfDB) is ready to partner  states on their special agro processing zone programme. A few states are already building such partnership. The World Bank Livestock Productivity and Resilience Project is also one that states are keying into. Then the National Livestock Transformation Plan of the Federal Government is assisting states to transform some grazing reserves to ranches. According to the Federal Govermment, about 30 states are earmarked for this project

How can your institute support the adoption of  a pragmatic livestock development plan?

The institute is already helping to operationalise some pragmatic programmes that will move our livestock industry forward. In addition to all I have mentioned, the institute is working with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in the development of a breeding and dairy policy. We work with the Poultry Association of Nigeria and other specie associations. The goal is to have development plans that are broad-based and inclusive.

What are the emerging needs for the livestock industry  and also adoption of favourable policies?

The livestock industry needs support from government. The sector needs input support that can lead to price stabilisation and business growth. In formulating and adopting policies, stakeholders must be involved and carried along.

 

Until the pensions reforms of 2004, pensioners were at the receiving end, with some of them not living to reap the fruits of their labour after years of service. But the times have since changed for this category of retirees, says the Executive Secretary, Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), Dr. Chioma Ejikeme in this interview with Omobola Tolu-Kusimo.

 

The Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) recently issued a 21-day ultimatum to  President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the White Paper on pension increase or face their wrath. What is your take in this?

I have told the NUP that as far as I am concerned, the planned protest is very unnecessary because we have gone very far on the increase they are asking for. You see, government things don’t work out like that. One person cannot sign government money; it has to go through a process.

The new minimum wage commenced in April 2019 and it was an increment. Every time there is this type of increase, pensioners are supposed to get it even though based on the constitution. They are to get an increment every five years or any time there is a minimum wage increase. They were actually due for one before the 2019 increase. So, they are supposed to have a double leap as it were.

After the increment, the government has to go through the process of how it would affect pensioners. The pensioners keep talking about minimum pension but there is nothing like that. This is because your pension is a function of so many things. First, is the level at which you retired. Secondly, the salary structure for your agency and thirdly, the number of years you spend in the service. These are what determine how much you get. To talk about minimum pension, it cannot apply. You don’t get a promotion when you are a pensioner. So, the word is pension increment and it will be a percentage increment as determined by government. If you look at the move from N18, 000 to N30, 000, it’s less than a 100 percent increment. Whenever the government is talking about pensioners; they look at what percentage increment to give them. And so, it is within the purview of the National Salaries Income and Wages Commission (NSIWC) to determine. They set up a sub-committee of which one of the directors in PTAD was the chairman.  Even NUP had a representative on the committee and so the government and PTAD did not just take a unilateral decision. All the relevant stakeholders made recommendations. It was sent to the Presidency, through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, who moved it down to PTAD to ask our view. We replied that we were aware and agreed with the proposal.Then they wrote back, asking where we planned to get the funding. So, we got to the last stage, telling them that yes, we have made provisions in the budget for it. Albeit, we have about 24 months’ arrears to pay, but with what we have, maybe we can pay 13 months’ arrears. We have given them this feedback and the next thing is for them to give us the go ahead.

We have been proactive by making provisions for the pension increase in the 2020 budget because we knew it was going to come up. We are  waiting for the President to sign off. The government is working on it. It is at the last lap and I told the union. I am surprised they are agitating. They should know that it is not because of their agitation, but that the government has finished work on it. We are an agency with integrity. We are dealing with senior citizens. We are not here to play. We don’t play gimmicks. Our pensioners are serious business to us and we take them very seriously. We are here to make sure that they are well taken care of. That is our priority.

Some pensioners are complaining that they have been verified, yet they have not been paid for two years. Why is this so?

Yes. But it must be the parastatals’pensioners. They were verified between 2018 and 2019. If we didn’t have the COVID-19 pandemic last year, we would have paid. The issue is that when they finish collecting the information, the computation is reviewed. We cannot pay people like that. We look at the salary structure of where a pensioner retired from to make sure that he or she is put on the right structure. If the person has not been on payroll before, we will request for his statement of account and other things. It is a rigorous process. At the end, we will have to generate what we call a Pensioner Code because you cannot collect pension without the code. So, those people should be patient because the project is going to end in another few weeks. The civil service pensioners validation have been concluded and about 1000 of them have been put on the payroll. However, anybody who has not been verified should come for it. A lot of people who retired 15 to 20 years ago have not received any pension because they have not shown up for verification. But in terms of those verified and not on a payroll, that should end by May. They should be on payroll if they are qualified pensioners because some of them are verified, but they are not qualified.

You are doing mop-up. What does it entail?

When we concluded the verification of 2019 for the parastatals pensioners and in validating it, there were certain steps we took. The first was defunct agencies with one-off payments to Nigeria Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) and Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON). The second  was to remove people on the payroll who were not verified. We will bloat the payroll and won’t have money to pay. There are some people who are on the payroll who are not supposed to be there. So, what we did was that in July 2020, we sent out a notice to the pension unions, agencies, radio, newspapers and everybody who are in touch with pensioners. We drew up a list of these pensioners and even put it on our website to come for verification or risk being removed from the payroll. I had wanted to remove them from the payroll in August 2020 but the NUP said the time was too short. So, as they were reaching them, we were inviting them to our office for verification. Eventually, we fixed September 2020 as the last month they would get pension and that if by October 25, 2020, you have not verified, we remove you from the payroll.

So far, we have removed 21,000 pensioners who were not verified. We gave it enough publicity. A woman who was honest enough said she heard,  but just couldn’t find time to come and there are many of them like that. Some either feel too busy, big or lazy to come and get themselves verified because they are used to the status quo until they are removed. We later started getting feedback that some pensioners were deceased. So, out of the 21,000 removed, we have restored over 2000 to the payroll. Also, out of the mop-up verification that we started on March 16, we have received and verified 244 pensioners. In Lagos, we are looking at verifying about 550 pensioners. Overall and worst-case scenario, I am not expecting to get more than 5000 pensioners. We intend to go to the South-east as well.

So far, how much has been paid to pensioners?

Our pension wage bill is over N7 billion  monthly and about N100 billion in a year. I don’t know any organisation of government that churns out the kind of funds PTAD pays monthly. Before last October, when we removed 21, 000 pensioners, the wage bill for the parastatal pension department was about N4.8 billion. By the time we removed 21000 pensioners, it came to N4 billion; about N700 million was taken off – the same for the civil service. When I came in, their wage bill was about N1.8 billion but we now have N1.7 billion, saving N100 million. The same for other departments because really, the ideal thing is that as the pensioners are dying, our wage bill will be going down and that is what we intend to achieve. We are a closed group unlike the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) when people come every day. If you retired after June 2007, you are not part of us under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS).

Why the passion for pension matters?

The passion seriously stems from the part that I was part of pensioners being humiliated. I was a pensioner when pensioners were being humiliated. I literally almost abandoned my pension at some point, because to get verified was a big problem. It was a friend of mine that said to me, “It is your sweat. Don’t leave it for them.’’ Then you had to tip people to open the door for you to get verified. Old people would lie on the floor. People were dying. Nobody would give you common water unlike these days that PTAD gives food and water. You sit comfortably in a hall in the air conditioner working unlike when people would push and shove themselves. Nobody cared whether you retired as permanent secretary or not. You were reduced to nothing. It was terrible. I am glad today to be working at the helm of affairs of the Directorate, continuing in the success story.

Two years into your headship of PTAD, can you give an insight into what you met on ground and how far you have come?

I was actually appointed at the heat of nationwide verification of pensioners. My first job as the Executive Secretary of PTAD was to monitor verifications in the Southeast, precisely Awka, the Anambra State capital and Owerri, the Imo State capital.  We had to go to Akwa Ibom State where the state office was opened. That was my first assignment and I had to hit the ground running. Because at the point I came in, my predecessor had really done a lot of work, trying to see how to put PTAD on the right footing. We were then trying to finish up a marathon verification for parastatal pensioners. At that time the other operational departments like Custom, Immigration and Prisons, Police and Civil Service pensions’verification had been completed, but we still had that of parastatals pending. So, it was verification back-to-back for us. We had a backlog of people already verified but not on the payroll.

But most of the validation for verification had not been done because we wanted to, first of all, capture all the pensioners. It was left for me to complete the verification and start the validation. So, this is basically what we have been concentrating our energy on. The parastatal pension verification ended in November 2019. But we all know what happened in 2020. COVID-19 didn’t let us do anything. We also last year started a project for the Civil Service pension whose verification was completed in 2017. Some of them were not put on the payroll and they were complaining. Most of them could not be paid gratuities because it is only when we validate their verification that we can pull out all these things and get them done.

As of last year, we started with, first of all, the parastatal pensioners. We started with those agencies that were entitled to one-off payment which were the defunct agencies that were privatised. They include NAHCO, and ALSCON. As at last year, we have settled most of the NAHCO one-off payment. We only have just very few that we have queries on, but we settled the bulk of them last year, 620 to be precise. We did the same with ALSCON – about 603 of them were paid account.

The big one is the civil service pension validation project that we started last year. Of the over 60,000 files that had not been verified, we were able to validate 46, 000 files. We found out that some of them duplicated names. Of the 46000 files that we had treated, we have paid 16, 210 pensioners a total sum of N6.2 billion. We paid death benefits of pensioners to 773 next-of-kins and gratuities to 94 pensioners. We paid about 825 pensioners on payroll with complaints who have arrears or short paid. In fact, we spent about N3.8 billion on this group of people on payroll with complaints. We paid the ones that were not on payroll at all over N1billion arrears and put them on payroll. This is the big game for us because the complaints we used to have has reduced drastically.

Going forward, we are working with the parastatal to end the validation. There is an ongoing project for the parastatal pension department to complete the validation of their verification. We started and we are working with the Nigeria National Shipping Line (NNSL), which pensioners are supposed to be on the payroll. We are working on other parastatals who are not on the payroll but have been verified. We want to put them on the payroll. We have a huge liability with a lot of the defunct agencies because their organisations did not consider the huge personnel liabilities but only sold assets. Some of their pension assets were with the underwriters who did not return anything until recently when we drag them and they started refunding in trickles. We have over N40 billion out there yet to be collected and that is what we have audited. We did forensic audit and the auditors found out how much these pensioners have in their kitty belonging to the organisations that were underwriting and became defunct.