The Nation Newspaper

Category: Business

  • ASCSN seeks special allowance for education officers

    The unit chairmen of the 104 Unity Schools and the six zonal coordinators rose from a meeting in Abuja with a 10-point communiqué seeking progress in the service of education officers and other staff of the schools across the country.

    In the communiqué signed by their union leaders, the National President and General Secretary of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), Comrades Bobboi Bala Kaigama and Alade Bashir Lawal, the meeting endorsed the memorandum submitted to the National Public Service Negotiating Council I (NPSNC I), by the union leadership, requesting the Federal Government to approve 15 per cent of the consolidated salary as special allowance to Education Officers teaching in the Unity Colleges.

    Also, the demand contained in the memorandum for the restoration and upward review of Science Teachers Allowance and the Boarding House Master/Mistress Allowance inadvertently omitted from the salaries of affected teachers since 2007 during the transition from the manual payment system to Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) and which have not been restored since then despite series of demands by the Association. We enjoin the National Leadership of the Union to pursue the demands until they are implemented.

    The meeting also commended the leadership of the association for presenting another memorandum in respect of payment of end-of-year incentives approved by the Federal Government for civil servants.

    “We support the position of the association that the payment should be extended to all civil servants at the headquarters of the ministries as well as outstation staff and that the disbursement of the incentives should be based on grade levels to ensure fairness, equity, and justice.”

    The civil servants called on the Federal Ministry of Education to convey and thereafter institutionalise a quarterly meeting as agreed with the Union more than two years ago.

    “It is surprising that the quarterly meeting has not been summoned by the Management of the Federal Ministry of Education despite constant reminders by the leadership of the association.The essence of the platform is to ensure that latent labour issues capable of truncating industrial peace in the Ministry including the Unity Schools are identified and amicably resolved in line with contemporary trade union best practice.”

    The officers reiterated their demand that officers who have duly sat for promotion examinations and passed should be paid their promotion arrears and properly placed in their appropriate grade levels to boost their morale. They said it was demoralising for officers to be made to undergo rigorous promotion examination, and be denied their promotion after they excelled in the exercise. “This practice is unacceptable and should be discontinued,” they said

    The communiqué further said that the meeting frowned at the increasing cases of victimisation of officials of the Association by some Principals in some of the Unity Schools.

    (1)”These officials are indiscriminately transferred to other places using framed up charges. It noted that the action of these Principals is against the existing agreement between the Association and the Management of Federal Ministry of Education on the need to allow units officials exhaust their tenure in their schools where they are serving before being posted to other schools. This agreement is in line with ILO Convention 87 and 98 on rights to organise and collective bargaining. The meeting called on the Federal Ministry of Education to reverse these punitive postings in the interest of industrial peace and harmony in the Unity Colleges.”

    On the purported withdrawal of some members of the association, to join the Nigeria Union of Teachers, the meeting said, as senior federal civil servants employed by the Federal Civil Service Commission, the Unity School teachers are “bonafide members” of ASCSN, which has always stood by them in times of their trials and tribulations including saving their jobs when it waged a relentless battle against the Federal Government which had concluded plans to sell the Unity Schools to private individuals.

    “We, therefore, disassociate ourselves entirely from any individual or group which purport to claim that Unity Schools teaching staff are members of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT). The NUT which is the umbrella body of primary and secondary schools teachers employed by the state governments is advised to steer clear of Unity Colleges henceforth in the interest of industrial peace in the schools and concentrate on improving the welfare of its members, the abysmal failure of which has led to the exit of secondary schools teachers from its fold to form the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS).

    “Only recently, the Basic Education Teachers also pulled out of the NUT and formed Basic Education Staff Association of Nigeria (BESAN). Both the ASUSS and BESAN have publicly stated that the NUT has patently proved incapable of promoting the welfare of its members which was why they had no option but to withdraw their membership,” the communiqué stated.

  • Euro rises on bonds purchase

    Euro rises on bonds purchase

    THE euro rose for a sixth day against the yen, the longest run since March, as European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi said the currency was irreversible and that the bank’s decision to purchase bonds helped ease tensions.

    Bloomberg report said the 17-nation currency gained the most in almost three weeks versus the dollar after Draghi said the ECB was ready to start buying government debt from nations such as Spain as soon as the necessary conditions are met.

    The euro appreciated against all but one of 16 major counterparts on speculation ECB President Mario Draghi will provide more detail of the bond-purchase program announced last month.

    The euro advanced 0.8 per cent to 102.08 yen after rising earlier to 102.21 yen, the strongest level since September 20. Japan’s currency depreciated past its 200-day moving average against the 17-nation currency, 101.75 yen, for the first time in more than a week.

  • Ministry accuses NASS of inflating 2013 budget

    Ministry accuses NASS of inflating 2013 budget

    THE year 2013 may be a turbulent year between the National Assembly and the executive arm, as some officials of the Federal Ministry of Finance have accused the National Assembly of jacking up the budget figures.

    It was reliably learnt that the N150 billion budgeted for National Assembly in the budget is causing ripples among officials who prepared the budget. One sour point in the budget is an item in the Senate President’s office, which the Federal Ministry of Finance through the budget office had pegged at N300 million but which the legislators had inflated to over N1 billion.

    An official of the ministry of Finance familiar with the preparation of the budget told The Nation that “it was the opinion of the budget office that the said project (item) cannot be completed within the one year cycle of 2013 so N300 million was budgeted for the item. However, the National Assembly jacked up the figure to over N1 billion without any explanation.”

    Another official told The Nation that the executive caved in to the National Assembly because they “need the National Assembly to pass the annual budgets, the executive cannot pass the budget, so we have to focus on that and overlook certain things.”

    Three years ago, he said: “The National Assembly made its budgetary allocation a first line charge to cocoon it from making public the details of its budgetary allocations.”

    The decision to make the National Assembly budget a first line, he said, “is one political decision against transparency because they used their powers to preclude themselves from rendering accounts of their annual budgetary allocations.”

    This is the third year straight that the National Assembly has received N150 billion as its annual budgetary allocation (a 200 per cent increase from its previous allocations) and it has never made public what it spends the money on.

    When contacted, one of the officers of the National Assembly, who refused to be named, said: “The budget of the National Assembly and its details are the functions of the National Assembly administration and not that of the legislators directly.”

    He said the details of the National Assembly budget are with the ministry of Finance, but when reminded that the budget is a first line charge and only the National Assembly can make it public, he denied knowledge of the budgetary processes of the National Assembly.

    Next year, N971,784,000,000 will be expended on first line charges, N380,020,000,000 for statutory transfers made up of N67 billion to the National Judicial Council; N57,424,000,000 to the Niger Delta Development Commission; N72,246,000,000 to the Universal Basic Education; N150 billion to the National Assembly; N32 billion to INEC and N1.35 billion to the National Human Rights Commission.

    The balance of N591,764,000,000 is to be spent on debt servicing in 2013 with N543,376,000,000 earmarked for domestic debts servicing and N48,388,000,000 for foreign debts servicing.

    Some agencies that report directly to the executive are also guilty of not making their annual budgetary allocations public. These include the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) and over 20 other agencies.

    The practice of keeping agency budgets secret has been a source of running controversy over the years with all those involved ignoring the call for transparency and accountability in the way they allocations are spent and holding to old practices of non disclosure.

     

  • Kia ranks among ‘Top 100 Best Global Brands’

    Kia ranks among ‘Top 100 Best Global Brands’

    Kia Motors Corporation has entered the list of the ‘Top 100 Best Global Brands,’ according to the 2012 study released by Interbrand, the world’s largest brand consultancy agency.

    Kia’s remarkable increase in brand value is now estimated at $4.1 billion, which firmly sets the automaker at 87th place on the ‘Top 100 Best Global Brands’ list. This is a 50 per cent increase from last year’s estimated brand value and far exceeds the average automotive brand value growth rate of 11 per cent.

    The 2012 edition of Interbrand’s annual ‘Best Global Brands’ study was executed through a comprehensive brand performance analysis using best practice research methodology by expert analysts. The study measures a corporation’s financial performance in terms of the raw financial return to investors; role that a brand plays in the actual purchase decision; and brand strength, which is the ability of a brand to secure the delivery of expected future earnings.

    The strong increase in Kia’s brand value closely mirrors the company’s recent surge in global sales, which have posted three consecutive double-digit year-on-year gains to cement Kia’s position as the world’s fastest growing major automotive brand. Over this three year period (2008-2011), Kia’s annual global sales have grown by 81 per cent to nearly 2.5 million units.

    Chief Commercial Officer of Dana Motors Limited Mr Sandeep Malhotra said: “Entering the ‘Top 100 Best Global Brands’ validates Kia’s commitment to continuously provide exciting and inspiring brand experiences. And it is amazing to see what we can accomplish by staying true to who we are – a young and dynamic challenger that goes beyond expectations.”

    According to Marketing Manager for Kia in Nigeria, Kayode Adejumo, “We are excited to be in the Top 100 globally and this leadership position is also evident in Nigeria as well. Our brands are award winners both locally and internationally and we are honoured and inspired to do even more for our customers.”

  • Imo workers decry four years of non-promotion

    The Chairman of the Joint Public Service Negotiation Council in Imo, Mr Coleman Okwara, has decried the failure of the state government to promote its workers in the past four years.

    Okwara, who lamented the situation in a statement, said the government’s inaction did not make room for good worker/government relationship.

    He noted that the workers in the state were last promoted in 2008, adding that denying them promotion after working hard for the state amounted to insensitivity.

    “Promotion is supposed to be an annual event, but sometimes the government places embargo on it. This does not favour the workers. Workers deserve to be promoted,” he said.

    He said the council had approached the state government many times on the matter but nothing had been done.

    Okwara also expressed the workers’ displeasure with the government’s inability to fulfil other agreements it reached with them four months ago.

    He, however, advised the workers to be calm but said they would not hesitate to embark on industrial action if nothing was done by the end of the month.

    In his reaction, the state’s Commissioner for Information, Mr Chinedu Offor, explained that the government had lifted the ban on promotion but that promotion had a process which must be followed.

    He recalled that Governor Rochas Okorocha’s administration had never toyed with the welfare of the workers.

    He said the governor was able to clear the backlog of two month’s salary arrears owed the workers when he assumed office.

    He said the governor paid 10 months backlog of pension to retirees, increased workers’ minimum wage and approved dressing allowance for them.

    Offor urged the workers to be patient with the government as it was doing everything to meet their demands.

     

  • ‘Foreign control of tourism, hospitality aid capital flight’

    Continued foreign dominance of the tourism and hospitality business in Nigeria has been described as a source of capital flight to the country.

    Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Okon Ewa, who stated this in Lagos, argued that the trend had to be stopped for the benefit of the country.

    Speaking at a national workshop organised by the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) in collaboration with the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism, he said as an agency under the ministry, NOTAP had during interactions with the firms engaged in the hospitality business and discovered that most of the big hotels operating in the country were being managed by foreign services providers from Europe, America and South Africa.

    He said the situation in the industry is robbing the nation of huge capital both in terms of technology application and the human resources.

    “The implication of this scenario is that the nation pays huge sums of money in foreign exchange annually as technology fees to foreign managers of these hotels. This trend does not augur well for the development of the Nigerian economy,” the minister said.

    He, therefore, called on stakeholders in the industry to map out strategies to reverse the trend to achieve the Transformation Agenda of the Federal Government.

    With the theme: Improving technology transfer capabilities and capacity building in the hotels and allied services sector in Nigeria, the forum was convened to encourage capacity building and development in the sector by building a critical mass of skilled manpower needed and the development of indigenous hotel brands that can compete favourably with the international hotel chains.

    According to him, “Workshops, such as this, will create the necessary platform for robust interaction and exchange of ideas, among participants, to formulate new policies and strategies aimed at encouraging the development of indigenous capacity and capabilities for managing hotels in Nigeria.”

    He disclosed that these entails human capital development and emergence of more indigenous hotels, brand names that can compete favourably with some of the globally-rated hotel chains in Europe, America, and other countries.

    For Director-General of NOTAP, Umar Bindir, there is a need to embrace modern technology to improve the performance of the hospitality business in the country.

    He pledged NOTAP’s readiness to continue partnering with stakeholders in all sectors of the economy by carrying out the registration of contracts/agreement for the transfer of technology into the economy.

    “In addition, the agency carries out monitoring exercises on a continuous basis of the implementation of contracts/agreements having effect in Nigeria,” he said.

     

     

     

     

  • CIBN flays amendment of CBN Act

    CIBN flays amendment of CBN Act

    The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) has said that the proposed amendment of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act would jeopardize the membership composition of the Board.

    CIBN President, Segun Aina said the proposed bill will reduce the impact of the CBN’s management on the board’s decisions, as it will create situations where only one member of its management, the Governor, sits on the CBN’s seven man board.

    He said that currently, five members of the management of CBN, that is, the Governor and Deputy Governors, sit on a 12 -man board.  This, he said, does not augur well for good governance and management succession.

    The board composition proposed by the Bill increases the number of direct government officials on the CBN Board from two to five despite the almost 50 per cent reduction in the board’s size. “Consequently the new composition would create the perception of a government majority on the Board.  This is capable of undermining the “independence” of the CBN and may lead to unintended consequences,” he said.

    According to him, the situation where the Governor acts as Chairman of the CBN’s Board is aligned to international best practice and is designed to support the independence of the CBN. Such independence, he explained, includes the authority of the apex bank to manage or handle its own operations without excessive involvement of the government.

    Such practices, he maintained, exists in many countries including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Japan and Netherlands, India, Korea. The same is true of other African Countries such as The Gambia, Ghana, Botswana, Zambia, Kenya and South Africa.

    “A survey of many Central Bank Boards, in countries at various levels of development revealed that, without exception, the Central Bank Governors act as Chairmen of the Boards of Central Banks. It is also pertinent that, in Mexico and South Korea, there are no external Directors, as their Central Banks Boards consist of solely the Governor and a number of Deputy Governors,” he said.

    Aina said many Central Bank laws set out qualifications for board members that are designed to reduce the risk of conflicts of interest. He added that board members could come from different backgrounds but must not be delegates of special interest groups. Also, some countries have mechanisms, which ensure that a wide range of political interests are involved in the appointment process and enhance, the legitimacy of the board.

    He said the ability of the Central Bank to speak out, if needed, and possibly on critical issues with respect to economic and budgetary policies, might also be impaired if the Governor, or the other members of the board are subjected to restrictive controls and this might be interpreted as political interference.

    He said the subsisting CBN Act is a product of several rigorous efforts to align with international best practices, adding that the independence and autonomy of the apex bank must be guaranteed to ensure effective execution of its mandate.

    “In this era of globalization, Nigeria cannot afford not to follow well tested and enduring global trends and practices. A truly independent and autonomous Central Bank of Nigeria has become more imperative for the integration of the Nigerian financial and economic systems with the rest of the world, and it is therefore necessary that the independence and autonomy of the Central Bank be strengthened to ensure it effectively, efficiently and successfully executes it’s very important national mandates in the interest of the economy and the citizenry,” he said.

  • Three new domestic  carriers coming, says Minister

    Three new domestic  carriers coming, says Minister

    The Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah, has said plans are afoot to establish three new domestic carriers.

    The entities, intended to bridge the existing gap in the number of carriers in service, would be private sector driven.

    Princess Oduah said operations of the entities would follow after the completion of the on-going remodelling of the 11 designate airports.

    She spoke in an interview as part of plans by the government to stimulate the growth and development of the aviation sector, in the master plan for infrastructure development.

    She said after delivering the completion of the remodelling, the next line of action would be to deliver private sector domestic carriers that stimulate the growth and development of the economy, using air transport as a catalyst.

    The minister explained that the coming of the new carriers was a direct fall out of the recent investment drive to Canada, China  and the United States, which were held with aircraft manufacturers including Boeing and Bombardier.

    She said the government’s role in the emergence of the new carriers would be to create an enabling environment by facilitating the lease and purchase of aircraft from the manufacturers under conditions that were not too stringent.

    Among the carriers that are planning to leverage on the network established by the government to facilitate aircraft leases, are Medview Airlines, TopBrass, a charter firm on scheduled operations and an unnamed carrier, that would operate from the Southsouth region.

    The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority(NCAA), it was learnt, was considering the applications of the new carriers to ensure that the promoters meet the requirements of the industry.

    Under the new regulation, NCAA is to issue certificates to operators to acquire at least two aircraft, before the air operators certificate could be issued.

    The government, investigations reveal, is considering supporting some private sector players to assist a flag carrier, to compete with foreign carriers on the 64 bilateral air services’agreements it has signed with some countries.

    While carriers from some European countries including British AIrways, Virgin Atlantic AIrways, KLM, AIr France, Lufthansa Airlines, Iberia, Turkish Airlines , operate into Nigeria, only Arik Air flies to London and America.

    The lack of reciprocity by Nigerian carriers to operate into the affected countries is due largely to failure of capacity, one of the reasons that is driving the government to facilitate a strong carrier that could compete.

    Investigations further reveal that efforts to build new international terminals at airports in the country without strong domestic carriers will not achieve the desired  results if plans by the government to use air transport a catalyst for socio-economic development is anything to go by.

  • FRSC advocates safety for road users

    FRSC advocates safety for road users

    Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Head of Operations, Abuja Command, Mr Uche Wihioka, has urged road users to take issues of safety seriously.

    Wihioka, who made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, urged the public to be safety conscious, especially drivers.

    “Road users should be safety conscious in all applications and the public should be enlightened on the use of vehicles and the risks of inadequate safety precautions.

    “It is our duty to sensitise road users in Nigeria on this issue from time to time and this is why we have organised many safety programmes in various zones.

    “We are carrying out an awareness programme for now, after which there will be enforcement of the law and punishment for any violators,’’ he said.

    According to him, every individual has a role to play in reducing the rate of accidents on the roads, and one of such roles is to possess adequate safety equipment in vehicles.

    Mrs Chinyere Nweke, a safety expert, enjoined government and safety institutions to work harder to ensure reduction of accidents.

  • Why Nigeria needs more agric engineers

    Why Nigeria needs more agric engineers

    Agricultural engineers play vital roles to ensure food security.This has brought to the fore the dearth of this group of professionals in the sector. There is, therefore, the need, to engage and train more agricultural engineers to fill the burgeoning gap in the industry, writes DANIEL ESSIET.

    THere is increasing demand for agricultural engineers in the sector. Against the backdrop of the push for modern and mechanised farming to ensure adequate food supplies, the dearth of these important professionals in the value chain has been brought to the fore. The nation cannot talk of food security without the engineers who work on various areas of the sector, spanning production, processing, packaging, land use, equipment construction and maintenance, seed improvement, biofuel development and many others.

    An agricultural engineer, depending on specialisation, is involved in the production and processing of food commodities for national and international markets. He adds value to seeds for the production goods for exports, ensuring that they meet international standards. To achieve optimal performance, farmers acquire purpose-built machines which can only be maintained by an expert. These equipment are used for canning, freezing and drying. Running these machines to attain the desired efficiencies requires the competencies of agricultural engineers. Beyond this, they analyse operations, new technologies and methods to increase yields, improve land use, and conserve resources, such as seed, water, fertilisers, pesticides, fuel and the likes.

    Speaking with The Nation, the Director General/Chief Executive, Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO), Dr Gloria Elemo, said more agricultural engineers are needed to help farmers adopt new farming practices and equipment to combat the looming food insecurity.

    According to her, with their expertise, agricultural engineers reduce crop loss from field damage, during handling, sorting, packing and processing. They also prepare the land for planting — soil engineer – and implements for harvesting to avoid loss of produce.

    She said they are a vital part of the food industry. Some work for processing companies to develop efficient processes for better products.

    At FIIRO, she said agricultural engineers are employed in research and development unit. The institute, she said, however, prefers Ph. D holders who are expected to provide solutions to a variety of problems through research. Most of them, she said, work outdoors, at times, visiting farms and rural areas, but the bulk of their work is in the laboratories doing research.

    She said there are five major areas of specialisation: farm structures, mechanical power, electrification, soil and water conservation, and food engineering. She urged more candidates to take up courses in those areas to bridge the growing demand for agric engineers.

    Elemo noted that many universities, colleges of agriculture and polytechnics have established agricultural engineering programmes.

    The universities run a Bachelor of Science programme in agricultural engineering of five academic sessions during which the students are exposed to industrial training over a 12-month period. The training period is broken into three parts of three, three and six months. The first industrial attachment is undertaken during the vacation period at the end of the second year. The second training comes during the vacation period at the end of the third year, while the last one is for six months which starts at the beginning of the second semester of the fourth year and lasts till the beginning of the following academic session when the students return to school for their final year work. She, however, noted that agricultural engineering curriculum needs to be reviewed to expand the entrepreneurial potential of agricultural engineering graduates.

    Speaking with The Nation, the Managing Director, Alvan Blanch, a British manufacturing and project engineering firm, Andrew Blanch, said the agricultural engineer is at the heart of farming. According to him, farmers need the support of a sophisticated engineering industry to produce the machines and equipment they need to guarantee the crops and livestock they grow to reach the high quality standards they must achieve to get top market prices. Also, he said farm machinery and equipment manufacturers require engineers of the highest calibre with the right skills to deal with structures, mechanisms, control systems, hydraulics and electronics, as well as having an interest and appreciation of farming systems and other relevant industry sectors.

    He said the design and operation of manufacturing systems used in the agricultural industry must rely on sound engineering principles.To this end, he said his company looks for engineers who specialise in design, production and supply of quality machines and integrated systems processing of agricultural produce and waste materials. Blanch’s company has developed systems for food processing, such as drying processes, distillation, or long term storage. The job requires visits to farms, working directly with growers, and servicing a wide variety of industries, including crops and livestock as well as manufacturing concerns and governments.

    Many tasks of an agricultural engineer are completed outdoors, but there is office work, too. During the day, he dedicates time to designing projects, such as helping to plan a new type of grain silo, improving existing models of threshing equipment, or creating a new method of grain harvesting. There are agricultural engineers who design animal housing units, or might work on bettering a slaughter-house to make it a more hygienic environment. Others test soil for chemicals, improve waste disposal and monitor water quality to make sure natural resources are protected and not exploited. Some agricultural engineers work in universities, educating newcomers to the field, while others write for farming publications. There are more chances for agricultural engineers to travel to other countries where they can help give advice on farming practices and showcase their equipment.

    Many agricultural practitioners choose to earn a professional engineers license. Although it’s not necessary, being licensed assures competencies and expands opportunities for advancement.

    The Nigerian agriculture sector, Blanch said, offers good opportunities for engineers, adding that the current system of training agricultural engineers, is inadequate for the sector’s potential for revenue creation or for the development of skills.

    He stressed the need for better co-ordination between agricultural engineering education and work. Many graduates of agriculture engineering have not even seen, or get acquainted with field machines or equipment before, or during their practical training.

    One of the more important technological advances in agricultural engineering has occurred in the use of applied enzymes. Agricultural engineers use applied enzymes to make healthier food products.

    For watchers, however, there are positive trends that are creating job opportunities for agricultural engineers.

    Many states are working toward increased agricultural mechanisation and demand is for the latest technologies and innovations that improve operating efficiencies.