The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday

  • Business tool for a successful start-up (Part 1)

    Business tool for a successful start-up (Part 1)

    INTRODUCTION:

    Most aspiring entrepreneurs are always scared of venturing  into new businesses. This is due mostly to the fear of the unknown. The questions at the back of most aspiring entrepreneurs include: Will the business succeed? Will I be able to recoup my investment? Do I have enough capital for this business? How will l penetrate the market? Who are my target customers? How will I raise funds for the business? Etc.

    But the truth is that all these questions and many others can only be answered by carrying out a detailed business plan. Lack of planning is why most businesses fail at early stage after start-up. Most of the issues that usually lead to business failure were not either anticipated or not properly prepared for due to lack of business plan. Even a business with business plan can still fail where the plan is poorly prepared.

    The adage “he who fails to plan, plans to fail” is more relevant to a start-up business. As such, every entrepreneur must understand the importance of a business plan and see it as an inevitable tool for a successful start-up.

    A good business plan must contain the following sections:

    Executive summary

    The executive summary as the name implied is a brief and concise form of the business plan. It must cover all the key points in the entire business plan. This part is prepared last and must address issues like the need or problem being addressed, target market, competition, ownership, financial highlights and funding requirement. This is the part that is very important to key stakeholders in the business. Funding partners or other investors will look at the executive summary first before looking at entire business plan.

    Company description

    This section covers the overview of the company, ownership, history, vision, mission, core values, company profile etc. From this section the share capital, the key shareholders, the shareholding structure of the company must be mentioned.

    Product and service description

    This covers the market problem or need being addressed, product and service details, unique selling proposition, critical success factor, quality control and after sale service. Key regulatory issues that will be addressed-such as NAFDAC etc.

    Target market

    This section will address the issue of market size, market growth and trends (is the market saturated, growing or declining?), key customers, market structure and value chain, future markets etc. The various segments of the market must be analysed here.

    Competition

    This section will address all available alternatives in the industry. The barriers to entry using swot or pestel analysis, competitive advantage etc. The major competitors in the target market of the company must be mentioned together with their key strengths and weaknesses.

    Management and organization

    This section will address issues such as organisational structure, key management team and their profile, total personnel requirement and their job description, salary and wages, human resource policy etc. The minimum qualifications and experiences expected from the key staff must be mentioned here and the expected date of resumption.

    Marketing and sales

    This section will have a detailed marketing and sales plans. The marketing plan will discuss the results of the market research. The promotional strategy such as advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations must be described. The detailed pricing strategy must also be described in this section.

    Operations

    This section will describe in detailed the facilities and technology required for production or service. The detailed operational procedures and resources required must be described. Various risks associated with the production or service and the mitigations must also be addressed.

    Milestones

    This is an aspect of the business plan most business owners take for granted. This section is key to measure the success and progress of the plan. Here you highlight the key metrics and various stages of implementation of the plan. It is good to have a month by month basis of what is to be done, the resources required and the personnel responsible for the delivery. This section will ensure the business plan is implemented according to the set objectives and goals.

    Financial plan

    The most important elements of this section are the financial forecasts such as Statement of Financial Position, Income Statement and Cashflow. It will also include the pre-operational expenses, capital expenses, operational expenses, cost and revenue forecast. The section must also have sensitivity analysis by looking at various scenarios of the revenue and cost profile. The various financing options available and the exit strategy must be discussed in this section.

    Conclusion

    Every aspiring entrepreneur must ensure that the business plan is giving priority before going into it.  It is better to spend just a fraction of the entire capital in coming up with a viable business plan than having to lose your entire capital due to inadequate or poorly prepared plan. For an existing business owner that is struggling due to lack of business plan, it is never too late. You can still engage a professional to help you with one. That may be the tonic you need to turn around that business.

    The more reason, most of the training programmes of the government for aspiring and existing business owners always include a course on business plan writing. Let us all take advantage of this training including the BIG/GEM project of the Federal Ministry of Finance that is currently running.

     

    Tomi Omojuwa

    tomiomojuwa@gmail.com

    08134354847 (WhatsApp only)

  • Gov Bello and probe of Kogi ex-governors

    Gov Bello and probe of Kogi ex-governors

    KOGI State, going by the reaction of ex-governor ibrahim Idris to Governor Yahaya Bello’s 2016 probe of past administrations, has curiously become a state where both cynicism and sarcasm reign. There is no other way to interpret Mr Bello’s impulsive decision, more than one year ago, to probe the administrations of his predecessors, starting from 2003. The youthful and exuberant governor did not explain why his probe did not extend to 1999. Perhaps it was because the governor at the time, Abubakar Audu, is deceased; or perhaps because in one of the crazy quirks of Nigerian politics, his own government is in some way an offshoot of the Prince Audu electoral mandate.

    It had to be cynicism for Mr Bello to, in early October 2016, justify the composition of the seven-man panel headed by Justice Wada Abubakar Umar to probe his predecessors when he said: “My administration is ready to put Kogi on the path of development. I urge the people to assist the commission in the discharge of its assignment.” It is curious that a governor who assumed office without any plan whatsoever, and who has so far developed none, could speak of readiness to put the state on the path of development. What development? Is a state developed simply by probes and by asseverations?

    In about two unfruitful years in office, Mr Bello has relied almost exclusively on probes and staff screenings to give a semblance of governance. When he embarked on a lengthy and repeated screening of public sector workers, the public thought he truly expected to be able to streamline government workers, eliminate ghost workers, and lay the foundation for an effective and efficient civil service. The workers are today disillusioned. They now see his screening exercises, some of them repeated three times, as a ruse to either delay salary payment or avoid it altogether.

    The oppressed and long-suffering public sector workers see his screenings and probes as cynical options to his bureaucratic laziness and lack of foresight. In place of plans, which require enormous amount of cerebral work and economic modelling, Mr Bello gives Kogi the impression of activity and assiduousness. When finally the judicial panel on the probes of ex-governors submitted its report, there was no indication of the gross maladministration and financial shenanigans the Bello government hoped to unearth. But perhaps the panel chairman kept those unseemly details under wraps, leaving the governor to disclose them at his own leisure. Kogites hope he will soon expose and publicise the seedy details and justify the red herrings and tactical delays.

    But responding to the probe more than seven months after the panel submitted its report, one of the governors whose administration was also probed, Ibrahim Idris, alias Ibro, sarcastically suggested that the exercise was a futile one. In his words: “What have they been able to see? They are chasing shadows. When the time comes, the people of Kogi State will be able to tell where they belong to…We have learnt from our past mistakes and we now know how to arrange our plates and calabashes together so that they won’t break again. Because we are human beings, we are bound to make mistakes; and as human beings, we must accept that. There is no perfect human being, except God. So we should accept that we have made mistakes. This present administration in Kogi State has failed the people.  When they came on board, the expectations of people were very high. Unfortunately, Yahaya Bello has failed woefully, and the people of Kogi State are ready to vote him out in 2020.”

    It is not clear what the Bello government found in the probes, whether he discovered sordid details of sleaze and inane administration, such as are alien to his own peculiarly incompetent government. Kogi voters are themselves not fond of Mr Idris, nor of his successor, the pilot, Idris Wada. Should Mr Bello find them guilty of gross maladministration, Kogites would be pleased to encourage him to bring them to justice. Indeed, the ardent hope of everyone is that past administrations of the state would be brought to condign punishment on account of the depredation they visited on the state. Having suffered so much under a string of incompetent and abusive governors, Kogites would love to see some of their tormentors tormented in return. So, by all means, let Mr Bello indulge his futile lollipops.

    Yet, every kogite knows that the problem of the state is much more than the stealing that has blighted it. They know from experience that what ails the state and unnerves its people is more of incompetence than corruption. The corruption visited on the state is not any more pernicious than that visited on most other states. But, unfortunately, in addition to corruption, Kogi is destroyed for lack of competence. As a matter of fact, Mr Bello is the culmination and personification of that destructive disease laying the state waste.

    Mr Idris is, however, right about one thing, regardless of the fact that he contributed immensely by his poor judgement and lazy policies to the retardation of the state: Mr Bello will be punished by the electorate in 2020, and he will be lucky not to end in the jail he hopes by his judicial panels to snare his predecessors. Mr Idris helped to foist an incompetent successor on the state, based almost entirely on ethnic sentiment, and can thus not claim to love the state or possess the vision and intellect required to unify and develop that state. Mr Bello will not even get the chance to foist anyone, competent or otherwise, on the state in 2020. He will be preoccupied with protecting his freedom after the next governorship poll.

    The former governor also spoke in fatalistic tones of the inescapability of making mistakes. The problem with the Idris and Wada governments is not that they made mistakes, which they made by the bucketful and remorselessly, but that they simply are incapable of determining what is wrong and what is right. Their cracked moral compass led them down the ignoble path of deliberately failing to appreciate what they needed to do to guarantee a glorious and rich future for the state. Given the chance again, none of those who have ruled the state would choose a different path. They are too prejudiced, too self-centred, and too parochial to know better.

    Mr Wada has kept discretely silent. He has nothing to say or contribute, not even to demonstrate the penitence that normally follows the adoption of tragic choices. Indeed, it is not clear what angers Mr Idris more: Mr Bello’s disrespectful consideration of the politics and legacy of his predecessors, or the fact that his ethnic stock has been so sidelined by the vengeful, irreverent and vexatious Mr Bello. Both Mr Wada and Mr Idris were provincial and short-sighted in government. It would be tragic if in deciding to free themselves from the oppression and incompetence of Mr Bello, Kogites should once again submit to the poor leadership and tyranny invoked and propagated by Messrs Idris and Wada. They do not deserve any listening ear.

    There will be no end to the tomfoolery of Mr Bello. He is not capable of inspiring even himself, not to talk of rousing his state to the “path of development” he so glibly referred to when he defended his atrocious style of indulging in unending screenings and investigative panels. Kogi should get a respite in 2020, but it is not clear whether the voters themselves understand that their crass ethnic politics and prejudices make them the architects of their own misfortune. They are the only ones who can free themselves, assuming they do not continue to regard the shoe that pinches them as the malevolent effort of their enemies’ transferred aggression.

  • CIN to provide compliance jobs platform for inductees

    CIN to provide compliance jobs platform for inductees

    The Compliance Institute, Nigeria(CIN), will provide inductees the platform to secure good compliance jobs and professional dignity, the President of the Institute Pattison Boleighaon, has assured.

    The CIN boss made the remark during the first annual general meeting and induction/investiture ceremony of the institute held at the Lagos Business School, Lagos, last weekend.

    Addressing the audience, Boleighaon said: “For our inductees you should be proud to be the pioneer members of this institute and consider yourselves privileged to be part of this historic achievement. We want to assure that your Compliance certification will open doors of opportunities for you as compliance professionals are in very high demand today. Compliance skills are not very common in this part of the world and you have been given the rare honour of blazing the trail in Nigeria. We are aware that in Europe and America today Compliance professionals are amongst one of the highest paid banking staff, with some of them sometimes negotiating huge sign-on fees like footballers.

    “This Institute will provide that platform to secure good compliance jobs and professional dignity. We welcome you to wear your membership badges with pride.We have lined up numerous membership benefits on our website, such as on-line training facilities, webinar, podcasts, conferences and various learning resources to continually update your knowledge. Our membership registration processes are online and seamless with ability to pay online using all cards and card less payment systems.”

    Speaking on the future plan of the institute, he said: “We intend to have over 2,000 members by the end of 2018. The institute will spread its activities to cover the rest of West Africa within the next one year. We are also in talks with industry compliance experts from the oil & gas, telecommunications and manufacturing sectors to include curricula for these sectors of our economy.

  • Buhari, Tinubu, Osinbajo and 2019

    Buhari, Tinubu, Osinbajo and 2019

    In its lead story of Wednesday, December 13, the Daily Sun newspaper reported that President Muhammadu Buhari may have decided to pick a top leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as his running mate if he decides to contest the 2019 presidential elections. Citing unnamed ‘competent sources’ within the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), the report claimed that the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has indicated his desire to retire to full time ministry at the church where he has been a pastor for several years. Consequently, according to the newspaper, Buhari plans to pick Tinubu as his running mate in 2019 as the latter is perceived as the only one capable of mobilizing the South West behind the President, which is very crucial in a situation where the South- South and South-East may most likely vote solidly for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    For this kind of very sensitive story to be credible, it ought certainly to have been corroborated by reliable sources within the APC, the camp of Asiwaju Tinubu as well as the offices of President Buhari and Professor Osinbajo. It was not. This column has no business speculating about the motives for the story. Such an enterprise is immaterial and unproductive. But the implications of the report are obvious. It is capable of poisoning relationships within the APC, setting contending tendencies within the party against each other and driving them further apart while making it more difficult for the party to evolve from the 2015 election-winning coalition it was conceived and actualized as into an organizationally cohesive and ideologically coherent political entity.

    Ordinarily, it should be the internal business of party members whether they are able to achieve intra-party harmony or not. But the institutionalization of a stable, viable and resilient party system is a necessary condition for the strengthening and consolidation of the country’s evolving democracy. Political parties are too central and critical to our political process for their affairs to be considered the internal business of party members alone. This is why both the APC and PDP, their current shortcomings notwithstanding, must be assisted to overcome their weaknesses, strengthen their internal structures and processes, overhaul and sanitize their organizational values as well as continuously define and refine their ideological orientation. The effort, energy and resources that went into their formation as potentially viable and durable political structures must not be allowed to go to waste. Yes, several parties will continue to legitimately exist in our multi-party system. But we cannot be eternally creating new party coalitions and alliances if democracy is to be strengthened and stabilized in Nigeria.

    It is a good thing that the Asiwaju Tinubu media office has vigorously and pungently denied the Daily Sun report. The statement issued by the office in response to the report makes it crystal clear that having endorsed and supported Professor Osinbajo’s nomination as Vice-Presidential candidate to Buhari for the 2015 election, there is no looking back for Asiwaju. It is a matter of honour, decency, credibility and integrity. Demonstrating that Tinubu’s backing for Osinbajo stands resolute and constant, his media office succinctly asserted that “Asiwaju Tinubu and the people of the Southwest have absolute confidence and are exceedingly proud of the excellent job Prof. Osinbajo is doing as Vice President of Nigeria”. On what basis, therefore, this implies can anyone logically, morally and justly deny Osinbajo the right to continue in his present role if Buhari is the APC’s choice to fly its flag in 2019?

    Even then, the Daily Sun story raises some pertinent issues, which deserve to be examined. First, it reflects the perception of a so-called frosty relationship between Buhari and Tinubu, which is just thawing. Is there any basis for this? Does Tinubu have cause to entertain any grouse against Buhari as insinuated in some quarters? I don’t think so. Tinubu’s pivotal role both in the formation of the APC and the electoral triumph of the Buhari/Osinbajo ticket is universally acknowledged. This is a historic feat. For one, it has brought the progressives of the South-West to the mainstream of Nigerian politics at the centre for the first time in the country’s history. Even though the process may be slow and protracted, it places the region at a vantage position to exert pressure for its long desired deepening of federalism in Nigeria.

    Again, apart from the Vice presidency, in the APC administration citizens of Yoruba extraction head key Ministries of the federal government including Finance; Works, Power and Housing; Solid Minerals; Information and Culture; Telecommunications and Health. This is in addition to no less than two dozen other persons, Yoruba and non-Yoruba, today playing prominent roles at various levels in various critical agencies and offices in the Buhari administration who were talents spotted by Tinubu as governor of Lagos State, encouraged to go into politics or appointed into public office on merit. This should certainly give Tinubu a deep sense of satisfaction and fulfillment as it confirms his genius as a talent hunter and inspirational leader capable of discovering and nurturing leadership potentials.

    Furthermore, the Daily SUN story raises the recurrent specter of the role of religion in the country’s public life. For, it insinuated that the fictional 2019 Buhari/Tinubu ticket was in pursuit of the agenda of foisting a Muslim-Muslim ticket on the country. All too often, opportunistic politicians and other individuals and groups stoke religious fears, suspicions and acrimonies in pursuit of their selfish partisan and pecuniary interests. For instance, the federal government’s recent obtaining of Sukuk bonds worth N100 billion for developmental purposes was ridiculously condemned by some religious groups as an attempt to Islamize Nigeria! We must work assiduously towards transcending this unsavoury situation whereby unscrupulous elements exploit base religious sentiments to divide Nigerians and set them against each other.

    It is instructive that President Buhari, an ascetic and fervent Muslim and Vice President Osinbajo, an ardent Christian and pastor are working so closely and effectively together to lift Nigeria to higher socio-economic, political and moral pedestals. Both men are icons of ethical integrity, which demonstrates that elevated virtues are not the monopoly of any religion. Professor Osinbajo, a Christian, was appointed by Tinubu, a Muslim, as Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice of Lagos State in 1999. For eight years he served as the Chief Law officer of Lagos State and one of the most trusted, respected and influential members of the Tinubu administration. These kinds of example offer hope that religious prejudice, extremism and bigotry can ultimately not triumph in Nigeria. And as for the speculation that Professor Osinbajo plans to go into full time pastoral office rather than continue to offer public service, there can be nothing more nonsensical in my view. He is making much more impact on millions today by being a practical model and example of integrity in leadership.

     

    Ambode transforms Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre 

    Yours truly could not believe his eyes when yesterday, at the Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa, he beheld the brand new, radically modernized and totally transformed Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre from where the press corps that covers activities of the Lagos State government operate. Before the construction of the press centre by the military administration of General Mohammed Buba Marwa, journalists on the Lagos State government had to make use of a small, stuffy room in a block in one of the ministries. When he assumed office in 1999, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu named the edifice the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre in honour of The News magazine’s journalist who was murdered by the security goons of the vicious Sani Abacha dictatorship. The structure was upgraded, rehabilitated and given a face lift at various times under the administrations of Asiwaju Tinubu and Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN).

    What Governor Ambode has turned the edifice into is, however, something else completely. The conference room is equipped with the latest state of the art furniture, digital communication equipment and other facilities that provide an ideal and dignified environment for journalists to do their work. There is now a full scale, high tech, modern editing suite in the building to replace the one inherited by the administration. And the office of the Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Habib Haruna, would compete favourably with that of the CEO of a private sector multinational! This edifice once again demonstrates the governor, Mr Akinunmi Ambode’s commitment to the highest standards in the ongoing infrastructure revolution in the state of excellence. It also a reflection of the dynamism and efficiency of the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde and the Chief Press Secretary with the astute administrative back up of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Mrs. Kofoworola Awobamise.

    On hand to witness the commissioning of the born again Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre by the representative of the governor, Prince. Rotimi Ogunleye, Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, were former Chief Press Secretaries, senior media executives and editors as well as representatives of the Nigeria Guild of Editors, Nigeria Union of Journalists and the International Press Centre. Once again, Lagos has shown the light for others to find the way.  This is another feather to governor Ambode’s cap.

  • LBS launchs digital financial services

    The Lagos Business School (LBS) has said Nigeria’s development agenda must incorporate digital financial inclusion, hence the launch of the digital financial services by the school.

    The Financial Inclusion Conference 2017 was organised by the  LBS in collaboration with the BusinessDay, Microsave and the International Finance Corporation (IFC)

    In a statement made available to The Nation, the LBS appealed to governments at all levels and relevant agencies in Nigeria to work together and execute policies that would promote financial inclusion in the country.

    The Dean of the school, Enase Okonedo, said that financial inclusion had become a global trend hence the need to organise the conference so that Nigeria could achieve the desired objectives of the policy.

    He said the Sustainable and Inclusive Digital Financial Services initiative of the LBS launched the Digital Financial Services in Nigeria, adding that the report contained evidence-based insights on the state of financial inclusion in the country.

    According to him, using consumer demographic profiles, the report describes the characteristics of potential financial service- customers and also presents an examination of the policy and legal statutes guiding financial inclusion, while proffering market-enabling strategies for attaining the Central Bank of Nigeria’s commitment of 20 percent financial inclusion by 2020.

    Board Chairman of EfinA, Modupe Ladipo, said consumer protection was essential in financial inclusion as different consumers have different needs. “As a matter of necessity, we need to embark on research to know what our diverse populations of consumers want. Let us move from office-led practice of operations to a consumer-led practice,” she counselled.

    Ladipo who insisted Nigeria must meet global standards of operations, urged regulators to be more flexible and drive policies that would satisfy customers.

  • A thought for Moses

    A thought for Moses

    The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) award for African players in Europe is one prize big African players strive to win every year. Winners emerge from an exhaustive voting system, which cannot be faulted. I tried voting several times for Victor Moses, but the feedback kept reminding me that I had voted. I marvel at the efficacy of the voting system.

    What stands the BBC Africa Footballer of the Year Award out is that players are assessed based on their performance in one calendar year – January to December each year. So, it is easy to compare what the winner has achieved based on what others earned, when controversies, such as the Moses issue, crop up. Moses could have lost ground this year due to an injury which ruled him out of action for close to seven weeks, during which Salah was scoring goals for Liverpool and Egypt with aplomb.

    Salah, who is the English Premier League’s top scorer with 13 goals, is on the right path with a specially outstanding year for both club and country. He was the central figure for Egypt as they finished runners-up at the Africa Cup of Nations early this year. Salah was the architect of the seven goals, with which the Pharaohs qualified for the Russia 2018 World Cup. He scored five goals, provided two assists, which led to goals, as the Egyptians finally ended one of African football’s biggest mysteries.

    But will Salah’s BBC feat shut out Moses from winning the Africa Footballer of the Year award in Ghana in  January? Not likely. we have instances in the past where BBC winners lost the Africa Footballer of the award. Besides, the period September 2016 to June 2017 showed clearly that Moses was the best African player in Europe for both club and country.

    Nigerians have an apathy for online voting. It has cost us dearly, if one recalls how Austin Okocha lost to the pony-tail haired Moroccan Mustapha Hadji in the Africa Footballer of the year award in 1998, despite Okocha’s mercurial performance at the France’98 World Cup. The decision shook the world because Okocha was clearly Africa’s best. He did so well that he became the highest paid player in the French league playing for Paris Saint Germain (PSG) FC of France. Morocco was at the Mundial, making many to wonder what informed Hadji’s choice over Okocha. Need I ask anyone to do a comparison of Okocha and Hadji? No contest, yet Okocha lost because the Francophone region sees anyone from their abode as theirs. This explains why most of the past winners are from the Francophone areas.

    Moses may have lost because of the pedigree of his English side, Chelsea put against Liverpool among the Europeans. Many who are ardent followers of the game will easily vote for Salah, who has been Liver pool FC’s best player. Indeed, Liverpool’s global fan base is awesome, especially when the team is doing well. Besides, the Arab world will vote en masse for Salah, an edge Moses won’t even enjoy among Nigerians. Egyptians literally worship Salah. He practically guided Egypt to the Russia 2018 World Cup, like Moses did for Nigeria.

    Salah  has scored 18 goals for Liverpool this season (13 EPL, 5 UCL). He scored 17 goals for Roma FC of Italy last season (15 goals in the Serie A and two goals in Europa). These figures show that Salah did well for his European side, Roma in the Serie A, although the team didn’t win the Italian League diadem. Moses with Chelsea, won the prestigious English Premier League. Perhaps, playing at the Europa League where he scored two goals gave Salah the edge. On the contrary, Chelsea didn’t play in Europe, so its feats could be localised even if the EPL is the world’s acclaimed best.

    Moses played 40 games for Chelsea last season, scoring four goals. He became the Nigerian player with the most English Premier League appearances for a title winning team. On 27 May 2017, he played in the 2017 FA Cup Final against Arsenal which Chelsea lost 2-1. After being booked for a foul on Danny Welbeck, Moses got another booking. This resulted in a red card, after diving in the penalty area. He became the fifth player to be sent off in an FA Cup final.

    Moses’ loss should be our wake-up call for online voting when one of the contestants is a Nigerian. With a population of 200 million. Winning such awards for deserving Nigerian should be a right. Moses is our brightest for any football award today. If he doesn’t win the 2016 Africa Footballer of the Year award in January, it will take another Nigerian close to five years to make the final three cut. With the way Salah is playing, he is mostly likely to win this year’s edition. He may not leave Liverpool in June, next year, no matter what Real Madrid or the other big spenders offer him.

    It appears Salah and Moses will reenact the Messi/Ronaldo scenario in Africa. On Tuesday night, Moses joined the league of Nigerians who have played 200 matches in the English Premier League (EPL). Same night, Salah was crowned the best player in Liverpool for November. As we wait for Confederation of African Football (CAF’s) decision, pundits only hope that the best player emerges.

    We will celebrate Moses, if he nicks it for Nigeria after over 18 years wait. Some people are fasting for Chelsea to triumph in the tough opposition they will be facing in the two-legged ties against FC Barcelona in one of the Round of 16 matches. A loss by Chelsea (God forbid) will count less for Moses, if Salah is still playing at the UEFA Champions League after the round of 16. This isn’t to say that Liverpool’s two-legged ties against Porto in the round of 16 will be a stroll in the park. In football, anything is possible.

    My worry for Moses at the continental level for the Africa Footballer of the Year Award is Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who plays for Borrussia Dortumd in the Bundesliga. Aubameyang finished as the Bundesliga’s top scorer with 31 goals last season.

     

    Eagles need a psychologist

    NFF President Amaju Pinnick has done the right thing by taking responsibility for the mistake which led to the point deduction by FIFA, even though it didn’t affect Nigeria’s qualification for the Russia 2018 World Cup.

    The mistake would have been costlier if we needed the draw against Algeria to qualify. thank god it isn’t the case. However, it is good to see that the NFF has constituted a four-man committee to take appropriate action against the offenders. I don’t know the committee’s mandate but I expect they must introduce a body, which will document all our international matches’ details, not just Super Eagles’.

    Those to be punished must be given fair hearing. No one should be made the fall guy for some ”untouchables”. Dead woods should be removed from NFF’s operations, given its history with such administrative lapses. Nigerians should be patient with the committee to enable it do a thorough job. There should be no media trial.

    What happened with the point deduction should inform the need for the operations of the team to be run professionally. This idea of doing Gernot Rohr’s biddings has backfired. Rohr picked the team. He should have asked questions on players’ eligibility for the game before sending out information.

    NFF chiefs should appoint a psychologist for the Eagles. This idea of Rohr doubling as coach and psychologist is unacceptable. The shame from the point deduction is the NFF’s not Rohr’s, but he too should take the flak and apologise like Pinnick did.

    The other 31 teams going to the Mundial next year have psychologist(s) distinct from the manager, who is the technical head of the squad. Nigeria shouldn’t be exception to the rule. If the composition of national teams includes having a psychologist, the NFF must hire one now. Rohr can walk away tomorrow but we must be seen to have done the needful.

  • Social welfare, responsibility and  politics

    I  went  to a Christmas  Party  for  Annuitants  of  Leadway this week  and  I was amazed  and impressed  by the way this Nigerian  Insurance  company  has leveraged the concept of corporate social responsibility to  project  its    image as that of a socially responsible corporate  citizen  of the   Nigeran  corporate   environment.This is in sharp  contrast   to the devil  may  care attitude  of the bank  where  I retired and  where  for seven  months my pension was  not paid because I did  not show up for  verification   on which I  had  no  information or communication  whatsoever.   I  got  the  Leadway  invitation  as an  Annuitant  and the concept was explained  lucidly  at the event  by the organisers  whose motive was to ensure  that Annuitants live well  and long to  enjoy their  annuity in good health.  Again  I doff my heart  to  Leadway  as a caring corporate  organization and that should  override  any criticism   I  may make about its   event, the practice of corporate  social responsibility in  Nigeria  or even  the history of the welfare state, all  of which   I  am  focusing on today and all  flowing from the thoughtful XmasParty for  Annuitants  of  Leadway  at which  all  Annuitants went home gratefully with six yards  of quality   Ankara  prints.

    The  organisers  of the Leadway Annuitants party had  the welfare of  Annuitants very  much  in mind but in a way  they overplayed  their part and portrayed  the Annuitants in bad light which  was not their intention.  Imagine  the Gynaecologist  brought in to talk on health  and good living asking ladies to  be touching  their breasts looking for signs of cancer in the midst of men who tried  to look  straight  in obvious embarrassment. The event was not an ante natal or post natal  clinic and that was superfluous  and uncalled for. Annuitants  have earned their annuity through  hard work over the years and should not be treated as disabled  people  or humans who do not know their left from their  right.

    Anyway  that  threw  my mind back  to the origin  of the welfare state from  where  the concept  of contributory  pension  sprang  from,  especially  in Britain in the thirties  or the years  preceding the Second  World War. Indeed  it was the  1942 Beveridge Report   titled ‘Social  Insurance  and  Allied  Services ‘written  by  Lord William  Beveridge  that recommended   that    the  British  government should  look  after its citizens  from ‘cradle to grave  ‘and protect them  from the’ Great Dangers of –  Want, Ignorance, Disease, Idleness, and  Squalor’. The  Report insisted that each  citizen  must pay  a flat tax  as contribution  and that  was the genesis of the welfare state,  the   famous NHS  in the UK    and  of  course  the caring for  Annuitants which  Leadway  did  so well    this  week.

    The  politics  in the origin of  the Beveridge  Report  also  caught my fancy  and imagination. The composition of the Committee  was bipartisan  and its  report came out during  theWW2 years.  Indeed  Winston  Churchill, Britain’s most  successful War  PM lost  the 1945  elections  because  he felt  the Beveridge Report should not be implemented immediately after the war because of other expenditure arising from the war. But  the   Labour Party led by Clement Attlee  thought differently  and campaigned on its immediate implementation and won the 1945  elections and Attlee  became PM. But again in 1951  when  Attlee  got overconfident and called    a snap  election  he lost  and Winston Churchill  returned  to power  till 1954. The  lesson  here  is that welfare issues  have always played a  major part in British  politics  and this was obvious in the snap election on Brexit that Theresa  May  called recently.   She    lost her  party   majority  because  the British electorate was  concerned  about its welfare in the face of massive immigration and the fear of erosion of welfare benefits generally in Britain.

    It  is my belief  that governments must  look  after  the welfare of their  citizens  not  only as pensioners, annuitants and shareholders but equally  as young people  looking for a career or  the golden  fleece.  And    governments  especially  in the three tiers  of governance  and government  in Nigeria must  create jobs  for  Nigerian youths  so that they don’t flee our  shores  and become slaves in Libya or some wicked foreign  land where  they  are sold several  times  over and tortured by wicked  people who exploit  their  innocent  and legitimate  pursuit of a better life and future  for themselves.  Obviously  these  youths  migrate out of desperation, risking  their lives  on the High  seas  to  reach  Europe.  Angela Merkel,  the German  Chancellor  risked  her political life to accommodate migrants   fleeing   wars   in the Middle  East especially  young ones with families but she is  about losing her leadership   both  of Germany and EU  on  account of this. Nigerian  youths  are not fleeing wars but are fleeing poverty, starvation, joblessness  and are  now  running headlong into slavery  in  Libya.

    Its high time our  governments stopped  this mass  slavery  and the disgrace  of the flower of  Nigerian  youths and the way  forward  is to provide  jobs, jobs  and more jobs to forestall this disgraceful  modern slavery  in our midst.

    On   the world  stage  I  want  to look at two issues  from Australia  and Alabama  US and  tie them with the concept of social welfare, responsibility  which  we have pursued  so  far. In  Australia a report  has just been  published  which showed  that religious  leaders have sexually  violated young boys in their  care  for ages. The  Catholic  Church, the Anglican Church  and Jehovah  Witness  are  all  involved. This  sort  of revelation  must  have made Australians to recognize  gay marriage  as law in that  nation recently. The  religious  institutions in Australia have betrayed their trust as reposed  in them  as  educational  institutions  and have ruined the lives of innocent youths  in their custody  and that is anti social,  irresponsible  and  quite pathetic.  The report  went on to advise Catholic Authorities  to reconsider the concept of celibacy  for priests.  That  is like closing the stable  doors after the horses  have bolted. But  then  the religious  institutions  must  reform  or change  their  calling and stop  using salvation  to blackmail  their  followers  when  in real life they do the opposite  of what they  preach.

    However  in Alabama  where  the politician  supported  by US President Donald  Trump  lost the senatorial  seat   to a Democratic  candidate, the  dark observations of the loser are  what I want to share.  The  loser  Roy  Moore  has not conceded  defeat even  though  Donald  Trump  has congratulated the winner. The  loser  who  came to the polling booth on horseback  with his wife warned  reporters not to  frighten their horses  with their flashlight  as the horses  may be violent.  That surely  showed  the gruff  cowboy  attitude  of the former Alabama Supreme Court  judge.  But  his warnings  to Americans are universal  and apply  to  all  of us especially Africans. Moore  said  Americans  are  in a struggle to preserve their  republic, civilization and religion . He  lamented  that  abortion, sodomy and  materialism    have  taken  over the pursuit of life, liberty  and the pursuit of happiness  that the founders   of  America laid  as the nation’s  cornerstone   values. Yet  this candidate  lost mainly  because  of unproven  charges  of sexual  harassment  over thirty  years  ago. So  in Australia  priests  abuse  boys  in their custody  and get  away  with  murder  as it were given that there  was no punishment other  than opprobrium.   Whereas  in  Alabama  a bible  thumping cowboy judge lost  because  of  sexual  harassment    thirty    years    ago  dug out a month  before election  date.  Who  is socially responsible between  the  Australian  priests  and the  Alabama  judge  and where  indeed  does  the welfare   of  Australians or  Alabamans lie in all  these   chicanery?   For  now  let us   conclude  that  God  knows best. Once  again  long live the Federal  Republic of Nigeria.

  • Hisense acquires Toshiba TV business for $115m

    Hisense acquires Toshiba TV business for $115m

    Global home appliances manufacturing giant, Hisense Electronic Company Ltd, has acquired 95% shares of Toshiba Visual Corporation (TVS), the television business subsidiary of the Toshiba Corporation. This acquisition includes Toshiba TV productions, brands and operations service worldwide.

    According to a statement, the acquisition agreement which was signed off on the 14th of November 2017 with erstwhile owners, Toshiba Corporation of Japan cost Hisense a sum of 12.9 billion Japanese Yuan, about $115 million (USD). The Toshiba Corporation management will however retain 5% of the business’ total shareholding.

    Under the new arrangement, Hisense will control the entire Toshiba businesses including production, research and development, engineering, and sales functions.

    “Until this development, Toshiba had dominated the global television technology and market shares for 142 years and boasts an incredible share across the entire Asia, America, Europe, and the Latin Americas. The company primarily operated Toshiba TV, and various auxiliary products including, commercial display and advertisement display products. They had two factories in Japan with hundreds of employees and a significant IP portfolio related to TV business, including patents related to TV image quality and acoustics,” the statement said.

    Mr. Lin Hongxin, Chief Executive Officer, Hisense Group, lauded the major acquisition and assured all stakeholders of the company’s determination to optimize Toshiba’s resources in research and development, supply chain, global sales channels and support each other in display technology to provide competitive content, operation services for smart TVs in the global market; as well as accomplish sustained fast – growth and hold on the Japanese market.

  • Culture, new  norms and  justice

    A  Nigerian  couple  who had just returned  from  Libya  with a new  born babe warned  Nigerians  on the global media  this week   never  to go to Libya because  the people there  are  hostile to migrants  and strangers.  Another Nigerian, a jobless  graduate  who  fled  like  Andrew  to  look  for the golden fleece  had a similar  message that  Nigerians should not go to Libya unless  they  are  ready  to die.  These  are chilling revelations for Nigerians  looking for green pastures and a better  tomorrow.  But  the most    disheartening  story  was that  of Nigerians  who  were kidnapped on the streets  of our cities  and their  parents  were  now  contacted   by the  victims’  phones  and asked to pay  huge  ransoms which  are later  used  to  purchase  and resell  these unlucky Nigerians on the international trade market  which  the victims claim  are  run by both Nigerians  and Arabs  alike.  That  slavery  has reared its head and Nigerians are  selling each  other is  a new  way  of life or culture which is repugnant  and acceptable. It  is however   such   a reality  that  a new presidential  candidate  for the 2019 elections has made it  an election issue  claiming that things  are  so bad for Nigerians that they  are  being  sold into slavery  and the government  cannot  address  the situation.  To  me  a new  culture  of modern  slavery  is condemnable   and is an anathema  to human development and progress  and Nigerians should  stand up as one to condemn  it in all its ramifications. It  is therefore  not  just  a campaign issue for power in 2019  but  a burning and nagging national problem of urgent public concern  and  I  intend to make that my focus   for the remaining part of 2018  so that  it will not have any campaign attraction for any presidential candidate  for the 2019 elections.   There  is no doubt  that new things are  happening   in our world   that  turn  cultural  values  and norms on their  heads  and really  tax  the concept  of  ethnocentrism, which  is a way  of thinking one’s  culture  is better  than  that  of others.  Well, the world  in the last few  days or weeks certainly has a serious   and daring challenge  on that  score   and I ask  you  to  come along with  me on events this  week  in  Yemen, Australia  and the US to  see   whether  the concept of  ethnocentrism   or cultural   relativism  has any meaning in our   global  village  of  new   startling  norms and new    startlingly   unbelievable, emergent   morality.

    Let  me state  that  I   believe  that this new  slave trade  of  Nigerians  by  Nigerians  and  Libyans   and Arabs  at  large  may   be  our  contribution  to the global  cultural aberration  going   on in the world  at  large,  albeit    unwittingly    and   without   our comprehension   or  cognition. But  let  me treat  events in the three  nations  I have  mentioned,  before  rounding up with  Nigeria’s new  nauseating  slave trade  mentality  and unnerving but emerging culture.

    Let  me briefly  narrate   what  happened  in the three  nations  I  identified  before  dilating on them. In   Yemen  a leader and  former   president  Abdallah  Saleh  who   ruled his nation for 33 years  and who likened  leadership of that  nation to dancing on snakes was brutally  killed  by his allies a day  or two  after  he switched  alliance in the ongoing war  between  the Houthi rebels  and the government of Yemen  supported by Saudi  Arabia. In   Australia  MPs  danced  in  Parliament  and male  couples  kissed  each other  after that  nation’s Parliament recognized gay  marriage  by approving the bill on it. In  the  USA a  case  reached the US Supreme  court on   appeal  by    a   wedding   cake maker  who  refused  to make a  wedding  cake  for a gay  couple  because  that   was against  his religious  belief which says marriage  should be between  a man  and a wife.  On  the international  scene US President Donald Trump  lived to his billing of rocking the boat  by  recognizing  Jerusalem  as the capital of  Israel   thereby  collapsing the peace  efforts in the  Middle  East  and rousing  the fury of  Palestinians and their supporters  globally.

    First  with  Yemen, former  President Ali  Abdullah  Saleh  was killed  by  Houthi  rebels who  called out their  supporters  in the capital Sanaa  to  celebrate  his death claiming he was killed  for treachery  as he has  announced  he was ready  to dialogue  with  the Saudis  who  were  raining bombs on Yemen  and supporting the de jure government of  Yemen. This time the Houthis  who are rebels from the North of  Yemen  and are supported and funded  by Iran  have proven that they are the de facto force on the ground  in Yemen  as they took Sallah  out as he fled the capital after what they perceived  as treachery.  And  really I  do not see much wrong in that as treachery  is condemnable in any culture  no matter the  norms or mores  at work . So  you  can say what happened in Yemen  is a return to old political values  of an eye for an eye.   But  a resort  to violence is not a modern way to resolve  any  disputes  even though  culturally Arabs  are  known  for ancient feuds  which they settle through  planned  and deliberate  retaliation and  Saleh’s  death  follows this bloody  pattern.  However  this resort  to barbarity of the Stone Age is just  the tip of the ice  berg  today.

    Australians  were reported  to be celebrating the legalization of gay marriages in their  nation   and  I   want  to take that with the case before the  US Supreme Court  on the refusal  to make wedding cake  for  a gay couple by a cake maker  who said  it is against  his   religious  beliefs.  This  is because  both issues  are birds  of the same feather   or both  sides  of  the same coin.

     

    • Continued online
  • Beyond the PDP convention

    Beyond the PDP convention

    IN their euphoric response to the defection of former vice president Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gave the impression of a political organisation thinking beyond its immediate troubles and eager to embrace the future. But whether it is wise to leapfrog over its troubled past without grappling with the attendant repercussions of its failings is a different kettle of fish. What is clear is that the party wishes to forget that arduous, ignoble past, a past filled with huge uncertainties, unanticipated defeats, and a gross inability to come to terms with the signals emanating from the pains and punishment it received at the hands of an angry and disenchanted electorate in 2015.

    PDP leaders, many of them undoubtedly men of culture, integrity and quiet dignity, have spoken out in unison about the ambition of the party to reclaim a presidency it lost more than two years ago. They have expended inordinate energy on intriguing for that goal. If they entertain lofty wishes in today’s convention in Abuja, it is only to the extent that it would realign them orbitally to take that coveted prize a second time. But they have, alas, seldom spoken of the far greater need to reorganise their party, refine its ideology, as this column has consistently maintained, restructure its administrative and membership platforms, and expand its base along the enviable lines of great parties in other parts of the world.

    Somehow, they seem to imagine that once they are able to conduct a unifying convention and elect, in an atmosphere of peace, new party executives without the despairing rancour many detractors have read into their DNA, they would be on their way to a gilded existence. Why they fail to realize they have been chasing a chimera since losing the polls in 2015 is hard to say. The build-up to their chairmanship election, in particular, may be acrimonious and full of uncertainties, with shifting alliances and permutations mixing with crazy projections of future presidential bids, it is however almost certain that they will pull off the party executive elections with the characteristic aplomb and familial frills they are famed for. Former president Goodluck Jonathan may be on one side, and ex-head of state Ibrahim Babangida may be on another, regradless of which side the governors’ cats are jumping, in the end the party will likely yield to common sense and even exceed its projections of attracting defectors from the languid and now complaisant ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    But a peaceful and rewarding convention, contrary to what party leaders think, will not guarantee a relentless march towards victory in 2019. Despite the misgivings of some party leaders, the PDP as a whole has probably invested heavily in the defection of Alhaji Abubakar. The former vice president is not only a man of stature, in the PDP today, he is probably the most renowned, battle-hardened politician eager and willing to join battle with the fearsome APC machine. The party will obviously profit from his renewed membership. Even though he cannot vote at this convention, he is expected to address it today, and will rouse the faithful to think they can neutralize President Muhammadu Buhari’s populism. They will return home thinking, if not even assured, of how soon they would return to Aso Villa. Whatever differences remain after the convention would be regarded as nothing more than cracks which party leaders have the expertise to paper over.

    However, it is unlikely Alhaji Abubakar is that one size fits all which some party leaders imagine him to be. He may be the most recognisable face in the PDP today, and will ensure the party is not starting as an unknown entity, but he is not the only one interested in the presidency, let alone the only rich and ambitious person in that party. Among many ambitious others, even the caretaker chairman of the party, Ahmed Makarfi, also hankers after the coveted prize. Having tasted both executive and legislative powers as a former Kaduna State governor and senator, Senator Makarfi sees his political future as a natural and ineluctable progression to the presidency. He will give battle to Alhaji Abubakar and even probably view his defection as nothing more valuable than the financial heft he is capable of lending the party when the battle with the ruling party is finally joined.

    Party leaders last week suggested they would begin to rebuild their party once the elective convention was over. It is not clear whether they have a definite idea how to rebuild their troubled party. Nigerians will, however, wish them well. If they must rebuild, they must go beyond waiting for more defections, especially from the APC, a party they mischievously expect to implode in the coming months. Their calculations must, indeed, go beyond the expected implosion of the ruling party, in case that hideous scenario does not happen as predicted. As a matter of fact, their calculations must go beyond whatever political or financial muscle the likes of Alhaji Abubakar will bring to their party. Defectors migrating to the PDP will undoubtedly be of some help to the frazzled opposition party, especially if the defectors come from the APC and thus help to weaken the ruling party, but it is unlikely defections of any kind will play any significant and novel role like they did in the months before the 2015 polls.

    A peaceful and unifying convention is the right place to begin rebuilding the PDP, especially if they can manage to use one stone to kill two birds by electing a strong and vigorous chairman and executive. But they will need to do so much more than emplace a productive and active party executive and attract big political names and defectors like Alhaji Abubakar. As some of their leaders have promised, they must find the intellect to do something about the ideology of their party, cobble together a representative platform that must form a rich kaleidoscope of what PDP standard-bearers stand for, and enrich the content of their politics beyond the desire to win or lose elections. So far, however, their reluctance to make penance for the misuse they put the country’s resources during their 16 years in office does not give hope that they would do right by country if they found their way back into office.

    It has taken almost three years for the PDP to reconcile itself to the terrible loss it suffered in the last presidential election. By ignoring the factors that led to that loss, and refusing to even acknowledge the complicity of their leading lights in that debacle, there is nothing to indicate that another loss in 2019 would not altogether and irretrievably fracture the party to smithereens. If in 16 years they could not build the steely core needed to stabilise their party and imbue it with the spirit and direction required to make it a grand party, nor yet find the existential drive to forge ahead into a visionary future, whether continental or global, what is the proof that about three years of disappointment would encourage the party into re-examining its foundations and rebuilding from scratch?

    By all means, let the party bask in the euphoria of Alhaji Abubakar’s defection, and let them celebrate him, even if they end up denying him the ticket. In fact, let them ask for and welcome more defectors and empower them to make meaningful and productive contributions in the coming polls. But let them also realize that the country’s political dynamics call for a much deeper and more vigorous restructuring of their party than they recognise or are willing to embrace if 2019 is not to turn into a political tragedy more dispiriting than the losses they have suffered to date.