The Nation Newspaper

Category: Interview

  • Advertising is like DNA in my blood

    Advertising is like DNA in my blood

    Sir Steve Omojafor is a renowned advertising practitioner and Executive Chairman, STB-Mc Cann, Lagos. The former chairman, Zenith Bank Plc, reminisced with Adetutu Audu on his life at 70 and his 40th wedding anniversary which he celebrated a few weeks ago.

    What does being 70 mean to you?

    Well, it is a number counting one to 70; it’s what it means to be 70.Beyond that is the fact you have lived different stages of your life. Being born, which you knew nothing about; you grew up two, three, four, five years old and you can now see around you that you are in some place, whether in the world  or in a community, neigbhourhood. They tell you, you have to go to school not because you wanted to, whatever they ask you to do, you do at that point.

    That was in Obalende for me. I did everything little boys could do, and from there you finish your primary school and they say you have to go to secondary school. What you don’t know and where it is leading you to, you have no idea. You do entrance exam and you get into the secondary school, at that point you get to discover who you really are, meet friends and it just goes on. You compare notes depending on what level of life you are with your family but accepting things the way they are. The good about that time was that we were satisfied with things the way they were. Some came from very rich home, some not very rich, some very poor, but as far as we were concerned we were just living a simple good life. Nobody looked down on anyone; we did things together it was like a community of friends.

    And secondary school was over, in those days, there was higher school. It’s either you do it where you have your secondary school or you go somewhere else, which was what I did. Having been in Gregory’s College and schooled in Lagos, I just said let me go out.  I wanted to go to Comprehensive College, Aiyetoro, but I had a friend who wanted to go to Warri and for no reason, I said I would join him to see what life was outside Lagos.

    For the first time, for me, I was literarily returning to my own state. People had taken me as pure and simple Yoruba boy, no apologies, and my mum didn’t allow me use my name Bamidele, because she thought I should just stick to my Christian name Steven. We were in Warri for two years, the war broke out and I had to find my way back to Lagos and completed the HSC in St. Gregory’s.

    Then University of Lagos and after graduation it was work, then life was more straight. Civil Service Commission would come and interview those who wanted to work in the civil service, I was lucky to be interviewed and was employed with the Ministry of Information and I did resume. For three months, there was no work and at the end of the third month I said I could not start my life with this one.

    I went back to Daily Times where I had freelanced before I went to the university. Henry Odukomaiya, former Governor Segun Osoba, Areoye Oyebola were there then. I worked as a reporter; I was later moved to the features and eventually chief sub editor. After my third year, the urge to go on was still strong. I joined Lintas Advertising, got married and the children started coming.  I left Lintas after four years to set up Rosabel, and STB McCann also came out of Rosabel.  My partners were Akin Odunsi and Tunde  Adelaja

    I retired at age 60 from day to day operations, now I come in once or twice in a week, if they need me and to keep mentally alert.

    It has been advertising for you for 40 years. How did you survive doing the same thing all those years?

     When you identify where you belong, in everything in this life you have a lot of options ahead of you and somewhere along the line.  One of them strikes you as being part of you and what you will like to do. Once you stick to it, nothing gets you out of it anymore, you just get stuck, whether it is raining, or fire is burning you just say ‘I am going to stick.’ It was very adventurous by the time we wanted to start Rosabel. We were all young between the ages of 28 and 31. We had no money to set up. It was like you go to your dad, you go to your uncle, you go to your mum, tell him we want to set up a company.

    There was no bank to go to. That was how it all started. It was three of us and two more people. It was a big challenge, but we said were going to succeed. We were lucky also that none among us has greed for money which breaks up partnership. And that was the only partnership that existed in the whole of UNILAG in those days. Today; we still live together as partners.

    So staying for 40 years means it is something I love doing and enjoy and it is not something you can crash into if you need money. You could see the work of your hand and the work of your brain. You were in that marketing sector in which you could see result as you go on.  I said to young people back then, ‘if you are looking for big money you go elsewhere.’

    Being relatively young then, how were you able to convince people to believe in you?

    By the time we were going to break out, a lot of companies were run by expatriates, and that was why we knew it was going to be very tough. We knew it was not going to be a tea party. We knew we had to do something extraordinary to make them to believe in us. In any case, we drew up a list of about 10 prospects, maybe only one will open their doors for you. After a while, they would say what are these young boys doing because the big men were making money? But gradually they saw consistency, fresh and a bit of creativity in what we were doing and then speed. By the time I was leaving Lintas, the type of campaign that would take three months then, we were ready to get it done in one month, in fact that was the unique selling point. A bit of creativity and speed in working. We didn’t have huge departments; if we finished one job we moved to the next. When we could not afford a Volkswagen car, we didn’t plan to buy a Mercedes Benz. That is part of what kills our entrepreneurs. They aim too high and try to live their dreams even before they get there. Today, we are all satisfied people; not because of what we built up, but because of who we are as human beings. We just had to work morning, day and night and we just got to succeed. And it became almost like our DNA. It was fun. At some point, Rosabel was getting big and we set up a second line agency, and that was how STB came into existence. I took on STB and A as we were known.   I ran it till 2006, when I bowed out.

    How did you feel when you got your first cheque?

    We feIt good. What was killing the industry in our own era was that the first cheque they got was like ‘let’s share it.’ But in our own, we didn’t do that. There were things we needed to do to make the office into a proper office. In those days, you needed equipment to do your typesetting; now of course it has been digitalised. We told our wives that in the next six month, they needed to take care of the house. We were young, with no children and they took over the challenge. The first six months, whatever came was to build up an institution and it worked. There was not what we even called a salary, but we sat down to define what each person was entitled to. There was no argument about it. We made it clear nobody comes to the office and borrow money. So we had to fall back on family members and that helped us a great deal. People that joined us later also knew that we were for serious business.

    Who would you say is your mentor?

    For me, my boss at Lintas, Olu Falomo, who is still very much alive. He gave me so much confidence. The assignment I should not handle at that level, he was just handing them to me. Olu was not a friend to anybody, at a point people thought we were related. But Olu is Ijesha and me I am Igbo. But on a general level, we looked up to a lot of people in the industry and even back in Akoka, a few people popped in to see what we were doing and we can always call on them when the need arose. But all in all, we believed in ourselves.

    You are one of the successful people in Nigeria. What would you say is your success secret?

    I don’t think I am one of the successful people in Nigeria. No. I will probably disagree with you. I just know that I’m like you. We all are struggling. You know when you are growing up, you don’t know what you are going to become. You just go to school because your parents say you must go to school. When after school you start asking what am I going to do? You look at your course of study and see where it’s going to lead you to. I studied Mass Communication, so I knew that I was either going to be a journalist, broadcaster or a PR person. I started with print journalism, with Daily Times. I worked with Daily Times for a number of years, but I didn’t get satisfaction. I moved into advertising. But you have to understand that none of this was planned. After four to five years in Lintas, me and some colleagues of mine decided to set up Rosabel Advertising. From there, we set up a second agency called STB McCann, which I ran until I retired. So, when you talk about planning, there are certain things you really don’t know ahead, what it’s going to be. Every successful person you talk to would never say to you ‘I knew I was going to be a wealthy man, I knew I was going to be a big success.’ You just to take one step at a time. Sometimes you make mistakes, you come back again to take stock of what you have done and see where you made mistakes and forge ahead. So, when all these things are put together with success and failure at some point, they strike to make you great and that is where you stay and that is where you remain.

    Apart from advertising, we woke up to read in the papers that you were Chairman, Zenith Bank. Can you share your experience in the banking world with us?

    Before the Chairmanship of Zenith came, I had become Chairman of STB McCann along the line. I had set up a subsidiary in Ghana and ran it as chairman of the board. I had set up in Sierra Leone subsidiary to STB McCann. In Sierra Leone, I saw the topography and the resources that were available. I said I won’t be the chairman. I wanted a local person and we got one. I believe that somebody in Zenith must have taken note of me and a phone call came that the managing director of Zenith wanted to talk to me.

    I didn’t have account in Zenith and I couldn’t be owing, so what was the problem? They put him on and he said he is Jim Ovia and said, ‘can we meet?’ Initially, I thought he wanted to give me an advertising job to do. He told me the company was going to go public and they needed to bring me two directors and he asked me if I could join. I said I didn’t study finance and I never worked in a bank. He said it did not matter.

    As it is usual with me, the first three meetings I was just listening and later got books on finance and I was able to fit in. I was director for the Ghana and the Sierra Leone branches. A time came and the position of the chairman was vacant and I was put in. I ran that for about four years.

    Did you find the terrain strange, coming from your own background?

    It was strange because we who were outside the banking system are more of banking people than people who are in there. People who are in there are only looking at what customers wanted, what can we do to improve our processes and our profit level? You coming from outside have a different perspective; you know all the things those inside may not know. Those are all the experience and having been a chairman to a lot of companies before then, I didn’t have a problem and it was surprising to a lot of people that I was able to settle in fast.

    Why do you think some people attain success and are unable to sustain it?

    It is because they didn’t work hard to sustain it or they were looking for too much money right from the beginning. When you start a business, money should be one of your least worries in terms of what you get out of the business. The major thing is to put in as much as you have and start working on that; get a right partner, get the right and best business tutors to shape your temperament and also take a look at your environment. Now, people get greedy. That is when business begins to fail because if you make one million naira today and all the partners sit down to share the money and wait until the next one comes, the business will fail. In fact, in the first three years of starting a business, don’t think of getting anything out of it. You’ve got to plough back; you have got to re-invest until you get to that comfort zone where you can start sharing. When we started Rosabel, for six months, we said nobody was going to get a salary. So, we had to fall back on our families, our wives and all that to be able to keep the business going and you also have to cut down on your consumption pattern because you have a business to grow. You cannot grow 10 things at the same time. You cannot be growing your business and grow your lifestyle at the same time. It is not going to work and if it works, it’s not going to last. So, that is how it is. There is no magic about it. It is you as a person agreeing and telling yourself how you want to run it to be able to make it a success.

    At 70, what would you want to change?

    I started changing a lot of things from 50. I was a party freak. No weekend passed without partying and it had to do with growing up in Lagos. In Lagos Island, Lafiaji, you are either following the Fanti, I was part of street dancing in Lagos. I enjoyed parties a lot and I was a night club person. We went out a lot. When I got married, my wife knew what my life had been. She said she was not going to stop me.  But by the time I was 60, I had to cut it down. And you know the normal alcohol thing from beer to cognac, champagne had to be reduced. There are still a lot to be reduced. It is a gradual process.

    You got married at age 30 and you have been married for 40 years. What keeps the union going in the era where divorce rate is alarming?  

    It has not been easy, but you are lucky if you get married to a woman who knows you enough. No secret, and you have not been hiding anything. She knows I enjoyed my parties. She knew that on Fridays the boys must go together. She attended a couple with me, she got tired and would not go again, but she was confident enough to let me go. When a woman gives you that confidence, it puts you in check.  She gave me a lot of room and I made sure I didn’t abuse it. I did a lot of travelling on the job, so that confidence helped me to keep as much as possible. Nobody is claiming to be a saint. On the other hand, women will be women. You are bound to disagree and if you are not careful, you will disagree on virtually everything, but maturity comes in, respect for each other comes in and understanding for each other’s mood.

    Being able to accept fault from both sides. Crisis comes when somebody say no,no,no. There is nothing like no,no for a human being. He or she is not your houseboy or house girl. Both of you are going through the same thing either at work or in the society and you should be able to tolerate each other. Tolerance level in Nigeria is low. As you get older in marriage, everybody starts to mellow because the understanding is already there and you want the marriage to work.  No matter what a partner is doing outside, if all you are imagining is what one person is doing outside, you will get your happiness go on decreasing. In fact, you will be depressed. You have your life to live, you have got work to do, children to take care of, make those ones your priority.

    Tell us how you feel about being honoured and recognised by your country

    I listed only three awards in the brochure for my birthday. The Papal awards from the Pope in Rome. The Pope does not know you, but based on the recommendation of your parish or Bishop. I cherish it a lot. The next one is the national award. How it came, I don’t know. But I remember the secretary of our organisation said they needed names in our industry and asked for my CV.  Initially, I was not too keen about it. I was in England when someone called that they saw my name in the papers for the national honours. I went online and when I saw the calibre of the people in the OON category, I said that makes a lot of sense. I really appreciate it and thank God for it because it was a good recognition.  There is another one from our industry organised by the Marketing Edge magazine.  Out of my spare time, I have also been able to reach out to the less privileged. I wish I could do more because a lot of people need assistance in the country, government cannot do it alone.

     What lessons has life taught you at 70?

    You cannot be an Island. In which ever community or group you find yourself, try to leave a little positive mark as to what you have done to help somebody else. Anytime I do something for somebody and I see the smile and contentment on their faces, that is one very happy day for me. For me, the happiness of others give me a lot of added happiness. Life is all about yes, you worked hard, yes God has blessed you, but at the same time bless others.

    Success attracts women, how do you manage this?

    Firstly it is all about yourself; what you are looking for in your life? How do you want to end up? It is very easy to pick up one woman after the other. You know the questions I ask myself: after that, what next? You now run yourself into more problems. When you accept advances from a woman, at the end of the day, she will tell you I have one problem or the other. And if you pick another one at the end of the day, it becomes messy and you ask yourself what I am getting there. I prefer the little bit I can to assist you. I am bold to say that 70percent of people who want to get attached to you may tell you it is love, but at the end it is ‘what is in there for me?’ I learnt the lesson long ago even as a student in the university. It is either you want to play the game and waste the money for your allowance or pocket money or you want to keep to yourself. My upbringing in the mission compound helped. Even my mum thought I would become a priest while growing up. I saw women as partners at work, because you needed a lot of them as you are growing up. There is nothing so good when you meet them later in life with open mind and it helps you to concentrate, that is the discipline I carried on it till today and that is what I preach.

    So why did you deviate from being a priest?

    The calling probably was not strong and of course becoming a catholic priest is not something you can just get up and be as it is with pentecostal pastors. Honestly, if you are a catholic, there is so much involved in becoming a priest. The major one is that you must be called. If you get there for another reason, it won’t work, so I knew that it was not my calling.

    Was your mum disappointed?

    No. it has to come from you first. She took me to the mission compound because she felt I needed more whipping in those early days and I spent three years.

    What about your father?

    He was there. He was a quiet man. He left my mum to do the work. A lot of people have always asked me you talk much about your mum and little about your dad. That was how it was with us. He was happy we all turned out very well. Both of them are late now. But I remember them with fond memories.

  • Religious politics is bad for Nigeria – Bishop Ighele

    Religious politics is bad for Nigeria – Bishop Ighele

    Bishop Charles Ighele is The General Superintendent of Holy Spirit Mission (Happy Family Chapel) read Political Science at the then University of Ife. He spoke with David Lawal on the lamentable roles of religion in the just-concluded general elections. Excerpts:  

    How have you been able to use your background in political science to advance religion?

    After graduating in 1980, I have seen that my background in political science and history has helped me to see how decision-making brought about a lot of suffering to families in different parts of the world.

    You now see that the way government is run, the way government is advised to do things, the quality of the citizens and how much the citizens are ready to be a part of the system. All these helped me. When I studied bureaucracy in the university, it made me understand bureaucratic bottlenecks.

    It is helping me so much in the ministry, and when you look at the bible; in the New Testament, in the Acts of Apostles, you will see people sell parts of their properties to take care of the poor and this is what the church has always stood for.

    This is how it supposed to be because it is not about we men of God getting extremely rich and the people getting extremely poor. We were not anointed just for us to feel good and be rich. We were anointed because God has other people in mind. That is what I keep telling people, it is not about us – it is about the people.

    Can religion and politics walk together for the good of the people?

    Well (smiles) you know as a preacher when you look at the Old Testament, you would see the mixture. You see religion and you see politics or should I call it governance. People like King David. You can’t divorce the two but the church has to be interested in the quality of the leaders that are arising.

    So you can’t separate the two. As far as I am concerned, I don’t believe in this is spiritual and this is secular; everything goes together.

    So, you are saying that religion and politics go together. You didn’t mention that clearly enough.

    Well, I didn’t really talk about partisan politics. Consequently, there is something known as partisan politics. What is politics? I don’t want to go into defining what politics is. But you see, man critically cannot be divorced from governance; man cannot be divorced from the people in charge unless you want to live on an island like Robinson Crusoe.

    So, there is also one known as partisan politics. Personally, I am interested in politics; I follow it to the minute details, just as I also follow football. I am not a footballer but I follow it and then I am not a politician but I follow it. I am interested in politics but I am not in partisan politics.

    What do you really mean when you say partisan politics?

    Well, partisan politics is when you decide to join a party then be a politician in that particular party, which I have personally said I will not go into. Now, I’m not saying that some of my colleagues who have gone into it have done anything wrong. As far as I am concerned, there are two groups of pastors, two groups of preachers.

    There is a group of pastors called to go into partisan politics just like somebody can also be a journalist and a pastor. Somebody can be a medical doctor and also a pastor. Somebody can be a pharmacist and also a pastor; somebody can be a footballer and a pastor. So, somebody can be a pastor and also be into partisan politics.

    I don’t condemn them at all but there is yet another group. This particular group, God has taken them to a status and God has put them in a place whereby their own is to act as fathers in the land but it does not mean that a father cannot support any of the children. People like Pastor Enoch Adeboye and Bishop Mike Okonkwo would not go into partisan politics; they belong to this other group I am talking about.

    How do you assess the last general elections?

    I did not like the last elections. I am not talking about those who won and those who lost. I am not going into that at all but you see the forces of religion and ethnicity. These two forces played a major role. Jigawa state governor, Sule Lamido, said during the campaigns that if you were campaigning for Jonathan in the north they will call you a pastor.

    In the north, people were told to vote for Buhari. Now in many churches in parts of the south, there was a lot of campaign also in the churches. People were told not to vote for a Muslim. In the north, Muslims were told not to vote for Christians.

    So, that is what I didn’t like at all and you see this is taking us back to the days of Northern Peoples Congress (NPC), NCNC and Action Group when the election was terminated through the January 16, 1966 coup. That is the element I did not like at all. I liked what happened during the SDP and NRC days when Abiola and Tofa contested. I like it that way because religion did not play a role. When religion become a major issue in campaigning in any nation, it is dangerous. I didn’t like it at all.

    I cannot see what happened during the 2015 election as political progress. It is not political development. I didn’t like it. I don’t want this country to turn to another Lebanon.

    Our two main parties have been stained with religious garbage. Those clothes need to be washed. I am not a preacher of doom but all I am saying is that corrections can be made. The APC-led federal government can begin to see how it can fill the religious gap for us.

    This is what I believe would be in the interest of our nation. Religion is worse than Indian hemp; it makes people go crazy and makes people not to think again. Religion is more than opium. It makes people to kill.

    Were you pleased with the roles religious leaders played in all of these? 

    What happened in the last elections was that APC was smarter than PDP in playing the religious card. Both parties played the religious card heavily. They were able to re-brand General Buhari from the way he had been known even four years ago. So they were able to put their hearts together.

    He brought his brain box and put it in APC to iron the whole thing. They did a very smart campaign and played a better job with the religious card.

    It was silently played in some sections of the north while some of the Christians were busy making noise about it. You won’t see the Muslim core North, you won’t see the Imams talking in papers vote for this. It was not so but here it was so because you will find out that the Muslims were highly well organised and I really commend them for that. The Christian community does not know how to move as one body under Christ to achieve what they want to achieve.

    What will be your advice to the incoming government?

    My advice for this incoming government is that they should make sure they deliver what they promised during campaigns. When I look at their package, I look at the area that they lay emphasis on being corruptions and that seemed to have struck a chord in an average Nigerians because there is corruption in this land. And so many Nigerians have now seen General Buhari as a symbol of fighting corruption.

    So hopes are high. The people are beginning to see that perhaps within six months corruption should be off from Nigeria. The first 100 days, there should be light everywhere but I think that as I speak as a leader and I want to plead with Nigerians to go and learn how to speak as leaders.

    If this government really means business, instead of just handling corruption from the top, there should be what I will call a socialisation progress – from the grassroots. In the village there is corruption, secondary school there is corruption, everywhere there is corruption. So there should be a team of think tank that should be quietly assembled and this team should be asked to produce a blueprint on how to fight corruption.

  • Orekoya and wife relive ordeal

    Orekoya and wife relive ordeal

    A day after they reunited with their children, the parents of three children kidnapped by a nanny in Lagos, Mr Adeleke Orekoya and his wife, Adebisi, relive their experience in a chat with journalists. TAJUDEEN ADEBANJO was there, 

    How has it been with the family in the last one week?

    It has not been easy over the past seven, eight days. At some point, things got out of hands that we did not even know which direction to turn to. But I thank God because the impact of the prayers was richly felt via the direction that He gave us. We want to thank everybody, friends and family members, even those we did not know that called in to say one thing or the other. They advised us on how to go about things and to even pray on our behalf. We want to thank everybody, including the media.

    Any regrets with the way things turned out?

    I do not have any regrets getting her (the nanny, Funmilayo) from OLX because I have been using OLX for more than three years now. As a matter of fact, I have had three different nannies over the past two to three years, and I got them from OLX. In fact, I must say that two nannies before this, I got them through OLX. One stayed with us for two years without any issue. The agent contacted us, we recruited her and she stayed with us for two years. When it was time for her to leave, she gave us one month and left thereafter.

    After that, we got another one who absconded without any information whatsoever. We gave her Easter break; she went and didn’t come back. She did not even call. And then we ran into this one. It can happen to anyone with a nanny, whether she has been with you for three years or one day or even 25 years. The most important thing is that prayer is the only way that can safeguard one from what we went through.

    Indeed, we had our wrong, which is that we prioritised work to a large extent over our assets, including our children. As a result, we paid dearly for it. The trauma we went through cannot be described because there were some other things that came up that we didn’t discuss with anybody. We had four instances of scammers calling us and pretending to be the kidnappers. One even called last (Wednesday) night after we have recovered our children, telling us that the kids were with him and demanding for money. You can imagine how evil some people can be.

    Are you considering instituting court action against OLX?

    There is no reason on earth for us to institute a court action against OLX. We requested for a nanny and somebody applied. That the person that applied had other motives other than that doesn’t mean that the platform on which we placed the advert is at fault. It wasn’t OLX that sent the person to us. They only allow us to place an advert for what we need. Somebody else can apply. It is our responsibility to be vigilant while recruiting the person.

    But the point I am making now is that the nanny could have been with us for three months and still do what she did.

    It didn’t make us think OLX is not a good site to use. Like I said earlier, we learnt our lesson. We made a mistake but it doesn’t mean someone that doesn’t make mistake cannot be subjected to what we went through. The people that can hit you the most are the people that are closest to you. Someone that is far away from you cannot know when you would not be at home. And whenever you have a nanny, nobody can tell me that if he has a nanny, he or she has never left home with the nanny and kids alone, except we are deceiving ourselves.

    There is no fault on OLX in what has happened. OLX provided a platform for people to advertise and to make a request for whatever they want. It is the primary responsibility of whoever has advertised or is buying anything to put all the necessary checks and balances in place.

    How do you feel reuniting with your kids?

    You know when your joy hits the roof and goes beyond the roof, that kind of feeling where you jump up for joy. We already had the information earlier in the day. It wasn’t as if it was new to us that night. We knew we were going to get the children back that day (Wednesday). The day we got the children back, we knew we were going to get them back. The only thing was that because of what we were doing, we could not let anybody know.

    Would you go for another nanny?

    In respect to that, our focus now is that our children should live safely. That there would be another nanny to be recruited later is not something I want to think about right now. The most important thing is that the one week the children have been away, I have had some differences here and there. My focus right now is to erase any psychological issue they may have had by bonding with them and making them remember the things we used to do.

     

    Mrs Adebisi Orekoya on the nanny

    She was just here for one day. I don’t know what motive she might have had but money is the root of all evils as people say. The desire for money can make anybody to do anything.

    What happened to me can happen to anyone. I believe human beings come in different forms. They can be good and they can be bad. Even this nanny can be an angel to some people, but she is an evil person in another direction. If someone does something wrong to me, I want to understand what made the person do it. I understand now that Mary is a kidnapper. That is her job and she is a professional.

    But she was like an angel when she resumed. The lady that spent one month here could not do what she did in one day. She is a very clean person and well-trained. We cannot because of that say we should be careful with everyone that acts like an angel. I don’t want to join in what everyone else has said about her. If she had continued with what she was doing and stayed on till the second day and a year, nobody would say anything bad about her. The mistake I made is that I left her with my kids.

    Seeing your kids naked at Egbeda…

    On seeing my kids, I know that they had not been taking good care of them. They left them naked. One of them said, ‘Mummy, imagine. They put us inside nylon and the heat was too much. Look at my body. They put us inside nylon and locked us in a car.’ I was thinking they even put them inside the boot. I would like to see Mary and somebody should help me do the same to her so that she would know how the children felt. It is like I am still dreaming.

    Did your children say if they were in one place or moved about?

    They only told me “our new house” whenever they referred to where they were taken to. I asked how many people were there and they said, “One guy like that like our brother’s face.” So I guess there are still some kids in their custody. They said they were only given noodles and rice. A kidnapper that is asking for money is doing business. I would have expected them to take good care of my children.

    How has it been for you?

    You’ve been here. I’ve heard some people saying I was going crazy, and it is true because if I sit, I would still be imagining, “three children”.

    What do you have to say about women who are full housewives?

    They love their children. My husband is not a politician so he cannot be pumping me with money.

    What advice do you have for fellow women?

    Prayer is the only thing that helps anyone. Looking at all that has happened and the possibilities that could have taken place, we believe it is only God’s help and prayer that can save anyone from going through what we have been through. It is not because we were not being diligent. What I can say in all this is that God’s favour and prayer is the only safeguard.

  • We can defeat violence with education – Obaji

    We can defeat violence with education – Obaji

    Philip Obaji Jr. is the founder of the 1 GAME Campaigns advocating basic primary education for the over 10.5 million out-of-school children in Nigeria. Obaji, who is also a Global Youth Ambassador, spoke to David Lawal on Boko Haram and it political undertone, Chibok girls and government’s role in education. 

    Kindly give a brief insight into your background?

    I was born on August 8, 1985 in a town called Ogoja in Northern Cross River State. I am the founder of the 1 GAME Campaign, which promotes basic primary education for vulnerable kids in Nigeria. I am widely known for my activism for rights to education for Children, especially in Northeastern Nigeria. I’m a graduate of Marine Biology from the University of Calabar; a Global Youth Ambassador for United Nations critical education partner, A World at School; a member of International Network for Education in Emergencies; and a champion of Global Partnership for Education. Back home, I am an Executive Committee member of the Cross River State Football Association. I am soft spoken, a Roman Catholic and a man of peace. I believe in Nigeria and in every citizen of this country. And I want to play a role in making it a better place for all of us.

    How long have you been into education advocacy?

    I’ve been working for close to five (5) years now in education advocacy. It all started in 2010 when 1 GAME Campaign was founded.

    What informed your decision to start education advocacy?

    In 2009, I travelled to Ogoja where I was born. I had not visited the town since my family moved in 1988 when I was just three years old. I wanted to learn more about the place I first lived as a child.

    I have had numerous conversations with my father about Ogoja, and he would often speak about its people, and how he missed them and their culture. Once arriving in Ogoja after a six-hour journey from Calabar, where I live, I was greeted by a group of young boys and girls at the bus stop, who rushed to me, begging for money.

    The children were between six and fourteen years. When I asked them where they came from, they confessed that they were ‘Almajiris’ from Northern Nigeria.

    They had followed a lorry transporting goods from Maiduguri in Borno State to Ogoja. They said they jumped into the lorry without knowing the driver and had no idea of where the vehicle was heading.

    I was overwhelmed by the presence of so many out-of-school children and could not stop thinking about their plight and how to solve this crisis.

    Thereafter I found 1 GAME Campaign aiming specifically at Almajiris helping them to enrol and complete their basic education. The name ‘1 GAME’ means that anyone involved in the campaign is asked to defeat violence, illiteracy and poverty – using education as a tool.

    What is your disposition to the target on children across the world?

    There is absolutely no justification for the target on children. Terrorists all over the world target children in order to strike fear and gain publicity.

    Boko Haram for instance, gained global acclaim after the Chibok abductions. They got exactly what they were looking for. There are lots of similarities between Boko Haram which operates here in Nigeria, and the Taliban which operates in Pakistan.

    While they both want to enforce full Sharia Law all over Nigeria and Pakistan respectively, they also wanObajit to ensure that there is no place for western education in the areas they operate.

    But let’s not also forget that beyond these things, there is a political undertone to their existence.

    About a year since the abduction of school girls from Chibok, what are the chances of seeing the return of these girls?

    Honestly, no one is sure about the where about or wellbeing of the Chibok girls except their captors. There have been lots of rumours about them.

    In fact, as we speak, there’s a video circulating around Maiduguri purportedly showing Boko Haram militants raping young girls and shooting those who refused to get laid.

    Many people who have seen this video say the girls in the footage are the abducted Chibok girls, but I haven’t been able to get anyone to confirm if that’s true.

    I can’t really say for sure if the Chibok girls are alive or dead or if they are safe where they are. Since there hasn’t been a word for some months from Boko Haram about the girls, no one can be sure about their wellbeing, and whether or not they’ll return.

    Considering the present state of education in Nigeria, where do you think we got it wrong?

    It started from the attitude of the government, and the trend is still continuing. The problem with Nigeria’s education has to do with poor planning, poor funding, and in some quarters, corruption. Take primary education, for instance, the Universal Basic Education Scheme was designed to provide compulsory, free education up to Junior Secondary levels, to be funded by both the Federal and State Governments. The Federal Government keeps 2 percent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund into the scheme and allocates money to the states when the states contribute its matching amounts.

    However, we’ve found out that most of the states never made their matching grants, denying themselves access to the funds; and in states where they had been given the grants, the education sector there is still pathetic. That tells you that these governments are not making education their priority.

    The population of out-of-school children in Nigeria according to UNESCO is equal to the total population of the entire Czech Republic (10.5 million), who do you think is responsible for this?

    The government has the biggest role to play in ensuring Education for All. In 2000, at the World Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal, 180 countries including Nigeria signed up to make the six goals of Education For All happen, committing to putting legal frameworks, policies and finance in place so that everyone, no matter what their circumstances, could have an education – one that is available, accessible, acceptable and adaptable.

    The richest countries pledged to help make Education for All a reality by committing to principles of international cooperation towards those countries with fewer financial resources.

    Commitment towards the right to education was also reflected in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, set in 2000 with a deadline for achievement by 2015.

    Out of the eight Millennium Development Goals, two focus on education. Both the EFA and MDG goals are all centred on what governments should do, and not what parents or children should do to create access to education.

    But as much as the government has a huge role to play, we as citizens must encourage and drive our children to education. Teachers must inspire. Principals must lead. Parents must instil a thirst for learning. And students have got to do the work in school. And if we can all do this together, I assure you we will build great ideas and push this nation away from the stronghold of extremists.

    What’s your advice to government on providing education for all?

    The government must show more seriousness in achieving the goals of Education for All. Education is achievable if government mobilises the political will and available resources. The government must recognise that education is a universal human right; that it is the key to poverty alleviation and sustainable human development; and of course, education is its core responsibility. In doing so, it must ensure increased provision of quality early childhood education and care; the eradication of adult illiteracy and a second chance to learn for youth and adults who miss out on formal schooling; an end to child labour; democratic participation of, and accountability to, civil society, including teachers and their unions, in education decision-making at all levels; fair and regular salaries for teachers; properly equipped classrooms and a supply of quality textbooks; inclusive and non-discriminatory provision of services for all; the mobilization of political will and new resources in support of National Education plans to realize the EFA Goals, including adequate public expenditure of at least 6 percent of GNP. Without this in place, it would be difficult to achieve Education for All.

    In doing so, it must ensure increased provision of quality early childhood education and care; the eradication of adult illiteracy and a second chance to learn for youth and adults who miss out on formal schooling; an end to child labour; democratic participation of, and accountability to, civil society, including teachers and their unions, in education decision-making at all levels; fair and regular salaries for teachers; properly equipped classrooms and a supply of quality textbooks; inclusive and non-discriminatory provision of services for all; the mobilization of political will and new resources in support of National Education plans to realize the EFA Goals, including adequate public expenditure of at least 6 percent of GNP. Without this in place, it would be difficult to achieve Education for All.

  • How I resisted marriage offers after my husband died —Nollywood star Lanre Hassan

    How I resisted marriage offers after my husband died —Nollywood star Lanre Hassan

    Popular actress, Lanre Hassan, is a veteran of the Yoruba genre of Nollywood. She ranks among the few of the older generation who are still vibrant in an industry that is fast being taken over by younger talents. In this interview with SEGUN AJIBOYE (Assitant Editor), she tells the story of her journey in the make-believe industry, marriage, style and other sundry issues. Excerpts:

    You have been around as an actress for a long time. How has it been?

    To start with, my name is Lanre Hassan, popularly known as Mama Awero or Maami. But to answer your question, the journey has been good. God has been very kind and good to me and I thank Him for all His goodness in my life.

    You talked about God’s goodness. But how tough was it starting a career in acting?

    There is no point denying the fact that it has been tough. To be in an industry for 51 years is no joke at all. When we started, parents didn’t allow their children to act. They regarded the job as a job for no-do-wells. So, anybody who showed interest in the job was regarded as either lazy or irresponsible. Nobody gave us any recognition.

    So how did you cope with the perception?

    I will tell you that most of us who were around then went into the industry because of the love for the job. We did not make any money and people around did not show us any respect, but we were determined to prove them wrong. We never thought that a time like this would ever come. But God has been wonderful.

    And you are reaping the fruits of your dedication today.

    Exactly! After all the sufferings of those days, I am enjoying the fruits of my labour. There is hardly any country that I have not been to around the world. In Nigeria, I don’t think there is any place that I don’t know. All these are because of the job I do. I cannot walk on the street without people recognizing me and shouting my name.

    I know you are popular among your fans. How rich are you?

    You see, our people measure success with money. But that is wrong. Your acceptance by a large crowd of people, who most times you don’t even know, is a sign of how successful you are. I thank God for His blessings. Though I may not be rich in terms of counting the millions, but God has made me to be comfortable. And that, to me, is a measure of my success.

    Looking at the industry today, the fad is for the practitioners, especially the young ladies, to start movie productions, even before fully learning the arts of the trade. What is your view on this trend?

    Things were not like this during our time. Back then, all of us were dedicated to the job because of the love that we have for it. So, there was no rush among us to make money. As I speak with you, I will call a certified movie director to direct movie, even though I can direct. But unfortunately, what you find among young actors and actresses is to start production, even before they know how to act well. It is like a child trying to run before he could walk. They want to act, direct and produce at the same time. We have been telling them about this shortcoming and I pray that they will understand what we are trying to tell them.

    I am sure you must have been very charming in your younger days. How were you able to cope with harassment from the men?

    It is all about discipline. You need to be disciplined and to know the child of whom you are. For me, a lot of credit should go to my guardian. She is late now, but she trained us on how to relate with the men. So, from that early age, we knew how to relate with the men and what to expect from them.

    But looking at the industry today, it seems the fears of the parents during your time are being confirmed. Very few of the young women are married. And even those who are married soon quit the marriage. Why are these happening?

    The difference is that during our time, we knew one another very well. Most of the marriages during our time were based on the love for each. But these days, things are no longer the same. If you live in Nigeria and you are married to a man who lives in the UK or US, you should be asked when and how you met. They just go into marriages without knowing anything about each other. So, even before you can blink, you hear that the marriage had packed up.

    Is your husband an actor?

    My husband was not an actor. As a matter of fact, he wanted me to quit the job soon after we got married, but we found a way to resolve it. All this was because we understood each other. If we didn’t understand each other, there was no way the marriage would stand.

    You are saying that the job is not responsible for the crashed marriages…

    You cannot blame the job for the crashed marriages. It is the fault of the individual woman. Look at all those old women in the industry. Why didn’t they suffer the same fate with their marriages? So, the marriages crash not because they are actresses or actors. It is part of the traits that we are witnessing today.

    Which can you describe as the happiest day since you started acting?

    For me, everyday is a happy day. Don’t forget that we are trained to make people happy. So, for you to do that, you have to be happy yourself.

    So there was no  incident that has discouraged you so far?

    Well, I can point to one particular incident. It was the day I lost my child. It was the day that one of us, that popular actor, Ojo Ladipo, popularly called Baba Mero died. We went to his house and came back home. In the morning, my child was dead. It was really tough. I simply lost all. And shortly before then, I had lost another child. He died while I was on the stage acting.

    So you felt like quitting?

    Yes. I was scared and asked myself several questions. What could be responsible? Was it because of my job? I just could not stand it. But thank God, there were several elderly people around us. They came and consoled me. They told me that the deaths were just coincidental. That was what saved me. It learnt a lot on how to relate with other people. And that you should be nice to people on your way up because you might need them on your way down.

    You sure have a very bright sense of fashion. Do you have any fashion routine?

    The truth is that I don’t have any particular style. Whatever you see me wear or step out in is the grace of God. However, I know that there is the need for you to step out neat because you need to dress the way that you want people to address you.

    Your husband died a long time ago. Why have you refused to try another marriage?

    Me, another marriage? No, I don’t want it.

    Are the men not pestering you?

    You should know that they would come. But it is up to you to politely reject whatever offer they are bringing. You need to stand on your feet and maintain your stand.

    So, how did you maintain your stand?

    By simply making them understand that I am not interested in marriage; and that my kids are my companions. It is that simple. Moreover, how would any man want to marry me when I am always on the road travelling for one job or the other.

    You were a member of the Ojo Ladipo Theatre Group. How many were you at the time?

    We were about four at the beginning. The group included me, Ojo Ladipo, Iya Mero and Oga Bello. But later on, others came to join. Some could not stay because it was tough. But we persevered and remained with the group. Today we are reaping the fruits of our perseverance. And that is what I want the younger generation of artistes to imbibe. There is no need for them be in haste to be rich. All those will come with time._

     

     

    ‘Marriage? I’m fulfilled the way I am’  • Continued from Page 37

     

    • Continued from Page 37

     

    Abuja have started to raise their own families. There is nothing that gives me joy than seeing people who went through my tutelage aspire, perspire and acquire.

    Does that mean you won’t ever give marriage a second chance?

    Never say never because limitations, like fears, are often illusions. It is only God that can decide that. Maybe if God reconciles me with my ex, but what do I even want again? Honestly, ask me, what do I want again? I have my God, I worship Him in happiness. I have a lovely team of excellent staff. I have a successful son. God has done enough for me and no man can equate God’s stand in my life. I am fulfilled.

    We have observed that you are also a show-stopper when it comes to parties.

    I sell what I wear, I wear what I sell. I don’t do cheap fashion. I go for quality and people know that if they have me at their events, they have quality and what I wear from my jewelries down to clothes and shoes are all original from the source. We have just launched the new Honey Bee branded Gele and Honey Bee shoe series; that is why people are presently trooping into my place to buy. We are proud of our business heritage.

    How does your day look like?

    My day starts with God. I pray and offer Him praises for His kindness and mercy upon my life. I also appreciate Him for the role He is playing upon my businesses and family. That done, I try to meditate, and read the news on CNN and BBC. I am a news person, I like to be abreast with what goes around in my environment and other parts of the world. I take my breakfast after my first client comes around.

    The day is often busy and interesting, at times they come down and sometimes we send our sale representatives to go and drop for them. If I am not travelling or attending to other issues, I do my business and count my blessings for the day. Beyond everything, it is good to pay tithe to God and that is one secret of God’s blessing in my life.

    Do you have a role model?

    Yes I do, her name is Madam Hedy Bush of Abba Bush Intercontinental; she is my prime producer and supplier in Austria, very humble, intelligent woman with good diction of English language. I love her calmness and Godliness despite her wealth. She is one woman I look up to and I will like to be like her someday because she is an astute business woman with a heart of gold.

    What does style mean to you?

    It means comfort, confidence, expression and strategy. Style is what you sell and what you sell is what you learn and what you learn is what you earn and what you earn is what permits your social security. I am a sociologist, I studied sociology and that is why I am sounding like this (laughs). So, style to me is comfort, confidence, expression and strategy. I mean you cannot expect me to go and see Mrs. Dieziani Madueke or Mrs Dame Patience Jonathan now and I take Abuja taxi cab to their office.

    It is like somebody that wants to go and see Governor Babatunde Fashola in Lagos and you go there in a Danfo bus, I am sure you will spend hours at the reception room. That is if they will even allow the person in. But step in there with a top notch SUV or Mercedes Benz Car and before you even alight from your car, the message that you are around would have already reached your host. I believe in style, I believe in quality fabrics and accessories, I believe in standards and that is why I am Honey Bee.

  • ‘ATMs have improved cashless policy’

    ‘ATMs have improved cashless policy’

    The Head, e-Business, Stanbic IBTC bank, Thabo Makoko, spoke with Bukola Afolabi on the challenges of implementation of the automated teller machine (ATM) cards and cashless policy in Nigeria

    We have heard and also read about the phenomenal growth of payment cards since the Central Bank of Nigeria started implementing the cash-lite policy. What is the current state of debit and credit cards issued by Stanbic IBTC and the wider financial services sector?

    It is true that the CBN cash-lite policy implementation has increased the demand for cash-lite instruments and cards have been in high demand in the industry. This year alone, our credit card business has grown by over 400 percent while the debit card business has almost doubled.

    Customers are realising the benefits of using cards for their transactions – flexibility, convenience, security of using cards compared to cash, among others. As parts of our drive to provide end-to-end financial services solutions for our customers, we issue debit cards to every account holder from inception. This empowers them to carry out transactions with very little dependence on cash.

    Self-service channels including ATMs and Point of Sales (PoS) terminals remain highly convenient as they are available 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

    In addition to CBN’s cash-lite policy, how pivotal is the role of technology, such as increased internet connectivity and robust payment platforms, in driving the adoption of cards in Nigeria?

    Technology is essential in driving a cash-lite industry. Our major concern as a bank remains the technology driving the business, particularly the communications for PoS terminals and electronic banking platforms. We invest in educating customers to migrate from cash reliance to using their cards on PoS terminals.

    However, if the terminals do not have a 99 per cent uptime, it discourages the behaviour we work so hard to achieve. There are some key partners involved in processing card transactions: telecommunication companies, Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) and the banks. All partners need to be available to ensure better service to customers.

    Over the past 18 months, there have been improved commitment and focus in ensuring that we improve the industry and offer a compelling alternative to the traditional cash.

    With the growth trend you have enumerated, would you say that Nigerians may be discarding their fear of using cards for financial transactions?

    To a large extent, I will say yes. Every day, more people get more comfortable with the use of cards. However, we still have to work towards the stage where every bank account holder, in addition to having a card, does most, if not all, of their current cash transactions via credit or debit cards. CBN introduced new pricing tariffs and these were meant to encourage the use of non-cash instruments so that consumers can only enjoy the benefits of adopting cash-lite instruments.

    Another reported drawback with using cards issued in Nigeria is security. How secure are credit cards issued by Nigerian banks?

    All banks are governed by the Central Bank of Nigeria to ensure that standard national card security features are enforced. One of these features is the ‘chip and PIN’ technology which prevents the cloning of cards.

    Card association requirements for MasterCard and Visa also include the Payment Cards Industry Data Security Standards (PCIDSS) certification for card issuers. PCIDSS is the international payment card industry data security standard which is a compulsory international standard on card data security.

    With this certification, Stanbic IBTC Bank’s card payment solutions and debit and credit card services have met the highest standard of security of customers’ information and transactions on its e-banking platform, which significantly reduces the risk of card system compromise.

    We also have a fraud monitoring tool on our credit cards called the Visa Risk Manager which effectively monitors and prevents fraud on the credit cards. We always encourage card holders to take security measures concerning their cards like not accepting help from strangers when using their cards; inspecting transaction terminals like PoS machines and ATMs for suspicious devices used to fraudulently collect card details from unsuspecting cardholders; or people trying to note their PIN at an ATM, and so on. Our Customer Care Centre is available 24 hours every day to assist customers with their cards needs.

    Recently, it was reported that there are over 150,000 PoS terminals currently in Lagos with many of the terminals inactive. Don’t you think this can dampen enthusiasm of Nigerians towards cards?

    Yes. There are people who are eager to use their cards at PoS terminals because PoS machines offer more security than carrying cash around. However, people are not so confident that every time they walk into a merchant’s location, their card will be accepted.

    From the merchant’s perspective, there are several reasons they do not have active terminals. These range from shop owners’ reluctance to bear the associated costs; shop attendants not willing to use the terminal for reasons including getting tips as a result of cash transactions, indifference to the value and convenience that the terminals offer, and so on.

    These are, however, teething problems associated with the adoption of new solutions. Industry trends indicate that more and more customers will switch to PoS transactions and cards will be a better transaction option when compared with cash.

    Nigerians started embracing credit cards recently. Why did it take so long for banks in Nigeria to issue their customers credit cards, considering how long debit cards have been in the market?

    Credit cards, being an unsecured loan product, must be treated as any other loan product – it requires verification checks, documentation, proof of repayment; and so on. In Nigeria, issuing of credit cards is done with much caution as they are prone to default if not carefully managed.

    Other developed countries have easier tracking systems where credit rating determines several other socio-economic factors in individual lives; therefore citizens exercise discipline and ensure their cards are properly serviced.

    In Nigeria, however, we are gradually building our centralised credit bureau system for referencing customers who have good credit history to extend the credit card product to a larger group.

    I believe that in time, credit cards will be very popular in the country when the credit system is fully developed. For now, Stanbic IBTC Bank remains one of the few banks offering the product to a certain category of customers.

    People in the lower demographics have been reported to be more faithful in repaying bank loans, compared to people in the upper class. Why are these people who have shown high fidelity in loan repayment not the major focus of the banking system when it comes to products such as credit cards?

    Our credit card holders include persons who earn from N80,000 per month. This indicates that we do not necessarily offer the product to only the upper class. For us, the ability to demonstrate regular repayment via earning a stable income over a few months is a major condition.

    With about 30 million bank accounts operated by Nigerians, as reported by the CBN, are we looking at such a number as potential credit cardholders? What does the future hold for credit card usage in Nigeria?

    The future is bright for the credit card business. We just need to keep setting up the proper structure in place to improve the card system. We need to have a proper credit rating system which will guide the banks in making the right customer selection for the product.

  • Revamping Nigeria’s manufacturing sector

    Revamping Nigeria’s manufacturing sector

    The Nigerian manufacturing sector has begun to experience statistical growth. It is an important point to make, in spite of the cynicism towards statistical expression of performances of economic indicators in Nigeria.

    But part of the economic transformation that is taking place in the country is that public and private sector institutions are now producing analytics for better understanding of what is going on in the economy. More systematic approaches to data-gathering are helping to provide reliable information which guide economic and investment decisions, in line with the trend in the advanced and emerging markets, where regional, national and sectoral data are crucial in understanding the state of the economies and the performance of their industries.

    According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the performance of the manufacturing sector has been strengthening. The sector grew by 8.41 per cent in Q1 2013. It was a performance that even bettered the impressive growth of 7.70 per cent in the last quarter of 2012. This upswing in the performance of one of the sectors that hold the ace for Nigeria’s economic transformation was corroborated by researchers at FBN Capital, one of the leading investment banking and financial advisory groups in Nigeria.

    FBN Capital’s Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) has maintained a reading above 50 points since the “headline reading” of 59.6 per cent at its launch in April 2013. The PMI methodology indicates 50 points as flat performance; a reading above it is growth, while lower reading indicates contraction.

    Although far from glory days, the Nigerian manufacturing sector currently constitutes 10 per cent of our GDP.

    This is significant for a frontier market, and at this stage of Nigeria’s development. The sector accounts for about 12 per cent of employment in the formal sector. In spite of the decline in the sector a few years ago, the consumer goods sub sector has always been vibrate. After decades of domination by multinational food and beverage franchises, recent growth in manufacturing has seen strong contribution by indigenous manufacturers, who have come into fortune because of the policy support under the Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan, and the fillip provided by his predecessors.

    A manufacturing hub Nigeria has been a sort of manufacturing hub for West Africa for decades. A huge percentage of the trade in manufactured products that linked the sub region is informal. Pharmaceutical products and other consumer manufactured goods had fuelled Nigerian exports to Ghana, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Liberia and a swath of Francophone West African countries, until China took aim at the sub region to dump inferior quality items from the 1990s.

    But Nigeria is set to regain its status as the central nervous system for manufacturing and distribution on the West coast of Africa, for a number of reasons.

    Unlike in the 1970s through to the last decade, China now cares much more than economic growth that is achieved through foul trade practices such as dumping. Now the second-largest world economy – one that aims to be more influential in global diplomacy – China has begun to reform its industrial practices, and is aiming to shift from manufacturing of inferior quality products to leveraging hi-tech. Moreover, China is transitioning from a low-wage economy as domestic consumption has been identified to be a major support for economic growth for the country, moving forward.

    The status of Nigeria in manufacturing in West Africa can hardly be challenged. A domestic consumer base of over 170 million people ensures that local demands are strong and supportive of investment in manufacturing. This is particularly so as a result of the growing middle class in Nigeria that is boosting consumption. Thus, it is reasonable that foreign investors in the region look at setting up in Nigeria and then export excess capacity to other countries in the region.

    A reverse strategy is a nonstarter. While infrastructural support for trade of manufactured goods in the country has been inadequate (but improving), more serious logistical, nontariff barriers will thwart any effort to serve Nigeria’s needs from a manufacturing base elsewhere in West Africa. Not surprisingly therefore, some of the manufacturing companies that moved out of Nigeria a few years ago are now returning.

    A number of reforms are reshaping the manufacturing sector in Nigeria. The NBS has more recently attributed the growth in the sector to implementation of the power sector reforms. The full effect of the reforms is a promise than what we currently experience. It is therefore expected that the era of more stable grid-electricity power s supply, which Nigeria now has on the horizon, would ensure that products manufactured in Nigeria move towards price-competitiveness. It will also drive other efficiency factors. As I had mentioned, this Administration has pressed on with addressing infrastructural deficiencies. As a first step in the rail transportation, some of the old rail lines have been revamped and are now operational. This and some proposals for new tracks will support establishment of an agricultural corridor to connect agricultural produce to agro-processing industries.

    A number of policy supports, including fiscal incentives and establishment of free trade zones, have underlined government’s efforts to lift the manufacturing sector. General Electric is one of the global manufacturers that have taken advantage of this in recent times. Its $1 billion investment in a service and manufacturing facility in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria adds to the high profile nonoil foreign direct investment in the country.

    Of bigger scale is the $9 billion investment of Dangote Group in petroleum refining, petrochemical and fertiliser plant in the Olokola Free Trade Zone.

    SME manufacturing is not overlooked. Part of the credit goes to the strong advocacy of the very vibrant trade association for the sector: Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN). Its leadership has been persistent in calling for more favourable fiscal environment and removal of barriers to the growth of the sector. Where MAN has been helpless (although not altogether without assistance), is the area of high interest rate charged by the commercial banks.

    A number of financing initiatives including an SME fund sponsored by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have been addressed to the special funding needs of manufacturers of smaller scale. That we have need of more low-cost finance solution is well acknowledged by policymakers, although macroeconomic goals that impact interests rates are much more difficult to achieve at the current level of success with diversification of the economy.

    Nexim Bank in the

    solution mix

    The Nigerian Export – Import Bank has been working closely with some manufacturers in Nigeria since we formulated our “MASS Agenda.” We thought that the manufacturing, agro-processing, solid minerals and services sectors were very important frontiers of job-rich growth that the country needed to give welfarist meaning to the impressive GDP growth Nigeria has experienced since much of the last decade. Specifically, since 2010, NEXIM Bank has been assisting some manufacturers to retool. We have funded complete overhaul of facilities for some manufacturer clients. Manufacturing evolves with technology. Therefore, our interventions usually assist manufacturers to adopt new technology in the form of new equipment and machinery.

    As a development finance institution (DFI), NEXIM Bank’s facilities, including for manufacturers, are priced below the exorbitant market rate of the commercial banks. For a number of our loan beneficiaries, our facilities have been critical to their ability to take advantage of opportunities that require them to expand their capacity, or acquire more cost-efficient facilities to improve the quality of their products. In either scenario, jobs are on the line. We look to create and sustain jobs in the manufacturing sector.

    We hope to scale up our impacts. By 2015, Nexim Bank aims to provide about N42 billion in short and long-term financing to the manufacturing sector. This will represent about 6 per cent of total funding needs of the sector. With this, we hope to directly mediate about 4 per cent of total production value in manufacturing, and create and support over 70,000 jobs. Our specific view of the sector is to identify key areas of growth dynamics.

    As a result of local consumption capacity and local sourcing of raw materials, Nexim Bank will focus significant parts of its intervention on these subsectors: food and beverage, wood products, domestic and industrial plastic/rubber products, steel and alloy products.

    An up-to-date view of the sector is not that it is comatose; it is revamping. The growth potentials in the manufacturing sector are huge. Manufacturing is one of the sectors that will contribute to the long-term economic growth in Nigeria. When we factor in the value chain, we see even brighter economic prospects. Nexim Bank will continue to innovate on how to support, in particular, export-manufacturers in fulfilment of its mandate. We are taking another major step in this direction with our buyer credit facility which is in the offing and will be launched by 2015.

    – Roberts Orya is Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Export – Import Bank

     

  • ‘Skills acquisition paramount for industrial growth’

    ‘Skills acquisition paramount for industrial growth’

    Prof. Longmas Wapmuk, is Director-General, Industrial Training Fund (ITF), where he has been calling the shots since 2006. The ITF, which suffered a chequered existence following years of inactivity, has literally reinvented itself and is now fulfilling the mandate it is saddled with, which is producing skilled manpower for the country. In this interview with Bukola Afolabi, he shares the success story of the organisation among other issues.

    Could you tell us how long you have been at the helm of affairs of the ITF and your experience?

    Well, I was appointed specifically on August 2006. This means that I’m slightly above seven years in the organisation now. For example, when I came on board , many companies at the time particularly the foreign companies were not interested in training in the Industrial Training Fund thinking that our staff were not very competent, we addressed this problem by training many of our people overseas. And today, in Lagos you find out that we have so many training programmes being given to us to implement by the major companies.

    A prove of the rise in training consciousness, on account of ITF intervention, is the increasing request for reimbursement by employers of labour registered and the remitting of training contributions to the fund. Reimbursement of training contributions is done on condition that ITF’s guidelines on training are met. Therefore, the more employers of labour request for and get reimbursed indicates that training consciousness has really increased and is daily increasing in the economy. One of the visions of the ITF, when it was established in 1971, was to be one of the foremost field training and development organisations.

    I believe the organisation has achieved its aim. The ITF was little known before I took over as the Chief Executive. We have problem of poor funding. The budget of the organisation was around N3.6 billion, which is far too small to achieve all what we want to achieve. Also, the staff is not happy, there is no motivation and the salary was so poor. The relationship between ITF and organised body was not good. My management was also dissolved. These and many more are some of the challenges.

    How did you address these challenges?

    As at now, the ITF is a household name. First of all, I took a trip to Lagos. I met with the organised sector stakeholders. We discussed on the way forward. This, of course, enhanced our relationship. Like I said, my management was dissolved, so I had to set up a new management. Restructuring and re-organisation took place and today we have about six vibrant departments in the organisation. I was able to get new improved salary structure for the staff and all the outstanding promotions took place.

    In terms of funding, the money available for training has been very low and we thought that there was the need to improve the level of funding. When I came, I started by soliciting for money from government. I drew up a plan and followed it up by going to the supervising ministry, the Education Trust Fund (ETF) and many other places and found out that I could not generate any revenue from my efforts.

    So I decided to look inwards to see areas of generating revenue if we are to function properly as provided for in the law setting us up. I found out that in the so many countries I visited, they have similar laws but there is no reimbursement clause because they use all the money to train. But in our own case we reimburse 60 percent to the industry and 40 percent is left for us to pay our salaries and to do the training.

    On assumption of office as the Director-General, I found out that there was a law establishing a Fund and, in this law, there was provision for collection of some money to sustain the activities of the ITF. And when I came in, the level of fund generation was very low as I said earlier. Apart from the fact that the budget of the ITF was around N3.6 billion, the law stipulates that ITF should collect one per cent of firms and government agencies annual staff salary.

    You know, ITF is sustained by contributions from the organised private sector. But, you see, when they contribute this money, ITF does not keep all the money. We require them to train their own staff; so part of this training is done by them. When they train, in accordance with our new law, we refund 50 per cent of what we collected from them; so, we do not keep all the money. What is left is not enough to fund us, and to equip our centres. That is why, of recent, you see that we have been making a lot of efforts to collect revenue.

    Have you started collecting the money now (one per cent) and what is the level of compliance?

    Yes, we have started collecting the money but the money we have collected so far is not much. This is because we are just implementing the legislation and there are so many things in the amended Act. If you look at section six of that law and subsection. The level of compliance is not high, but it has improved. For instance, the number of companies have improved from 5,000 to 20, 000. Our revenue has increased to about N18billion now. Mind you, about 800,000 companies are registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). So, you can imagine 20,000 companies out of about 867,000 companies. If we can get hold of at least 300,000 companies, it will solve most of our problems. We still have a long way to go, though, but I know we will get there.

    Can you tell us about your training centre? How are they functioning?

    The ITF training centre, particularly our model skill training centre, which is located in this compound, has become a ‘Mecca’ for Technical Vocational Education. We have centres in Lagos, Jos, and Kano. We have a modern one in Abuja. We have been able to complete the one in Lokoja. When people come around we start to showcase our centre, which we built with technical support from the Institute of Technical Education Services of Singapore.

    The ITF also is always at the cutting edge of technical vocational skills training in Nigeria. In addition to bringing people to training, the ITF takes training to the people, particularly, in the nooks and cranny of Nigeria by deploying a number of mobile training workshops decked with the state-of-the-art modern equipment tools and facilities in 11 trade areas.

    We also proposed something to government which we presented to stakeholders known as National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP) which is an aspect of the national industrial development plan for the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment.

    This plan envisages that we will have industrial skills training centres in the 36 states of the federation and Abuja. And in each of these centres we have provision for training people in 24 trade areas. We have also made provision in this plan for Centres for Advance Skills Training for Employment (CASTE) and these are bigger centres that have provision for about 45 trade areas and these will be located in the six geo-political zones of the country.

    What role if any, is ITF playing in national economy, most especially, the Transformation Agenda?

    The ITF is one of the major parastatals of the Federal Government. It is one of the organisations being used by the Federal Government to achieve the transformation agenda of this administration. If you look at the ITF, and the Act establishing it, you realize it has the responsibility to provide, promote, and encourage the acquisition of skills in commerce and industry, with a view to generating the manpower sufficient to meet the needs of the Nigerian economy. And you are aware that, over time, the ITF has been performing this function.

     

  • ‘How Vir2o ‘ll redefine social media’

    ‘How Vir2o ‘ll redefine social media’

    CEO of East Coast Diversified Corporation, Kayode Aladesuyi, a US-based Nigerian, and founder of Vir2o, a new website giving a different meaning to the social media experience, loves challenges. Joe Agbro Jr., met him during the official launch of Vir2o in Lagos recently and he shares his story.

    The hall was one of expectancy as the event promised the launch of a new social media network. Hovering from one corner to the other, he quietly ensured everything was going smoothly for the press conference about to begin. He had reason to. He is Kayode Aladesuyi, the chairman of East Coast Diversified Corporation (ECDC) and founder of www.vir2o.com, the product the audience waited for.
    Call him a busy body and you won’t be wrong. In the span of his life, he had managed a restaurant, worked at construction sites, worked as an accountant, founded a telephone company, a recording studio, and three technology companies. But as he walked to the dais, spotting a branded fez cap with the vir2o logo, Aladesuyi was full of infectious energy, telling the press that Vir2o, his brand new baby, has come to bring ‘humanity to socialisation.’
    “Unlike when we were growing up when you would find a girlfriend in school or at sport or social event,” he said, “today, it all happens online. Everybody is meeting everybody online. For most women, it is a dangerous experience. You don’t know who is on the other line. You don’t know what he likes and what he doesn’t like. Vir2o solves that problem.”
    Vir2o also creates a platform to connect on a business level, allowing users and businesses to have live interaction with regards to products and services offered.
    At the launch in Lagos about three weeks Aladesuyi said he feels honoured to come back to the country after 32 years. Speaking on the motivation for vir2o, Aladesuyi said, “Facebook is great but it doesn’t take care of connectivity that you have in an extended family situation. It doesn’t actually add socialisation to social media. In the US, it is referred to as a poster board where people go online to post information.”
    So three years ago, he sounded his then 16-year old daughter on what she thought of Facebook. Her verdict according to him was that “Facebook is boring.” “The moment she told me that,” he said, “the light bells went off in my head.” Recognising an opportunity, Aladesuyi said, “I got my engineers and my creative team together and we started to study social media to understand what exactly is there about social media that is exciting to people.”
    And www.vir2o.com, a website that puts chat, photos, music, games, videos, and a marketplace, together on one platform, was birthed. While vir2o has some common features with facebook and google+, it distinguishes itself with nVite, a session sharing technology patented by Aladesuyi, which allows users to share media contents such as videos and photos with their friends or family in real-time. This enabled friends and family to for instance, watch a movie or go shopping together, despite differences in locations. Also on the website is facility for live chat, Vmovies, and VBroadcast, which enables streaming of live events, such as concerts and religious services.
    Speaking further, he said, “today, what I’ve been able to do is for someone on vir2o to be able to tell a friend and say join me, let’s watch a movie together, regardless of where that person is – whether you are in China or in Mexico.”
    And, the sharing experience which is due to nVite, a session sharing technology patented by Aladesuyi also enables connected people on the platform to shop together. “About 68% of relationships today are formed online,” Aladesuyi said, as he hopes that with vir2o, the word virtual become realer.
    Aladesuyi is also interested in getting “black people to code (computer programming)” and says Nigerian software developers now have a platform on which they can develop locally-relevant applications. “Even in the US, we are lacking when it comes to technical education,” he said. “You won’t find a single app developed by an African on facebook. It’s not because we can’t do it. It’s because we don’t have the platform.”
    But in a market swelling with a plethora of social media sites, what convinces him that Vir2o can fly, I ask. “Inspiration and business,” he swiftly replies. Being an African-American, a Nigerian in the field of technology by its very nature is challenging. I love to be challenged.
    So far, vir2o has about 20,000 users globally but it is poised for growth. To push this, Aladesuyi has set about one million dollars. And following its launch, users have an opportunity to win $5,000 by uploading a creative video on the website.
    Born on May 21, 1960 in Lagos, to Mr. and Mrs. Adedeji and Kikelomo Aladesuyi (nee Benson), Aladesuyi grew up on the Island and Mainland of Lagos at various times. In 1982, he went to the American University in Watford, England but transferred in 1983 to the US, bagging a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Alabama in 1986.
    Immediately upon graduation from college Mr. Aladesuyi’s interest to practice as an accountant was immediately dashed when a head hunter advised him to change his name if he wanted to secure interviews.”
    Aladesuyi didn’t adopt an English name and decided to be entrepreneurial. He paid a professor to teach him digital accounting. And with the knowledge of several accounting packages, the young Nigerian started Associated Management and Financial Services Group, his first business in the US, in March 1986. It was a bookkeeping and tax services for small businesses. He provided financial and accounting services to many businesses and individuals, representing companies such as Metropolitan Life, Prudential and New York Life insurance companies.
    Though, with an academic background and early career steeped in accounting and administration, Aladesuyi as CEO of ECDC runs three technology companies. How did it happen?
    “My transition (to technology),” he said, “began when accounting started to move from paper accounting to digital accounting.”
    And by the early 90’s when Atlanta was becoming a major music market, Aladesuyi created Loud Entertainment Group, a production studio, and Vision Records, an artist development company.
    And when the United States decided to break up AT&T’ and the Baby Bells’ monopoly in providing local phone services across the country, Aladesuyi took advantage of the opportunity and started Planet Link, the first African American telephone company in America in 1996. “I was like a child in candy store basically. So, to compete with the Baby Bell, I partnered with Dish network, which was major cable service provider in North America. I was able to compete by combining cable service and my own telephone service. I ran that business up until 2002. In 2002, the company was taken public.”
    Black Enterprise Magazine ran a story on him as one of few African Americans to run a publicly traded entity.
    In September of 2003, Mr. Aladesuyi resigned from PlanetLink Communication to start EarthSearch Communications. Doing business with Dish and researching on satellite, Aladesuyi found out that President Bill Clinton had signed a declaration allowing commercialisation of GPS technology. Studying GPS technology fascinated him. “To me, it was a technology that broke down all boundaries. ”
    In 2004, he set up Earthsearch Communications in Brazil where in conjunction with engineers to build his first technology product, AutoSearch GPS, a GPS tracking device.
    When FBI reports showed that more than $40 billion worth of goods were stolen each year while vehicles were on the highway in the US and even more in Europe and globally, Aladesuyi took it as a challenge, one which he solved by creating the first wireless communication protocol between GPS and RFID. This technology, which he owns the patent for has been transferred into many industries including security. And a local beneficiary is Halogen Security.
    In 2008, after 25 years of living abroad, he returned to Nigeria for the first time. He brought along with him a GPS navigation product called Roadnut. The concept of a navigation device was novel in Nigeria then. “We used a local company to get us the street map of Nigeria,” he said. But we quickly found out that it was not going to work. The roads were not properly numbered, there was not enough detail. But, just the idea was exciting.”
    But, there are still big plans in the offing as Aladesuyi said “he intends using vir2o to demonstrate to the world that Nigeria is a virile market. That Nigeria can be a catalyst to investors who want to invest in Nigeria. If vir2o can take on facebook, I can say vir2o took on facebook because Nigerians support vir2o. It is a powerful statement to make in the business circle in US. We are ceding Nigeria to the Chinese. It is something that concerns me.”
    Aladesuyi is married to Andrea Sousa, his second wife, who he met in Brazil in the course of expanding his business. He had earlier married Valerie Wells a native of Alabama that he met in college. Though, his works take him to India, China, Brazil, and other parts of the world, away from his wife and five children, whenever he can, he said he loves spending time with his family. “I also love to play golf too.”

  • ‘Nigerians should embrace alternative building methods’

    ‘Nigerians should embrace alternative building methods’

    Otunba Dele Ajayi Smith is Chairman/Chief Executive, Hammersmith Projects Solutions Limited. Smith, who is a member, Membership Committee of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, believes that accommodation should be the least of the problems of Nigerians. In this interview with Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf, he talks about alternative building methods and how to avert building hazards in Nigeria

    It is very difficult for an average Nigerian to build a house because of the continuous rise in the price of building materials, especially cement, in fact government has asked Nigerians to look for alternative ways of building houses. What is the way out?

    I think Nigerians should deemphasise the use of cement. I would suggest what is called monolithic dome housing. For centuries, Nigerians know one simple housing system, the one made of cement, sand and stones; the nearest alternative are the burnt bricks used in the same conventional four square style. Monolithic dome housing is unique in several senses; dome is a house that has several features, a house that can survive most natural and manmade disasters: tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, fires bullets, rot, mold and termites. Of course you will likely argue that we do not have most of those natural disasters in our country, that we do not have hurricanes, that we do not have incidences of earthquakes, of course we do have powerful flooding, violent storms and winds and, we do constantly have incidences of those manmade disasters, we do have great insecurity which could lead to severe stray bullets and so many other related negative occurrences.

    This new technology stands against all these natural and manmade disasters, it is a unique housing system; it is the safest house in the world. Monolithic Dome is so beautiful; it can be decorated from both inside and outside. It is really fantastic, so when I saw this building personally and slept inside it for days, I was very excited, I appreciated it because I have been involved in the industrial insulation technology for many years, for over three decades, so when I saw the Dome House, it was very attractive because it is a combination of industrial insulation and also the features of conventional building technology I am used to. So putting these two technologies together, we were sure it is going to be something absolutely NEW! For our climate also and, the fact of the growing climate change and its consequences, especially, it is more serious with us in Africa because we do not have solid safety-net against disasters.

    The beauty of a Dome House is that when you build the usual conventional house here. You are only thinking about this house lasting some decades, in the case of Monolithic Dome, you must be thinking of several centuries. Take for instance that the Rome’s Pantheon Dome built in 126 A. D. is still there in use and remains strong. So many Dome houses that I personally visited in the US are all looking good as new even though some are 30 years old, you won’t see any sign of stress on any of the Dome houses, but most houses that are conventional, the maintenance costs are even so high to keep them strong or else dilapidation sets in.

    The cost of a Dome House is about the same cost with that of our known conventional buildings and for our Ecoshell Dome, it could be 10 to 25 percent cheaper than the cost of conventional building and by the time you put all other things into consideration; the period of construction which is faster with the Dome House and, then with the fact that maintenance cost is almost 50 per cent cheaper after the construction, especially when you consider energy savings.

    When you talk about dome, what readily comes to mind is something ancient, how relevant is it for the modern day?

    No, the kind of dome we are talking about comes in different shapes and forms of designs, they are beautiful than the old mud dome you use to see in the northern part of Nigeria. I am talking about modern day Domes; they are classical and beautiful, more than any conventional buildings both internally and externally. They are really beautiful and, when you consider some of the areas our people sink their hard-earned hundreds of millions of naira in constructing their homes like all the Lekki axis, the best form of building structures that will not make them lose their investment or their sleeps are the Dome houses and, Dome house can go up to 25 storeys or levels so that there is nothing you need you don’t get from a Dome building. We have all forms of designs you can build a beautiful bungalow, single or two storey building, you can build multiple storey building, up to 25- storey building, it is a building for all seasons.

    Take a look at those conventional buildings along Ahmadu Bello Way on Victoria Island in Lagos directly facing the Atlantic ocean, almost all the tenants have run away several years back, they can’t live there any longer and those are huge investments, if they were Dome structures, they will have no problems, they will remain there, they will remain good neigbbours to the Atlantic ocean, nothing to drive them away from that neighbourhood.

    When you now look at those structures you have along Lekki Phase I, Phase II, and all those other estates directly behind the Atlantic Ocean, their best built are the Dome houses because they will have no problems at all times. When you think places like Abuja, of course, they are on solid ground, but the growing climate change doesn’t promise anyone anywhere of a sure safety or good tidings, anything could happen at any time.

    If you know the psyche of Nigerians, anytime they want to do something, they think about the cost implication, how affordable is this to an average Nigerian?

    It is very affordable. It is cheaper for the low income-earner to maintain than maintaining the old conventional house. That is why you see many of our houses; they get easily deteriorated because of what it must cost to maintain them. The only disadvantage that the Monolithic Dome will have on the low income-earners is that of raising their sense of beauty, consciousness and good standard of living.

    If you look at most of our universities, most of them are not residential, how useful can this monolithic houses help in accommodating the students?

    You’re very right, take for instance, Olabisi Onabanjo University, (OOU) is a 30-year-old institution and they don’t have hostel for their students, they have population of over 14,000 students new students of about 6,000 enter into the university every year and they have to scramble for local accommodation all around those cities within the proximity of the institution, some of these students have to live several miles away from their campuses, yet they don’t have comfortable places to live, coupled with incompatible culture with the local people which often leads to chaos. We have just introduced Echoshell Dome to the university. Dome will prevent man-made disaster that often occurs where a multitude lives. We have introduced the alternative building technology to the university and, the institution is very excited and wishes to be the first university to adopt the alternative building technology.

    If you recall, early this year, the federal government beginning to advocate for alternative building technology, the president specifically mentioned it, some of the state governors also talked about huge cost of building a house. Cement is expensive, but the truth is that cement accounts for less than 15 per cent of all the building materials. Cement is not really the major cost in a building process, you are going to talk about planks to do so many things in a structure.

    When you see various designs of Dome houses, you will see that they are better than conventional homes, they are more easily decorated, when you see many of these designs you will be so happy, you can tailor your decoration so well that you do it at a very lowest cost.

    Apart from housing sector, the Domes are best for banking hall, especially these days with security challenges, Domes are so appropriate for banking hall all over the country especially when you consider the bullet proof feature, the safety of numbers of customers usually within the banking hall, etc.