The Nation Newspaper

Tag: acquire

  • Lagos workers acquire skills for pension administration

    Lagos workers acquire skills for pension administration

    Governments and employers, who fail to accept the welfare of the people as the ultimate law, is at the risk of ruining its stewardships and the trust of the citizens in governance, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has said.

    He added that employers, who deny this run the undeniable risk of ruining their enterprise, the trust and the devotion of their employees.

    The governor made this statements at the opening session of a workshop tagged: “Vital Interpersonal Skills for Pension Administrators”, organised by the Civil Service Pensions Office (CSPO) of the Lagos State Ministry of Establishments, Training and Pensions in Lagos.

    Ambode, who was represented by Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions, Dr. Akintola Benson, said Lagos State government is one of the most notable governments that believe in this ideal, adding that the unrivalled dedication of the state to the welfare of its workforce both during and after service cannot be overemphasised.

    The commissioner said Governor Ambode mandated his ministry to embark on a continuous training of members of staff of the ministry in order to ensure the delivery of top quality service to officers of the civil service.

    The training, he said, was dedicated to the need to inculcate and sharpen the vital interpersonal skills that officers of the Civil Service Pensions Office require to properly serve pensioners and retirees of the state civil service.

    He said: “In addition to fulfilling my duties charged with the responsibility for ensuring the adequate exposure of the civil service to knowledge on an on going basis, the activities that have been carried out signify and underscore the Governor’s commitment to all matters relating to the welfare of staff, retirees, and pensioners in Lagos State.

    “In aiming to call attention to, and aid the development of, the vital interpersonal skills that are vital for pension administrators, our training will focus on the skills that are not learnt in schools, but are important though, rarely visible. These are the skills that are less tangible, harder to quantify, challenging to teach and, sometimes, difficult to describe. They include attributes such as etiquette, getting along with others, listening and engaging in small talk. Without doubt, these skills are related to the concept of ‘employability’, but they are also related to the concepts of effectiveness and efficiency.”

    He continued:“Clearly, possessing the right attitude to work is a soft skill that is not taught in the universities and other formal schools. This is, therefore, an attempt to help officers of the Civil Service Pensions Office develop the skills that are necessary for success. The training will also fully assist the participating officers to appreciate and acquire the benefits that skills training brings to bear on the attainment of the strategic objectives of the government and the effectiveness of the institutions of the civil service. It will also help pension administrators in the CSPO benefit from having officers, who are able to make critical observations.”

  • ‘Why competitors want to acquire 9 Mobile’

    ‘Why competitors want to acquire 9 Mobile’

    Africa’s biggest telco MTN and India’s Bharti Airtel (operating as Airtel Nigeria) have respectively expressed interest in acquiring 9 Mobile, formerly known as Etisalat Nigeria.

    Earlier in the year, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had to save the company from collapse when the foreign investors pulled out of the company and stripped it of their patented brand, Etisalat. Etisalat Nigeria had defaulted in repaying a credit facility worth $1.2 billion got from a group of 13 banks. CBN’s intervention led to the banks agreeing to stop collecting the principal and interest payments until the company gets new investors.

    If acquired by any of the two telecom giants, which have expressed interest, the acquisition will bequeath 9 Mobile’s over 20 million subscribers and 14 market share to the new buyer. “Companies would only want to buy their competitor to kill competition,” said Abiola Ajala, financial analyst and associate member, Institute of Credit and Risk Management of Nigeria (ICRM). “They sometimes buy competitor to liquidate it, so there won’t be competition,” he added.

    Eighteen other companies have submitted Expression of Interest (EoI), in respect of the bid, to Barclays Bank, the organisation appointed to find new investors for 9 Mobile. Besides MTN and Airtel, other telcos interested in the bid are Ntel, which acquired both NITEL and MTEL; and Lebanon-based Lintel Group of Companies, which owns Africell, a telco providing cellular communication in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), The Gambia, Sierra Leone and Uganda.

  • Acquire vocational skills, freshers told

    Acquire vocational skills, freshers told

    The University of Lagos (UNILAG) chapter of Nigerian Economics Students’ Association (NESA) has held an orientation for freshers admitted into the department. The event with the themed: Cultivating success was held at the Faculty of Social Sciences building and was attended by lecturers, among who included the sub-dean of the faculty, Dr Babatunde Adeoye, and Dr Olufemi Shaibu, the association’s Staff Adviser

    Adeoye told the students to see themselves as being lucky to be among those who scaled through the admission process. He urged the freshers to stay focused and take their studies seriously.

    While noting time is a resource, Adeoye urged the students to work hard and strive for good grades. He said they must draw a line between academic and social lives.

    He said: “Economics is solely for students, who take their studies seriously. Whatever you want to be in future, you must start from now.”

    Dr Shaibu, who represented the Head of the Department, told the freshers to determine their peculiar goals and work towards attaining the goals. He advised them to evaluate themselves based on their targeted goals.

    Gift Festus, a 400-Level student of the department, who is set to graduate with First Class, shared his story with the students, urging them not to engage in unprofitable relationships and excessive social activities.

    Casmir Idekwulin, the Managing Director of an accounting firm, said the discipline gave high prospect of employment to its graduate, noting that there was no firm that did not require the service of an economist.

    He advised the freshers to acquire skills that would complement their academic qualifications, stressing that it would give them edge in competitive labour market.

    Michael Emmanuel, a young entrepreneur and a 300-Level Psychology student, said that skill acquisition was part of education, noting that focus was being shifted to vocational skills and entrepreneurship.

    Highlight of the event included demonstration to the students how they would calculate their Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA).

    According to the NESA Public Relations Officer (PRO), Babatunde Phillips, the orientation programme was intended to give the students their first knowledge of department’s activities.

    The president of the association, Oghenetega Odioko, urged the students not open up whenever they face challenges in the course of the studies.

     

  • ‘Why Lagos should acquire abandoned properties’

    ‘Why Lagos should acquire abandoned properties’

    The Federal Government abandoned some properties in Lagos when it relocated to Abuja. These properties have deteriorated. To stop their further deterioration, the Founding Partner, J. Ajayi Patunola & Co, Dr Bolarinde Patunola Ajayi, is praying the Lagos State government to take over the properties. By so doing, he tells OKWY IROEGBU-CHIKEZIE in this interview, the properties’ value will be restored.

    Some people are asking for a special status for Lagos State. There are many derelict and abandoned government buildings in the state. How can the government restore these buildings?

    It’s saddening to see the Federal Government’s properties that could have been put into good use wasting away because of the movement of the Federal Capital to Abuja. Some buildings in Lagos, such as the Defence House, Federal Secretariat, Ikoyi and others around Tafewa Balewa Square are affected. The bad side of it is that the current administration in Lagos sees the Federal Government properties as not its business. In this situation, it will be difficult to put into use professionally all the abandoned properties in the state.

    Before now, the government commenced the process of converting the abandoned Federal Secretariat into other use, such as flats and apartments but some stakeholders rejected the idea and insisted that the original use should be maintained in order to preserve the character of the area. One cannot hazard a guess as to why the remodelling is stalled and also why the other abandoned buildings are still all around the place after many years of relocation to the Federal Capital Territory. As a professional, my advice to the government is to realise that the properties left fallow are tax payers’ money and the earlier it is put into good use, the better to attract optimum returns.

    A careful observer will also notice that most of the abandoned properties are commercial properties. I think it is in the best interest of the Lagos State government, for instance, to take-over these properties, rebuild and make them available for its workers through mortgage or sell the properties to interested members of the public, give them a definite time to develop and put the properties into good use. As it is now, they are just left bare, they are abandoned and any property that you are not using deteriorates. Because the properties are not used, the services will be destroyed, the cables will be eaten up by rodents and you may just discover that by the time the government will be thinking of bringing them back, it will be a lot of investments in terms of the naira value that will be spent.

    From a professional point of view, to what best use can the Defence House and Federal Secretariat be put?

    We know that both buildings were used for commercial purposes; l will advise that the old use should be retained. There are so many companies that need accommodation in Lagos. Once the environment is put right and habitable it will be taken up. There is one thing that I will like the government and the public to take note of as far as conversion of use is concerned. When you want to convert a residential to a commercial or a commercial to a residential, you have to first determine the load which each floor is designed to carry and ascertain the load its new use will carry.

    There is a particular optimum load that a particular building must not carry but if it goes ahead to carry it, that building must come down. Let‘s look at an office space, there is a load which it should carry, if it is converted to a flat, you now put blocks and all manner of things. The blocks which you use to partition will first of all constitute load of its own before the owners now start to put their own load such as their bed, furniture, water tanks and indeed their house effects and if it goes beyond what that floor is designed to carry, the floor will give way. Anyone who wants to do conversion must extensively do his testing calculation to make sure that what he wants to do is safe for the type of conversion but to make it simple, let the use for which they are designed continue so that quickly you can put them back to market and make them economically viable.

    What kind of housing model should the country adopt to have decent accommodation?

    I have heard of Singaporean model but I think what is important is to first of all look at our weather. People talk of Singapore, I don’t want to talk of Singapore because they build houses and are even looking for people to live in them because it is the government that is building the houses. In fact, when their children get married, the government will give them a house gift but here, the situation we find ourselves is such that we are already over-populated. We should be able to ascertain if the materials used in Singapore can endure in our climate. What I will clamour for is for us to limit our designs. Some people overdesign their buildings and end up not being able to build them or build and not being able to maintain them, which is very common.

    I will canvass the use of local materials; if this is developed, it will also help in the production of relatively cheap houses. People should also know the kind of houses to build. For instance, a bachelor living in a three or four-bedroom flat is wasting his money. Elsewhere, people graduate from studio flat to bigger houses as their families grow and then when the kids leave home, they come down to smaller houses. Due to social factors in our country, you will see an elderly couple living in a duplex and having difficulty maintaining it when they should actually be living in a small apartment they can maintain. As a nation, we should have proper orientation and keep up with trends in developed economies.

    When surveyors talk of ‘dead capital’ in property management what do they mean exactly?

    A property is said to be ‘dead’ when there is no registered title to prove ownership of such. When a person buys a property and it has defective title which cannot be tendered legally, definitely it is like not having anything. For such, I think the remedy is to ensure that you have the document perfected so that the title can be marketable for that property.

    Ikeja GRA is no more what it used to be. Before now, it was common to see a bungalow on an expanse of land. Now it’s no longer the case as the place is fully built-up with multi-storey buildings and duplexes. What is the reason for this?

    The reason is not far–fetched, there is the Ikeja Modern City Plan and in the new city plan a lot of changes took place. Some streets that were purely residential have been converted to commercial while others are mixed development. The planning concept of the place has changed tremendously but l would wish that we can go for higher floors so that the use of the land could be maximised.

    What determines property price?

    Prices are determined by the forces of demand and supply of property. If more properties come to the market, the price will come down, if fewer properties are in the market compared to those who can afford it the price will continue to be high. But the government can help by coming up with a deliberate policy to supply a certain number of houses yearly in every local government and state where the houses are needed. If the government can consistently achieve this in the next 10 years the prices of houses will come down. It is not everybody that can build a house. The government can kick-start the policy by starting off with her staff, targeting their accommodation in the next 10 years through the mortgage system. If government achieves this the rent will come down in no distant time.

    Our population keeps increasing, as a country, we are at the centre of it all as people all over the world come to have a piece of the pie. From investigation, analysts say about 3,000 people come to Lagos everyday with no intention of going back. All these people need to be catered for. But I make bold to say that except the nation realise the need to have an estate surveyor and valuer as the Minister of Housing, we may not be able to deal with issues relating to housing because it requires professional handling due to its complexities. I believe the non recognition of the strategic importance that surveyors can play in housing provision has not helped in our quest for housing delivery. Unless there is a round peg in a round whole, the difference may not be experienced very soon. For once if an estate surveyor becomes a housing minister, the first thing he will delve into is the development of mass housing. This will also aid the tenancy law of the Lagos State government for instance as government can easily charge monthly rate if it so desires.

  • Foreign investors acquire Fan Milk

    Two new foreign investors-Danone and The Abraaj Group have acquired 100 per cent equity stake in Fan Milk International, the parent company of Fan Milk Plc in a global deal that will reverberate in Nigeria and other West African countries.

    With 2012 sales of around EUR120 million, Fan Milk is the leading manufacturer and distributor of frozen dairy products and juices in Nigeria and other West African countries including Ghana, Togo, Burkina Faso, Benin and Ivory Coast. Since its establishment over 50 years ago, Fan Milk has grown rapidly through a unique distribution network with its products popularly available in almost every nooks and crannies of Nigeria.

    Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited advised Danone, one of the largest food product manufacturers in the world, producing fresh dairy, water and nutritional products globally, in the deal. The Abraaj Group is a leading private equity investor operating in the growth markets of Africa, Latin America, Middle East, South Asia, South East Asia, Turkey and Central Asia.

    Under the transaction, The Abraaj Group, which had previously announced its agreement to acquire 100 per cent of Fan Milk through one of its Funds in June 2013, will now acquire 51 per cent equity stake while Danone will acquire 49 per cent stake in Fan Milk International. However, Danone will in the years ahead be able to gradually acquire a controlling stake in the business.

    There is expectation that the combination of Danone’s know-how in the fresh dairy category alongside Abraaj’s 20 year investment experience, insights and local presence on the African continent will boost Fan Milk’s growth.

    Founder and group chief executive, The Abraaj Group, Arif Naqvi, noted that the acquisition of Fan Milk represented the largest fast moving consumer good (FMCG) private equity transaction in Sub Saharan Africa, outside South Africa.

    “We look forward to partnering with Danone in order to accelerate the growth and penetration of Fan Milk’s portfolio of leading consumer food brands across West Africa,” Naqvi said.

    Co Chief Operating Officer, Danone, Emmanuel Faber, said the transaction represented a major step in Danone’s expansion in Africa noting that Fan Milk is a company with a unique business model driven by a neighborhood sales and distribution platform.

    According to him, Danone, which is already in North and South Africa, will now be able to develop the dairy product market in West Africa.

    Chief executive officer, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Mrs. Sola David-Borha, said the deal was another step towards Stanbic IBTC’s goal of becoming the leading financial solutions provider in Nigeria differentiated by its quality and range of knowledge across segments.

    According to her, the acquisition highlights investors’ increasing appetite for Africa and its consumer brands as well as Stanbic IBTC’s consistent objective to help its clients achieve their goals.

    Head, financial advisory, Stanbic IBTC Capital, Fola Aiyesimoju said advising on such a high profile transaction demonstrated the merger and acquisition expertise within Stanbic IBTC Capital and the broader Standard Bank Group.

    “It is in line with our commitment to take Africa to the world and bring the world to Africa,” Aiyesimoju said.

     

  • Lagos explains decision to acquire LCC’s concession rights

    Lagos explains decision to acquire LCC’s concession rights

    The Lagos State Government yesterday explained its move to acquire the concession rights and toll revenue benefits held by the Lekki Concession Company (LCC), the concessionaire of the Eti-Osa/Lekki/Epe Expressway.

    It said it was to ensure that the toll paid by motorists is not increased indiscriminately.

    Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning Ben Akabueze spoke on Tuesday while presenting the governor’s supplementary budget proposal to the House of Assembly.

    He said the government had the interest of residents at heart, adding that the concessionaire had proposed a 20 per cent increase of the toll rate.

    Akabueze said supplementation of the 2013 budget was to acquire 100 per cent concession of the Eti-Osa/Lekki/Epe Expressway and bring it under the government’s full control.

    He said: “As a people-focused government, we are honest and humble enough to look at the choices we have made and have decided to buy-back the road. When we do, we will be able to determine the tolling rate and number of tolling points, among others.

    “The current concessionaire has proposed a 20 per cent increase of the toll collected on the road, but with us taking over, we will have control over it.”

    Commissioner for Finance Ayo Gbeleyi said the government would pay N15 billion as buy-out fund, N6.8 billion to service the debts of the tolling company and N3.5 billion for third party liability.

    Gbeleyi said so far, N32 billion had been spent on the road, with the government paying N5 billion in 2008.

    He said: “The original concessioning agreement is supposed to last for 30 years, from November, 2008, to November, 2030, but with our proposal, the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) will be maintained, with the government owning it 100 per cent.

    Governor Babatunde Fashola said the government deemed it fit to restructure its borrowing plan since the N30 billion World Bank DPO II was no longer feasible.

    He said: “In effect, we will need to issue N87.5 billion bonds this year, instead of the N35 billion earlier envisaged, to cover the shortfall in Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and the delay in the disbursement of DPO II, to be able to finance the acquisition of the concession rights and take control of the toll regime for the benefit of our citizens.”

  • Aviation College to acquire 10 planes

    The Kwara International Aviation College is to acquire 10 aircraft to facilitate the training of pilots, aircraft engineers and other aviation professionals, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has said.

    He said in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, that the aircraft would be bought with a loan secured by the Federal Government from the Export Import Bank. It has a moratorium of 10 years.

    He said: “This is part of the reasons we have set up an International Aviation College and, luckily, under the new EXIM loan that the Federal Government has signed with the Chinese and Indian governments and others across the world, the International Aviation College will be benefiting from the loan. It will be able to acquire at least 10 new aircraft under a 25-year loan agreement with a 10-year moratorium. It couldn’t be better than that.”

    The governor said the school would acquire the aircraft, develop economy of scale, train students, earn money and pay back the loan on its own. He said: “The 10-year- facility means that the college’s cash flow will not be under pressure. It is when you borrow money and you have to pay within a very short time that you have pressure on your cash flow. The loan was so attractive that we couldn’t resist it and it is one of the best things that ever happened to us.

    “That will enable the school to get to the much-desired full scale aviation college that we have always prayed for and will allow them to attain economy of scale where they can earn a lot of money to service the school and pay back. For now, the school is fully owned by the state but don’t forget that the state government is not in the business of running aviation.

    “So, ultimately, we will sell off 70 per cent of that business to those who know how to do it and then the school will run on its own internationally.”

    The governor explained that the aviation college was established in response to the demand for pilots globally. He said the college is positioned to serve as a training hub for Africa.

    He said: “For keen observers and those who want to truly see themselves growing among comity of nations, they must begin to learn how to do a clear analysis of opportunities. One big opportunity that exists in the aviation industry is the fact that there is dire need of pilots globally.Check any international airline, they will tell you.

    “Training pilots requires that you understand the dynamics of the business.

    “Apart from Zaria and South Africa, I don’t know where else pilots are trained in Africa.”

    He said by the time this school gets to its potential, everybody in Africa who intends to train as a pilot would know the existence of an Aviation College in Ilorin.

    “For now, we are training pilots but there are other services. There is engineering training. There are other services that are going to go into it. This would become itself a hub for driving aviation business,” he said.

  • TUC hails plan to acquire 30 aircraft for domestic operators

    The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) yesterday backed the Federal Government’s plan to acquire 30 aircraft to boost domestic operations in the aviation industry.

    Mr Musa Lawal, TUC’s General Secretary, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the congress was supportive of any positive policy that would enable the government to achieve its objectives.

    Lawal was reacting to the disclosure by Mr Yakubu Dati, General Manager, Corporate Communications, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), of the government plan while inspecting the renovated Benin Airport.

    Dati had said that the aircraft would be distributed to domestic airline operators, a departure from the old practice, where they were given money from the Aviation Intervention Fund to shore up their businesses. “We are not against the government leasing aircraft to private operators who can manage them very well and return our money because the planes will be bought with public funds,’’ Lawal said. He said in the past, Nigeria Airways was grounded because some people booked seats without paying under the guise of being on official duty.

    The TUC scribe said that the government must ensure that the funds to be invested in the planes were recovered. He urged the government to learn from past mistakes and ensure that the exercise was well executed to achieve its intended results.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Fed Govt to acquire 30 aircraft for domestic operators

    Fed Govt to acquire 30 aircraft for domestic operators

    The Federal Government is to procure 30 aircraft as part of its efforts to boost domestic operations of the aviation industry.

    The Corporate Communications General Manager, the Federal Airports Airthorityof Nigeria (FAAN), Mr Yakubu Dati, who stated this during the inspection of the renovated Benin Airport, said the fund would be sourced from part of the aviation intervention fund of the Federal Government.

    Dati, said the development entailed buying and distributing aircraft to domestic airline operators, unlike the old practice of giving out aviation intervention funds to them, which they allegedly misused.

    He said the procurement of the aircraft would be funded by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in conjunction with the Bank of Industry (BoI).

    He added that the initiative would help in reducing the cost of travelling by air in the country. “ I also want to say at this point that the issue of assisting domestic carriers has been uppermost on the mind of the Honourable Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah.

    “And that is why the issue of the removal of tariffs and taxes on aviation spare-parts was done by Mr. President.

    “This is to help the airlines operate profitably and also make it more attractive for investors because spare-parts are the major cost component on the aviation sector.

    “The minister of aviation is also making plans to bring in about 30 aeroplanes to be able to assist local airlines. “So with all these, we believe that eventually, we will now have cheaper tickets and by the time we have cheaper tickets, there will be higher traffic.

    “Because if you cut the cost of doing business, then the person doing the business has no reason but to also cut the cost of running it because we believe that one hour flight in Nigeria shouldn’t cost more than N10, 000 or N15, 000. “

    And the whole idea is to make the business cheaper and easier to operate so that Nigerians who are the ultimate beneficiaries should be the passengers and they should board with cheaper tickets,” he said.

    He said that the Benin Airport was one of the 11 airports that were remodelled and reconstructed in the first phase of President Goodluck Jonathan administration’s transformation agenda.

    He said that the reason for the transformation of the aviation industry was to ensure that the nation’s airports and terminals became the centres of commercial and economic activities.

    The manager said that the Benin airport underwent major renovation for the first time since it was opened in 1979. He said that the reconstructed airport would be inaugurated soon as additional 22 airports had been earmarked for major reconstruction nationwide.

    He said the revolution in the sector is a deliberate plan as contained in the aviation master plan to restore Nigeria’s aviation industry to where it truly belonged as a hub in Africa aviation and to be able to contribute to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

    Commenting on the issue of abandoned aircraft littering most of the airports, Dati said the owners had been directed to remove them as they constituted a menace and danger to the flying public.

    Dati, however, said that some of the owners were in court as the aircraft were subject of litigation. He said that the matter was being handled by the legal department of FAAN, adding that as soon as the case was dispensed with, the aircraft would be removed.

    Earlier, the Benin Airport manager, Mr Ayodele Olusegun, who conducted the inspection team on the facility tour, said between 25,000 and 26,000 passengers travelled from the airport monthly.

    He said that the 200 seat capacity departure hall had been upgraded through the on-going renovation to 350 seats.