The Nation Newspaper

Tag: agencies

  • NAHCON advises pilgrims on polio, CSM immunization

    NAHCON advises pilgrims on polio, CSM immunization

    The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has advised intending pilgrims for the 2016 Hajj to ensure they received Oral Polio and Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis (CSM) immunisation before their departure.

    The Commission gave the advice in a statement signed by its Head of Media, Alhaji Uba Mana on Wednesday in Abuja.

    Mana said that “in line with Saudi Arabian Medical Guidelines for intending pilgrims, all pilgrims for the 2016 Hajj are advised to ensure that they are immunised against Oral Polio and Cebro-Spinal Meningitis.”

    He gave the assurance that adequate doses of vaccines had been secured and deposited in all state capitals by the Federal Ministry of Health and the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency.

    He explained that intending pilgrims were expected to be fully immunised at least 10 days before their travel date, in consonance with the International Health Regulations (IHR).

    He then urged all states’ Pilgrims Welfare Boards, Agencies, Commissions and licenced tour operators to ensure that all intending pilgrims acquired the genuine yellow card from state health offices.

     

  • NBCC cautions agencies on fine imposition

    The Nigerian British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) has called for restraint among government agencies, following the recent wave of sanctions imposed on corporate organisations across the globe, including Nigeria.

    It said cognisance should be taken of the   contributions of affected companies to the nation’s economy. The Chamber has also advised the Boards of regulated companies to take their oversight functions seriously by ensuring strict compliance with regulatory requirement.

    Its President, Prince Dapo Adelegan, in a statement, urged regulatory agencies to be wary of imposing destructive fines on companies contributing significantly to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

    He said the regulators must be mindful of sanctioning companies into comatose with the implications of such sanctions on employment,  revenue generation from taxation, and the determination of the government to diversify the nation’s economy from one dependent on oil.

  • Support security agencies, says Olubadan-designate

    The Olubadan-designate, High Chief Saliu Adetunji, has urged the public to cooperate with security agencies to promote peace and security in the country.

    This was contained in a statement in Ibadan by his media aide, Alhaji Adeola Oloko.

    Adetunji gave the advice when a delegation led by Director of the State Security Service (DSS) in Oyo State, Laasan Baba, visited him at his Popoyemoja, Ibadan, home.

    The Olubadan-designate said the public’s cooperation in the area of intelligence gathering had become necessary to reduce crime rate.

    According to him, once intelligence gathering is accurate, the possibility of identity mix-up will be reduced.

    The statement added that the Olubadan-designate has been admitted as a member of the Ibadan Progressives Union, the oldest surviving socio-cultural club in Ibadan, which was founded in 1930.

    He was presented a cap, plaque and the union’s constitution by the President, John Adeniji and Secretary Fatai Falola.

    Falola said the union had produced five Olubadans, adding that it has emerged a stabilising factor in the polity.

    He prayed for a prosperous, peaceful and progressive reign under the new monarch.

  • ‘Appoint competent heads for parastatals, agencies’

    Members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) branch, has called on the Federal Government to appoint competent and value-adding personnel to replace the disengaged chief executives of parastatals and agencies.

    The Chairman of PENGASSAN, PPPRA branch, Comrade Victor Ononokpono, lauded the government for the giant strides it has recorded within a short time, urging it to appoint competent chief executives to head oil and gas parastatals and agencies.

    He said: “The Union wishes to applaud the Federal Government’s renewed effort at reorganising the nation’s productive and extractive industry as exemplified by the recently submitted Institutional Framework for the Oil and Gas sector to the National Assembly.  That piece of document when eventually passed will redefine the regulatory and control apparatus of the oil and gas industry.

    “PENGASSAN, however, calls on the National Assembly to expedite action on the quick passage of the bill and reconsider global best practices in maintaining two regulatory agencies to superintend the upstream and downstream sectors.

    “In its diligent search for suitable replacements of Chief Executives for regulatory agencies, the Federal Government should consider competence, neutrality and articulation. The Union condemns the practice of appointment of officers from operators to head regulatory agencies. That practice is inimical, counter-productive and unhealthy.”

    Citing PPPRA as an example, Ononokpono said the union believed the agency has operated under difficulty in achieving its statutory mandate owing to its leadership, which greatly hampers its operations and critical decisions. “PENGASSAN, therefore, calls on the Federal Government to spread its drag net to the wider society rather than continue with the practice of sourcing Chief Executives from operating/marketing corporations to head regulatory agencies which are supposed to regulate them,” he added.

  • Ad/PR business: Fresh threat for older agencies

    Ad/PR business: Fresh threat for older agencies

    The Nigerian marketing communication industry has experienced monumental growth in the last two decades. Having enjoyed bumper harvest before the current recession, new players have merged to challenge older players’ dominance of the public relations and advertising media segment of the industry. To overcome the new threat, experts and stakeholders urge older agencies to innovate or die, writes ADEDEJI ADEMIGBUJI

    After decades of boom, the Nigerian marketing communication business has, in recent times, witnessed a downturn.

    From the boom occasioned by the telecoms revolution in the new millennium, which brought the likes of MTN, Airtel, Glo and Etisalat to the era of banking consolidation, the marketing communication industry enjoyed good times until the global economic recession of 2008 and the global oil price fall in 2013 hit the industry.

    With budget cut, more demands from clients, businesses are no longer guaranteed for older business concerns in the sector. In their boom days, only few big agencies in the businesses of public relations (PR), Advertising (Ad)and media buying are top earners that share the biggest businesses. This was the scenario as industry observers say when one big agency loses a business, it goes to another big agency rather than the start-ups.

    However, with growing competition, quest for new ideas, innovation, the paradigm has shifted. The new start-ups that are barely six years in operation now pose a big threat to bigger ones who have been in the marketing communication business for over 10 years. With size no longer determinant of who gets which juicy business anymore, clients are now paying attention to agencies who deliver impact than the razzmatazz.

    For instance, in the creative segment of the industry, start-ups such as Noah’s Ark and X3M Ideas are giving bigger agencies a run for their money.  Dominant players such as Insight Communication, Rosabel, STBMcCann, PrimaGarnet Ogilvy, DDB, Bate Cosse among others now jostle for businesses and industry awards for professional excellence with those earlier regarded as fringe players.

    In the last five years, records showed that the start-ups have retained top four positions in the Lagos Ideas Festival (LAIF), a brainchild of Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN). The award reflects how busy the agencies are and how their works stand out from others every year.

    For instance, in last year’s  edition, Noah’s Ark, a creative advertising agency, emerged the overall best. The agency won a total of 10 awards including a Grand Prix, five gold, two silver and two bronze plaques to emerge the number one agency for 2015. The agency beat old generation agencies such as Insight Communications Limited, DDB among others. The agency has been in the top four since day one when it started operation.

    Also, X3M Ideas also remains at the top of the ladder in the creative industry since inception. The agency in the  2015 LAIF demonstrated its unflinching innovative and creative consistencies for an impressive third year running as a young agency. X3M Ideas coasted home with three Gold medals, two Silver and three Bronze to emerge the 4th on the 2015 LAIF medal table.

    The result shows the three-year old agency as the youngest, revolutionary and most consistently improved over the last three years of its entry into the AAAN fold. X3M Ideas as the future-forward marketing communications agency, made its debut at the LAIF awards in November 2013. The agency, which opened shop on August 2012 barely a year then, recorded one gold, two silver and one bronze medals although it entered only part of its works done between August and December, 2013.

    Its second time appearance at the LAIF was two years ago. The agency won two gold, five silver and six bronze medals, carting home an impressive 13 medals, hence it did not only sustain  its initial tempo but showed an improvement over the previous performance.

    Beyond awards, the two leading new generation agencies also edged out big ones at various business pitches. Noah’s Ark also displayed competence against big agencies while pitching for Airtel advertising business. From the five agencies invited for the main pitch after broader credential presentations, Insight Communications, Centrespread Advertising and Noah’s Ark Advertising were selected winners.

    Prior to the selection, the prospective handlers submitted and defended their financial requirements, with a view to availing the client the opportunity to align demands with its realistic budget and financial projection. However, when issues related to finance and the decision to split the account came up, Insight management and Airtel could not agree, hence the need to draft in Centrespread, which was said to have come third in the exercise. To this end, Centrespread and Noah’s Ark are now the handlers of Airtel’s advertising business.

    However, when issues relating to finance and the decision to split the account came up, Insight management and Airtel could not agree, hence the need to draft in Centrespread, which was said to have come third in the exercise.

    In the media buying segment of the market, the big players such as MediaReachOMD, Media Perspective, Capital Media, StarComms Media, MediaComm have lost sleep with the entry of new players-MediaFuse, SBI among others. In a recent report, MediaReachOMD lost multimillion dollar Dano Milk’s advertising business to Vizeum, a media affiliate of Media Fuse Dentsu Aegis.

    The incumbent agency lost the advertising business following a pitch involving Media Fuse’s Vizeum Nigeria, PHD, and MediaReach OMD. Arla Foods, fifth largest milk manufacturer in the world and maker of Dano Milk, said the new agency is expected oversee the firm’s advertising businesses-media strategy, planning, buying-Arla across sub Saharan African markets including Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroun and Cote D’Ivoire.

    The Nation gathered that Arla Foods tested the agencies with a brief to run a campaign for Dano Milk and found Vizeum Nigeria capable of managing the firm’s brand portfolio across sub-Saharan Africa. Transition meetings are expected to take place this month with campaigns planned to begin from the first quarter of this year.

    To create a winning edge against dominant players in the industry, Media Fuse, founded by the former Managing Director of Carat Media Perspective, entered into affiliation with Dentsu Aegis Network, a global marketing conglomerate.  In line with Dentsu Aegis Network’s expansion plans and on-going investment into the African market, Media Fuse after the affiliate venture agreement now operate as Media Fuse Dentsu Aegis Network, joining the strong network of Dentsu Aegis Network brands in sub-Saharan Africa such as Carat, iProspect, Isobar, Posterscope and Vizeum.

    “With this development, Nigeria and indeed, the West African sub-region is set for fresh impetus in brand building and communication experience with global access to tested tools, capacity building processes and the fiscal discipline that the Dentsu Aegis Network is known for on the global stage,” said Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Media Fuse Dentsu Aegis Network, Emeka Okeke.

    Also, within few months of operation, another media agency, SBI, tagged ‘Next Generation’ agency, has within one year of operation cornered juicy account eyed by bigger agencies. The agency now parades DealDey, Konga, Forte Oil, Techno, Eco Bank, Lafarge, and other multinational businesses as clients despite stiff competition between old and new generation media buying and planning agencies.

    Business pitch in the PR business segment of the market also reveals growing profile of new agencies. Despite that The Quadrant Company (TQC), pioneer PR agencies, remains the most structured PR agency in Nigeria, the agency too is not losing sleep as a result of growing credentials of new players. While the agency appears unruffled with the loss of some accounts such as Etisalat, GE, and Guinness Nigeria among others in the last two years to new and fringe players, it remains a model. Yet, the threat of competition such as Brooks & Blakes, Chain Reaction, Xlr8 and few others remains a big factor.

    Recently, the new agencies displayed their might in MTN, Guinness and Etisalat business pitch. In the pitch for the MTN account, two new agencies – Brooks and Blakes and DKK Associates – emerged winners of the PR Accounts of MTN Nigeria 12 years after it domiciled with Marketing Mix, another older agency.

    The process to appoint new agencies began when nine agencies were invited for presentation. The agencies include, JSP Communications, Mediacraft and Associates, Black House Media, Brooks and Blakes and Lead Communications. Others are; Soulcom Communications, DKK Associates, and the former handlers of the account -Marketing Mix and XLR8. But Brooks and Blakes and DKK eventually won the business.

    Brooks and Blake Nigeria Ltd, a perception management company, according to industry observers, represents the face of the future in the PR community. The agency’s profile shut up few years ago when it was appointed to handle the Diageo accounts. Industry analysts say the success of Orijin, SNAP and Guinness products in the last three years could be linked with the agency. As a result, it has won a few industry awards, including the Marketing World’s PR Agency of the Year. This notwithstanding, some industry watchers are of the opinion that Brooks and Blakes may not have the required structure to sustain the tempo of the MTN brand but the way the agency handled the MTN/NCC fine debacle has convinced market players about the competence of the agency.

    Why are the new agencies winning?

    The Managing Director of SBI Media, Mr. Rotimi Bankole said: “I think ‘bigness’ is relative. For us as SBI, we only consider a company/competitor big if it is able to do the near-impossible advert placement when all odds seem to be in place and at the same time being able to generate savings for the client. We are not intimidated by the ‘bigger names’; rather, they spur us to work even harder. So rather than see this as a competition, we see it as a collaboration of Media Agencies for the greater goal of our industry.”

    Also, the Acting Managing Director of Rosabel, an old generation creative agency, Mr. Clement Omemu, said one of the reasons the start-ups ventured into the business was because they are disgruntled and tired of the norm.

    “This young generation feels there are different ways of doing things. So they become restless and they are tired of doing things the same way. What do they tell us? Doing the same thing the same way all the time is insanity,” he said, adding that if older agencies fail to innovate, they will lose more grounds to the new players.

    Also, the Executive Director, Chain Reaction Nigeria, Mr. Lere Ojedokun said global trend is affecting PR landscape. He said with competition, segmentation and innovation becoming the new lexicon in the industry clients are now demanding for new ideas and constrained by budget.

    Meanwhile, the Executive Creative Director, Insight Communication, Chima Okenimkpe, said many old generation agencies fail to transit to new market realities as a result of lack of insight on the part of the founders. He said though Insight Communication is a second generation agency and over 30 years old, the creative philosophy of the founders have made the agency retain its lead in the industry.

  • Reps panel: we won’t restrict agencies, NGOs from rebuilding Northeast

    Members of the House of Representatives ad hoc Committee on Media and Public Affairs yesterday said the House will not restrict well-meaning humanitarian agencies and non-governmental organisations from helping to rebuild the Northeast, which has been devastated by Boko Haram insurgency.

    The Chairman of the Committee, Sanni Zoro, had in statement last week said the House Committee on IDPs would ensure that there would be a restriction on the unchecked influx of humanitarian agencies into the Northeast for security reasons.

    However, a new statement by three other members of the ad hoc committee – Abdulrazak Namdas, Rimamnde Shawulu Kwewum and Mark Gbillah – said no such action was in the offing.

    The statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to the news items published last week to the effect that the House of Representatives was worried about the ‘unseeingly unchecked influx of Foreign Non-Governmental Organisations into the Northeast’.

    “The news report further said that the influx ‘portends a security risk’. According to the news report credited to Hon. Sani Zorro, the newly created House Standing Committee on IDPs, Refuges and Initiatives on the Northeast zone would ‘beam its searchlight into their activities’.

    “The House of Representatives would like to assure Nigerians and the international community and particularly the people of the Northeast region that the House would not abridge the rights of well-meaning people to give help or prohibit the traumatised peoples of the Northeast from receiving assistance to rebuild their lives and communities.

    “As a lawmaking institution, the House of Representatives respects the laws of Nigeria and all the international conventions and treaties that the Nigeria state is a signatory to. We would therefore not be putting in place new measures that are contrary to the extant laws of Nigeria.

    “The creation of the new committee only underscores the seriousness with which the House and the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, take the issue of the Northeast. The Northeast situation has been on the frontburner at the House of Representatives. The Legislative Agenda, as adopted by the House, sets out the Northeast situation as a serious issue.

    “The House also, unanimously adopted a motion, which among other resolutions, sought the cooperation of all well-meaning people in the world to join hands to reconstruct the Northeast, rehabilitate the several millions of people displaced by the insurgency and reintegrate communities that have been ravaged by the activities of insurgents.

    “It is therefore a welcome development that the call of the House has been heeded by people from around the world. The House would welcome more well-meaning people who will help in this regard. It is important to place on record that the new standing committee came about also as a result of the request of the International Development Partners, who suggested that legislative oversight is necessary for the reconstruction and rebuilding process of the Northeast to be transparent and accountable.

    “Given the fact that Nigeria today hosts about five million internally displaced persons, the second biggest host, next to Syria, the House decided to create the  standing committee, whose responsibility includes the Northeast reconstruction initiatives.”

    It added: “The House of Representatives would, therefore, like to assure all civil society groups, development partners and well-meaning individuals that as the bastion of democracy, the House, which is committed to the Northeast reconstruction and rehabilitation, will continue to welcome partners in accordance with extant laws and International conventions and treaties.”

  • Abia vans for security agencies

    Abia State Government said it was planning to distribute over 20 patrol vans with well-equipped security and communication gadgets for security agencies in the state.

    This was disclosed to our correspondent by the Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Victor Ikpeazu on Monday.

    The governor said the distribution of the vehicles was part of his administration’s commitment to tackle insecurity.

    The governor expressed hope that the vehicles when donated would be put into good use in order to achieve the purpose for which it was provided for.

    He also disclosed that arrangements were ongoing to mount Close Circuit Camera (CCTV) at various parts of the state to compliment efforts of security agencies.

    Ikpeazu who just returned from a business trip to Turkey reinstated his administration’s commitment towards the promotion of entrepreneurial and skills acquisition, adding that the recent Education for Employment (E4E) launch in the state was to make graduates of the programme employable by companies that would hire their services.

    He further pleaded with Aba and Abia residents to exercise patients with the government, pointing out that the aim of the ongoing road rehabilitation and reconstruction were to ensure that the government addresses the problem of flooding and road congestion network in the state.

    He also said that he would soon name members of cabinet, adding that he has carefully selected people with great repute and astute professionals that would make up his cabinet even as he said that they wouldn’t have any other choice than to perform what was expected of them.

  • No plan to take over ministries, agencies —Kwara Harmony Holdings chair /Emir Halidu Abubakar

    Emir of Ilesha-Baruba and the Chairman of the Kwara State government integrated company, known as Harmony Holdings, Prof. Halidu Abubakar, in this interview with selected reporters, including ADEKUNLE JIMOH, dismissed rumours making the round that the company is planning to take over the state’s ministries, agencies and parastatals, among other issues.

    What is the ownership structure of Harmony Holdings?

    Harmony Holdings is solely owned by the Kwara State Government. As you know, anybody, either a corporate organisation or individuals, can come together and own a company. Harmony Holdings is an integrated company and 100 percent of its shares are owned by the Kwara State government, which again is a normal thing. If you are from Kwara, it means that you are a stakeholder because Harmony Holdings is owned by your government.

    Since Harmony Holdings started its operation, what are its goals and objectives?

    Let us start from a background. All over the world, in order to promote development, we have what is called DFI – development finance institution. Harmony Holdings plays a dual role. It is what the name applies, holding company for government’s business interests. The whole idea of having Harmony Holdings is because government has diversified business interests. When we started development process in this country, government has diverse business interests; government was having interest in virtually everything. Over the years, it was realised that government had no business in this kind of business. Therefore, the best thing to do for some government was, they sold outright but for some governments, they leveraged on what they had by bringing together all the investments under a holding company. That is how Harmony Holdings came into being. It serves importantly as a DFI; it helps to generate funds for development. It also serves as a holding company to bring together government investments such as Kwara Investment and Property Limited. It is a very important company.

    Initially, it was just an investment company. It was a fantastic idea. People came from all over the country to monitor what was happening there, but over the years, it died down. It operated Kwara Midlands, Kwara Foods, Riverside Food etc. So, when Harmony Holdings came up, it tried to revive the initial objective of using a platform to develop the state. So, Harmony holdings’ scope is very wide. We have already existing investments like Kwara Hotel, Kwara Investment etc. But again as a virile investment company, we are looking into Green Field Investment and areas that have not been mapped out. We have that mandate from government to do what will think we bring in money and development for government and Kwara State generally. So, the scope is very diversified and the objective of course. The final analysis is to bring development to Kwara State. And I think over these three years that we have been on ground; we have done the best we can, under this circumstance.

    With my experience from other investment companies, because under my former company, NNDC, I had the opportunity to virtually interact with investment companies from virtually all over the northern states and even outside the northern states. And if you look at the model with which Harmony Holdings is working, it is a very fantastic one. Because one of the problems about government investment generally is that there is usually too much interference by government. Because if you look at it in theory, there is nothing that makes private sector more efficient than government sector. And over the 30 years, I have always been asking myself, is there anything intrinsically that makes private sector more efficient than government sector? Basically none. It is just the operational guidelines and the objectives.

    As an investors, you try to sell your products where the average cost meets the marginal cost. But for government, it sells below that cost. In other words, you are bringing in subsidy. So, that issue of subsidy tends to limit the scope of government. But now with Harmony Holdings, all those incumberances are removed and we work like any corporate organisation anywhere in the world in terms of everything and even appearance of the staff. So, I think we have done so well. Even in terms of one crucial issue, that is employment generation, I think Harmony Holdings has done a fantastic job. You see for a private investor, for instance, he set up and also said one of his objectives is to create employment. No private investor does that; creating employment by private investors is just incidental, but for us, creating employment is not incidental, it is part and parcel of our objectives.

    What exactly can you point at as the achievements of this organisation that actually has direct impact on the state government?

    Thank you, you see for a business person in a company, the bottom line is profit. If we use that yardstick, I think that best answers your question. So, in that regard, the state government I think got about N75 million or N80 million as a dividend last year. And that is fantastic. Secondly of course, if you look at a company like Kwara Investment, you will note that a lot have changed in terms of the perception of staff and the output of workers has improved. Also, another obvious one is Kwara Express, now renamed Harmony Express. Before now of course, for those of you who travel, you see Kwara Express vehicles park all over the roads from here to Kaduna, for instance, broken down.

    But, about two months ago we launched about 42 or 47 brand new vehicles with state-of-the-art technology to ensure that customers are well served and reduce all areas of leakages. So, that is one of our major achievements. But also in terms of developing business ideas, I think Harmony Holdings has done a lot. So, if you look at it within the yardstick of profitability, it has declared profit and it is going to declare profit from time to time. But a finance development institution like this, it is not just about declaring profit, you; know there are two types of profit. There are nominal profit, that is, naira and kobo profit and there is real profit, that is, how many people have benefitted from that investment. For Harmony Holdings, both interm of nominal and real profits, Harmony Holdings has done well.

    There is this rumour that the state government is planning to put all state-owned institutions under Harmony Holdings, how true is the rumour?

    Well, first of all, rumour will continue to be rumour and let me say that we Harmony Holdings cannot speak for the state government, so that people will not say that Harmony Holdings wants to capture ministries, departments, and agencies. Anyway, there is nothing like that. And on that I am risking representing government because I am not privy to whatever decision has been taken but I know that the leadership of the state cannot do something like that. What is even the basis and rationale for that? Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed will not do anything like that; because in anything you want to do, you look at the rationale, what are your objectives? I do not see any objective there. We are a company that specialises more in business, not in running government. Yes, we run government-investments but we run investments as investors, not as government. So definitely, do not believe that rumour.

    I don’t believe it because it does not make sense anyway. So, there is no future plan to take over MDAs. Harmony Holdings is not incorporated to do that kind of thing. No government will transfer its own responsibilities to any other person. If government does that, then we have taken over government. I don’t think legitimately or reasonably, any government will want to do that at all. When you hear any rumour, look at the common sense in the rumour. Transferring ministries means that I will not be chairman, I will become governor. These are just very stupid kinds of rumour.

    What is the relationship between Harmony Holdings and Kwara Revenue Service?

    There is no relationship between the two. No relationship because, first of all, I understand I do not work for government and I don’t work for the revenue service. I understand of course that the revenue service is being remodelled. I do not know the details, but the remodelling is just to make it more efficient. It has nothing to do with us as Harmony Holdings. There is no relationship; of course, if we meet once in a while we exchange ideas. We are here to advise government, whether or not there is revenue service, on how to maximise the IGR of government. So, in that part capacity, well you can say maybe we relate, but I am not aware of any formal sense of relationship. There is no relationship. Again these are two different organisations, the other one is to collect IGR for government and this is to promote development and investments of government. So, there is really no direct relationship.

     What are the future plans of the Harmony Holdings?

    The future plans are fantastic, because each time we meet as the board, we have to tell the management to hold on and apply some brakes because they have a lot of ideas that if we leave them and give them five years, you will see a lot of development. The future of course is to consolidate Harmony Holdings. We have, for instance, taken transport and we are thinking of courier service. We are even thinking of going into water transportation. I remember some two years back, we were toying with the idea of railways; in fact there was already a relationship with the railways from Ilorin to Jebba and some other places. I think for now it has cooled down. So, we want directly to emphasise development that will bring in profit for government and also to provide leadership in investment for everybody in Kwara.

    So, the future is very wide. And I think it can be actualised if they get support and cooperation from people like you, because if we keep on listening to rumours, in fact, we will just get frustrated, that we just fold our arms and doing nothing. But I think that ofcourse is not going to be any option for us. Doing nothing is not going to be an option for us. So, we want to plead with you, anytime you hear any rumour, just contact us.

    We will like you to shed more light on the ownership of Harmony Holdings

    Quite clearly, Harmony Holdings is owned by Kwara State government. Kwara State government means everybody in Kwara. This company is not owned by any individual or group of individuals. It is company wholly owned, the shares are 100 percent owned by Kwara State government. Since I came on board, I have never seen anything to the contrary. Of course, if you know investment, if you know how companies are incorporated and so on, you cannot hide anything. People who are saying it is owned by some other bodies, they are free to go to the Corporate Affairs Commission to confirm.

    In fact, the way they operate now, you can sit down and get a lawyer to search. Search for Harmony Holdings and it will show you who owns the place and so on. And that is the most important thing. Kwara State government is the legal owner of Harmony Holdings. There is no any individual or group of people who own Harmony Holdings except Kwara State government. And I think we should delete that from our minds. We cannot sit down here and begin to tell people lies. I cannot, for instance, and be serving any individual at this age when I am already moving towards the bus stop. Definitely, I want the public to believe us that it is owned by Kwara State government.

  • No plan to take over ministries, agencies —Kwara Harmony Holdings chair /Emir Halidu Abubakar

    No plan to take over ministries, agencies —Kwara Harmony Holdings chair /Emir Halidu Abubakar

    Emir of Ilesha-Baruba and the Chairman of the Kwara State government integrated company, known as Harmony Holdings, Prof. Halidu Abubakar, in this interview with selected reporters, including ADEKUNLE JIMOH, dismissed rumours making the round that the company is planning to take over the state’s ministries, agencies and parastatals, among other issues.

    What is the ownership structure of Harmony Holdings?

    Harmony Holdings is solely owned by the Kwara State Government. As you know, anybody, either a corporate organisation or individuals, can come together and own a company. Harmony Holdings is an integrated company and 100 percent of its shares are owned by the Kwara State government, which again is a normal thing. If you are from Kwara, it means that you are a stakeholder because Harmony Holdings is owned by your government.

    Since Harmony Holdings started its operation, what are its goals and objectives?

    Let us start from a background. All over the world, in order to promote development, we have what is called DFI – development finance institution. Harmony Holdings plays a dual role. It is what the name applies, holding company for government’s business interests. The whole idea of having Harmony Holdings is because government has diversified business interests. When we started development process in this country, government has diverse business interests; government was having interest in virtually everything. Over the years, it was realised that government had no business in this kind of business. Therefore, the best thing to do for some government was, they sold outright but for some governments, they leveraged on what they had by bringing together all the investments under a holding company. That is how Harmony Holdings came into being. It serves importantly as a DFI; it helps to generate funds for development. It also serves as a holding company to bring together government investments such as Kwara Investment and Property Limited. It is a very important company.

    Initially, it was just an investment company. It was a fantastic idea. People came from all over the country to monitor what was happening there, but over the years, it died down. It operated Kwara Midlands, Kwara Foods, Riverside Food etc. So, when Harmony Holdings came up, it tried to revive the initial objective of using a platform to develop the state. So, Harmony holdings’ scope is very wide. We have already existing investments like Kwara Hotel, Kwara Investment etc. But again as a virile investment company, we are looking into Green Field Investment and areas that have not been mapped out. We have that mandate from government to do what will think we bring in money and development for government and Kwara State generally. So, the scope is very diversified and the objective of course. The final analysis is to bring development to Kwara State. And I think over these three years that we have been on ground; we have done the best we can, under this circumstance.

    With my experience from other investment companies, because under my former company, NNDC, I had the opportunity to virtually interact with investment companies from virtually all over the northern states and even outside the northern states. And if you look at the model with which Harmony Holdings is working, it is a very fantastic one. Because one of the problems about government investment generally is that there is usually too much interference by government. Because if you look at it in theory, there is nothing that makes private sector more efficient than government sector. And over the 30 years, I have always been asking myself, is there anything intrinsically that makes private sector more efficient than government sector? Basically none. It is just the operational guidelines and the objectives.

    As an investors, you try to sell your products where the average cost meets the marginal cost. But for government, it sells below that cost. In other words, you are bringing in subsidy. So, that issue of subsidy tends to limit the scope of government. But now with Harmony Holdings, all those incumberances are removed and we work like any corporate organisation anywhere in the world in terms of everything and even appearance of the staff. So, I think we have done so well. Even in terms of one crucial issue, that is employment generation, I think Harmony Holdings has done a fantastic job. You see for a private investor, for instance, he set up and also said one of his objectives is to create employment. No private investor does that; creating employment by private investors is just incidental, but for us, creating employment is not incidental, it is part and parcel of our objectives.

    What exactly can you point at as the achievements of this organisation that actually has direct impact on the state government?

    Thank you, you see for a business person in a company, the bottom line is profit. If we use that yardstick, I think that best answers your question. So, in that regard, the state government I think got about N75 million or N80 million as a dividend last year. And that is fantastic. Secondly of course, if you look at a company like Kwara Investment, you will note that a lot have changed in terms of the perception of staff and the output of workers has improved. Also, another obvious one is Kwara Express, now renamed Harmony Express. Before now of course, for those of you who travel, you see Kwara Express vehicles park all over the roads from here to Kaduna, for instance, broken down.

    But, about two months ago we launched about 42 or 47 brand new vehicles with state-of-the-art technology to ensure that customers are well served and reduce all areas of leakages. So, that is one of our major achievements. But also in terms of developing business ideas, I think Harmony Holdings has done a lot. So, if you look at it within the yardstick of profitability, it has declared profit and it is going to declare profit from time to time. But a finance development institution like this, it is not just about declaring profit, you; know there are two types of profit. There are nominal profit, that is, naira and kobo profit and there is real profit, that is, how many people have benefitted from that investment. For Harmony Holdings, both interm of nominal and real profits, Harmony Holdings has done well.

    There is this rumour that the state government is planning to put all state-owned institutions under Harmony Holdings, how true is the rumour?

    Well, first of all, rumour will continue to be rumour and let me say that we Harmony Holdings cannot speak for the state government, so that people will not say that Harmony Holdings wants to capture ministries, departments, and agencies. Anyway, there is nothing like that. And on that I am risking representing government because I am not privy to whatever decision has been taken but I know that the leadership of the state cannot do something like that. What is even the basis and rationale for that? Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed will not do anything like that; because in anything you want to do, you look at the rationale, what are your objectives? I do not see any objective there. We are a company that specialises more in business, not in running government. Yes, we run government-investments but we run investments as investors, not as government. So definitely, do not believe that rumour.

    I don’t believe it because it does not make sense anyway. So, there is no future plan to take over MDAs. Harmony Holdings is not incorporated to do that kind of thing. No government will transfer its own responsibilities to any other person. If government does that, then we have taken over government. I don’t think legitimately or reasonably, any government will want to do that at all. When you hear any rumour, look at the common sense in the rumour. Transferring ministries means that I will not be chairman, I will become governor. These are just very stupid kinds of rumour.

     What is the relationship between Harmony Holdings and Kwara Revenue Service?

    There is no relationship between the two. No relationship because, first of all, I understand I do not work for government and I don’t work for the revenue service. I understand of course that the revenue service is being remodelled. I do not know the details, but the remodelling is just to make it more efficient. It has nothing to do with us as Harmony Holdings. There is no relationship; of course, if we meet once in a while we exchange ideas. We are here to advise government, whether or not there is revenue service, on how to maximise the IGR of government. So, in that part capacity, well you can say maybe we relate, but I am not aware of any formal sense of relationship. There is no relationship. Again these are two different organisations, the other one is to collect IGR for government and this is to promote development and investments of government. So, there is really no direct relationship.

     What are the future plans of the Harmony Holdings?

    The future plans are fantastic, because each time we meet as the board, we have to tell the management to hold on and apply some brakes because they have a lot of ideas that if we leave them and give them five years, you will see a lot of development. The future of course is to consolidate Harmony Holdings. We have, for instance, taken transport and we are thinking of courier service. We are even thinking of going into water transportation. I remember some two years back, we were toying with the idea of railways; in fact there was already a relationship with the railways from Ilorin to Jebba and some other places. I think for now it has cooled down. So, we want directly to emphasise development that will bring in profit for government and also to provide leadership in investment for everybody in Kwara.

    So, the future is very wide. And I think it can be actualised if they get support and cooperation from people like you, because if we keep on listening to rumours, in fact, we will just get frustrated, that we just fold our arms and doing nothing. But I think that ofcourse is not going to be any option for us. Doing nothing is not going to be an option for us. So, we want to plead with you, anytime you hear any rumour, just contact us.

    We will like you to shed more light on the ownership of Harmony Holdings

    Quite clearly, Harmony Holdings is owned by Kwara State government. Kwara State government means everybody in Kwara. This company is not owned by any individual or group of individuals. It is company wholly owned, the shares are 100 percent owned by Kwara State government. Since I came on board, I have never seen anything to the contrary. Of course, if you know investment, if you know how companies are incorporated and so on, you cannot hide anything. People who are saying it is owned by some other bodies, they are free to go to the Corporate Affairs Commission to confirm.

    In fact, the way they operate now, you can sit down and get a lawyer to search. Search for Harmony Holdings and it will show you who owns the place and so on. And that is the most important thing. Kwara State government is the legal owner of Harmony Holdings. There is no any individual or group of people who own Harmony Holdings except Kwara State government. And I think we should delete that from our minds. We cannot sit down here and begin to tell people lies. I cannot, for instance, and be serving any individual at this age when I am already moving towards the bus stop. Definitely, I want the public to believe us that it is owned by Kwara State government.

     

     

  • El-Rufai warns agencies against blanket marking of buildings for demolition

    El-Rufai warns agencies against blanket marking of buildings for demolition

    Kaduna State Governor Malam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai has warned agencies involved in the recovery exercise of government owned institution’s lands that there must be no blanket marking of any neighborhood, layout or community just on account of proximity to the historic boundaries of public institutions.

    The warning to the agencies was contained in a statement signed by the Governor’s Special Assistant, Media and Publicity, Samuel Aruwan and made available to newsmen in Kaduna yesterday.

    Part of the statement reads thus: “The Governor’s written approval must be obtained before any action is undertaken to initiate recovery processes based on the surveys and maps showing these encroachments.

    “Approvals for necessary action will not be granted except it is evident that the layouts containing the excisions are illegal or irregular, and are clearly inimical to the purpose of the affected institutions in such a manner that cannot be prudently remedied.

    “Where the boundaries that have survived encroachment are considered sufficient for the functioning of these public institutions, other actions short of recovery will be taken on the encroached lands.

    “Due notice must be taken of the historic nature of the encroachments, and the longevity of some of the buildings and layouts that are a result of encroachment but are longstanding, and do not manifestly impede the safe and smooth running of the affected public institutions.

    “There must be no blanket marking of any neighborhood, layout or community just on account of proximity to the historic boundaries of public institutions.

    “Clear procedures for establishing the validity of title and development approvals for buildings must be established and respected.

    “Local Government Councils are to note that they have no role in the land recovery exercise, beyond gathering and forwarding information to KASUPDA, which is the mandate agency for town planning and enforcement.

    “Government directs scrupulous compliance with these instructions in implementing the land recovery exercise.”

    Aruwan stated that the government appreciates the understanding and support of the general public for the land recovery exercise. Citizens are encouraged to remain engaged, and to report any fears and concerns about the land recovery exercise to the government.”

    Aruwan’s statement further added that: “The Kaduna State Government has announced its determination to recover lands belonging to public institutions. This applies to lands that have been illegally excised, carved-out or alienated in a manner that contradicts the security, orderly environment and expansion prospects of the affected schools, hospitals and other public institutions.

    “In restoring the integrity of these lands, the Government has taken steps to ensure that the recovery exercise is conducted in a fair and orderly manner that upholds public interest and conduces to social harmony.

    “Therefore all agencies involved in the implementation of the land recovery exercise must note and abide by these considerations,” the statement reads.