The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Bridging

  • Bridging North-South education divide

    By 2050, it is estimated that Nigeria – with a population of 152 out of 429 million people living in extreme poverty – would be leading the pack of 10 African countries that would be home to 65 per cent of the world’s poorest people.  The Goalkeepers 2018 Report, which provided this data, also noted that Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo alone would house 40 per cent (of the 65 per cent) of the world’s poorest people.

    But the report also notes that poverty in these countries are “concentrating in certain areas” and rooted in “violence, political instability, gender inequality, severe climate change, and other deep-seated crises.”

    Presently, Nigeria is said to have 93 of her 200 million people living below the poverty line of $1.90 a day.   Many of our country’s extremely poor people are concentrated in Northern Nigeria where there are problems of violence, high birth rate, unemployment, high rate of out-of-school children, and the like.

    Just last week, the challenges of poverty and lack of education of school-aged children in the north were discussed at programnes held in Lagos and Kano.  At the NEDIS Education Innovation Summit held in Lagos last Thursday and Friday, two panelists from Northern Nigeria shared their concerns about the neglect of children,  overpopulation, and ignorance fuelled by illiteracy of whole communities with large children population.

    The President, Federation of Muslim Women’s Association in Nigeria (FOMWAN), Hajiya  Saadatu Hashim, during a panel discussion on “It takes a Village: The role of families and communities in building safe and inclusive learning spaces for children” said there were communities in Kano that had neither schools nor primary health centres.  She said they were living in darkness in the world of light – without an education.  Beyond farming and cattle rearing, she said many had no skills to make ends meet.  She added that the women were largely unemployed – occupied mostly with baby making business on yearly basis.  As a result they made more babies than their income could take care of.  With little financial support, Hajiya Hashim said young girls are married off early, while the boys are handed over to Malams as almajiris.  The girls in turn become mothers early and face the attendant consequences of Vesicovaginal fistula (VVF) which occurs because of child bearing before their bodies were ready for it.  The boys on the other hand become destitute and vulnerable to being recruited by extremists; sexually abused; and exposed to hard drugs.

    Having been a child bride herself, Hajiya Hashim knows what it is to grow up without an education.  She said only got educated after her husband’s death – eventually earning her degree at the age of 50.

    To address the problem, Hajiya Hashim said FOMWAN now adopts deprived communities and builds schools to expose both children and their parents to education.  However, how many communities can FOMWAN adopt?

    As a child, Mr Shehu Othman Sani of the Kaduna State Universal Basic Education Board (KSUBEB), said he was attached to a Mallam as an almajiri.  He said he enrolled himself in primary school to get an education.  He said people in the north have many children because of the cultural belief that the more children one has, the better for the parents in their old age.

    At the Northern Youth Summit organised by Northern Hibiscus in Kaduna last Saturday, Governor Nasir El-Rufai was reported to have described Nigeria as two countries in one – made up of the “developing South and a backward, less educated and unhealthy North” – with development indicators similar to war-torn Afghanistan.

    El-Rufai said all 19 state governors have to work together to address the problems facing northern Nigeria.  However, this is a national problem that should concern all of us as stakeholders.  We cannot turn blind eye to it because we are also affected by the negatives from the region.  Insurgency, kidnapping, armed robbery, and farmer-herder clashes have made inter-state travel a huge challenge.  Many from the north affected by the crisis are relocating down south and the hostilities are spreading.  The government must rise strongly to end the almajiri system, child marriage and other cultural practices that do not help our development, while private sector, faith-based organisations, and even individuals join efforts to implement programmes aimed at educating and upskilling women and young people in the north.

  • Bridging the gap in healthcare system

    Bridging the gap in healthcare system

    Nigeria medical industry has continued to suffer shortage of professionals.  Emigration of health personnel compounds the challenges as a sizeable number of physicians, nurses and other medical professionals are lured out of the country in search of lucrative jobs in developed countries because of our broken down healthcare system, inadequate infrastructure and poor compensation packages.

    For instance, statistics shows that in 2005, 2,395 Nigerian medical doctors practiced in the United States (US), and 1,529 in the United Kingdom.

    Similarly, most people living in Nigeria do not have access to good quality healthcare services.  Where it is available, it is too expensive for the average earner to afford.  Even at that, the rich and highly placed in government and private sectors do not have confidence in the available healthcare system.  Due to their discontentment with the poor quality of available medical facilities, they boost the medical tourism of United Kingdom, United States, Canada, India and South Africa instead of helping to grow the local medical care.

    These imbalances in our health system may have justified the establishment of Thompson & Grace Medical University (TGMU) and allied health services by Thompson & Grace Investment Limited (TGIL) in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.  At a health seminar the held at the Le Meridien Hotel, Uyo, President/Chief Executive Officer Dr. Isaac Thompson Amos said  “the justification for the establishment of the Medical University and its sister entities in the proposed Medical City is to promote and enhance medical education, clinical research and delivery of global standard healthcare in Nigeria, and indeed, Africa.”

    At the seminar themed: How Education, Health, and Medicine can be transformed to benefit Nigeria and Africa, which attracted mostly academia in medical institutions of learning in Nigeria, Dr. Amos disclosed that TGIL has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a German institution, University of Hamburg (UKE) at the office of the German Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador Bernhard Schlagheck in Abuja to enable his Group partner with UKE who would “consult in the design and operation” of the TGMU.  He said that the import of the seminar is primarily to sensitise the participants and various stakeholders, and get their buy-in into the Group’s dream of promoting medical tourism in Nigeria.

    Commenting on the partnership at the seminar, Prof. med Uwe Koch-Gromus, Dean of the Medical Faculty of the University of Hamburg (UKE), Germany, noted that “the UKE, Hamburg, Germany and TGIL, Nigeria, signed the MOU to enable both organizations to harness resources for the development of academic cooperation in international medical education in areas of mutual interest and expertise, adding that the “collaboration established will enhance the intellectual life and cultural development at both institutions, and will contribute to increased international cooperation.”

    Dr. Amos disclosed that the partnership would enable both parties to jointly “develop and provide structure, curriculum and practical program as well as administrative and management processes for the Medical University and Specialty Hospital.”  He said that these medical facilities are established to provide “training and support in capacity building in the areas of medical education, clinical research and healthcare delivery processes and procedures as well as healthcare management and administration.”

    He is optimistic that medical university will produce “increased number of highly trained and competent physicians, other healthcare professionals and facilities to meet the health needs of a rapidly changing Nigerian society.”

    Against this background, he called on all the governments and relevant governmental agencies to support the dream in the areas of provision of basic infrastructure such as roads, water, electricity, security, license issuances, permits, approvals and all other relevant facilities that are germane to actualize “our dreams and birth the nation of our collective medical and health dreams.”

    More significantly, the medical projects will help tackle the cavernous gap in the provision of state-of-the-art medical facilities and adequate healthcare for Nigerians.  It will be one step closer to achieving that dream to have world-class health facilities in Nigeria, thus reducing the need to travel abroad for medical treatment.  But the challenge lies on the readiness of the various stakeholders including the three-tiers of government to support this laudable project.

  • Bridging the $300b infrastructure gap with Islamic finance

    Bridging the $300b infrastructure gap with Islamic finance

    About $300 billion (N108.75 trillion) is required to close Nigeria’s infrastructure gap, according to experts. Without fixing infrastructure, Nigeria’s road to economic recovery will be long and tortuous, they claimed. The Federal Government has turned to the Islamic Development Bank  (IsDB). But, experts urge caution because of Nigeria’s secularity. Asst. Editor CHIKODI OKEREOCHA reports.

    When Finance Minister Mrs. Kemi Adeosun early this year opened the Abuja office of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), many knew that a closer collaboration between Nigeria and IsDB was afoot to enable the country exit recession through aggressive investment in infrastructure.

    IsDB is a Sharia compliant International Development Finance Institution (DFI) that participates in equity capital and grants loans for productive projects and enterprises. It also provides financial assistance to member-countries in other forms for economic and social development. The 43-year-old DFI has upgraded its Nigerian office to a regional hub.

    The bank’s plan was to coordinate operations in its West and Central African member-countries from the Abuja (Nigeria) gateway office, which will serve Nigeria, Gabon, Niger, Mozambique, Burkina Faso, the Republic of Cameroon, Uganda, Senegal, Djibouti and Guinea Bisaau, among others.

    The decentralisation of the bank’s operations through the opening of regional offices was aimed at bringing its services closer to member countries as well as enhance communication, improve efficiency and performance.

    Nigeria became a member of the IsDB, headquartered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 2005 under the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. And on the strength of its membership, Adeosun had at the opening of the bank’s Abuja office sought its support in the implementation of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) particularly in the area of infrastructure.

    Again, at IsDB’s recent 42nd annual meeting in Saudi Arabia, the Minister passionately repeated her plea, saying: “We want IsDB to be more visible and deliver signature infrastructure projects in Nigeria.” She specifically called on the bank to increase its financial and technical assistance to Nigeria to fast-track the achievement of the EGRP, which aimed at reviving the ailing economy.

    The EGRP, which covered a period of three years (2017 to 2020), was launched in Abuja by President Muhammadu Buhari. The medium term plan broadly targeted the restoration of growth, human development and a globally competitive economy, in an effort to combat recession and reposition the economy on the path of sustained growth.

    It specifically targeted to grow the economy by 2.19 per cent this year and subsequently, seven per cent in 2020. But with infrastructure critical to realising these ambitious targets, and government unable to raise significant cash to build infrastructure, it has turned to Islamic finance for succour

    However, the move, partly forced by Nigeria’s recent cash flow problems caused by crashing oil prices, may not have gone down well with some experts and financial analysts. Some of them, who spoke with The Nation, argued that Nigeria is not an Islamic country, but a multi-religious state that is constitutionally secular and so, should not turn to Islamic finance under the excuse of building infrastructure.

    They cautioned that Nigeria should be wary of hob-nobbing with IsDB and other Islamic banks as this is capable of undermining the nation’s constitution and its secularity. While insisting on the need to defend Nigeria’s secularity, some of them pointed out that there are other viable options and numerous non-religious lending institutions Nigeria can turn to for help.

    For instance, a Lagos-based lawyer/public affairs analyst, Barr Obiora Akabogu, said although, the only thing that can interest any responsible government in Islamic finance is its zero or low interest offer, there is the need for Nigeria to study the conditionalities very well before appending her signature for any facility from IsDB.

    He said studying the conditionalities before appending signature was necessary to avoid using the loan as an economic weapon to enslave Nigeria. “Nigeria must not come out of European colonialism and enter into Arab colonialism, because it is not a very good alternative, Akabogu warned, adding that there is one kind of attachment or the other that borders on religion.

    While recalling that when the economy of countries such as the United Kingdom (UK), Spain, and Greece were down, they never went to Islamic bank, Akabogu said “Nigeria should know better why those countries didn’t turn to Islamic bank for help.”

     

    Why Islamic finance is gaining traction

    According to the Managing Director/CEO, Islamic Banking and Finance Institute of Nigeria, Alhaji Sani Aminu Dutsinma, the Islamic finance industry is growing at 10 – 20 per cent annually, while “Shariah compliant financial” assets are currently estimated at $2 trillion, covering bank and non-bank financial institutions.

    Dutsinma, who made this known in Abuja, during a sensitisation workshop for journalists on the “Fundamentals of Islamic Economics, Banking and Finance” organised by the Institute in collaboration with the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), noted that Islamic banking assets have been growing faster than conventional bank assets.

    He said there has been increased interest in Islamic finance from countries like the United Kingdom (UK), Luxembourg, South Africa and Hong Kong. While pointing out that within sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa led the way in Islamic banking, he noted that Islamic finance was not reserved for Muslims only.

    According to Dutsinma, it is not a Muslim finance, with no such tag on Islamic finance products either in Nigeria or in any other part of the world. He, therefore, called on Nigerian policymakers to recognise Islamic finance as capable of significantly contributing to economic development, given its direct link to physical assets and real economy.

    The CEO was, however, quick to note that “Since the introduction of Islamic finance in Nigeria about 18 years ago, concerns and apprehensions have been voiced that the introduction might be a ploy to Islamise Nigeria. But as at today, we are yet to receive any report of religious discrimination as regards access to any Sharia compliant product.”

    As if sensing the concerns and apprehensions that may still greet Nigeria’s latest move to access Islamic finance, Adeosun noted that Nigeria had derived many benefits from its membership of the 43-year old IsDB.

    “We appreciate their intervention in the water supply, health and education sectors in a number of our states, but we want IsDB to do more,” the Minister, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr. Mahmoud Isa-Dutse, said. Isa-Dutse led the Nigerian delegation to the meeting of the bank.

    She said that given IsDB’s unique role as Islamic Bank with multiplicity of intervention instruments not available to traditional development banks, “We expect IsDB to be bold and work collaboratively with other Money Deposit Banks (MDBs) to ensure overall complementarity in all development interventions in Nigeria.”

    Already, IsDB President Dr. Bandar Mohammed Hajjar has assured that the bank would enhance the development impact of its projects and programmes through comprehensive development solutions that integrate services and products in its member-countries.

    Indeed, Islamic finance has grown progressively in the last 40 years, spreading to over 70 countries and becoming a $2 trillion market at the global level. Africa currently has only about two per cent of global Islamic banking assets and as little as 0.5 per cent of Sukuk outstanding.

    But with Nigeria throwing her hat into the ring, the stage appears set for the rapid growth of Islamic banking and ûnance across the continent, which is said to be home to over a quarter of the global Muslim population.

    According to experts, Nigeria’s economic managers may have been forced by the current economic downturn to realise that Islamic finance is being increasingly deployed as a strategic instrument to tap into the unbanked population in Africa and innovatively address the vital issue of financial inclusion.

    Besides, they have realised that it has become a catalyst for boosting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and trade vows between the continent and Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) markets. Furthermore, Sukuk is well positioned to play a powerful role in meeting the funding gaps in strategically vital infrastructure projects across the region.

    This must be why Dutsinma called on Nigerian policymakers to recognise Islamic finance as capable of significantly contributing to economic development, given its direct link to physical assets and real economy.

    He said: “The use of profit and loss sharing arrangement encourages the provision of financial support and generates jobs. The emphasis on tangible assets ensures that the industry supports only transactions that serve a real purpose thus discouraging financial speculation.”

    Dutsinma was of the opinion that Islamic finance helps promote financial sector development and broadens financial inclusion by expanding the range and reach of financial products, while helping to improve financial access and foster the inclusion of those deprived of financial services.

     

    $300b infrastructure deficit also a factor

    According to experts, Nigeria requires an investment of $300 billion to close her huge infrastructure gap and unlock the real sector’s potential to reflate the economy severely battered by crashing oil prices.

    The $300 billion infrastructure deficit represents 25 per cent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This translates to an investment of about $25 billion annually, which Nigeria can hardly afford given the current cash crunch.

    Yet, the achievement of Nigeria’s numerous economic, developmental and inclusive growth goals articulated under the Federal Government’s ERGP was hinged on massive investments in infrastructure.

     

    Experts disagree, list other options

    Akabogu said rather than hub-nub with Islamic finance and make Nigeria an Islamic state under the guise of raising money to build infrastructure, the country should turn to other sources. “What is the use for Excess Crude Account (ECA)?” he asked, noting that external reserves is also there and has not been completely depleted.

    The public affairs analysts added that Nigeria could also fall back on the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) to raise cash to build infrastructure. While noting that the country’s economic buffers are being funded, he said Value Added Tax (VAT) and money accruable from Customs and Excise are also viable sources.

    “Remember that Customs is the only organisation in Nigeria that continues to declare surplus all the time. There is money from the private sector. There is capital inflow into the country from foreign investors. Nigeria continues to be number one investment destination because as others are leaving, others are coming,” Akabogu told The Nation.

    Experts also say that Nigeria’s pension fund, which stood at N6.02 trillion as at last November, is another viable option to build infrastructure. With the National Pension Commission (PenCom) projecting that the nation’s total pension asset may hit N20 trillion by 2020, this huge pool of funds is seen by not a few analysts as a better choice than Islamic finance.

    Yet, others have recommended the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model for designing, building, financing and operating new and infrastructure.

  • Bridging the labour skills gap

    Bridging the labour skills gap

    Why are many graduates unemployed? It is because their qualifications and skills do not match job market needs. To address the imbalance, some stakeholders in the public and private sectors are collaborating to hone job seekers’ skills through trainings. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    His position resonates with those of resource experts and employers that many Nigerian graduates are unemployable. Lagos State Commissioner for Wealth Creation & Employment Dr. Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti has never hidden his fear that many training institutions are churning out graduates whose skills do not match what the labour market wants.
    His position is in sync with the notion that the country’s youth unemployment scourge could be traced to the obvious mismatch between what employers need and what the nation’s tertiary institutions are pushing out.
    The commissioner was emphatic that tackling rising unemployment required a comprehensive reform of the education system in a manner that will produce graduates with qualifications and skills that match the needs of the job market. He said if the job market is incapable of offering sufficient opportunities for the country’s unemployed youths because of skills mismatch, “then it’s time to turn to alternative solution by horning the skills of youths, through deliberate training, to suit market or employers’ needs.”
    According to Durosinmi-Etti, the ministry is working with development partners to offer courses on employability and entrepreneurial skills. He said last week the state’s employability skills programme was targeted 400 people get jobs after acquiring new skills.
    The programme, he said, focuses on soft skills, preparing Curriculum Vitae (CVs), interviewing for jobs, and learning how to design or look at the feasibility of a business project.
    The commissioner did not stop there. He said alongside offering skills courses, the ministry has gone a notch higher by setting up a state-wide network of job registration and counselling centres to help youths consider career options, adjust to the realities of the job market as well as find local employment and training opportunities. He said the purpose of the project was to make sure youths get access to the information they need to make carefully and consciously planned choices for their future.
    The ministry’s programmes, Durosinmi-Etti added, also aimed at helping to create level playing field for unemployed graduates who do not have personal connections through friends and family members to secure their dream jobs or rise to top positions when they get one. The project involves a broad package of supportive measures including career guidance, trainings, active job search support and work experience programmes.
    The commissioner, however, stressed the need for training and mindset shifts not only among youths, but also among government officials in business management. This, he said, entails strengthening the skills of young entrepreneurs through training and mentorship as well as providing financial support. He said Lagos State was ready to work with employers in managing and strengthening the education and training system to adapt curricula quickly to meet changing skill demands.
    Such cooperation, he added, should develop at all levels, including tertiary institutions, and cover short-term training to address swiftly skill deficits. It is also to support high-quality career guidance to help people make well-informed choices about their learning and careers, with digital entrepreneurship as an important part of this effort.
    Durosinmi-Etti said the state government was dedicated to enhancing digital entrepreneurship by bringing together large corporations, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), trade unions, civil society, academia, as well as digital entrepreneurs in partnership. The strategy, he said, was to digitalise existing traditional businesses.
    The commissioner further explained that his ministry was working with development partners to launch ‘e-skills for jobs’ campaign aimed at helping jobless people find the necessary tools to get access to the labour market.
    While noting the growing integration of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) across various sectors, he said the lack of skilled professionals remained a major concern to Nigeria’s competitiveness, not only in the ICT sector itself, but for the economy as a whole.
    The Nation learnt that one of the programmes sponsored by the ministry to tackle the employability challenge is a three-month ICT programme tagged ‘Lagos Study Programme.’ The project seeks to equip youths with skills to fill the manpower gap for programmers locally.
    The initiative was done in collaboration with Andela Consulting, Google, Microsoft, Sterling Bank and Etisalat. It was implemented by Audax Solutions Ltd, which carried out the training at its Lekki office for the first batch of 100 trainees selected from the Lagos Island division of the state.
    The participants, who had reduced to about 78 in the six weeks of the programme, were exposed to design, Hyper Mark-up Language (HTML), which is used in developing web pages; Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), digital marketing, coding, basic algorithm, scripting, word press, and dynamic web application projects, among others.
    Private sector operators
    wade in
    Interestingly, the efforts at tackling the unemployment scourge through skills training enjoy the buy in of the private sector. For instance, the 11-week Lagos Study Programme was launched with many private sector operators, such as Etisalat, Sterling Bank, Google, Andela, Microsoft and Audax Solutions.
    It was aimed at producing software developers and digital marketers.
    Under the programme, 500 graduates are targeted to be trained across the five divisions of the state. Durosinmi-Etti said young people would be offered entrepreneurship training to give them self-reliant skills in business planning and management, as well as hands-on experience.
    He said there are vacancies in the field of digital technology in Lagos hence, the partnership with Andela, for instance, to help youths tackle the lack of digital skills and fill the ICT-related vacancies. He noted that the deal with Andela has set an example of how public-private partnerships could set the right incentives to boost digital skills and create opportunities for youths, while helping Nigeria reap the benefits of the booming digital economy.
    Wofai Ibiang, a Supply Chain Management graduate from East Anglia University, United Kingdom, said she applied for the Lagos Study Programme to learn to build apps to solve problems she has already identified.
    Expressing satisfaction with what she got from the training, she said: “I’ve always wanted to build my own website and apps.I have learnt quite a lot coming here. I’ll say I have been very impressed; my expectations have been met. I think the skills I have gained will help me know how to go about my dreams.”
    Audax Solutions Limited, another private sector operator, is also not left out. Its Managing Director, Mr. Emeka Onyenwe, explained that the trainees were a mixture of those without prior knowledge of programming and those with a level of awareness of the concept.
    He said the training was carried out using world-class curriculum that allowed students learn at their own pace and make progress as they completed assigned projects. He praised the tenacity and dedication of the participants, who he said, exceeded his expectations.
    The Head of Branding, Sterling Bank, Mrs Peju Ibekwe, said the bank was excited to be part of the historic project. According to her, the Lagos Study Programme was highly laudable as it was one of the novel initiatives to stamp the nation’s evolution and growth in the ICT space.
    She said the programme empowered the youth to run their own businesses and be gainfully employed wherever they chose to be. She said education and empowerment are major focus of Sterling Bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy.
    She listed some of the projects executed in the empowerment space to include ‘Meet the Executive’, a business plan competition, which availed participants grants of about N12 million to grow or establish their businesses.
    The participants with viable business ideas and plans, Ibekwe added, got the opportunity to pitch these ideas before the bank’s executives to stand a chance of getting significant financial support for their businesses.

    West Africa Vocational
    Education (WAVE)
    to the rescue
    One of the ministry’s training partners is West Africa Vocational Education (WAVE).The organisation tackles youth unemployment by teaching young people the skills they need to get the first job, start a successful career and build a brighter future.
    Its Chief Executive, Misan Rewane, stressed that young people would be the key driver of the country’s future growth and that “imparting these skills is crucial to getting them involved in the job market.’’
    Although stakeholders in various sectors say that the current economic downturn in the country has led to alarmingly high unemployment and underemployment rates, many of them argue that the problems arose because many graduates and other job seekers are ill-prepared.
    Rewane noted, for instance, that employers were having difficulties filling vacancies with the right talents, despite offering mouth-watering wages. She said some employers could not fill vacancies because even highly-qualified candidates have the wrong skills.
    She noted that applicants lack ‘soft skills’, such as interpersonal communication and problem-solving abilities.

    Co-creation Hub also
    The Nation learnt that much of the progress in generating job opportunities for young people interested in technology is coming from private sector entity Co-creation Hub, which nurtures young talents and innovative ideas.
    For instance, Co-creation hub has been educating young people about the challenges of sustainable development and creating opportunities for them to use their creativity and knowledge to pioneer innovative solutions.
    In addition, it creates platforms for young people to connect, collaborate and integrate their ideas and perspectives into national and regional pathways for implementation of social development.
    Interestingly, current efforts at bridging the skills gap appear to have carried women along. Already, organisations looking to fill gender unemployment gaps have started to establish platforms that would educate, mentor and support young African women to grow and sustain viable business ventures in various fields.
    One such company is She Leads Africa, a female-led pan-African start-up based in Nigeria. Founded by two young West African women, Yasmin Belo-Osagie (Nigerian) and Afua Osei (Ghanaian), the organisation provides training and mentorship opportunities to help young women build successful careers and businesses.
    She Leads Africa provides intensive business training boot camps.

    NDE also involved
    The National Directorate of Employment (NDE), a government agency, is involved. It was established to fund companies that enable them to offer their employees re-skilling and training opportunities.
    Participating organisations made their workplaces available for unemployed persons to strengthen their practical experience and their connections to the labour market.
    In collaboration with the World Bank, NDE has begun the training of 227 unemployed youths in Cross River State under the Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO). NDE Director-General Mr. Kunle Obayan said in Calabar that the programme was designed to empower youths with skills that would help them compete favourably in the labour market.
    Represented by an official from the Directorate, Mr. Mfam Eyahanjom, Obayan said youths would undergo training on ‘Life skills training and entrepreneurial skills training’.
    He explained that after the three-month training, the NDE would deploy the beneficiaries to competent private sector operators for six-month internship/apprenticeship training.
    Obayan said 6,878 youths were selected from the seven participating states of Bauchi, Niger, Cross River, Kwara, Oyo, Ekiti and Kogi. He said the directorate had verified 4,721 beneficiaries, while 227 youths were selected for the training in Cross River.
    “Throughout the nine-month training, the Federal Government, through the World Bank support, would ensure prompt payment of monthly stipends to beneficiaries who will receive skills training of their choice at no cost,” he said.
    Also, the NDE Coordinator in Cross River, Mr. Edem Duke, said the collaboration with the World Bank was in line with the Directorate’s commitment to poverty reduction.
    Duke said the training programme would help unemployed youths to access opportunities to become entrepreneurs and job creators.
    “This training is designed to enable trainees to find sustainable jobs, boost institutional capacity building and public private sector partnership,” he said.
    He charged the beneficiaries to be committed and make proper use of the rare opportunity to chart a new direction for a better future.
    The World Bank Representative, Prof. Ngozi Onyekwe, said it was a major milestone for the bank to partner NDE in unemployment reduction in Nigeria.
    Some experts told The Nation that tackling Nigeria’s declining productivity caused partly by mismatch between what the education system provides and what employers require must be a national priority.
    They argued that skills training are a long-term exercise that requires a high level of customisation, localisation, investment and commitment.
    Head of Administration, Apapa Local Government Council, Prince Adebola Olujobi, said one of the most effective ways to increase productivity is to boost the skill level of young applicants.
    According to him, employability training is not just to provide jobs, but also engage youths in the variety of personal and social development activities that it offers, while also helping them develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed in the labour market.
    These, he said, include teamwork, communication, leadership, flexibility and responsiveness.
    Indeed, stakeholders involved in the scheme are all convinced that it offers good chances for up skilling the workforce and supporting the unemployed.
    For employers, the scheme provides the benefit of developing the skills of their workforce for a relatively small investment without productivity loss.

  • Bridging the N10.3tr infrastructure gap

    Bridging the N10.3tr infrastructure gap

    Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) and Public Private Partnerships (PPP) are being adopted by banks to fix Nigeria’s N10.3 trillion infrastructure deficit. COLLINS NWEZE writes on the roles of commercial banks in driving PFI and PPP to achieve set objectives.

    Infrastructure development is central to Nigeria’s bid to attain social and economic stability. This is why the federal and state governments are committed to building infrastructure.

    Infrastructure have to do with the fixed provision of tangible assets on which other intangibles can be built.  Not limited in scope, they include the provision of housing, power, transport, education, communication, and technology.

    Former Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister for Finance Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala estimated that Nigeria needs N10.63 trillion ($67 billion) for road upgrades, bridge repairs, the energy sector, hospitals and schools.

    Also, the Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD) Report for 2011 estimates that Nigeria requires sustained spending of $14.2 billion per annum over the next decade in order to address the infrastructure challenge.

    Furthermore, the chairman of the board of Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Chief Ernest Shonekan, had stated at the inaugural meeting of the Africa Public Private Partnership (APPP) network hosted by ICRC that there is a yawning investment gap of about $31 billion required yearly to fund infrastructure development in sub-Saharan Africa.

    The above scenario clearly shows that as a result of the huge funding requirement for present and future infrastructural development and its attendant impact on survival and growth of businesses in Nigeria, traditional funding methods can no longer suffice as the traditional fund providers, different levels of government, do not have such resources at their disposal.

    In view of this, Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) and Public Private Partnerships (PPP) are being adopted to meet the funding challenge. In Nigeria, PFI and PPP are relatively new models for public project finance and commercial banks remain the formal source of finance for driving PFI among enterprises. Of course, banks have three social and economic functions: to collect and secure savings and other deposits; to finance the economy by handing out credits; and to facilitate payments and to transfer funds. Their role is to reduce the gap between supply (the money deposited and potentially available) and demand (the money needed for investment) that exists between idle money and productive investment.

    In recent time, an increasing number of socio-economic projects bothering on infrastructural and natural resources rejuvenation and business growth and expansion initiatives have been developed and financed through equity and medium to long term loan packages by commercial banks. In the last half decade, leading commercial banks in the country have continued to make strong mark in the area of project financing.

    For banks that have been on the scene for years, it is expected that playing big in the project financing landscape would be seen as a game of experience and financial might built up over years of profitable operations in the country – a case of bailing out a structure that has heavily fed them fat in the past. However, a quick look at the country’s project financing market shows commendable influence being exerted by a few new players, who ordinarily, would have been considered as greenhorns without the required skill, stamina and wizardry to play in the intricate game of project financing. Leading in this wise is Heritage Bank, which entered the market about 24 months ago.

    Since its foray into the Nigerian financial sector, Heritage Bank has played a pivotal and leading role in the equity and project financing market, arranging in excess of $2 billion of debt facilities either as lead or sole financier or financial adviser. The field of engagement has equally been diversified, covering economic sectors such as Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Entertainment & Arts, Education, Oil & Gas, Aviation & Haulage and Public Sector.

    For instance, the bank has provided over $100 million in funding for a variety of transactions in the film and entertainment industry from 2013 to date. These include Bloomberg TV Africa (the Pan African TV by Bloomberg LLP), Free-to-Air TV Broadcast Rights in Nigeria for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, HIP TV (a Pan African TV Music Channel broadcast on satellite TV which was funded from scratch) and a variety of other investments spanning content, platforms and production.

    Also, the innovative multi-billion naira MSME Investment Protection Fund (InPF), which is a non-collateralised funding option with embedded insurance to address the default risk inherent in the SME Finance scheme, remains a strong differentiating indicator of the Heritage Bank approach to SME funding in the country.

    However, the recent successful finance of Forte Oil Plc’s acquisition of 100 brand new Mercedes Benz product delivery trucks for haulage, logistics and product transportation across the country as well as the Project Finance Facility to PIPP LVI GENCO to set up a 6.5MegaWatts Captive Power Generating Plant and a 25km Distribution Network to power Public Utilities in Lekki,Victoria Island  and Ikoyi represent giant strides by the relatively young Heritage Bank which had already financed similar and bigger projects in Port Harcourt and Abuja in deals worth several billions of Naira in the last 12 months.

    Heritage Bank’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Ifie Sekibo said the lender developed and introduced wide range of services to address the capacity and financing needs of MSME businesses.

    “The goal of Heritage Bank’s MSME offerings is to build a network of entrepreneurial leaders that will drive the growth of the sector.  This would enhance the ability of the MSME sector to effectively play its role as the engine growth of the economy”, he said.

    • Sekibo
    • Sekibo

    Heritage Bank’s commitment to leadership building in the MSME sector is reflected in the bank’s SME Clinic. “The Heritage Bank SME Clinic is designed to enhance the entrepreneurial capacity of our SME customers. Through the Clinic, Heritage Bank understands the different aspects of the customer’s business in order to identify areas where it can add value. As a result, we are able to develop customised products and services based on the identified needs of each SME customer,” Sekibo said.

    Also speaking on the significance of Heritage Bank’s project finance initiatives, Executive Director, Manila Banking, Niyi Adeseun noted that, “for us at Heritage Bank, our core business philosophy as a timeless wealth partner to our customers is captured in our mission to create, transfer and preserve wealth. Our support efforts through project financing in the various sectors of the economy is one of the platforms that underscore our resolve and readiness to make a mark in the financial sector as a major pivot of socio-economic transformation of our country,” he explained.

    “For instance, in the Oil and Gas industry, our interventions span the downstream sector areas of product importation, supply, engineering and many more while we are also gradually getting really involved in the upstream as well. We have financed a few of such projects in Port Harcourt and we have a couple of them also in Abuja”.

    In a testimonial, Group Chief Executive Officer, Forte Oil Plc, Akin Akinfemiwa lauded Heritage Bank on its project financing portfolio. According to him, “We appreciate the strategic role of Heritage Bank in financing the acquisition of our latest 100 world-class product delivery trucks which, to us, is a very strategic investment that will substantially increase our capacity to grow our revenue and profitability and ultimately maximise value for our stakeholders”.

    Aside Heritage Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc recently took a frontline position in stakeholder’s discussions on bridging the gap between opportunity and infrastructure investment in Nigeria and Africa.

    At a United States (US)/Africa Infrastructure Conference, themed: Building the Infrastructure for Nigeria’s Vision 20:20, was organised in the US by the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) in conjunction with the Embassy of Nigeria and co-sponsored by UBA Plc.

    CEO, UBA Capital, Africa, Wale Shonibare spoke at a panel session titled “Financing it All”. He praised the Federal government’s renewed focus on developing infrastructure to stimulate economic growth. According to him, “policy decisions such as the recently announced tax incentives to encourage private sector investment in infrastructure are essential to accelerating investment in the sector.

    He said UBA Capital is positioned to assist American and other overseas investors with interest in exploring the abundant opportunities presented by the rapid growth in the Nigerian economy. “As one of Africa’s leading financial services group, UBA has proven ability to finance big ticket transactions,” he added.

    He said the conference was an important step in bringing the Vision 2020 goal to fruition. Key speakers at the conference identified project opportunities totalling $2.8 billion for successful development of roads and bridges, rail, ports, airports, agro-allied cargo operations, housing, water and information communication technology.

    The World Bank said in a statement that the office will focus on infrastructure, information communications technology, the financial sector and knowledge sharing.

    The lender also announced the launch of a new $90 million to support developing countries, the Korea-World Bank Partnership Facility. The facility will support a broad range of economic development opportunities with a focus on promoting best practices, by leveraging the bank’s knowledge and convening power and Korea’s expertise in areas such as economic development policy, information communications technology, infrastructure and the financial sector.

    Also, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has proposed plans to float Africa’s first infrastructure bonds to member nations to raise up to $22 billion for investments in much needed infrastructure projects such as ports, railways, roads and energy, across the African continent.

    In a statement, the firm said this brings to reality, an initiative first raised at the March 2009 conference on Growth Corridors, hosted by Made-in-Africa Foundation’s Ozwald Boateng and UK Foreign Minister, David Miliband.

    The $22 billion would take advantage of the AfDB’s AAA rating, which would make its African bonds a more secure investment than those issued by a number of European states potentially, making it one of the more attractive opportunities in the global debt capital markets.

    The investment of $22 billion in infrastructure projects across Africa would, if implemented properly, have a positive effect on the continent’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), raising it by an estimated two per cent. This would lift millions out of poverty and dramatically decrease regional disparity. Its effect on Africa could be similar to the Marshall Plan which was a huge stimulus for growth on the European continent in the post war period.

    “At a time of global uncertainty, there’s an even greater sense of urgency to help developing countries tackle their challenges to reduce poverty and create greater prosperity for their people,” the bank said.

    Analysts insist that Nigeria’s rich entrepreneurial culture, its dynamic economic landscape is characterised by a high level of local and international trade which has continued to witness growth over the years. This has been generating and will, possibly, continue to generate high demand for innovative commercial and corporate finance services.

    They believe that new financial services providers like Heritage Bank, UBA even World Bank are already established on strong foundation to drive their survival and growth in the nation’s competitive banking sector and boost infrastructure financing.

  • How ITF is bridging manpower gap

    How ITF is bridging manpower gap

    Despite its challenges, the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) is striving to bridge the manpower gap through aggressive training. The agency has trained 237,561 persons from 5, 815 organisations in the last one year, reports TOBA AGBOOLA.

    For the nation to be out of its economic woes, constant training and retraining programmes are required for the youths to fit into new and existing jobs. One of the reasons for its economic woes, according to experts, is lack of training, which has created a huge gap in manpower. This, perhaps, was the reason for the establishment of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) some 43 years ago.

    According to its Director-General (DG), Dr Juliet Chukkas-Onaeko, the agency has intensified efforts at closing the industrial gap. Since its inception, the ITF has fed the industry with able hands, thus sustaining the measured growth that has so far been recorded.

    The fund, under the current DG, has trained many youths on skills acquisition in the last one year. In the last year, the ITF has trained 237,561 Nigerians from 5, 815 organisations.

    Also, 704 special intervention programmes were implemented, out of which 202,560 trainees secured employment. Not done, about 16,211 Nigerian women benefitted from specialised intervention programmes of the ITF and 83, 050 students equally participated in the Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme.

    The agency has also helped in training 1000 youths each from the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). All these efforts were geared towards bridging the wide industrial gap in the country.

    In a chat with the DG, at the graduation ceremony of the inaugural set of automobile technicians trained by Truck Masters Nigeria Ltd,  under the ITF-NECA Technical Skills Development Project (TSDP), she claimed that her administration has upgraded the bandwidth of the Fund’s communication system to serve current resource requirements, just as the agency’s library was digitized and revenue and reimbursement portals established.

    The agency, she said, also entered into collaborations with Cement Technology Institute of Nigeria, for the training of 4000 artisans; Wavecrest College of Hospitality, for revamping MSN Culinary Department. Others are Nigeria Institute of Builders and Shell Petroleum Development Company.

    According to her, the agency also strengthened its collaboration with Nigerian’s Employers Consultative Association (NECA) and expanded the ITF/DVT (Germany Chamber of Crafts and Commerce) to train apprentices in line with Germany’s dual system. She noted that her administration last year graduated the first batch of MSTC Trainees, reviewed and secured approval for a new staff regulations and conditions of service.

    The ITF, Dr Chukkas-Onaeko said, is also engaging relevant stakeholders on training and effective implementation of its mandate, and sensitising Nigerians on the need to transit to non oil economy.

    Highlighting how the fund is initiating proactive measures to achieve its mandate, Onaeko said students under its training programmes are challenged to impart knowledge provided by the fund and take charge of leading the nation and the continent into an era of sustainable economic development.

    She said the vision of economic leadership on the continent by the country can only be achieved when adequate attention and commitment are shown by stakeholders in the quest to imbibe the nation’s youths with continuous vocational and technical knowledge that can create jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities for them and others.

    According to her, trainees sponsored by the Fund in collaboration with the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) and other organisations would soon get international certifications.

    She said ITF is working on getting an international certification programme for its trainees to enable them work anywhere in the world. According to her, the Fund has also been working with various established players in various industries such as agriculture, oil and gas, and automobile maintenance in order to train more youths.

    The ITF’s continuous training through these collaborations, she said, is a move to support the government in reducing the rate of unemployment by placing technical education in the front burner. “I want to congratulate the graduating students, being the first set under the Automobile and Heavy Duty Maintenance and Technician Programme. With government’s automobile policy, I think this is the best time to take up such a task as taking up a skill in automobile industry, especially for heavy duty trucks, which are more complex,” she said.

    According to her, the initiative is a major move to support government’s efforts at reducing the rate of unemployment among the youths. “Most importantly, it has been helping the players in the various industries to raise new breeds of excellently skilled youths to work for them here instead of relying on expatriates,” she said, adding that, “the ITF has been working on certifications for our trainees so that they can work anywhere in the world, because our programmes seem not to be enough”. “The certification, when ready will have our trainees take exams to qualify them for a diploma in the field of their training,” she said.

    Dr Onaeko said this was necessary because it has been difficult to attract young people to technical skills because of the poor remuneration and recognition that the sector  has been suffering. ”We have, therefore, been training our students not only on skilled manpower, but alongside good work ethics, good customer care, and also entrepreneurial skills,” she said.

    NECA’s Director-General, Mr. Segun Oshinowo, said the purpose of the synergy is to reduce the rate of unemployment among youths by training them on how they can create jobs even with little capital at their disposal. “By being here, we hope to create jobs by getting the youths trained so that they can stand on their own,” he said, noting that there are huge potentials in the agricultural sector especially, in the area of aquaculture.

    The NECA boss appealed to the government to support the initiatives with funds as both organisations lack financial capacity to carry out their assignments.

    Managing Director, Truckmasters Ltd, Mr Tony Arenyeka, lauded the ITF-NECA collaboration for impacting the lives of the youths through technical skills acquisition. Arenyeka said Truckmasters Academy was training in areas of specialisation in electronics, mechanical panel beating and spraying, and workshop administration.

    The Project Manager, TSDP, Mrs Helen Jemerigbe, said the training was a baby of the project, which has been on for six years. She said the project had been working with 12 companies, and technical colleges all over the country, and the training with Truckmasters Nigeria Ltd was the result of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 2014.

  • Bridging the workplace gender gap

    Bridging the workplace gender gap

    Despite widely held opinion that companies benefit from access to the different but complementary leadership skills, gender inequality persists in Nigeria. The workplace is still largely skewed in favour of men, leaving women oppressed and marginalised, but Lafarge Africa Plc and World Bank are leading the campaign to bridge the gap. TOBA AGBOOLA reports.

    The gospel of gender inclusion is gathering steam. This time, Lafarge Africa Plc isleading the renewed campaign particularly in the workplace. The objective is to allow companies benefit from access to the different, but complementary leadership skills, wider talent pool, and insights women bring to management.

    Towards the end of last year, the company’s senior executives from various countries, gathered at the Assemblée Nationale (French National Assembly) at the Palais Bourbon in Paris, for the Gender Equality European/International Standard (GEEIS) Awards. Four Lafarge country operations – Nigeria, Spain, Brazil and France – were honoured in recognition for their work on diversity and inclusion.

    Lafarge Country Organisation and Human Resources (HR) Director, Fidelia Osime, who represented Nigeria at the ceremony said: “For us in Lafarge Africa Plc, it is indeed,` a significant achievement as we are the first company in Africa to be so recognised having been audited on a number of criteria. The question, of course, is how individual companies make a conscious effort to raise gender diversity in senior management. To this end, Lafarge Africa Plc has in line with its sustainability ambitions 2020, responded to these challenges in a way that looks optimistic to the future.”

    Lafarge, in its articulation of the sustainability ambitions, called for 20 per cent of senior executive management roles to be filled by women by 2014-2015. The company’s inclusive culture is defined as supporting a work environment that values diversity, where all employees are encouraged to share new ideas and innovations, and where equal opportunities exist for professional growth and development.

    Osime explained that the tenets of these ambitions include the belief that diversity in employees, teams and management is an essential factor in achieving a high level of performance and innovation.

    “This specific focus on employee diversity and skills development, regardless of gender, nationality, colour or religion, ensures that Lafarge as a group, uses every asset at its disposal to achieve set targets,” she said, adding that the company has expanded this culture of diversity through its recruitment initiatives, partnering with a number of diversity-focused companies and associations to ensure that it tapped the largest possible pool of candidates.

    Other initiatives introduced by the firm in Nigeria to support diversity, tnclude the activation of Women’s networking groups, flexible work hours in the corporate head office, supporting nursing mothers with crèche allowance, provision of paternity leave, and exclusion of maternity leave from annual leave entitlement.

    A Diversity & Inclusion Committee, comprising representatives from Human Resources, Operations and Communications, meets monthly, developing strategies and action plans to ensure that these goals are met in a fair  manner, thus ensuring that only credible candidates are chosen to fill these roles while making sure that the sustainability of the business is the main focus.

    Also, leadership and gender workshops were held across the various business units and locations.The outcome was the  introduction of diversity concepts and examination of  gender differences and their effects on business relationships. Communication and decision making are organised to make participants generate specific local actions to improve diversity. The belief is that on-going diversity training would  help drive employee engagement and create a work environment that visibly values and leverages diversity.

    The Nation learnt that out of the 12 members of Lafarge Africa Plc’s top management team, four are women. One of them, Adepeju Adebajo, was recently appointed Managing Director of WAPCO Operations. Others include Fidelia Osime – Country Organisation & Human Resources Director, Edith Onwuchekwa – Country Legal Counsel and Viola Graham Douglas – Country Communication Director. The combined wealth of experience and exposure wielded by these amazons is without doubt an  asset to the Lafarge family and a justification of the corporate policy of diversity and inclusion.

    Yet, this representation does not stop at the directorial level of the company. It permeates across board and in key middle management roles where women feature prominently and contribute actively to the overall success rating of the company.

    Also speaking on the award, and the efforts of the company to close the gender gap, Senior Vice-President, Talent Management, Lafarge Group, Sonia D’Emilio, stressed that it is something all the recipients should be proud of as it was obtained through committed efforts to engage on the gender balance topic.

    She said: “We should all be proud of this development as your commitment and efforts made it happen. We have made significant investments in our diversity and inclusion programmes across all our business units and have recorded positive results. This award will serve to further encourage us in our plans to execute more initiatives focused on gender equality in our business.”

    The Nation learnt that increasing the number of women in senior management positions to 35 per cent by 2020 is a corporate target of Lafarge. As at 2013/14, it reached 18.6 per cent of top management, through the acceleration of the identification of women capable of engaging in career development and occupying leadership positions. At group level, support is given to programmes and initiatives that seek the development of employee skills and key positions and are covered by certification programmes and individual development programmes and training.

    The World Bank is also involved in the effort to address gender inequality in workplaces. The bank in its latest reports, identified improved job opportunities for women and girls at all levels of productive engagements as key to ongoing efforts aimed at alleviating poverty, increasing Gross Domestic Growth (GDP) in national economies and bridging the gender gap between men and women across the world.

    The bank noted that policy makers, private sector and other job providers would be contributing to the global socio-economic agenda targeted at closing the gender-inequality gap, if they showed commitment to removing all barriers to women and girls employment and by implication, adding significantly to the global development values.

    The report stated: “Jobs boost self-esteem and pull families out of poverty. Yet, gender disparities persist in the world of work. Closing these gaps, while working to stimulate job creation more broadly, it is a prerequisite for ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. The report described gender equality in the work place as a win-win on many fronts’’.

    The report revealed that improved female employment had the potential of increasing GDP by 34 per cent in Egypt, 12 per cent in the United Arab Emirates, 10 per cent in South Africa and nine per cent in Japan, taking into account losses in economy-wide labour productivity that could occur as new workers entered the labour force.

    Commenting on the Gender at Work Report, the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly, said in view of recent revelations about the gender inequality in Nigeria’s workplace, the bank was doing a gender review of its development programmes with a view to ensuring that more women and girls were provided opportunities for productive engagements.

    When this is done, the hope is that it would reverse the current trend in Nigeria where women in top leadership positions have not attained the desired representation in business and government establishments. It should be noted that despite the large proportion of female graduates and the significant number of women who join various companies at entry level, very few reach the top.

     

    Areas of inequality

    (1) Labour and employment – Women do not generally earn the same wages as men for the same work especially casual or unorganised labour which is where most women are employed. Those in public service are discriminated against in the area of maternity, sexual harassment and employment practices.

    (2) Access to finances and credit – Most banks and finance homes do not give loans to women and most times women have to be guaranteed by men before they can access credit for economic activities.

    (3) Politics and Participation – Women are not equipped to participate effectively in politics because of low esteem and inability to jump the hurdles set by the men. Women do not have the financial resources to compete in the high financial game of politics in Nigeria. They are therefore given positions which the men do not find lucrative or challenging enough. Thus politically, women’s rights are denied because of poor representation at the levels where decisions and policies are made.

    (4) Education and Health Care – Inadequate education and inadequate facilities for health care hinders women’s quest for equality. Unhealthy and uneducated women cannot produce healthy children or engage effectively in social activities. Available data shows high levels of maternal and infant mortality.

    (5) Harmful Traditional Practices – Traditional practices like female genital mutilation, widowhood practices, male preference, domestic violence lend weight to discrimination against women. The heavy workload of women within the household and lack of house decision making powers contribute to deprive women of their rights and life. Information on family planning where they exist sometimes produce harmful side effects . Male preference leads to abuse and low self esteem for the female child even from birth and thus she does not develop her full potentials to enable her contribute effectively to the nation.

    (6) Violence Against Women – Women are still victims of rape, sexual assault, harrassmentt and battery, widowhood practices, forced labour, trafficking, incest, and other forms of gender assaults and abuses. Domestic violence is still regarded as a private affair requiring no legal or official intervention.

    (7) Access to Justice – Women are politically, economically, socially, culturally, educationally, and legally disadvantaged. They cannot take advantage of facilities and opportunities available to them to achieve and enforce their human rights. They are mostly ignorant of their fundamental rights and freedoms. In many police stations, women are still not allowed to take people on bail.

    These imbalances and inequalities in gender relations must be redressed if Nigeria must join the league of civilised nations as a country with respect for human rights.