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Tag: CAP

  • CAP grows Q3 net profit by 27%

    Chemical and Allied Products (CAP) Plc recorded strong growths in sales and profitability in the third quarter, with net profit rising by 27 per cent to N1.23 billion.

    Key extracts of the nine-month report for the period ended September 30, 2018, released at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) showed that turnover rose to N5.45 billion in third quarter 2018, compared with N4.90 billion in corresponding period of 2017. Profit before tax also rose from N1.42 billion to N1.80 billion, while profit after tax increased from N964.7 million to N1.23 billion. With these, earnings per share improved from N1.38 in third quarter of 2017 to N1.75 in third quarter of 2018.

    CAP had paid N1.435 billion as cash dividend for the 2017 business year, representing a dividend per share of N2.05.

    Addressing shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting, CAP Plc Chairman, Mr. Larry Ettah, said the company has continued to show resilience in spite of the challenges in the economy.

    He noted the link between the overall economy and the performance of the real estate sector, expressing optimism that the recovery recorded in the Nigerian economy in 2017 is expected to be sustained in 2018 and will lead to better performance for the company.

    He said the company is closely following developments at all levels and is ready to take advantage of emerging opportunities from the various reforms.

    He added that the company will respond to emerging trends in the paints market and different economic scenarios by growing its market share, increasing product and services offerings, expanding trade channels, implementing impactful and aggressive marketing initiatives and continuing to build people’s capacities.

    “We are equally poised to take advantage of other structural reforms of the Federal Government, which might impact the housing and real estate sector,” Ettah said.

    He pointed out that the successful commissioning of the company’s automated in-plant tinting factory was a major achievement in 2017 as the factory will ensure emulsion paints are promptly and readily available to customers.

    He noted that the company retained its high certifications on quality and environment management systems, assuring that the company will continue to offer high quality products and services to customers while complying with regulatory requirements by conducting its operations in a healthy and safe manner, with minimal impact on the environment.

  • Cap trend celebrities are rocking right now!

    AND who is better than our favourite style stars to inspire our trends and purchases this season? Whether they are colour-blocking, adding a finishing touch to an ensemble or shielding themselves from the sun, fashionistas happen to always set the coolest trend. From our South African beauty Mpho Laing to Michelle Dede, rocking the red carpet with Hausa cap in style last weekend at the just-concluded AMVCA nominees and sponsors cocktail event; do you want to shop their exact cap? They are within your budget! Don’t fret as we selected affordable Hausa caps for your viewing pleasure. They are easy to throw on and they are offered in an array of styles for any occasion.

    Michelle Dede never fails to appear glamorous and her affordable Hausa cap amplifies her look.

    Mpho Laing looks like a true northerner rocking her cap at the centre of her head in a well-tailored pants and top, statement animal skin clutch bag and bronze stiletto sandals.

  • NASS should put on its thinking cap

    I have been amazed at the pedestrian level of legislation in the National Assembly especially when reacting to executive bills sent to it, the most recent of which is the current appropriation bill. It seems the National Assembly is bogged down by considerations that are far removed from rationality and national interest. Some weeks ago, the National Assembly was noisily condemning the Ministry of Petroleum Resources’ plan to bring in private investors to run the moribund petroleum refineries in Port Harcourt. This was perhaps because Oando, a Nigerian company in association with an Italian company was involved. The involvement of these two companies would have led to their investing billions of dollars to bring the useless refineries to life and optimum production something that has not happened since the 1970s.  These Port Harcourt refineries and the ones in Warri and Kaduna have been attracting billions of naira allocations for so-called annual overhaul maintenance without any result leading Nigeria to importing virtually all petrol and diesel we use for running our vehicles and mechanical plants. These refineries have thus become a conduit pipe for corruption and the ruin of the Nigerian economy. The foreign exchange earned from export of hydrocarbons and agricultural produce that would have been used for industrialization of the country is uselessly expended on importing what we should ordinarily produce. This corruption during the last regime led to trillions of naira being paid to so-called importers of petroleum products on the politically induced liberalization of importation of petroleum products. Things were so bad that any politically connected person simply had to get a company registered and whether or not the company imported any petrol, its accounts got credited with billions of naira. The cases of this unbridled financial rape and looting have been in the courts for the past two years and it is almost axiomatic that they will die there as many of the corruption cases have experienced.

    I remember with sadness Abacha awarding a one hundred million dollars contract to Total to rehabilitate the Kaduna refinery and I asked myself – how much does it cost to build a new one? At that time Singapore was building a new refinery for the same amount our country was using to do regular maintenance! The point I am making is that maintenance of these refineries have become cash cows for those in power. Now if these refineries can be sold, why would anybody be against it? Before Obasanjo left power in 2007, he invited Dangote to buy the Port Harcourt refineries and he had plans to sell the ones in Kaduna and Warri. But perhaps out of perfidy or inexperience, Yar’Adua cancelled the sale of the refineries. This apparently led Dangote to commence building of his massive refinery in Lagos. This is a refinery all Nigerians are waiting for with bated breath to save us from export of our foreign reserves through petroleum importation. Imagine if our overpaid legislators understood what is in our national interest, they should have hailed the plan to privatize all the money-guzzling refineries. In other countries facing this kind of humiliation of importing what they produce, these refineries would have been sold for one naira each in case there is a law against giving away public property.

    The second example of lack of proper understanding is the debate on the budget. First of all, the National Assembly lacks the expertise to draw up a budget or tamper seriously with a budget that took experts in the civil service and consultants months to prepare. It is not the duty and role of the legislature to begin to inject into the budget what in the considered opinion of the experts does not belong there. This budget had been subjected to budget hearing before the final budget was drawn up. In other words, no one is saying the National Assembly appropriation committee should have no input, what we are saying is that it should not be  altered beyond recognition

    Babatunde Raji Fashola, the minister in charge of works, power and housing has been unjustifiably attacked for drawing the attention of the public to the National Assembly’s radically slashing the allocation for the Lagos-Ibadan express way and the Second Niger bridge from Asaba to Onitsha to the extent that work may have to stop particularly on the expressway because what is in the budget is not enough to pay for work already done. Rather than show understanding of the problem, the minister is being accused on petty grounds of ethnic considerations. He was flippantly told he is no longer a governor of Lagos State but a federal minister.  This is an insult. He does not need to be told that. It is like giving a dog a bad name to hang it .I do not know anybody in that less-than-august body whose nationalist credential is better than that of Fashola.

    First of all the Lagos -Ibadan road is a national road connecting the rest of the country to the major ports of Apapa and Tincan Island which handle more than 90 percent of the carrying trade of the country. The road is not a Yoruba or south-western road. The National Assembly says the road is scheduled for private/public partnership. Was the failure of this not responsible for government take-over of the project after almost seven years of dilly-dallying on the project?  Why must the most important road in the country be used as an experiment? Has it occurred to our legislators that this reasoning is responsible for the collapse of Apapa network of roads since repairing it must be subject to federal character?

    Has it occurred to our distinguished senators that 60 percent of the national economy is tied to smooth running of this North -South road? Lagos is the cash cow of this country in terms of export and import, custom revenue, excise levies and Valued Added Tax. Our legislators need to take crash course in Economics 100 to appreciate the importance of Lagos to the national economy. Lagos is key to the overall development and successful diversification of the economy. Secondly, with all the agitation in the South-east, one would have thought this is the wrong time to cut the budget of the Second Niger Bridge. This may fuel further agitation about marginalization of the south-east.

    I am for equitable national development, but it is not every budgetary debate that should be based on federal character. How does the development, for example, of Murtala Muhammad International Airport in Lagos to make Nigeria the hub for West African aviation be reduced to if you build an airport in Lagos you must build one in Ado-Ekiti or Yola or if you begin re- afforestation to prevent desert encroachment in Katsina and Kano you must do the same thing in Edo and Abia. We need to get serious. This petty, penny-pinching and puerile thinking on the part of our fortunate legislators who do not take their job seriously should be condemned. They should stop heaping insults on a man like Fashola who is adjudged as a man capable of running this country with distinction if he was given the opportunity.

  • CAP promises better returns as shareholders get N1.54b dividend

    The board of directors of CAP Plc yesterday assured shareholders that the paints and chemical company would explore innovation and expanded local product offerings to drive growth in the years ahead.

    This assurance came as shareholders at the annual general meeting in Lagos approved the payment of N1.54 billion as cash dividend for the 2016 business year, representing a dividend per share of N2.20.

    Chairman, CAP Plc, Mr. Larry Ettah said the company had made a strategic decision to play more aggressively in the standard segment of the paint market while it also increased its offering by the introduction of CAP Screeding Filler, a pre-decoration product to complement both its premium and standard brands.

    According to him, the company invested €609,605 to acquire an in-plant tinting technology, to modernize its paint production processes, while improving efficiency and delivering prompt customer service.

    He said the in-plant tinting technology, which was commissioned in April 2017, is expected to boost performance in 2017.

    “We will leverage on the opportunities proffered by the 2017 budget for the real estate sector.  We will be future-proofing our business by focusing on innovation and expanding local product offerings.  We will also pilot colour advisory services to professionals in the building industry to further consolidate our leadership in the industry,” Ettah.

    He noted that the company expanded its distribution network by opening five Dulux colour shops in the course of the immediate past business year. It also retained its ISO 9001:2008 and achieved re-certification of ISO 14001:2004 on quality and environmental management systems respectively.

    “We continue to offer high quality products and services to customers while complying with regulatory requirements and conduct our operations in a healthy and safe manner, ensuring minimal impact on the environment,” Ettah assured.

    CAP recorded a turnover of N6.81 billion in 2016, representing a decline of three per cent over the previous year. Operating profit also dropped by 10 per cent to N2.32 billion.

  • Another feather to his cap

    Another feather to his cap

    Members of the Nofisat Oduwole Memorial Mosque, Ikangba Housing Estate, Ijebu – Ode, Ogun State last Sunday conferred on Prof   Sheriffdeen Adewale Tella the title of Baba Adinni, reports ERNEST NWOKOLO.

    Last Sunday, many dignitaries were in Ijebu to witness the installation ceremony of a man who has many feathers on his cap. The new Baba Adinni of Ijebu is Professor Sheriffdeen Adewale Tella,  a University of Ibadan trained economist, ex-Chairman of Academic Staff Union of Universities(ASUU), Olabisi Onabanjo University(OOU), Ago – Iwoye and a former Vice – Chancellor, Crescent University, Abeokuta.

    The ancient town came alive as many thronged the  Nofisat Oduwole Memorial mosque, Ikangba Housing Estate, Ijebu – Ode to witness the occasion.

    Their exotic cars spoke volumes about their status and position- that they are men  of substance.

    Among those who attended were: Senator Gbenga Kaka, the Moyegeso of Itele-Ijebu, Oba Adesanya Kasali, the Chief Imam of Ijebuland, Abd’Rasaq Salaudeen, and many more from the academia.

    The cleric promised to use his office for the growth and development of the mosque, welfare of members and serve as a mediator to the people.

    At the occasion, Senator Kaka was honoured  with an award by the mosque, while Alhaji Abd’Raheem Owodunni was installed the Chief Imam of the mosque.

  • CAP reassures as shareholders approve N1.64b dividend

    The board and management of CAP Plc have assured that the company would continue to explore opportunities to grow its business and deliver competitive returns to shareholders in spite of the macroeconomic challenges.

    At the annual general meeting at Golden Tulip Festac, yesterday in Lagos, shareholders of the leading paint company approved a final dividend of N840 million, representing a dividend per share of N1.20. CAP had earlier paid an interim dividend per share of N1.15 on December 15, 2015, bringing total dividend for 2015 business year to N1.645 billion or N2.35 per share.

    Notwithstanding the contraction in purchasing power and the constraints in the macro economy, CAP, a subsidiary of UAC of Nigeria Plc, showed steadied performance with turnover rising by one per cent to N7.06 billion while profit before tax inched up by five per cent to N2.57 billion.

    Addressing the shareholders, chairman, CAP Plc, Mr Larry Ettah, said the board and management have worked out mitigating strategies to curtail the adverse impact of macroeconomic challenges on the performance of the company.

    He noted that while the largely expansionary fiscal policy of the government will seek to stimulate economic activities and generate employment and thus impact on companies such as CAP, the acute shortage of foreign exchange that started this year could adversely affect corporate performance.

    According to him, the cumulative effect of the scarcity of foreign exchange, falling oil prices, and the resurgence of restiveness in the Niger Delta, which could endanger the production output of 2.2 million barrels per day and the continued depletion of foreign reserves pose serious threats to businesses and social activities in 2016.

    “The board and management of your company are alive to these challenges and have outlined mitigating strategies to ensure that these headwinds do not significantly impact our business negatively in 2016,” Ettah assured.

    He pointed out that in order to further improve the company’s brand visibility and accessibility to consumers; it opened additional Dulux Colour Centres in Yola and Gombe and Dulux Colour Shops in Lafia, Ada-George Port Harcourt, Ado-Ekiti, Dugbe Ibadan, Agbor, Suleja, Lugbe Abuja and Jalingo in 2015.

    He added that the company has also retained its ISO 9001:2008 and 14001:2004 certifications on quality and environmental standards respectively, which underlined continuing offering of high quality products and services to customers and compliance with regulatory requirements and conduct in its operations.

  • CAP wins Great Place To Work award

    Chemical and Allied Products (CAP) Plc, a subsidiary of UAC of Nigeria Plc. (UACN), manufacturers of Dulux paint and the technological licensee of AkzoNobel, has won this year’s Great Place To Work award.

    The award was presented to the frim  at an event organised by the Great Place To Work (GPTW) Institute, in  Lagos.

    CAP was rated among the top eight firms in “The Best Companies to Work in Nigeria Category”. Others that made the list include; EMC Information System Nigeria Limited, Courteville Business Solutions Plc, Guinness Nigeria Plc, SC Johnson & Son Nigeria Limited, Microsoft Nigeria, Poise Nigeria and Konga Online Shopping Limited.

    Presenting the award to CAP,  the Chairman, Great Place To Work, Nigeria, Mr. Ghandi Olaoye, said the firm emerged as one of the winners of the award having exhibited and maintained global best practices in work place people management practices.

    Receiving the award, the Managing Director, CAP, Mrs. Omolara Elemide, described the award as very inspiring, dedicating it to the employees of the firm, whose selfless service and commitment continues to propel management to adopt people-oriented policies and culture that promote trust, credibility and mutual respect.

    Elemide stated that winning the 2016 Great Place To Work award would further encourage the company to sustain and improve the workplace culture that gives priority to the employees as key stakeholders in the organisation.

  • CAP unveils copper orange as Dulux colour

    Chemical and Allied Products (CAP), makers of Dulux  paints, a subsidiary of UACN Plc, has named Copper Orange as the Colour of the Year.

    Copper Orange was unveiled in line with the AkzoNobel global tradition and the Dulux brand thought leadership positioning in the paint sector at the Golden Tulip Hotel, Festac, Lagos.

    The Dulux Colour is a sun burnt colour that is inviting, surprising, warm and adventurous. It captures the natural palette of the earth, human interaction and encourages experimenting because it has a depth that combines perfectly with other colours such as pinks, neutrals, whites and other orange hues, as well as metallic colors and wood tones.

    The Group Managing Director, UAC of Nigeria Plc, Mr. Larry Ettah, said the colour signifies the confluence of a great brand and an impactful idea about one of the central themes of life.

    One of the outcomes of the initiative  is the elevation of the art of colour beyond the mundane and prescribed use and application of colours, including the various icons and manifestations.

    He said the theme for the Dulux colour – Explore – was chosen to depict the mood for the colour which encourages everyone to explore everyday opportunities.

    Ettah added that copper orange  captures the daily mood and the five trends that support it which are adventure, unseen spaces, him and her layering and friendly barter in tandem with the prediction of experts, based on research, that a warmer spectrum of reds and oranges is emerging, one that reflects a more positive global outlook.

    “The intriguing side to the 2015 Colour of the Year is that it has shifted attention to the basic and ordinary things around us. After all, nature in its natural state tends to weave an array of colour in a way that blends, pleases and soothes our daily lives. I, therefore, urge you to enjoy and discover the value and true worth of the normal things of life! Let us all embrace the current colour tone and mood for the year as we strive for all-round excellence and success!

    Also speaking at the occasion, the Managing Director, CAP Plc, Mrs. Omolara Elemide, stated that the Dulux Colour of Year is a global initiative of AkzoNobel where a trend setting colour that sparks discussions in the design and architectural sector, is chosen to represent and set the mood for a particular year.

    The event marked the 10th anniversary of the Dulux Colour. The colour of the year is chosen based on the constant monitoring of emerging social, economy and design trends happening around the world and a panel of independent design experts. The colour of the year is one of the ways the brand ensures it keeps its brand promise of “touching people’s everyday lives, everyday” she added.

    She urged Dulux esteemed customers to visit any of the Dulux Colour Centers (DCCs) or Dulux Color Shop (DCSs) spread all over the country to meet with Dulux trained colour experts who will help them make over their homes and offices using Dulux Colour of the Year to bring out the beauty.

    In the course of the decade, the following colours of the year have been unveiled: 2006 – Kiwi Crush; 2007 – Candy Love; 2008 – Majestic Yellow; 2009 – Cool Jade; 2010 – Jazz Blue; 2011—Citrus Yellow; 2012—Tea Dance; 2013 – Indigo Night and Teal in 2014.

  • CAP: Better colours

    CAP: Better colours

    Chemical and Allied Products (CAP) Plc recorded a well-rounded performance in the immediate past business year with improved bottom-line and stronger balance sheet. With double-digit growths in sales and profit, the paints-manufacturing company sustained its zero financial leverage and further improved on its liquidity and financing structure. The improved bottom-line impacted positively on immediate and underlying returns to shareholders.  In spite of 25 per cent increase in outstanding shares due to a bonus issue of one for four shares during the year, the company increased cash dividend by 15 per cent while equity funds rose by 13 per cent.

    Audited report and accounts of CAP for the year ended December 31, 2013 showed that sales rose by 18 per cent while pre and post tax profits grew by 26 per cent and 27 per cent respectively. Nearly all financing, profitability, efficiency and liquidity ratios underlined improved performance.

    Financing structure

     CAP’s total balance sheet size increased slightly by 5.5 per cent from N2.88 billion in 2012 to N3.04 billion in 2013. Non-current assets had increased by 6.3 per cent to N480 million in 2013 as against N452 million in 2012. Current assets also improved slightly from N2.42 billion to N2.56 billion. Total liabilities was almost flat at N1.767 billion in 2013 as against N1.757 billion in 2012. The paid up capital had increased by 25 per cent from N280 million to N350 million. Shareholders’ funds also improved from N1.12 billion to N1.27 billion.

    Underlying financing ratios showed a stronger financing position.  With zero gearing ratio, the proportion of equity funds to total assets improved from about 39 per cent in 2012 to 42 per cent in 2013. Long-term liabilities/total assets stood at 58.2 per cent as against 61.1 per cent while current liabilities/total assets closed 2013 at 55.5 per cent as against 58.5 per cent in previous year.

    Efficiency

     Average cost efficiency improved during the year as the company reined in relative cost of sales while improving employee productivity. Average cost of sale per unit of sale decreased in 2013, providing early headroom for profit growth. Overall outlook suggests improved productivity alongside the improvement in cost efficiency. Total cost of business, excluding finance charges, dropped from about 72 per cent in 2012 to 69.2 per cent in 2013.

    Average number of employees stood at 213 persons in 2013, a marginal increase on 210 persons in the previous year. Meanwhile, total staff cost increased from N375.13 million to N449.32 million. This implied average staff cost per employee of N2.11 million in 2013 as against N1.79 million in 2012. Correspondingly, average contribution of each employee to pre-tax profit increased from N7.91 million to N9.80 million.

    Profitability

    CAP recorded appreciable improvements in both underlying and actual profit and loss items. Substantial growths in sales and profit translated into equally significant increase in cash distributions to shareholders. The congruence between outward profit and loss items and key indices indicated sustained uptrend for the company.

    Total turnover rose by 18.4 per cent from N5.23 billion to N6.20 billion. Cost of sales was moderated at N3.04 billion in 2013 as against N2.63 billion, representing an increase of 15.5 per cent. Gross profit thus rose by 21 per cent from N2.60 billion to N3.16 billion. Total operating expenses rose by 11 per cent from N1.12 billion to N1.25 billion. The absence of financing charges counterbalanced the marginal decline in non-core business income, which dropped from N184 million to N177 million. Consequently, profit before tax rose by 25.6 per cent from N1.66 billion to N2.09 billion. After taxes, net profit increased by 27 per cent from N1.12 billion to N1.42 billion.

    Unadjusted earnings per share stood at N2.02 in 2013, representing an increase of 1.5 per cent on N1.99 recorded in 2012. However, adjusted for the 25 per cent increase in outstanding shares due to a bonus issue of one for four shares in 2013, earnings per share actually increased by 27 per cent from N1.59 in 2012 to N2.02 in 2013. Gross dividend increased by 44 per cent from N1.09 billion for 2012 to N1.56 billion for 2013, representing total dividend per share of N2.25 for 2013 as against N1.95 distributed for 2012. However, net assets per share declined by 9.5 per cent from N2 in 2012 to close at N1.81 in 2013.

    Beyond the surface, underlying profitability indices improved considerably. Gross profit margin increased from 49.7 per cent to 50.9 per cent. Profit before tax margin also improved from 31.8 per cent to 33.7 per cent. Return on total assets stood at about 69 per cent in 2013 as against 58 per cent in 2012. Return on equity also increased from 99.7 per cent to 111.8 per cent. However, the large increase in shares dimmed the sustainable dividend outlook with a dividend cover of 0.90 times in 2013 as against 1.02 times in 2012.

    Liquidity

     CAP emerged with stronger liquidity, signposted by positive working capital and stable financial coverage for immediate liabilities. Current ratio, which measures the financial agility of a company by relating current assets to relative liabilities, improved from 1.44 times in 2012 to 1.52 times in 2013. Working capital/turnover ratio stood at 14 per cent in 2013 as against 14.2 per cent in 2012. Debtors/creditors ratio stood at 38.8 per cent in 2013 compared with 47.9 per cent in 2012.

    Governance and structures

    CAP is a member of the UACN Group, Nigeria’s largest conglomerate. CAP evolved from the British multinational, Imperial Chemical Industries Plc, which formalized its Nigerian operations in 1957 under ICI Exports Limited. In 1992, UACN acquired 35.7 per cent equity stake from ICI Nigeria to become the major shareholder in CAP. UACN currently holds 50.09 per cent equity stake in the company. CAP, the leading paints company, produces wide range of paints, with its flagship brand, Dulux, as a market leader in several categories.

    The board and management of the company remain unchanged. Mr. Larry Ettah, the group managing director of UACN, still chairs the board while Mrs Omolara Elemide leads the executive management team as managing director. The company generally complies will extant code of corporate governance and post-listing rules.

    Analyst’s opinion

     The performance of CAP is commendable. Recent expansions have continued to stimulate the top-line while increasingly efficient cost management strategy appeared to be providing additional impetus. The company appears to have found the right mix. Stable cost management strategy, deleveraged balance sheet and aggressive sales growth strategy should provide further impetus for future growth. It had during the year expanded its network with the opening of eight new Dulux colour shops in Umuahia, Dopemu, Akure, Jigawa, Abuja, Katsina, Aba and Ughelli while it also successfully executed the Dulux Mobile Room Makeover, an innovative marketing campaign in the Nigerian clime, to the delight of our teeming consumers. Besides, CAP commenced ink jet coding of its product packages, making adulteration of the product more difficult. The company should also be able to harness synergies from recent acquisition of Portland Paints and Products Nigeria by the UACN Group. Overall, there is reasonable basis to assume that the company would sustain its positive performance outlook.

     

     

  • Peterside…Another feather to his cap

    Peterside…Another feather to his cap

    Many will find it difficult to believe that despite his tight schedule as the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Dakuku Peterside, had time to further his studies. His quest for new frontiers overshadowed his tight schedule and created space for Peterside to study for a doctoral degree at the University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. He is through with the course work and is now qualified to be addressed as Dr. Dakuku Peterside or Dakuku Peterside, PhD.

    Peterside will in August this year start a scheme to award local university scholarship to 46 underprivileged undergraduates from all the 23 Local Government Areas of Rivers State. This scholarship is not for the children of the rich. It is meant to give education to the underprivileged or less privileged and other vulnerable members of Rivers State society.

    This will compliment his post-graduate scholarship scheme. Every year the lives of 10 graduates from the Andoni-Opobo-Nkoro Federal Constituency of Rivers State change for good. Last September, Harry Dunotio Zipporah, Utong, Barthemaeus Abraham, Ofik Tana,Oko Jaja Opuada,  Festus  Victor  Pepple and five  others left for the United Kingdom to pursue masters degrees, at no cost to them. All their expenses throughout the duration of their studies at A-list universities, such as the Kingston University, University of Aberdeen and University of Bedfordshire, will be borne by one man, Hon. Peterside through the platform of the Andoni-Opobo-Nkoro Economic Zone Development Foundation.

    These young men and women are the latest of the beneficiaries of the scholarship scheme through which Andoni/Opobo/Nkoro’s generation next are being groomed.

    Last year, the Opobo, River State-born politician  brought resource persons from the United Kingdom alongside a former Chairman of Federal Inland Revenue Service( FIRS) to train upcoming women entrepreneurs, 300 women  from Andoni/ Opobo/ Nkoro benefitted from the first set of trainees. These women have all developed different business proposals which is being assessed for sponsorship of top ten viable ones which addresses a local need.

    Peterside, whose friends describe as a man who despite his growing profile has remained the man they knew when he was nowhere the ladder of leadership, has been a Student Union Leader, aide to a governor, local government chairman, Commissioner for Works and now member of the House of Representatives. Those who know him insist Peterside has remained the humble man they knew right from his days at the Okrika Grammar School. What may have changed is that he has proven himself as a dependable leader driven by the desire for change. They have described him in these words: compassionate, intellectually-driven, imbued with leadership virtues, dependable and obsessed with integrity.

    He has indeed come a long way; yet, those close to him say he is still a mission in progress. Wherever that mission takes him, what is clear now is that he is touching lives in different ways. He has become a role model of sorts to younger people garnering unprecedented followership because of his simplicity, consistency and sense of accommodation.

    Peterside also facilitates the participation of Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro scholars in at least four other overseas scholarship programmes sponsored by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Rivers State government, Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA) and oil giant Shell Scholarship.

    Hon Peterside, who chairs the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), has been described as members of the committee as ‘a leader in whom they are well-pleased’. There is no doubt that Zipporah, Abraham, Festus Pepple and other beneficiaries of his scholarship scheme will echo the same sentiment about this man who has earned a reputation as a charismatic and disciplined leader, creative and hardworking legislator who is broad minded.

    That Peterside cherishes education can be easily gleaned from the fact that despite his tight schedule as the chairman of a very busy House Committee, he still finds time for intellectual activities, such as delivering  lectures  in Nigeria and abroad and giving talks on areas of national importance. He has had the benefit of being educated in some of the best institutions at home and abroad. A native of Biriye, Opobo Kingdom, Dakuku attended the Okrika Grammar School (OGS), the University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, the University of Port Harcourt, the Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States and the Harvard-Kennedy school, University of Harvard, United States.

    He earned degrees in Medical Laboratory Sciences (Haematology), Business Administration (Management) and certificates in Leadership and Project Management. Peterside is a member of the Nigeria Institute of Management (NIM), a fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants of Nigeria (IMCN) and a member of the Institute of Medical Laboratory Sciences of Nigeria (MLSN).

    He has held various leadership positions, such as Rivers State Commissioner for Works (2007-2011), where he anchored Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s transformation of roads and Infrastructural landscape of Rivers State, Board member of the Greater Port Harcourt Development Authority (GPHCDA), Executive Director of the Development and Leadership Institute (DLI) between 2005 and 2007, Chairman, Opobo-Nkoro Local Government Area (2002-2003) during which  he was declared the most outstanding local government chairman by Dr Peter Odili, who was then the governor of Rivers State. Between 2003 and 2005, he was Senior Special Assistant to Governor of Rivers State on Works.

    Peterside has also served as Special Assistant to Rivers State Governor on Youth and Student Affairs and Board member, Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation (CBAAC), a Federal Government arts and research establishment.

    Peterside, who is the Amaopusenibo of Opobo kingdom, was elected to represent Andoni/Opobo-Nkoro in the House of Representatives in 2011 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Some weeks back, he dumped the PDP for the All Progressives Congress (APC), as a result of PDP’s endless crises. In a recent interview he said Rivers long term interest and that of his constituents  is his incentive for being in politics and that whenever that is compromised or threatened he is bound to stand up for the people. It is obvious that his recent defection to APC is because PDP could no longer protect and advance the interest of Rivers State. Aside serving as the chairman of the strategic Petroleum (Downstream) Committee, he also serves in the House most important committees on Anti-corruption, National Ethics and values; Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes; Co-operation and Integration in Africa, Electoral Matters; Industry; Communications and Works.

    He established the Andoni-Opobo-Nkoro Economic Zone Development Summit (AONEZDS) as a constituency engagement project.