The Nation Newspaper

Tag: card

  • NIMC: Card issuance ongoing

    The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has assured that card issuance is an ongoing process that cannot be stopped.

    Reacting news report alleging titled: 28.5m Nigerians agonise over suspension of Nat’l ID card issuance,   its  Head, Corporate Communications Unit, Loveday Ogbonna, in a statement yesterday said the report, especially the headline, is false and misleading as the Commission has not suspended the issuance of cards to successful enrolees at any time.

    Accordingly, he added, all individuals who, upon completion of their enrolment, have received an text message are invited to proceed to the NIMC Office where they enrolled to pick up their cards from today.

    Persons who have not received an SMS can equally check the status of their cards on the NIMC website via www.nimc.gov.ng.

    “Citizens and legal residents who have also relocated from where they enrolled are advised to visit any NIMC office closest to them to request a card transfer form, which they would fill, and submit to the state coordinator for processing.

    “However, Nigerians and legal residents are reminded that the National Identification Number (NIN) is the unique identifier and most important token issued by the Commission and not the physical e-ID Card,” he said.

    The NIN, which is fast gaining acceptance by Nigerians, is a set of 11 non-intelligent numbers randomly assigned to an individual at the completion of enrolment into the National Identity Database (NIDB).

  • FirstBank’s payment card issuance hits 10m

    FirstBank’s payment card issuance hits 10m

    First Bank of Nigeria Limited has been named the first financial institution in Nigeria and the West-Africa sub-region to issue 10 million cards to customers across the country. This makes FirstBank the second bank in Africa to achieve this feat.

    The groundbreaking accomplishment is reminiscent of a similar milestone achieved two years ago when the Bank in December, 2015 and May 2016, was named the first financial institution in the country to achieve sustained alternative channels transaction volumes of 100 million transactions in December 2015 and May 2016. FirstBank has sustained its edge in payment card issuance with its Instant issuance/Instant activation technology, which was pioneered about 7 years ago. This has also informed the Bank’s consistency in maintaining the highest active Card ratio in the industry.

    According to the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Adesola Adeduntan “delivering this feat is a testament to the Bank’s brand promise to put our customers first and continuously improve our business to serve them better”.

    “We can attest that our customers have become more technology savvy and we will continue to encourage this attitude with our commitment to world class service delivery”.

  • Corpers’ discount card attracts more users

    Cardholders of the Nigerian Students and Youth Corpers’ Discount Card (Naija Green Card) are 9,000 while its partners are now 10,000 cut across all sectors of the economy.

    Sokoto State government, one of the partners, has enrolled its students from Senior Secondary school (SSS) three through tertiary institutions and national youth service scheme on the platform.

    Users of the card enjoy between five and 70 per cent discount for goods and services from the 10,000 organisations on the card.

    In addition, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has not only endorsed the card but assured of enrolling the students of the American University Yola on the platform. Besides, the Director-General  Suleiman Kazaure endorsed the online discount platorm, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi and other prominent Nigerians and organisations have also to endorsed the project.

  • Ogun Free Health Access Card

    SIR: It looked like the ATM card at a distance. I drew closer to some of the pregnant women and officials of the Ogun State Ministry of Health in order to assess it. Indeed, it was like the ATM or National Identity Card. The biometrics of the beneficiaries were captured in the cards. The poor pregnant women at the event caressed them and offered gratitude to the Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, for a new lease of life.

    From that day, Monday, July 11, when the Araya Scale-up (Community Based Health Insurance Scheme) was launched at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Abeokuta, the card qualifies them to visit any of the designated Health Care Providers in their respective local councils and access free health care without paying a dime.

    The free health treatment covers all manner of local endemic diseases that contend with the health of pregnant women, mothers and their children. Ante natal and post-natal services are assured. They will equally not have to worry about payment for diagnostic tests as this is also covered by the scheme.

    This is the first of such scheme in the history of Ogun State. With the Ogun Araya Access Card, according to the Commissioner for Health, Dr Tunde Ipaye, the pregnant women who belong to the lower 25 per cent of the population, living on less than two dollars a day and their children under the age of five, have access to free health services without any form of payment.

    This is not a scheme in the pipeline. Many pregnant women in Abeokuta North and Abeokuta South Local Government Areas are already enjoying the free health facilities, including free drugs.

    This social insurance scheme, once again, highlights the welfarist policy of the Amosun-led administration in Ogun State. As the governor often says, we are here because of these people.

    From July till the end of the year, over 20,000 pregnant women and their Under-5 children will go to any four designated Health Care Providers (private and public) in their respective local councils with their Araya Access Cards and get free health services anytime, any day, 24/7!

    And to underscore his commitment to the free health scheme, the governor has already released in advance funds for this scheme till the end of 2016.

    The leadership of the National Health Insurance Scheme and Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, were so impressed by this innovation and practical commitment demonstrated by the state government that they pledged to collaborate with the current administration. And if they make good their promise, as we expect them to do, the 20,000 number should double by the end of 2016.

    It should be mentioned that this Community Based Health Insurance Scheme (for pregnant women and Under-5 Children) is a subset of the Ogun State Health Insurance Scheme, which will be for the entire residents of the state. Ordinarily, in any insurance scheme, participants ought to pay a premium. But for the peasant pregnant women and their U-5 children, the Amosun administration has offset the premium. Once the Ogun State Health Insurance Scheme operates full steam, the entire vulnerable community in the state is guaranteed of free health care services.

    We congratulate the governor of Ogun State for adding another feather to his cap. As it is said, a healthy nation is a wealthy nation.

     

    • Soyombo Opeyemi,

    Abeokuta, Ogun State.

  • Buhari’s first year score card

    SIR: One year since President Muhammadu Buhari’s assumption of office, not much seem to have been achieved in terms of meeting the yearnings and aspirations of the people by way of improving on their living conditions. If anything, the people seem to be worse off than before May 29, 2015. The living conditions of the people have deteriorated rapidly due to the prevailing economic crunch in the country. Regrettably, the government appears to be helpless in initiating people-oriented policies that would urgently mitigate the excruciating pains and sufferings of the Nigerian masses.

    However, the Buhari administration has indeed recorded tremendous successes in the area of stemming the tide of the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east. On the negative side however is the current alarming scale of militancy in the Niger Delta which has constituted a great threat to the continuous survival of the nation as a corporate entity. To further compound the worsening security situation is the armed Fulani herdsmen who in recent times have been wreaking havoc across communities in the country. Equally worrisome is the upsurge in the agitations for self-determination by the so-called Indigenous People of Biafra or IPOB whose leader Nnamdi Kanu is currently under incarceration by the Federal Government.

    The current insecurity scenario certainly portends great danger to the corporate existence of Nigeria as one united country. Everything humanly possible must be done urgently by the Buhari administration to avert the looming catastrophe already knocking at the doors of the nation.  The planned military crackdown on the Niger Delta militants as well as other restive youths and aggrieved sections in the country is not only counterproductive but bound to further aggravate the tense situation. The only viable solution to the quagmire in which the nation unfortunately has found herself lies in urgent dialogue with all the stakeholders who have one form of misgivings or the other about the Nigerian project. National dialogue in the present circumstances is the only panacea that would guarantee peaceful co-existence among all the ethnic nationalities.

    One year into his tenure, President Buhari appears to have deployed all the weapons in his arsenal towards crushing the monster called corruption. No doubt, the war is already yielding huge dividends as high profile corruption cases involving top brass in the military establishment as well as top political office holders are currently under investigation, while some others are already facing trials in various courts in the land. This is obviously a great achievement.

    It is however, regrettable that President Buhari during his democracy day broadcast merely announced to the nation that the Minister of Information and Culture would give the details of looted funds and assets so far recovered from the corrupt officials. The nation is currently on the brink of insolvency and disaster caused by these mindless looters of our common wealth hence the prompt unmasking or revealing the identities of the perpetrators of this heinous crime against the nation would obviously serve as a deterrent to other public office holders in the country and thereby stemming the tide of endemic corruption in the land.

    The federal government’s ill-advised action not to name the treasury looters is capable of further eroding the people’s confidence in the administration. History no doubt, has beckoned on President Buhari at this crucial period of national transformation to carry out his unprecedented revolution of clearing the monumental mess in the nation’s political life.  Time is certainly running out for him to quickly restore the people’s confidence and trust in his administration which has only three more years left in his tenure.

     

    • Nze Nwabueze Akabogu (JP),

    Enugwu-Ukwu, Anambra State.

     

  • Dreary health card

    •That Nigeria is among the seven laggards in Africa is nothing to crow about

    Global health has improved, with an average of five years added to life expectancy, in the last 15 years. But that is not the case with Nigeria, stuck among the seven lowest life expectancy in Africa, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) World Health Statistics for 2016.

    Yet, Africa has not only generally improved; it gained the most, of all the continents, by the latest WHO statistics. Besides, compared with the global leaders, Switzerland and Japan, Nigeria’s rating is very depressing. By WHO figures, a male child, born in Switzerland, would likely live for 69 years; while the girl-child, born in Japan, would likely live for 71 years. Contrast these with Nigeria’s 54.5 years average, and the starkness is clear.

    The corresponding figures, among the six other African laggards, are: Lesotho, 53.7 years; Cote d’Ivoire, 53.3 years; Chad, 53.1 years; Central African Republic, 52.5 years, Angola, 52.4 years and Sierra Leone, 50.1 years.

    Aside from Lesotho, a cursory look at all of these countries would reveal political instability, which tended to have wrecked great havoc on developmental health. Chad had, for years, been a cauldron of civil war; the same with Angola, until the defeat and killing, in 2002, of Jonas Savimbi, of the rebel National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). Even then, the Angolan Civil War had lasted for 26 years, four months, three weeks and three days, from November 11, 1975 to  April 4, 2002, according to Wikipedia.

    Sierra Leone virtually collapsed as the Liberian crisis, otherwise called the ‘diamond wars’, snowballed. Cote d’Ivoire saw serious instability, no thanks to tense democratic succession, while CAR is always in and out of crises.

    So, all of these countries, including Nigeria, clearly had dissipated vital resources on crises, at the expense of key infrastructure, in primary and preventive health.

    Yet, according to the WHO report, biggest improvements in life expectancy in Africa arose from higher investment in social infrastructure, leading to better health care for children (including vastly diminished infant mortality and less fatalities at childbirth), and better access to drugs for malaria and AIDS.

    Why Nigeria has faltered is clear: the country must spend more on social infrastructure. Aside from not spending enough on this critical developmental plane, corruption lays a-waste international health grants: witness the corruption scandal that has led to the suspension of the ATM Global Fund (for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria).

    Even if the highest odds against high life expectancy would appear clustered around the baby and infant years (so there is a clear need for improved policies on child health and development), adult Nigerians could do with less stress.

    With epileptic electricity, environmental noise and chaotic traffic (in Nigerian urban centres); and low access to clean and potable water, mostly in the rural areas (though urban access to clean water too is nothing to crow about), it is clear social infrastructure is an area Nigerian governments should tackle fast.

    But improved physical infrastructure too — in modernised rail and improved roads  networks — would go a long way. To start with, the willful slaughter on the highways, due in part to battered roads and reckless driving, is unacceptable. But that is partly because the roads themselves are over-burdened with heavy cargo that should go by rail or even internal waterways, if well developed.

    It is good the Federal Government is devoting 30 per cent of the 2016 budget to roads and rail.  A faithful implementation is called for, while consolidation is expected in subsequent years.

    “The figures represent great strides in global health,” enthused WHO Director-General, Dr. Margaret Chan, of the WHO World Health Statistics 2016. ”The world has made great strides in reducing the needless suffering and premature deaths that arise from preventable and treatable diseases.”

    That may well be. But as long as Nigeria is left behind, it means near-nothing. On this score, the Nigerian government has its job cut out.

  • Co-location of refineries on the card

    Co-location of refineries on the card

    Besides raising the production capacities of refineries, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has a plan to provide other palliatives to cushion the pains of fuel importation. The major alternative is the encouragement of investors to to build refineries within the premises of existing ones.

    Speaking with reporters in Kaduna, the corporation’s Group Managing Director (GMD), Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu noted: “What is obtainable is that most of our refineries are close to 30 to 40 years old, we need to look at building new refineries in the same land space where they can share facilities so that you will have something to lean on when these old ones are beginning to kick out.”

    But, beyond the readiness of government’s readiness to allow investors to share facilities within existing refineries, some private firms have already bought into domestic refining business. One of such companies the Dangote Oil Refining Company, which has started the construction of a 650,000 barrel per day capacity refinery in Lagos. The company has a plan to begin by 2018.

    Also, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has secured a large expance of land to build a refinery in Koigi State.  The association, it was learnt, got an offer from a Californian firm (Kanen Refinery) to build a $70 million refinery within a year.

    According IPMAN’s Vice Chairman, Alhaji Abubakar Dankingari, the modular refinery, which was built  some 41 years ago (1974) in California where it will be dismantled, transported to Nigeria and reassembled.

    A local firm, Green Energy International Ltd, recently secured a license from the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) for Modular Refinery to produce diesel and other refined products.

    There were also reports that President Buhari granted approval to 65 indigenous firms in August to build modular refineries.

  • Ambode unveils score card at town hall meeting

    Ambode unveils score card at town hall meeting

    To many, the other name of Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State is Tinubu country. It is so-called because of the support the area has given former Lagos State GovernorAsiwaju Bola Tinubu over the years. Governor Akinwunmi Ambode held a town-hall meeting there last week. WALE ADEPOJU reports that it was a moment of revelations for the people and their governor.

    Alhaji Femi Olowolagba, a popular resident of Ipaja/Ayobo Local Council Development Area (LCDA), has a dream. His dream is for millennium schools to spring up on the outskirts of Lagos. Like Owolagba, Pastor Okere Boniface also has a dream. He wants Abaranje, a community in Alimosho,  to have public schools of note and good roads. His day will be made when pupils no longer have to trek long distances to  school and vehicles no longer have to hit the pothole-riddled roads that dot his environ.

    The concerns of Alhaji Adeleke Okunnowo, who is the Secretary-General, Okooba Mosque, Orile-Agege, and Mr. Gift Oriseke are quite different. Okunnowo seeks a situation where the law prohibiting mosques and other places of worship from using external speakers become extinct. Oriseke’s dream is about how members of the Mosan Community Farmers’ Association will receive assistance from government for fish farming and others.

    Tuesday last week provided Olowolagba and others the opportunity to dialogue with their governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, on their aspirations. The venue was the inaugural edition of his quarterly town-hall meeting at the premises of the Abesan Primary and Secondary schools.

    Speaking at the meeting, Comrade Kabir Olusola, Secretary, Majiyagbe Community Development Association (CDA), urged the governor to make jobs available to the poor. He said nowadays children of common people hardly find jobs.

    “Before you get a job, the employers and human resource executives would ask you to bring a letter from a top politician or a wealthy individual in the society and at the end of the day, it is the children of the rich that will get the job,” he said.

    The Iyaloja-general of Ikeja, Alhaja Adiat Apena urged the governor to rehabilitate the major roads in Ikeja, adding that they were in deplorable conditions. She said something should be done on the street lights as virtually all major streets in the area are unlit.

    For Hon. Bisi Yusuf, Alimosho Local Government Area and its environs deserve special treatment from the governor because the people gave him “101 per cent support during his election”. He added that upgrading the infrastructure in the area would be a good way to start.

    Hon. Yusuf, who described Alimosho as the Tinubu country, said the governor should urgently construct a flyover at cement bus stop, before Dopemu under bridge to make things easy for people going to Egbeda, Ikotun and Igando from Oshodi and Lagos Island.

    According to him, those going to Egbeda, Idimu and Ikotun do not have any reason using the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway beyond Dopemu.

    He also urged the governor to widen the Dopemu and Iyana-Ipaja bridges to ensure speedy vehicular movement and de-congestion. All these, he said, will ensure there is total decongestion of Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.

    Hon. Yusuf also urged the governor to construct the Isheri-Oshun Road. He advised the governor to work on the waterways in the area, as alternative means of transportation.

    “People from Igando up to Ojo and other parts of Lagos and Ogun states can benefit from it,” he said.

    Comrade Fisayo Makinde, a representative of people with disability, urged the governor to assist them. He said they were marginalised and urged the governor to include some physically-challenged people on the commissioners’ list.

    While the people were talking, the governor, who was flanked by his deputy, Dr. Aderanti Adebule, Oba Akiolu of Lagos, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Tunji Bello, and Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos, Chief Henry Ajomale, was taking notes. After they all poured out their heart, the governor responded.

    Ambode acknowledged that people of Alimosho gave him 100 per cent support, adding that that was why he chose the area for his first town-hall meeting.

    “I will look positively in providing some secondary schools next year,” he said.

    He said the state would also provide schools in Abaranje and its environs. The governor also promised to look into the roads linking Abaranje to Ijegun, Igando and their environs.

    “We will send the ministry of works to look at the roads,” he said.

    On the issue of noise pollution, he said people must respect the law. “Let us curb the noise we make. People should learn to obey the law. So, let us not use the instruments, loud speakers to disturb others,” Ambode said frankly.

    On agriculture, he said he would exploit the possibility of partnership to boost the sector. On employment, he assured that employment trust fund would be inaugurated to ensure cheap finance for people to create jobs for themselves.

    Responding to the question on bad roads in Ikeja, he said he would solve it, adding that the state would fix the street lights.

    On the Isheri-Oshun Road, he said it would be completed next year. He added that the jetty will be worked on.

    “I am still committed to the mini-stadium in Abesan and I will finish it next year too,” he promised.

    Ambode said the state had always made provision for slots in the government for the physically-challenged persons, adding that he would do same under his administration.

    “This may not be in the cabinet but i won’t forget you,” he said.

    On employment, he said: “we will be setting up zonal offices so that youths can have access to job opportunities.”

    Ambode appealed to the people on two major subjects: security and the environment. He urged them to take community security seriously.

    “Let us know our neighbours. This should be taken seriously. We don’t want any bad thing to happen to you,” he added.

    The governor was presented with some gifts by the six executive secretaries in the LCDAs under Alimosho.

    The meeting also afforded the governor the opportunity to speak on how far he has taken the state in the first quarter. The first quarter, said the governor, has witnessed the stabilisation of the finances.

    He said: “I am determined to be accountable for every revenue and expenditure of the state. One of our first key tasks was to stabilise the finances of the state. We embarked on a financial re-engineering and reviewed the revenue and expenditure framework of the state. These efforts, coupled with the realignment of ministries, departments and agencies, have saved the government almost n3 billion every month. This has provided us with more funds to inject into capital projects and the initial funds to establish the employment trust fund which we promised our youths.

    “Today, a major landmark of our administration is the reduction in the cost of governance. We want a lean government with quality service delivery.

    “Lagos State government is proud to declare that it has consistently met its obligations, especially prompt payment of workers’ salaries without seeking any bailout from the federal government

    “In August, this administration approved the release of N11 billion for the payment of arrears of pensions owed to pensioners since 2010. We have, on monthly basis, consistently been presenting retirees on the contributory pension scheme their bond certificates and have also approved the appointment of four additional pension fund administrators to further boost the processes and accord staff a wider range of options.

    “We are currently reviewing our loans with our bankers with a view to restructuring them in order to free up funds for further infrastructural development.”

     

    Civil service reforms

    The governor also told the people about the reforms happening in the civil service.

    “At the onset, we promised to offer a government of continuity with improvement. With my knowledge of the civil service as the engine room of any government, we chose to commence this journey by repositioning the state civil service in order to make it more efficient and cost-effective, with a vision of delivering better service to the citizens. We are building a civil service that is well structured with officials who have the right attitude, skills and are well-motivated to deliver the goals of this administration.

    “In the course of the reporting period, 20 new permanent secretaries were appointed following their track record of excellent performances. This is to create opportunity for upward movement of career civil servants and also reward diligence, dedication and hard work. I am happy to inform you that the permanent secretaries have held the fort and kept the wheel of governance at a steady pace in the absence of commissioners and special advisers. I thank them for doing so.”

     

    Security

    Despite the enormity of the security challenges in the state, steps have also been taken to improve on what he inherited on May 29.

    Ambode said: “We promised you a safer lagos. We have reviewed the security infrastructure and have put in motion plans to address the lapses.

    “We are aware of pockets of violence and robberies that have occurred in different parts of the state. We are investigating these occurrences and our security agencies have swung into action to curb further incidents.

    “We have established an integrated security and emergency control platform, all of which are aimed at strengthening the security apparatus in the state.

    “The safety and security of every resident of Lagos is non-negotiable. We will leave no stone unturned in our drive to ensure a crime-free state.

    “Equipment and vehicles of various needs were donated to all our security agencies to boost their efforts in combating crime.

    “As we tackle violent crime, we are also tackling domestic violence and other gender-related crimes. We have intensified our awareness campaigns on domestic violence through the domestic and sexual violence response team. Our traditional rulers and market leaders have associated with this resolve to put the unwholesome practice in check.

    “Recently, 190 officials of the state emergency command and control centre were trained on how to receive reports of sexual and gender-based violence, especially with the approval to use the 112 toll-free lines to report cases of rape, defilement, domestic violence, child abuse, neglect, maltreatment and other sexual assaults.

    “Let me use this opportunity to express my profound appreciation to members of the organised private sector (OPS) for their support, collaboration and donations towards the state security trust fund. The recent fund-raising of almost n1billion from the organised private sector is a strong indication of your confidence in our administration to tackle security in the state.”

     

    Health

    Realising that a healthy Lagos is a wealthy Lagos, the administration, according to the governor, has provided 20 mobile intensive care unit ambulances at the cost of n145.240 million. They have been deployed in all ambulance points in the state. With the new acquisition, the governor said the state now has 36 mobile intensive care unit ambulances.

    “We have also provided additional 26 transport ambulances at the cost of n257.4 million. They have also been deployed across all our general hospitals. We have created ambulance points across the state to enable our people to have easy access to them. The ambulance service can be reached by calling the toll-free line 112.

    “Our administration, in the last three months, has installed 22 power generating sets ranging from 350 – 500 KVA as additional back-up sets across all our general hospitals at the cost of N270 million to ensure 24-hour power supply. In addition, 26 mobile x-ray machines which the state procured at the cost N519.656 million are being installed at all our general hospitals.

    “Similarly, we have granted approval for the recruitment of more paramedic staff and special medical co-ordinators to ensure 24-hour service in our health facilities.”

    One area which the governor touched on that pleased the people is the Ayinke House, which used to be the Mecca for expectant mothers.

    “The abandoned Ayinke House project which is more or less our baby factory for pregnant women has been re-awarded and the contractor is on site to finish and deliver this project within the next 3-6 months,” the governor said.

     

    Education

    Education has not been neglected in the last four months, the governor noted, adding that “there is work to be done” because of the enormity of the challenges in the sector.

    He said: “The governing councils of our tertiary institutions were inaugurated with prominent selfless Lagosians offering their hands of fellowship to rescue these institutions. We are on course.

    “The recruitment of 1,300 primary school teachers is ongoing to fill the gap in key subject areas that we have identified.

    “The government is concerned about the disparity in quality between public and private schools. We have decided to pay attention to all children, irrespective of where they go to school. The gap in quality must be bridged.

    “Desks, chairs and other needs have been approved for procurement immediately. The security of schools is also receiving attention.”

     

    Transport

    Ambode identified transportation as one of the biggest challenges facing lagosians.

    He said: “In recent weeks, the menace of trucks on our roads has caused us untold hardships and loss of man hours and revenue. This administration will stop at nothing to find a lasting solution to this challenge and ensure our people can move from one part of the state to another with less traffic impediment.

    “The Apapa traffic gridlock is the most worrying. Today, this traffic is affecting other parts of the state and slowing down businesses. We have met with various stakeholders to find solutions to this problem. We have also appealed to the federal government to mobilise the contractor awarded the construction of Apapa Trailer Park and road networks to immediately return to site.”

    He went on: “We are looking at long-term solutions to traffic challenges that our people face daily. We have identified some of the causes of the traffic among which are poor design of junctions, bad location of bus stops, movement of heavy vehicles, bad roads and bad driving behaviours. We have started implementing solutions already. In the meantime, we want to inform the tanker drivers and other road users that the Lagos State traffic law is still in force and would be applied on any offender.”

     

    Road infrastructure

    Lagos roads should be in good condition, the governor admitted, adding that “we must all remember that the appropriation law for 2015 – the approved budget – does not include most of the roads we met in bad condition and this is a major limiting factor in execution.”

    He added that the Ejigbo–Ikotun Road, Okota-Cele Road, Metalbox Road and Acme Road in Ikeja are being rehabilitated, while work has started on Brown Street, Oshodi, Ladipo Street as well as Mushin Road.

    He added that 181 roads across the state, touching every local government, including federal roads, have been maintained. They include Agege Motor Road, Herbert Macauley Way, Yaba, Murtala Mohammed Way, Isolo, Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island and several others. The state has had to cough out N1.386 billion for this construction and rehabilitation.

     

    What will tomorrow bring?

    Ambode said there would be better tales to tell in the next quarter.

    His words:  “You cannot run a 4-year marathon at top speed from the onset. Like any other well-bred CEO, I have put in place all the ingredients needed to run a successful race.

    “We will continue to woo investors to Lagos. We are assisting businesses and creating environment conducive to these investors to start business and employ our people.”

    The people will certainly be waiting and watching.

     

  • Chams Mobile, Skye Bank launch Visa virtual card

    Chams Mobile, Skye Bank launch Visa virtual card

    Chams Mobile Limited, a licensed Mobile Money Operator, and Skye Bank Plc, have launched the first Virtual Visa Card in Nigeria. The virtual Visa card is an entirely digital payment card for online and mobile use, both locally and internationally. The card is unique in that cardholders get a full card image (the Virtual card) on their mobile device, PC, or tablet, with a plastic card offered as an option if customers prefer.

    The new payment system is expected to expand financial inclusion to millions of Nigerians by offering a low cost mobile banking solution, as the card is issued free and linked to a broad range of financial services. It also offers an online payment alternative for eCommerce savvy individuals, small businesses and corporate companies, membership associations, and more.

    The new Visa Virtual card is available under the Kegow brand at www.kegow.com.  Kegow is the program and card brand of Chams Mobile Ltd. Deputy Managing Director Chams Mobile, Mr. Gavin Young, said that he was excited to partner with Skye Bank and Visa on this unique and ‘First in Nigeria’ Visa Virtual Card payment solution, which was developed with the company’s international joint venture partners Bancore AS (as the mobile financial services processor) and Global Technology Partners (as the Visa prepaid card processor).

    “It’s unique in that customers actually see an image of their card on their mobile phones, tablets and PCs, whereby all the essential features of a physical card are shown in it’s ‘Virtual form’; card number, expiry date and CVV number, for example. This, for many customers, negates the need for a physical plastic card, although we offer plastic cards as an option for customers requiring such.”

  • ‘You can’t win with ethnic card’

    A group, Bayelsa Patriots (BP), has told Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson and a former governor, Diepreye Alamieyesigha, that they cannot win the December 5 governorship election by playing the ethnic card.

    The group addressed reporters yesterday in Abuja “on recent happenings in Bayelsa State”.

    Its leader Chief Preye Alaowei said the warning became necessary, following what he called unguarded statements by Dickson and Alamieyesigha in the media.

    Alaowei noted that Bayelsa Patriots, as a group of concerned Bayelsa State residents, has urged security agencies to hold Dickson and Alamieyesigha responsible, should something go wrong during the election.

    He said: “These two ethnic jingoists should be told that playing ethnic cards will never give them victory in the governorship election.

    “The Nigerian electorate, especially the Bayelsans, are now wiser. They know those who are really committed to their welfare.

    “We would have applauded these two men, if they had focused on issues that matter most to Bayelsans rather than manipulating the people and employing ethnic sentiments to win an election.”