The Nation Newspaper

Tag: collaboration

  • PETAN seeks better collaboration with Shell on Nigerian Content

    PETAN seeks better collaboration with Shell on Nigerian Content

    The Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) has praised  Shell for contributing to the development of the Nigerian Content in the oil industry and for seeking more collaboration.

    During a visit to the Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), Bayo Ojulari,  the association chairman, Bank-Anthony Okoroafor, said: “Most of us have our roots here. The relationship with Shell has given us the required foundation and encouragement and we are now in a position to add value to the operations of oil companies in Nigeria,” Okoroafor said.

    Okoroafor, who was elected last month, said the members were on a familiarisation tour of international and national oil companies to brief them on the rebranding of the group.

    The group, he said, will play a more active role in the development of the industry, especially at this time of cost pressures.

    He said PETAN had created target groups to liaise with oil companies, including SNEPCo, and would like to proffer solutions to challenges of projects, cost and production.

    He said: “PETAN is already working with Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) on an internship programme where graduates learn skills on one-year attachments to our companies and it will be very good to do the same with SNEPCo.”

    Ojulari praised the PETAN in the development of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria. He said: “The new executive has come at a critical time in our industry. I would advise PETAN members to collaborate more effectively so they can present a unified front that will be competitive in the global oil industry.”

    The SNEPCo chief was accompanied by his leadership team, who highlighted the various areas of potential collaboration with PETAN, including project implementation, cost leadership and value-adding service to the industry.

    Shell companies in Nigeria contributed very well to developing the country’s human capital and contracting capacity.  Last year, 93 per cent of contracts were awarded to Nigerian companies. Shell companies in Nigeria won PETAN’s Local Content Operator of the Year awards in 2013 and 2015.

  • WHY I DON’T WANT A COLLABORATION –RANTI

    RISING singer, Ranti Ihimoyan who has been gaining prominence with her brand of music, alternative rock version of the popular folk song entitled Iwe Kiko has confirmed that she is not having any collaboration any time soon.

    The singer, who also performs at the Muson Centre, stated that she is only experimenting for now, having been a stage performer.

    “I am a classic singer, and this is just like experimenting. So for now, I won’t want to have any collaboration until I am sure of what I am doing.

    Ranti also revealed that she will be having a performance this month at the Muson Centre, even as she is also planning on releasing an EP, which she says consists of six songs.

    The lyric according to the singer is directed at agriculture. “Iwe kiko lai si oko ati ada, ko i pe o (Education without farming tools is incomplete) addresses the very important topic of agriculture – reviving our indigenous occupation – farming, which would create employment opportunities for our teeming youth population and help diversify the economy,” she said.

    Iwe Kiko is produced by multi-talented producer, Cobhams Asuquo.

  • DSS seeks collaboration on insurgency

    The Department of State Services, whose job it is to sniff out sources of threat to the nation, has expressed its desire to collaborate with the populace in the fight against terror.

    The Department organised a two-day workshop which featured heads of security agencies and sister organisations, religious bodies, traditional rulers, legislators, heads of government agencies and other stakeholders. About 1000 people attended the event on each of those days.

    Gombe State Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo said the workshop drove home the message that there is no room for complacency in the war against terror, even as the terrorists have been put on the back foot.

    Dankwambo, represented by his Deputy, Charles Iliya, said there is need for mutual trust between security agencies and the people in order towards sustain the prevailing peace in the state.

    He said there has been an influx of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the state, and that the state has witnessed sporadic attacks by the insurgents.

    Initiator of the programme, the State Director of Security (SDS) Mr. Reuben Sina Amao said, “We must not be distracted; we must remain focused because despite successfully carrying out attacks in the past, security agents through collaborative efforts have been able to avert many other planned attacks in the state.”

    The state chief of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Yusuf Ganiyu Mumeen said it has spotted and deported over 600 foreign migrants whose stay suggested something inimical to the security of the state. Those deported were said to have lacked valid papers and had no credible proof of sources of livelihood.

    He also complained about the lack of street names and house numbers in Gombe which makes it difficult to trace addresses of applicants for international passports.

     

  • NeFF seeks banks’ collaboration against fraudsters

    The Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF) has called on banks to be united to enable stakeholders succeed in the fight against fraudsters.

    Speaking at the NeFF end of year meeting held in Lagos, Chairman Committee of Chief Compliance Officers of Banks in Nigeria, Pattinson Boleigha noted that ‘collaboration and customer due diligence’ will help to fight fraudsters.

    “NeFF has been a cornerstone of our security today and that is why we must play our roles for them to achieve their objective. I have not seen any solution but collaboration. This people have no boundaries, let’s try to focus on one common purpose which is the fraudsters. We must try to stay ahead of them else they will take a mile.

    “Unfortunately, some of them are among us. Fraud is a predicate offence to money laundering and that is why we need to collaborate. We must do our customer due diligence properly in order to wipe fraudsters off,” he said.

    Chairman, Nigeria electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF), Mr Dipo Fatokun said the war against fraudsters has not been easy, adding that the regulators have instituted policies and guidelines that are helping to fight fraud in the financial services sector.

    “Fraud is not completely eliminated but we have come out with strict policies and guidelines to help fight it. The war has not been easy this year but the truth is, with the support of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Bankers’ Committee, the battle has been successful. Let’s collaborate to fight out common enemy because now, they may likely start their own collaboration today,” he said.

  • State of the Union: A call for collaboration by the president

    State of the Union: A call for collaboration by the president

    – Obama made a number of conciliatory gestures toward Republicans, but he was also resolute where he had to be

    Two themes dominated the advance speculation about President Obama’s State of the Union address: that he would hammer away at income inequality and joblessness, and that, despairing of cooperation with congressional Republicans, he would defiantly trumpet what he could accomplish unilaterally.

    Fortunately, the forecasts were only half right. Obama indeed emphasized the importance of strengthening and enlarging the middle class, which he said had been battered not only by a concentration of wealth at the top but by “massive shifts in technology and global competition.”

    But while he did announce some unilateral actions, including a directive to create a new vehicle for retirement savings, Obama asked Republicans who control the House to “make progress together.”

    Engaging the opposition isn’t only politic; it’s indispensable. Take an issue that loomed large in Obama’s speech: the need for an increase in the federal minimum wage to $10.10, restoring its purchasing power to late-1960s levels. Economists argue ad nauseam about whether raising the minimum wage depresses hiring. But surely minimum-wage workers are entitled at the very least to increases that cover inflation.

    Obama announced that he would issue an executive order to mandate a higher wage for employees of businesses that receive government contracts. But that unilateral action would protect only a few hundred thousand workers, compared with the millions who would benefit from a legislated increase. Likewise, congressional action would be needed to restore expired unemployment benefits to 1.6 million Americans.

    So too with immigration reform. Although the president has been able on his own to defer the deportation of the so-called dreamers, who were brought to this country when they were young, legal relief for their parents will require congressional action. Like the president, we believe reform must include a path to citizenship of the sort in the bill passed by the Senate. But with key Republicans moving to acceptance of the idea of legalization, Obama rightly adopted a conciliatory tone, acknowledging that “members of both parties in the House” want to fix a broken immigration system.

    Despite these conciliatory gestures, Obama was resolute where he had to be. He warned Republicans that it would be futile to schedule “another 40-something votes” to repeal the Affordable Care Act, “a law that’s already helping millions of Americans.” And he offered a crisp defense of negotiations with Iran over that country’s nuclear program, promising that “if this Congress sends me a new sanctions bill now that threatens to derail these talks, I will veto it.”

    In general, however, despite the hyperpartisan atmosphere on Capitol Hill, Obama’s speech amounted to a call for collaboration between Congress and the White House. Congressional Republicans, who are still suffering from the spectacle of their disastrous shutdown of the federal government, would be wise to respond in kind.

     

    – Los Angeles Times

     

  • Argentina seeks collaboration on prisoners transfer

    Argentina has urged the Nigerian government to embrace the current programme which allows prison inmates in the country to complete their term in their country of origin.

    Argentina Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Gustavo Dzugala, accompanied by the Deputy Head of Mission, Mr. Jose Maria Otegui Alvarez, made the appeal in Abuja when he visited the Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, in his office.

    The ambassador said he was at the ministry to seek collaboration with Nigeria, sharing experiences in such a way that will bring a strong tie between the countries.

    He revealed that his country had embarked on a programme called ‘South South Cooperation’ which allow prisoners of affected nations to be transferred back  to their respective countries and complete their jail term, adding that his office had been working closely with the Nigeria Ambassador in Argentina to realise the dream.

    Responding, Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, who described Mr. Dzugala’s visit as timely, bemoaned the level of relationship between the two countries despite having so many things in common in term of multi-cultural heritage and diversity.

    He noted that the present administration through its transformation agenda had widen the scope of relationship with many countries for the benefit of its economic development, adding that the government was ready to establish partnership that will help the country to end child-trafficking and terrorism.

    Moro urged the ambassador to encourage Argentines to come and do business in Nigeria, assuring that government had taken desirable steps to ensure that peace return to all parts of the country.

     

  • Ahmed seeks collaboration on youth employment

    Ahmed seeks collaboration on youth employment

    Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has urged community associations and the private sector to collaborate with the three tiers of government to promote youth empowerment in the country.

    Ahmed made the call in a message to a summit organised by a socio-cultural group, the Omo Ibile Igbomina, at Ganmo in Ifelodun Local Government Area of the state.

    Represented by Alhaji Abdulmajid Ayinla, Permanent Secretary, Ministry for Finance, the governor said such coordinated efforts at youths empowerment would help end restiveness and other vices among the youth.

    A statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Media, Dr Muideen Akorede, noted that the present high level of youth unemployment was a big social malaise requiring aggressive joint efforts to address.

    He challenged leaders in the country to implement programmes that would absolve more youths into functional ventures, and open up access to professional and political skills to prepare them for effective leadership in future.

    “We cannot claim that youths lack the experience for effective leadership without providing them the opportunity to acquire and demonstrate such capacity in our public and private lives”, he added.

    The governor stated that the administration had evolved an entrepreneurship programme to empower the youth through small businesses.

    He said the International Vocational Centre at Ajasse-Ipo and 60 other skill acquisition centres and 23 master trainers, were some of the platforms initiated by the government to promote youth empowerment in the state.

     

  • NYSC seeks employers’ collaboration

    The Director-General, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig.-Gen. Nnamdi Okore-Affia, has urged employers to provide conducive atmosphere for corps members to promote discipline and good work ethics among them.

    He made the call at a sensitisation workshop for corps employers in Dutse.

    The event, tagged: “Harnessing the gains of Youth Service scheme through cordial Corps member/Employer Relationship”, was organised to enable corps members to contribute to the development of the society.

    Okore-Affia, represented by Mrs Stella Abba, a Director with NYSC, said the exercise was aimed at promoting cordial working relationship between employers and corps members.

    He said it was also to help develop an effective performance monitoring mechanism of youths and their activities.

    He stressed the need for employers to instil discipline and sense of patriotism, good moral values and ethics in NYSC members.

    “Corps members spend greater period of their service year with you as their employers.

    “It is imperative to take personal interest, not only in their welfare but in issues that will shape their destiny through counselling and discipline,” he said.

    The director-general said employers were expected to provide decent accommodation, security, transport allowances and good working environment for Corps members to put in their best.

    The state’s NYSC Director, Mr Ishaya Dede,warned Corps members against indiscriminate travelling outside their places of primary assignments, adding that those found wanting would be penalised.

  • Banks mull foreign collaboration to check rising fraud

    Banks mull foreign collaboration to check rising fraud

    Banks are considering securing international partnership with foreign banks to fight rising cases of fraud and forgeries in the sector, The Nation has learnt.

    The 2011 financial report of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) released last week showed that the banking sector reported N28.40 billion fraud cases last year, representing 33.4 per cent rise from N21.29 billion reported in 2010.

    Chairman, Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF), Emmanuel Obaigbena, disclosed that there is a plan by banks to partner with their foreign counterparts to fight fraud in the system because of the global dimension the issue is now assuming.

    He spoke at forum’s monthly meeting in Lagos.

    Obaigbena said: “It is advisable for banks to give accurate data on fraud cases. They should not be scared of sharing statistics with each other.”

    He said the forum has set up a committee to sanction erring banks, stressing that the objective of the forum was for banks and relevant agencies to share data to eliminate fraud in the industry.

    According to him, fraud does not only translate to operational risk losses to banks, it erodes the confidence of the public in electronic platforms/systems as a channel for business transaction.

    He said the need to protect customers from fraud cannot be over-emphasised, adding that the electronic payment system is international and, therefore, requires to be approached from global perspective.

    Chief Technical Officer, Digital Encode, Seyi Akindeinde, said the Internet and mobile banking constitute the most frequent avenues through which frauds are perpetrated.

    Also, the NeFF is collaborating with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Judiciary to fight fraud. He added that the forum was also working with the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) to enhance the fraud reporting format in banks.

    According to him, fraud not only translates to operational risk losses to banks, it erodes the confidence of the public in electronic platforms/systems as a channel for transacting business.

    Also, the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) said it is taking measures aimed at reducing the volume and value of fraud perpetrated in the banking sector.

    NIBSS Executive Director, Operations, Niyi Ajao, said one way it is achieving this objective is through the use of its anti-fraud portal developed by the firm to check financial frauds in the banking sector.

     

     

     

     

  • Enterprise: Airtel challenges youths on collaboration

    Enterprise: Airtel challenges youths on collaboration

    Nigerian youths have been urged to collaborate to beat economic challenges frustrating their efforts at realising their entrepreneurship potential.

    Chief Marketing Officer, Airtel Nigeria, Olu Akanmu, made the call in Ikeja, Lagos, at the unveiling of Airtel Nigeria’s new thematic campaign tagged Padi Na Good Thing O. The campaign seeks to enthrone Airtel Nigeria in the minds of Nigerians as the network for friendship.

    He reminded Nigerian youths that times have changed and those who desire success must change with the times, maintaining that young people who wish to transform their talents to success must embrace collaboration.

    “In my generation,” Akanmu said, “it was common to see someone beat his/her chest and say ‘I made myself.’ But this is no longer so. Young people today flock together, thereby drawing synergy from one another on the journey to success.”

    He said the new thematic campaign was part of Airtel’s strategy to encourage the youth to cooperate, hence, the company chose Half Dollar, an upcoming musician who his friends helped to attain success to champion the campaign.

    According to the CMO, “interpretation of success has changed. Today, youths succeed with friends. When you see a Nigerian superstar from Europe in a club, he flocks with friends. That’s the story that we seek to tell with this new campaign.”

    Nigerian youths who have succeeded seem to share a common storyline, coming from humble backgrounds and succeeding with the aid of friends, associates or family. Their unique tales, according to Akanmu, can be summed up with these words: “I am going on a journey to success. I go with my friends and when I succeed, I will celebrate with my friends.”

    This is a bold endorsement that friends succeed together, hence, Airtel’s the new campaign Padi na good thing O.

    This growing trend has been identified by Airtel as a virtue and the company through its campaign has strategised to encourage youths to cash in on quality friendship to turn talents and passion into success. Fast rising music act Half Dollar, an undergraduate, has seen his music career on the path of success because his friends noticed his talent and supported him by contributing money for him to buy music equipment; helped him register in an Airtel Nigeria-sponsored talent hunt where he shone like a million stars. So, the young man is now on his way to success, which would not have been possible without his friends!

    “Half Dollar’s story typifies that of many Nigerian youths and Airtel would want to see such replicated so that many more youths can achieve their dreams,” he said.

    On his part, an elated Half Dollar, who was on hand to lend credence to the campaign, said: “My friends are my blood and Airtel is the vein. You know that without blood, you won’t be alive. But without the veins the blood cannot flow. I am very excited to be where I am today; all thanks to my friends and Airtel. Padi na good thing O!