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Tag: cosmetic

  • NACCIMA woos cosmetic manufacturers

    NACCIMA woos cosmetic manufacturers

    Director General, Nigeria Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Sola Obadimu has called on manufacturers of cosmetic, body and hair care  products as well as other players in the beauty value chain to consider setting up production facilities in Nigeria as the as a way of creating jobs and contributing to the country’s economic development.

    He said Nigeria is a huge market with increasing demand for goods and services that many manufacturers could not ignore with improving investors’ perception bordering on security.

        Obadimu disclosed this in Lagos, while declaring open the Beauty West Africa Conference and Exhibition put together by BtoB Events Limited.

        He said he was impressed with the turn out of the Beauty West Africa Conference and Exhibition, which provides a window for manufacturers, players and people in the value chain to consolidate partnership and develop the industry.

        The Chambers of Commerce and Industry from Benin Republic, Ghana, Cameroon and Gambia also attended the Beauty West Africa Conference and Exhibition.

        Obadimu said the way and manner players in the sector tuned out at the event shows  Nigeria is a huge market in the sub – continent beckoning for investors to set up their businesses and add value to the economy.

        He commended the organisers for putting together an exhibition where many countries across the globe are showcasing their products and services.

        The NACCIMA Director General said : ” ” It’s a good development for us particularly when you know the kind of perception foreigners used to have about stories of insecurity.  This shows that we can still host world class events. And also, it signifies that Nigeria still remains a strong market with a lot of demand for products and services. But what I would like more is to see some of this company opening an outlet in Nigeria so that some of our people can be employed. It’s a good story for us and I hope this continues.”

        Also speaking,  Managing Director, BtoB Event, Jamie Hill said  Beauty West Africa Conference and Exhibition aspires to seeing   more cosmetics manufacturers settle for Nigeria in order to develop the beauty market.

    Read Also: The Delborough Lagos: Ex-President Jonathan calls asks young Africans to emulate Stanley Uzochukwu

        He,  however,  hopes the idea will expand exhibitors’ perception about the Nigeria market and other business areas capable of uplifting the country’s economy.

        He said : ” I can say to you I’m impressed with what I’ve always seen in Nigeria and I’m sure with time more companies will be here to manufacture goods on Nigerian soil. The significant takeaway from this event is massive and I think will help grow the cosmetics market in the country.

        “By 2026, the beauty market will be worth a huge amount of money that will charge entrepreneurship. Despite the economic hardship, we won’t relent and we’re glad top government officials from different countries are here to appreciate this show and find out what the beauty market has in store. It’s also a business to business platform which will help in cementing partnership. Chamber of commerce from Cameroon, Gambia, Benin and others are here for good and I think with time more investors will come and we’ll all get there,” he opined.

        In his remarks, the  Exhibition Manager,  Ken Baber urged   investors to consider setting up their companies in  Nigeria, which remains the hub of Africa’s economy.

        He said : ” This event is also about encouraging manufacturers and Nigerians that this show is the hub of exhibition. We’re happy coming together, the market is growing so much and there is a lot of potential in the country. There’s a reason for choosing Nigeria. The market is growing very well and it will give manufacturers encouragement to do more. We have over three hundred and fifty companies and over five thousand exhibitors and I’m sure next year will be bigger than this. This is the message we want to pass out to Nigerians. We want the world to know we’re here for Nigerians and I believe we can both achieve amazing things.”

  • Cosmetic Counterfeiting : Beauty and the beast

    Cosmetic Counterfeiting : Beauty and the beast

    Kyle Parker writes on the scourge of counterfeiting which according to her has reached epidemic proportions

    Companies that operate within the cosmetics industry are painfully aware of the cost of counterfeiting. It seems that the bigger the brand awareness, the greater the chances are that the brand will be counterfeited. Security organisations and governments dealing in policing counterfeited products have subsequently turned their focus away from consumer education and now are focusing on the laws that govern anti-counterfeiting measures. Consumers, particularly in Africa, are not informed adequately, when faced with counterfeited products. With organised crime rings scattered throughout the continent, policing consumers is all but become impossible.

    “The counterfeiters tend to target big-selling brands, with Perry Ellis, Dolce & Gabbana, Calvin Klein, and Davidoff among the manufacturers affected by the criminal activity. Counterfeiting of premium brands is expected to strengthen over the coming years.” – Technavio analyst Brijesh Kumar Choubey

    So how do existing laws help stop cosmetic counterfeiting in Africa? According to Spoor & Fisher, the Counterfeit Goods Acts of most African countries set out to streamline and create effective enforcement measures to enable owners of trademarks, copyrights and marks protected to take action against the counterfeiting of their products.

    In an essence, the majority of African countries have strengthened laws and empowered enforcement agencies to search, seize and prosecute with little interference red tape. However, a simple glance over to the atlas, the sheer size of Africa and the numbers of enforcement agents, leaves a glaring hole of opportunity for criminal organisations.

    “Beauty products are meant to enhance your features. However, the fakes can, in fact, do quite the opposite. Our general rule is: if it seems too good to be true then it probably is.” – Det Supt Maria Woodall, Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU)

    Like a bad rash, the problem persists and is showing growth. If companies are stuck between a mass of ill-informed consumers and under-resourced enforcement agencies, who or what solution can we look next, to bring this scourge under control?

     Security packaging – our knight in shining armour?

    Adding security measures through print, labelling and tracking solutions have been around for many years. The underlying problem with these solutions is exactly that, they exist.  Organised crime is watching and duplicating with impeccable skill.

    A dermatologist recently told the Fox broadcasting network. “Fakes cosmetics could cause acne on your face, dermatitis or eczema or scaling. Theoretically, you can absorb (them) through your skin too. There could be bacteria because there is no quality control. Anything could be in there.”

    Syndicates are no longer those 4 burly guys sitting in a sedan skowering the streets for unsuspecting victims. Crime syndicates are corporations, sophisticated networks of hackers, informants and undercover agents, infiltrating pharmaceutical markets worldwide. Like spy-vs-spy, companies are consistently embraced in this battled of who to trust and who to fight.

    What if there was a solution that eliminated human interference, with technology that cannot be replicated, a kind of unhackable security packaging 2.0?

    The PeltaTM technology is based on the standard 2D code but extends the capability of the 2D code by adding a second layer of information. The second layer is hidden and invisible to the standard 2D code reader. The covert layer can only be decrypted by using a custom key, thus can be used as a basis of an authentication or track and trace solution. The licensee of PeltaTM can use the custom software for internal use and consumers may make use of a scanner application on their smartphone to authenticate the document or product.

    The overt layer of information is read identically to standard 2D codes (i.e. QR, Data Matrix, Aztec, Maxicode, DotCode and others). This first layer of information is easily accessible and includes logistical or marketing information, easily read by scanner applications on a smartphone.

    Pelta™ coding has proven successful in eliminating fraud in Countries worldwide. The results are promising and more can be done to turn the tide of counterfeiting.

    Kyles quote

    At some point, the cost of the solution is nothing compared to the loss a brand can incur when damage is done or lives are lost. Brands have to act or they show that they actually don’t care about fakes unless it impacts them financially enough to act.

    False profiting

    According to Interpol, profits made from counterfeit cosmetics are used to fund drugs smuggling and terrorism. For this is the shocking flipside to the shadowy world of counterfeit cosmetics.

    The cheaper imitations that are flooding the market may look legitimate — as well as please the purse — but they have been found to contain ingredients that in the worst cases, cause permanent damage to both the body and the brain.

    There is no immediate solution to the scourge of counterfeiting. The positive spin is the overall commitment by pharmaceutical companies is to enlist support and measures to reduce the impact. From revenue to life loss, counterfeiting is now at epidemic proportions.

    Pagemark Africa is the African based supplier of software technologies. With a patent approved authentication technology called Pelta™, Pagemark Africa provides governments and international companies with secure printing solutions, product and document authentication, serialisation solutions, and track and trace software.
    Many recent innovations are based on the core technology Pelta™ which is a software authentication product based on 2D bar codes. Pelta™ provides government and brand owners a covert layer of data to utilise as required to support their authentication or serialisation requirements. Pagemark Africa works with many governments and companies across the globe and guides them toward a common goal: secure document authentication.

    Research Sources:

    http://www.pagemarkafrica.com/products/pelta/

     

    https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2015/may/18/police-campaign-dangers-counterfeit-cosmetics

     

    http://www.interpol.int/

     

    http://www.worldtrademarkreview.com/Intelligence/Anti-counterfeiting/2015/Country-chapters/South-Africa

     

     

     

     

  • ‘Cosmetic production an untapped goldmine’

    ‘Cosmetic production an untapped goldmine’

    Benedicta Oyoyo is the Chief Executive, Modern Medix Concessionaire. Oyoyo who trained as a Chemist at the Enugu State University started of Technology (ESUTECH) selling hospital equipment and consumables in2010. She subsequently veered into soap making and cosmetics production. In this interview with Yetunde Oladeinde, she speaks on the prospects of her business:

    Why did you go into this business?

    While I was serving as a chemist, I made a number of discoveries. You can work in the oil company, you can work in the plastic industry, brewery, glass industry and so on. It is a very lucrative line and you have a variety of opportunities when it comes to business. Apart from that, you can do a lot of things on your own as a chemist. As a chemist, you can manufacture drugs with a pharmacy; you can go into cosmetic production, which is also a very wide area in business.

    So when I graduated because of the economic situation in the country, I told myself that I was not going to look for any job or work for anybody. The only form of job that I did was in my husband’s company where we had the hospital equipment line. I decided to join him briefly but two years after, I started my own business in the cosmetic line. First, I started making liquid soap locally and we started small. After doing the production work, then I also did the marketing myself. The strategy that I made use of was door-to-door marketing because I believed in the product that I was producing. I was particular about the quality of my products and in a short while, I got testimonials from friends who were my first sets of clients. This opened so many other doors for me and I got motivated by the response that I got. After a while, I decided to improve on the branding of the product because I did my one year National Youth Service with NAFDAC.

    What did you learn at NAFDAC and how does it affect the quality of your product?

    I believe that God has a way of positioning one in life. The best opportunity in business comes when you are in the right place and at the right time. Working in NAFDAC really opened my eyes to a number of things and I’m really thankful that I got that opportunity. It was one of the things that inspired me to go into cosmetics business because I knew that it was something that I could do very well. Then I worked very hard and you would not even know that I was a corps member at all. I served in a directorate that they call Narcotics and Control.

    In that place, what they handle is importation. Here you have people that want to collect permits for importation of raw materials like chemicals, both general and controlled chemicals. I met a lot of people, entrepreneurs doing their own business and it actually spurred me. That was when I began to toy with the idea of working for myself, creating jobs and opportunities for others instead of being a liability to others.

    That was under the tenure of the current Director-General, Dr. Paul Orhii, shortly after Prof. Dora Akunyuli left the place. It was a very interesting environment where you learnt so much, acquired new knowledge and met different people. So working on cosmetics for my small business was a new experience, I was passionate about it and I put everything I had into it.  I worked with standards and when I saw the first product, I was excited and gradually we got better and better.

     At a point, I told myself that I wanted to take the business to the next level. I needed to get my NAFDAC number and you know that doing this is usually a very tough process. You have to go there, collect the enquiry form, go through it and do a trademark. That is the trade name. After that, you get your tax return, file things according to specification so that they can inspect and make the necessary recommendation. I did all that, all the documentation, everything.

    How is your company doing at the moment?

    The brand is also known as Modern Medix and on a daily basis I enjoy what I’m doing. The product is called Daily Fresh and we produce dish washing liquid, toilet cleaners, moisturisers and multipurpose liquid detergents. As time goes on, the dream is to include bar soaps, detergents, hair fresheners, scouring powder and body care products.

    What were some of the initial challenges you faced as a manufacturer?

    It wasn’t really easy. If you’re working with about 28 raw materials, you have to analyse them one by one and bring the certificates of analysis. Before you analyse your water, you must have a borehole and they have their specification for the borehole and you also analyse the water that you want to use. You analyse the raw materials and other documentations and there are so many other things that you have to put in place and all these things require money.

    Some people start a company and midway they feel like opting out. Have you ever felt like this?

    No, I have never had that kind of feeling. One thing I normally tell people is that you must have a focus, know where you are going and what you want to achieve with your passion. Once you have all this, it would motivate you naturally no matter the odds that you’re faced with. The truth of the matter is that there are challenges in small businesses and just when you think that you have conquered it another one crops up.

    That should not make us afraid, instead they should be the things that should make you stronger. If you look around, you would see that we have a number of young entrepreneurs in small businesses who’re doing a great job. All they need is support and encouragement.

    The industry is still growing and with time we would be able to compete favourably with our colleagues in different parts of the world. This is because they are more advanced than us. I’m happy that it is a lifetime thing even though it is not easy to start off. If you manage it well, the business can grow from one generation to another.

    What drives you?

    I would say that making a difference in the society is what keeps me going. I strongly believe myself as a woman and I believe that women can do so much if they are determined, focused and hardworking. They have the potential and they can manage those potential.

  • On the road to cosmetic federalism again?

    On the road to cosmetic federalism again?

    If the preliminary result of National Assembly’s efforts to involve Nigerians in the amendment of the 1999 Constitution released exclusively by Leadership Sunday is accurate (and there is no reason to disbelieve the notes leaked to the newspaper by those in charge of the exercise), then Nigerians calling for re-federalisation of the country are about being urged to start the process of de-militarisation of the polity afresh.

    We said in this column a few weeks back that Nigerians might be buying a lemon at the end of the protracted effort by the national assembly to neutralise the call for sovereign national conference or constitutional conference. We raised issues with the process of selecting or inviting citizens to meet representatives of the national assembly in hotels in state capitals across the country; the amount of time made available for discussion; and why on earth anyone would prefer such informal consultation with citizens to a referendum.

    With the release of outcome of lawmakers/citizens’ interactions in November last year published by Leadership Sunday of January 27, Nigerians may at the end be blamed for an amended constitution that is more unitary than the one that federalists have found to be a source of inter-ethnic or inter-regional tension and of national under-development since the outing of the 1999 Constitution by General Abdulsalam Abubakar, after the presidential and legislative elections of 1999.

    In what Leadership Sunday called the highpoints of the House of Representatives’ People Public Sessions on the review of the 1999 Constitution conducted on November 10, 2012, ‘Nigerians have rejected’ the following: any mention of the country’s six geopolitical zones in the constitution as administrative or political units; abolition of State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC) and transfer of its functions to INEC; call for a provision to allow Nigerians in diaspora to vote at national elections; establishment of state police; affirmative action for women in elective offices; transfer of any responsibility from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent List; etc.

    Is the report of Leadership Sunday only about what citizens have rejected? No. As the paper puts it: ‘As widely expected, voting patterns show Nigerians want state houses of assembly to be granted financial autonomy/independence as is the case with the National Assembly….The collated report disclosed that Nigerians backed amendments’ to abolish Joint State/Local Government Account; to create a role or place for traditional rulers at federal and state levels; to award indigeneship (rather than residency) to indigenes of other communities; etc. What is unmistakable about the preliminary result of collation of responses from citizens that travelled to speak with legislators in November is that majority of such citizens largely prefer the constitutional status quo that puts centralism over federalism.

    It is not clear what the announcement in Leadership Sunday: ‘voting patterns on all the issues itemised in the template for voting during the sessions in 318 federal constituencies of the original 360 constituencies have been collated and ready for official unveiling on January 31’ is designed to achieve. Is the unveiling of an informal voting by citizens that had no mandate from their constituencies being packaged as a true reflection of the thinking of constituents on the items presented in November to selected invitees by legislators? Is voting by an infinitesimal number of invitees to public hearings in hotel rooms being designed as a substitute for direct indication of citizens’ choice? Are Nigerians being prepared by the leaked collation of votes of a few Nigerians that had the privilege to travel to state capitals to meet with lawmakers for what the national assembly is likely to recommend as amendments? What does ‘as widely expected’ mean? Who widely expected what—the legislators or Leadership Sunday? It is uncharitable to think that the national assembly would intentionally parade the views of a few Nigerians at one-day public hearing as the voice of 160 million Nigerians.

    What is not uncharitable to do is to remind members of the national assembly that fears expressed before the decision of the national assembly to initiate amendment of the 1999 Constitution may be justified at the end of exercise. When citizens called for sovereign national conference or constitutional conference for the purpose of writing a people’s constitution that is mandated by citizens and assented to by citizens through a referendum, members of the legislative assembly said that all that was needed was ordinary amendment to the 1999 Constitution. Legislators refused to include involvement of citizens directly in the process by rejecting calls for a referendum. Now the same national assembly is claiming that majority of Nigerians have taken a position on items slated for amendment, when in fact only a handful of citizens attended the hearings organised for interaction between lawmakers and citizens.

    Many citizens at that time warned that legislators elected under the constitution in contention were not elected to write constitutions and that the matter of creating a people’s constitution should be given to another group set up principally for that task. Citizens were told by lawmakers and even the president that Nigeria should settle for amendment to a constitution that citizens never saw until after the inauguration of the first post-military government in 1999. While citizens called for constitutional transformation, their leaders, elected for purposes other than writing a constitution, preached and pushed for panel-beating of a constitution that citizens thought was a write-off.

    If the leaked report to Leadership Sunday is accurate, then federalists and constitutional purists who warned that amending a constitution that had no imprint of citizens ab initio would amount to a waste of time and emotion may be more prophetic than legislators who affirmed that re-federalisation of the country was attainable through amendments. Issues that citizens have been reported to reject indicate that the 1999 Constitution authored by the military on the eve of handing power to elected governments in 1999 only needs cosmetic touches designed to enhance the powers of the centre.

    A graphic example of further de-federalisation of the polity is the so-called approval by citizens that the exclusive legislative list should remain sacrosanct. Another example is purported approval by ‘citizens’ of the provision to divorce local governments from the states that constitute them. The Federal Republic of Nigeria will be the first such federation in the world, just as it will be the first federation that is incapable of tolerating state and local government police for purposes of enforcing laws and ordinances created by states and local governments.

    Without doubt, the report released to Leadership Sunday must signal the message of a luta continua to lovers of federalism and believers in federalism as the only way to ensure sustainable democracy and development in post-colonial Nigeria.

     

  • Constitution amendment cosmetic, says Uranta

    Constitution amendment cosmetic, says Uranta

    What is your reaction to the public hearing on constitution amendment by the National Assembly?

    I was part of a Presidential Retreat for civil societies where papers were presented by Justice Belgore, the Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, Deputy Speaker of the House, Emeka Ihedioha and even an address which was very cogent made by the President, both at the opening and at the end. At the retreat, very prominent civil society leaders, professional association leaders, including the President of the Nigerian Medical Association, Nigerian Bar Association, National Council of Women Society, youths and different groups made presentations and it was consensually understood that we all were in favour of, not of a constitutional review per se but, a national conference or dialogue at which the peoples of Nigeria will sit down, discuss the basis for mutual co-existence. We made a case for referendum to herald a peoples’ constitution. It was at this point that the leadership of the house stood up to say that there was no provision in the constitution for a referendum and that they do not see why they as ‘representatives’ of the people, having being allegedly, putatively voted for by the people, could not deliberate on behalf of the people and whatever the deliberations be seen as a national conference or quasi-national dialogue as having represented the people.

    Does that mean that the National Assembly is against national conference?

    They said there was going to be a national dialogue worked out by a National Assembly. As far as I was concerned, it was not the position we wanted. Therefore, we did not make too many winds about it. As it had stood out, we had anticipated this process that the national assembly had gone through and wanted to make us believe is a genuine reflection will be at the end of the day a genuine full reflection of the Nigerian peoples will and wishes. But as it is, it has shown that it cannot be. To start with, I attended all the hearings at the constituency level, senatorial and zonal and I am telling you that there were a plethora of prayers being made which all cannot be heard in about six hours. How do you find out what people want within six hours or even if we start 12 midnight and end 12 midnight. It will be impossible for the people to fully voice a position whether united or not that will be so clear to allow you to distill all and articulately represent the wishes and will of the Nigerian people. Whereas a national conference would presume that whoever or however they are elected to represent any constituent part of the country would have carried out this same thing that we went through and the national assembly went through which is a bit of a charade carried out in less than one day would have done so over a period of weeks, months . People will submit positions, they will be debated, reviewed and they would be slept on and returned for debate and the final position will be arrived at at the constituent level and to the state level. After this, you will now come to the national conference.

    The national conference from our experience is the one that was done by civil societies under the aegis of PRONACO which I was a Chief Officer or say the one that was done by the government of President Obasanjo . It will take days and weeks of deliberating solely on those issues that are brought on the table by the different constituents parts whereas even these submissions both verbal and written that were supposedly captured by the national assembly through this ongoing process will not and cannot be the only subject of discussion of the national assembly unless they want to seize to carry out the functions which they swore to carry out when they became members of the national legislative. As lawmakers, they have oversight duties which means that each and everyday issues will be thrown up at legislative levels. If they concentrate only on issues they supposedly have captured through the verbal and written submissions of the people through this quasi process that cannot fully capture all that the people want and the people will come in there and talked haphazardly because they have not had time to consult even within the lowest level of the constituency and arrive at a common position which you must encourage for a national conference. The national assembly is now going to pay only a half hearted attention, if half at all to the issues that the people have submitted. I therefore want to submit that the process can not therefore bring a proper or the best document or with the reviews they are bringing .

    Can this process lead to genuine constitution amendment?

    I will not condemn it outright. Why? Because there are two issues prayed at the retreat that the legislature should do and from submissions at the hearings, I know that the NBA and others emphasised it. People are saying that Chapter Two of the 1999 constitution should allow room for Nigerians to make provisions justifiable by giving opportunities for them to sue the government for breach of the fundamental objectives as a breach of human rights. Then, they are saying that a law should be enacted that will make any future constitution subjectable to a referendum of the people before it can become a constitution. I am not saying that the reviews or whatever is gathered now should be subjected to a referendum. That will be unconstitutional because there is no space for referendum in our constitution, but we are asking them to amend this constitution, including at the very least those two items.

    What do you want the amended constitution to achieve?

    I am now speaking from the national common good point of view. Of course, the Niger Delta, the Southwest and even the Northeast; even recently, the Zamfara State governor said that he wanted a truly federal system in the country. The oil mineral producing parts of the country have said that they want the derivation clause to be amended to accomodate the setting up of a national derivation board that will be able to share the 13 per cent that is set aside directly to the oil mineral producing communities so that those money will not continue to be used by different shenanigans of the governors whom we have learned from both past and present use the money mainly in pursuing either their own personal political gratification interests or things that are not sufficiently beneficial to the people of the oil community. Now that’s one area. Of course, the people of Bakassi are saying that they want to be resettled or that they want independence to be called Amazonia. However, I want to believe the National Assembly has the good interest of Nigerians at heart but then as happened most places with not ‘Made here syndrome’ and not welcoming of any process that will supposedly challenge what they call ‘sovereignty’ but we must say again that sovereignty resides in the people. Whether the national assembly fully represent all the people of Nigeria is another debatable issue for another time.

    In the wake of all these, how close are we to the convocation of a national conference?

    I think we are very close. When the PRONACO existed, to my knowledge, PRONACO became comatose and all its principal officers except a few pretenders and they have not met even before the passage of the late sage, Pa Anthony Enahoro. Even that time, there wasn’t consensus. It was more of a sovereign proboscis with a few Northern interest joining in. Now with the National Summit Group (NSG) creation, when it took off publicly in February, there were few protest that it was not representative of the nation and those protests were backed with claims that certain group were not present or were not invited or did not make a relevant input. Since that period, the NSG have been Kris crossing the nation with different groups like the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Afenifere, Arewa, Middle Belt Union, Eastern Mandate, OPC, Niger Delta Youths, IYC, different ethnic groups, NBA and other civil societies even diplomatic missions. And by the meeting we had before this last one, everybody had bought into it. Why I said everybody is that if I take major ethnic groups that has organised representations, like the Igbos have the Ohaneze and MASSOB, the Yoruba have Afenifere and the OPC. The North has the Arewa Consultative Forum, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum.

    There is the Middle Belt Forum and so on. The Niger Delta too has different groups too that are fully represented. We have traverse far and near, we have met with the leadership of all this group and they have all sent their members to different meetings. At the last meeting of the National Working Council, we had representatives even if some area seems to be more represented. For example, those that represented the South West, some of them didn’t belong to the same group. We had an Awolowo, an Akintola, we had the Fasheun and in all, it was a diversity that represents the commonality of the people and so also the North. We have one of the trustee of Arewa who is also the Chairman of the NSG, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai. We have a member of the North Eastern Progressive Union, Engineer Bunu among others. What I am trying to say is that we are carrying along nearly everybody.