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Tag: expert

  • 2018 budget: Expert advises Govt, NASS on early passage

    2018 budget: Expert advises Govt, NASS on early passage

    A financial expert, Prof. Sheiffdeen Tella, on Monday called on the Federal Government to work closely with the National Assembly to ensure speedy passage of 2018 budget.

    Tella, a Professor of Economics at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye in Ogun, said in Lagos that this was to avoid returning the country to recession.

    President Muhammadu Buhari had on November 7, 2017 presented before a joint session of the National Assembly, a budget proposal of N8.612 trillion for the 2018 fiscal year.

    This represents 16 per cent increase of N7.298 trillion over the 2017 budget.

    NAN reports that budget had started generating controversy since it was presented by the President Buhari.

    Tella said Federal Government should work on the NASS to pass the budget on time and set to start its implementation immediately.

    The expert said budget implementation could only be achieved with early passage of the budget.

    He said all attempts should be made to grow the economy faster to avoid returning the country to recession.

    “Federal Government should start implementation of the capital aspect of the budget, particularly power, road and rail infrastructure and mining as well as financial sector development to engineer cheap or affordable credits for industrial sector.

    “Increase in money supply is likely to increase due to increased political activities, but that will be from the second quarter.

    “It can cause inflation, if improved production does not begin from the end of first quarter.

    “So, budget implementation must start early if the budget is passed early in the year.

    “All efforts must be made to grow the economy faster to avoid returning to recession,” Tella said.

    He said the progress made on the economy in 2017 would leap-frog in 2018 on improved policy implementation.

    The economist said the pace of diversification of economy, through agriculture and industrialisation, should be pursued steadily and consistently with appropriate corporation between monetary and fiscal policy makers.

    Tella said the country should be interested in domestic production of refined fuel than importation, adding that action on modular refinery should be intensified.

    He said power supply should progress more in such that alternative energy sources like solar and wind should be improved upon and diverted to non-commercial areas.

    Tella said energy from gas and thermal sources should be diverted for industrial use.

    He said improvement in power supply would bring down the cost of production greatly for effective competition of domestic goods and imported.

    According to him, the use of local raw materials in production will also reduce importation and cost of production arising from exchange rate problems.

     

     

    On the capital market, he said that the market performance in 2017 was quite impressive and would likely continue in 2018 with the right policy.

    “If interest rate falls and businesses go to the market to raise funds, the market performance will improve faster, otherwise if economy remains sluggish, the capital market can suffer from patronage,” Tella said.

  • VAIDS: Expert urges govt to target rich tax payers

    To achieve the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) objectives, the Federal Government has been advised to deploy more resources that will enable it capture more tax revenues from high net-worth individuals.

    Speaking at a workshop organised by the Federal Ministry of Finance for tax professionals in Lagos,  a Professor of Tax and Fiscal Matters, University of Lagos, Abiola Sanni, said high net-worth individuals control over 80 per cent of the nation’s resources.

    He said more attention should be paid to this category of people if the government intends to rake in more money through the VAIDS, adding  that as critical as the informal sector is, less emphasis should be placed on the sector, which he said, is already heavily taxed and levied.

    He explained that 70 Community Tax Liaison Officers (CTLOs) have already been deployed nationwide to assist the states in enforcing tax compliance in the informal sector.

    “The weakness of our system is the over concentration on the middle class that are already over taxed through various means. The informal sector is very large and critical and arrangement has been made to bring in the sector into the VAIDS.

    “While the informal sector is very important, but for VAIDS to be very successful, we must look at high net-worth, a very few individuals who control large resources. In nations where the tax system works, they focus more on those people because a  billionaire can pay much more than all of us put together,” he said.

  • Expert canvasses wealth creation in beauty industry

    An expert in the beauty industry, Mr. Abdelrahman Kurdieh, has canvassed the need to ride on the crest of Nigeria’s burgeoning beauty industry to create wealth.

    He said the industry has numerous economic advantages if adequately explored and promoted.

    Kurdieh, who is the Regional Brand Development Manager, Messe Frankfurt Middle East, spoke at a road show in Lagos, organised to raise awareness on the 23rd Beautyworld Fair billed to hold in Dubai next May.

    Expressing optimism over the industry’s bright outlook in Nigeria and the Middle East, he noted that the upcoming edition of the leading international trade fair for beauty products will effectively boost the sector’s contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

    Kurdieh said the region’s beauty & personal care sales are expected to reach $34.5 billion by 2021, up from $30 billion in 2016. He said the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region will be the driving force behind the future growth of the industry globally.

    According to him, the fair will hold from May 8 to 10 at Dubai International Convention Centre and Exhibition. The exhibition, he said, would showcase six basic product groups namely, hair, and nails and salon supplies.

    Others are cosmetics and skincare, machinery, packaging and raw materials, personal care and hygiene, fragrance compounds and finished fragrance as well as natural & organic.

    Kurdieh added that the company has also introduced a business matchmaking programme to facilitate business connections between exhibitors and visitors.

    Speaking at the sensitisation session, Registration and Regulatory Affairs Director, National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr. Monica Eimunjeze, urged Nigerians to take advantage of the fair to speed up the growing sector. She said the platform was critical to expanding the sector’s frontiers.

  • Expert: healthy lifestyles lead to long life

    Expert: healthy lifestyles lead to long life

    Healthy lifestyles can boost life, the Director, Women and Gender Affairs, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Abuja, Mrs. Annetu-Anne Aliu, has said.

    She spoke at the kick-off of the Power Oil Healthy Heart Mission project in Abuja.

    She said a recent study found that four bad behaviours—smoking,  too much alcohol, non-exercise, and non-eating of enough fruits and veggies—could lead to early death or make one age by about 12 years.

    She said eating fewer than three servings of fruits and vegetables  daily could affect one’s health.

    “Nutritional powerhouses filled with fibre and vitamins, fruits and veggies can lower your risk of heart disease and may even play a role in decreasing your risk of breast cancer.  Also, the inflammation-fighting and circulation-boosting powers of the antioxidants in fruits and vegetables can banish wrinkles. Avoid yo-yo dieting. Stay away from fad diets. Exercise in moderation. Know what you weigh. Avoid smoking and alcohol intake or skimp on sleep,” she said.

    Mrs Aliu said the ministry has endorsed the life-impacting programme, promising to support it.

    “This is in recognition of the efforts and achievements of the Power Oil Healthy Heart Mission project. The presence of top officials of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Power Oil officials, representatives from various non-governmental organisation (NGOs), staff of  ministries at this event is an indication that everybody desires a good life.

    “I am, particularly, pleased with the objectives of this kick off, which will address some challenges faced by women, the aged and other vulnerable groups as regards various heart-related diseases, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, Body Mass Index (BMI) and other heart-related challenges.  If you are overweight, it can lead to a higher risk of chronic disease such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke and certain cancers,”  Mrs Aliu said.

    “Also worthy of commendation is that Raffles Oil Enterprise, makers of Power Oil, as part of its corporate social responsibility, in line with the Federal Government public-private partnership policies  conducted a survey, which revealed that high percentage of Nigerians,  women in particular, had been lost due to lack of awareness in getting and accessing basic medical information and regular health check-ups,” she added.

    Mrs Aliu was the first to have her BMI and blood pressure checked at the venue.

    Explaining the reason for the project, the Power Oil Public Relations Manager, Mrs. Omotayo Azeez-Abiodun, said: “Power Oil Health outreach programme has been going on for more than three years at various states across the country, and we are delighted to eventually get the attention and support of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, it clearly shows we are moving on the right track.”

    Omotayo said the partnership would go a long way in benefiting families across the country.

    She said the firm planned to work  with the mnistry for three years to cover various local governments in  Abuja to enable people check their blood pressure, pulse/visceral fat level, Body Mass Index (BMI) and do other medical consultation at each camp.

    “This is a demonstration of Power Oil Health Camp, a corporate social responsibility initiative from the staple of Raffles Oil LFTZ Enterprise, makers of the heart friendly vegetable oil brand.

    ‘’It is also endorsed by the Nigerian Heart Foundation. Power Oil, started off in 2013 and has expanded into 16 locations across the country,” Mrs Azeez-Abiodun said.

  • 1.2b birds consumed yearly, says expert

    1.2b birds consumed yearly, says expert

    Approximately 1. 2 billion birds are consumed yearly in Nigeria, an expert, Alaba Yunusa, has said.

    Speaking at Awe, Oyo State, during a tour of Amo Group  Farms, Data Analyst and Farmer  Satisfaction Representative (FSR), natnuPreneur broiler outgrower scheme, Yunusa  said only 30 per cent of the chicken consumed in the country are produced locally.

    He  said there was a huge market for chicken production and supply, with smuggled ones covering a consumption deficit of about 70 per cent.

    Explaining that there is massive opportunity for farmer’s profitability in poultry farming under natnuPreneur, Yunusa said: “Our assumption is that if 10 per cent  of 170 million Nigerians consume six  packs of chicken a month, a total of 1,224,000,000  pieces of chicken would have been consumed in 12 months.“

    His words: “From a retail perspective, a piece of chicken average sales price is N1,000. So, N1,000 multiplied by 1,224,000,000 will give us a value of about  1.224 trillion. Now, the question is how much of this money is getting to our farmers? This is one question natnuPreneur seeks to give positive answers to. We want to ensure that a good chunk of that figure gets into the pocket of poultry farmers through a reliable off-taking arrangement, effective poultry management trainings and capacity building.”

    He said his organisation introduced natnuPreneur project  to  increase the competitiveness of domestic production and processing of poultry meat and eggs, adding that the objective of the programme is to investigate key factors at the production stage and to showcase more efficient methods of production to increase profitability and attract more investment into the poultry sector.

    “Between 2014 and 2017, the programme has onboarded 1,156 farmers under different categories and clusters; off taken 4,348,640 birds; and paid out N4.352billion to famers.”

    The record, he revealed, has drawn the attention of various financial institutions,  such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Bank of Industry (BOI), Bank of Agriculture (BOA), Sterling Bank, Heritage Bank and others, to partner natnuPreneur and support its famers.

    “Also, because of their well thought out scientific process for broiler farming, natnuPreneur farmers have the ability to do six cycles yearly with mortality rate as low as four per cent.”

    He said: “To ensure farmer profitability, we have developed and tested our processes and have a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to guide our farmers on effective poultry farming. We’ve also developed a detailed economic model for our farmers – a net profit calculator, which guards against pilfer, wastage and fraud. We have also developed a Buy Back Price equation to ensure profitability, created a database that is searchable across various parameters, and have designed an effective customer satisfaction centre for support services.

    “The scheme has the potential of providing employment for over two million Nigerians, within the poultry value chain-feed mills, hatchery, logistics and transportation, chicken processing, chicken distribution and retailing.”

    Group Chief Operations Officer, Mr. Albert Begerano,  said natnuPreneur programme has thrived because of its backbones such as Amo Farm, which produces about 1,900,000 day olds weekly, with broiler chicks being 800,000.

    The integrated plant, which has storage capacity for 500 metric tonnes of feeds and maize, produces between 600 to 1,000 tonnes of feeds daily.

    And  its natnudO foods, where off taken birds are slaughtered and packaged, Begerano  said   produces 30,000 frozen chickens daily in the West, 10,000 in the North and 15,000 in the East, totaling 55,000 birds daily.

    The plant also provides                                                                                                                                                facilities for storage and preservation such as  blast freezers and cold rooms that could take over 600 tonnes of frozen chicken in the west alone.

  • 7 million Nigerians suffering from stress, depression, says expert

    No fewer than seven million Nigerians are suffering from stress and depression, Society of Family Physicians of Nigeria (SFPN), Ekiti Zone Chairman, Dr. Olabode Shabi, has said.

    Speaking at a lecture organised by the Information Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists in Ekiti State, Shabi described stress as an exaggeration of response to events and life-challenges that make a person feel threatened or upset in some ways, adding that depression is a common mental health problem affecting 29 million people in Africa out of an estimated 322 million people worldwide.

    In a paper titled: ‘’Stress and depression in  workplace: Strategic approach to management, Shabi, also the Chief Consultant Family Health of the Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido Ekiti, identified major causes of stress in workplace to include ambiguity in the job schedule of workers, career development pressure, poor working environment  lack of job security, fear of redundancy and early retirement, struggling to meet unrealistic targets, poor interpersonal relationship with the colleagues and superiors as well as low trust level and lack of problem sharing among workers.

    Stressing that no human being has immunity from depression under certain circumstances, Shabi highlighted major symptoms of the condition to include persistently sad moods, loss of pleasure in usual activities, feeling of helplessness and guilt or worthlessness, fatigue or decreased energy, loss of memory and concentration, loss of decision-making capability, poor abstract reasoning, restlessness, irritability, sleep disturbance and loss in appetite or weight.

    The SFPN Zonal Chairman listed major causes of stressful life conditions to include low literacy level, poverty and short life expectancy and negative life events such as bereavement, job loss, financial difficulties, divorce, loneliness, childhood abuse and neglect medical illnesses and exposure to chronic pains as well as imbibing some mentally stressful lifestyles, such as misuse of certain prescription drugs and abuse of substances such as cocaine, narcotics and alcohol as causes of depression outside the workplace.

    The medic identified strategies for managing stress to include avoiding unnecessary stress, reducing job stress by improving emotional intelligence, creating time for fun and relaxation, better management of one’s time, be willing to compromise, reframe problems, focus on positive things, accepting things one cannot change, sharing feelings with friends, resolving conflict  positively, adopting healthy lifestyles, exercising regularly, eating healthy diet, avoiding alcohol, cigarettes and drugs reducing sugar and caffeine as well as getting enough sleep.

    Earlier, the Permanent Secretary , Ekiti State Ministry of Information, Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Kola Ajumobi, advised workers to pay more attention to their health to reduce their chances of becoming victims of sudden death syndrome.

    Ajumobi described the lecture as  timely, stressing that more attention was  needed to achieve good health in view of the prevailing economic recession and incursion of killer and sometimes unfamiliar diseases such as hypertension, depression, Ebola, Lassa into the society.

    Ajumobi, who noted that health is a state of physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, emphasised that people should  not wait until they fall sick before becoming mindful of their health emphasising that prevention is better than cure.

  • Expert seeks special task force on church killings

    Security expert, Dr Ona Ekhomu, has urged the Federal Government to establish a special task force to investigate the killing of 13 persons at St. Philip’s Catholic Church at Ozubulu in Anambra State on August 6.

    In a statement yesterday Lagos, Ekhomu said: “There is an urgent need to put strategies in place that will lead to the speedy detection of the gunman and his accomplices to restore the faith of citizens in the government of Nigeria.”

    Ekhomu, who is the President of the Association of Industrial Security and Safety Operators of Nigeria, said there was need to translate the pledge of Acting President Yemi Osinbajo and Anambra State Governor willie Obiano that the perpetrators would be detected and punished.

    The security expert noted that leaving such a high profile mass killing in the hands of the regular police was “counter-productive and counter-intuitive”.

    He said many crime scene procedures had been neglected, the crime scene contaminated, evidence uncollected with proper chain of custody, among other anomalies.

    According to him, the crime scene procedural errors that were committed on August 6 would have implication on the detection and successful prosecution of the killers.

    Ekhomu said: “Bullet–casings from that crime scene should have been gathered to enable a determination of the type of weapon used in the active-shooter incident.”

    The security expert said the special task force should include police detectives, intelligence officials, forensic scientists and behavioural psychologists as well as two brilliant lawyers from the Federal Ministry of Justice and one lawyer from the Anambra State Ministry of Justice.

     

     

  • Expert blames clearing agents for N10b capital flight

    The Chief Executive of Rashy-Shol Nigeria Ltd, Mr. Rasheed Ishola has called on the government to curtail the activities of unlicensed clearing and forwarding agents in the country.

    He said they fleece government of not less than N10billion yearly, noting that taxes and other charges meant for the development of various ports would continue to nosedive if not checked.

    He added that the unlicensed agents constitute danger to unsuspecting customers in view of the lingering recession.

    According to him, “The havoc they wreck on importers is so great that, government need to quickly swing into action to stop them. If this is done, it would boost revenue for the government and as well help the image of the country.

    “This is because our ports are being used by locals and foreigners; this goes a long way to give the wrong impression.”

    Ishola further explained that clearing and forwarding union had made several attempts to check the activities of quacks, but didn’t succeed.

    “It is even unfortunate that some of these unlicensed agents are using the licensed agents’ platform to carry out their acts. They start by charging less than what is normal charged to clear goods for the port.

    “They will now demand for more money but at the end of the day, the clients will pay over N8000 for what should have cost N5000. At the end of the day, they will not pay tax to government or others legal charges,” he said.

  • Address food productivity, others, expert urges

    Vice President Corporate & Government Relations, Olam Nigeria, Ade Adefeko, has urged farmers and the food industry to address the challenge of agricultural competitiveness and productivity.

    Speaking during Akindelano Legal Practitioners’ seminar on Transforming Nigeria’s Agriculture and Agro-Allied Industry  in Lagos, Adefeko stressed the need for practical support to farmers on improving quality and cutting costs to improve competitiveness.

    He explained that the private sector has an important role to play in promoting sustainable and inclusive economic growth through initiatives  that  will benefit thousands of farmers, both women and men, across the  sector.

    According to him, improving rice production will help the  agri-sector  will help the  sector to  increase profitability sustainably, and improve farmer livelihoods.

    He announced that  Olams as a way of supporting the industry has rolled out sustainable agricultural standards and practices throughout its rice-production value chain .

    Adefeko said Olam was investing $150 million to set up two state-of-the-art animal feed mills, poultry breeding farms and a hatchery to produce day-old-chicks in Nigeria.

    He said the project will be Nigeria’s largest integrated animal feed mill, breeding farm and hatchery. He said $100 million had been committed to building and operating the facilities in Kaduna State while $50 million is for a second investment in an integrated poultry and fish feed mill located in Kwara State.

    The other investment is thev ongoing development of a 10,000-hectare rice farm and mill in Nasarawa State.

    To support Nigeria’s quest for rice self-sufficiency, he  said Olam aims to scale up production to over 40,000mt of paddy rice yearly.

  • Expert advises on safe floors

    Expert advises on safe floors

    Safety expert Mr. Tomasz Wolski has urged facility managers and property owners to consider floor safety as paramount in their services. He said floor treatment was very critical as slip and fall accidents were common occurrences at work places, event centers, homes and other high traffic facilities. The effect of a slip and fall accident, he said, can be fatal.

    He spoke at a three-day training programme organised by No-Slips Limited, the Nigerian representative and service provider for Surestep non-slip floor treatment in Nigeria. The training programme held last weekend in Lagos. Tomasz, a Polish, is a certified global Surestep trainer and safety professional.

    “Floor safety is important because we walk on floors every day. Safety and health are the two most important aspects of human well-being, so why won’t we care about it. Very often people forget about floor safety, but I think that our floors should never be unsafe,” he added.

    Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of No-Slips Limited, Mr. Charles Igbinidu, said people do not take floor safety serious because much attention has not been on slip and fall accidents in Nigeria.

    “People need to start taking floor safety very seriously. All over the world, people are constantly experiencing slip and fall accidents and every one of us can testify to that because, at some point in our lives, we have experienced it. Many people sustain permanent injuries and sometimes victims may die.

    “It’s unfortunate that people don’t like to talk about it and there is no accurate record of how many times people slip and fall,  but, the statistics available to us showed that the rate of slip and fall accidents in Nigeria  is alarming. People fall and get injured daily at homes, offices and other public places,” he said.

    He also stressed the need for facility managers and property owners to take responsibility for the safety of their guests, noting that the safety of their clients should be of utmost importance to them.

    “It is very important for facility managers of commercial buildings and other property owners to be aware of the dangers of untreated floors and make their floors safer for their guests. It is their duty to provide their guests or customers with a safe and friendly environment.”

    “As a matter of fact, everyone, who walks on any kind of floor, should be conscious of slip and fall accidents and do everything possible to prevent them from happening,” he added.