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Tag: factories

  • Amosun opens three mega factories

    Amosun opens three mega factories

    Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun yesterday inaugurated three consumer goods’ factories.

    The factories belong to Reckitt Benkiser, Unilever and Honda Manufacturing – all in Sango-Ota/Agbara.

    Amosun described the event as another milestone.

    The governor said it was in tandem with a vital agenda of his five cardinal programmes aimed at reducing unemployment.

    He assured residents that his administration will continue to collaborate with security agencies to make the state conducive and secure for businesses.

    Praising them for being responsive to their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Amosun urged them to consider backward integration and import substitution.

    According to him, his administration will continue to make friendly policies to engender development.

    On the Agbara-Lusada Road, Amosun said his administration had mobilised contractors to use concrete , instead of asphalt, which will fail on time due to the weight of vehicles plying the route.

    The governor noted that one driving force for development is infrastructure.

    He urged companies operating in the state, especially those in Agbara, to partner the government to serve them better and complete the road to alleviate the suffering of residents.

    Chairman of Reckitt Benkiser Chief Olu Falomo; Executive Vice President of Unilever Mr. Yaw Nsarkoh; and Managing Director of Honda Mr. Katsuhiro Murooka, thanked the government for making the state secure for businesses to thrive.

  • Forex policy has killed 200 factories, claims MAN

    Forex policy has killed 200 factories, claims MAN

    The foreign exchange (Forex) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) banning importation of 41 items has forced more than 200 factories to close down in the last two years, the Manufactueres Association of Nigeria (MAN) has said.

    MAN’s Director-General Mr. Segun Ajayi-Kadir, called for a review of the policy to save the sector. He spoke when he led some members of the association to visit   Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) Executive Secretary, Hassan Bello.

    “The restriction on the 41 items should be reviewed to remove the raw materials that are in it,” he said.

    Ajayi Kadir said 95 out of the more than 680 tariff lines in the 41 items were raw materials that are not locally available. “The way out is to take out those materials that are listed on the 41 items. It is not the right thing to do to deny any manufacturing industry the material it needs to produce,” he pointed out.

    Ajayi-Kadir argued that the inclusion of essential raw materials in the restriction basket does not make sense; that it was an error that was made and must be corrected. “The raw materials that are needed to produce must be brought in especially because they are not locally available.

    “To deny us access to those raw materials was ill advised and it should be changed. We are engaging government, the CBN and the Presidency. We have been having positive reactions, but something just needs to be done,” he insisted.

    The MAN boss further said there is the need for government to provide a conducive and friendly operating environment for manufacturers. Ne noted that a conducive environment is a prerequisite for a successful manufacturing company.

    Bello said the NSC would continue to promote the ease of doing business and a reduction in the cost of doing business in Nigeria.

    His words: “The essence of privatisation is to bring down the cost of doing business comparative to what we have in other climes.

    “We can only do that through negotiations and we have been doing that to see that prices are reasonable and competitive together with the service providers. Everything we do, we need to get their buy-in because our regulation is democratic and we will achieve the same aim that we set out to achieve.”

  • Govt urged to build cocoa factories

    Govt urged to build cocoa factories

    The Federal Government should build cocoa factories to address youth unemployment, the Operating Officer (COO), The Centre for Cocoa Development Initiative, Inc, Robo Adhuze, has said.

    He said establishing new cocoa processing industries and revamping others would increase economic opportunities through sustainable and competitive cocoa production, marketing and agro-enterprise development.

    He  lamented  that cocoa processing has declined substantially, appealing to the government to breathe a new life into the industry by making dedicated attempts to revitalise the processing segment through financial support to  ailing businesses.

    He called on the government to create the foundation for a modern, viable cocoa industry that will flourish and attract new investors, enhance rural livelihoods and encourage self-employment, and maximise the country’s opportunity to receive a premium price for the product on the world market.

    He urged the government to take steps to boost cocoa production by supporting farms to move from traditional crop growing agriculture to agro-processing.

    He added that the level of public sector investment was  low, reflecting that the government is not committed to boosting cocoa production.

    He urged the government to support farmers, by providing more access to extension services and training in best practices, adding that it would have an impact on the domestic cocoa industry.

    He asked the government to treat cocoa production as national commodity and to develop it to increase the national economic growth.

    Meanwhile, participants at the just-international cocoa conference  in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, agreed that if well developed cocoa can bolster the economy, or displace petroleum products as a primary foreign exchange earner.

    The event was organised by the Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN) and World Cocoa Producers Organisation.

    CAN President, Sayina Riman, explained that the conference was convened to help critical stakeholders in the industry discuss price risk management project, which had over the years critically impacted against smallholder farmers and other developing economies globally.

    Executive Director, Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN), Prof. Malachy Akoroda, said cocoa had great economic potential for the country given the high demand for it around the world.

    “Cocoa is number one non-oil export earner for Nigeria even when it is not enjoying desired state support, push and encouragement for local farmers. The product has great hope. There are great demands for cocoa bye products in Western and Eastern countries but capacity to supply is limited,” he said.

    Akoroda noted the quality of cocoa produced in Nigeria, saying it is the best globally because of the high-breed species.

    He said it had impossible for farmers to plant, nurture and have a high-yield specie in six months, adding that even in 18 months, there could be unimaginable and bounty harvest compared to what can be obtainable with old species.

    “Anyone can plan this specie and make real good profit, so that, say, in five years, it is possible for the farmer to make as much as N15 million in profit”, the expert said.

    He, however, lamented that pricing had been the major challenge because of factors, such as fertiliser, transportation and politics, in the world market.

    Riman said cocoa business could change the economic fortunes of Nigeria, adding that it is more sustainable than oil because there is possibility that oil can dry but cocoa will not.

  • More jobs for Owo, Ose indigenes as lawmaker promises two factories

    More jobs for Owo, Ose indigenes as lawmaker promises two factories

    It was a moment of joy for the lawmaker representing Owo/Ose federal constituency at the House of Representatives, Hon. Bode Ayorinde as he celebrated his 55th birthday, the 30th remembrance of his mother and also inaugurated  his constituency office. But, what many will be looking forward to are the two factories the lawmaker  promised the people of Owo and Ose, reports LEKE AKEREDOLU.

    Hon. Bode Ayorinde, who is representing Owo/Ose federal constituency of Ondo State in the House of Representatives, is referred to as the “gentle lawmaker” because he prefers dialogue in solving issues rather than throwing chairs.

    Ayorinde, the Pro-Chancellor of Achievers Private University in Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State, was 55 recently and he rolled out the drums. That was not the only event Ayorinde marked; he also celebrated the 30 years remembrance of his late mother, Mama Alago Ijanrensola Ayorinde and also opened his constituency office at No. 5 Aruwajoye Street, Owo.

    Politicians across political parties, including his eight other colleagues representing the state in the lower chamber,  graced the two-day events. Sons and daughters of the ancient town in different political camps united for Ayorinde.

    Though, Ayorinde birthday was on June 22 but he shifted the celebration to June 26 and 27. The event began with the visitation of the celebrant and his wife Adejoke, friends and members of the Governing Council, led by Prof. Tunji Ibiyemi to the School of the Blind in Owo where Ayorinde, popularly called “Achiever” donated his widow’s mite to the less privilege.

    They later moved to the expansive hall of Achievers’ University for the birthday lecture where he was ushered in by his students with a loud chorus.

    The lecture titled “Politics and Economic Development in Nigeria: The Change Phenomenon and delivered by Dr. James Oladunjoye, a lecturer from Department of English, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife Osun State, was well attended by traditional rulers, academics and politicians among others.

    The lawmaker is an expert in many professions. He is a lawyer with PhD in law, a banker with an associate membership of the Institute of Bankers and a teacher.

    The guest lecturer is an old student of the lawmaker. Oladunjoye described Ayorinde as a gentleman of the highest order, a teacher who actually taught and impacted knowledge to his students.

    “Let me use this opportunity to appreciate this teacher, mentor and a brother for all his intervention in my life and career. It is from his milk of knowledge that I cut my teeth in the academics.

    “He is a testament in courage and determination. Let me equally appreciate his amiable wife, Mrs. Adejoke Bode-Ayorinde, for her supporting and accommodating spirit,” the lecturer said.

    Prof.Ademola Popoola, the Chairman of the occasion, was a  lecturer during the lawmaker’s days in OAU. He said Ayorinde’s approach to issues make them closer to each other.

    The Professor of Law described the celebrant as a good listener, who always appreciated ideas capable of bringing progress to his life.

    The second day  witnessed the opening of the constituency office . The lawmaker was accompanied to the new office by the Ondo State Chairman of the APC, Mr. Isaac Kekemeke,  Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN), Senator Titus Olupitan, Chief Olusola Oke, Chief Alaba Isijola, the Owo local government women leaders and Mrs. Akinrogbe among others.

    Kekemeke, who inaugurated the constituency office, hailed Ayorinde for not diverting from the ideology of the party which is to make government responsible to the masses.

    Kekemeke noted that the office would serve as link between the people and the lawmaker.

    The event could not take longer time as many other well wishers of the celebrants were already waiting at the Church for the birthday and burial remembrance services at Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Igboroko-Nla Street, Owo.

    Ayorinde decked in “Aso ofi” was ushered into the service with his wife by members of Man O’war.

    Dignitaries at the church service, included the Olowo of Owo, Oba Folagbade Olateru-Olagbegi, represented by his Chief of Staff, Chief Olubola, Alani of Idoani, Oba Olufemi Olutoye, Olupemen of Ipemen, Oba Femi Ademulegun, Chief Rotimi Ibidapo, a.k.a Bassy, High Chief Oshuporu of Owo land.

    Others were House of Representatives members Mayowa Akinfolarin, Victor Akinjo, Joseph Akinlaja, Babatunde Kolawole, Mike Omogbehin, Friday Olemija, Afe Olowookere and Dele Baderinwa

    The expansive church could not contain all the guests as canopies were also erected in the church premises to accommodate more guests.

    In his sermon,the Bishop of Owo Anglican Diocese,Rev James Oladunjoye challenged politicians to always live up to their promises to the people.

    The cleric lawmakers must do the bidding of the masses by working on issues that would have impact on the lives of those who they are representing.

    Ayorinde said: “I am overwhelmed by the encomiums, large attendance and eminent personalities that came to honour me. It is wonderful.

    “The office according to the constitution is expected to be a contact office. Not everybody in Owo/Ose local governments can have access to my house, most of them will come to my house and they will tell them that I have travelled but my office will be opened because there is official office hours which is 8 a.m to 5pm .

  • NAFDAC seals 40 illegal sachet water factories

    NAFDAC seals 40 illegal sachet water factories

    The National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has shut down 40 illegal sachet water production companies in Kano.

    The companies were operating under various names but did not have NAFDAC registration numbers.

    Addressing reporters after sealing the two companies at farm centre in Kano, NAFDAC’s State Coordinator Nnaja Nnaja solicited public support against unregistered water production.

    He noted that there were several illegal companies producing not only sachet water but also yoghurt and juice that are not good for human consumption.

    Nnaja warned owners of such businesses to register them to produce standard consumables.

    According to him, NAFDAC in Kano, in the last three weeks, had been clamping down on illegal sachet water production companies.

    Nnaja said such companies had become rampant in the state, adding that 40 of such companies had been sealed off.

    The coordinator said NAFDAC was working to protect the people’s health and prevent them from consuming contaminated products.

  • Leather sellers decry factories’ closure, others

    The Federation of Leather and Allied Products Association of Nigeria, (FOLAPAN) in Onitsha, Anambra State, has appealed to the Federal Government to revive the leather industry in the country.

    They noted that lack of basic infrastructure, including power, good road network, fund and water should be improved to ease leather production.

    FOLAPAN’s Ad-hoc Committee Chairman, Mr. Chukwubuike Nwachukwu said inadequate supply of quality leather had led to a declining demand which in turn slowed the growth of the domestic market.

    Nwachukwu, who is also Chairman of Onitsha Shoe Material Association, said inadequate provision of infrastructure has hindered increase in the production of leather.

    He urged the Federal Government to regulate the sector to restore its lost glory.

    He advised that the government should standardise the quality of leather that are imported into the country.

    “Power supply is of utmost importance to the production of garment and shoes in Nigeria and all over the whole world”.

    “This is one of the reasons the finishing of shoes and garments in Nigeria is always poor because the work is done manually instead of using machine and this is the competitive advantage the Asian countries have over us”.

    “Until the manufacturers of garment and shoes in Nigeria begin to use the right tools in production, good finishing will remain a mirage. The manufacturers need power to run their machines. The machines are not hand driven but electricity powered,” he said.

    He also said the leather sector is the second highest foreign exchange earner after the oil industry, adding that the leather sector exported over 600 million square feet of leather in 2009 and earned about $680 million for tanned skin (GEMS12012).

    He added: “In the 80s, there were over 40 fully operational tanneries. However, by the 1990s due to several constraints, this figure fell sharply to only four functional tanneries, none of which are indigenously owned.

    “Between 1980 and 1986 there were about 13 leather foot wear companies in Nigeria, employing over 17,00 workers. However, by 1995 the number of companies had reduced to seven, with 6,212 employees and by 2000, there were only three companies remaining with just about 2006 employees.”

  • The evil baby factories do

    The evil baby factories do

    That I will maintain this sacred trust holding myself afar, aloof from wrong, from corrupting, from tempting others to crime.”

    The foregoing is an excerpt from an oath attributed to Hippocrates (460BC – 370BC), a philosopher, who is regarded as the father of medicine. Though the oath was not penned down until about a century after his demise; the statement has, however, undergone several modifications, with the emergence of different versions.

    Page Seven of the Code of Conduct of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) is coined from the Hippocrates’ oath, which medical professionals refer to as the “Physician’s Oath”. It reads: “I will maintain, by all means in my power, the honour and noble traditions of the Medical (dental) profession.”

    Being a doctor comes with honour because the society sees medical practitioners as role models. Those who do not listen to the scripture are ever willing to wait patiently to hear a doctor’s advice to maintain a healthy life. What a noble profession!

    However, the behaviour of some doctors nowadays leaves much to be desired. By aiding and abetting several medical blunders, many doctors have violated the oath they took while leaving medical college.

    Late last year, security agencies uncovered two baby factories in eastern Nigeria, where pregnant ladies delivered babies for sale in the market. These baby factories hid under the umbrella of maternity, motherless babies home and non-governmental organisations (NGO) with a pledge to rendering humanitarian services.

    Ezuma Women and Children Right Protection Initiative, and Ahamefule Maternity and Motherless Babies Home were baby factories operated by 65-year-old medical doctor, James Ezuma, and a woman referred to as “Madam One thousand”. The business of these criminals boomed because they were assisted by doctors, nurses, social workers and civil servants.

    A 17-year-old Adaobi Akabueze said she was referred to the centre by a medical doctor when her pregnancy was seven-month old. People could be so heartless to run such shameful business. As a medical doctor Ezuma is supposed to know the pains ladies undergo during childbirth. What could have made Ezuma to thread this inglorious path?

    Who approved “Madam One Thousand” a licence to operate a maternity home? When the health officers assisted the victims to deliver their babies, did they not the kind of business they were aiding? Could it be the love of money against the service to humanity for which the medical profession is known?

    Worse, these criminals move about in exotic cars, an indication that their satanic business was booming. What is the morality behind selling babies and use the proceeds from it for philanthropy.

    I could not imagine how unbearable life would have been for the victims to be camped in a poorly ventilated room and robbed of their priceless gift from God by agents of devil. What those operators of the baby factory have done can best be termed “modern day slavery”.

    Section 34 (1) b of the Constitution says: “Every individual is entitled to respect for the dignity of his person and accordingly, no person shall be held in slavery or servitude.” But the victims were held and brainwashed against their wishes to sell their babies. The perpetrators should not be allowed to go free. They should be treated in accordance with the laws to serve as deterrent to those already nursing the ambition to promote the nefarious business.

    Could it be unemployment that led the criminals to engage in the bad business? Come on, some Nigerians are surviving despite the widespread poverty in the land. Yet, some religious leaders may say the existence of baby factory business is a sign of the end time. This is a ‘Nigerian mentality’.

    We are quick to attribute anything negativity to end time – unemployment, high mortality rate, political instability, Boko Haram insurgency and corruption. Whereas, these are vices that can be tackled if we are ready to change our ways as a people.

    The stigmatisation of pregnant ladies out of wedlock is one of the reasons why baby factories thrive. This should be discouraged. The fact that a lady ‘mistakenly’ got pregnant does not make her a failure.

    The MDCN, body overseeing medical practice in Nigeria, should not relent in sanitising the system. Proper monitoring should be ensured to purge quacks and criminals from the system and prevent miscreants from invading the revered profession.

    We must also collaborate with the professional body to rid the country of this ill. Section 24 (E) of the Constitution states: “It shall be the duty of every citizen to render assistance to appropriate regulatory agencies in the maintenance of law and order.” This is a call for attitudinal change as we cannot keep waiting on government to effect the change we need.

    If we fail to arrest the scourge of baby factory putting our nation into disrepute, our efforts to rebrand the nation will forever remain a mirage.

    •Eddy, 100-Level Medicine, UNIBEN

     

  • Fetish of baby factories

    Of all the atrocities of baby factories in the country, the scariest is the fact that no one is seeing the abominable crime in the trade, let alone hunting down the criminals and keeping them out of business.

    In Abia State, Governor Theodore Orji’s wife Odorchi has reportedly pledged to “flush out baby factory in the state”. And to demonstrate the state government’s similar disposition, Lady Odorchi promptly adopted a baby whose father was incapacitated by a ghastly accident.

    In neighbouring Imo, Governor Rochas Okorocha has reportedly donated some millions for the upkeep of expectant teenage mothers and babies rescued from a baby factory in the state. He has also gone on to say that all orphanages will henceforth report to his office or perhaps that of the “first lady”.

    All that may be a good thing but neither from Abia nor Imo has come any firm assurances that the crime in this blatant baby factory assault will be punished.  In one instance, we hear, two employees of one “factory”, an elderly security guard and a 23-year-old man, both fathers of the factory babies, have been arrested. The owner of the “factory”, a woman known only as Madam One Thousand, has melted into the proverbial thin air. I fear that when things quiet down and we have exhausted our initial misgivings and horror, Madam One Thousand will stroll back to her beat to take off where she left off with new recruits and hirelings.

    Who are the patrons of baby factories which have been discovered not just in the Southeast but also in Lagos? How long have they been in operation? How far spread is the menace? To what use are the babies put?

    Some argue that baby factories thrive in Nigeria because childless couples will rather have a baby through such factories than live with the apparent societal stigma. It is also said that our adoption laws are not streamlined, leaving couples having conception challenges with little or no choice but to acquire a child by hook or crook.

    Such arguments do not move me. Ours has since become a fetish society, with desperate people who are willing to, and really do, anything to make money and push up their profile and society rating. People are killed and their bodies quartered for money rituals. These crimes are reported frequently.  What is not often reported is the punishment of the criminals and that may because the rogues are never apprehended or prosecuted. Beneath the baby factories lie some atrocious crimes our leaders somehow gloss over.

    A typical baby factory drips with crime, from its roof to the foundations. A closeup report on the recent one in Imo was instructive. Madam One Thousand’s “factory” is conceived to deceive. A sachet water facility is in front shielding visitors from what lies behind. An elderly man is the guard. Who will suspect anything? Apparently, there is a sophisticated ring beyond its gates. According to one report, medical doctors do refer teenage girls with unwanted pregnancies to such a “factory” where they could have their babies quietly and move on with their lives. On getting to the “safe haven” they discover an entirely bizarre, new world from which they cannot escape. They are crammed into too few rooms with only mats for beddings. They are scarcely fed. They are probably not paid. The guard walks in to sleep with them and impregnate them in turns. A 23-year-old comes in also to sleep with the girls and ensure that the mission is accomplished. Again and again, the girls are delivered of babies whose destinations their mothers know not.

    One of the rescued girls said she was told that rather than have an unwanted child she could give it to someone who wanted it. But it is not clear what they will do with the child.

    By virtue of their age, some of the girls are minors but that fact does not dissuade operators of illicit facilities. It makes no difference to them if some of the girls’ parents have no knowledge of their children’s whereabouts, wellbeing or safety.

    Those who blame this crime on poor adoption laws and unfriendly African disposition to childlessness prefer to forget that the same African society abhors fraudulent acquisition of children. It is also implausible that minors and teenagers are so woefully dehumanised and exploited just to make childless couples happy. It is unacceptable that girls as young as 14 are beaten up when they try to escape just because operators of such inhuman facilities want to help other people.

    All there in this is nothing but atrocious, fetish crime against teenagers, against their parents, against the newborns, against the Nigerian and African society, against the laws of the land, against humanity. The state and federal governments and their agencies are obliged to investigate this sordid crime and, for once, make the criminals pay.

  • Nigeria’s baby factories

    Nigeria’s baby factories

    Sex slavery for child breeding and trafficking, now exposed, must stop

     

    The recent discovery of 17 pregnant teenage girls in a so-called baby-factory in Imo State is a sober reminder of just how badly Nigeria has failed to curb the heinous trade in human beings. More than that, it manifests in stark terms the retreat to savagery and plunder of innocence in the Nigerian society.

    The girls, aged between 14 and 17, were found in a fake motherless babies’ home where they had been put by the proprietor, nicknamed “Madam One Thousand.”

    They were allegedly impregnated by the same man, and their babies were going to be sold off to waiting buyers.For a nation whose indigenes were serially victimised by centuries of foreign and domestic slavery, it is shocking that such practices are still rampant. The case in Imo State is only the latest in a series of discoveries that have included the exposure of similar operations across the country, especially in the south-east.

    The cruelty involved in this grim business is all too obvious. Most of the girls are young and vulnerable to the blandishment of those who wish to exploit them. They are often raped in the process of making them pregnant and kept in unhygienic conditions before they deliver the babies they will never see again. They are then paid paltry sums and thrown into the street. As for the unfortunate infants that have been brought into the world so inauspiciously, their fate ranges from adoption to being sacrificed for ritual purposes.

    The social consequences of this heartless business are profound and wide-ranging. Quite apart from the continuous denigration of motherhood, there is the certain rise in ritual killings that is sure to take place when the supply of hapless victims is guaranteed in this macabre fashion. Genuine adoption procedures are destined to fail in the face of this illegal alternative. Many vulnerable young women will be forced into the baby-factory trade as its promoters seek to ensure the continuity of their business. The family, as the basic unit of society, will be undermined.

    To make matters worse, the baby-factory business is likely to enhance the other illegalities that abound in Nigeria. Trafficking in human beings, forced labour, prostitution and other vices will thrive. New crimes like the trade in human organs are also likely to develop. As the promoters become ever richer, they will further distort the already-weakened moral basis of society.

    It must be wondered why there is such a profusion of baby-factories in Nigeria. These operations are often set up in urban areas, and are able to accommodate sizeable numbers of girls who are kept on the premises for months on end. Babies are delivered and sold with an efficiency that goes on for months, if not years. Records are falsified, documents are altered, lies are told. Yet nobody appears to know anything until the operation is smashed.

    Clearly, many agencies have failed in their duties. The ministries of youth and welfare across the country do not seem to have any idea of exactly how many motherless babies’ homes are operating illegally. The country’s system of birth registration is clearly not strict enough, since it appears to be possible for a baby to be born without the official notice of the authorities. Young girls are able to disappear for months on end without any alarm. Families are seen to have new babies, even though neighbours cannot remember if the “mothers” were ever pregnant. The Nigeria Police is not as assiduous in following up reports of missing people or illegal trade in babies as it should be. In essence, a comprehensive breakdown of the country’s welfare, security and identification systems has enabled this tragedy to occur.

    Part of the virtual impunity under which the baby-sellers operate is their seeming invulnerability before the law. It is rare for a case of baby-trafficking to appear in Nigeria’s courts; it is even rarer for those involved to be sentenced and jailed. When culprits are allowed to get away with their crimes in this manner, it only goes to substantiate rumours of complicity at the highest levels of society.

    The country must come to grips with this crime that targets its most vulnerable citizens. The procedures for the setting-up of motherless babies ‘homes, maternities and hospitals must be strictly followed. Birth registration processes must be completely overhauled to ensure that the registration of all new-borns is obligatory. The security agencies should be quick to follow up all reports of missing persons or baby-trafficking which come to them. When culprits are apprehended, they must be made to face the full force of the law. Babies are not for sale.