The Nation Newspaper

Tag: firm

  • Firm makes case for improved marine safety

    Firm makes case for improved marine safety

    Poor maritime safety in the country could be responsible for the upsurge in sea piracy and other related crimes, Tosan Harriman, Chief Executive Officer, Neptune Marine Services has said.

    Neptune which prides itself as a leader in the sector having been in existence as a going concern for over 60years, supplies safety equipment from leading manufacturers as well as operates liferaft stations in some parts of the country.

    The company only recently donated some equipment to the Nigerian Navy as part of its corporate social responsibility and commitment to stakeholders in the sector.

    Justifying the need for the donation, Harriman recalled that the relationship between his company and the Navy goes way back when the Patriarch of the Harriman family, Dr. Hope was actively involved in the sector thus the company had no plans to severe that relationship hence they decided to contribute the little they did towards uplifting the Navy.

    The younger Harriman said the company is usually all for awareness creation as far as marine safety is concerned.

    “Safety is obviously a big issue for them but there are always challenges. In terms of priorities and the other factors, you find that sometimes things get prioritised in such a way that marine safety is critical. Human beings have been going to sea for millennia’s but human safety is very important. When there is trouble at sea, the options are very limited and the chances of survival are high, everything has been prepared in advance.”

    On what the government can do with regards to marine safety, Harriman said there needs to be effective collaboration with sister agencies in order to achieve the utmost objective of marine safety in the country.

    Government, he stressed, “Has a very well developed and effective marine safety policy in place. It has institutions like NIMASA that oversees its general interests. So, I won’t say that government needs to do anything particular about the awareness of safety,” maybe the coordinated understanding of the latest development. For example, what we are donating is a brand new product, top on the range. Sometimes, people make do with older technology. Government does a lot of awareness but they can always do more. I think perhaps in the area of enforcement. I suspect that there may be operations that are not adequately secure in terms of safety. There are institutions in place to monitor that?”

    Neptune Marine Service Limited, formerly known as Marine Factors was the brainchild of the late Dr Hope Harriman. The company which has brought a lot of innovation into marine safety and security is currently being run by two sons Charles Tosan Harriman and Harold Oti Harriman.

  • Firm to begin sanitary wares production

    CDK Integrated Industries is to start the production of  porcelain tiles and sanitary wares from its factories in Shagamu, Ogun State, its Chief Executive Officer, Dr Khater Massaad, has said.

    Massaad, said the firm’s products would global standards that will stem the importation of ceramic tiles and sanitary wares. He regretted that Nigeria imports over 65 million square meters of tiles yearly when it has local capacity.

    The firm’s goal is to be the hub of ceramic tiles and sanitary wares in West Africa and “we have started the journey of building two world class factories, a great place to work and a place Nigerians will be proud to be associated with as we are also environmentally friendly in the nature of our construction”.

    He said to achieve world class status the firm is training Nigerians and investing in equipment that will produce high quality products of ceramic tiles and sanitary wares.

    “With one million square meters of land in Shagamu, we are set for the world to experience something new and wonderful from Nigeria. He promised that he will produce high quality products that will surpass what is available in Europe.  We are already set to meet international standards and our experience is global,” he said.

    On capacity, Massaad, said the factory will be producing five hundred thousand pieces of several models of European designs collections, with the best technology, best raw materials, highest standard, world class fittings and soft closing hinges among others annually.

    He said: “We want to be a respected partner in the business across the globe; with the aim that everyone that comes in contact with the CDK Integrated Industries brand of ceramics and sanitary wares will be glad to do so.

    Nigeria is the biggest economy in Africa, and it is providing a great platform for us to establish factories in a country with almost all the raw materials needed in the manufacturing of tiles and sanitary wares.”

  • Firm donates furniture to Ogun School

    As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), a Chinese Company, SEPCOIII Electric Power Construction Corporation has renovated the Olorunsogo Community Primary School in Ifo, Ogun State.

    It was gathered that before the renovation, the about 250 pupil of the school were usually beaten by the rain as there were no roofs, neither where there chairs nor tables.

    Aside renovating the block of five classrooms which accommodates no fewer than 250 pupils from the community, the company also donated school bags, chairs, tables and other learning materials to the children.

    Handing over the refurbished school to the community on Tuesday, Chinese Consul-General Liu Kan said the total input cost $31,000USD, adding that a total of 255 bags provided to the children were sponsored by the consulate.

    He stated that the initiative was conceived under the framework of the “China-Africa-People-to-People -Friendship-Action”.

    Noting that the framework was yearly and will be replicated across other communities in the country, he stated that Lagos has benefitted from it in the past three years.

    Kan said the programme was aimed at encouraging and supporting exchanges and corporation between organisations,  women and young people of both countries.

    He added that it encourages joint undertaking of small, micro programmes as well as promote mutual visits between the people of both countries.

    “The rehabilitation project for Olorunsogo Community Primary School was coordinated by the Consulate and carried out by SEPCOIII under the framework of the programme. The construction work was completed before May 2, the beginning of the new term.

  • Firm spends N3.6b on power

    ASHAKA Cement Plc spent N3.606 billion on power generation in one year,  according to its 2015 financial year report.

    The amount represented 20.71 per cent of its total revenue in the year under review and accounting for 30 per cent of its total cost of sales.

    The company, in its 2015 Annual Report, presented to shareholders at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Abuja, during the week, said the amount spent on power in 2015 was 33.16 per cent higher than the N2.708b spent in the same capacity in 2014.

    Ashaka Cement Plc declared a revenue of N17.415b in the year under review, dropping by 17.6 per cent from N21.134b in 2014; its profit before tax also dipped by 38.9 per cent from N5.25b in 2014 to N3.209b in 2015, while profit for the year stood at N2.765b, dropping by 39.5 per cent from N4.567b in 2014.

    The company also recorded total comprehensive income for the year of N2.761b, representing a decline of 45.2 per cent from N5.04b in 2014, while it cost of sales dropped to N12.02b from N12.98b in 2014.

    Giving a breakdown of its cost of sales, the company said N1.941b was spent on power, compared to N1.32b in 2014; N263.309 million was spent on coal as against N352.988b in 2014; while diesel (Automotive Gasoline Oil) for its plants and generators among others, gulped N1.402b, compared to N1.031b in 2014.

    To reduce the high cost of power generation, the Chairman, Board of Directors, Ashaka Cement Plc, Mr. Suleiman Yahyah, said the company had invested in power generation and that within the next 18 to 24 months, the power plants would be complete and would start supplying electricity to its facilities.

  • Crime of being an innovative indigenous firm

    The penchant of many Nigerians for foreign-made products is so much that one has reasons to sometimes believe that those Nigerians themselves are imported!

    As a people, many of us love our things foreign: from the crown of our head to the sole of our feet. The average Nigerian—especially those that qualify themselves as people with taste—would typically prefer an imported product over one made locally, even though the locally made product might be of superior quality. That is the extent of our love affair with everything non-Nigerian.

    However, if no one at all prioritises and patronises Made-in-Nigeria, it shouldn’t be the Nigerian government – which is supposed to be the biggest promoter of local industry. But as hardly anything in Nigeria is close to the ideal, instead of consciously supporting local industry, successive Nigerian governments seem to have perfected the act of killing local industry. And so far, the current government has not proven to be any better. For us as a people, the Latin saying, nemo dat quod non habet—”no one can give what they don’t have”—is true. Hence, we, “foreign Nigerians”, can only give what we have; therefore we have always put our kind in government.

    So, it did not come as a surprise—for a nation that imports toothpicks—when it recently appeared in the news that more foreign IT firms were about to make inroads into the Nigerian market. If it were about a decade ago when the Nigerian software space was not as mature as it is now, that news may have been negligible, but not now when the IT industry and specifically the software sector in Nigeria is coming into maturity and capable of being a top foreign  exchange earner for Nigeria. However, if a few weeks from now, a top official in the private or public sector announces in sweet-sounding words that a deal has been signed with more foreign IT firms, it would not come as a surprise.

    According to the Office for the Nigerian Content Development in ICT (ONC), Nigeria loses over N1 trillion in foreign exchange annually to the importation of ICT devices and software. Of the said amount, N250 billion is lost annually to the importation and maintenance of foreign software. There is no better proof that Nigeria is a top global dumping ground of foreign-made software than the banking sector, where more than 90% of Nigerian banks currently use foreign software from India, Jordan, Switzerland, Finland and other parts of the world for their various banking needs. Their reliance is not because local technology cannot meet all their needs, but because they lack belief in local firms.

    If private firms can be forgiven for depending on foreign solutions when there are capable local replacements, government cannot be forgiven for doing so. Nigerian governments at all levels have been the biggest culprit of favouring foreign software over local software. Examples of this abound: at the federal level, GIFMIS at the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) is powered by a software from Estonia, a country of 1.3million people (about 500,000 people less than the population of Ibadan); ITAS at FIRS is powered by a software made in Canada; IPPIS at OAGF is powered by a software from USA; Biometric Verification Number (BVN) at Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) Plc is powered by software from Germany; RTGS at Central Bank of Nigeria is powered by a software from Sweden.

    Remita, the well-known local software deployed by the Nigerian government, has been shot at from many quarters, either out of ignorance or because the shooters are against the positive changes the solution has brought to Nigeria. What Remita has done is that it has prevented the formerly prevalent thieving of government resources and has helped to institutionalise transparency in governance. So far, the Federal Government has been able to save more than N3 trillion through this locally made solution, and there is nowhere any top official of the federal government goes that they don’t sing the successes achieved with Treasury Single Account (TSA) which Remita powers. But if anyone told you that the providers of the software that has practically single-handedly brought an end to corruption in Nigeria have not been paid for more than a year (even though it is being used to pay government till date), you won’t believe it. But that is the truth. Such can only happen in Nigeria!

    Why does Nigeria hate her own so much? In a shabbily put-together report on its false allegation of fraud in the implementation of TSA, the Senate documented that “In spite of the initial relative advantage the bespoke solution, as  Remita,  could  have  over  the   globally  accepted Commercially available  Off The Shelf (COTS) software like SAP, Oracle Financials, Epicor, Navision etc., a desirable strategy is a two-step approach that starts with locally designed bespoke software solution and transiting to the more sophisticated and tested COTS.”

    There is no evidence greater that the Nigerian government—not exempting one that shouts CHANGE from the roof of its voice—doesn’t see local technology as capable of fully solving Nigeria’s challenges. Nigeria also appears to be buried under rubbles of inferiority complex, which have deprived us of the sense of appreciation for what is ours. As was said of Nazareth, it has been asked of Nigeria: “Can anything good come out of Nigeria?” Yes indeed, a lot of good is already coming out of Nigeria, but Nigerian are their own greatest enemy.

    According to the Ease of Doing Business Index of 2015, Nigeria is one of the worst places to do business in the world, after emerging 170th place among 189 countries ranked. In Nigeria, you’re literally your own government. Therefore, many businesses have either died or are awaiting death. The least one expects of successive Nigerian governments that have failed to provide power, the most vital element of a thriving economy, is support for local businesses who have managed to survive despite myriad of challenges. But no, not only does the Nigerian government not provide a conducive environment for businesses, government appears to be all out to stifle local businesses who manage to survive the tough environment.

    One of the most common excuses for the rejection of Nigerian solutions is that they are often not up-to-par. Sometimes, that’s only a perception that impinges us from overlooking products that have potentials or those that meet the standard. What we forget is that no solution is ever up-to-par the first time, not even those we have grown accustomed to importing. The solutions we import into our country were first grown by their own countries. Had their countries jettisoned them as we do ours, there would never be anything good enough for us to use.

    As a matter of fact, the taste of Nigerians for imported products is affront on our collective capability as a people. It is saying that we are a nation bustling with more than 170 million people without potentials. We are indeed our own enemies because we have not learnt to appreciate and nurture our inventions. Our taste has grown too accustomed to eating the fruits of other people’s labour, we strangle out those who manage to be innovative among us.

    Nigeria should truly value her own and stop despising the days of little beginning. Instead of running down local businesses, we should make conscious efforts to be a part of the growth of what is ours. There isn’t any reason, for instance, why Nigeria should be exporter of IT solutions that have been used and trusted locally. There is no reason Nigeria cannot export its TSA solution to the rest of Africa and the world, and by so doing, earn handsome foreign exchange. As a people, we need to stop being the only hindrance between where we should be and where we are.

     

    • Chukwuemeka, an IT expert wrote in from Lagos.
  • Firm adopts 18 public schools

    Firm adopts 18 public schools

    No fewer than 26,000 school children have benefited from FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc’s School Adoption Programme.

    The dairy firm, makers of Peak, Three Crowns and Friso brands of milk has endowed 18 public schools under the programme. It said the gesture was in response to the need to promote quality education and to enhance the nutritional well-being of the students.

    Speaking at the 43rd Annual Inter-house Sports Day of Federal Government College, Odogbolu, Ogun State, the Corporate Affairs Director of FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria, Ore Famurewa, noted that improving the quality of education across the country requires an all-around approach that focuses not only on classrooms, books and equipment, but also ensures that the students are healthy and mentally alert to carry them into adulthood.

    Represented by the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, Gbenga George, Famurewa added that during every School Adoption Programme, white marker boards are donated. A total of 340 have been given out so far. Also donated were sample cartoons of handy, pocket friendly Peak evaporated milk in sachets to students and a nutritional talk. The climax of the event is a choreography session by students who won various branded gifts.

  • Interior solution firm eyes listing on Exchange

    Interior solution firm eyes listing on Exchange

    DO.II Designs Limited, a leading Nigerian interior solutions company, plans to grow its business and subsequently list its shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) as it strives to maintain its pace as a Nigerian company of global standards.

    Speaking on the activities of the company in Lagos, founder and chief executive officer, DO.II Designs Limited, Mrs Ifeyinwa Ighodalo, said listing on the Stock Exchange has been one of the discussion points of the strategic future plan of the company, although no timeline has been decided for that.

    She said the company was also considering raising new capital to support its expansion.

    “In order to be able to develop and expand as much as we want, we will definitely need inflow of funds, but the options are still under consideration,” Ighodalo said.

    She reaffirmed the commitment of the company to offering corporate and private clients unique and innovative furniture solutions as well as an exciting selection of services and product offerings.

    According to her, with over 25 years of experience in the furniture manufacturing and interior design industry, DO.II is a specialist in furniture design services for residential and corporate properties and it is well-known for providing superb turnkey remodelling and highly acclaimed for space transformations, with bespoke project management services available to clients from conceptualisation to finish.

    She pointed out that the firm has its own Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON)-certified factory with high performing machinery producing furniture at international standards.

    “Our desire is to continually evolve as Nigeria’s leading furniture and design company totally aligned with global best practice, while ensuring that we offer our clients not only the finest in superior craftsmanship, but also an increasingly rich bouquet of service and product offerings. We are proud of the fact that we are a wholly indigenous company, not just by birth, but by design,” Ighodalo said.

    She noted that the company boasts of clients in the hospitality, fast moving consumer goods, telecoms, oil and gas, government, aviation and banking industries among others.

    She said DO.II offers a rich repertoire of furniture and design solutions that fully represents the keen influences of Nigerian art and style with excellent craftsmanship.

  • Firm to create 10,000 ICT jobs

    An e-commerce platform, Quickpromo.com, a brand of Vertrag International Limited, has promised to create over 10,000 jobs  this year.

    Its Chief Executive Officer, Mr Olubunmi Oluwadare said the e-commerce wholesale promotional products platform has over 1,000 factories across the globe, where promotional products are purchased online at factory prices.

    Speaking with our reporter in Lagos, Mr Oluwadare said the platform offers the largest selection on the web of the most innovative and cost effective promotional gifts for meetings and events, product branding, and trade shows.

    He said the site offers perfect promotional product for all marketing campaign needs.

    He said: “Our factory represents over 100,000 unique items and we are Africa first online promotional items production and branding factory. We offer items including, pen and pencils, electronics and technology items, custom flash drives, clothing, clocks and wretches, caps and hats, bags, automotive items and corporate gifts among others.

    “At Quickpromo.com, buyers can order promotional item in wholesale and the items would be delivered to their door step without buyers going to the factory. Our aim is to bridge the gap between the factory and the vendors.

    “Our online platform is built with an app which is compatible with any Android device. Our focus in Nigeria is to create over 10,000 jobs before the year ends.”

    He added that the online platform cut across every sector including, entertainment, events, school and religious organisations, saying the entrepreneurs on the platform would be trained to discover their area of strength to cover which sector.

  • Firm urges court to order document’s release

    Lagos-based firm, Mcdonald Scientific Emporium Limited (MSEL), has gone to a Lagos High Court seeking to recover its alleged missing Deed of Assignment (Title Document), registered as No. 16 at Page 16 in Volume 2180 of the Land Registry Office of Lagos from Access Bank Plc

    The claimant accused the bank of refusing to return the document after several attempts were made to retrieve it.

    The claimant also averred that the continued withholding of the document has hindered its access to credit facilities from other banks.

    It said it had always financed its business transactions with credit facilities obtained from banks in Nigeria.

    The claimant said an offer letter dated September 15, 2008, by Intercontinental Bank Plc (now Access Bank) approved the extension of a term loan facility to it.

    The offer letter required  security for the loan, which included but not limited to a legal mortgage on property located at Plot 152 Raymond Iromaka Close by Festac/Amuwo Odofin Bridge, Amuwo Odofin, Lagos covered by Deed of Assignment registered as No. 16 at Page 16 in Volume 2180 of the Land Registry Office in Lagos. The said property is owned by, and is registered in the claimant’s name.

    Claimant said it accepted the offer and thereafter deposited the original title document with the defendant being a condition precedent for drawing down the facility.

    According to the claimant, in another bid to raise the sum of N64,944,306.84, it approached First City Monument Bank Ltd (FCMB) to seek a loan facility.

    By a letter dated 29th August, 2014, FCMB offered the Claimant a takeover loan facility. By virtue of the takeover loan, FCMB was to lend the Claimant some amount of money for two purposes to wit: To finance the replenishment of Claimant’s stock in preparation for the massive annual sales of August and September 2014 and to liquidate the claimant’s total outstanding indebtedness to the defendant as at that date using the claimant’s title deed deposited with the defendant as security for the loan.

    The claimant stated that due to the defendant’s negligence, failure and/or deliberate refusal to release the said title documents to FCMB, FCMB was constrained to withdraw the said offer letter for loan.

    It is, therefore, praying the court to hold that the original Deed of Assignment is in the defendant’s possession.

    The claimant sought a declaration that the defendant’s failure, refusal and/or negligence to respond to First City Monument Bank’s letter dated 17th November 2014 by confirming to FCMB that the Claimant’s original title document is in the defendant’s possession (so as to enable FCMB liquidate Claimant’s N9,409,089.45 debt to defendant) amounted to negligence and breach of the defendant’s fiduciary obligation and duty of care to the Claimant.

    It also prayed for an order compelling the defendant to immediately produce the original Deed of Assignment and hand it over to the claimant immediately and an order compelling the defendant to pay special damages to the claimant in the sum of N82, 599,386.92 being loss of income/profit suffered by the Claimant as a result of the defendant’s failure, refusal and/or negligence to confirm to FCMB that Claimant’s original Deed of Assignment is in the Defendant’s possession.

    In its defence,  Access Bank said: “ The said title document registered as No 85 in Volume 77 at Federal Lands Registry in the office at Lagos deposited as security for the loan granted by the bank was returned to the claimant  Mcdonald  with a Deed of Release which was issued in the claimant’s favour.”

    The defendant also claimed that the Deed of Assignment which the claimant seemed to be relying upon as its title to the property which was executed between one Philip Kayode Olusegun Ojo and the claimant does not have any registration details as a Deed of Assignment duly registered as the Lagos State Lands Registry Alausa, Ikeja.

    It, therefore, urged the court to ignore the claimant and strike out the suit for lacking in merit.

    No date has been fixed for hearing.

  • Firm to generate 50 megawatts

    A foremost international solar energy company, Asteven Solar Nigeria, has promised to create 500,000 direct jobs by accelerating access to affordable power solutions to Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) through specially designed channels.

    The company has concluded arrangements to generate 50 megawatts of electricity through solar energy in the next two years.

    The Managing Director, Dr Sunny Akpoyibo, said this in an interview on the sidelines of the Nigeria Energy Forum 2016.

    He explained that portable solar systems of various capacities would supply power needs to existing SMEs and also spur new ones in the fields of technology, agriculture, education, health and business owners.

    Akpoyibo observed that Nigeria could bridge its energy gap by strategically leveraging on renewable energy, especially from solar that is in abundant supply.

    He added that the company had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Green Energy Finance International Limited to implement a model that guarantees affordable flexibility to make low-income earning Nigerians acquire the power system.