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  • Court restrains firm from trespassing on Ikoyi land

    The Court of Appeal in Lagos has held that a firm, Sunnyvale Nig. Ltd, is a trespasser on a land on Plot 19, Block 6, Ikoyi Foreshore, Lagos.

    The appellate court held that Sunnyvale and its agents “are not entitled to enter or cross the first appellant’s land”.

    The appeal was filed by County and City Bricks Development Company Ltd and Layi Ajayi Bembe.

    The Court of Appeal, in the lead judgment by Justice Ugochukwu Ogakwu, restrained the third respondent and its agents “from entering, crossing, continuing to enter or cross” the land belonging to County and City Bricks.

    The court held: “The Certificate of Occupancy (C-of-O) purportedly issued to the third respondent (Sunnyvale) by the Federal Government is hereby nullified.

    “N1 million is awarded in favour of the appellants as general damages for trespass against the third respondent.”

    Justice Ogakwu held that where another person has a better title to a land, the court will revoke the certificate of occupancy of the other not validly obtained.

    “The necessary implication of the setting aside of the third respondent’s certificate of occupancy is that it is a trespasser on the disputed land and it is not entitled to enter onto the said land.

    “The appellants having established their legal rights over the disputed land are entitled to have their interest protected by the grant of an injunction.

    “In a summation, from the totality of the forgoing, this appeal is immensely meritorious and it accordingly succeeds.

    “The judgment of the lower court is hereby set aside. Judgment is entered in favour of the appellants on their counterclaim,” Justice Ogakwu held.

    Justices Joseph Ikyegh and Justice Ebiowei Tobi concurred with the judgment.

    MKC Nigeria Ltd and Sterling Property Development Company Ltd are the other respondents.

    The Lagos State High Court had held that the land belonged to Sunnyvale Nigeria.

    But County and City Bricks appealed against the judgment and filed an application for stay of execution.

    While the litigation was ongoing, Sunnyvale continued building on the disputed land.

    Following the Court of Appeal judgment delivered on March 6, County & City Bricks petitioned the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in Lagos, over developments on the land.

    The Police chief, acting on the appellate court judgment, directed mobile policemen at the property at Sunnyvale’s instance to vacate the land.

    It was learnt that the AIG took legal advice from the zonal legal department which advised that Sunnyvale, having been declared trespasser and prohibited from entering and crossing the land, ought not to be on the land pending an order from the Supreme Court and ought not to be encouraged to disobey the order of the Court of Appeal.

     

  • Firm records $726m revenue growth in 2018

    Multinational cyber security company Kaspersky Lab said it delivered a stable growth in 2018, recording increased revenue of $726 million, representing a four per cent Year-on-Year (YoY) revenue increase.

    The leading multinational cyber security vendor said it achieved success as a result of the trust customers and partners place in the company and its leading cyber security solutions and services.

    Among the strategic business areas that drove Kaspersky Lab’s growth in 2018 were digital and enterprise.

    For instance, the company saw an increase in digital sales (+4 per cent) and strong growth of 16 per cent in the enterprise segment, with 55 per cent growth in non-endpoint products and services in particular.

    Overall, the company secured healthy results in these business areas by delivering some of the best products and services in the industry, as well as new solutions and technologies that prevent, detect and respond to the most sophisticated cyber threats.

    Commenting on the year’s results, CEO of Kaspersky Lab, Eugene Kaspersky, said: “2018 was a crucial year for us. After all the challenges and unsubstantiated allegations we faced in 2017, we had a responsibility to show that the company and our people deserve the trust of our partners and customers, and in turn, to continue to clearly demonstrate and prove our leadership.

    “Our continued positive financial results are proof of this, demonstrating that users prefer the best products and services on the market and support our principle of protecting against any cyber threats regardless of their origin.”

    In 2018, Kaspersky Lab advanced the progress of its Global Transparency Initiative by undertaking a number of significant actions.

    Notably, the company began the relocation of its IT infrastructure to Switzerland and opened the first Transparency Centre in Zurich. It also implemented an audit by one of the big four professional services firms of the company’s engineering practices around the creation and distribution of threat detection rule databases.

    Today’s ultra-connected global landscape requires increased transparency from organisations, and this unique initiative demonstrates Kaspersky Lab’s clear commitment to assuring the integrity and trustworthiness of its solutions in the service of the customers.

  • Hospitality: Firm to open ninth property in Nigeria

    Multinational hotel brand Marriott International, Inc. said it is on track to open the Four Points by Sheraton, Ikot Ekpene, Akwa-Ibom State, this year. It will be its ninth property in Nigeria.

    Marriott International, based in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, encompasses a portfolio of more than 6, 900 properties in 30 leading hotel brands spanning 130 countries and territories.

    The company, which operates and franchises hotels and licenses vacation ownership resorts all around the world, said it expects to grow its current footprint in West Africa by 75 per cent with the addition of nine new hotels and more than 1, 800 rooms by the end of 2023.

    Currently operating 12 properties across Nigeria, Ghana, Mali and Guinea, Marriott International plans to enter Benin and Ivory Coast as a part of its development pipeline.

    In 2019, the company said it is on-track to open the Four Points by Sheraton Ikot Ekpene, its ninth property in Nigeria, and the Protea Hotel by Marriott Accra Kotoka Airport in Ghana.

    This announcement came as the international hotel brand said it continues with its expansion across Africa with three new deal signings across North and West Africa, reinforcing its commitment to expanding its presence across the continent.

    The company in a statement made available to The Nation during the weekend said the new deal signings highlight its growth in Morocco and Ghana, while marking its debut in Liberia.

    The signings were announced during the Forum de l’Investissement Hôtelier Africain in Marrakech, Morocco. The Forum unites North and West African countries in a bid to develop their economies and support hospitality investment.

    The Forum connects business leaders from international and local markets – driving investment into tourism projects, infrastructure, entertainment and hotel development across the region.

    “New and established markets across North and West Africa continue to present us with immence opportunities to further enhance and diversify our portfolio in the continent,” Chief Development Officer, Middle East & Africa at Marriott International, Jerome Briet, said.

    Briet further said: “The new deal signings further strengthen our robust development pipeline, which is a result of our long-established presence in Africa and the trust owners have in Marriott International and our compelling portfolio of diverse brands.”

    The three new hotel signings announced during the Forum de l’Investissement Hôtelier Africain include Four Points by Sheraton Monrovia, Residence Inn by Marriott Accra Kotoka Airport, The St. Regis Marrakech Resort.

    Marriott International, which targets strong growth momentum across North and West Africa, said it is on track to expand its footprint in Africa to 200 hotels by the end of 2023. The North and West African regions play a pivotal role in the company’s overall growth strategy for the continent.

    The company specifically said in West Africa, it expects to grow its current footprint by 75 per cent with the addition of nine new hotels and more than 1,800 rooms by the end of 2023.

  • Firm launches N12b private equity fund

    Syntaxis Capital Africa has partnered Afrinvest Asset Management Limited to launch the Syntaxis Nigeria Growth Fund, a N12 billion private equity fund to meet the funding needs of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria and selected countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

    This will cover  manufacturing, agriprocessing, healthcare, education and non-banking financial services.

    The fund was launched on January 10 in Abuja, at the Wells Carlton Hotel and Luxury Apartments, with key capital market stakeholders like Acting Director General of Securities and Exchange Commission Mary Uduk, present.

    Group Managing Director of Afrinvest Ike Chioke noted that the fund was focused on deepening and widening financing alternatives for SMEs by providing patient capital. The fund provides a viable option for SMEs looking for sustainable growth capital.

    Partner and Managing Director of Syntaxis Capital Africa Adesuwa Okunbo, who delivered the keynote address, spoke on the differentiating factors of the fund.

    She said: “We see the fund as a vehicle for rapid economic growth and development in the countries we invest in. By providing not only access to patient growth capital to SMEs, but also combining that with capacity building and operational expertise, we are giving businesses the ability to scale their activities, which will increase productivity, create new jobs and generate taxes for the government.

    “In addition, being one of the few private equity funds led by a Nigerian woman, the fund has a unique focus on investing with a gender lens strategy, using our capital to influence and enhance gender equality throughout our portfolio companies,  improving the ratio of women in the workforce, board and value chain, which we believe will enhance financial returns for our companies and thus investors, while improving the society and economy simultaneously..”

    The Managing Director of Afrinvest Asset Management, Ola Belgore, said: “The fund has been constructed as a portfolio of cash-generative African private equity investments diversified by sector and geography. Qualified investors can expect high level of contractual income combined with significant minority equity stakes, superior risk adjusted returns, strong equity upside, and capital preservation.”

    Syntaxis Capital Africa has team members with a 30-year track record of successfully managing private equity funds with experienced local teams, having raised up to $300 million from global institutional investors and deploying successful private equity funds in other emerging markets.

    Afrinvest Asset Management Limited, the fund manager, is licensed by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a portfolio manager with several listed funds including the Nigeria International Debt Fund; as well as the Afrinvest Equity Fund.

  • Firm to hold career fair

    As part of its plan to  bring about a professional solution to high rate of unemployment among youths in the country, a Lagos-based  human resources management firm, 1st CRT Management Services, said it had concluded plans to hold  a work conference and job fair from January 18 to 19 at Adeyemi Bero Hall, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.

    The Chief Executive Officer of the firm, Mrs Folayemi Olaitan said the programme is for secondary school leavers, undergraduates, graduates and employees hoping to develop new skills and advance at their place of work.

    ” As young people keep waiting for jobs, the truth is that the right work skill is what is indeed lacking to secure jobs and advance in their places of work.

    ” This is not your regular work conference and career fair; each participant will be provided with a training educational pack on employability skills, career development manual which contains details of various employers of labour. Also employers of labour will offer employment on the day to pre-qualified candidates.

  • Firm develops app to monitor elections

    Kaduna based computer firm, Hephzibah Integrated Technologies Ltd, said yesterday it had  developed an application that will help in monitoring and tracking   voting  and post voting activites during the coming elections in the country.

    The  Managing Director/CEO of the company, Engineer Clement O. Obomighe told reporters in Kaduna that the application was to aid the orderly and peaceful conduct of the elections .

    Obomighe said the application would  make statistics on the conduct of elections easily available  and    works with Android or IOS phones.

    He said:, “the application was developed from what somebody mooted  to us; an observer group which approached us. But, for some reasons they chickened out and we went through sponsoring it from the scratch.

    “We noticed that in the past, capturing activities during cities was haphazard. This app will make it well managed, well captured according to INEC order.

    “We developed it according to 2015 order of activities. When the new INEC chairman came and changed it, we changed it again. We then went back to the drawing board to make it flexible.

    “Nobody knows if officials at any polling unity had omitted any activity. There is a process, if missed it should be captured by the election monitors, polling unit by polling unit.

  • Firm sues importers, police for right infringement

    Echo Breeze Nig. Ltd., a member of the Association of Nigeria Tyre Marketers, has sued the Importers Association of Nigeria (IMAN) for “unlawful seizure of its goods and detention of its driver”.

    It also questioned the association’s right to barricade the road to disrupt businesses and extort money from the public.

    The company also challenged Mr. Obi Adrian Ifeanyi, who claimed to be representing IMAN in the Southwest, for usurping the power of the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), the Consumer Protection Council (CPC), National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and security agencies.

    In a suit filed at the Ogun State High Court, Sagamu division, the company joined the association and the police for seizure of its goods at Sagamu, and detaining the goods and the truck driver.

    When a company manager, Mr. Chimezie Maduka, led reporters to Sagamu Police Station, his lorry (BEN802XC) was among the three Lorries impounded. The two others were conveying electrical equipment and tyres to Onitsha and Benin.

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    Lawyer to the Association of Nigeria Tyre Marketers Olusola Kazeem Salawu said the action was an infringement on the fundamental human right of Maduka and his company, since none of them are members of IMAN, the association Ifeanyi claimed to be representing.

    He said: “It is illogical for an association to stand on the highway claiming to arrest their members with fake goods, claiming to have the authority of the Presidency without any instrument or equipment to check substandard good. More importantly, the owner of the truck is not a member of their association.

    “In Sagamu, an individual with two police escorts is harassing and intimidating innocent people.”

    Cletus Ebare, who spoke on behalf of the three drivers at the police station, said Ifeanyi collected their drivers’ license, vehicle particulars, keys and removed the batteries of their Lorries.

    Ifeanyi, who said he was representing his association to safe the Nigerian economy, showed a letter of authority with the permission he got from the police, through the Zone 2 Police Command in Lagos. He said all he asked from the drivers was the SONCAP Certificate for their products and that those still detained were yet to produce it.

    But the story took a new turn when the Sagamu DPO, Moses Aduroja, who had initially said his station had no hand in the situation, took both the representative of the company and Ifeanyi to the Area Commander, where they both disagreed on whose right it was to check SONCAP and confiscate substandard goods.

     

  • CJN urges judges to be courageous, firm

    CHIEF Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Walter Onnoghen has urged judges to always be courageous and firm in taking decisions in the course of their official responsibilities.

    Onnoghen warned that the future of the country and its democracy were at risk where judges fail to take “very hard decisions”, when they are required to do so.

    The CJN hailed President Muhammadu Buhari’s exhibition of rare courage in consenting to the elevation of Justice Uwani Musa Abba-Aji to the Supreme Court from the Court of Appeal.

    Onnoghen spoke in Abuja yesterday while swearing in Justice Abba-Aji as a new Justice of the Supreme Court.

    Justice  Abda-Aji, who was until her elevation, the Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal,  Kaduna Division, spent 14 years in the court.

    She now raises the number of women at the Supreme Court Bench to four. Others are Justices Mary Odili, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun and Amina Augie.

    Onnoghen’s commendation of Buhari’s exhibition of courage is not unconnected with the controversy generated by the decision of the National Judicial Council (NJC) to nominate Justice Abba-Aji for elevation.

    Justice Abba-Aji was among some judges, who the NJC suspended in the wake of the pre-dawn raid on some judges’ houses in late 2016 by security operatives.

     

     

     

     

  • Firm rewards customers

    Four winners have emerged from the just concluded Indomie ‘Draw Your Dream Holiday’ promo. The winners won various prizes, including the mega prize of an unforgettable all-expense paid travel experience to any country in the world.

    The ‘Draw Your Dream Holiday’ promo is a consumer engagement promo organised by Dufil Prima Foods Plc, makers of Indomie Instant Noodles, for children to relate their travel experiences during school holidays using illustrations.

    The promo ran for three months starting in September and at the end of the promo, Aliyat Disu (10); Chinemeren Eze (12); Michael Prosper Oluwaseun (12) and Jimba Solomon Chisom (13) won the competition. The four children will travel to any country of their choice with one of their parents each, as part of the reward.

    Dufil’s Public Relations and Events Manager, Temitope Ashiwaju, said the promo was a way of rewarding children for their unwavering loyalty to the Indomie brand.

    He said: “We are happy with the level of participation which shows that children value the Indomie brand. We know that holidays create beautiful and memorable experiences for all of us, including children, and so we thought to reward children with a fantastic travel experience. And as a loving and caring brand, Indomie Instant Noodles planned to make the upcoming holiday much more special by offering them an all-expense paid trip to any destination in the world.

    “The Indomie brand is known for fun and excitement, and we needed to bring that to bear in any promo we wanted to tie to the travel experience to. We could not think of a better fun-filled exercise to engage these children than to allow them do one of the things they love doing best – drawing. We all know children love to draw, so the ‘Draw Your Dream Holiday’ promo decided to reward children for doing what they love to do best.

    “All they needed to do was to draw their last holiday experience, take a picture of it and send it to a dedicated WhatsApp number. Dufil Prima Foods PLC is delighted to reward these children along with their parents with a trip to anywhere in the world they choose to travel to.”

  • Firm greets customers at yuletide

    The Management and Staff of Alphabeta Consulting has greeted its clients, tax payers, stakeholders, business partners and all a blissful yuletide.

    The firm promised to give its customers more dividends of democracy in terms of infrastructure and enhanced social services in 2019.

    Alpha Beta Consulting is a firm of Revenue maximisation srategists that is also the pioneer developer, proprietor and provider of the technology-based electronic banking and internal controlled-revenue enhancing system that helps its clients to flawlessly monitor and enhance revenue collections, promote accountability, transparency and good governance.