The Nation Newspaper

Tag: growing

  • Growing optimism as Lagos boosts artisans’ training

    Artisan training has been entrenched as Lagos State priority.This was confirmed as the government completed eight week’s intensive training and re-skilling programme for over 1,500 tradesmen and artisans in twenty-three different trades and vocations across the state.

    Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment,  Mrs. Uzamat Akinbile-Yusuf during a monitoring/familiarisation visit to one of the re-skilling centres in Ikeja, commended the beneficiaries of the training for their resilience throughout the training.

    She expressed optimism that the beneficiaries, having been exposed to  modern ways of trading and modern tools in their various vocations and trade, stood better chance above their peers who were not part of the training.

    The commissioner urged the beneficiaries to extend the exposure garnered through the training to their colleagues in other respective vocations, saying that the ultimate aim of the state government is to have competent artisans who can confidently handle various tasks that would be of reputable standard.

    “Having been trained by the state government, it is our expectation that you will use the knowledge and experience acquired to advance the state’s economy, improve its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and curb the practice of bringing artisans from neighboring countries for works that can be handled by  our indigenous artisans.” she said.

    The Head of Entrepreneurship Department in the Ministry, Mrs. Taiwo Abiose said the training is the eighth   up-skilling programme and it is one of the several ways of positioning artisans to compete globally with their contemporaries, especially in this era of different innovations and Information Communication Technology (ICT).

    She said the re-skilling training programme was designed for practitioners of different trades and vocations who are desirous of exploiting new frontiers and also acquainting themselves with modern technologies in their various fields.

    One of the beneficiaries and a member of Professional Carpenters & Furniture Makers Association, Akinola Akindele, appreciated the s government for the gesture.

    He pleaded with the state government to complement the training initiative with the provision of work tools for the artisans, saying this would make the training impactful, sustainable and profitable to them. The training was put together by the Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment and Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board, LASTVEB to improve the competencies of artisans and tradesmen in the State so that their competencies can earn them more job opportunities. The training covered tie and dye, shoemaking, welding, barbing/ cosmetology, catering, vulcanizing among others.

  • Behind the growing menace of political Thugs (1)

    How secret cults, transport unions, others act as breeding grounds for thuggery

    Armed youths, including street urchins, motor park touts, ex-militants, members of transport unions and cultists recruited by unscrupulous politicians as thugs to harass opponents and commit electoral fraud are metamorphosing into armed robbers, kidnappers and other forms of anti-social elements, reports KUNLE AKINRINADE.

    It was a few minutes past 1 pm on January 23, 2015. High-spirited members of an independent campaign team of the All Progressives’ Congress (APC) converged on Mosan-Okunola Local Council Development Area in Lagos. With a band and a convoy of cars, they moved round the neighbourhoods of the council area, canvassing votes for the party’s governorship candidate, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode.

    But the carnival-like rally was soon turned into a scary adventure at Boys Town axis of Ipaja-Ayobo Road as the campaigners were attacked by thugs who were driving past in some vehicles with the inscription of People’s Democratic Party (PDP). They did not only confront the campaigners, they started shooting sporadically, killing one person, injuring five others and vandalising no fewer than 10 vehicles.

    Panic-stricken residents of the neighbourhood scampered into safety as the deceased person was shot for displaying APC sourvenirs. Even the incumbent Lagos State Commissioner for Employment and Wealth Creation, Mrs Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf, only escaped death by a whisker as the thugs chased after her car.

    An eyewitness of the incident had said: “The APC members were holding a peaceful rally to solicit support for their candidates in the impending elections when they were attacked by PDP supporters who were also passing by. As a matter of fact, the PDP supporters were heading towards Iyana Ipaja in their vehicles when they suddenly turned back and ran after the APC supporters.

    “Before we knew what was happening, the PDP thugs had opened fire on the APC campaigners, resulting in the death of an innocent resident, while about five persons were injured. Two of the victims are now in critical conditions. Ten vehicles were vandalised while the people injured have been taken to a hospital.”

    National menace

    In a similar incident, armed thugs on October 25, 2017 attacked members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) who had converged on the presidential campaign office of the former governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido. Lamido had gone to the campaign office to inspect ongoing work at the building located on Rabbah Road and was welcomed by a crowd of supporters. The attack came shortly after Lamido addressed his supporters at the occasion.

    In Ebonyi State, no fewer than five persons were injured at Ugwulangwu area of Ohaozara Local Government Area of the state by suspected political thugs working for the PDP on February 5, 2018. The victims included Paul Okorie, Nnachi Okoro, John Ogbonnaya, and two other members of the party. The gun-wielding thugs numbering more than 30 were said to have brutalised the victims who ended up with varying degrees of injuries.

    Speaking to newsmen on the incident, Okorie recalled that the attackers invaded the venue where party members were holding a meeting preparatory to the visit of the APC State Working Committee members scheduled for February 9.

    He said: “We had scheduled a meeting of a section of Ohaozara Local Government Area of APC for the three wards in Ugwulangwu, preparatory to the visit of the SWC of our party for the continuous voter registration sensitisation exercise.

    “The meeting commenced peacefully at about 5 pm and was going on smoothly when midway, some hoodlums came in and disrupted it.

    “At a point, they went back and we thought they had gone and continued with our meeting. But suddenly, they came in with more than 30 men in three branded buses, all armed with different kinds of dangerous weapons.

    “They shot sporadically and we were thoroughly clubbed and beaten. You can see the cuts and bruises all over my body. They escaped in their vehicles and also took our mobile phones, money and other valuables.”

    Destruction of democratic institutions

    Like the attack in Lagos, politicians all over the country are in the habit of using thugs to intimidate the opposition during party primaries or electioneering campaigns. But their activities are not restricted to violent attacks on the opposition to their principals. Events in the recent past have shown that thugs are also hired to snatch ballot boxes, aid stuffing of ballot boxes, seize the mace and disrupt proceedings during plenary sessions in legislative houses.

    In 2005, chaos took over Ibadan, Oyo State capital, when thugs, led by one Lateef Eleweomo, a loyalist of the deceased strong man of Ibadan politics, Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu, invaded the Oyo State House of Assembly in broad daylight, chased out majority of the lawmakers and aided renegade lawmakers who were clearly in the minority to preside over the adoption of impeachment motion of the then governor of the state, Senator Rasheed Ladoja. Policemen drafted to the scene could not salvage the situation as the armed thugs who had gained control of the assembly complex exchanged fire with the minions of law.

    In a gestapo manner during the 2015 general elections in Ebonyi State, suspected thugs invaded many polling booths, carting away ballot boxes and other electoral materials. At Onuwakpu Market Square in Ikwo Local Government Area, hoodlums wielding AK-47 rifles, shot into the air to scare voters and officials away before snatching the materials.

    Similar incidents were witnessed at Nsokara in Ezza South Local Government Area and in other parts of the state. The member representing Ikwo/Ezza South Constituency, Tob Okwuru, said the attacks were perpetrated by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

    In a similar vein, armed men suspected to be political thugs reportedly snatched ballot boxes during the 2015 re-run election for governorship and House of Assembly in Ogbor Uvuru, Aboh Mbaise, LGA and Omuma Oru East Council area of Imo State.

    In another instance, suspected thugs recently invaded the Senate chamber of the National Assembly on April 18, 2018, forcibly carting away the mace, the parliamentary instrument of authority, during plenary. The incident, which coincided with the unexpected entry of the then suspended Senator Ovie Omo- Agege, caused a temporary suspension of plenary as senators went into executive session.

    Deadly assignments

    While political thugs are usually well mobilised with money and ammunition, not a few of them have met their waterloo in the course of executing their benefactors’ assignments.

    For instance, the crisis rocking the Oyo State chapter of PDP ended on a fatal note on December 30, 2010 after a former Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Oyo State, Alhaji Lateef Salako a.k.a. Eleweomo,  and two others loyal to some warring chieftains of the party were killed during the local government congress of the party. On the same day, an ex-Senate Leader, Teslim Folarin, escaped death when some gun-wielding hoodlums ambushed him during the conduct of the election. Two of his supporters were however shot dead by thugs while about 20 vehicles were reported burnt.

    It was the same scenario in Lagos last year during the councillorship primaries of the ruling APC when suspected thugs shot dead a chieftain of NURTW, Rasaq Bello, vaka Hamburger, in the Shogunle area of Oshodi. A fight was said to have broken out at the venue of the poll between two rival groups- Saka/Oposun led by the deceased and Golden Boys led by a youth called Samson. The two groups were allegedly recruited by the party’s aspirants to intimidate each other’s supporters when a brawl ensued and Hamburger was gruesomely killed.

    In Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area, Lagos State, suspected thugs also set ablaze the council secretariat in Festac Town in protest against the election while parts of Mushin Local Government Area witnessed chaos as thugs disrupted the exercise.

    How they are recruited

    Misguided unemployed youths, motor park touts, street urchins, members of Leader, Teslim Folarin, escaped death when some gun-wielding hoodlums ambushed him during the conduct of the election. Two of his supporters were however shot dead by thugs while about 20 vehicles were reported burnt.

    It was the same scenario in Lagos last year during the councillorship primaries of the ruling APC when suspected thugs shot dead a chieftain of NURTW, Rasaq Bello, vaka Hamburger, in the Shogunle area of Oshodi. A fight was said to have broken out at the venue of the poll between two rival groups- Saka/Oposun led by the deceased and Golden Boys led by a youth called Samson. The two groups were allegedly recruited by the party’s aspirants to intimidate each other’s supporters when a brawl ensued and Hamburger was gruesomely killed.

    In Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area, Lagos State, suspected thugs also set ablaze the council secretariat in Festac Town in protest against the election while parts of Mushin Local Government Area witnessed chaos as thugs disrupted the exercise.

    How they are recruited

    Misguided unemployed youths, motor park touts, street urchins, members of transport unions, land grabbers, ex-militants and cult members in tertiary institutions are usually recruited by politicians into their standing ‘army’. They are contracted as mercenaries or personal security aides and are provided with arms or weapons to brutally attack or intimidate perceived opponents.

    Indeed, street urchins and members of transport unions often openly display their loyalty to certain politicians and the political party they belong to. At the snap of their principals’ fingers, political thugs unleash terror on rival politicians, some of which result in fatality.

    At times, in order to shield them from public suspicion, leading political thugs, including ‘repentant’ militants, are offered appointments as aides to governors, commissioners, ministers or high ranking politicians.

    For instance, a dreaded militant leader in Benue State, Terwase Akwaza, popular known as Gana, became a security aide to the state’s governor, Samuel Ortom, after he embraced an amnesty programme of the state governor for militant youths. The Tiv militant was saddled with the responsibility of convincing other armed youths to embrace the amnesty programme and return their weapons. The governor also ensured that he was provided with adequate security, a car and other financial perks so that he would not be tempted to go back to crime.

    It however turned out that Gana was later fingered for his alleged complicity in the killing of the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to Governor Ortom on Special Security, Igbana Denen, a retired police sergeant, and has since bolted without a trace.

    Another trick by politicians is to register their mercenaries into an amorphous organisation through which they operate and fight their battles at all times. A typical example is the recent revelation by Ayoade Akinnibosun, one of the suspects arrested in connection with the robbery of some banks in Offa, Kwara State recently, who claimed to be the leader of a group of thugs allegedly working for the Senate President under the name, Liberation Youth Movement Kwara South.

    Akinnibosun had said: ”I am the chairman of Liberation Youth Movement Kwara South. My involvement with the Senate President, we are his boys! We work for him at Kwara South. We are the ones that hold Kwara South for him. We have been working for him since we were in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); it has been long, when he was governor of Kwara State.

    “We are the ones that do political arrangement for him. For example, where we can’t win, we make ‘dabaru’ arrangement there…we scatter elections if we don’t win.” Saraki has however denied links with the suspects, alleging that they were being linked with him because of his tiff with the Inspector-General of Police Ibrahim Idris.

     

  • FBNInsurance: Fastest growing firm

    FBNInsurance: Fastest growing firm

    • Pays claims promptly

    That FBNInsurance is the fastest-growing insurance company in Nigeria is not in doubt. This much has been confirmed by available indices in the industry.

    Established in September 2010 with 14 staff members, many expected it to do well. Despite of the prevalent apathy towards insurance, industry watchers felt that as a scion of the country’s hugely successful financial services powerhouse, FBNHoldings, they would benefit from the parent company’s time- tested formula for success.

    For over a century, FBNHoldings, through FirstBank, has been a major player in the financial services industry. With investments in banking, asset management, pension funds, among others, FBNHoldings bestrides the financial landscape.

    However, no sooner had it started business than the management of FBNInsurance realised that success does not come on the basis of a great heritage. Getting business was a challenge. The famed apathy of the insuring public apart, the pioneer teams at the company were entering a territory angels feared to tread.

    To endear itself to the target audience, the management of the company had to dig in really deep and carve a niche for itself. The pioneer staff members worked days on end to ensure the business survived infancy. Today, their hardwork has paid off.

    While many have praised Val Ojumah, the company’s Managing Director since inception, for his glowing leadership qualities, the man himself is quick to put the adulations at the feet of those who he believes deserves it: the Board, Management and staff. “We have been able to achieve so much in so short a period because we have been blessed with visionary and relentless Boards at various times, and a selfless members of staff since inception,” he says.

    Indeed, Ojumah has overseen a management team that has steered the ship of the young company to heights established players can only dream of.

    Within its first three years of operation, the company bought over a general insurance firm, Oasis Insurance, and rebranded it FBN General Insurance, a subsidiary of FBNInsurance, and overturned the acquired company’s loss position in the first year of operation and has subsequently maintained FBN General Insurance’s growth momentum.

    With regards to its financial performance, FBNInsurance has continued on an upward swing that impresses even the most cynical financial analysts. In 2016, the company made N9.9billion and declared a profit after tax of N2.23bilion while total assets stood at a whooping N29.5billion. In a country gradually easing out of a recession and with a low insurance penetration, the figures are a wonder.

    It is easy to see the basis of this success: a strong retail presence. With over 2,000 financial advisors combing the nooks and crannies of the country selling insurance, little wonder that an approximate 70 per cent of the company’s total income in the past year comes from the retail team. This is a solid endorsement of the trust the people have in the brand.

    Indeed, the company has not only won the peoples’ trust, it has also garnered many accolades from other stakeholders along the way. In 2013, the company won Sanlam Emerging Markets (SEM) Cup of Nations award in the Rising Star category based on high premium posted.

    According to the competition rules, “the SEM Cup of Nations is designed to motivate the staff members of the various country operations to overachieve and exceed the set targets/budgets, to deliver sustainable growth over the previous year’s results, and to foster a spirit of competition between the various businesses in the Sanlam Emerging Markets (SEM) cluster.”

    The company would repeat the feat in 2016, making it a double in three years. Also, thrice over the past four years, FBNInsurance has been awarded the best life insurance company in Nigeria by the prestigious World Finance Awards.

    But is FBNInsurance all about growing her customer base, making profits and delivering on set targets? Elizabeth Agugoh, Head of the company’s Marketing and Corporate Communications department, disagrees.

    “We are a peoples’ company committed to doing business by all ethical means while also impacting on our host communities through our corporate responsibility and sustainability exertions,” she said.

    Over the years, she revealed, the company has made significant impacts in education, health and community development. Some of these include the donation of a brand new dialysis machine to a Lagos General Hospital in 2015; providing screening and  immunisation for Breast and Cervical cancer for 750 girls and women in collaboration with a local Rotary Club; supporting Jakins NGO in providing back-to-school kits for vulnerable and disadvantaged students; providing scholarships to 250 indigent students of a rural community in Southsouth Nigeria so they could enjoy uninterrupted education; sinking of a borehole at Umuahia amongst others.

    For a company that has grown its own reputation away from its founders, it is delightful to note that FBNInsurance is not resting on its oars. With 136 permanent staff, 74 temporary officers and over 2000 retail agents across 42 sales outlets pan Nigeria on its books, the company has truly come of age. “We will continue to deepen our retail footprints until every insurable Nigerian has an FBNInsurance policy,” Ojumah added.

  • Growing tomatoes under Green House Initiative

    Growing tomatoes under Green House Initiative

    To promote diversification of the economy, many states have taken to farming. Akwa Ibom is into vegetable farming, growing tomotatoes and cucumber under its Green House Initiative to boost revenue generation. Joe Iniodu writes.

    If the  Akwa Ibom Employment and Enterprise Scheme (AKEES ) opened the people’s eyes to the wealth around them, especially in agriculture, San Carlos, a Mexican outfit reputed for mechanised farming and operating in Calabar,  Abeokuta,  Enugu,  Port Harcourt and Uyo, has come to deepen the persuasion that planting some hitherto imported vegetables, such as  tomatoes, and cucumber is  a goldmine.

    These vegetables are being grown under the Green House Initiative of Governor Udom Emmanuel in pursuit of the diversification of the economy.

    The Green House which is adjacent to the Ibom International Airport gate is a beauty to behold.

    Each of the houses draped in transparent enclosure has a landmass of one hectare with a farming model,   with promising high yield.  The Akwa Ibom State Government,  in partnership with the Mexican group, has allocated 10 hectares for the cultivation of these vegetables.

    For now,  four hectares have been deployed while the remaining six are awaiting preparation and  cultivation. Of the four that have been deployed, one has been cultivated with tomatoes which are being harvested. Another is also  ready for tomatoes cultivation while one is deployed for cucumber.

    There is yet another which is almost ready for fresh cultivation.  The production manager in charge of cultivation, Mr. Habbakuk Orhernnandec confirmed that the projection is to cultivate the 10 hectares this year.

    The Green House model of cultivation is a cutting edge method with the inevitability of rich yield. It uses hydroponic system. Hydroponic method is the growing of plants in nutrient solutions with or without an inert medium as soil. Each of the Green Houses are crisscrossed with pvc hose which are buried in wrapped cellophanes that contain coconut fibre or soil. The hose convey water and the solutions to plants which roots are also buried in the cellophane sags.

    The roots of the plants sprout from the wrapped cellophanes which has water to irrigate the plant and keep the condition of the place humid to combat the heat which the enclosure perennially generates.

    Habbakuk said the coconut fibre is good for tomatoe as it helps in controlling the plant but pointed out that the challenge is that the fibre is imported into the country from Mexico as there is no technology to process the coconut byproduct into fibre. It is in lieu of such challenge that soil is also used.

    From the yield witnessed on that day of harvest, if all the allocated hectares are duly cropped , the tomatoes needs of the state would be reasonably met. Tomatoes have about 90 days span from nursery to when they are actually planted to fruition and  harvesting. Harvesting may be carried out between two and three times a week. For one hectare , each harvest comes in tonnes giving  assurance of increased revenue to the farmer and others within the value chain. Perhaps some of the advantages associated with tomatoes cultivation is its short span to maturity;  its value as domestic and industrial necessity; its value as an income earning produce; its receptiveness in the market; its popularity as a produce; its well known health value and lastly, being a non-seasonal all year round produce. These factors make tomatoes cultivation an attractive engagement.

    But the Production Manger, Mr Habbakuk in his interaction with yours truly submitted that while he admits that engaging in tomatoes cultivation is a goldmine,  the hiccups associated with the enterprise have hurdles to scale and many rivers to cross.

    Of course even without probing, it is obvious that storage and preservation are still challenges that are yet to be surmounted.  Off takers and other buyers are therefore often required immediately after harvest to help in the evacuation of the produce to either final consumers or factories where paste are produced. For Mr Habbakuk,  the most disheartening challenge is access to fertiliser.

    According to him, only three companies import the item into Nigeria, noting that the inadequacy has given room for a shortfall in supply of these important inputs which application would increase yield and revenue.

    The production manager who is in- charge of cultivation reiterated that Nigeria is too vast for only three companies to monopolise the importation of such critical items.

    Habbakuk and his colleagues lauded Governor Emmanuel for conceiving of the partnership and practically taking steps towards its realisation, maintaining that the partnership between San Carlos and the state government would record significant mileage in production and engagement.

    It was a regalling sight to behold as women engaged as farm hands and who were on that day harvesting sang eulogies for Governor Emmanuel whom they said had put food on their table through the initiative.  They however charged him replicate the same initiative in other senatorial districts to boost the production  of the vegetables and broaden the tapestry of engagement for Akwa Ibom people.

    The agricultural sector has been known worldwide to be one of the largest employers  of labour.  Its value chain also helps in widening participation.  In the case of the intending ten hectares,  the Green House at full capacity utilisation would engage a huge number of Akwa Ibom people. In the interim, about 74 workers, according to the General Manager, are engaged in construction, production and operations.

    Yet, they are those who are not engaged directly, but provide ancillary services that are salient to the chain. The basket makers, transporters, owners of grinding machines and market women are also part of the chain.

    Nigeria has been run as a monolithic economy for decades. The clamour for diversification also started decades ago and remained mere political rhetoric till recently.  The slump in the price of oil in the last three years and the attendant decline in accruable revenue has impacted adversely on the Nation’s long held habit of importation which depletes foreign exchange and puts  the economy on a low tide.

    The reality has compelled the review of the nation’s agricultural policy and necessitated its choice as the diversification option. Interestingly,  states that have chosen this path are already reaping bountiful benefits.  Nasarawa and Anambra are states that have braced to the new challenge and taken up the gauntlet of midwifing a diversification.  They have stirred up some kind of agricultural revolution in their states. Akwa Ibom is unequivocally part of the revolution, but in a rather quiet and subdued tone. The people of the state must be grateful that the governor is not a spectator that is content with watching the revolution in other states.

    He has made the state part of the revolution through vibrant agricultural policies,  programmes and partnership. The distribution of improved seedlings of some crops, coordinated access  to inputs like fertilizer,  the cocoa maintenance scheme, the coconut refining plant, the various rice farms springing up in the State, the cassava processing plant, the palm oil mills, the hatchery at Mbiaya Uruan and many other initiatives are part of the concerted effort of the Udom administration to rewrite the narrative of agro business in the State.

     

    • Joe Iniodu is a public affairs analyst.
  • The growing love for reusable bags

    The growing love for reusable bags

    Call it a trend or a growing way of life, branded reusable shopping bags are trending fad; they are being used as strategy for growing business, writes TONIA ‘DIYAN.

    When Osamudiame Gloria goes grocery shopping, she goes with her list and bags (a pair of strong canvas bags) she bought a few months ago for N1, 801.39 at her local grocery store in Ebute Meta, Lagos. This has become a habit for her.

    Apart from using it as a ‘status’ symbol, there are other reasons like that of being eco-friendly, which shoppers now consider before opting for it.

    “Reuseable shopping bags are better for the environment” says Gloria, 30, a political science graduate from The Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

    A growing number of stores are catering to customers like Gloria, who see reusing shopping bags as an easy way to cut down on waste.

    Branded reusable shopping bags were invented in 1912 by Walter H. Deubner, in order to help sell more goods and add to store sales, when he discovered that shoppers would limit their purchases to what they could carry. Ironically the first shopping bag was sold for N1, 801.39, the very price many ‘wholesale outlets’ charge.

    Going back to the 1970’s, marketers discovered the power of printing their logo on a shopping bag, especially during the era of indoor shopping malls. Shoppers would walk from store to store, proudly displaying the logo of the retailer they just purchased from. During that time, the market accepted advertising on the bags and bags were free and convenient everywhere. During the 80’s, 90’s and early 2000’s, the bag was viewed as a symbol of class. If you paid less for your goods at a ‘wholesale outlet,’ you paid for a bag, but at a large multinational retailer, you paid more for goods, but your bags were free. At some more elite retailers, the quality of the bag, complete with string handle, took on a symbol all its own.

    It took many years, until the late 2000’s, that the market’s view on bags changed. Fast-forwarding to 2010, the view on bags is one of “environmental damage” and putting less plastic into our landfills. Now the corporate trend has reversed on bags. Once thought of as a marketing tool and a means to sell more goods, it’s now a tool to add to the bottom line and show you are environmentally conscious.

    Findings have it that in developed countries, retailers place a reminder sign on their entrance saying, ‘Did you remember your reusable bag?’

    Experts have advised retail outlet to have these bags available for shoppers free of charge and make sure the colour is classy but stand out. They advise that it is important to remember the signs at the front entrance, which shows the business cares for the environment, stating that a business with a social conscience can win the good will of a lot of people.

    Several large retailers, including Shoprite and SPAR, sell reusable shopping bags. While in developed countries like the United States and United Kingdom, some groceries, including independent stores and natural foods chain Whole Foods, go a step further, offering credits of a few cents for each bag that’s reused. Several companies give incentives for customers to cut down on disposable bags abroad.

    The fashion world has also taken note, with designers like Stella McCartney and Hermes selling reusable shopping bags for hundreds of dollars. Findings also have it that a store known as ‘Whole Foods’ created frenzy in New York when it offered a limited number of designer shopping bags for $15.

    ‘Little by Little ventures’, an independent grocer where Gloria shops in Ebute Meta, is promising to give customers a N300-per-bag credit when they reuse the store’s branded bags. Spokesperson at the store, Stella Medulla, said about seven to 10 percent of customers reuse their bags. “It is encouraging that our customers reuse our branded bags when they come here to shop. So, we produce limited bags and save money. And when they take our bags elsewhere to shop, they help us advertise our business to prospective buyers who reach us through phone calls and all our social media handles. That is the idea; she said, adding that she wouldn’t call it a trend anymore but a growing way of life.

  • ‘Nigeria’s economy growing bigger, stronger’

    ‘Nigeria’s economy growing bigger, stronger’

    Binatone Nigeria Managing Director Mr. Prasun Banerjee, in this interview with TOBA AGBOOLA, speaks on how the company is surviving despite the tough economy. He talks about his brand and the innovations targeted at winning consumers.

    As a brand, what has your experience been like in Nigeria?

    It has been a wonderful thing. Although, last year was a little bit difficult, but we were able to cope and stabilise. I will say that we have come out of it and that is why you can see many good products being introduced into the market. We have a long term strategy and that is what has helped us. The same thing with the country. The government has put in place long term strategy and this will help the economy.

    Also, we have been in Nigeria for the past 40 years and we will be celebrating 60 years this year, globally. We have learnt how to keep our cost low so that our products can be affordable, with high quality. We ensure that what we import is of good quality, with two years warranty. So, our aim is to create good value for money. We have a trusted brand in Nigeria for well over four decades. Over the years, we have identified that Africans, particularly Nigerians, like style. They are proud of their homes and want the most beautiful things to take a pride of place in their living rooms. They like practicality, advanced technology, unquestionable quality and of course, an attractive price.

    How has the Federal Government’s policies on imported goods affected you? 

    We don’t have problem with the government policy as regards regulations. The only problem we have is the delay at the Apapa Port. This also caused delay for us and you know one needs to pay for demurrage at the end of the whole thing. But, the government is already addressing this challenge. Efforts are being initiated for improving ease of doing business and we are quite satisfied with the progress the Federal Government  is making to ensure a conducive business atmosphere.

    Government has come up with the procurement policy that says expatriates should not be used for any skill that can be sourced locally. How are you responding to this?

    Absolutely, we are doing that. We have very limited expatriates only wherever required, basically the Managing Director. Across all our  products and divisions, we have locals running the business.

    What is your expansion plan and what are the challenges associated with such efforts?

    We will be opening another assembly in the next two weeks. We want to go into various categories of products and of course, with innovation. In order to expand, one needs to invest, get space in the showroom, and in order to get this share of space, they need to do visibility exercises in terms of product display and demonstration. We have demonstrators, who we train on a regular basis on key features of the products and how to handle and sell them. Some merchants are our first point of contact with the customers. The trained demonstrators are one of the touch points that we have. In terms of availability, we were limited to certain class of retailers, now we have started expanding our retail network. We only had a few supermarkets and retailers in Alaba, but now we have big retail shops across Nigeria.

    We are working with the top retailers in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja. The second touch point we have is in terms of the display. The customer gets to have a touch and feel of the product. He gets it near to his house; he does not have to travel far to get the product. So, our products are available in every supermarket and top retailers across the 36 states and the FCT. Abuja looks after the entire Central and North; Port Harcourt looks after the East; Onitsha looks after Onitsha and Enugu and Lagos looks after Lagos and the Southwest. We have a service centre that is well equipped with trained engineers to take care of consumers even when they have complications beyond the two years covered by the warranty.

    During this process of expansion, have you observed a need to branch into the hinterland?

    What we are doing is to expand step by step.  Once we see that a certain market has potential, we open a branch there. Onitsha was big for us; our next target is Kano or Kaduna to cover the entire North. We have a vast team of people here. I would like to also point out that all the fans that you see here are assembled in Nigeria. We have an assembly unit here in Nigeria and we are planning to assemble some other items here as well. We have given employment to many local people and we have also done good business and generated revenue for the government.

    How are you coping with competition, especially from new brands that are springing up?

    Competition will always be there. Whenever there is a demand for a category, there will always be competition. But we believe that we give good value for money in proposition. We give a product, which is affordable, has value for money and at the same time, gives peace of mind. Our core philosophy is to try and get the product across a wide spectrum of the society at very affordable price. We don’t just give value for money; we also give value to many. We are available, pan Nigeria and one of our strengths is giving the consumer peace of mind.

    One of the ways we do that is by placing two-year warranty on each of our products. We’re already dominant in cooling products for the home, we felt the pulse of the consumer to produce the world’s first 2-in-1 Music Fan. We are market leader in fans and have an assembly unit here. We are also looking at assembling other kitchen appliance products and also help the government to accelerate its made-in-Nigeria initiative.

    How are you responding to the demand for products that meet the energy challenges of the Nigerian environment?

    To take care of the energy challenges, we have rechargeable fans and we will be launching more fans with rechargeable capacity. We know that this is a challenge in Nigeria and there is an opportunity there. So, we are one of the pioneers of rechargeable fans in Nigeria.

    Are you also looking at making fans that could use solar energy?

    We have another company, which is based outside the United Kingdom (UK) and which does that. Discussion is going on but there is no product right now that is commercially available to take care of that challenge. But I am sure that if there are driverless cars, there should also be solar fans.

    How would you compare your market shares in Nigeria with the UK and other African countries?

    Nigeria is a very huge market filled with a young population. Nigeria is one of our home countries. It is a huge opportunity for us that our fans are coveted in every household in Nigeria. Our products are well accepted here in Nigeria. We are not premium products, we give value for money and value to the many products. They are products, which the middle class will always like to buy. For instance, Nigeria is the second biggest appliance market in Africa (after South Africa).

    All top international brands have strong presence in the market. Market is predominantly for mid and lower end products across all product categories. Of course, the Nigeria electronic market has always been doing great and remains a major market for Binatone to continue to explore. As far as Nigeria is concern, we are introducing very innovative products. We have launched many products and we still intend to launch. In short, there is big market in Nigeria.

    Which new products are you bringing to the Nigerian electronics market?

    Binatone has recently launched its innovative Tower Music Fan. Binatone’s new Music Fan brings all of this in its new product offering – the Binatone Tower Fan with digital music. The audio is available via Bluetooth to play any pre-loaded or streamed music from any smartphone and it also allows audio to be played via USB, SD Card, or even a 3.5mm audio. A stunning tower fan with a built-in digital audio system that will reclaim that nostalgic place in the home that first radios once held. The innovation we have experienced in the past two to three decades is unprecedented and what we can achieve with technology is becoming limitless, and this puts a larger than ever onus on product development teams to be able to focus and deliver truly meaningful innovations. Our product is unique, offering for the consumer. Two essential products in one saving valuable space in the home, the Binatone Music Fan is truly destined to be the new centre piece of any home with its style, music and coolness.

    How does the company hope to impact positively on the Nigerian economy?

    Despite the recession we have been growing in business, thanks to our product innovation and keeping our prices low. We have contributed both to the Nigerian exchequer as well as providing jobs to talented and meritorious Nigerians. Apart from direct employment, we also give a lot of indirect employment through the various agencies we hire, which assist us in our business development.

    How are you tackling counterfeiting of your products?

    Whenever you have genuine products, fakes will be present. So, it is something we have to work on. We have been working with Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) in identifying and destroying fakes and taking the perpetrators to court. Some cases are still in court. What we do is that whenever we see any product being converted to a fake, we try to exit that model and launch a new model.  We try to keep one step ahead of the fakers. I advise customers to buy from authorised agents and distributors of our products and from leading electronic outlets and supermarkets where there are no fakes.

    How is this impacting on your bottom-line?

    It is not really affecting our bottom line because as I said, we also try to stay a step ahead of the fakes. It is not really a big threat.

    Do you have challenges bringing in your raw materials?

    Initially, most manufacturers had that challenge, but in the last two months, there have been changes. Foreign exchange has been readily available and relatively stable. There is big hope for manufacturing in this country.  I think once the forex gets available freely, markets will again bounce back and boom. I don’t have too much to complain about in terms of bringing in raw materials because we are getting good support.

    What are you doing differently from others?

    We are not doing anything extraordinary. I am not a magician. I will say God is guiding us to go on the right direction. But one thing I know is that, when you produce quality goods, you don’t have to show off. Consumers themselves will determine what the market of the products should be. If I give you my products and you enjoy using them, then I think you will become my customer. If you buy a product and you are not able to use it, will you buy it a second time? The answer is no.

    How has it been managing Binatone?

    I have been managing the affairs of Binatone Nigeria for one and half years. During this time, we have been able to do good business. Although, there have been some economic challenges, but Binatone as I said earlier is a well-known British brand that has been in Nigeria in the last 40 years. It started with electronics and over a period of many years, it shifted its product offerings to fans, kitchen appliances, power products like UPS and stabilisers. We are leaders in fans. We have a wide range of fans. We recently introduced a tower fan with a Bluetooth speaker, which means that if you switch on your fan, you can pair your phone to the Bluetooth speaker and listen to music. The purpose is to launch this one of a kind product that is not available anywhere. We are happy that we are launching it in Nigeria for the first time.

    What are the things that drive you as a businessman?

    It is God. We are all guided by God. Every step we have taken has been guided by God. We have the faith that you can achieve anything you set out to do through God’s help. It is also our belief that you don’t ask your country what your country will do for you. You ask yourself what you can do for your country.  We make sure that we do our part. We belong to the country and it is important that we play our part.

  • ‘How to train growing, healthy pastors’

    ‘How to train growing, healthy pastors’

    Church Growth expert, Dr Francis Bola Akin-John, speaks with Sunday Oguntola on the imperatives of training for pastors ahead of a conference. Excerpts: 

    How did you conceive the idea of WATPRICO?

    I was in a conference in Thailand for pastoral trainers when the idea came that we need to do West Africa Pastoral Trainers Congress (WAPTRICO) where we can bring people training pastors or have the vision of training pastors.

    I discovered, with due respect to our bible colleges, seminaries, and schools of ministries, that we are not producing healthy pastors.

    How?

    The bible colleges and seminaries seem to give them too many theological issues that render them almost useless by the time they graduate and come to pastoral ministries.

    On their part, the informal sector has too many shallow, imbalanced and ephemeral teachings with nothing to do with preparing somebody to pastor a healthy church by the time they graduate.

    Sometimes those trainings are one-month or three-month such that by the time they graduate, they come hurting eternal souls. Leading the church becomes a big problem. So, the idea came that we should bring people from formal and informal set ups for standard procedures and arrive at some resources and materials that will equip anybody God calls to pastoral ministry.

     

    When he/she passes through those trainings, at least we can say that we have given them the basic and get them ready for a lifelong effective ministry.

    What is the kind of training that any pastor planning to be healthy should undergo?

    Healthy pastors should be trained on biblical interpretations, pulpit mannerism and pulpit delivery and communication. They should go through training on social media and internet. They should go through training on church planting, leadership, relationship, dispute resolution, crises management and the likes.

    Those are things that we have discovered if you want to make pastoral training relevant, they must undergo. Pastors planning to be healthy should go through trainings that will develop his character, knowledge, personality, communication, relationship and congregation.

    The health of the pastor is the health of the church and the health of the church is the health of the society. If the pastor is not healthy, the church will never be healthy. And if the church is not healthy, the society will never be healthy. Those are issues we want to deal with at WAPTRICO.

    Can we have perfect pastors?

    No, but we can have growing pastors. There are no perfect pastors because all of us are in the making but you can be properly trained, equipped, grounded, moulded in a way that you can help others without losing your life. Pastors are dealing with souls and destinies. They have many pressures and challenges. Being perfect is not possible but we can have holy, effective pastors.

    You can be a model and good example to others. You can make mistakes sometimes because you are human but you must be growing in character, measure and capacity.

    You can minister in such a way you get people ready for heaven. You be a good example for them. Unfortunately, almost 90% of pastors of today don’t fall into the picture.

    They are not healthy?

    They are not healthy because many of them didn’t go through trainings. They just wake up, say God has called them and open a church. You can only see that in the church. In major professions, can someone just wake up and say I am a pilot without being trained and certified?

    I have been reading a lot about aviation lately. Pilots go through training every three months. Like doctors, they go for training while practicing. Doctors read medical journals and attend medical conferences. They keep upgrading even years after graduation. It is the same with engineers.

    But when some pastors manage to graduate, they don’t go for training again. Yet, they are dealing with eternal souls. Those who embrace training don’t also get the best from the trainers. So, we want to build the bridge for this.

    Are healthy pastors made or born?

    They are made. Even if they were born, they must still go through training because pastoral work is a continuous learning process. You go for training for updating to interpret the scriptures, do the right things, handle issues, crises and souls.  Jesus says ‘I will make you fishers of men.’ He makes them by training them for three and half years.

    But the biggest pastors in the country didn’t go through pastoral training. How do you relate this to what you are saying?

    That is why we have lots of issues in our churches. That is why we have lot of issues with bible misinterpretations and misapplication. That is why we have a lot of errors being peddled about.

    The truth is we don’t need to copy bad examples and in the last 30 years there have been a lot of errors in the Nigerian church, especially by our so-called big pastors.  It is because we don’t go through trainings. If we don’t want these things to continue, we need to be properly trained on how the church should be run.

    We need to go through trainings. We need to check our trainings, and go for retraining in scriptures, in handling churches, in administering churches, in leading churches and sundry issues.

    We need to retrain on how to avoid issues, scandals, rumours and certain unpalatable issues in the ministry. So, for me, the key is we need to go back to basic fundamental trainings. Enough of people running ministries and jumping into church planting without passing through solid, sound trainings.

    For too long a time, the church in Nigeria has taken trainings for granted. You can’t be functional in the military if you don’t go for trainings and each promotion comes because you pass through a course. Pastors are also into spiritual military work. If you are not trained for it, you will be gunned down quickly.

    You’d become a casualty and that is why a lot of pastors are becoming casualties. They are falling by the way side because it is a spiritual battle.

    Does personal development make up for training?

    Of course personal development is good but it is not the final. Whoever wants to do this work must go for trainings. Pastoral and ministerial works require lot of trainings because we have issues with people and money. Most members you are handling are hurtful and injured. They have lost hope in life and it requires proper trainings for you to know how to handle them.

    What would be your advice to trained pastors who appear not to be doing so well compared to their untrained counterparts?

    Those ones should update their training. You might be properly trained, doing a good job but lack strategies to win your society. You may be concentrating inside your church to win the community. There are things you should do but which you are not doing.

    Those who seem to be doing well with crowd and money, they too should go and update their training because having a crowd does not say you are pleasing God. Crowd is not church. You can draw a crowd and yet you don’t draw people for heaven. You can have people that are in church yet they are not in Christ. So, everyone should ask himself: this crowd and money, are we taking them to heaven?

    You are targeting one million healthy local churches in ten years. Is that realisable?

    It is realisable if you have 500 pastoral trainers and each trains at least four, it is achievable. I am not saying I am going to do this alone. That is why we are calling this.

    We want to partner with formal and informal trainers to draw up standard trainings for pastors and each should run with the vision. If I can have 500 pastoral trainers who can take the resources and run with it, it is achievable.

  • Child Obesity: A growing cause for concern

    Child Obesity: A growing cause for concern

    As we usher in the New Year, Gboyega Alaka brings to the front burner, the growing cases of child obesity in our society, highlighting the health and psychological effects on the youngsters.

    Eight-year-old Modupe (not real name) got the biggest embarrassment of her young life recently, when she was shooed off the stage mid-way into a children dance contest. It was the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the popular radio programme, Lunch Hour Show and Modupe had gone up stage with high hopes of clinching the winning prize money, apparently trusting in her dancing skills. In addition to bags of goodies, the organisers had earmarked a part of its N1.5million winning money of the day for the best child dancer, and Modupe, from the audience position danced really well and deserved to go all the way. She was therefore surprised when a larger chunk of the audience voted her to go off the stage with the elimination slang ‘waka’ (meaning walk away).

    From the audience’s point of view, which is about forty meters from the elevated stage, where the kids danced, Modupe appeared a much bigger girl, giving the impression that  she shouldn’t even be competing with the kids in the first place. And that, more than her performance on stage, determined the audience’s decision to eliminate her from the competition.

    On descending the stage and approaching her father at a section of the audience’s section however, a good number of the crowd suddenly discovered that they had misjudged Modupe’s age and indeed been unfair to the young girl. “Oh she’s actually a little girl,” somebody whispered.”

    “And we thought she is too old,” another replied; while one who couldn’t care less retorted, “why she self go fat like old mama.”

    Somehow, they all agreed, on seeing her up-close, that they had committed a grave error of judgment, which unfortunately, they could not reverse

    Overwhelmed, Modupe snuggled close to her dad while complaining tearfully about how, “they told me to go away… and I was dancing well daddy.”

    Khafilat’s story is not much different. But while information about Modupe’s background and history may not be known; that of events leading to Khafilat’s obesity problem is available, as told by a close family member. Born into a nouveau riche Lagos middle-class family, Khafilat’s mother took delight in feeding her with meals from fast food joints, even though she was literally a fulltime housewife and could have nurtured her with healthy home-made meals. To her, it was a thing of pride, and it was actually common to hear her flaunt the fact that “My daughter doesn’t eat anything cooked at home,” and “Oh she has to eat meat pie and a cup of ice cream before going to sleep, otherwise….”

    Her father, a top manager at a defunct government parastatal, wasn’t left out, as he always branched at a fast food eatery to do mother and daughter’s bidding.

    Gradually, in their ignorance, they fed little Khafilat with junk, until she began to blow up. Unwittingly, they also reveled in her chubbiness. She was the teddy of the family and they were simply loving it. Somehow, it never occurred to them what harm they were doing to the little girl. By the time Khafilat was clocked 9, she already looked like a 16-year old, big and over-blown. Suddenly, both parents realised the problem on their hands, but alas, it seemed a bit too late, as they all (Kafilat inclusive) lost control of her body. The fact that she inherited her father’s height also means that she now looks quite imposing. Now at 14, the poor girl could pass easily for a 30-year-old woman, looking fat and matronly. And wait for this: men old enough to be her father now make passes at her, apparently misjudging her age.

    To make matters worse, she is also facing issues of self esteem, as she gets jibes such as ‘orobo, mummy and fatty,’ from friends and strangers, who find her size amusing. The embarrassment has also got to a stage where she hardly goes out, except to school.

    Her helpless mother now complains of her increasing recluse lifestyle, trying hard to get her to ignore the negative remarks on her size. On her part, Khafilat is trying hard to avoid those foods she has been used to, to no avail.

    And the question persists:  how does she lose her excess weight?

    Little Modupe and Khafilat’s stories are just two of the thousands unpalatable experiences children suffering from obesity and overweight problems are facing in our world.

    Unfortunately however, these may just be tips out of the iceberg, considering the health complications they might be facing in the future, if their conditions are not quickly reversed.

    Mrs. Iwalola Akin Jimoh, nutritionist and member of the Ovie Brume Foundation explains that obesity is actually a situation that predisposes somebody to certain other conditions and diseases. “For example,” she said, “if you are obese, you’re susceptible to high blood pressure, hypertension, cardiac diseases, and diabetes mellitus, particularly in adults.”

    She disagrees with opinions in some quarters that obesity in itself is a disease, saying it is “more like a dangerous condition that predisposes one to other diseases.”

    And while current statistics may be hard to come by, one will most certainly find pockets of children with obesity problems in the exclusive private schools across the country, somehow suggesting that it is a condition preponderant amongst the rich and upper-class. Cursory investigations however suggest that there are cases in public schools and even amongst the lower class, indicating that it cuts across all economic strata.

    A study conducted by the Paediatric and Child Health department of the Igbinedion University, Edo State, at the turn of this decade revealed that Nigeria has a prevalence of 18% obese cases among school age children. This of course indicates that a sizable number of the country’s emerging youth might be facing challenges of obesity and its attending health conditions in the near future.

    It also carpets the opinion in some quarters that the problem has not yet reached an alarming rate.

    Akin-Jimoh lends her voice to this controversy, when she said “to say that it is not yet at an alarming rate is something I won’t agree with. It’s quite alarming at this point in time.”

    Even though statistics may be scanty, she says the problem cuts across board and requires urgent attention.

    She revealed that the problem of obesity actually takes roots from the way mothers feed their infant, when the child is born, right through the type of diet that the child is weaned on. She also said that the reason it might be more preponderant amongst children of the upper class may not be unconnected with their parents’ busy schedule, especially in a city like Lagos.

    “For this reason, they don’t pay extra attention to diet and you find that their kids in the morning take cereal, sausage and chips, which is very high in calories; in the afternoon, they go for rice and maybe a quarter of a chicken, which again is way too much. And in the evening, they go for maybe white bread, egg and sausage. So the diet that a lot of kids in the upper-class take might actually contain a lot of fat, a lot of sugar and very high carbohydrate diet. Sometimes it’s also very high in protein, way beyond what a child needs; and when you take too much carbohydrate and protein, it is converted and stored under your skin.”

    To be on the safe side, she advised that once your diet provides enough for you to meet your energy needs, then it is excellent; as against consuming way more than you need and having it work against you.

    While raising an alarm over the growing rate of obesity amongst young children at the 2nd Federation of African Nutrition Societies (FANUS) meeting held  in collaboration with the Nutrition Society of Nigeria and other stakeholders a few years back, Dr Maria Pilar Riobo Servan, Vice President of the Society of Endocrinology, Nutrition & Diabetes in Madrid, Spain, said changing food habits, declining physical activities in the home and in schools, increasing sedentary habits- where children sit for long periods watching TV or playing video games, and changing physical environment are some of the major factors parents need to address. Except something urgent is done to address this growing trend, Servan warned that the situation will attain a pandemic proportion, leading to the continent’s first generation of less healthy adults with shorter life expectancy than their parents.

    For the records, an adult with a BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese. Extreme obesity, also called severe obesity or morbid obesity, occurs with a BMI of 40 or more. With morbid obesity, one is especially likely to have serious health problems.

    Servan also stated expressly that the biological cause of obesity is simply “an imbalance between the number of calories in and the number of calories out. In other words, consistently eating more calories than you burn off could make you obese.”

    Once regarded as a problem of economically advanced countries of the world, the condition seems to be taking roots in Africa. A conservative figure actually suggests that 15 million Nigerians are obese, while two to three times more people are probably overweight.

  • Growing outlawry?

    •The BPE penchant to disobey court orders, for whatever reasons, must be curbed

    The report that the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) has handed over the Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (Disco) to Northwest Power, despite an order of a Federal High Court, Abuja, that status quo ante be maintained, does not present the organization as a law abiding institution. Such conduct, if true, smacks of lawlessness, and we deprecate it.

    Regardless of the opinion of the BPE with respect to the merit of the case brought by the reserved bidder, Leda Consortium Limited against Northwest Power, the preferred bidder, what BPE should do, as an agency created by law, where it disagrees with a court order, is to approach the court to discharge the order made; not to diregard it.

    It is shocking that Benjamin Ezra Dikki, Director-General of BPE, reportedly claimed ignorance of the order of the court, even when the press reported that the agency was duly served; ordering that status quo be maintained, before the hand over ceremony took place.

    So who is telling lies: the DG who claimed ignorance or those who claimed to have served the agency?

    We hope the High Court will diligently pursue the alleged infraction against the order of court, in the interest of rule of law, which is the bedrock of any democratic enterprise. If indeed the order of the court was disregarded, then those responsible should be punished for contempt, to serve as deterrent to other potential lawless organs of government.

    We note that the BPE has elswhere allegedly been remiss with regards to the obedience of court orders, especialy when the order does not favour its preferred position. We are here referring to the alleged infraction of the order of the court, with regards to the dispute between the prefered bidder and the runner-up of the Enugu Disco.

    As in the present instance, there was a dispute between the winner and the runner-up, which necessitated a suit between the contending parties, before the court. Again it was reported that the BPE ignored an order made by the court as in the present case.

    For us, when there are pre-agreed terms for a bid, then it defeats the essence of such agreement, when the neutral agency is accused of aiding the faulty party.

    But regardless of the merit of the case, what is paramount for us is that when an order is made by a court, then it behoves on the parties before the court and any other concerned party, to strictly obey the orders, even when they disagree with it. To do otherwise, as has been alleged against BPE, is a resort to self-help and a direct invitation to anarchy.

    So, if the court finds it appropriate in the circumstance of the reported case, it should make a positive order against the guilty party, nullifying the actions taken in defiance of the court order, to deter future re-occurence.

    We also expect that the Police will lend their constituional powers to enforce any order that the court may make, to right the disobedience of its order, or to punish those who may have disobeyed its earlier order.

    It should be noted by all and sundry that the constitution clearly empowers the court with judicial powers, which in section 6(6)(b) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, “shall extend  to all matters between persons, or between government or authority and to any person in Nigeria, and to all actions and proceedings relating thereto, for the determination of any question as to the civil rights and obligations of that person”.

  • Growing the top-line is our priority, says Honeywell Flour Mills

    The main objective of Honeywell Flour Mills Plc’s growth strategy is to ensure healthy growth in its sales as it seeks to create headroom for profit margins in a cost-push and tough environment.

    Managing Director, Honeywell Flour Mills Plc, Mr Lanre Jaiyeola, in a review of the operations of the company, said the double-digit growth recorded in sales in the immediate past year ended March 31, 2014 showed the commitment of the company to deliver on its top priority.

    Key extracts of the audited report and accounts of Honeywell Flour Mills for the year ended March 31, 2014 showed that sales rose by 21 per cent to N55.08 billion as against N46 billion recorded in the previous year. Profit after tax also rose by 18 per cent from N2.8 billion to N3.5 billion, which translated to similar increase in earnings per share from 35.86 kobo to 42.26 kobo.

    Jaiyeola said the results reflected the company’s increased output capacity and aggressive push to meet rising demand across its product categories.

    According to him, despite the challenge of input cost pressures caused by increase in wheat prices, Honeywell Flour Mills was still able to achieve a 32 per cent increase in gross profit from the N8 billion to N10.4 billion due to deft management of raw material sourcing and efficient control of production cost.

    He noted that the sheer challenge of operating in the Nigerian business environment was evident in the rising profile of Honeywell Flour Mill’s operating expenses as it incurred costs to deepen its trade, marketing and sales activities to further develop hitherto under-served sectors of the Nigerian market.

    “Growing the top line is our number one priority, even as large industry capacity remains a constant threat.  We are committed to the  development of higher margin products and from our results, you can see that investments in brand equity are beginning to yield fruits as sales of our value added products like semolina, wheat meal and noodles contributed more to our portfolio mix than in the past. This is a trend that we plan to sustain and even grow as we embark on a new phase in our corporate existence”, Jaiyeola said.

    He noted that Honeywell Flour Mills is currently at advanced stages in the development of a new pasta plant and an integrated animal feed mill in Sagamu, Ogun State, two projects that are expected to be completed in 2016.

    Jaiyeola said the expansion would create thousands of jobs and support several agriculture value chains in Nigeria by focusing on local raw material inputs.

    Operating from two locations, Apapa and Ikeja, in Lagos, Honeywell Flour Mills Plc. is one of the largest food-focused companies in Nigeria and is a member company of the Honeywell Group. Its products include branded food products like Honeywell Pasta, Honeywell Noodles, Honeywell Wheat Meal and Honeywell Semolina.

    The fiscal year ended with a transition in the leadership of the company; the pioneer chief executive officer, Mr Folaranmi Odunayo, retired after 17 years of service and was succeeded by Mr. Lanre Jaiyeola. Prior to his appointment, Jaiyeola had garnered 20 years experience in the company, working across strategic departments at both managerial and executive management levels.