The Nation Newspaper

Tag: harps

  • iREP harps ‘change’ in documentaries

    Spanning four days across three different venues in Lagos, documentary filmmakers from across the globe had space to showcase their work at the sixth edition of West Africa’s biggest documentary film festival, the iREPRESENT International Documentary Film Festival.

    The event which held at the Freedom Park, Lagos Island, from Thursday, March 24 and ended on Sunday, March 27 screened over 45 documentaries selected along its chosen theme: ‘#CHANGE, Documentary as Agent Provocateur.’ It also made use of Afrinolly Space in Oregun and the National Film Corporation also on Lagos Island.

    Delivering the keynote at iREP 2016, Jane Mote, an accomplished filmmaker had harped on the need for individuals to tell their own stories.

    ‘We have a responsibility to document the world honestly and to ask the questions that get us nearer to the truth,’ said Mote. ‘I passionately believe everyone should own their own stories.’

    For Mote, who has worked for BBC and UKTV and consulted for other global media brands such as Turner Broadcasting, Discovery, BBC Worldwide, London Live, The Africa Channel, Whickers World Foundation and One World Media, documentary story-telling should stand out from other platforms.

    With documentaries traversing the social sphere such as in My Big Nigerian Wedding by EkeneSomMekwunye (Nigeria), the political space such as in Arij – Scent Of A Revolution  by Viola Shafik (Egypt/Germany) and search for economic being in Low Season by Madeleine Dallmeyer, the mantra of seeking ‘change’ featured dominantly in the movies.

    According to Mr. Femi Odugbemi, Executive Director/Co-Founder of iREP, the theme is premised on the Change as relating to Political, Economic, and Technical.

    Documentaries screened at the festival include Negritude: A dialogue between Soyinka and Senghor (Dir – ManthiaDiawara, Mali/USA), Ota Benga(Dir – Niyi Coker, USA),The Revolution Won’t Be Televised (Dir – Kim Bartley, DonnachaO’Briain, Senegal), The Democrats (Dir – Camilla Nielsson, Zimbabwe), The Drills of Afi Mountain (Dir – Tom Richards, UK), I Shot BiKidude(Dir – Andy Jones, UK), and a host of others.

  • Access Bank harps on financial support for SMEs, youths

    Access Bank harps on financial support for SMEs, youths

    The Group Managing Director, Access Bank Plc, Herbert Wigwe has reiterated the bank’s commitment for financial empowerment for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and the youths in Africa.

    Speaking yesterday at the Africa Sustainable CEO Business Roundtable in Lagos, Wigwe,, who discussed how the lender is financing youth entrepreneurs and SMEs in the continent,  said traditional problems, such as access to finance, environment and the right knowledge on the society where they operate, are some of the factors affecting today’s youths.

    Wigwe, who was represented by the Executive Director, Personal Banking, Victor Etuokwu disclosed that the lender has a team that drives and adds value to SMEs in the country.

    “What we have done in Access Bank is that we have a team to drive and add values to SMEs. Finance is not the  major issue, but building capacity and understanding things around. We also have programmes that support women entrepreneurs because we find it interesting working with them,” he said.

    The United Nations Global Compact, organisers of the programme, charged African Chief Executive Officers to collaborate in contributing to the post-2015 development in Africa.

    Executive Director, UN Global Impact, Dr. Georg Kell in his remarks enjoined local networks to partner to help achieve economic growth in the continent.  He also added that the UN Global Compact will support CEOs and the Nigerian government in their efforts to sustain future business in Africa.

    CEO, Safaricom Ltd and Board member, UN Global Compact, Mr Robert Collymore said collective actions, long term mindset and corporate sustainability can help run a sustainable business while Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Lagos State, Mr Ben Akabueze noted that government should appoint an ombudsman to tackle corruption, organize regular open forum between public and private sector to discuss problems and way forward.

  • NTDC harps on staff welfare

    The Director-General, Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Mrs. Sally Mbanefo, has described members of staff of the corporation as the core stakeholders in Nigeria’s tourism industry. She pointed out that neglect of the workers was why the tourism master plan never worked.

    She stated this at the corporation’s staff retreat in Abuja. Mrs Mbanefo said: “Why all the tourism master plans we have been having in the country did not work is that they abandoned the staff, and pay no or less attention to the welfare of the staff, that are going to drive the project and direct the strategic imperative of the organization.

    “I appreciate the fact that staff of the NTDC, the implementers of the corporation’s strategic imperatives, are the core stakeholders in the industry, hence, they must be well equipped and practically made ambassadors of Nigeria’s tourism industry to drive development in the industry. We must feed the goose that lays the golden egg.

    “As a result, capacity building and staff welfare are the priority on my agenda in repositioning Nigeria’s tourism industry and promoting domestic tourism in the country. And this, I will execute to the letter.

    “Following our Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Gambia Tourism Board, 20 NTDC staff will be going for an exchange programme in Gambia on customer care, public relations, health and safety, administration, management, and project management. Meanwhile, the Gambia Tourism Board are inviting tourism specialists from Netherland to imbibe our staffs with tourism best practices,” she said.

    The retreat, she said, was organisd to enlighten the staff on how to generate revenue, as well as to strengthen their capacity for enhanced service delivery.

    On her activities in the first year in office, Mrs Mbanefo said: “We want all Nigerians to recognize the importance of tourism; that is why we used the first year of our administration to create awareness and agree on implementable policy framework that would make it possible for the country to harness the potentials that abound in the tourism sector.

    “Staff will be locally trained on how to involve the staff in revenue generation, and to have understanding of what role they have to play because they are my most important stakeholders in this tourism value chain.”

  • Head of Service harps on training

    The Head of Service of the Federation (HOSF) Alhaji Bukar Aji has expressed Federal Government’s determination to reposition the public service to deliver world-class service to the people of the country.

    Aji spoke while opening the meeting of the experts committee on the implementation of the Cooperation Agreement on Civil Service between Nigeria and Niger Republic in Abuja.

    He said the transformation reform in the service was one of the initiatives to actualise President Goodluck Jonathan administration’s desire for rapid socio-economic development of the country.

    He said much of the programmes of the government on power, infrastructure, structure of government, judiciary and security, among others, which are being driven by the public service requires extensive capacity building of the personnel.

    On the Nigeria-Niger Cooperation Agreement, he said: “This forum strengthens the relationship that exists between the two countries culturally, socially, and economically.”

    The Director-General of Niger Civil Service, Mounmini Djibiji said the forum has provided the two nations avenue to share experiences for the development of their respective civil services.

  • CIBN chief harps on capacity building for workforce

    CIBN chief harps on capacity building for workforce

    The Registrar, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Dr. Uju Ogubunka, has stressed the need for capacity building for employees of companies, saying such would impact positively on  job performance and productivity.

    Speaking during a Performance Intelligence conference organised by Profiles International, in Lagos, he said such act is also vital in stimulating Nigeria’s economic growth.  He described human capital as the fulcrum for enhancing any nation’s productivity.

    He noted that the effectiveness and success of an organisation basically depends on the people who form and work within the organisation.

    “For any organisation to succeed, training and re-training of its staff should be vigorously pursued and made compulsory. The training programmes should focus on what manpower the organisation has and on the skills that are lacking,” he said.

    Experts have stressed that improved job performance and productivity are vital in stimulating Nigeria’s growth.  They described human capital as the fulcrum for enhancing any nation’s productivity.

    The Lagos State Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning,  Ben Akabueze, said the importance of productivity to economic growth and development cannot be over-emphasised in the public and private sectors, adding that steady growth in productivity guarantees better economic growth.

    “The need for improved productivity in an organisation has become a universally accepted phenomenon that depends on efficient and effective manpower development.

    “The need for organisations to take staff development programme for their employees seriously has become an undisputable imperative.

    “Absence of such staff development programmes often manifests tripartite problems of incompetence, inefficiency and ineffectiveness,” he added.

     

    Country Director, Profiles International, Nigeria, Tilda Mmegwa, the conference is part of strategies the organisation had outlined in its quest to help organisations in Nigerian attain true global competitiveness and adopt international best practice in their operations.

    Mmegwa noted that there are challenges with effective implementation of policies as well as expected outcomes. She added: “The greatest challenge many organisations have faced in optimising the potential of their human capital base has been that of finding the right methodologies and strategies for getting the best from their workforce and building a constituent, high performance culture.

    “We believe the country deserves a private and public and private sector with not only some cutting-edge management knowledge, but also a level of international competitive savvy that would unlock Nigeria’s largely untapped potentials as one of the world’s greatest economic frontiers. We hope to continue to be at the forefront of the amazing journey.”

     

     

     

  • CBN harps on ethics as FMDQ licenses dealing members

    CBN harps on ethics as FMDQ licenses dealing members

    The Central Bank of Nigeria has underlined the importance of effective rules and regulations and self censorship in creating and sustaining the integrity of the over-the-counter securities market.

    At the presentation of licences to the first batch of dealing members of the FMDQ OTC Plc, Director, banking supervision, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mrs. Tokunbo Martins, said FMDQ and its dealing members must abide by the principle of good corporate governance and observe extant laws and regulations to justify their role as a self-regulatory organisation (SRO).

    According to her, it is only by acting in good faith, devoid of conflict of interest at all times and introducing best business practices among its members that FMDQ OTC can achieve its goal of strengthening the financial system.

    She noted that financial markets play a critical role in the accumulation of capital and the production of goods and services adding that FMDQ is at a vantage position to help Nigeria achieve a world-class financial system.

    “In my view, the emergence of FMDQ will greatly enhance the liquidity, transparency and safety of transactions in the inter-bank market for fund intermediation,  foreign exchange dealings, repurchase transaction and government securities,” Martins said.

    She called on FMDQ OTC to, among other things, put measures in place to ensure that it achieves its objectives as a SRO.

    According to her, FMDQ must put in place an arbitration mechanism for the resolution of disputes between members and other stakeholders just as it must put in place a system for proceeding against members committing breach of the governing norms or articles including provisions for suspension or expulsion.

    In his remarks, chairman, FMDQ OTC, Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, who presented licences to 26 dealing members at the event, said it provided an interactive forum for the formal activation of the capital market presence of FMDQ dealing members.

    He stressed that the regulation of the OTC market was important, considering previous experience.

    According to him, financial markets which are more wholesale in nature have fallen under the provenance of over-the-counter markets which have until recent times been highly unregulated and decentralized.

    He noted that the financial crisis of 2007-2008 has however led to greater interest in regulating OTC markets, especially the derivative products.

    “The importance of regulation in this market cannot be over-emphasised as FMDQ is a market for all the stakeholders of the OTC market. This ceremony is a demonstration of the importance the OTC market attaches to regulation,” Aig-Imoukhuede said.

    The dealing members that received licences included Access Bank, Associated Discount House, Citi Bank, Consolidated Discount Limited, Diamond Bank, Ecobank Nigeria Limited, Enterprise Bank, First City Monument Bank, Fidelity Bank, FSDH Merchant Bank, First Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Heritage Bank, Kakawa Discount House Limited, Keystone Bank, Mainstreet Bank, Rand Merchant Bank, Skye Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Sterling Bank, Union Bank, UBA, Unity Bank, Wema Bank and Zenith Bank.

    Chief executive officer, Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mr. Oscar Onyema, congratulated the dealing members and urged them to adhere to FMDQ’s rules.