The Nation Newspaper

Tag: hope

  • Adetunji grabs another brace to give 3SC hope

    Adetunji grabs another brace to give 3SC hope

    Sunday Adetunji fired a brace against Sunshine Stars as Shooting Stars continued to fight to stay up in the Nigeria league on Sunday.

    Shooting Stars are now 14th on the table with 36 points from 27 matches.

    The tall striker, Adetunji has now netted eight goals this season.

    Both goals on Sunday were from the penalty spot, in the 33rd minute and stoppage time.

    Former Shooting Stars player, Meshack Chibuikem put visiting Sunshine Stars in front after 23 minutes.

    Oyo State Governor Ajimobi was the special guest of honour at the game in Ibadan.

  • Hope is not a strategy

    A study was conducted of five hundred companies to better understand what causes successful organisations to struggle financially for extended periods of time. The researchers found out that 87% of these companies suffered one or more ‘stall points’ – a term used to describe the start of a prolonged financial decline.
    When the researchers pored through the data to uncover the cause of the stall points, they found that 70% were attributed to poor choice about Strategy. While it is convenient to blame the economy for one’s misfortunes, the data clearly show that most financial decline was well within management’s control.
    It is an established fact that organisations desiring to succeed must have a well formulated and clearly articulated strategy. However, in our experience with various business challenges that we proffer solutions to everyday, we discovered that, rather than a clear strategy, what most organisations have is “hope”.
    They invariably hope:
    • That things will go well;
    • That employees will know what to do, how to do it, when to do it and the importance of doing it;
    • That they will go ahead and actually do that which they have to do in their job roles.
    This erroneous assumption has been a catalyst of failure and mediocre performance in many organisations because:
    “Hope is simply not a Strategy!”
    Organizations seeking and driven by results understand this, and they value the importance of engaging a Winning Strategy that is deeply rooted in their realities.
    Execution Is More Important Than Strategy
    Is having a Strategy then a guarantee that organisations will be successful?
    Unfortunately, the answer to this is NO. It isn’t!
    A Strategy cannot be effective in a vacuum, it must be empowered with an effective “execution system & structure”. No matter how superior a Strategy is, without execution, it will not deliver the expected result.
    “Superior Strategy cannot and will not compensate for inferior Execution”.
    As a matter of fact, great execution is more important than Strategy because Execution itself, when it is exceptional and flawless can give birth to superior Strategy. Hence, the ability of an organisation to execute their objectives exceptionally well is non-negotiable. It is said that it doesn’t matter what your strategy is but it matters greatly how well you are able to execute your strategy.
    The Competitive Edge
    As your organisation works towards getting better results or creating unique competitive advantage, the ability to execute flawlessly will play a central and crucial role in ensuring the realization of your goals and objectives. This is a critical capability that businesses cannot afford to ignore.
    For more tips on execution management and driving for results, visit www.workforcegroup.com.

    Bolaji Olagunju is the Lead Consultant/CEO of Workforce Group; a Management Consulting Firm that offers diverse services in the areas of Learning, Development & Research, HR and Business Consulting, People & Task Outsourcing and Recruitment Services.

  • Ogoni clean-up: Hope for minorities?

    Ogoni clean-up: Hope for minorities?

    Sir: The launch of the clean-up of Ogoni land in response to 2011 United Nations Environment Programme, (UNEP) report marks a potential shift from previous government management of the issue of the fragile ecosystem and sustainable development in the Niger- Delta. It is indeed a remarkable achievement in itself – a product of an unprecedented non – violent struggle by the Ogoni people to redress the socio-economic crimes by the Nigerian state through the unwholesome oil exploration activities by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).

    As laudable as the Ogoni clean-up appears, key question remains: Does the government have the political and the moral capital and indeed capability to resolve the fundamental issues of oil exploration and exploitation that drove the region into almost five decades of under-development and environmental degradation?

    The Niger Delta serves as a host community to Nigeria’s vast oil and infrastructure of 30 oil fields, 5,284 wells, and 7,000 kilometres of pipeline, 10 export terminals, 275 flow stations, 10 gas plants, three refineries and a massive liquefied natural gas (LPG) sector. This perhaps underscores the strategic importance of the region to national development hence the core issues of authentic reconciliation should be pursued by the federal government in line with the new threat from the Niger Delta Avengers to avoid further collateral damage and breach of peace in the volatile region.

    While acknowledging that criminality in the Niger Delta should not be encouraged under any circumstance particularly the destruction of strategic national assets, it is expedient that the government of the Niger Delta states and the centre acknowledge the tensions between peace and justice and to recognise that pragmatism and recent development indicate that justice cannot always claim primacy in nation-building efforts. While impunity for people who have committed the gravest acts of destroying national asset is morally repugnant, sometimes doing a deal with perpetrators is unavoidable and indeed necessary to prevent further conflict and suffering in the land.

    Going forward therefore, I am inclined to suggest that all options including the pursuit of full amnesty without undue political colourations must be on table. Pointedly, the real strategic options in addition to the clean–up campaign by the federal government should be a sustained peace process which can be done to accommodate the need for peace with the demand for social-economic justice particularly through the mechanism of deliberate development plan and projects of the region in a holistic manner.

    The NDDC and the ministry of the Niger Delta in my view are political sedative. These agencies of government have failed to incorporate the interests and aspirations of the people. Moreover, there has been no peace dividend for the communities, high levels of unemployment prevalent especially among youth and women. More are still displaced and remain mired in poverty, without proper housing and under constant military surveillance.

    It is hoped that the faithful implementation of the UNEP report in Ogoni land will be a sweet-smelling savour for healing broken minds and a foundation stone for restorative justice and authentic reconciliation mechanism for minorities in the Niger- Delta and the country at large. A policy and legislative reform to help improve social protection programmes and address unemployment is urgently needed to enforce socio- economic rights, including affirmative action or a bill of rights for minorities.

     

    • Samuel Akpobome Orovwuje,

    Lagos.

  • Ambode: We’ve rekindled people’s hope in govt

    Ambode: We’ve rekindled people’s hope in govt

    With the ongoing construction of 114 council roads, Lagos State has rekindled the people’s hope in government, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has said.

    He said his administration would provide rapid infrastructure development throughout the state.

    The governor commissioned eight roads in Ikosi-Isheri, Coker-Aguda and Onigbongbo Local Council Development Areas.

    At Ikosi-Isheri, Ambode, represented by Commissioner  for  Special  Duties  and  Inter-Governmental  Relations  Oluseye  Oladejo,  commissioned  Oladele,   Shoyebi, Ademola  Taiwo,  Alamu  Taiwo  and  Ogunsola  streets.

    Four  of  the  roads, Oladejo said,  were  inter  connected  and  are  located  in  Ketu.  The fifth road, Shoyebi is in Isheri-Olowora.

    The governor said his administration’s achievements  in  the  last  one  year  were in  fulfilment  of  his  campaign  promises,  adding that  the people’s support  to  their  actualisation.

    Ambode  said:  “Before  we  assumed  office,  we  promised  you,  Lagosians,  that  our  government  will  be  an  all-inclusive  government.  I  am  happy  to  tell  you  that  we  remain  committed  to  this  cause”.

    Ikosi-Isheri  LCDA Executive  Secretary  Afolabi  Kazeem said the council constructed Oladele, Shoyebi and Ekiti roads because it is government’s job to  provide  social  basic  amenities  for  the  people.

    At Coker-Aguda LCDA, Special Adviser on Transportation to the governor Prince Anofiu Elegushi, who represented Ambode, implored the residents to take charge of the projects.

    Elegushi commissioned Adekunle Kuye/ Rosanwo Street.

    The council’s Executive Secretary, Ismail Bello, said the road would reduce pressure on the adjoining streets.

    At Onigbongbo LCDA, Commissioner for Wealth Durosinmi Etti commissioned Bisi Ogabi, Joel Ogunnaike and Lagos Homs road.

    He told residents to expect more from the Ambode’s administration.

  • Don’t lose hope in Buhari

    SIR: Those who understand what true change is all about expect what is happening now. A country that has been destroyed for over 30 years can never be repaired within one year. We all must unite to repair Nigeria. The change we talk about must start from us as individuals. We can’t see change if we remain with our bad attitudes. We are not seeing change because we have refused to change. Do we still go late to work? Do we still give and accept bribe? Do we still beat every system through shortcuts? Do we still take undue advantage of others? Do we still put self above public interest when acting in official capacity? Do we still celebrate corruption? Do we still steal public funds?

    If yes, we must change to see change. The idea behind change is simply repentance. When the government says change they are saying repent. But in a country where majority of the religious preachers have rejected the message of repentance and embraced the message of prosperity that is further pushing people into desperation for wealth, it is difficult to embrace repentance/change.

    For every positive change to take place, people must be pushed out of their comfort zone. Those to be pushed out includes the rich, high and mighty which we all know is not easy. No matter how weak or seemingly foolish a man may be, when he is being pushed out of his comfort zone he must fight back. In fighting back some may engage the change in physical combat. Some will engage in war of words, some will grumble while others will simply frown their faces. In all, they have shown their displeasure with the changer. This is what is happening in our country today.

    The fuel scarcity is a way of fighting back. Many were benefiting from the controversial subsidy, the private marketers whose grip on fuel importation and distribution has been reduced, those displaced by the reorganization in NNPC are all fighting back. Why will NNPC mega filling stations indulge in hoarding and diversion of fuel?

    The unimaginable exchange rate of the naira to the dollar at the parallel market even when the official exchange rate is less than N200 is a way of fighting back. The Bureau De Change whose operations has been restricted and closely monitored and all other interests within the financial sector are fighting back.

    The high cost of home made goods like toothpick, garri, yam and others on the excuse of the high exchange rate of the dollar at the parallel market is a way of fighting back. Why will the cost of goods that has nothing to do with importation and exchange rate increase?

    Shouting witch-hunt and disobedience to the rule of law when a rich man is being tried for corruption is a way of fighting back. These people will not say anything when a poor man is being detained for years without trial for allegedly insulting a rich man or stealing N500.

    All the controversial verdicts and injunctions coming out of our various courts in matters concerning the rich and politically exposed persons are all ways of fighting back.

    The blowing up of oil pipe lines and vandalisation of power installations are ways of fighting back. People given “crazy” contracts running into billions and trillions of naira in the Niger-Delta region, dubious contracts that have been revoked; the beneficiaries are fighting back.

    The allegation of missing budget and budget replacement, the paddling of the budget and all the noise generated by the budget are all ways of fighting back. People want things to remain the way it has been where certain individuals carve out their personal budget out of the budget.

    What is done can never be undone, it can only be amended and the process of amendment is always very complicated. What has been done wrong since we discovered oil cannot be amended within one year. We must not loose hope in Buhari. We must join him to fight our common enemies. We must unite to overcome.

     

    • Ukhun Felix

    Edo State

  • ‘Nigeria has hope under Buhari’

    ‘Nigeria has hope under Buhari’

    All Progressive Congress (APC) National Chairman Chief John Odigie-Oyegun spoke with reporters in Benin City, the capital of Edo State, on efforts by the Buhari Administration to reposition the country. Ben Ogbemudia was there.

    Nigerians are complaining that president Mohammadu Buhari’s foreign trips constitute a waste  of resources. what  is your  view?

    What makes me sad is that there are people who do not recognise the fact that Nigeria has almost become a pariah state; the fact that we have no respect all over the world, and the reality that the APC won the presidential election based on the personal credibility of the president; based on the respect he commands, not only in Nigeria, but the world over.

    It seems that most people do not recognise the very sorry state of the Nigerian economy. They say we should stop blaming anybody. I am not going to say I blame anybody, but the facts remains that the economy was   ruined by the former regime. Fact number three, as if those two were not bad enough, is the reality that, in a few months the price of oil crashed, from about $120 per barrel about $30 to $40 per barrel. these are big problems in a state that was almost broke, the president need, the world’s assistance and the people are complaining.

    Because I always use this example, and I will not be tired in using it. Family income falls from N120 to N40, the family will feel the compulsion you will not be able to meet the needs. there will be need for him to take emergency measures to shore off the economic situation of the family, and the president is doing exactly the same thing. Take  note that  a rapid revival depends on the understanding of the rest of the world.

    The president has taken his prestige and time around the whole world to shore-up and polish our image, which has been badly damaged; to make it possible for world leaders to want to deal with a new Nigeria and to get the type of resources and the expenditure that we need badly, because the kind of problem we have are not the type that can wait for one or three  years. We do not have the resources to revive the economy. so what the president is doing is a  great inconvenience to his person. He  is a well trained military officer. he trained abroad and he has been to  most part of the world. so, it is not as if he enjoys going and spending sleepless nights in one capital to another.

    The countries he has visited are critical to peace in Nigeria or to our speedy economic revival. Think of country like China and the United States. The long and short of it is that Mr. President is getting the world to respect and know the new Nigeria and help in reviving the Nigerian economy.

    Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose was said to have written  to  the China Government not to honour President Buhari’s request for loan. do you think that was the  right thing?

    I hope Fayose did not really do what we are told he did. I don’t think even he is capable of descending   into the low  depth, but if he did, I feel sorry for him and the people of Ekiti State.

    It is almost one year the APC took over the government and the economy’s still in doldrum. what is wrong.?

    Well, the budget is around the corner, succor will come, succor must come, because of the president’s personal commitment to Nigerians. he believes in  the well being of the ordinary Nigerian. Everything he has done, including the foreign tours, is to gather all the support that is necessary to make a dramatic impact on the economic condition of Nigeria as quickly as possible.

    A lot of these things we did not create. Yet the president have pleaded with the people to be patient with him and he is working on all fronts, whether electricity or even the lingering fuel crisis. What is happening now is that arrangement is being made to ensure that we are seeing the last of it.

    The major  problem Nigeria has is that we depended on just  one product, the oil, price, which accounts for ninety  percent of her foreign exchange. Both the fall in the oil and the foreign reserves means we cannot sustain the consumer habit that we have. We don’t produce. even the oil we have is like cocoa beans. In 2016, we are still exporting cocoa beans, instead of processing.

    We don’t process because of selfish interest of few people who don’t wish this nation well. our refineries have never worked, because it is better for them to import. For the past 16 years, our refineries did not work because they  were busy importing fuel and making huge profit.

    They did not think of having petro chemical plant for the production of plastics.

    So, we have remained a raw material exporting country. Once this budget, which the agents of retrogression had tried to mess up, a few individuals out of pure selfish personal interest has tried to put their constituency projects and trickishly remove projects like the Lagos-Calabar rail project. It means that there are still people in our country who does not want change.

    The simple message is that change is not going to come easy because the agents of retrogression are still there.

    The APC principle of change must prevail. Change in our perception, change in the way we think. Our assurance to the country is that nothing is going to divert us from the change revolution which we have started.

    Did your party underrate the problems in the country?

    No. we didn’t underrate the problems but you see, you cannot come into government and stop the clock.  Yes we have done a few little thing at the top, but after 16 years the rot in virtually all the institutions in this country is corrupt, so it takes time to put people in this major act to drive the system.

    Meanwhile we are doing the best we can to make sure everything moves on well.

    There were reports that you will be removed from office. Is it true?

    You know nothing like that ever happened. If you are a leader and you don’t offend people, it means something must be wrong with your leadership. you cannot agree with everybody, and you cannot do what everybody want. Some people are hiding behind the media, on something that emanated from outside the party. I needed a rest and I called the media and said I am going away for ten days, the gentle man standing by me will act till I return, and that is the gentle man they said moved to my office.

    Saraki is presently facing trial before code of conduct tribunal. is your party envisaging  soft landing for him?

    What is soft landing when the judicial process is almost completed . Soft landing means we are going to interfere, tell judge the kind of judgment he should deliver. If we do that what is the change we are preaching?

    I don’t know about the PDP producing the Senate President. But, starting from where you started, the party doesn’t have anything to do with the court case. we do not know how it originated.

    It is a judicial process. And this is a regime of change that believes in due process.

    There are allegations of attempts by some people to utter the delegates’ list for Edo governorship election.?

    The aspirants did not come to Abuja. to protest any attempt to temper with the delegates’ list.

    The party called them and read the riot act to them as regards their campaign. After the meeting, they paid me a courtesy call where I assured them that the primary, will be free and fair as far as I remain the National Chairman of the party. There will be no alteration and the delegate’s list is under lock and key.

    If there is any justified reason that someone who is a delegate is late or has left  the party, the party will critically look at the reason and   effect the genuine change.

  • Rekindling hope in small scale farming

    Rekindling hope in small scale farming

    While agriculture remains central to Nigeria’s economy, its performance has lagged. The relatively low rate of agricultural productivity is caused by many factors, including poor seeds and fertiliser supply. Micro Reforms for African Agribusiness in Nigeria (MIRA-NIGERIA), in collaboration with Nigeria Agricultural Business Group (NABG) and other stakeholders, is taking steps to strengthen public-private implementation partnerships to improve food production. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    Life is improving for many farmers in Bauchi State and other parts of the North due to private efforts supporting local agriculture by the Nigeria Agricultural Business Group and other organisations. The establishment of new food processing businesses and farming ventures in the region has forged new pathways for rural families to stay on the farm, attracting new producers to farming and food-related businesses. It has also brought about a new appreciation for rural production and entrepreneurship among food companies, large and small.

    But the situation has changed in  the last three years. This followed the insurgency in the North-east, where farmers are unable to cultivate their land. The threat forced them to abandon their fields. In most cases, the insurgents destroyed infrastructure, increasing the suffering of the people.

    The hike in fuel, fertiliser and labour prices, occasioned by Boko Haram attacks, didn’t help the situation. The situation was pretty chaotic with all crops. Significantly, the overwhelming insecurity broke the supply chain and farmers couldn’t overcome the perils and costs of cultivating in a conflict zone.

    Other problems were input, such as seeds, and then there is the issue of transport and distribution.

    Lamenting the situation, the Coordinator, Nigeria Agricultural Business Group (NABG), Mr Emmanuel Ijewere, said farmers in the North are facing a big challenge  of having  to transport their products over roads that have become battlegrounds.

    Addressing a stakeholder’s consultative workshop on Micro Reforms for African Business in Nigeria (MIRA) in Lagos, Emmanuel Ijewere said tackling insecurity in the Northeast has become a critical issue for the government if it is to help frightened farmers willing to step up output to boost food production in the midst of increasing security threat.

    Calling on the government to boost security to help farmers keep their lands in production and prevent the situation from deteriorating, Ijewere added that food markets and distribution systems have been severely disrupted.

    With targeted support and favourable policy conditions, he expressed hope that farmers could increase their productivity and contribute to hunger and poverty reduction goals. He stressed that improved government’s investment in smallholder farming, will result in increased agricultural productivity and output.

    In the era of planned development, Ijewere wanted commercial banks to play an active role in the agric development process rather than being a passive agent for providing financial services.

    For him, Nigeria provides huge opportunities for food supply chain stakeholders.

    To this end, he said NABG is partnering with MIRA to support government to make and implement policies that will help farmers improve yields and increase profitability.

    On security of input meant for farmers, the Director, Farm Input Support Service, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Jatto Ohiare said the government was making efforts to address security challenges by providing escorts to accompany farm input to farm locations in threatened areas.

    The National Coordinator, MIRA-Nigeria, Dr. Tony Bello, noted that some of the challenges the farmers were facing include poor access to capital, poor infrastructure, inadequate market structure and low levels of public investment – all exacerbated by ineffective policy making and implementation.

    Faced with these challenges, he stressed that improving policy-making is imperative.

    He maintained that the purpose of MIRA is to promote policy formulation that will transform agriculture to a ‘productive, high-value, market-orientated’ sector through a number of interlinked interventions and policy reforms. These, he listed, to include the intensification of crop production, the organisation of farmers into cooperatives, and facilitating access to inputs.

    Consequently, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) has formed new implementation partnership platform with NABG, Seed Association of Nigeria (SEEDAN) and Fertiliser Suppliers of Nigeria (FEPSAN) on micro reforms, especially for smallholder agribusinesses in Nigeria.

    Bello said AGRA is committing $700,000 to Micro Reforms for African Agribusiness in Nigeria, an  initiative that  will boost the operational position of small farmers in business.

    Bello said by working with Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, NABG and others, AGRA could help facilitate micro reforms for agribusi-nesses as it affects smallholder farmers in the country.

    Former Head of Agric Finance Department, FirstBank, Ernest Ndubuisi Ihedigbo, stressed the need for the government to promote an integrated approach towards addressing constraints on the agricultural extension system.

    On financing agriculture, he said the nation has a robust finance system that is positioned to support the financing of smallholder enterprises.

    The Executive Secretary, Seed Association of Nigeria (SEEDAN), Alhaji Ibrahim Abdullahi, restated the commitment of the association’s members to continue to support the current drive towards boosting agricul­ture in the country.

    He assured that the association’s members were capable of producing seeds to meet national needs, thereby guaranteeing food security in Nigeria.

    He reiterated readiness to support reformed policies and regulations to local and international private sector investors in order to create awareness about improved business enabling environment in seed production and supply.

    Executive Secretary, Fertiliser Suppliers Association of Nigeria, (FEPSAN), Alhaji Ahmed Rabiu Kwa said there are efforts to promote better access of small farmers to fertiliser.

    Senior Manager, Sales and Marketing at TAK Agro & Chemicals Limited, Gideon Negedu, said better access to credit, for smallholder farmers, could bring about a revolution in agriculture.

    Among others issues, the workshop urged the government to strengthen cooperatives as a vehicle to extend credit to farmer groups.

    The workshop recommended the creation of an efficient system of agricultural finance and the development of a sound co-operative credit structure.

    The workshop recommended the establishment of a private sector driven agric bank to meet agricultural credit needs. Several speakers during the forum focused on improving agriculture financing, promoting sustainable and equitable agriculture and rural prosperity through effective credit support, related services, institution development and other innovative initiatives.

  • Unemployment: BoI’s ‘YES’ project raises youth’s hope

    Unemployment: BoI’s ‘YES’ project raises youth’s hope

    As part of measures to tackle unemployment, the Bank of Industry (BoI) has unfolded a N10 billion Youth Entrepreneurship Support (YES) programme. It is expected to create 36,000 jobs yearly. TOBA AGBOOLA reports.

    Unemployment, arguably, is one of the most critical socio-economic problems  facing Nigeria. According to the latest report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), about 1,972,722 Nigerians have been unemployed since June last year. The Federal Government, however, appears determined to tackle the problem.

    Through the Bank of Industry (BOI), the government has launched the N10 billion Youth Entrepreneurship Support (YES) programme. The scheme is expected to produce at least 36,000 direct and indirect jobs annually, with each beneficiary getting between N5 million to N10 million loan at nine per cent interest rate with a tenure of five to 10 years.

    At the launch of the programme in Abuja, the Acting Managing Director of BOI, Mr. Waheed Olagunju, said the programme aimed at equipping youths to become self-employed by starting and managing their own businesses and eventually becoming employers of labour. While noting that Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are the bedrock of any economy, he said there is need to develop the capacity of the youths with a view to ultimately fund their business plans.

    Olagunju said while previous empowerment programmes for the youths concentrated more on training, the YES project will provide funds for the beneficiaries. According to him, it is a critical success factor in the establishment of small businesses. “The capacity building programmes also hardly take care of the entire training value chain. The YES scheme that is being launched today would therefore, provide an opportunity for BOI to address the worrisome phenomenon of lack of finance,” he said.

    Olagunju highlighted some of the bold steps taken by the Bank in recent times to address some of the developmental challenges facing the country. The most recent, he said, was the merit-based N2 billion financial inclusion scheme for youths known as the Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund (GEF). The GEF, launched by the Bank in October 2015 in partnership with the National Youth Corps Directorate, is the precursor to YES.

    “GEF is targeted at serving members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). The programme is an innovative approach aimed at tackling the social malaise of graduate unemployment. The strategy was to identify the innate talents of the young graduates as soon as they leave school, build their capacities for self-reliance and also empower them to establish their own businesses;  thereby creating jobs not just for themselves, but for other youths that they may employ. Indirect jobs would also be created as a result of ventures promoted under GEF,” the BoI boss explained.

    Explaining further, he said the programme entailed an online business ideas competition in which 3,100 serving members of the NYSC made their submissions out of which 1,000  top scorers emerged. The successful candidates, he said, underwent entrepreneurship capacity building programmes in seven locations in the six geopolitical zones of the country, including the special centre in Lagos, to facilitate access to finance for their business plans.

    The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr, Okechukwu Enelema, said government will continue to grasp with the sharp decline in revenue from crude oil, which has been the main stay of the economy. He, however, said the nation should not be unmindful of the opportunity the situation presents.

    “It is very important we look inwards in this period and look at ways of exploiting the entrepreneurial spirit and the zeal of  our people. The intense energy of our large youthful population is a strength that we need to exploit by re-orientating them towards positive engagement in entrepreneurship. The nation’s unemployment rate has assumed a worrisome level in view of its implication for national development and competitiveness,” the minister said.

    Speaking with The Nation, one of the beneficiaries of the first phase of the scheme, Mr. Vincent Chinedu, said with the introduction of the portal, it will be easy for anybody to apply unlike before when it was difficult. He said it was not easy when he initially started because of the stringent collateral. He, however, said BOI has relaxed the condition, adding that this will encourage and help others to apply for the loan.

    Chinedu said he graduated as a Chemical Engineer in 2012/2013 and instead of looking for job, he applied for the loan with his NYSC certificate. With the presentation of two guarantors, he said he was given the loan. Today, he is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nedhills Industries. “We are into palm kernel oil production and I have five people working for me at the moment. I am planning to employ more people because we are expanding,” he said.

  • ‘There’s hope in 2016’

    Chairman, Edo State Economic Team and a Governorship aspirant of All Progressives Congress (APC),  Godwin Obaseki said despite the ravaging economic downturn and difficult situations across the world, there is hope for the people of Edo State and Nigeria in the New Year.

    Obaseki, in a New Year message to the people of the state, said President Muhammadu Buhari’s Change Agenda and anti-corruption campaign was to put the nation on the right footing, a step, he said, would leapfrog the economy and position it as one of the sort-after economies in the world.

    Obaseki argued that Edo State would continue to leverage on its strategic location in Nigeria as an artery to leapfrog its economy for the greater benefits of the people of the state.

    In a related development, Obaseki pledged that he would deploy his good will garnered in the private sector within and outside Nigeria to encourage the private sector to seriously reconsider their interest in the Gelegele-Atlantic Ocean link Port which has the capacity to open the economy of the state to the rest of Nigeria and the world.

    Obaseki said as a senior Financial Management expert, he would not allow the state economy with all the potential to be less than 10 in the ranking of Nigerian states particularly in the area of doing business and youth employment.

    He called for the strengthening of the capacity of local security arrangement otherwise known as Vigilante in all parts of Edo state.

    He said that for the Nigerian police to effectively carry out its duty to the people, there is need for collaborative efforts between the communities and the Nigerian police citing the case of the Igarra and Makeke Vigilante groups that successfully foiled the twin bank robbery in Igarra recently.

    He emphasized that as contained in the APC manifesto, the design of an enduring community policing strategy will secure lives and properties of the people of Edo state from Gelegele to Somorika.

    Mr Obaseki further called on the people of Edo state to continue to support the Nigerian police with intelligence and valid information that will lead to the overall security of everybody in the state.

  • Governor Ahmed: Story of hope

    The month of December is special for us in Kwara State in several ways, spiritual and mundane. The birthdays of the world’s greatest beings, Prophets Muhammad and Issa (may peace be upon them). This month the global community shares goodwill with one another in celebration of their lives.

    Coincidentally too, and possibly with deep spiritual connection, is the fact that the month of December also marks the birthdays of my principal and boss, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed, who equally became a year older this month.

    But no matter the degree of quietness we are commanded to observe in marking the birthday, it is still definitely not out of place to use this medium to celebrate Ahmed who is on the way to completing a second term in office as governor of Kwara State.

    Ahmed deserves commendation on a day like this; for keeping the flag flying; unwavering and untiring in the expected commitment to the ideals and ideology of the political structure that brought his administration into office. That ideology puts the well-being of the populace at centre stage and this celebrant has not only kept it at that but also himself moved to the same stage with the people.

    This commitment is noteworthy; given the array of betrayals around us, a greater majority of them doing so purely in the interest of their stomachs. The commitment is also commendable given the challenges that most states in Nigeria have had to pass through in the last one year and even more so states not under the control, then, of the ruling party. Those without a heart of faithfulness would easily abandon ship and like foul lovers, enmesh themselves with the offers of another suitor.

    Thus if there is one lesson I have learnt from standing, walking and working with Ahmed, it is that of faithfulness to common ideology in making the people happy and satisfied. Such ideology stood out late Baba Saraki. Such faithfulness will sometimes demand great sacrifices from partners which when done brings greater joy to the greater majority.

    Another great lesson I have learnt from Governor Ahmed is unlimited humility highly uncommon with people in his shoes. Ahmed not only recognises that God gives power to whom He wills, but determine to make the most use of it to the benefits of the majority of the citizens. Ahmed knows that power is transient and ephemeral and therefore remains constant and connected to his long standing constituencies, including his age long friends. To the admiration but amazement of those around him, my boss often forgets or ignores protocol while relating with friends, relatives and immediate staff. This singular but God-given act ensures that the cabinet works more like family and remains united and committed to the common goal of the shared prosperity mantra.

    It is not any secret that Dr Abdulfatah Ahmed faces one of the greatest challenges of governance any governor of the state had ever faced. The challenges of an unprecedented economic downturn resulting from profligacy of the immediate past federal government. But for a man from the private sector, schooled in the political economy of prudent resource management, he remained undaunted, resourceful, innovative and unyielding in getting positive results.

    Kwara deserves greatness and surely that must be why God allowed a man like Ahmed to take over from an achiever like Bukola Saraki notwithstanding the terrible war of attrition mounted by the few number in opposition during the last polls who believed that without casting their votes at home, Aso Rock would easily deliver Kwara to their laps.

    As we marked this birthday on Tuesday December 29, the story of Ahmed has given hope and confidence to every young person out there. He was not born into affluence. He was not brought up in wealth. He was not trained abroad. Like a typical Nigerian youth of his time, life did not offer him any golden handshake. But through perseverance, commitment to vision, humility and steadfast faith in the Almighty God, he got a break that has given him a breakthrough.

    His greatest break was through the political structure in the state which the ignorant vilify and call names when in actual fact it is a veritable platform for the fulfilment of aspiration without consideration for your background as influential factor. If background, rather than competence, resourcefulness and loyalty to common but collective good, were to have been a factor for succeeding in the Saraki political dynasty, then the likes of Ahmed would have remained outside the gate.

    And rather than closing the door of opportunities once he gained entrance as some would have done, Ahmed has worked within and without so tirelessly to see that many more people who were like him, have access to opportunities either in the political arena or in equally enabling engagements.

    Ahmed, the Share Ifelodun Local Government Area (LGA) of Kwara State-born politician does not hide his feelings, setting a veritable agenda for Nigeria and her people on any national discourse but with a cautious warning on the states of the nation’s economy, before its implementation.

    His views on the agitation for the creation of a state police attests to this claim. According to the governor, “state police is desirable to the extent of advance society, especially when you look at Nigeria that has population of over 150 million people and when you look at the current level of policing as we have it today vis-à-vis the level of crime, level of challenges of insecurity and other areas. But at the same time, the current political, financial and social situation we have found ourselves will require to be put into serious cognisance before taking that big step of moving towards creating the state police.”

    Speaking out his mind on his aspirations for his people in Kwara he said, “I remain focused on my resolve to empower the people of Kwara and grow the state’s economy through this administration’s robust “Shared Prosperity Programme. I pledge to serve wholeheartedly without sentiments in bringing continuous developments and progress to my humble State..Insha’Allah!”

    Therefore, as we had marked the birthday of this scion of our generation, it is my special privilege to send these words of appreciation to a dynamic and humble personality whose way of life has given meaning and living  to many around him. Thank you, sir, for sustaining this structure. Thank you for putting our collective aspiration over personal consideration. Thank you for taking Kwara to the path of prosperity. Thank you for giving us hope for a better tomorrow. Thank you for giving us these rare opportunities to contribute our quota towards achieving the Kwara of our dream.

    • Abdulwahab is Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Governor Ahmed of Kwara State.