The Nation Newspaper

Tag: importation

  • No longer at ease with tokunbo cars, fish, rice, etcetera

    No longer at ease with tokunbo cars, fish, rice, etcetera

    The federal government’s plan to place a ban on the importation of food products into the country including rice, chicken and automobiles and spare-parts such as cars, buses and  tyres, with effect from January, analysts have argued, is not in public interest.

    BAN. This three-letter word, as simple as it sounds, is one big nightmare to businesses involved in the importation of rice, fish, chicken, sugar, salt, cars and spare-parts.

    Reason: the so-called ‘structured embargo’ on the importation of fish commenced this month, just as the government-proposed 70 per cent tariff on all new or used (tokunbo) motor vehicles has already taken effect, thus resulting in a general lull in such businesses, among other dire consequences.

    Take fish for instance, the ban is already taking its toll on the fish-food chain.

    Last year, there was public outcry when, in some quarters, speculations were rife that importation of fish was banned, starting from 2014.

    However, at the tail end of last year, Agriculture Minister, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, clarified the matter, saying that fish importation was not banned, rather, the ministry of agriculture was embarking on ‘structured embargo’ on the importation of fish which would commence on January 2014.

    Adesina said the policy was to reduce overall annual importation of fish by 25% in order to buoy up local fish production.

    Late October last year, the ministry of agriculture, had, in a circular, stated that bills of ladings for imported fish must be dated on or before 30th October, 2013 while the cargo should land not later than December 31st, 2013.

    Some of the reasons, apart from stimulating local production of fish, include stemming the practice of dumping unwholesome fish in the country as trade malpractices associated with fish importation.

    However, investigation by The Nation revealed that since the announcement, the federal government has stopped importation of fish into the country since October 31.

    A concessionaire of a leading fish terminal in Apapa Port told our correspondent in an interview that the terminal and other terminals have stopped receiving fish product cargoes, which bill of laden were dated later than October 31, as they have been directed to do so by the federal government.

    The General Manager, Port Operations, ENL Consortium, Mr Mark Walsh, said the new fish policy has now added to such others as the ban on cement and rice, which had seen the terminal losing up to 800,000 tons of rice in about 10 months.

    “The government banned fish importation since October 31 last year. Before, we were doing 20,000 tons of fish every month, but now, that is gone. Any bill of laden after that date cannot be brought to Nigeria. What we have coming in now are those imports with earlier bills of laden dated before October 31.

    “I talked to a lot of the fish association and they have said that by the end of December, there will not be fish in the cold rooms. So it is a serious situation because it will affect everybody in the country.”

    Argument supporting import ban

    It may be recalled that the ban on fish came barely three months after the Agriculture Minister, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, disclosed at the inauguration of the Special Growth Enhancement Support Scheme for fisheries and the aquaculture value chain in Ado-Ekiti last August, that the federal government would soon place a total ban on the importation of fish and other aquatic consumables.

    According to figures provided by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, between 2010 and 2012 Nigeria imported an average of 780,000 metric tonnes of frozen fish annually from Europe, Latin America and Eastern countries, worth about N100 billion.

    With annual fish demand estimated at 2.66 million metric tons (MMT), Nigeria currently produces about 0.78MMT leaving a demand-supply gap of about 1.8MMT.

    Regrettably, the shortfall of fish supply in the country had led to a low annual per capita fish consumption rate of only 7.5 kilogrammes as against 15 kilogrammes per annum recommended by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

    In the view of the government, it is expected that an increase in national fish production would not only diversify the country’s resources base, but also complement efforts aimed at achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

    The government also expects production of 4.0MMT annually from its fish production programme, which could conveniently meet the national demand of 2.66MMT, as well as generate considerable export earnings, provided adequate and effective policies were put in place to drive the industry.

    The minister had said that the ban would be imposed only if arrangements being put in place by the government to that effect worked as planned.

    Represented by the Federal Director of Fisheries, Mrs. Foluke Areola, the Agric Minister had stressed that the country had no business importing fish, given its huge natural and renewable resources.

    “The value chains are to create an enabling environment for increased and sustainable production of over one million tonnes of fish within the next four years, generate employment and pursue gradual reduction of fish imports,” the minister said.

    Echoing similar sentiments, the Chairman of Nigeria Ship Owners Association (NISA), Dr Isaac Jolopamo, said the new fish policy would help save a large chunk of about N2 trillion which the country loses in freight as capital flight to other countries from where Nigeria imports fish.

    Groundswell of

    opposition against ban

    Most Nigerians are of the opinion that the steps are good ones taken before the right time.

    “It may not be totally ideal to stop fish for now, but placing a ban on some kinds of fish such as croaker will be fine because croaker is a tropical fish and we have enough of them in our waters,” said a fish vessel controller at Apapa, who would not be named.

    “From the ban on cement to the increase in the tariffs on rice and now fish no longer coming in, it has been very difficult. We have lost up to 800,000 tons since January this year. But you see rice in the market. All the vessels bringing rice are going to Cotonou and the rice is somehow making its way across the border.

    “So, you can still go the market, whether in Apapa or any other place in Nigeria, and still find rice, why? So you can see there is a problem. Cotonou does not make rice. They are Thai rice, Indian rice getting into Nigeria somehow. So the government increasing the duty only affects the government itself because all the duty on that rice is going to the government of the Benin Republic,” Walsh said.

    Fish and rice: same side of a coin

    Another product that Nigerians should expect a price hike on is rice. The price of rice, which is a staple for many Nigerian households, is also set to go up.

    As far back as October 2011, the Minister of Industry Trade, and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, had announced that rice importation will end in 2014.

    However, as the date came, Segun Akinleye, who lives in Lagos, believes that the government move would just bring untold hardship to ordinary citizens.

    “We cannot produce enough to feed ourselves,” he said. “And what will happen is that price of rice will just skyrocket. And it is the poor people that will suffer most.”

    However, it seems the worry is on the side of the citizenry.

    According to the acting Director-General of the National Agricultural Seeds Council, Olusegun Olatokun, it is political speak that Nigeria cannot provide the rice it consumes.

    “The total consumption in Nigeria is in the region of about six million tonnes of paddy,” Olatokun said in a recent declaration. “What we are producing is in the region of 3.5 million tonnes. What was left for us to meet up was about 2.5 million tonnes.”

    Same old story

    But these comments highlight some ironies of previous attempts to control demand of rice in the past.

    Between October 1978 and April 1979, the military government, under General Olusegun Obasanjo, banned rice imports in containers under 50kg.

    In December 1980, Shagari created a Presidential Task Force (PTF) on rice to issue allocations to customers and traders. In January 1984, the military regime of General Muhammadu Buhari disbanded PTF on rice and importation was placed under general license restrictions. In October 1985, Major General Ibrahim Babangida imposed a ban on the importation of rice (and maize).

    However, during this period, rice was illegally imported into Nigeria through the country’s borders.

    In 1995, the import ban on rice was removed by the then Nigerian head of state, General Sani Abacha, because local suppliers failed to meet demand.

    But Olatokun said, in 2014, Nigeria will be exporting rice, stating, “It is a good thing that they (government) should ban it, if they don’t, the competition that will come may discourage the rice producers.”

    Stakeholders’ appeal

    Peeved by what he described as a defective policy, the Chairman, Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), South-West zone, Mr Olusegun Atho, has advised government to put in place proactive measures to meet the country’s rice demand before banning imported rice.

    Atho, who addressed newsmen in Lagos recently, noted that government needed to provide incentives to farmers to become self-sufficient in rice production.

    “I don’t see any reality in this 2014 deadline. Not until when necessary machinery is put in place should government ban imported rice.

    “Government should equip farmers with the necessary tools, including tractors, organic fertilisers and give adequate training to farmers.”

    The RIFAN chairman also advised the government to provide adequate funding by way of grants or loans to farmers.

    “These factors are very important and must be put into consideration, before the proposed ban.

    “If these things are not in place, the ban cannot be realistic. Until when government begins to do something about it, that is when we can see the seriousness.”

    He identified smuggling as the major factor that would hinder any ban on the imported commodity, just as it had adverse effects on local rice production.

    “Government needs to come out and deal with the issue of smuggling, in order to encourage local growers.”

    Atho also appealed to government to construct more dams and provide mini-pumping machines for farmers to prepare them for irrigation farming as well as introduce modern rice production technology.

    “If government can provide all these to farmers, that is when government can boast of self-sustainability.”

    Tariff on new and tokunbo cars

    The Nation can authoritatively report that the government-proposed 70% tariff on all new or used motor vehicles began this month.

    Accordingly, this tariff includes a 35 per cent duty and another levy of 35 per cent of the cost of the vehicle, which is an increase from a 20 per cent duty and two per cent levy.

    Besides, tyres will attract 20 per cent duty and five per cent value added tax.

    This increase is a result of approval by the Federal Executive Council of a new national automotive policy aimed at encouraging local production and assembly of vehicles in Nigeria.

    A fait accompli

    For most Nigerians, who still nursed the feeling that the new automotive policy may yet become fully operational until a later date, a document from the Office of the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in a manner of speaking, literally sealed the deal.

    The document shows that local assembly plants are expected to import completely knocked down (CKD) vehicles at zero per cent duty, semi-knocked down vehicles at five per cent duty.

    Also, the plants can import fully built unit cars at 35 per cent duty and 20 per cent for commercial vehicles without levy, respectively in numbers equal to twice their CKD/SKD kits.

    According to the government, this move was to discourage wanton importation of motor vehicles and tyres which stifles the country’s economy as well as promote the indigenisation of the local automotive industry.

    By implication, the prices of imported cars will skyrocket.

    Not at ease with high car tariff

    But even before the kick off, there have been complaints not only by some players in the automotive but in different strata of the economy. Already, this move has been given knocks.

    According to Abubakar Bello who is based in Kano, the government’s desire to encourage local assembly of motor vehicles is not sincere.

    “If not, why give room to importation of fully built vehicles by the assembly plants at a lower duty of 35% without levy as against the punitive rate of 35% duty and levy of 35% for other importers of especially used vehicles,” he said.

    “The bases for the policy and the speed with which it is being implemented without a thorough ground work give room for suspicion that government is only creating a new set of super monopolist car importers. What the government failed to realise is that it cannot stop the importation of especially used cars with our porous borders and highly corrupt custom officials. The sea ports of Nigeria’s neighbouring countries will soon witness a huge surge in activities with corresponding increase in revenue from tariffs.”

    Because of this, Bello believes: “The local assembly plants will not be able to sell their vehicles whether imported or locally assembled as their prices will be prohibitive. They will put back their machines into the crates to take them to somewhere or back to their home countries as soon as they set up the plants.”

    According to Oluwole Betiku, an auto-mechanic who runs an automobile training school and workshop, the policy was not well thought-out.

    Making oblique reference to a statement credited to former President Obasanjo during his outing as a civilian president when he said, ‘Tokunbo car is better than no car at all,’ Betiku asked, “how many companies and government agencies give their staff car loans to buy new cars?”

    Betiku also said those who purchased cheap cars usually pay back in terms of ‘spare parts.’

    “The car makers lack technical back-ups,” he said. “There is no control over their spare-parts and consumables such as oil filters, fuel filters, and plugs which should be available everywhere.”

    Betiku also urged that the policy be revisited and more stakeholders’ view be accommodated.

    However, Aganga is optimistic about the policy, even going as far as saying that arrangements were in place to manufacture new cars that would sell for between N1.2m and N1.5m.

    He said, “With our current population and economy, our potential vehicle market is about one million vehicles a year. This is more than sufficient to support an automotive industry.”

    As the groundswell of opposition mounts against the ban on importation of food products and other essential commodities, Nigerians must wait to know whether the government or the sceptics are proved right.

    examine the issue

  • ‘Importation is killing real sector’

    ‘Importation is killing real sector’

    Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa was the President/Chief Executive Officer Neimeth Pharmaceuticals, past Chairman, Nigeria Summit Economic Group. At the moment, he is the Founder/Chairman, Sam Ohuabunwa Foundation of Economic Empowerment (SOFEE). In this interview with Akinola Ajibade and Ambrose Nnaji, he says private sector investments, diversification of natural endowments, among others, will restore confidence in the economy.

     

     

     

    As the President of Neimeth Plc, what’s your assessment of the pharmaceutical industry?

    It is an industry that is underdeveloped. It is an industry that has a lot of potentials from the view point of indigenous manufacturing and local production. When I say underdeveloped, I mean in terms of contribution of local industry to the entire national need of pharmaceutical industry, we are not doing enough. I believe that local contribution does not exceed 40 per cent. It is also an industry that is capital-intensive. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough capital for investment in the industry, so the industry is undercapitalised and underfunded. It is also an industry that is under challenged, not only by the high level of foreign importation, but also by fake trend. Despite its enormous potentials, it is an industry that is challenged.

    What is the worth of the industry?

    I don’t have the current figure, but I know that it was in excess of N750billion, close to N1trillion in exchange rate. If you look at the total market, it is also in billions of dollars. Looking at total investment in the local industry, it is in hundreds of millions of naira. And now investment is increasing. To be able to stand up to competition, some of the local companies are trying to push fresh investments so that they can upgrade their manufacturing in a manner that can be competitive with global best standards. This is because if you are challenged by competition, the best way out is to improve on your capacity and capability to compete and that is increasing investment in the industry.

    What are your views on the manufacturing sector?

    I think what is happening in the pharmaceutical industry reflects what is happening in the entire manufacturing sector. Of course, the pharmaceutical industry is a little bit much more challenged. This may be as a result of some global realities. We are challenged through globalisation owing to our subscription to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

    Goods and services do not respect geographical boundaries any more. Because of this, there is distribution inefficiency and that is causing the flow of goods against us. We are at the receiving end because of the high cost of doing business in our own market and of low application of technologies. Similarly, there is dearth of investible funds to build very large manufacturing capacity. Countries like India and China that have some technological advantage have high level of innovation and their infrastructure are well established. For this reason, their production volume is large and unit cost is low, so they can shift their goods to us at a cheaper price even for the same quality we are having in our country.

    If you go to a typical Nigerian market, you will discover that three quarter of the market is filled with imported goods. Manufacturing has failed to live up to expectation despite the abundant incentives nature has given us as a country. The policy of buying made-in-Nigeria is still too small to yield the desired impact.

    For manufacturing to thrive in this country, we may need to rewrite the global trend. Globalisation and liberalisation have come to stay with us. The country must decide areas where it has complete comparative advantage, and explore it to the optimum. For example, agro-chemical is an area we can leverage upon. We need to build on the agric value chain.

    An agro processing machine can, for example, process plantain, banana and be shipped out of the country. There are places where plantain cannot grow. The agric-based industrialisation, food-based industrialisation can do a lot. We can ship that to the rest of the world. We should restore our country and rebuild our agro-allied industries.

    The other area of comparative advantage is petrochemicals. We have a lot of hydrocarbon and gas. This means that we can go into manufacturing with the things that come from oil and gas which are flowing under our soil, and become a nation that can build refineries, chemical plants, refine petroleum products and ship to the rest of the world.

    So, while the world is shipping pharmaceuticals, we are shipping other products. This will result in trade balance. The government has to provide social support to manufacturers by reducing the tax rate, give tax holidays, give single digit interest rate for manufacturing, support manufacturing for export, and build a foundation that would ensure that what we make are used to promote the industry.

    How has the high cost of operation and high exchange rate affected the manufacturing sector?

    I believe each of these sectors has had its own challenges. There was a time the exchange rate was an issue, but it seemed to have stabilised. In the last five years, the exchange rate has not been a major issue due to global economic crisis. Macroeconomic issue has been generally favourable for Nigeria. We managed that well, exchange rate has been fairly okay, inflation has been going down, interest rate is going down.

    So, there is positive development, and that’s why you also see some bit of increase in the level of investment in this area, because if those macroeconomic issues were going worse, may be all the plants would have closed down. I think fake products are declining in all the sectors. I believe the work the government’s agencies are doing and the awareness they are creating are beginning to have impact.

    Where can we pin the problems in the sector?

    But the major pressure the manufacturing sector faces I believe, is the influx of imported goods and the fact that even with our charges, the cost of production is high. Normally, the cost of production is high because the input, like the raw materials used in local manufacturing, are mostly imported. The structure of our local industry is such that it is essentially based on an industrialisation framework of substituting the material instead of bringing the finished goods which gave us the concept of knock-down in assemblying plants. That was on the basis of which most of the industries were built.

    So we import the raw materials and then add the local cost, and secondly we are manufacturing in small quantities, we manufacture in few units. Big firms in India and China are manufacturing for the world. So they have large units of manufacturing and large units lead to a reduction in cost.

    In addition, manufacturers in China and India receive export incentives which enable them to export more. Nigeria was trying to do this with the Export Expansion Grant (EEG). It is a well-thought out policy which would help to push export if effectively implemented. Because of this, we are still facing a loss in the market share of local manufacturing. This country can only achieve economic power if there is a high level of value addition from manufacturing.

    Since power remains a challenge, why are manufacturers not exploring building power plants as a way of addressing this challenge?

    Manufacturers are not suppliers of energy. Our business is to manufacture. Somebody else’s business is to supply us the materials, the support, the input, so somebody is supposed to supply us the energy. The independent power producers are producing, they are now selling to a bulk power retailer who now sells to distribution companies.

    So, private companies are buying it up, government is privatising the power sector. That is going to help in terms of efficiency and the more independent producers that join the industry, the higher the quantum of megawatts (MWs) of electricity available for use. So, we want to take advantage of the Geometric Plant in Aba, Abia State that can guarantee power supply 24 hours to do business

    Can’t manufacturers come under one platform to build a power plant?

    It is not going to be a profitable thing. Manufacturers are looking for the financial muscle to build up their capacity. The business of manufacturers is manufacturing. They are not suppliers of energy. So, if they start building power plants, the money they would have used in building manufacturing plants would be put into building power plants. And in building power plants, you don’t break-even in one day. You put the money and allow enough time before you break-even and expect return on investment.

    So, it is not something you can combine with manufacturing. Those who want to invest in power can do so but it is different from manufacturing. What manufacturers are looking for is where to get power; it is not for them to start building power plants because what is putting them down today is the power they are generating to run their plants. It is not advisable for manufacturers to start building plants. Many companies are interested in coming to build power plants in Nigeria if the environment is conducive, if the legal environment, the reward system and the pricing of power is deregulated in a manner that people who invest in power can recover their investment

    What are the major challenges of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)?

    The factors that promote business are not very positive generally. Because they are not very positive, the smaller you are, the lesser you are able to overcome these factors. SMEs in this country are subjected to multiple taxation. The environment is not promoting SMEs; it is so because when an environment is promotive, you will see that it is springing up.

    The government is trying but the offer they give is too small to be really impactive. There’s no adequate promotive culture for small businesses, people are allowed to just try, some succeed, some fail. There’s so much pressure on them, local government tax collectors, rent collectors and all other spurious charges.

    The second issue, is that of appropriate managerial competence. I think that one of the things we are facing is that many small and medium scale enterprises don’t have the right management expertise. So, the business is not properly run. Many of them operate informally and because of that informality, they become subject to failures. Being able to start the business is not the same as been able to run the business. You can take risk, but to sustain the business is a difficult set of skill which people do not have, but have to acquire.

    Also, our penchant for quality is another problem. We believe that in the global world, it is the survival of the fittest. One of the things that make SMEs to thrive is the quality of the product you make and the ability to actually create the market for the products. SMEs do not push the frontier enough; they do not have the market norms. That also shows how much they can cope. The African markets, despite all the challenges, are for us if we are able to create the right quality. If we are able to push the frontiers, we can take more market and that would expand our economy.

    Another factor is our predilection to operate as single unit business. Because we operate as single unit businesses, we don’t leverage on our resources. Many of the SMEs can do better if they embrace merger and acquisition. If they know how to fuse, if they know how to merge, if they know how to do strategic alliances, they can leverage our resources and be able to be more competitive.

    Lending to SMEs and the entire manufacturing sub-sector has been very low. Is it the problem of the industry or the inability of the companies to present clear cut ideas on what they intend to do?

    It is largely because of the structure of the Nigerian loanable fund. The Nigerian loanable funds are generally short-term funds, and the banks are interested in lending short term. But the SMEs and companies need long-term funds. The banks are getting the money on short-term basis, so they also want to lend on short term because the owners of the money would come back on a short term.

    But if they are getting money that is on a long-term, like pension funds and insurance funds, they can lend on long terms. Though a manufacturer is a businessman, he quarrels with the bank when he cannot get funds. He should also be reasonable enough to understand that part of the problem is not necessarily with our banks. The banks have their problems. The banks are more comfortable to do short-term businesses where they can see the money quick than where they would put the money and wait and you never can tell what would happen.

    Lending needs to be collaterised too. The small and medium companies don’t have the collateral even if the bank would like to lend long-term. So if you don’t provide the collateral, there would be no deal to strike with the bank. Before the banking sector reform, banks could lend money based on presentation of a share certificate, goodwill, but now, the banking policy requires that you provide solid collateral.

    As the immediate past Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), what are the major problems facing the economy and what’s the way forward?

    The economy has a couple of challenges. Firstly, there are issues of monoculture and mono products. We have been dependent largely on one product for several years, which is oil. The solution is to diversify, create more opportunities for value addition, focus on agro-allied industry and graduate to manufacturing, make the environment interesting for tourism and build on the advantage the country has on petrochemicals.

    Secondly, the economy is denominated by public sector spending. The only way out is to privatise the economy and open it up to private investors, get government out of business and put business in the hands of the private sector, because when the private sector takes over, more private investments will come into the country. Certainly, we would need to create greater discipline and accountability the way the economy is managed.

    The economy is not strong on the supporting pillars. One of them is infrastructure which is an incentive to attract investment. That is why investment is not being generated as it ought to. People opt out of business because of the problem of infrastructure. These things affect investment because investment creates jobs and whenever these investments are not coming, whether they are domestically created or internationally created, the level of wealth creation in the economy is minimised or not optimised. Inadequate resource allocation or inefficient resource allocation is another challenge. Most of the resources that the country has are not optimised while so much money is usually wasted. So much money is going in the wrong places; some of them are misappropriated and misapplied, these factors affect the economy.

    Corruption is endemic in Nigeria. What steps do you think the government can take to address the issue?

    The first is to lead by example. Put the right people in the right position, drive efficiency and make sure that appropriate rewards punishment are meted out for any proven case of misappropriation, or misapplication. Another is to put the right people in the right position so that the country could apply merit, give the right skill and generate the right result.

    There is huge unemployment in the country. How can unemployed pharmacists create jobs for themselves?

    Pharmacy is one of the professions that enable people to create jobs. A couple of professionals just lack the professional or technical skills. Pharmacy teaches you the technical and professional skills and also business skill. We have pharmacy management courses, we have accounting business. The profession allows you to practise pharmacy from the chemical setting; it also allows you to practise from a trade setting, by opening up private practise either to be a distributor of pharmaceuticals, Chemical Pharmacy, or Administrative Pharmacy.

    There are so many opportunities for pharmacists. But you need to do a lot more chemical research; they can produce simple products from chemical research. Many of our plants can be useful in maintaining health instead of allowing the traditional herbalists who have little or no understanding of what they do to be experimenting. They can invest in developing these products and marketing them locally and also exporting them.

    I think that is an area pharmacists can invest more money and create more jobs for themselves and people around them. They can develop more products from local roots, leaves, and that’s an area pharmacists can create more jobs than the ones they are creating by going into retail or distribution.

    Can you say one or two things your projects have achieved so far in the empowerment foundation?

    This foundation was set up for us to be able to play our own role in promoting what we believe. We believe that the cure to Nigeria’s underdevelopment is by promoting entrepreneurship. I believe that more people can employ themselves. The more people can engage in productive work, the better for the society.

    We are promoting entrepreneurship and business excellence as well as promoting ethical business conduct. All those things are related for you to have sustainability in business. We run training programmes, we help people to grow and adapt to business management skills. We teach people how to run their businesses in a manner that they would grow. It has been successful within the limit of our funding. We are a non-governmental organisation; we give support to other like-minded people and institutions to help get Nigerians busy with themselves.

     

  • ‘Arms’ importation must be checked’

    A group yesterday launched a campaign against what it calls “worrisome proliferation of illegal arms and ammunition” in the country. It was at a media parley organised by members of Champion Youth Development Association of Nigeria (CHYDAN), a non-governmental organisation.

    The conference with the theme: “Mapping out effort against armed violence in Nigeria,” was held at the Nigerian Railway Recreation Garden at Tejuosho, Yaba, Lagos Mainland.

    The group urged the Federal Government to establish what it calls Merchant Navy Corps to check illicit importation or smuggling of arms and ammunition into the country through the high seas.

    Its president, Umaru Ismail, said the Corps was first established by Lord Lugard in 1914 before it metamorphosed into the Nigerian Navy in 1958 from Merchant Navy Corps to combat pirates on the water-ways and the high seas.

    He said if the Merchant Navy Corps is revived, it would checkmate the illicit importation or smuggling of arms and ammunition into the country.

    He said it would prevent arms from getting into the wrong hands, thus fueling robbery, militancy and terrorism.

    Mr Ikwa Ugom, who chairs CHYDAN’s disciplinary committee, said the Corps would checkmate the misuse of youths by politicians during elections. Ms Margerate Kataiko, its National Matron, said it would correct security lapses on the high seas and at sea ports.

  • ‘Make Nigeria less dependent on importation’

    The Chairman, Senate Committee on Education, Senator Uche Chukwumerije, at the weekend urged universities to research into making the country spend less on the importation of goods and services.

    He added that they could be made available in the country.

    Chukwumerije said the only way tertiary institutions could justify their existence was through investment in research work relevant to the needs of Nigerians and other Africans.

    The committee members were in the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) on oversight functions.

    Other members of the committee that visited the institution were Senators Olusola Adeyeye, (Vice Chairman), Pius Ewherido and Abubakar Bugudu.

    Chukwumerije said: “What we have seen at UNILORIN showed that the leadership is highly focused, especially by the quality of the services rendered. I hope they will keep it up. But as Adeyeye said, we want more work on research from our universities to make them fulfil more of their mandate.”

    He said members of the committee were not out to engage in the witch-hunt of the authorities of the institution. “We are partners in progress.”

    He added that the necessity to improve on education quality in Nigeria should be a “national challenge.”

    While praising the university for keeping a serene environment and running a decade of uninterrupted academic calendar, the senator said the nation should engender the spirit of excellence and healthy rivalries among its universities to get the best out of them.

    Adeyeye canvassed for computerisation of more departments of the nation’s universities to accelerate the processing of the results of students, adding that they should get access to their results “at least three weeks” after their exams.

    He said more research work should be carried out on health-related issues, especially in the area of sickle cell peculiar to Nigerians and Africans.

    The Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Abdulganiyu Ambali, said the second generation university, despite its uninterrupted academic sessions, still receives lesser allocations from the Federal Government in comparison with other universities of similar status.

    He put the population of students of the institution at about 30,000, and said the school could only accommodate 3,000 on the campus, representing a mere 10 per cent of the total population.

    Prof. Ambali added that UNILORIN would require assistance in the area of security.

  • Court jails Iranian, Nigerian 17 years for arms importation

    For importing 13-container-loads of arms and ammunition into Nigeria without a licence, an Iranian, Azim Aghajani, and his Nigerian accomplice, Ali Jega, will spend 17 years in jail.

    Justice Okechukwu Okeke of the Federal High Court, Lagos, yesterday found them guilty of four of the five counts of illegal importation of the arms.

    He sentenced them to five years imprisonment on the first count, two years on the third count and five years each on the fourth and fifth counts.

    The jail terms will run concurrently, beginning from February 1, 2011, when they were first arraigned.

    The judge ordered that the arms and ammunition be forfeited to the Federal Government.

    He refused to grant a request that the Iranian be deported to serve his prison term in his country.

    Justice Okeke, however, discharged and acquitted the accused on the second count, in which they were charged with being “in control” of the arms, having imported them without a licence.

    The judge said the convicts had not taken “constructive possession” of the arms when they were arrested. He averred that there was no evidence before him that they paid the Custom duties and cleared the goods from the port.

    “On the second count, the accused are not guilty. They are hereby discharged and acquitted,” Justice Okeke held.

    On the remaining counts, the judge said the prosecution proved its case beyond any reasonable doubt.

    He said he was further convinced after visiting the locu in quo (where the arms were kept to see them by himself).

    Justice Okeke remarked jovially that he was fortunate to have come out of the visit alive.

    He said: “We went for the visit of the locus in quo and we survived it. There was no explosion!”

    He added that it was the prosecution and defence counsel on the team who were “dragging their feet” for fear of explosion during visit.

    The accused were re-arraigned on March 7, 2011 on an amended charge of importation of prohibited firearms without licence, reckless and false declaration of the consignment’s content and concealment.

    The prosecution said between June and October 2010, they were “in control of bombs and grenade without licence”.

    The ammunition is categorised as prohibited firearms under Item 4 of Part 1 of the Schedule to the Firearms Act, Cap F28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and contrary to Section 3 of the 1999 Constitution.

     

  • Illegal importation of arms: Court adjourns ruling in Iranian’s trial

    Illegal importation of arms: Court adjourns ruling in Iranian’s trial

    A  Federal High Court, sitting in Lagos, yesterday adjourned judgment in the case filed by the Federal Government against an Iranian, Azim Aghajani, and a Nigerian clearing agent, Ali Jega, till May 13.

    The suspects allegedly imported 13-containers of firearms and explosives into Nigeria from Iran illegally.

    The accused were arraigned on March 7, 2011 on a five-count charge.

    The prosecution said between June and October, 2010, the defendants, without licence, were “in possession of bombs, grenades and rockets”.

    The prosecution said the defendants falsely declared in the Bill of Lading that the 13 containers contained wool and stones.

    Justice Okechukwu Okeke fixed yesterday for judgment, but when the case was called, he said the judgment was not ready.

    He said he needed a little more time to “cross the ‘Ts’ and dot the ‘Is’”.

    Defence counsel Chris Uche (SAN) told reporters that parties had no choice but to wait until the verdict was ready.

    He said: “The judge said there are a few things to be completed in the judgment and that is not strange. Sometimes, you fix a date for judgment and it may not be ready because of so many commitments, events and work involved.

    “We are very happy that the adjournment was not a long one. Anybody that goes to a battle prays for victory. We came praying that we will be victorious.”

    Aghajani claimed he was innocent and did not know the true content of the consignment.

    He said: “From the content of the Bill of Lading, I concluded that there was no unlawful item in the containers. I did not see the content of the consignment until I was apprehended at the Naval Ordinance, Apapa, where it was revealed that they were arms and explosives. Sincerely, I never knew the content of the consignment and never said they belonged to me.”

    Aghajani told the court that prior to his engagement by Behimen Trading Company in Iran to ship the consignment, he had never been to Lagos.

    He said he was engaged to ship the consignment from Nigeria to Gambia.

    Aghajani said the first problem he encountered was that the name of the consignee and the destination of the consignment were not on the Bill of Lading.

    He said when he discovered this, he wrote to Behimen Trading Company but received no reply.

  • Judgment in arms importation case fixed for April 30

    Judgment in arms importation case fixed for April 30

    Fani-Kayode’s trial stalled

    A Federal High Court in Lagos has fixed April 30 for judgment in the trial of Azim Aghajani (an Iranian) and a Nigerian clearing agent, Ali Abbas Usman Jega over their alleged complicity in the 2010 illegal importation of 13 containers laden with firearms.

    Justice Okechukwu Okeke picked the date yesterday after parties adopted their final written addresses. The accused are facing a four-count charge brought against them by the Federal Government, to which they pleaded not guilty.

    The duo is, in count one, accused of importing 13 container loads of firearms, which was prohibited under Part 1 of the Schedule to the Firearms Act, Cap F.28, laws of the Federation, 2004.

    In count two, they are alleged to have, between June and October 2010, without licence “been in control of bombs and grenade categorised as prohibited firearms under Item 4 of Part 1 of the Schedule to the Firearms Act, Cap F28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and contrary to Section 3 of the Constitution.

    They are, in count three, said to have been in control of rockets categorised as prohibited firearms without licence.

    In count four, they are said to have recklessly made false declaration of the 13 containers containing the firearms to be glass of wool and pallets of stone on the original bill of lading number 1121253855.

    Meanwhile, the trial of former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode was stalled yesterday, due to the absence of Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia. She was said to have travelled for a conference.

    Fani-Kayode was on February 11 re-arraigned before Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia on a 47-count charge of money laundering brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to which he pleaded not guilty and had been allowed on bail.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • ‘ Govt loses billions of naira to grey importation’

    ‘ Govt loses billions of naira to grey importation’

    With the liberalisation of the telecoms sector more than a decade ago came the influx of different devices into the country. Many of these products were brought in through unapproved routes, thus depriving the Federal Government of its revenue. In this interview with LUCAS AJANAKU, the Director, Hand Held Products, Samsung West Africa, Emmanouil Revmatas, speaks on the problems of the mobile phone industry, how to solve them and other issues. Excerpts.

    How will you assess the mobile phone market in Nigeria?

    It’s been great. I was here nearly 10 years ago, in the early phase of the evolution of the mobile industry and returned to Nigeria last year. I found that the market is as dynamic as it was 10 years ago. If you look at some of the developments, of course you know the operators have improved their network capabilities and you find that data is becoming more available to many people particularly in the rural areas and of course, you know the space Samsung dominates across the world is the smartphone arena, has grown enormously.

    This year, we are estimating that 40 per cent of all smartphones in Africa will be sold in Nigeria. This means that Nigeria is booming in terms of the mobile phone industry. Although I think users have become smarter and more selective, there is a lot more because the devices are becoming multi-media devices, not necessarily being able to do voice and short message service (SMS) but they are now expected to be able to access the World Wide Web as well as – connecting to various social network activities that have become part of everyday life.

    You said about 40 per cent smart devices that will be sold in Africa will be sold in Nigeria, underscoring the hugeness of the market. Why is Samsung not considering establishing a factory in Nigeria, not only to serve her huge market but also that of the entire sub-region?

    This is a question that is raised on a regular basis. Let’s take one step back. I think first of all, as an OEM (original equipment manufacturer), Smasung, particularly has made huge investment in Nigeria. If you look at the numerous projects we are involved in, from the corporate social responsibility investment perspective. I will use the investment rather than responsibility because we have done some very big projects in Ekiti and we have also established the first Samsung Electronics Engineering Academy in Ikeja, Lagos where we have been busy training large group of students in various technical skills and I think for many people, they don’t realise that for our consumer electronics business, a vast majority of our products are assembled in local assembly plant. If you take a look at our air conditioners and other consumer electronics products, we have a very big commitment in terms of assembly plants right here in Lagos.

    In terms of the mobile industry, it is a little bit more complex because of course, you deal with a lot more components that come from distant sources. At the moment, quite honestly, the challenge of trying to consolidate all of those components in Nigeria and having to do with either manufacturing or assembly is really pretty difficult. Is it a possibility for the future, I mean, of course anything is a possibility. The fact is that we are really assembling many of our products in Nigeria and that shows that Samsung is totally committed to the economy. But at the moment, we need to take small steps and for us, the real priority is to ensure that we can provide a high quality affordable products with two year service, which is what Samsung offers to the people of Nigeria. In the future, may be things will change, you know we innovate and we are very dynamic.

    Samsung is prolific in the roll-out of products. What is the organisation doing in managing the e-waste that arises from the use of your products considering the dangers such wastes pose to health, safety and environment?

    Let me make it clear that Samsung as a large global multinational company take our responsibility in terms of environmental issues extremely important. We are signatory to various international protocols. Unfortunately, I am probably not the right person to give you the details of our management of waste. What I can assure you is that even here in Nigeria, when it comes to the simple disposal of things such as old phones or batteries, we still engage third party agencies to do that for us and do it under a certification process. We comply with the regulatory requirements not only on international level but also on local levels and I know from personal experience in the past, during the disposal of our old demo mobile phones as well as batteries, we engaged third party agencies to ensure that they are disposed off in the right environment-correct manner.

    Let us talk about Samsung Research and Development (R&D) Centres. You have 22 of such across the globe but none in Africa. What is your organisation doing in the area of establishing an R&D centre in the country so that products are manufactured to withstand the peculiar climate of the continent?

    Let me begin by saying that we are already producing unique and numerous products tailor-designed and tailored-made for Africa. These are well known and known as our bond for Africa products and these extends to our mobile range as well as our consumer electronics range.

    In terms of R&D, It takes place on an annual basis, in the next few months, we will have our team from Korea, visiting us and spending considerable amount of time on ground, traveling across Nigeria, gaining first time knowledge, experience and feedback in terms of what consumers want.

    We have virtual R&D team that are not necessarily permanently based in Nigeria although of course, we have our own product managers and our own product specialists, they gather and collate information and feed it back. So, very soon, you will see the launch of Galaxy Grand, which is an exciting 5-inch smartphone, (Jiimson smartphone) in fact, the firsT smartphone that will be available in Nigeria. It is a typical example of market research, understanding the needs of the consumers and creating products that meet it. Chief Hero is the chief hero 1500, which is another product that was specifically designed for Nigeria and other parts of Africa based on inputs from consumers. It was created based on the requirements of consumers and affordable entry level. Consumers want robust, durable phones with good battery life and fast charging capability. They want the touch. When you gather all these information through your R&D team, you will be able build one product….as you said is built for Africa.

    Theft of mobile phones has become a recurring decimal in Nigeria. Is there anyway Samsung can assist the customers such that, through the application of technology, stolen phones become useless?

    We and our competitors are working very closely with the operators in Nigeria. There are various initiatives to try to reduce, if not entirely eliminate the abuse, either it is theft or other forms of abuse of mobile phone. Of course, all mobile phones carry IMEI, so there is a means of identifying products and taking the necessary action. Honestly, there is probably limited action that takes place within Nigeria; this is an area that could be improved upon. We will continue to work with the operators and other third parties to find out a way of managing this. In fact, at the moment, you talk about theft, the challenges in Nigeria continues to be grey. I want to emphasise this point because for your readers, I would like them to understand that the challenge with consumers buying grey. They are basically perpetuating illegitimate sales channel. Of course, people are very sensitive to pricing. Grey continues to be a big challenge in Nigeria; it continues to be a huge challenge for OEMs such as Samsung as well as our key partners, who are making efforts to try as much as possible to abide by the rules of the country in terms of importation rules or duty rules. I will urge Nigerians to reconsider buying grey because of N100 savings. In fact, in many cases, they don’t realise that at the later stage, the decision to buy grey has created a long term problem because there are warranty issues related to products that are illegitimately brought into the country.

    The grey imports you talked about, are they not Samsung’s products?

    There are two different grey products. On the one hand, there is the legitimate Samsung products made in a Samsung factory somewhere in the world, and they’ve been brought into Nigeria illegally. In other words, they are brought in by individuals who are avoiding paying the necessary duties and other charges that should be paid to the government of Nigeria. In the case of that grey products, individuals in many cases do not realise that they are buying grey, but there is a very simple way to check. At the time of buying your mobile phone, there is a call that can be made that can immediately tell the consumers whether they are buying a phone that is legitimately brought into the country or not. It is simple, there is a code that is made from the phone that will confirm whether the phone has been brought into the country legitimately.

    The second is a greater problem. Of course when you become successful globally as we have become, many people want to try and ride on the waves of your success, so, if you go to any of the markets, may be it is Computer Village, Saka Tinubu or anywhere for that matter, you unfortunately will find many products that look like Samsung but that are not Samsung. Those are completely pirated products. They are not our products; they are not made by Samsung. Again, we ask people to do some checks. Generally, consumers must realise that they are buying an illegal pirated product. You will find that the grey pirate is significantly cheaper than the real products.

    What amount of local content goes into your mobile devices by way of apps?

    It is probably one of the fastest growing areas of our business at the moment. In our team, we have Bolade whose is fully dedicated to building relationship with local content developers and providers to ensure that we are able to provide both the app and content to the consumers. At the moment we have various initiatives – one of them being with Spinlet, which is a company where Nigerian music is pre-loaded onto the phone or alternatively, if you go to the Samsung store, you will find that they are increasing number of app both global, African and recently Nigerian applications available to consumers. It is a big growth area. I mean between social networking and the need for local content being available, it is the largest growth area we find driving the smartphone area because you essentially need the smartphone for your multi-media device.

    Spinlet is about music. Are you not thinking of developing apps that will focus on education, health, agriculture and others? This may give you an edge on your competitors?

    I will not disclose our business plan but we are working with a group of young mobile app developers in Nigeria and we are busy on some initiatives, which in the next few weeks, one of them will be announced. We are working, not only on app and content to high-end smartphone, but also with the introduction of our Book for Africa chief hero product, which is internet enabled, we are also looking at providing content and app for affordable phone users too.

    The Federal Government, late last year, made available to develop the software industry N500million, leaving the balance of about $12million to sourced from individual and private organisations. Will Samsung support this fund?

    Honestly, I don’t know. I will not be able to comment on that at the moment because I don’t have details.

    What is your market share?

    Well, no one wants to disclose market share but let us take a look at the developments taking place in Nigeria particularly in the past few years. First of all, I think without sounding arrogant, if you have to look at the premium smartphone space, everyone will agree that Samsung dominates the smartphone space. If you have to look at the success of many of our flagship products whether it’s the S3, which is world’s best selling phone, or the Note 2, which continues to gain huge popularity, especially in Nigeria where in December last year, we recorded fantastic sales or 10.1 tablet, it an area we dominate and it is an area you will continue to see innovation.

    If you have to look at other smart phone areas, the Pocket, which is well known in Nigeria as well as across Africa has also become a major player. I think Nokia is finding it difficult to compete particularly in the smartphone arena. Blackberry has had some success in the past. It is about where the market is going and what the consumers want. It is not about Samsung. The market is going towards touch. So, the first thing is more and more people are becoming increasingly comfortable with the concept of basically using a touch phone. That is the first trend and if you look at who is the major player, of course you know it is Samsung. The issue is that consumers are moving more towards Android. Android age has become powerful engine that is really driving the smartphone space. And again, our alliance with Android and the fact that we use Android as our base for all our smartphones, positions us very well. If you look at the way the market is going right now, there is a two-camp forming; the first camp that continues to focus on low end entry level phone. Secondly, there is another camp that is focusing on entry level affordable premium smartphones. This is where Samsung chips in. We will continue to build some innovative smartphone, some affordable smartphones and we will also start introducing some exciting feature phones. Our strength to be honest is not in the ULC arena, there are other players that perform better there but if you start moving towards the messaging or feature phone arena. We are confident that we will continue to grow our business as it is at the moment because we have got consumers acceptance and in terms of market share, we are the dominant player within the smartphone arena.

    Under your B2B years ago, you developed solutions for the South African Intelligence Agency. With the security challenge facing Nigeria, what level of partnership do you have with the Federal Government to address the spate of bombings across the country?

    Again, I cannot comment on those particular solutions because I don’t have the details. What I can tell you is that in Samasung West Africa, we have dedicated B2B and D2D team; so because we have different units, we have the mobile unit, the IT, the consumer electronics and in many places B2B and B2G, opportunities extend across the business. We have now created one business unit; B2G business unit, which really drives many of our initiative into the government and the corporate sector.

     

  • Labour hails proposed ban of energy drinks’ importation

    Two unions in the food and beverage sector on Friday backed lawmakers’ move to ban importation of energy drinks because of the health implication of such products on the consumers.

    The unions are the National Union of Food Beverage and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE) and the Food, Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association (FOBTOB).

    They reacted to the recent move by House of Representatives to ban energy drinks.

    The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that the House of Representatives on January 22 moved to ban the importation and sale of caffeinated drinks popular known as energy drinks.

    The move followed a bill sponsored by a member of the house, Mr. Yacoob Bush-Alebiosu.

    Experts said the drinks have life threatening effect on blood pressure, functioning of the head and brain while up to 250 ml of the drinks can lead to blood-clotting complications.

    NUFBTE’s President, Mr. Lateef Oyelekan, told NAN in Lagos that the union supported the planned ban on imported energy drink to protect Nigerians from “untimely death.”

    He said that beverage companies in the country were not involved in the production of energy drinks.

    He urged members of the House of Representatives to take steps further to also ban imported beverages, spirits and wines for killing the locally produced ones.

    Oyelekan said that most imported food drinks and beverages had short life span and did not follow the requirements of NAFDAC or other regulatory agencies.

     

  • LCCI decries planned importation of rice mills

    LCCI decries planned importation of rice mills

    The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has taken a swipe at the Federal Government’s plan to import 100 rice mills from China for distribution to states.

    LCCI, through its President, Goodie Ibru (OON) said the plan, if implemented, will spell doom for the local industries.

    Ibru said: “The proposed acquisition of rice mills raises a number of specific concerns, some of which are the way the rice mills will be distributed, how will they be managed and operated alongside the existing rice processing mills owned by small scale operators without creating the challenge of unfair competition?”

    He advised the Minister of Agriculture, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, to engage local operators in the plan so as to avoid any unforeseen difficulties that might arise. “The minister’s vision and programmes must align with the needs of the agricultural community since they are the operators that would ultimately translate the vision to reality. This can only happen if there is meaningful engagement with the operators in the sector. The agricul.tural transformation agenda will be better enriched through a better consultative process,” he stressed.