The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Industrialist

  • Industrialist urges youths to embrace agriculture

    GU Okeke and Sons Limited Chairman, Chief Godwin Okeke has urged youths to embrace agriculture.

    Chief Okeke who is also the Chairman, Varaman Industries Limited, made this call when some youths visited him in his home.

    He pointed out that agriculture is  a lucrative business that should not be left in the hands of the old and illiterate people.

    He said the beautiful thing about going into agriculture is that it can be combined with some other endeavours.

    “I was the major supplier of eggs to University of Nigeria, Enugu campus in 1971, not minding the fact that I already have a flourishing transportation company,” he recalled.

    Read Also: Industrialists to Buhari, others: use sector to drive growth

    The transporter, however, urged the government at all levels to make social amenities available in the rural areas so that the youthful and energetic individuals can stay back instead of the mad rush to urban centers where many of them eventually become carried away and may not be useful to the society as should.

    He also harped on the need to have good road network between the cities and urban centers so that farm produce can easily be evacuated.

    Chief Okeke expressed his willingness to support any youth who is ready to go fully into the business of feeding the nation.

     

  • Industrialist seeks increased surveillance on harmful frozen fish import

    FORMER Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Agriculture Sector Chairman Prince Wale Oyekoya  has called on the government to  tighten the noose on fish  smuggling.

    Oyekoya, managing director, BamaFarms, who spoke in Lagos, while adressing a food and agriculture writers forum, said smugglers bring in frozen fish, such as tilapia and croaker through the country’s land borders, stating that the circulation of unhealthy fish and fishery products into the market, has resulted in grave health implications, such as kidney disease and cancer.

    To check their activities, he  urged the government to strengthen  the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Marine Police, Nigerian Navy and the Nigerian Agriculture Quarantine Service to increase survelliance

    He said some of the fish smuggled from China have chemicals that are harmful to health, adding that consumers of such imported products, which are cheaper than the local ones from farms, lakes and rivers, risk untold health consequences.

    Oyekoya said economic revival lay in the restructuring and revamping of the agricultural system.

    His words: “In my view, one of the most serious  problem of food and agriculture in Nigeria is leadership, policy summersault mismanagement, embezzlement and corruption of public funds that are very common within government officials.”

    Oyekoya called  for increased  efforts to support agriculture, rural development, poverty reduction,  asking for the country’s facilitation of  an  enabling  environment   for   investors.

    He said: “Nigeria’s agricultural commodities and food import bill have on the average over N1 trillion in the past years.

    These huge amount was expended on items that the country has the potential to produce locally. For instance, the import bill of rice and wheat was estimated at N428billion and N307billion in 2017 and 2018, which has continually depleted our foreign reserves.”

  • Forbes rates industrialist Dangote among world’s top 75

    INDUSTRIALIST Aliko Dangote has been ranked among 75 most powerful persons on the planet.

    He is ahead of United States (U.S.) Vice President Mike Pence.

    Dangote, according to the Forbe’s latest 2018 ranking of the World Powerful people,  is ranked among world leaders like Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump – all of whom were ranked first, second and third.

    Dangote, who is chairman of Dangote Group, was ranked 66th most powerful person in the world ahead of Pence (ranked 67) and Qamar Javed Bajwa, the highly influential Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan, ranked 68.

    The Africa’s richest man is the only Nigerian on the list and one of the only two Africans, who made the list with the other being the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who was ranked 45th most powerful.

    Dangote  produces 44 million metric tonness of cement annually across the African continent and still plans to expand and increase its output by 33 per cent by 2020.

    According to the Forbe’s rich list, Dangote as at March 2018 had an estimated net worth of $14.1 billion and ranked among the 100 richest in the world.

    He is the richest in Africa, a position he has held for almost a decade.

    He reached the peak in 2014, when he came 23rd richest in the world and in 2013 surpassed the Saudi-Ethiopian billionaire Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi by over $2.6 billion to become the world richest person of African descent.

    The Dangote Group President has often made such lists due to his business concerns and humanitarian efforts in Nigeria and other parts of the world, especially his efforts through the Aliko Dangote Foundation to rid Nigeria and Africa of polio, malaria and mal-nutrition.

    His efforts in this regard was recognised by the United Nations, which appointed him, Malaria Ambassador.

    Dangote stepped up his humanitarian activities recently spending billions of Naira to build hospitals and critical hospital equipment, the lack of which has forced Nigerians of means to seek medical attention abroad.

    He also donated a N1.2 billion Business School complex to Bayero University in Kano and is presently constructing a similar one for the University of Ibadan Business School.

    The business mogul has continued through the foundation by disbursing N10 billion to vulnerable women across the 774 local governments in the country.

    Dangote made a donation of $2 million to the World Food Programme as part of efforts to help Pakistani nationals devastated by floods in the year 2010.

    Aliko Dangote was made the chairperson of the Presidential Committee on Flood Relief, which raised in excess of N11.35 billion.

    Dangote himself contributed N2.5 billion, an amount higher than the entire contribution from the 36 state governors.

  • Industrialist makes case for low interest rates

    A Lagos-based industrialist in the paint manufacturing industry, Mr. Raphael Danilola, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Dalux Chemical Industries Ltd,  Badagry, Lagos State, has called on the government to, as a matter of urgency, address the issue of high interest rates on loans from commercial banks which is a big impediment to the survival of the local industries.

    Mr. Danilola made the call in his office in Lagos at an interactive session with the media during which he spoke glowingly of Dalux products meeting international standards and receiving certification from the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) on a repeated basis since its incorporation and commencement of production in 1992.

    He also called for the increased patronage of local paint manufacturing companies in the country.

    He said: ” Dalux Chemical industries Ltd has a wide range of products of international quality ranging from Daflex paints which is of premium standard of three variants, emulsion, texture and gloss. This product, when used for painting, has a life span of between 15 and 20 years.

    “There is also Danilux paints of standard quality in three variants of emulsion, texture and gloss whose quality is comparable to international standards.

    “Another product of Dalux Chemical Industries Ltd is the general people’s paint called Villa, which is of the emulsion and gloss variants and can last up to three to four years on any surface. The company is also into the production and sale of high quality wood finishing, auto paints, airless spray paint, Stoven enamel as well as quick dry paint”.

  • Ahmed, Saraki mourn industrialist Adesoye

    Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has mourned the late industrialist and educationist, Chief Emmanuel Adesoye, who died last Saturday. He was 79.

    Governor Ahmed, in a condolence message by his Chief Press Secretary, Abdulwahab Oba, said the state lost an industrialist, philanthropist and administrator plenipotentiary.

    The statement reads: “The late Adesoye contributed immensely to the industrial development of the state and Nigeria. As the first northern Nigerian student to qualify as a Quantity Surveyor, and the second Nigerian to attain that height, Chief Adesoye would be missed for his boldness, intelligence and charisma, which endeared him, not only to the people of Offa, but to everyone that crossed his path.

    “May his soul, and those before him, find rest and may God grant his families and friends the fortitude to bear the loss.”

    Senate President Bukola Saraki has also expressed grief.

    Saraki, in a statement by his media aide, Yusuph Olaniyonu, said: “Chief Adesoye was one leader, whose lifestyle of simplicity, compassion and hard work will remain unmatched. Adesoye College, which he established, is a living testimony of his passion to free humanity from the clutches of ignorance.

    “Besides, through his confectionery industry, the popular Okin Biscuits, he fed the hungry and ensured that thousands of Nigerians were employed, either as direct workers in the company, wholesalers or retailers of his product. His visionary leadership and initiative in lifting humanity are worthy of emulation.”

    Saraki prayed God to grant the deceased eternal rest and his loved ones the grace to bear the loss.

    Adesoye, the Asiwaju of Offa died in the early hours of yesterday at his Offa home.

    He was said to have been managing an undisclosed ailment for some time.

    The deceased was the manufacturer of Okin Biscuit and Okin Foam.

    He also acquired Kwara Breweries in Ijagbo from the state.

    Adesoye was proprietor of Adesoye College, Offa, a pioneer international secondary school in Nigeria.

  • APC mourns Kwara monarch, industrialist

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has mourned the Olomu of Omu-Aran in Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, Oba Charles Ibitoye.

    The monarch died last Saturday at 65.

    A statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said: “The death of the monarch, who was an exemplary leader of no mean repute, came as a shock to us at a time like this when his presence is mostly needed.

    “Oba Ibitoye’s reign brought development to the ancient town, with classical coordination of sons and daughters of Omu-Aran in Diaspora.

    “The love and peace that traversed the town during his reign is known and appreciated by all. It is our opinion that his reign stood tall among others in the historical record of the town, with unassuming respect, humility and love, with which he rallied everyone together for the progress of Omu-Aran.

    “We, therefore, urge the people to immortalise the deceased and improve on the legacy he left behind.”

    The party also condoledwith the Olofa of Offa, Oba Mufutau Esuwoye, and the people, on the death of Chief Emmanuel Adesoye.

    The party described Adesoye’s death as a great loss.

    Abdullahi described the late industrialist as an epitome of knowledge, saying he used his intellect to add value to the economic and industrial growth of the country.

  • Importation of vegetable oil killing local industries, says industrialist

    An industrialist in Aba, Abia State, Chief  Emma Obi, has decried the continued  importation of banned Olin (vegetable) oil into the country.

    Obi, the immediate past chairman of Industrialists Association, Aba (IAA) and managing director of Polema Industries Ltd, said: “Government should check if the importers are paying duties at all for these goods because we are sure that if they pay 35 percent duty on all these goods (vegetable oil), they can not sell at the cheaper rate they are presently selling them thereby trying to close local industries, particularly the agro allied industries today.

    “The duty for palm oil is 35 percent, Olin is totally prohibited, but what they are doing now is to front their importation with palm oil, but in actual sense, palm oil will not be more than 5 percent of the total goods and they would now bring it in. Even at that, with the 35 percent duty, the price they are selling it now shows that they are not paying the duty because if duties are paid, they couldn’t be selling at the price they are selling today.”

    Advising the Federal Government, the industrialist said: “Government should go back to cross check all the documents importers of palm oil present in recent past because a ship loads of oil is about N2bn and if you check 35 percent duty on it, it is N700m. So, if they had paid it, there is no way they would have been selling below the global price here in Nigeria. They are only doing that because they cut corners to bring the goods into the country.”

    Obi  went on: “Government should understand that the cheapness of goods that are imported from outside is not the actual price at their country of origin. Their governments give over 15 percent subsidy to make sure that the private industries are working because what they are aiming at is not for profit, but for the industries to retain production and continuously employ and pay their workers, but here we don’t see unemployment as anything.

    “What we have had over the years is a situation whereby imported goods are cheaper than those manufactured in the country and this is killing local industries and creating serious unemployment. Government should make it attractive for people to invest their money in production, but if those who have invested in this sub sector are being frustrated through high electricity tariff and making the country a dumping ground for foreign goods, it means it will not be attractive for others to enter.”

  • Industrialist urges govt to stop furniture importation

    An industrialist Mr. Oyemike Onaham has urged the Federal Government to curb foreign exchange wastage on furniture importation by empowering indigenous furniture producers.

    Onaham, who is the managing director of the ongoing first made- in-Nigeria furniture fair, made the call while visiting stands at the exhibition on Sunday in Abuja.

    He said the government’s empowerment with loans and grants would boost local production of world- class furniture products and effectively curb importation.

    “Government injection of fund and other policy support will open up the potentials of this multi-billion naira sector to the teeming youths for self employment.

    “The present federal administration is a responsible and serious government, I therefore, appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari to facilitate the empowerment of furniture industrialists by providing special support loans and possible grants to industrialists in the sector,” Onaham said.

    He noted that furniture production business had been profitable for local and foreign companies in the country, adding that “The sector is almost still at virgin level with a huge potential for growth, employment and even exportation.”

    Onaham said: “Nigeria is one of the countries in the world blessed with amazing varieties of wood, including hard and water proof ones, which are suitable for production of dazzling and diverse furniture products for homes, offices, factories, vehicles among others.”

    He said since no one could do without furniture, it was necessary that government pays attention to the industry, noting that funds assistance and patronage by the federal, state and local governments, and corporate organisations would boost the furniture industry and make it attractive to youths. “Once there is patronage by governments as a policy, it will be easy for corporate organisations to follow suit and thereby expand employment opportunities in the sector,” Onaham noted.

    The first made-in-Nigeria Furniture Trade Fair is being organised by Baca Furniture Products Limited.

     

  • Industrialist advises Igbo traders

    An industrialist, Mr. Emmanuel Adaelu, has advised the Igbo to be upright in transactions, to sustain their business and grow them internationally.

    Adaelu, chairman of Chemlap Industries Ltd., Aba, Abia State, spoke while addressing guests at the launch of an Aba-based e-Commerce platform, Comfort Stevens Nigeria Ltd., in Aba.

    He said uprightness in business included repaying loans, adding that it brings trust and it’s the backbone of international business.

    Adaelu hailed the President of Comfort Stevens, Dr. John Nwankwo, for bringing to Aba a new system of merchandising, to improve perception and patronage of Aba products.

    Adaelu, chairman of the occasion, said it was time Aba products were showcased and sold worldwide.

    “If Nigerians will tell the world they are exporters, the world will open its doors to Nigerian products.”

  • Industrialist promises schools classrooms

    THE Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of EVOMEC Global Services Limited, High Chief Peter Esievo has assured the management of Ekpan Secondary School, Ekpan-Ovu of a block of six classrooms and renovation of two other blocks and toilets at the Urhodo Secondary School, Urhodo-Ovu.

    Esievo made the pledge while donating books to pupils of primary and secondary schools across Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State, promising to mobilize his team of engineers to site to a few days later.

    Esiovo who had earlier donated mattresses to corps members and renovated their lodge in Ovu Grammar School, also promise to provide toilets for two the schools.

    Speaking at Ovu Grammar School, Esievo said his gesture was not political with the interest to contest but with the zeal to contribute to the society because of his indigent background.

    He said: “During my time, l was not privileged to have books donated to us. In my own case l was rejected, so, l was into hunting for animals and collecting palm nuts to survive. But today, my story has changed, so, this kind gesture is dedicated to God Almighty and all these have no political undertone.

    “I appeal to other spirited individuals to also assist in the development of education in the local government since government alone cannot do it.  I urge all primary and secondary schools in the local government to make judicious use of the books given to them.”

    Earlier, the principal of Ovu Grammar School, Mr Alexander Oniovosa, thanked Esievo for continuing the gesture he started years back.

    He assured him, on behalf of all the recipients, that the books would be well utilized for the purpose they were bought.