The Nation Newspaper

Tag: INSECURITY

  • Tackling rising insecurity in Kwara

    Tackling rising insecurity in Kwara

    Piqued by the increasing wave of political violence and criminal activities, especially among the youth in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, prominent sons and daughters of the emirate under the aegis of Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressive Union (IEDPU), has organised a one-day security summit ahead of the 2015 general elections.

    Explaining the rationale behind the summit, the group noted that peace and harmony of the town are gradually being eroded by modernity and political sophistication.

    Speaker after speaker at the summit blamed the malaise on institutional inertia, drug abuse, corruption in both high and low places, bad governance and public distrust.

    Declaring the summit open, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed blamed politicians whom he said use the youth to achieve their selfish ambitions.

    He, therefore, urged politicians to provide jobs and not guns for the youth.

    He said: “Our youths need jobs and a secure future. What they do not need and therefore do not deserve are guns and machetes whose only outcome is to blight their lives and abridge their future.

    “I also add my voice to the need for the security agencies to form a greater synergy and avoid needless rivalry. We can only surmount the hidden and obvious security threats confronting our state through working together. To us the people, it does not matter who offers the best protection and security.

    “What counts is that our lives are safe and our properties secure.”

    Ahmed also advised Nigerians to remain vigilant and report suspicious activities to security agencies through the appropriate channels that offer anonymity and safety.

    He maintained that the most reliable and actionable intelligence comes from neighbourhood where crime is hatched and committed.

    He further said policies and programmes of his administration are borne out of the realisation of the social, economic and security imperative of ensuring that youths are productively engaged to prevent youth restiveness.

    Contributing, the National President of IEDPU, Alhaji AbdulHamid Adi said the summit was designed to check crime and criminalities in Ilorin due to the increase in the city’s population.

    Also contributing top security personnel who pleaded anonymity said: “Security agents alone cannot ensure crime-free society. Combating crime requires the support of all. Members of the public should endeavour to volunteer information that will lead to the arrest of criminal elements in the society.

    “If I make any arrest, I urge members of the public not to intervene by asking for their release. Crimes persist in the society because members of the public intervene when a criminal is arrested. It is better to allow alleged criminals charged to court. If they are convicted and jailed, the society can then be peaceful.”

    In a paper entitled “Primary Crime Control in Addressing the Problems of Insecurity in Ilorin Emirate,” Ambassador Abdulazeez Sheikh-Usman said criminal activities in the metropolis tend to assume crisis proportion, “thereby engendering a depressing feeling of helplessness among the general populace.”

    Ambassador Sheikh-Usman said: “The distortion to the harmonious co-existence therefore, has created the impression that government is incapable of fulfilling one of its cardinal responsibilities of ensuring public safety.

    “Amidst all these, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), the principal organ charged with maintenance of law and order, appear bogged down by institutional inertia, derived from long years of neglect, corruption, poor morale and public mistrust, despite the range of assistance from some state governments. Hence, hitherto unknown criminals, who operate primarily in certain localities in the country, have become notorious within the emirate.

    “It is established that for most criminal activities, the underlying factor is the element of cheating, which has been allowed to permeate every fabric of our society and lives. From that market woman who dents her measure to the robber who dispossesses one of one’s personal belongings, the thugs and cult members who destroy people’s property, the law enforcement officer that takes money to cover up a criminal for breaking the law, the importer of fake drugs, the civil servant who cut corners, the politician who makes invisible beings to vote for him are all attitudinal problems and products of polluted mind.

    “It is cheating that breeds injustice, fear, derailing of value system and prejudice, among others which, together with poverty and unemployment, among others, that the emirate and indeed the state must set out to combat.

    “Overtime, government’s approach in promoting harmony through the security agents has the benefit of deterrence, apprehension, punishment and treatment of offenders, but there appears to be no corresponding effectiveness in crime control. Experience has shown that this formal system of controlling crime across the country contains inherent limitations and therefore requires other options that will be complementary.

    “Basically, therefore, crime prevention will rely more on the culture, education and societal cohesion to be effective.”

    Proffering suggestions towards eradicating or reducing crime and criminality in the society, he said: “Government at the centre must do the right thing to curtail and reverse the state of insecurity in the country. Given the enormous resources at the disposal of some perpetrators, government needs to properly address the causes of the challenges and adequately deploy the right and appropriate resources to stem the downward trend of the security situation.

    “Most importantly, the Federal Government should address the problem of weak judicial system that encourages frivolous injunctions and different sanctions on the same offences. Efforts should also be made to make the security services functional and effective. Corruption, injustices and the culture of impunity must be addressed.

    “Crime prevention only needs to be integrated in our broader social policies while making sure that certain values are not compromised. Hence, combining prevention with enforcement shall ensure a near crime-free community.”

  • Agony of insecurity

    A dazed nation; a traumatized people, and a routed security forces. That is how the Boko Haram insurgents have left us – in utter despondency.  Nigeria has held a history of honour in the face of daunting challenges; from the civil war, to the twin civil wars that almost broke up the West African countries of Liberia and Sierra Leone.  Nigerian soldiers were once the toast and darling of the people for bravery and gallantry in peacekeeping and internal security operations.   It was unquestionably the role of the Nigerian contingents in the Economic Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) forces in Liberia and Sierra Leone that changed the tide of the operation and forced the rebels to embrace peace.   Sierra Leone today, remains about the only United Nations success story in peacekeeping, thanks to the courage displayed by Nigerian soldiers and political leadership.  Today, besides being the most populous black nation on planet earth, there is nothing inspiring to look forward to in leadership both at national and institutional levels.  Lately, the Nigerian military has become an albatross in theatres of operations at home and abroad. At home, the life of ordinary Nigerian is dominated by fear.

    Nigerians now sleep with two eyes open for fear of armed bandits; fear of being killed or kidnapped by cult members who operate in broad daylight in full glare of the Nigeria Police.  There is fear of political assassination, fear of economic survival, fear of Ebola and the fear of Boko Haram terrorists.  The only secure places and people are government offices and officials.  This is because all security paraphernalia and state resources are mobilized for personal safety of officials to the detriment of security for the larger society.  For the common man, the only safe place is the graveyard.  Even the graveyard sometimes is not safe enough as ritualists violate the graves and take body parts for charms of all sorts. Rather than tackle the security problems bringing the country to the edges and precipice, we are foisted with security theatrics by erecting road blocks on every access road and concrete slabs where citizens are daily tortured in unbearable traffic.

    Our leaders do not experience it because they do not travel the same road with the common man and when they have the misfortune once in a while, they travel against traffic with their retinue of “kill and go” security squads who clear the road with siren.  Whenever they watch footages of local news items of pain and agony at the traffic gridlocks on our roads, they assume that it is a political campaign against the government.  They care less about the plight of the ordinary Nigerians who really drive our economy.

    Entering the Federal Capital Territory from Nassarawa axis is a living hell for commuters.  Most workers in the FCT who are resident in the suburbs and satellite towns in Karu of Nassarawa State wake up as early as 4 O’clock in the early hours to go to work.  They remain in traffic sometimes for up to four hours held up at the ubiquitous military checkpoints.  The chaotic traffic, unknown to us, is a greater security risk in itself because should there be any attack with explosives devices, God forbid, it will be more catastrophic with attendant inferno that could follow.   If we consider it a serious business to fight insurgency, we should take the fight to the insurgents and terrorists rather than the histrionics of security planting of roadblocks and barricade everywhere and waste needed manpower.

    Securing Abuja, the seat of power does not by any shred of imagination translate to security of the country and its people.  The number of roadblocks on our roads across the country and the needless hardship occasioned by the delays they cause is only a demonstration of lack of imagination in tackling our security challenges.  The method chosen by the government and the security forces to deal with the insurgency calls to question the theoretical doctrine of our security template.  Nigerians must face the reality if we are to combat successfully the current insecurity in the country.  The stories and reactions coming from the government and security forces about what is being done to contain the terrorists is not only misleading but appears to be serving us tissues of lies.

    It is unimaginative to go into a theatre of operations without correct analysis of the situation.  One was startled when on assumption of office, the Chief of Defence Staff told Nigerians and indeed the whole world that insurgency in Nigeria would be over in three months.  That audacious statement would not have been the thought of a military tactician or a strategist.  That declaration was a tall order achievable only through voodoo and certainly not scientific military operations.  A more worrisome dimension to the fight against the Boko Haram insurgents is the regular briefing from the Defence spokesman who reels out every plan and tactical manoeuvre they are employing in an ongoing military operation.  Sadly, his recent claim that it was a tactical manoeuvre when over 400 soldiers strayed or found themselves marooned in Cameroon in the heat of battle with the insurgents was a lamentable tragedy of fighting force in the 21st Century.  This is where silence would have been golden.

    The Inspector General of Police was more circumspect when he told the world that the insurgents were better armed and in greater number than his men after they were routed and about 27 of them kidnapped.  Perhaps one would add – better discipline and commitment of course.  They allegedly came with sophisticated Armoured Personnel Carriers, and trucks mounted with General Purpose Machine Guns (GPMGs) which to him the police does not have in its inventory.  This incident happened in Gwoza, a place with high level of security threat.  The same general area covered by the state of emergency and fully under the security forces.  Where did the insurgents come from?   Certainly, the insurgents drove through some routes and did not materialize like spirits into the Police Training College.

    The Military High Command has told us that they will soon take delivery of military equipment and hardware to deal with the Boko Haram terrorists.  If this is true, it obviously shows we are the most unserious people on earth in relation with the security of life and territorial integrity of our country.  The full-scale onslaught by the Boko Haram is over five years old, to be conservative and if we are just expecting delivery of procured military supplies, it shows lack of commitment by those concerned.  In any case, materiel not backed up with well-trained, disciplined, and motivated personnel to drive the equipment will certainly not reverse the tide against the terrorists.

    Tactical military manoeuvres in an ongoing theatre of operations should not be for media hype.  Strategic operational plans should be on the need to know and not for the public.  The voluble reaction of the security spokesmen in the face of the fight against the Boko Haram terrorists is simply running verbal diarrhoea.

    We do not have to militarise the entire population before we can win the war against terrorism.   Today, every government agency beside the military and the Nigerian Police wants to carry arms with no limitation to scale.   From the Department of State Security (DSS) National Security and Civil Defence Corps, Immigrations, Customs, Boys Scout just name it; want to bear arms and Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) and drive these weapons recklessly and offensively in the worse of traditions.

    Certainly, we are not helpless in the face of the current insecurity in Nigeria.  The government should live up to its responsibility and devise creative ways of dealing with terrorism and insurgency in Nigeria.  We should muster the political will and act with patriotic fervour rather sectarian interest.  There should be total and complete overhauling of the security forces.  For the military, training and discipline should be the watch word.  There should be less meddlesomeness and interference into military affairs by politicians in government and the armed forces should truly professionalize.  We can not afford to invest so much in Defence and live in a state of insecurity.  Roadblocks are not the answer to insurgency but simple intelligence and commitment could serve better.

     

    • Kebonkwu is a lawyer with Bamidele Aturu and Co, Abuja

     

  • Insecurity: Jonathan, Obasanjo meet

    Insecurity: Jonathan, Obasanjo meet

    President Goodluck Jonathan and former President Olusegun Obasanjo met behind closed doors yesterday to seek a way out of the worsening security.

    Top on the agenda was the insurgency in the Northeast.

    Chief Obasanjo told reporters at his Presidential Hilltop home in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, on his return from Abuja that he travelled to Abuja for the meeting as a “mark of respect for the office of the President”.

    The former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said: “Yes, I can confirm that I met with Mr. President on his invitation. In fact, he had wanted to come to Abeokuta, but as a sign of respect to the Office of the President, I had to go. We had discussion on the country’s security issues and that is all.”

    Obasanjo, who said he appreciated the invitation, said he would continue to make himself available for service on national issues and in the interest of peace and progress.

    The relationship between the Obasanjo and President Jonathan is believed to be frosty. It is not known whether there was also an attempt at reconciliation during the meeting.

    Last week, Obasanjo lauded the efforts of the Federal Government and the Lagos State government to curb the spread of the Ebola Virus Disease(EVD).

    But he said if the same energy put into tackling EVD was applied in handling the abducted Chibok school girls issue the story would probably have been different today.

    The former President this week criticised Jonathan’s style of running the country’s economy, likening it to the era of the late Gen. Sani Abacha, whose military regime did not only inflict hardship on Nigerians but also wiped out the middle – class.

    On the Eggon/Fulani crisis in Nasarawa State, Obasanjo charged Benue and Nasarawa states to work together for the restoration of peace to the warring communities.

    According to him, the two ethnic groups,  Eggon (who are farmers) and the Fulani, who are herders, must understand each other and sort  out their differences.

    He said: “there is no way, such will not happen, but the two state governments should come up with a lasting solution. The farmers would want their crops to be protected, while the cattle men will also want their cattle to feed. So, the government should fashion out peaceful means to end the crisis.”

  • Group holds summit on insecurity in Ilorin

    Worried by the growing insecurity of lives and property in Ilorin, the Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressive Union (IEDPU) is staging a summit to address the issue.

    The discussion, which holds today, is to create opportunity for residents to contribute to crime prevention in the Ilorin Emirate.

    Amid the Ramadan period last month, some street urchins engaged in a free-for-all in parts of the city during the distribution of noodles.

    The fracas sent panic and tension in the Oja-Iaya/Eruda area of Ilorin where the violence erupted.

    National President of IEDPU, Alhaji Abdulhamid Adi, said: “Those of us who have been living in Ilorin for about two decades will obviously appreciate what it was, in terms of security. Our concern as a people is the astronomical growth of insecurity in the emirate, the dimension it is assuming, the inhibition of free movement and its impact on safety of lives and property and economic development.”

    Speaking further, Adi lamented that “high rate of unemployment, chronic poverty, perceived inequality, loss of value systems, weak security system, use of drugs are some major contributing factors to insecurity. Government institutions responsible for providing security appeared to be over-stretched while the criminal justice is a little weak; principally the rule of law is collapsing. The summit, therefore, is intended “to awaken the public consciousness to the general problem of insecurity and its variants.”

  • ‘Insecurity is killing businesses’

    ‘Insecurity is killing businesses’

    Businesses need a conducive environment to grow. In Nigeria, many businesses are dying because of many factors, including insecurity, especially in the Northeast, in this interview with ADEDEJI ADEMIGBUJI, Mr Steve Babaeko, founder of X3M Ideas, says insecurity must be addressed for businesses to thrive.

    Your agency is marking its second anniversary. How has the journey been considering the challenges in the industry?

    It has been one of the most challenging ventures I have ever undertaken. It is also interesting because we have passed the stage where the initial doubts have ceased to exist. However, the next challenge is how we push the envelope and move to the next level.

    How have you been pushing the emvelope (i.e. challenging the barriers)?

    If you have seen the kind of work we have been doing, you would agree with me that we are part of the agencies that have been pushing the envelope in this country. We get briefs because of the quality of works we churn out. If you see our clientele list and the portfolio we have in our custody, you will see that there has been quality in terms of the creativity coming out.

    How many clients do you have?

    Anybody who is conversant with our work will know that we have a very robust portfolio across different segment of the market. From telecoms to banking, carbonated soft drinks, card and switching business and the FMCG. Etisalat, Diamond Bank, Inter-switch and DStv are four of the clients that have been pushing us to continuously deliver. We are really grateful to them because without them, we are nothing.

    Are clients complying with the issue of pitch fee?

    Those are issues for the new Association of Advertising Agencies ofNigeria (AAAN) executive to tackle. The laws are there; we just have to follow up and see that clients stay compliant. At agency level, we just follow the law; we are not like the regulatory body, we are participants in this game.

    How have you been able to transform your employees?

    The crux of our team is people who are a part of the system that are very young when we started. Then, the other 70 per cent of our team are those who have never done advertising before. Our model was different ab initio: people who are well travelled, well exposed in different fields with the idea that we don’t want do the same old kind of communication. We set the agenda and everything followed.

    Is there any business objective attached to your company’s CSR?

    This is something we really feel strongly about. This is our country and we have no place to call our own. The issue is that as individuals and corporate organisations, we must step up and fight for this country. Hence, the only way we can do that is being able to salvage the future of this country. How can you survive in today’s world without having a grasp of Information Communication Technology(ICT)? Sadly, today, you find many schools without computer and technology. We feel that this is something we will continue to do and not a one off thing.

    How do you select schools for your CSR?

    We believe that charity begins at home. That was why we decided to renovate the five blocks of a school that was close to our office which is Opebi Junior High. Before we got here, we set up an in-house committee that carefully selected and made a presentation on the challenges of the school they visited. This year, we have focused on ICT because we are a forward-thinking company and we want to give young minds the opportunity to be more ICT compliant.

    Do you have confidence in the  AAAN executives?

    My belief is that whatever the last exco did not finish; hopefully, this  exco would be able to finish it. Even if they don’t, it is all about continuity and we hope that someday we would get it right.

    To what extent has insecurity affected advertising business?

    The state of security has affected business for everybody in Nigeria. Almost like 1/3 or 2/3 of the economy is totally cut off. If the Northeast is not operational, it is going to affect your clients. So, it means that for people who produce goods, you cannot ship to a lot of states in the Northeast. That has already hit their bottom line. Telecom masts are being sabotaged. It affects everybody, which is why we are really hoping that the government would step up and curb the scourge. This is an issue that affects our means of livelihood.

  • Taking risks to enhance life, justice and human dignity; taking risks that waste human potential, create suffering and perpetuate insecurity

    Taking risks to enhance life, justice and human dignity; taking risks that waste human potential, create suffering and perpetuate insecurity

    [Being an expanded version of remarks at a banquet for Wole Soyinka, Government House, Port Harcourt, July 30, 2014]

    As we gather here tonight in celebration of Wole Soyinka’s 80th birthday, his first major play written when he was in his mid-twenties, A Dance of the Forests, is being rehearsed for performance in Tel Aviv in a Hebrew translation. About two weeks ago, the U.S.-based Nigerian theatre director who is in charge of the production, Segun Ojewuyi, sent an email to Soyinka and myself in which he gave a gripping account of life in Tel Aviv at the present moment and equally important, how this very early play of Soyinka had found a new and unbelievable relevance to the unfolding human tragedy in the struggle between the Palestinians in the Gaza strip and the state of Israel. A Dance of the Forests is a complex play whose theme or “message” cannot be rendered in one sentence, one paragraph even. But it is safe to say that at the heart of the drama of the play is a visionary projection of the tragedies and the suffering that a people – any people in the world – can expect that choose to ignore the lessons of their history. Soyinka wrote and staged this play over half a century ago and now in Gaza and Tel Aviv, in the West Bank and Jerusalem, it turns out that the play might have much to teach the Jewish and Palestinian peoples as they grapple with the disregarded lessons of their history. It is likely, tragically very likely, that another fifty years from now, in another part of the world, this same play will be performed under similar circumstances. Ladies and gentlemen, fellow Nigerians, that is the quality of the artistic vision in many of the works of the man whose 80th birthday anniversary we are marking at this state banquet tonight.

    As excited as I am that A Dance of the Forests has found a new if poignant relevance in Tel Aviv and Gaza, that is not the primary reason why I use this fact to highlight the power of Soyinka’s artistic vision in this tribute. On the contrary, I cite the play and its current production experience in the Middle East for a completely different reason. Let me state this simply: almost more than any other literary work of Soyinka, A Dance of the Forests marks perhaps the most outstanding thing about WS as a dramatist, thinker and activist and this is the fact that he has a propensity for taking great risks, artistic and political. All his greatest works in drama, poetry and fictional prose are nothing if not works of considerable experimentation with form, ideas and modes of expression.

    With regard to political activism, we know that he was charged, tried and acquitted for the radio incident of 1965 and so we cannot try him all over again, but we know he was the gunman! Compared to other risks he has since taken, that was indeed, only the beginning and rather small compared with other risks he went on to take. Anyone who has read the last three out of his five books of memoires, The Man Died; Ibadan, the ‘Penklemes’ Years; and You Must Set Forth at Dawn, knows what I am talking about here. Indeed, if Soyinka is one of the greatest avant-garde writers of African and world literature in the second half of the 20th century, this is largely because of the artistic risks he was always willing to take. Similarly, the risks he took as one of our continent’s great political activists and human rights campaigners have been nothing short of legendary.

    But if WS was always naturally predisposed to taking artistic risks and making political gambles, the most important thing to note is that he took risks and made gambles for justice, equality of opportunity for all, and human dignity. This is the heart of my short tribute tonight. And so let me repeat it: the great artistic and political risks that Soyinka has taken in his 80 years have been in the cause of and for the advancement of justice, equality and human dignity. I say this, indeed I emphasize it deliberately and strongly, because human beings and communities take risks all the time. As a species, we are fundamentally predisposed to take risks all the time, small risks and huge risks. However, unfortunately, most of the risks that we take as individuals, groups and collectively as the human species are taken in the pursuit of selfish or petty interests that place us above others, siblings, relatives, friends, and co-workers.

    More grandiosely, within the nations of the world, the rich and the powerful take risks in order to secure and consolidate their domination or even enslavement of their fellow men and women. In all these myriad cases of taking risks to secure unfair and immoral advantage or power over others that is a big part of human individual and collective life, the risks always come back to haunt the risk-takers. That is the big irony between taking risks for human progress and taking risks to perpetuate human suffering. Very few countries in the world show ample and graphic illustration of this point as does Nigeria.

    It is not usual in the analysis of the terrible crises that bedevil our country at the present time to see these crises as the products of taking risks, not for justice, equality and human dignity but for entrenching suffering, insecurity and injustice. But we must start to see and fight these evils as the products of risk-taking of the most alarming and calamitous kind. Trillions of naira are looted with total impunity – what is that if not taking the risk of generating suffering for the generality of Nigerians? Billions of petrodollars are squandered – what is that if not taking the risk of a dire and bleak future for our youths and those yet unborn? In place of rational, enlightened and civilised discourse, what we get from both the official and unofficial megaphones of the powers that be is the tendency to rationalize and explain away the retrograde policies and actions of our rulers – what is that if not taking the risk of creating and maintaining bitter, self-destructive divisions between the ethnic and regional communities that make up this country?

    Nobody is safe, nobody is protected from the suffering, injustice and insecurity that such negative and foolish risk taking creates, not even the wealthy and the powerful themselves. The Boko Haram insurgency is perhaps the ultimate proof of this. But there are legions of other “proofs” confronting us in this country. Don’t we all, rich and poor, face the same hazards of roads that are death-traps? Don’t we all face the shame and disgrace before the international community and the world caused by what foreign visitors in our midst see of the quality of life for the vast majority of the people in our country? Who is protected from the belief that Nigeria is one of the most corrupt and unregenerate countries in the world in spite of its oil wealth, indeed because of its oil wealth?

    And yet this country has not been without women and men willing to take risks to make things better for their communities and all of us. In this very state where this banquet is being held tonight we have the supreme examples of Isaac Adaka Boro and Ken Saro Wiwa. In the colonial era, many radical politicians, labour leaders and intellectuals took risks to win our freedom from foreign rule. This tradition is even truer of the postindependence period. Gani Fawehinmi went to jail innumerable times in defense of the rights of the masses of ordinary Nigerians to a decent life and a secure future. I have mentioned the examples of Isaac Boro and Saro Wiwa. Bala Mohammed gave his life in the fight against the forces of reaction and misrule in our country, especially in the North. To the end, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti was unrelenting in his war against military autocracy and its civilian collaborators.

    This profile is consistent with what obtains in other parts of the world and throughout human social and political history. I state this fact in order to underscore the need not to isolate the extraordinary case of WS, the need not to idolize him. He is part of a great tradition in our country and our world. At the heart of his turbulent life and career is the fact that he has always taken risks, as an artist, thinker and activist, for justice, equality and human dignity. He has been extraordinarily lucky to have survived the dire possibilities of many of those risks, so much so that one colleague, Professor Itse Sagay, has said that death is afraid of him. Well, I hope so. And I hope that 10 years from now, death will still be afraid of him and when we gather to celebrate his 90th birthday, the risks that WS has taken in his life and career for human progress and human dignity will be far more evident in the lives of most Nigerians, Africans and human beings all over the world than the risks that our rulers continue to make in the perpetuation of suffering, injustice and insecurity.

     

    Biodun Jeyifo

    Port Harcourt, July 30, 2014

    bjeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

  • Insecurity,declining income dampen corporate earnings

    The spate of violence in many Northern states is hampering companies’ earnings and may significantly reduce investors’ returns for the current business year.

    A review of operational results of most companies, especially large fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs) companies that thrive on economy of scale and large market, indicated a general decline in the momentum of sales and profitability.

    A source in one of the large food and beverage companies told The Nation that the decline was due mainly to the intractable violence in the Northern part of the country and observed decline in purchasing power of the populace.

    Another source in a quoted healthcare company said the company had to close down most of its Northern operations to safeguard the lives of the staff, noting that this adversely affected the turnover and the company’s margin.

    According to the sources, the companies were forced to scale down their operations as a result of significant build-up in inventories to counterbalance the shortfall from the Northern market.

    Some of the companies were considering right-sizing of their workforce to reduce operating expenses in the face of the dwindling sales. The employees that were servicing the Northern market were redeployed to other regions and the head offices, where, a source said, there are now “more than enough hands” on a job.

    First half reports of Cadbury Nigeria, Unilever Nigeria, DN Meyer, Chellarams and Scoa Nigeria Plc, among others, showed declines in corporate earnings and profitability.

    Cadbury Nigeria’s sales dropped by 12 per cent to N15.32 billion in first half of 2014 as against N17.43 billion in comparable period of 2013. The company’s pre and post tax profits dropped by 50 per cent each. Profit before tax dropped from N3.59 billion to N1.79 billion while profit after tax declined from N2.52 billion to N1.26 billion.

    Unilever Nigeria also reported marginal decline in sales while its bottom-line was depressed by increasing sales and operating costs. Unilever Nigeria’s turnover slipped from N29.67 billion in first half of 2013 to N29.28 billion in first half of 2014. Profit before tax meanwhile dropped by 48 per cent from N3.96 billion to N2.08 billion. Profit after tax declined by 47 per cent from N2.74 billion in first half 2013 to N1.46 billion.

    DN Meyer recorded a pre-tax loss of N59.85 million in first half 2014 as against a profit of N59.01 million in first half of 2013. Loss after tax totaled N61.59 million in 2014 compared with N57.88 million in 2013. Turnover dropped from N720.63 million to N633.46 million.

    SCOA Nigeria also reported significant declines in sales and profit. Total sales dropped from N6.23 billion to N3.42 billion. Profit before tax halved to N77.04 million in 2014 as against N157.42 million while profit after tax dropped from  N123.25 million to N58.25 million.

    With its first quarter of the current business year, Chellarams recorded a loss of N109.13 million in 2014 as against N147.05 million in 2013. Turnover dropped from N7.17 billion to N6.25 billion.

    Corporate sources said spate of violence and lingering and escalating sense of insecurity have been undermining their forecasts given that the Northern market represented a major segment for nationwide companies.

    They said all the sales representatives in major states such as Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto and Maiduguri have been forced to relocate to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    Particularly hard-hit were companies dealing in perishable and breakable products, which have had to contend with longer transportation schedule and sometimes, seizure and obstruction of delivery trucks.

    Corporate sources also said the insecurity in the Northern market has adversely affected the pool of human capital in that segment as existing and prospective employees now turn down placements in the North.

    Companies have been responding to the Northern market challenge by scaling down Northern operations and optimizing opportunities in other markets.

     

  • Stakeholders move against insecurity, cultism

    Stakeholders move against insecurity, cultism

    To fight insecurity, cultism and restore sanity in Somolu Local Government Area of Lagos State, its chairman, Hon. Gbolahan Bagostowe convened a maiden security stakeholders meeting yesterday.

    The meeting which took place at the council’s secretariat was attended by representatives of corporate organisations operating in the area, Community Development Associations (CDAs) and other stakeholders.

    Bagostowe said his council was taking steps to curb youth restiveness and crimes. He added that security must be addressed with every sense of responsibility “in order to enable us achieve and actualise our dream of a secured Somolu community.”

    According to the chairman, the essence of the stakeholders’ meeting is to call for support of corporate organisations and the whole community as security is not the sole responsibility of government, and to prevail on parents to monitor their children.

    He said as part of efforts at controlling restiveness and crime in the local government in recent times, he held several meetings with the CDAs, provided vehicles, walkie-talkies and other security gadgets to boost security in the area.

    Bagostowe emphasised that to ensure security in the area, government alone cannot bear the burden, hence the need to seek the support of corporate organisations and agencies in his domain.

    A Security Trust Fund Committee was set up to put in place all things necessary in terms of money and other logistics to checkmate crime, insecurity and cultism in the area.

  • Firm calls for national database to fight insecurity

    The Manager Director, Comfied Transnational Limited, Mr. Babatope Agbeyo, has called for a well-integrated national database in fighting criminality across Nigeria.

    Agbeyo made this call at the Special Database Forum and Investiture Ceremony of the Institute of Data Processing Management of Nigeria (IDPM) held at Westtown Hotel, Lagos.

    The theme of the ceremony, ‘Authentic and effective national databases, proficient tool to fight or combat challenges `in  a pluralistic nation’ featured a workshop, talks and awards to Commander, Search and Disposal Regiment, Nigerian Army, Col. A.A Salako; Dean, Faculty of Engineering, The Polytechnic Ibadan, Bolade Olaniyan; Lecturer at Olabisi Onabanjo University, Dr Tola Odule;  Founding Pastor of Synagogue Church of All Nations, Prophet Temitope Joshua, among others.

    According to Agbeyo, in today’s information-centric society, reliable and effective dissemination of information play an important role in government sector as it helps provide a mechanism that ensures the integrity, authenticity and effectiveness of such data to help various kinds of unforeseen challenges.

    Agbeyo noted that a database is a civilised way of keeping digitalised records about a place, thing or people who converge in a community and share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent or history.

    He opined that national database is a dynamic and intelligent data record system.

    In his welcome address, the President of IDMP, Barrister Obiefule Ogbonna, called on federal and state governments to consider the inclusion of data processing and management as a subject into federal and state academic curricular and make it compulsory for students in secondary schools.

    He said that a human being, irrespective of his or her calling or discipline, processes one data or another at all times, and defined data as the act of collecting and analysing facts to produce useful information that can be used instantly, secured or stored for future use, reference or retrieval when needed.

    “We shall establish a standard professional, training online or e-learning and media centre for training of students and to provide professional service to the public and for special training of students on geographical information system,” said Agbeyo, while adding that IDPM shall initiate and complete the establishment of IDPM national Data Colleges for professional training and award of Chartered Data Manager.

  • Security challenges has overwhelmed our security – Senator

    The Senator representing Kaduna South Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Senator Nenadi Esther Usman has said that the current security challenge in the country has over powered the strength of the nation’s security.

    Speaking at a stakeholders meeting organised to find a lasting solution to the constant attacks by Fulani herdsmen on communities in southern Kaduna, Senator Usman said that lack effective vigilante services in the area has been responsible for the heavy casualty suffered by the people during such attacks.

    She called for community policing in the area as well as collaborate with security agents to curtail such attacks which has claimed several lives in the last four years.

    Senator Usman lamented the incessant, unprovoked attacks, which claimed the lives of hundreds of defenseless innocent people of the area, including property worth millions of naira destroyed.

    While appealing to the people to pursue peace building as well as community policing to curtail the attacks, she stressed that the growing rate of insurgency in the country has dwarfed the strength of security personnel, making it very necessary for a “collective responsibility” of all citizens to provide security and not government alone.

    She appealed to security agencies operating in the area to double efforts at protecting the lives and property of people of the area.
    Responding, the Agwam Bajju, Mallam Nuhu Bature and the Emir of Jema’a, Mohammadu Isa Mahammadu commended the effort of the Senator in finding lasting solutions to security challenges in the area.