The Nation Newspaper

Tag: intervention

  • Family seeks Osun’s intervention in royal crisis

    Family seeks Osun’s intervention in royal crisis

    A ruling house in Iwo, Osun State, Gbaase Royal family, has urged Governor Rauf Aregbesola to allow justice to prevail in the selection of Oluwo.

    A contestant from the ruling house, Prince Adewale Abdulrasheed Akanbi, made the appeal in a letter.

    He asked the governor to study the history of the selection and installation process and ensure justice.

    Akanbi said since the demise of the Oluwo, Oba Asiru Olatubosun Tadese, who died on February 19, 2013, after ruling for 21 years, there had been attempts to manipulate the selection process.

    Akanbi said: “We are appealing to the government of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola to save Iwo. Your government is of God because God was the one that vindicated you over your enemies. You have been a victim of injustice and fraud. So, please don’t allow that same injustice boat to sail during your tenure.

    “Gbaase ruling house has been deprived for over 450 years and most especially, my own family, which is a direct descendant of Olayilumi, has been marginalised and denied the access to my family rights through fraudulent practices for over 650 years after the untimely death of Parin.

  • Parents seek intervention in Oyo schools

    T HE Oyo State chapter of the National Parent-Teacher Association (NAPTAN) has urged the state government to address challenges facing education in the state.

    These were discussed at a forum organised by NAPTAN in Ibadan after which the group visited Governor Ajimobi to register their concerns.

    They complained about poor quality education which manifests through inability of the learners to express themselves orally or in writing.  They also demanded for improved security in the schools; adequate teachers, buses for inspection, and the reconstruction of dilapidated classrooms and school fences before a new session starts next month.

    One of the NAPTAN representatives, Mr Folorunsho Adetuyi, a teacher from Ibadan North local government, told The Nation of the urgent need for furniture in schools.

    “The schools need chairs and tables.  The pupils come to school and sit on the floor. The PTA is trying, but the government needs to come to our rescue,” he said.

    A parent from the council, Alhaji Akeusola Badmus, noted that the rehabilitation of dilapidated buildings and fences is “highly” important before September.

    In his response, Ajimobi assured them that resuscitating the education sector is a priority for his administration.

    He promised them that the state would provide 10 buses to ease transportation of 2,500 newly-recruited teachers, who will resume in September. He also said that dilapidated classrooms are being reconstructed by a Chinese expert, adding that the contract for model schools to be constructed in the three senatorial districts of the state has been awarded.

    “The general free uniform initiative will commence with these schools, afterwards it will be extended to other government primary and secondary schools.   Education should be one of the strong points of a progressive government,” he said.

    Meanwhile, there will be free lunch for Primary One pupils from September, Governor Abiola Ajimobi has promised.

    He hoped he would encourage lazy pupils to school and also enhance learning.

  • State of intervention funds for SMEs

    State of intervention funds for SMEs

    Following intervention funds by government, the real sector of the Nigerian economy is groaning despite efforts being made by the Bank of Industry (BOI) to source for funds to complement government’s efforts. Bukola Afolabi reports

    Small businesses are supposed to be a nation’s economic driving room, but in Nigeria, it seems small businesses are having a raw deal, despite a huge availability of funds set out to ease their business. And many entrepreneurs operate in financial limbo.

    Not too long ago, Evelyn Oputu, the former Managing Director of the Bank of Industry, while fielding questions from newsmen at a media training programme, with the theme: Enhancing the role of the media in the transformation of Nigerian industrial sector, said that the intervention fund being managed by the bank is more than N1.6 trillion.

    Oputu said owing to the confidence reposed in the management of the bank by the government as well as local and international development partners, its managed funds had increased considerably.

    “No government or development agency would give money to an institution if it has been making losses. And they know the funds are secure with us,” Oputu said.

    She gave a breakdown of the funds as follows: Central Bank of Nigeria’s N235 billion financing fund for commercial banks; N100 billion Cotton, Textile and Garment Fund; N10 billion Rice Sector Fund; and N16.91 billion National Automotive Council Fund.

    Others are $4 million UNIDO Energy programme; $500 million AFDB fund; N500 billion Power/Aviation Fund; N5 billion Dangote Fund; N9.5 billion cement fund; as well as N90 million Women Affairs Fund. It would also be recalled that in 2012 the Federal Government, through the Central Bank of Nigeria, gave a soft loan worth N9.4million to members of the Nigeria Cassava Growers Association, Nasarawa State chapter.

    The managing director assured the business community of access to funds.

    She said: “You don’t need insider connection. Rather, the entrepreneur should have a well-packaged bankable proposal before seeking funding support from the bank. The bank insists on collateral for big loans because the money is not mine. It belongs to Nigerians. And if you don’t pay back the loan, I’ll sell your house and recover the loan.”

    Regarding loans disbursements and recovery, Oputu said the bank had witnessed unprecedented expansion in its credit operations without compromising the quality of its investments and posted impressive financial results.

    She said: “The cumulative value of fresh loans and investments rose by 1.91 per cent from N9.8 billion to N202.3 billion between 2005 and mid 2012.

    “Risk asset also grew by 691 per cent to N105.27 billion by September last year from N13.3 billion in 2008. Also, the portfolio of risks declined from 65 per cent in 2005 to 15 per cent in 2012.”

    Such efforts are the ongoing discussion between BOI and Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES) with the aim of securing funds from the Brazilian bank to finance the development of industrialisation in Nigeria.

    The federal government through the Central Bank had made available a sum of N700billion to BOI to help improve the industrial sector of the economy. However, leadership of the Bank has said the fund is not enough to meet the demands of the growth of the sector.

    According to Oputu, the fund is “grossly insufficient to meeting the need of Nigeria’s industrial sector.”

    It is a known fact that the industrial sector of the economy is in dire need of resuscitation. Many industries and companies have collapsed as a result of lack of regular supply of power, financial problems and the unfriendly business environment presently bedevilling the country.

    Manufacturing industries like the textiles, food producing industries and many more are no longer in existence in the country. Many of such companies have relocated to neighbouring countries with better political and social stability like Ghana, Benin Republic, and Togo. This has resulted in the high rate of employment in the country.

    However, the total intervention funds being managed by the bank on behalf of the federal and state governments, international development partners and private sector now stands at about N1.6 trillion.

    Already, N19.8billion Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Development Funds have been shared in 15 states – Anambra, Delta, Kwara, Kano, Niger, Kogi, Osun, Edo, Enugu, Ondo, Ekiti, Ogun, Oyo, Gombe, Benue, Akwa-Ibom and Cross River. The funds which would be distributed via a cooperative lending scheme would attract an average interest rate of five per cent. But plans for other states to benefit are in motion.  There is also the Bottom of the Pyramid Scheme, a new initiative aimed at deepening the banks credit offerings to micro entrepreneurs through Micro finance bank in each state.

    Stakeholders’ comments

    Some industrialists who spoke with The Nation are of the view that making more funds available and accessible to businessmen would go a long a way in salvaging the already bad situation the sector is experiencing.

    Mr. Bolaji Akanji, a small-scale entrepreneur said accessibility to finance from banks is a clog in the wheel of progress of the growth in the industry. Akanji, who owns a soap producing company in Ibadan, Oyo State, added that many times, high interest rates charged by banks have discouraged him from getting loans from banks.

    As an employer of labour with over 100 employees on his pay roll, Akanji said unless funds are made available to small scale industries, the rate of unemployment would continue to increase.

    “We have only been hearing that government gave money to banks to help the growth of industries but the fact is that few people have access to such funds.  I am of the view that you cannot grow the economy without helping the small scale industries to thrive. Many of us are struggling to stay afloat due to the cost of production. Most times, your expenditure is more than the profit you make in the business,” he said.

    He added: “In the past, we used to have Volkswagen of Nigeria, textile industries, Dunlop Nigeria and many more but where are those companies now. Many have gone under while some have left the country. It is only the financial sector and telecommunication and oil that seem to be driving the economy and sad to say, government has concentrated its attention only on those sectors.  They are the ones that can easily get loans from banks because banks know that they can get their money back quickly. The question now borders on the fate of small scale industries like ours. Even before a small industry gets loan from a bank, you need connections of some within the bank to help you facilitate it with high interest accompanying it. That is why the cost of goods manufactured locally is on the increase.”

    Mr. Akanji’s sentiment was echoed at the event where Oputu was represented. Participants alleged that securing loan from banks comes with having connections in such banks that can help to facilitate it. Oputu however denied the allegations.

    “You don’t need insider connection; rather, an entrepreneur should have a well packaged bankable proposal before seeking funding support from the bank. The bank insists on collateral for big loans because the money is not mine. It belongs to Nigerians and if you don’t pay back the loan I will sell your house and recover the loan,” she explained.

    Also echoing the view of Akanji, President of Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Dr. Ademola Ajayi, had, in one of his comments said that lack of accessibility to such intervention funds from the government has hindered the growth of industrialising the country.

    Citing an example, Ajayi said only 25% of textile manufacturers in the country have access to the N100billion bailout fund the federal government gave to the sector. As a result, many of them, according to him, are operating above 50 per cent capacity utilisation.

    Akanji calls for conscience efforts on the part of government to make sure that funds budgeted for the growth of industries are properly accounted for and make accessible to small scale industries. He also advised government to encourage commercial banks to provide low rest loans so as to assist the small scale businesses.

    Apart from inability of stakeholders to access the government’s intervention funds, there have been discrepancies in the administration of the funds.

    While some of the funds have been diverted to other uses, parts of the funds can no longer be accounted for.

     

  • Ogbeni’s intervention

    Ogbeni’s intervention

    • With his recent step, we hope the religious stir will give way to educational dividends in Osun State

    The issue seemed innocuous at first. The Osun State governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, started a programme to restructure and reclassify schools in an effort to redeem an educational system long lost in a rut. It was a massive affair involving close to 2,000 schools.

    The project proceeded noiselessly until rumbles began in a few schools, about three, and the contention set the distinction between state and religion to the front burner. It first began as an accusation that the governor had instructed students to wear hijab, a Muslim wear, for all students, including Christian wards. It turned out a distortion, as the matter is litigation by a non-government body.

    But the matter persisted and while it was quiet in virtually all the state, the rumpus became identified with Iwo town and not the whole town, but the Baptist High School.

    What was the issue? It was that some parents did not want their children to abide in a school with children of other faiths – a school of interfaith. Some commentators fulminated that the governor was turning a forbidden issue into a tinderbox, and they had insisted that the governor reverse his programme because students of different faiths could not be forced to learn secular matters under the same roof.

    The counter-argument was that the religious bodies that insisted ownership of the school’s lifestyle had not, since the takeover in 1976, contributed to the school equipment, curricula or infrastructure all these years. They did not also enlist when the governor introduced the free feeding to the students as part of the nourishment for education. Why were they waking up this late with a proprietary air because the schools, all Osun State schools, were undergoing perhaps the biggest wave of transformation any school system has witnessed in this country on a tab of about N30 billion?

    It was clear that the matter of faith was no easy one when recently the students of differing faiths contested for sartorial supremacy. The governor intervened by visiting the school in his drama of sartorial solidarity. His was a peace mission, and it was highlighted by a six-man committee he set up to look into the matter with a view to putting the crisis behind. The committee included Gbadegesin Adedeji – its chairman. The others are T.A. Oni – who is secretary-, Israel Ajao, former assistant inspector-general of police, and Alhaji Bola Asafa.

    Calm has reportedly returned to the schools and community, and what the governor has done chimes in with the highest tenets of all religions – harmony and peace among all people.

    Ironically, Yorubaland is that last place we expect such scents of dissent based on faith. Historically the Yorubas have always lived peacefully in an ambience of Islam, Christianity and Ifa, and such distinction of syncretism has set them apart from other ethnic groups in West Africa.

    It is also a tragedy that in contextualising the Iwo drama, commentators have failed to see that in all the close to 2,000 schools in the state, only a few see this as a matter of spilling bad blood. Even though the governor had said that he did not authorise a wear, why did the commentators not point out that he specifically introduced a uniform that bore no distinct religious vintage? He showcased this fact by wearing it to the school.

    He said: “We are a product of the rule of law and this has guided all our actions. As we said in the past, we have not approved the use of hijab. I repeat it again for the hearing of mischief makers, who have been working tirelessly to bring religious war to our state. This government did not approve the use of hijab in any school before the matter went to court. It is the court’s position that the status quo be maintained until the case is determined.”

    The governor had said this several times before February 10 when he visited Baptist High School. We hope that the committee will put paid to the stir and allow attention to turn to the massive school transformation in progress.

     

     

  • Development partners’ electricity intervention to hit $2b by 2018

    Development partners’ electricity intervention to hit $2b by 2018

    • Fed Govt promises to reinstall western pipeline shortly             • Jonathan approves National Council on Power

    United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Representative and Regional Director, Dr. Patrick Kormawa , yesterday disclosed that by 2018, development partners in Nigeria would have contributed up to $2billion towards the improvement and efficiency of the power sector in the country.

    Speaking at the 6th Power Summit/Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) Forum in Abuja, he said the World Bank is providing significant support to the energy sector reform Programme with the aim to increase the installed power generation capacity in the country, and improve efficiency of electricity delivery.

    “We are confident that this will contribute significantly towards the growth and sustainability of the power sector.”

    According to the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, within the next two weeks, there should be more gas for power generation.

    He decried the sabotage that culminated in the vandalisation of gas pipelines that has dipped gas supply to power and power generation.

    Nebo however revealed that in a fortnight, the reinstallation of vandalised gas pipelines in western Nigeria for the supply of gas for power in the region would have been completed.

    His words: “Very shortly, the western axis where we have over two dozen dynamite blown holes on the gas pipeline, is almost experiencing complete repair. And when that happens in the next several days, we are going to have more gas to roll in the power. Thus, this means that power generation will be enhanced.”

    He said that the ministry has been working in corroboration with the National Security Adviser to Mr. President and the service chiefs to protect the gas pipelines.

  • Naira rebounds after CBN’s intervention

    Nigeria’s naira surged the most in almost two years as Standard Bank Group Limited (SBK) said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold dollars directly to the market to lift the currency from a year-low.

    The CBN intervened last week to calm the market and signal that it will protect the exchange rate, Samir Gadio, a London-based emerging-markets strategist at Standard Bank, said in an e-mailed reply to questions today. “Additionally, there was also an Open Market Operations auction for the first time in several weeks to mop up excess liquidity.”

    The currency jumped 2.4 per cent to N159.80 per dollar, its biggest increase since October 2011 on a closing basis. The advance saw the naira rebound to a monthly gain of 0.6 per cent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

     

     

     

     

  • CBN’s intervention rescues forex market

    The forex market which has been under pressure in the last three weeks recovered on Friday after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold dollars directly to the market. This prompted an immediate naira rally, seen as the biggest in two years.

    The naira, which on Thursday declined 0.7 per cent to N163.35 per dollar, on Friday, jumped 2.4 per cent to N159.80 per dollar. It was the biggest increase since October, 2011 on a closing basis. The advance saw the naira rebound to a monthly gain of 0.6 per cent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

    “The CBN intervened on Friday to calm the market and signalled that it will protect the exchange rate. Additionally, there was also an Open Market Operations auction for the first time in several weeks to mop up excess liquidity,” Samir Gadio, a London-based emerging-markets strategist at Standard Bank, said.

    Before the rescue, the forex market was under intense pressure after over N1 trillion public sector funds were withdrawn from the financial system. The withdrawal was in line with the CBN policy which raised the Cash Reserve Ratio for public sector funds from 12 per cent to 50 per cent.

    The CRR is the portion expressed as a percentage of banks’ deposit balances, which they must have as reserve in cash with the CBN.

    The regulator’s plan was to mop up excess liquidity from the system, have less naira in circulation and get the currency strengthened. The Managing Director, Bluewall Bureau De Change Limited, Lucky Aiyedatiwa said before Friday’s intervention, the reverse had been the case.

    He said rather than the naira appreciating, the currency was declining in value. The naira on Thursday retreated for three consecutive days, after the CBN and oil companies failed to sale dollar.

    The currency declined 0.7 per cent to N163.35 per dollar, its worst level since June 2012 on a closing basis. The naira has fallen 4.4 per cent against the dollar this year.

    Aiyedatiwa said: “Forex market is not funded. There has been a serious reduction in dollar supply into the interbank and autonomous markets. The condition has put pressure on both markets.” However, he said the market position remains temporary, and will be corrected as soon as dollar inflows from the Nigeria national Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and CBN improve.

    Debate among Federal Reserve officials over whether to reduce monetary stimulus has roiled financial markets since May. Oil companies in Nigeria, which sell the dollar mainly at the end of the month to pay domestic expenses, are the second-biggest suppliers of dollars after the CBN.

    CBN Spokesman, Ugochukwu Okoroafor told The Nation on phone that there is nothing to worry. He said the naira should be allowed to find its feet, adding that what is happening is temporary. Okorofaor said the impact of the CRR hike on the naira will not be immediate, adding that over time, the naira will stabilise. The CBN auctions foreign exchange on Mondays and Wednesdays and had sold $563.5 million last week.

     

    Money laundering compliance

     

    The first round of mutual evaluation on money laundering conducted by the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) showed that many financial institutions, especially commercial banks, are not fully complying with anti-money laundering laws.

    GIABA Director-General, Shehu Abdullahi disclosed this at the regional training for financial and regulatory institutions on the revised Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations.

    Abdullahi, who was represented by Head, Programs and Projects, Bruno Nduka said the outcome of the evaluation revealed an abysmal performance on the recommendations relating to the financial sector in the adoption and implementation of the FATF standards. This, he said, makes the sector one of the vulnerable in African economies.

    He said that critical issues relating to customer identification, AML/CFT supervision among others, are yet to be fully addressed. Also, he said, other new challenges have arisen as a result of the issuance of new standards by the FATF, which will require the continued implementation of, and, in some cases, further refinements to, the financial sector AML/CFT programme.

     

    Exams for bankers coming

     

    The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) is to introduce a common entry examination and certification for bankers, its President, Segun Aina, has said. Aina said the measure would address the dearth skilled manpower in the sector.

    The policy, he said, would ensure that for a graduate to secure a job, he/she would have taken and passed the entry exams, adding that it would reduce the cost on banks’ conduct of tests.

    “While allowing banks to concentrate on their core functions, standardisation will also be ensured. This service will be in line with the responsibility of the Institute to determine the standards of knowledge and skills to be attained by persons seeking to become members of the banking profession,” he said.

    He lamented the poor quality of workforce, saying it is a major challenge in the industry. The desire to address this anomaly, he said, prompted the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to design a Competency Framework for the industry that is meant to ensure that priority is given to the continuous enhancement of human capital and lifelong learning in the industry. He said the institute had established the Centre for Financial Studies (CFS) to upgrade the competencies of practitioners.

     

    Infrastructure funding

     

    The Minister of National Planning, Dr Shamsudeen Usman said the government is working on a 30-year infrastructure master plan that will integrate key sectors of the economy.

    He spoke at the World Press Conference on the forthcoming 19th Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) in Lagos. “We are drawing out a 30-year infrastructure plan that is in draft now and we are going round the six geopolitical zones to see how we can integrate sectors to work better together,” he said.

    He said there had been challenges in infrastructure. He noted in the past, Nigeria adopted a gas master plan, a road master plan, but that some of them failed because of integration, especially with Information Technology now.

    He said the agricultural sector has the largest potential to diversify the economy, create jobs, secure food supply, lower inflation and expand foreign exchange earnings for the country.

     

    ACCA

    The Global Chief Executive of Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Mrs Helen Brand has said the organisation will collaborate with PwC Nigeria on key initiatives, such as capacity building in International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), being adopted in Nigeria.

    Mrs Brand, who is on a visit to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Nigeria as part of a week-long event, said both ACCA and PwC are partnering to address the capacity deficit in the country’s accounting industry and to improve the quality of corporate reporting.

    “Both ACCA and PwC share common professional values, global presence, ethics and governance,” she said. “This perhaps explains the desire to collaborate on key initiatives such as capacity building in IFRS which are being adopted in Nigeria. Both firms plan to jointly organise a series of events on IFRS for SMEs in collaboration with the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB).”

     

    Interest rate

     

    Deposit Money Banks have hiked deposit rates by four per cent to augment the shortfall in deposits. The action became exigent after the CBN began implementation of 50 per cent CRR on public sector deposits.

    Analysts at Consolidated Discount Limited (CDL) said in an emailed report that many of the lenders, including those perceived as fairly liquid, are taking the step to safeguard existing deposits from being prised away. They said interest rates on deposits have been on the rise even as the deposit wars reminiscent of the pre-2009 banking reforms have resurfaced.

    The analysts said CBN may further raise the CRR on public sector deposits from 50 per cent to 100 per cent adding that the naira has not fared better despite the hike. They said stability of the naira is the most significant threat to the CRR figure.

     

    Union Homes restructures

     

    Union Homes Savings & Loans Limited Plc has said it is reorganising its operations for efficiency and improved results. Its Managing Director, Pearl Kanu said the mortgage firm is improving its processes, managing costs and increasing productivity.

    “Our goal is to be a more effective organisation, providing valued services to our customers and supported by a competent workforce,” he said.

    He regretted that the firm’s efforts to create a better organisation have been met with resistance by a very vocal and deliberate minority. “This minority has, regrettably, seized and exploited the opportunities available to it in an attempt to disrupt operations and somehow coerce the Company into adopting an ineffectual and impracticable state of existence,” he said.

    “The strategy adopted by this small group has included a continued, illegal strike action, the locking of the Company Head Office gates in order to prevent the peaceful ingress and egress of our committed, majority staff and valued customers, as well as the leveling of several falsehoods and deliberate misrepresentations against the company,” he added.

     

    World Bank

     

    The World Bank and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) have agreed to jointly develop and maintain a database on trade in services for Nigeria, and more than 100 other countries globally.

    A statement from the global lender said the joint database covers various sectors such as financial, transportation, tourism, retail, telecommunications, and business services, including law and accounting.

    It said the database is an area that is becoming increasingly important and yet for which little information is publicly available.

    It said the data will be presented in four modules covering: members’ commitments under the WTO’s General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS); commitments on trade in services in regional trade agreements; members’ applied measures affecting trade in services; and services statistics.

    The first version of the database has just been launched, as part of the WTO’s Integrated Trade Intelligence Portal (I-TIP) Services portal.

    Policy makers, researchers, trade negotiators, and the general public can access the database for free. Policy transparency is a public good and a shared objective of both institutions. The World Bank makes trade data publicly available under the Open Data Initiative, as does the WTO with the I-TIP.

    Transparency is particularly important in the dynamic area of trade in services because the regulatory framework is complex and little information is publicly available. Cross-border trade in services makes up one-fifth of all world trade, even without considering international transactions through foreign affiliates and the temporary movement of people.

     

    Western Union

     

    The Western Union Company has reiterated its commitment to mobile money services. The firm also has partnered eTranzact International Plc, a multi-application and multi-channel electronic payment processing company, have announced the launch of a new mobile money transfer service.

    The firms said in a statement that consumers in Nigeria who use the eTranzact Mobile Money platform now have the option of receiving a Western Union Money Transfer transaction on their mobile phones.

    The facility allows consumers can receive funds from money transfer transactions initiated at Western Union transactional websites in 23 countries, or Western Union Agent locations around the world.

    “Western Union continues to introduce new service offerings to complement our multi-product, multi-channel strategy,” said Aida Diarra, Western Union Regional Vice President for North, Central and West Africa.

     

  • Shareholders seek NAICOM’s intervention on fines

    Shareholders have called on the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to mandate insurance firms to state the reasons for which they incur fines in their financial accounts.

    This, they said, is to enable them to reduce unnecessary payments on offences that affect their investments.

    The shareholders, who were reacting to a statement by NAICOM that what ought to be their dividend were used by companies to pay avoidable fines, called on NAICOM to go beyond just asking firms to state infractions in their accounts and assist shareholders in protecting their investments, by instructing companies to give a breakdown on the penalties for which they are fined.

    The President, Nigerian Shareholders’ Renaissance Association, (NSRA) Olufemi Timothy said the documentation of reasons for fines would help shareholders know who is culpable and what should be done to stem such offence.

    He said: “It is necessary shareholders know why their companies are fined. This will enable the companies’investors to know the kind of offence committed and watch against it in the future. It will also help to determine who is culpable in the company.”

    He noted that shareholders invest their hard earned income in companies to have return on investment, adding that situations where companies’ mismanage funds entrusted to them and leave the investor to suffer, should be discouraged by government and regulators.

    National Coordinator, Pragmatic Shareholders Association of Nigeria (PSAN), Mrs Bis Bakare, called on NAICOM to go beyond reporting of infractions in yearly accounts of firms and ensure that firms state reasons for infractions to enable shareholders query them appropriately.

    She noted that shareholders had at several fora sought from their organisations reasons for delays in the presentation of their accounts, and that the firms often attribute the delay to NAICOM’s refusal to approve the accounts on time.

    She said though the law states that companies should send to the shareholders the annual accounts at least one month before the Annual General Meetings (AGM), they only get the accounts at the venue of meetings.

  • Ejection: Traders seek Fashola’s intervention

    Traders, under the umbrella of Ultra Modern Traders Association, Balogun Market, Lagos State, have appealed to the state governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola to intervene in the crisis surrounding their eviction from their market plaza last Wednesday.

    They were led to the Governor’s Office, Alausa, Ikeja by their solicitor, Onu Uche, who signed their letter addressed to the Attorney General and the Commissioner for Justice.

    He said the traders’ ordeal started when a court judgment in favour of Chief Ganiyu Balogun as original owner of the plaza led to its forceful closure.

    He said: “Most of the traders including banks, by virtue of the tenancy agreement arrangements that they had with their lessees who are direct tenants to the Lagos State Government, have just renewed their tenancies early this year with the strong belief that since the Lagos State Government is the original owner of the property in the plaza at Balogun Street, Lagos Island, there will be no question as to the title of the property in question”.

    He said Balogun, despite the court judgment, locked up the shops occupied by the embattled traders on the ground, first, second and third floors with their goods worth million of naira.

    Uche alleged that the solicitors to Chief Balogun, Segun Laditan and Co had directed the traders to obtain a form at the cost of N15, 000 per shop, pay additional two tears rent for each shop, together with a 10 percent agreement as pre-conditions for the shops’ re-opening.

    He added that the traders were not contesting the court judgment but the manner in which they had been forcefully ejected despite not being served with a statutory notice and a court ejection order.

    “The solicitors to the family said their reason for taking possession of the plaza is the deadlock arising from the meeting between the family and the office of the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice,” Uche added.

    He urged the governor to constitute a negotiation committee comprising of the state government representatives, the Balogun family and the traders, to resolve the matter amicably.

    Though the governor was not on seat when the traders visited, the letter was received on his behalf by the security officers for delivery to his Chief of Staff.

  • Ogoni youths seek God’s intervention over land case

    THE youths of Ogoni in Tai Local Government Area of Rives State have said the only persons to be trusted in times of need and tribulation is God.

    The youths who are also the landlord of the Rivers State plantation stated this yesterday at a special prayer in Uekem community in Ogoni, Rivers State.

    Pastor Nwikeigi Nbugere who led the special prayer section said since the community and the youths of the area could not trust the chiefs and elders in their community, the best option is to seek God’s intervention.

    Pastor Nwikeigi said: “The community and the youths of Ueken in  Ogoni land have decided to run to God for our needs and problem. We can no longer trust our chiefs and elders in the community who have stood on our destinies pretending to be serving us.