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Tag: managers

  • ‘Kalokalo’ managers?

    ‘Kalokalo’ managers?

    National Lottery Trust fund earned billions, spent all, despite  being fully funded by government

    Fuji legend, the late Sikiru Ayinde Barrister it was who sang years back when he was literally drenched in ‘naira rain’ that Nigeria has a surfeit wealthy men! ‘Olowo nbe ni Nigeria yi’, he shouted at the top of his voice like someone whose finger was just trapped in the home-made door of a Danfo bus. ‘Barry Wonder’, as he was then called, was right. But it is not only that Nigeria is blessed with many wealthy people; the country itself is rich.

    Just that there are too many leakages. Euphemism for corruption? May be.

    Something happened last week that reinforced my belief that something has to be done to reduce the weight that the Federal Government is carrying. The government is unwieldy and there is more than enough evidence to support this assertion. I watched on television, last week, how the  Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the National Lottery Trust Fund, Bello Maigari, responded to questions on what has happened to the billions that the fund generated in the past few years. That was when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Finance on Monday, during the  2024-2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper Interactive Session with Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).

    Maigari’s response to enquiries on the fund’s activities was such a bundle of disappointment that the committee had to place the fund on status enquiry for spending all its internally generated revenue (IGR). Maigari said the N2.5bn it has so far generated from statutory remittances from licenses and permit holders in 2023, as well as the N6.8bn it generated last year, had all been spent on various critical sectoral interventions, including education, sports development, social services, public welfare and disaster management, across the country. Not only is the fund’s purse empty, it also had a deficit of about N255m in 2022 because they had a carryover of liabilities in 2021!

    Equally shocking to the committee was Maigari’s statement that the fund was expected to pay emoluments, allowances, and benefits of members of its board, as well as salaries and allowances of its members of staff! This is shocking because the fund is fully funded by the Federal Government and, as is usual with such agencies, they are expected to remit 100 per cent of their revenue to the  government.

    An apparently annoyed chairman of the committee, James Faleke, retorted: “, “It’s like the government opened this agency for you and your family. That is what you are saying. That is the meaning. You generated almost N2.5 billion and you spent the N2.5 billion on the last kobo…

    ”We are going to carry out a status enquiry on the Nigerian Lottery Trust Fund. Status enquiry means we are going to bring in an external auditor to audit your accounts, your books, all your income, and expenses from day one to date. We would send our report to the plenary and if you are found guilty, you will be made to refund all expenditure and any other punishment thereof,” he added.

     Let no one be deceived that the lottery fund is alone in this. There are countless other agencies doing the same thing. The fact of the matter is that there are too many Federal Government agencies such that keeping tabs of their activities is difficult, if not absolutely impossible. That is why so many of them don’t get audited for years when, in actual fact, they should be audited annually. Even for those that are audited, it is difficult to follow the process through unless something snaps somewhere and some of these lapses suddenly rear their ugly heads.

    Yet, it is taking eternity for the Federal Government to prune the number of these agencies. Yet, the government keeps complaining about its huge overhead costs. Yet, the government keeps borrowing to sustain the country when we can get virtually all we need if we are able to harness our resources properly. 

    Even in countries where public officials do things with the best of intentions, it is wrong for different agencies of government to embark on projects with their IGR or even the left-over of their annual budget. Where they must, it should be projects for the use of the respective agencies and these must be scrutinised by the appropriate agencies to ensure that the tax payer is not short-changed, not intervention programmes like the one Maigari talked about.

     If this can be permitted in saner climes, it is a different kettle of fish in our kind of country where corruption is endemic. Such a system does not give room for effective coordination of projects. Some sectors that are not particularly essential could be given priority attention for all kinds of reasons, including awarding the contracts to cronies of those managing the agencies that are awarding the contracts, for pecuniary gains. We may thus have situations of over-concentration of projects in some sectors at the expense of some other sectors.

    By the way, I used to think that an age-long practice in the MDAs; that is that of the ministries and agencies spending whatever was left of their allocation anyhow at the end of the year to enable them get a bigger allocation in the next budget, was over. But it seems the practice is still very much with us.

    What happens is that towards the end of the year, MDAs submit their requirements for capturing in the next budget. Money is then allocated based on those submissions. Somehow, despite the corruption and all in the system, some MDAs would still have some money left in their accounts.  Then the managers of such MDAs would start awarding all manner of frivolous contracts around early December so they could have zero balance. Suppliers would be asked to supply (and remove) things that they did not actually need. This was all that was required to raise their allocation in the next budget. Zero balance. This meant the previous allocation was not enough! Nobody bothered to check how the previous allocation was spent, or asked questions why millions or even billions that was not spent from January to November suddenly vamoosed in December.

    I heard the practice is still rife, despite theTreasury Single Account (TSA). This is because in Nigeria, public money is seen in the light of a mad man’s leg that everybody can just go to cut his or her piece from without anyone asking questions.

    Read Also: EFCC: We’ll go after those keeping looted funds abroad 

    The fact of the matter is that many MDAs are viable; just that we did not know because we never bothered to find out. For so long, we had carried on as a nation where money is not the problem but how to spend it.

     Until Prof Ishaq Oloyede assumed office as the registrar and chief executive officer of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), not many knew the board was a cash cow in its own little way. As a matter of fact, one would have thought those posted there before him were sent to ‘Siberia’ to go and labour. But Oloyede came and changed the narrative. JAMB now remits billions to the Federal Government’s coffers every year. Oloyede has set a record which his successors must be ready to sustain if not improve on. As a matter of fact, I won’t be surprised if some people reject appointment as JAMB registrar after his tenure because taking it means work and self denial. Not many people in Nigeria look forward to such appointments. Oloyede has proved that appointment as JAMB’s registrar could be juicy, but many Nigerians prefer juicier appointments! Like the lottery fund thing.

    True, JAMB too is now encouraged to embark on intervention projects, but they are related to its sphere of responsibility. And it is only a fraction of its IGR that goes into such projects; not the entire amount.

    It would be interesting to see details of the intervention projects that Maigari’s lottery fund spent its entire earnings on and even incurred debt for the government in the course of undertaking those obviously self-appointed assignments.

     I hope by the time we have the breakdown of the expenditure, it won’t remind one of one of Baba Sala’s plays when he was asked what he did with a hefty sum of money that he collected. He replied that he bought popcorn, groundnut as well as a cart! ‘Mo ra guguru, mo r’epa, mo ra omolanke ninu e’.

    If the situation does not remind one exactly of the Baba Sala play, then it would remind  us of our military governors in those days who met their state treasuries empty and left them empty! Or a father who impregnates his daughter and tells people who want to know why he did that they have no locus: after all, ‘ na me born am, na me give am belle’! Or, is Maigari merely telling the Federal Government that it should not expect to reap where it has not sown? Meaning if he made the money, he should be free to spend it as he likes?

    Whatever it is, I can bet my life on it, even before the lottery fund probe reports are out: Baba Ijebu, with all his imperfections, would have managed the National Lottery Trust Fund better.

    All said, the fund’s case is another eye-opener; another wake-up call on the government to look critically inwards for money instead of overburdening Nigerians with the task of vomiting the billions and trillions that they only hear about being spent.

    As a Yoruba saying goes: ‘ai rin jina, lai r’abuke okere; ta ba wo’le daadaa, a ri eera to ya’ro’. Meaning literally, it is when we don’t go far that we don’t see a squirrel with hunchback; if we look well to the ground, we will see ants that are lame.

    Let the government sniff out similar MDAs like the lottery trust fund and recover our monies from their managers. Where necessary, send to jail those of them who have dipped their hands illegally into our common purse. The lottery trust fund is only a tip of the iceberg. It is set to be  only one of those little drops of water that make up the mighty ocean of corruption in Nigeria.

  • Tinubu intervenes in waste managers, LASG rift

    The  National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju  Bola Tinubu, says the lingering issue of waste management in Lagos State will soon be resolved.

    Tinubu gave the assurance yesterday  in Lagos during a meeting with the Association of Waste Managers of Nigeria (AWAM), otherwise known as PSP.

    Tinubu pledged that  he would reconcile all the stakeholders in his capacity as Grand Patron of AWAM to promote the business interests of waste managers and wellbeing of Lagosians.

    “It is disappointing and sad that at this stage of our development, the matter should result into petition. It should have been continuity and progress.

    “Whatever is the shortcoming, we will correct it. This will get to the governor latest by Monday, April 30.

    “It is sad to see Olusosun dumpsite in dangerous smoke. As a grand patron of AWAM, I am concerned driving around Lagos and seeing built up refuse.

    “I must say it is a challenge that is coming back and we will not allow that to happen.

    “The government and governor is trying and responsive but the complexity of Lagos is compounding by the day,” he said.

    The former governor of Lagos State noted that AWAM members travelled abroad to learn international best practices in waste management and applied such in the state.

    Earlier, the Chairman of AWAM, Mr Ola Egbeyemi, said that the waste crisis had become unprecedented, with increased volume of waste on Lagos streets, roads, highways and medians.

    Egbeyemi, who was represented AWAM spokesman, Gbenga Adebola, said that the situation had taken Lagos back to pre-1999, when waste was competing with vehicular and pedestrian movements.

  • Fed Govt seeks UNESCO’S help to train information managers

    Fed Govt seeks UNESCO’S help to train information managers

    The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has been urged to assist Nigeria in building the capacity of public information managers, in view of the changing dynamics of the information landscape due to the advent of the social media.

    Minister of Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed made the appeal in Abuja on Tuesday when he received a delegation from UNESCO in his office.

    “The information era of the 60s, 70s and 80s are not exactly the information era of today. In the 70s and 80s even up to the 90s, we depended largely on the print, radio and television to mould opinions and views. But today, with the social media, I think it’s a completely new ball game and this is where UNESCO will also need to adapt, especially in the area of support they give to us.

    “Today, our young ones – I think it’s correct to say that about 80 per cent of them, don’t rely on the traditional media: newspapers or even radio or television, as their source of information. Today, they rely more on the social media. Even the traditional media today also have realised that unless they are also present in the social media, their impact will probably not be felt.

    “So I want to appeal to UNESCO…to look at how you can assist us in capacity building in the area of social media,” he said.

    Mohammed said such assistance becomes imperative because the social media has now become a platform for the dissemination of fake news and disinformation, which is a nightmare for public information managers.

    He, therefore, appealed to UNESCO to focus more on building capacity on how to manage information emanating from the social media.

    In the area of culture, the minister said Nigeria has now become a powerhouse in the creative industry through the proliferation of its films, music and other forms of entertainment.

    Leader of the delegation and Assistant Director-General of UNESCO for Africa Mr. Edouard Matoko said the organisation was ready to support the development and implementation of the Creative and Culture Industry Action Plan for Nigeria to build the capacity of the youth, especially in the film and entertainment sector.

  • Adeosun to treasury managers: ensure accountability

    Minister of Finance Mrs. Kemi Adeosun has urged treasury managers to ensure transparency and accountability in the management and control of the country’s public finance.

    She gave the admonition at the Second National Treasury Workshop in Tinapa, Cross River State.

    The workshop was attended by Directors of Finance and Accounts in Federal and state governments’ ministries, departments and agencies, Heads of Finance and Directors of Internal Audit and other stakeholders.

    Mrs. Adeosun, who was represented by the Director of Special Projects in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Dr. Mohammed K. Dikwa, emphasized the need for a change in the mindset of treasury managers to reform the basic polity.

    Special Adviser on Media & Communications to the minister Oluyinka Akintunde quoted her as saying: “The basic and fundamental approach to financial and economic reforms is to reform the basic polity. Reforms must be impacting and sustainable and should fit into the cultural ethos of Nigeria, among others.

    “There is the need to evolve a culture, which is value-based. It is expected that this workshop would draw from universal public values such as public trust, accountability, equity, transparency, ethical standard and selflessness.”

    The minister called for a review of the Finance Control and Management Act of 1958, noting that the law was outdated and weak in instituting greater accountability and transparency in the conduct of government financial businesses.

  • College’s credit Society declares profit, elects managers

    Seven years after the Federal College of Education in Eha-Amufu, Enugu State, inaugurated Staff Cooperative Thrift and Credit Society for its staff, the Society has declared N4.4M dividend at N200 per unit share.

    The declaration was made by the president of the Society, Mallam Yahaya Musa Baba, during its first combined Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in the college. According to the president, the dividend covered 2008 to 2015 periods, adding that the share capital of N30.8M was also realized, while ordinary savings and interest for the periods were N861.4 million and N19.9 million.

    Mallam Baba disclosed that N211.1 million was the outstanding loan owed to the Coop, saying that the debt profile was recorded under IOU, Normal and Material loans advanced to the members. Mallam Baba said despite the challenges the Society faced at its inception, it was able to make positive impacts on members.

    He said: “Apart from loan administration to members in cash and material, we have succeeded in acquiring 153 plots of land for our members in the various parts of Enugu state and without any bank loan. The membership of the society has also increased from 60 in 2008 to 424 members in 2017 and we were able to get our account audited from 2008 to 2015.”

    Mallam Baba thanked the founding members of the Society and former Acting Provost of the college, Mr Romanus Onah, for their efforts to keep the Society strong.

    The provost, Prof B. N. Mbah, said the Society made enormous impact in the lives of the college workers, and improved their financial status. He said: “Members also have the opportunity to borrow money from the coffer of the Society and paying minimal interest on the loan.”

    New Board of Directors and members were elected during the theAGM, with Mallam Baba and Mr Augustine Attah returned unopposed as president and financial secretary.

    Others are Vice President, Dr Emmanuel Idu, Secretary, Mr Chikwere Chinedu Eze, and Treasurer, Dr Eunice Anumudu. Others members are Mr Emmanuel Ogugua, Mr Anthony Okwor, Mr Felix Nwaonwu, and Mr Osmond Aniaku.

    Prof Mbah advised the elected officers to live above board in discharging their responsibilities, while urging members to support Society’s management.

  • ‘Diversified economy boosts demand for project managers’

    Demand for project managers is expected to rise as government intensifies plans to diversify the economy from oil, Ericsson Nigeria Director of Consulting and Systems Integration, Oluwatosin Agbetusin has said.

    He said an increasingly diversified portfolio has created a wave of projects ranging from infrastructure to mining—and an increased demand for project talent.

    He said the project management profession has become so popular over the past five years, such that a huge number of professionals are switching careers to join the field. “More projects in the pipeline mean more hiring of project talent,” adding that  there are more project management jobs available than experienced professionals to fill them.

    “I see 2017 bringing more push for additional project management skills and certifications. Beyond the Project Management Professional (PMP) credential, I expect more organisations in Nigeria will seek out practitioners with specific skills and certifications in risk, scheduling, Agile, programme management and portfolio management,” he stated.

    The National Bureau of Statistics forecasts that the Federal Government’s renewed spend on projects and cuts on wasteful spending will spark an annual average of 5.4 per cent expansion between 2017 and 2020.

    Agbetusin aligns with this policy direction which he says will have a ripple effect on demand for the skills that project managers bring to the table.

    “As the profession matures in Nigeria, so do the expectations of hiring managers,” he observed. “Project management skills and credentials that might have been viewed as a bonus a decade ago are now listed in job adverts as mandatory requirements. Risk management skills are more apt to be discussed now than in the past, when attention was largely limited to schedule and cost control.”

  • ‘Human resource managers should drive productivity’

    Human Resource Managers in key sectors of the economy should help drive businesses in their organisations, President, Managerial School of Excellence (MSE), Leke Olufade, has said.

    Speaking at the MSE quarterly dialogue in Lagos, with the theme: ‘CEO: What do they want from HR function” he said the reason mostchief executive officers (CEOs) underplay the function of human resource managers (HRMs) and consider their role as second rated support services, was because many of the managers lack the capacity to demonstrate productivity.

    He explained that aside motivating their workforce and urging them to abide by regulatory guidelines, the managers should alongside their CEOs drive productivity and company’s profitability.

    According to him, having a broad understanding of the CEOs’ goal is key to working in line with them. “What CEOs want is enthusiasm for the business, not turf protection. They want you to initiate ideas that can make the company productive; they want strong presence among executive team and talent management. They want to know the next generation of managers and executives and how they are being developed,” he said.

    Olufade also said CEOs expect HRMs to have a second knowledge of what can advance the productivity of a company, a well-executed HR strategy and efficient cooperate infrastructure to increase employee commitment and capability, design a behooving organisational reward and above all, integrity.

    To successfully deliver on these goods, Olufade advised managers to take cognizance of their CEOs ‘wants and harness  resources needed to solve their company’s problems.  Stressing that HRMs must constantly endeavor to invest in personal capacity expansion through extensive training in other relevant fields, he said: “Business is more global than before so it makes sense that CEOs want an HRM with an international outlook; a person who has lived in different markets.”

    Advocating a proper repositioning of the HR duty, former Divisional Managing Director, UAC, Nelson Suulola said as a business manager, the HR must understand the company’s business strategy, the underlying cost structures and how the information is derived.

    He agreed that the future of human resource management transcends how it’s being practised as there are still hurdles to cross.

    The dialogue added that CEOs measure the level of HRD success on the basis of extant working process, performance management system, disciplinary system, quantifiable outcomes, and qualitative outcomes in terms of credibility of mangers as administration enablers.

  • Ohuabunwa urges managers to embrace ethics

    Former Chairman/CEO, Pfizer West Africa Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa has urged managers to imbibe ethical values in their workplaces.

    Speaking at Nosak Group’s retreat for its workers in Lagos, Ohuabunwa, who was guest speaker, said: “Value is essential for business growth because it ensures that the consumer is well protected in terms of genuineness of the product he is buying. Therefore, total quality management principle must be adhered to at all times in the production lines.’’

    The theme of the retreat, which was attended by over 30 managers and departmental heads, was  “Turn and accelerate: from stability to leadership”. It was facilitated by Vital Solutions Consult Incorporated.

    Nosak Group’s Chairman, Dr. Toni Ogunbor said training is the bedrock of corporate success.

    Ogunbor, who led a session on ‘The state of the company and trends in the Nigerian economy,’ said it is a global and well known ýpractice for businesses to go on retreats where various issues affecting their businesses are analysed and remedied for future growth.

    He announced the newest baby in the Group, Nosak Farm Produce Limited, which he said, is a premier manufacturing company that provides over 300 direct and indirect jobs, and ranks as one of the top vegetable oil refiners in the country.

    Ogunbor said: “With a capacity of 200 tonnes per day and a farm size of approximately 800 hectares, the company is set to acquire an additional 20, 000 hectares in Edo State for backward integration and further increase its refining capacity in 2016″.

    He said this measure was aimed at creating more jobs and export opportunities for the country, in tamdem with the Federal Government’s policy.

    Ogunbor praised the organisers and participants of the retreat, affirming that the event was outstanding and the results would help to enhance staff performance and position the company for growth and leadership in the business environment in Nigeria and West Africa.

  • Vetiva Fund Managers lists three new ETFs

    Vetiva Fund Managers Limited will list the three new Vetiva Sector Series Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) today following the successful completion of the initial offerings for the ETFs.

    The three new ETFs included Vetiva Banking Exchange Traded Fund (VB ETF), Vetiva Consumer Goods Exchange Traded Fund (VCG ETF) and Vetiva Industrials Exchange Traded Fund (VI ETF).

    The listing of the ETFs based on the NSE Banking Index, NSE Consumer Goods Index and NSE Industrial Index on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) today was sequel to final approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

    Vetiva Fund Managers, which is registered by SEC as fund and portfolio manager, had listed the first equity Exchange Traded Fund-The Vetiva Griffin 30 ETF, which tracks the performance of the NSE 30 Index, on the NSE in March 2014.

    ETF is a security that tracks the performance of a specified security or other assets including stocks, basket of assets, indices, commodity prices, foreign currency rates, and derivatives among others. An ETF combines the valuation feature of a mutual fund or unit investment trust, which can be bought or sold at the end of each trading day for its net asset value, with the tradability feature of a closed-end fund, which trades throughout the trading day at prices that may be more or less than its net asset value.

    ETF may be attractive as investment because of its low cost, tax efficiency, and stock-like features. By owning an ETF, the holder get the diversification of an index fund as well as the ability to sell short, buy on margin and purchase as little as one share. Meanwhile, ETF does not sell individual shares directly to investors as only authorised dealers and investors are allowed to buy the usually large blocks of shares known as “creation units”. Index-based ETF, like index fund, tracks specified market index.

  • ‘Blame managers for corruption’

    Corruption will not be so endemic without the collaboration of professional managers, a former Group Managing Director of the Odu’a Investment Company Limited Sir Remi Omotoso has said.

    He spoke at a lecture titled: The role of professional managers in driving real change in Nigeria during the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) Awards, Fellows and Spouses’Day/Luncheon in Lagos.

    According to him, poor management of resources has been the bane of development.

    “Between 1999 and  now, Nigeria made trillions of dollars, enough to make it one of the richest countries of the world and with enviable potential.

    “Unfortunately, a tiny  but extremely power group, through corruption and impunity, cornered more than 90 per cent of the commonwealth while poverty continues to rage the land,” he said.

    Omotoso continued: “Many professional  managers have been,  over time,  facilitators and collaborators in fostering the evils that are responsible for   the rot and woes of our nation, particularly on the issues  of corruption, inequity, cover-ups, wasteful spending, abandonment of projects, substandard performance of contract jobs,  over and under valuation of assets and other such deeds and collaborations unbecoming of our professional ethics, values and standards.”

    To him, no project can be designed, evaluated, bidded for an d contracted out for execution without the involvement of professional managers.

    “How come Nigerian contracts, particularly in the areas of infrastructure, are among the most outrageously expensive in the world? Why should constructing a kilometre of road in Nigeria cost about  N1billion whereas it would cost about  $ 350   million in some other places in environment of similar charac  teristics with our own?

    “How come our roads, despite the high cost, collapse after a few years of use? Were they designed in the first instance to fail so that new contracts can be awarded to repair or rebuild them? What about those abandoned   projects, over 12,500 of them scattered all over the place in Nigeria and worth over N12 trillion?”

    Omotoso said Nigerians voted the All Progressives Congress (APC) because of President Muhammadu Buhari’s integrity, adding that it will be unfair to expect him to single-handedly effect the changes Nigeria needs.

    The president, he said, requires various institutions and all Nigerians to buy into the prevailing mood of change.

    On what role professional managers should play, he said: “Our number  one  role is that of admission that we have performed abysmally in the area of in tegrity,    probity,  accountability and professionalism.

    “Many of us both in the public and private sector have made ourselves tools in the hands of politicians, businessmen of dubious characters, foreign and local, for looting the wealth of our coun try. In the process, we have helped ourselves, too, to acquire assets beyond our legitimate means.

    “Professional Managers must re-orientate themselves and re-affirm their faith and adherence to their  professional standards and ethics,” he said.

    No fewer than 117 members were conferred with Fellows, while five were inducted as Life Members.

    NIM President/Chairman of Council Dr Nelson Uwaga urged the new fellows to see it as a call to higher responsibility and service to the nation.