The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Mr Waheed Olagunju

  • Ibru hands over to Ikeja Hotels’ new board

    Ibru hands over to Ikeja Hotels’ new board

    Former chairman of Ikeja Hotels Plc, Mr Goodie Ibru, has handed over to a new board of directors chaired by Chief Anthony Idigbe (SAN).

    Members of the new board are Mr Abatcha Bulama, Dr. Alex Thomopulos, Mr Toke Alex-Ibru, Mr Kunle Aluko, Mr Ufuoma Ibru, Mr Waheed Olagunju and Mrs. Fadeke  Alamutu.

    Those who retired are Mr Ibru, Dr Oba Otudeko, and Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa, who was replaced.

    Idigbe formerly took over from Ibru at the Sheraton Hotel in Ikeja on Monday.

    At a joint briefing in Lagos by Ibru and Idigbe, which was attended by some of the new board members, the SAN said all stakeholders were represented.

    Ikeja Hotels Plc, which owns Lagos Sheraton Hotel and Federal Palace Hotel, among others, has been involved in a boardroom crisis.

    Idigbe thanked Ibru for his services to the company and vowed to lead it to new heights.

    He said: “Mr Goodie Ibru has graciously retired effective from the 17th. The company is very grateful for his services, and to his brother Alex of blessed memory. We’re very grateful.”

    On pending litigations, Idigbe said the board reconstitution was sequel to an out of court settlement by contending parties.

    “All I can tell you at this stage is that there is some settlement agreement that is in place. We’re implementing it. The recomposition of the board is part of that,” he said.

    On how long he will act as interim chairman, he said: “We’ll advise you in due course on that.”

    The new interim chairman said all parties and stakeholders were represented on the board.

    “Adequate arrangement has been made to ensure that all stakeholders are carried along. In the new composition of the board, effort has been made as much as possible to ensure representation of all the stakeholders.

    “We may not satisfy everybody 100 per cent; there may still be some issues that we need to deal with. The most important thing is that the good faith and confidence are there.

    “We have built a process that is likely to achieve complete and final resolution of issues. We believe that all the stakeholders are fully represented.”

    He assured employees that their job was safe.

    “The new composition of the board consists of very seasoned professionals. The priority is to maintain and enhance shareholder value. Staff is critical to achieving that.

    “Every effort will be made to ensure that security of employment is maintained,” Idigbe said.

    The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on May 4 announced the dissolution of the Board of Directors of Ikeja Hotels Plc due to unresolved internal crisis involving the major shareholders.

    The Commission appointed an interim board led Idigbe to oversee the conduct of forensic investigation into the affairs of the company.

    SEC said in: “Having failed to resolve its lingering crisis, the Commission in exercise of the powers conferred on it by the Investment and Securities Act, 2007 to protect investors and the integrity of the securities market, hereby approves the appointment of an Interim Board for the company with Chief Anthony Idigbe, SAN, as Interim Chairman.

    “It is the Commission’s expectation that the shareholders and key management staff of the company will work with the new team to ensure that the fortunes of the company are restored in the shortest possible time.”

     

  • BOL to assist SMEs with N376bn before end of 2019

    Mr Waheed Olagunju, Acting Managing Director, Bank of Industry (BoI) says the bank will assist Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with N376 billion before the end of 2019.

    Olagunju spoke in Makurdi while presenting a paper entitled; “Target Financing for SMEs’’ at a management retreat for officers of the ministry and its parastatal agencies.

    The conference had as its theme, “Implementing the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) through Industry, Trade and Investment’’.

    According to Olagunju, disbursement to SMEs increased from a record of N5.64 billion  in 2015 to N8.02 billion  as at end of 2016, while for 2019 we are targeting N376 billion.

    He said the bank had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Afterschool Graduate Development Centre.

    The scheme he said would provide between N200, 000 to N500, 000 to empower one million youths over the next five years.

    Olagunju said the bank had also lent N5 billion micro-finance banks for financing of micro-loans.

    “About N4.5 billion has been disbursed to micro-finance banks and over 15,000 microenterprises have benefitted from this scheme,’’ he said.

    Olagunju said 44 key business clusters had been identified nationwide with products developed, taking into account peculiarities as SMEs Credit group was set up to ensure effective turnaround time in reviewing credit.

    He said the bank had also disbursed N1.48 billion to market associations and co-operatives, as well as developed strategic alliances with MFBs and Mobile Money operators to facilitate effective disbursement.

    According to Olagunju, the bank has identified a number of key sources toward shoring-up its lending capacity.

  • Nigeria, Israel seek stronger bilateral trade ties

    Worried about the low volume of trade between Nigeria and Israel, the Bank of Industry (BOI) and the Israeli government have entered into ‎a partnership agreement to seek ways to deepen and strengthen the bilateral trade relationship between both economies.

    The acting Managing Director, BOI, Mr. Waheed Olagunju during a courtesy visit by Israel’s ambassador to BOI, said the ‎partnership is apt, coming at a time when Nigeria is trying to improve and increase its agro processing capacity, urging domestic and foreign investors to take advantage of the opportunity to invest in the nation’s vast agricultural sector.

    According to ‎the acting Managing Director, BOI boss, the partnership would also cover areas of possible collaboration in the recently launched Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) of the federal government, maintaining that there is a lot of money to be made by Isreali investors in Nigeria.

    “We believe if the Israeli business model is right, they can reap much more in the Nigerian economy because our vast natural and resource endowments,” he said.

    “There is no country as blessed as Nigeria in the world. The Bank of Industry (BOI) will be on ground to work with Israeli investors who wants to do business in Nigeria. Whoever wants to do business in Nigeria can always work with BOI and we will give them all our hands. We are on ground in Nigeria to hold the hands of both domestic and foreign investors who wants to do business in the country.”

    He said the Development Finance Institution (DFI) is looking forward to a very good time with its foreign and domestic development partners with Israeli investors  being one of the most outstanding.

    ‎”You are coming at the right time when the country is trying to ‎improve and increase its agro processing capacity because we have had bumper harvest last year and we are still going to have more in the coming years and if steps are not taken urgently to improve the agro processing industry, there could be post-harvest losses and this will serve as a disincentive to farmers.

    “So we are stepping up our agro processing capacity in the country to ensure that we preserve and add value to our agricultural produce while also preparing them for the export market as well,” he said.

    In his response, the Israel Ambassador ‎to Nigeria, Mr. Guy Feldman‎, said the Israeli government believes that there is much more both economies can do in terms of trade, stating that the partnership would identify areas on how to improve and strengthen bilateral trade agreements between Nigeria and Israel.

    ‎”Israel has ideas and innovations where Nigeria can tap from to drive any sector of the economy. The trade between the two countries is something which we have more with the smallest countries in Europe and other places and this shows that something is definitely wrong somewhere, because we believe Nigeria is a huge economy and we believe we can a whole lot more,” he said.

     

  • Nigeria will come out of recession stronger in 2017— LCCI

    Nigeria will come out of recession stronger in 2017— LCCI

    The President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Dr Nike Akande, has predicted  that Nigeria will surmount its economic woes and come out of the recession stronger in 2017.

    Akande said this on the sidelines of the LCCI 128th Annual General Meeting (AGM) dinner in Lagos.

    She said that Nigeria, as the giant of Africa, would not stay too long before bouncing back to its former pride of place among the Commonwealth of Nations.

    “LCCI has noted in particular the decline in oil price, the weakening of our currency and the associated challenges this scenario portends.

    “I strongly believe that we will bounce back from the recession stronger in 2017. The economic recession was caused by our over-dependence on oil, but now we have taken the bull by its horns.

    “So many campaigns are going on and restructuring on diversification; with all these put in place, we are sure to come back to reckoning among the Commonwealth of Nations.

    “The year 2o17 is just a couple of months away but by the end of it, things will be better, I am very optimistic,” she said.

    The Managing Director, Bank of Industry (BOI), Mr Waheed Olagunju, said right investment portfolio and diversification would get Nigeria out of recession in short time.

    “What we need to do in this time of this recession is to diversify our economy and stop paying lip service to it.

    “We will need to look at the Mexico model and stop the over-reliance on crude oil as the mainstay of revenue for the country.  We need other sectors as well.

    “We need to encourage more investments because increased investment is one of the ways we can get out of recession. When you invest, it increases production and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increases.

    “We can only grow our economy by providing a wide range of investment portfolios and also encourage manufacturing which is a key to any economic development,’’ he said.