The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigerian news

  • Ex-NACCIMA chief urges networking in business

    Former National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) President Iyalode Alaba Lawson has said networking is the bedrock of any economy.

    She spoke at the ongoing Lagos Fashion Exhibition at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island.

    Mrs Lawson, who was the chairperson at the event, said when people interact, they would make progress, noting that Nigerians are not lazy.

    She said: ”When we interact with each other, we will make progress. We will learn from each other.”

    She said in an exhibition, people should be ready to learn, for knowledge is power anywhere, including fashion. She added that the exhibition, which ends today would go a long way in improving the economy.

    Cote D’Iviore Ambassador to Nigeria Mrs Toure Maman also harped on interaction among people, noting that apart from the fact that it would promote business, it is also good for neighbourliness, especially in the West African sub-region.  She also noted that many women were at the fair, saying this suggests that more women were into the sector.

    Atlantic Exhibition Limited Managing Director Ayo Olugbade said the exhibition was aimed at providing an enabling platform for networking among businessmen and women, and not just for sales. More importantly, he said, it is to promote entrepreneurship in the fashion industry. He said he expected his colleagues in the industry to make good deals during the three-day event. He thanked his partners in the exhibition, citing Fashion Designers Association of Nigeria (FADAN) for special mention.

  • Firm seeks policy on used cars

    The Chief Executive Officer of CARS45, Mr Etop Ikpe has urged the Federal Government to formulate a policy that will make used cars available for purchase.

    Ikpe spoke when he led the management team of the firm a visit to The Nation’s Head Office in Lagos.

    The team was received by Editor,  Mr. Adeniyi Adesina

    According to him, many automobile users prefer used cars due to economic factors.

    He added that only one per cent of car buyers buy brand news cars. He said any policy on automobile that is directed at only new cars will not serve the interest of the generality of the people.

    Read Also: Cars45 gives boost to Reality Tv Show

    According to him, the government’s policy on automobile should be tailored to the larger percentage of the citizens.

    He said CARS45 was out to bring transparency and consistency into the automobile sector.

    He noted that the thrust of the business is hinged on three principles – pricing, speed and safety and transparency.

    According to him, over 3,000 vehicles can be accessed on the firm’s online platform.

    Within three years of operation, Ikpe said CARS45 had become the largest online car sales firm in the country.

    “We have 90 retail points across the country with over 400 employees. We have outlets in Abuja, Lagos, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Benin, among others. We also have over 1000 dealers,” he said.

    He said the firm has introduced an emergency service to fix cars that develop a fault on the road.

    “Once we receive a call, we send our mechanic to go and fix it immediately. if it can’t be fixed on the spot, it would be towed to the workshop,” he said.

  • Anchor Borrowers Programme creates 132,260 jobs, says CBN

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said 255 private and 14 state government anchors have so far participated in Anchor Borrowers’ Programme as at June, this year. This is in addition to 1,140,854 farmers producing 17 different agricultural commodities.

    Its Director, Corporate Communications Department, Isaac Okorafor who spoke in Abuja on Thursday during the bank’s special day at the on-going Abuja International Trade Fair, said the CBN has 29 intervention programes targeted at various stakeholders groups, such as framers, women, youth, and Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs).

    “Some of these interventions, which had contributed significantly in driving Nigeria’s economic growth and development include, the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund designed to chanel low interest funds to the NSMEs  sub- sector to enhance access by entrepreneurs, especially women and people living with disability,” he explained.

    Read Also: No more non-performing loans, CBN warns banks

    Other interventions of the apex bank, Okorafor said include Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme which commenced in 2009 to fast track development of agric sector.

    He said a total of 132,260 jobs have been created along the various agricultural value chains through the Commercial Agricultural Credit Sheme of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

    The jobs were created through the bank’s Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme that commenced in 2009 to fast-track the development of the agricultural sector. the scheme provides credit facilities to commercial agricultural enterprises at a single digit interest rate.

    He said the figure was compiled since the inception of the project in 2015 to June 2019.

  • Afreximbank seeks channels for cross-border trade

    The President, African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Prof Benedict Oramah, has urged African countries to create vehicles that would make it possible for manufacturers to trade across the continent.

    Oramah, who spoke yesterday in New York during a high-level event on the Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa, 2016-2019, organised at the United Nations Headquarters, said manufacturers needed somebody to handle the export and trading of their products as they were not equipped for those roles.

    He said export trading has been one of the approaches used to tackle that challenge, adding that the creation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) also attempted to address the issue.

    Read Also: AfCFTA: Why Nigeria may not benefit from Afreximbank’s interventions

    Prof. Oramah said that previous efforts by African countries to use manufacturing and industrialisation as engines for development and growth had failed, largely as a result of issues, such as lack of access to market, lack of capital and skills and inadequate infrastructure, pointing out that many large-scale investors had little interest in investing in Africa in a massive way because of the fragmented nature of the African market.

    He said  Africa should focus more on labour-intensive manufacturing which had more net effect on the population than on capital intensive industries, stressing the need for Africa to focus on skills development, in particular, by going back to building technical schools and supporting universities of technology in order to equip people with the right skills for the kind of jobs that were beginning to emerge.

    He said Afreximbank has launched an equity investment fund – the Fund for Export Development in Africa, which would help attract foreign direct investment to support industrialisation and manufacturing in Africa.

    Also participating in the session were Director-General, United Nations Industrial Organisation; Li Yong, African Union Commissioner for Trade and Industry; Albert Muchanga, President, African Development Bank; Dr. Adewunmi Adesina, Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Dr. Vera Songwe and the Vice Chairman, AfroChampions Club, Ali Mufuruki.

    The high-level event, held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, had the theme “Promoting innovation and infrastructure development: A pathway for boosting manufacturing in the Fourth Industrial Revolution”.

  • ‘MDAs not patronising made-in-Nigeria goods’

    The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) has decried the low level of patronage from government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the country.

    Its Executive Vice-Chairman, Prof Mohammed Haruna said despite an existing law by the president on the patronage of made-in-Nigeria products, the agency only enjoys patronage from the private sector.

    He said it has been the culture of the agency to ensure that they come up with new inventions which they display at trade fairs for prospective investors.

    Prof. Haruna spoke in Abuja, while presenting the new innovations of the agency at the stand at the ongoing Abuja International Trade Fair.

    He said: “It has been in our culture to ensure that each year we come with new innovations, what we usually do at the end of each trade fair is to task ourselves to collaborate and come up with new inventions before the next trade fair, this year we have a lot of automation devices, smart metering devices and oil extraction machines that was not seen last year.

    “Finance has always been a challenge, the amount of profitability you can harvest is dependant on how much is invested, funding to the agency is not adequate but we are happier now because the new products that we are having is as a result of small attention that we have been recieving.

    “In NASENI, we are happy to have the patronage of the private sector, we are not having the patronage that we should be receiving from MDAs which us why we do all we can despite lack of resources to be at trade fairs because our partners are here. Nigerians need to learn to look inwards, we bring outsiders to build our solar systems but we have a solar manufacturing plant that belongs to the government, so we should patronise our own first, the instructions has been there by government that should be complied with and more is needed to guarantee adherence to it. Their is an existing order by the President on the patronage of local products.

    “Unfortunately, a typical Nigerian entrepreneur prefers trading than long term investment and if you look for partnership with a typical investor in Nigeria he would not want to invest but to go and see some products that have matured outside that he can be guaranteed but we are grateful for the Executive Order 5 that discourages trading and encourages local manufacturing.

  • NDIC pays N116.258b to customers of dead banks

    The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) on Thursday said it has paid a total sum of N116.258billion to depositors and customers of defunct banks last year.

    Its Managing Director/CEO, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim, spoke at the 14th International Trade Fair in Abuja, said the payment comprised insured and uninsured deposits of N108.641 billion,  N2.973 billion, and N70.53 million to depositors of defunct deposit money banks (DMBs), micro finance banks (MfBs) and primary mortgage banks (PMBs).

    Represented by the Director of Research of the Corporation, Dr. Muhammed Ibrahim, the CEO said as at  June 30, this year, the number of subscribers to Mobile Money Operators (MMO) stood at 9,249,265.

    “As it stands, the number of licensed MMOs by the CBN is  23, with eight being ‘Bank-Led’ and the remaining  15 ‘Non-Bank Led’.

    “In the last quarter of 2018, the CBN revoked the licenses of 154 MfBs and six PMBs due to their insolvency, corporate governance issues, etc. Hence, the Corporation successfully liquidated the failed banks and has commenced payment to the depositors of the affected banks.

    “As at 30th June, 2019, the Corporation received a total number of 35 petitions/complaints from banks customers on various issues such as ATM frauds, unauthorised funds transfers, cheque related issues and much more. Investigations and mediation were carried out where necessary and customers were appropriately reprieved.

    “Recently, in collaboration with the CBN, the Corporation adopted a ’bridge bank’ resolution option in the resolution of Skye Bank Plc and the establishment of Polaris Bank Ltd.

    “Consequently, Polaris Bank Ltd was able to continue banking operations in the 277 branches of the defunct Skye Bank, over 6,000 jobs were saved and depositors have unhindered access to their deposits in excess of N949.60 billion as at June 2018.”

    The President, Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ABUCCIMA), Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, in his remarks commended the NDIC for its very important role in the economy, and urged the Corporation to continue its public awareness campaign to further strengthen public confidence in the banking sector.

  • President Buhari hails Bill Gates, Dangote for service to humanity

    President Muhammadu Buhari has applauded the contributions of Bill and Melinda Gates as well as Aliko Dangote foundations to humanitarian and developmental activities in Nigeria.

    Meeting with the duo on the sidelines of the 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, the President said they had touched humanity in many positive ways.

    He ad congratulated them “for achieving what you had set out to do”.

    According to a statement by the Special Adviser (SA) on Media and Publicity, Chief Femi Adesina, the President added: “Thanks for deriving pleasure in helping people. Congratulations to you for returning part of your wealth to the people in diverse ways. Whatever we save in areas in which you have intervened, we can deploy to other areas, like building of infrastructure.”

    Read Also: President Buhari decries Nigeria’s loss of $157.5b to illicit financial flows

    On agriculture, in which Dangote makes huge investments, President Buhari noted that farmers are very happy in Nigeria now “as we have made fertiliser available, cut the price by half and given many other incentives. They have no regret going back to the lands. The more we invest in agriculture, the better for us”.

    Mr Gates congratulated President Buhari “for assembling a cabinet that excites us”.

    The American philanthropist said he was pleased that one of the priorities of the administration was human capital development, of which health, nutrition and education are key components.

    He said the Bill and Melinda Gates and Aliko Dangote foundations kept track of Nigeria’s attainments on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as enunciated by the United Nations (UN).

    The global businessman submitted that the foundations were encouraged that there was improvement in reducing child mortality.

    “Every local government area has better health/education situation today than in year 2000. We are delighted about that. Nigeria is our biggest commitment in Africa. It’s only in India we do more in the world,” Gates said.

  • NAF destroys terrorists’ training camp

    The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has said it destroyed terrorists’ training camp and logistics base in Kusuma, Borno State.

    Its Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore, Daramola Ibikunle, announced this in a statement in Abuja.

    The statement said the Air Task Force (ATF) detailed by NAF destroyed a major logistics base and training camp of the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP).

    It reads: “Air Task Force (ATF) of Operation Lafiya Dole has recorded another major success in its sustained air offensive against terrorists’ targets in the Northeast. The feat was achieved on September 25, 2019, when NAF aircraft, detailed by the ATF, destroyed a major ISWAP logistics base and training camp at Kusuma on the fringes of Lake Chad in Borno State.

    Read Also: ‘To secure, we have to love: herdsmen, kidnappers, Boko Haram and the climate of fear’

    “The air strike was executed after credible intelligence reports had established that a section of the settlement was serving as a training camp for the terrorists, while some buildings within the camp were being used to store their fuel, arms and ammunition as well as other logistics supplies.

    “The pre-attack surveillance showed scores of fighters attempting to flee the location upon hearing the sound of the attack aircraft. They were engaged by the attack aircraft in successive passes, neutralising many of them. The terrorists’ logistics supply store, which was also hit, was seen engulfed in flames due to the raid.

    “The NAF, operating in concert with surface forces, will sustain its efforts to completely destroy all remnants of the terrorists in the Northeast.”

    Also, the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Maj.-Gen. Olusegun Adeniyi, has urged troops of the theatre to show no mercy to Boko Haram terrorists or their collaborators.

    Adeniyi also told the troops to move swiftly and engage the insurgents in their hiding places and finish them without delay.

    The theatre commander was on operational visit to Sector II of the theatre in Damaturu, Yobe State.

    He advised the troops to deal ruthlessly with Boko Haram and anybody seeing to be supporting insurgency.

    According to him, the soldiers are capable of doing the job, and should not be deterred by any obstacle that will stand on their way to finish the job.

  • President Buhari decries Nigeria’s loss of $157.5b to illicit financial flows

    President Muhammadu Buhari has said Nigeria lost an estimated $157.5 billion to illicit financial flows between 2003 and 2012.

    He quoted the figure from the 2014 Global Financial Integrity Report in his address to the High-Level National Side-Event organised by the African Union Development Agency and New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday in New York, the United States of America (U.S.A).

    The event was on the sidelines of the 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), with the theme: Promotion of International Cooperation to Combat Illicit Financial Flows and Strengthen Good Practices on Assets Recovery and Return to Foster Sustainable Development.

    The Nigerian leader noted that such massive loss of assets resulted in dearth of resources “to fund public services or to alleviate poverty” in the country.

    Read Also: Presidency faults online reports criticizing Buhari’s response at UN climate summit

    In a statement by his Special Adviser (SA) on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the President added: “This is why, as Africans, we have no choice but to break the back of corruption.”

    Acknowledging lack of sufficient capital and corruption as impediments to socio-economic development of the continent, the President emphatically restated his administration’s anti-corruption campaign.

    “That is why our government has made it a war we intend to win.  We will give all it takes to ensure there is no hiding place for purveyors of corrupt practices who are truly enemies of the people,” he said.

    Harping on the need to strengthen good practices on asset recovery and return, President Buhari said: “In the last five years, our government has made significant progress to curb corruption. We have recovered millions of dollars stolen from our country.”

    The President stressed that his administration faced some hurdles in the fight against graft and recovery of stolen public funds.

    “There are still a lot of other funds that are stuck in foreign bank accounts due to international laws, different jurisdictions and justice systems that make it difficult for repatriation,” he said.

    Describing Illicit Financial Flows as “illegal movement of funds from one country to another,” President Buhari regretted that “these flows deplete Africa’s internally generated revenues (IGR), foreign exchange earnings, reduce tax revenues, drain natural resources, facilitate corruption and stunt private sector development”.

    He cited tax avoidance as another form of illicit financial flow, quoting the Tax Justice Network and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that estimated over U.S$200 billion per year was “being lost by developing countries when multinational enterprises do not pay taxes in the countries where they made the profit”.

    “This amount is significantly higher than the annual development aid received by these countries which are estimated to be about U.S$143 billion,” President Buhari added.

    Commending the organisers of the meeting designed to finding “pragmatic ways to promote international cooperation to combat illicit financial flows and strengthen good practices on asset recovery and return, as an arm of sustainable development policies in Africa,” the Nigerian President also lauded their “shared commitment to root out corruption from our continent”.

  • Akingbola’s 10-year trial over N179b ‘fraud’ to resume October 24

    The Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday adjourned till October 24 the N179 billion fraud trial of the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of defunct Intercontinental Bank Plc, Dr Erastus Akingbola.

    The trial, which began with Akingbola’s first arraignment 10 years ago, could not continue following Justice Mojisola Olatoregun’s absence.

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), in 2009, arraigned Akingbola on an alleged 26-count fraud charge before Justice Charles Archibong, but the judge struck out the charges, citing lack of diligent prosecution.

    On appeal, the decision was overruled and Akingbola was ordered to return to the Federal High Court for his trial.

    The Court of Appeal’s decision was affirmed at the Supreme Court.

    Read Also: Jigawa Assembly suspends principal officials over alleged fraud

    The EFCC re-arraigned Akingbola before Justice Olatoregun on March 12 on an amended 22-count N179 billion fraud charge.

    In the charge, the anti-graft agency alleged that while Akingbola was the MD and Chief Executive Officer of Intercontinental Bank Plc, he used N179,385,000,000 belonging to the bank for “fictitious transactions”.

    The commission also claimed that Akingbola used N179 billion to buy Intercontinental Bank Plc’s shares, thereby inflating the market price of Intercontinental Bank shares on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

    In another instance, the EFCC alleged that Akingbola took £1.3 million from Intercontinental Bank Plc’s GBP NOSTRO account at Deutsche Bank, London, and remitted same into the bank account of Fuglers Solicitors with the Royal Bank of Scotland Plc, London.

    It further claimed that the £1.3 million was paid to Fuglers Solicitors for the purpose of buying a property in the name of Life Boat Settlement Trust, which Akingbola set up.

    The EFCC said Akingbola knew the £1.3 million to be proceeds of crime, “to wit: stealing”.

    Akingbola pleaded not guilty to the 22 counts.