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Tag: Nigerian Newspapers

  • Farmers embrace SMEs clusters to create jobs

    THE President, Association of Agricultural and Industrial Entrepreneurs of Nigeria (AIEN), Chukwu Wachukwu on Wednesday said the group has embraced Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) clusters to promote their businesses in each local government of the federation with a coordinating office to ensure that jobs trickle down to people in farming and selling of farm products.

    This SMEs clusters, he added, will involve mainly farmers in all the states. This is to encourage farmers to excel in their field, stressing that there will be access to funding for all businesses through funding agencies the association will work with. All the businesses concerned will get their financial entitlements, promote their businesses, adding that the association will continually monitor to ensure the progress and loans collected are paid back.

    Wanchukwu said the association intends to put between 25 and 500 entrepreneurs in one cluster so they could access the necessary infrastructure to enable them do their work.

    He said: “The greatest challenge is access to funding, if we have one million entrepreneurs employing five people, we are already creating six million jobs. Any government agency saying they are creating jobs is just fooling itself. Job creation is for entrepreneurs; so the environment should be made easy for businesses to thrive so that jobs can be available.

    “We need to help the government. It  cannot do it alone; we should work with the funding agencies such as the Central Bank of Nigeria, Bank of Industry, NEXIM, Development Banks.”

     

     

     

     

  • BATNF okays N700m for job creation

    BRITISH American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF) has okayed  N700 million  to tackle youth unemployment through agriculture under a five-year plan.

    This will be achieved through its Wealth is Here Campaign which will last till  2022, its Executive Director, Ms Abimbola Okoya said on Thursday in Lagos while launching the programme.

    Okoya said the programme aims to increase employment opportunities for youths, adding it provides them guidance and training in value adding and food processing practices.

    According to her, Nigeria has the potential to become the food basket but to achieve this, efforts must be channeled towards harnessing knowledge and skills to realise the potential.

    Ms Okoya reiterated that the foundation was committed to turning the massive natural endowment of the sector into competitive advantages that create wealth and sustainable agribusiness jobs for youth.

    The strategy, according to her, will also guarantee food security and inclusive growth by involving more women and youth and promoting improved resilience to climate variability and shocks.

    She said the foundation is determined to work with the government to  radically transform agriculture into a business-oriented and commercially viable sector that guarantees food self-sufficiency and puts an end to food insecurity, malnutrition and other related challenges.

    The Managing Director, BAT Nigeria, Yorub Al-Bahrani said the foundation was established in 2002 to support the socioeconomic  development.

    According to him, with an investment of over N1.6 billion in sustainable agriculture,  the foundation  has reached over 36,000 farmers. The impact was  threatened by the  mass migration of youths to other countries that promise economic liberation, he lamented.

    He said the country is rich in agriculture.  In the second quarter of this year, he said the sector contributed 21.9 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP) and was ranked third highest of a non –oil sector.

    He said the campaign is an initiative to promote agricultural development and support the establishment of agricultural enterprises for improved livelihood.

    The  Chairman, Board of Directors, BATNF, Chief Kola Jamodu called for efforts to connect smallholder farmers to value-chains to improve their food-security and livelihoods, as they produce the majority of the food consumed in the country.

     

     

  • NNPC, MOMAN to partner on energy security

    THE Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Major Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) have resolved to work together to grow the oil industry.

    Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari and MOMAN chairman, Mr. Tunji Oyebanji, made the pledge during the visit of the MOMAN’s executive to the NNPC in Abuja on Wednesday.

    Speaking during the visit,  the association,  Kyari said statutorily, the corporation was mandated to work with all relevant industry stakeholders to sustain the growth trajectory of the industry as well as ensure energy security of the nation, NNPC’s Acting General Manager, Group Public Affair Division, Mr. Samson Makoji, explained in a statement.

    He said effective fuel supply and distribution were critical to national growth and energy security, as NNPC, being a national oil company, has an obligation to ensure that petroleum products supply and distribution were carried out unimpeded across the country.

    Read Also: Fire razes NNPC depot

    He said: “NNPC must work with MOMAN, security agencies and all other relevant stakeholders for the petroleum sector to thrive.  We will work with MOMAN as a partner of choice and we are ready to intervene in issues that will promote the growth of the Industry. By so doing, we will encourage you to continue to grow your investment in the country for the economy to prosper.”

    The GMD said the Federal Government was determined to ensure that the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) pass legislative huddles within the shortest possible time to, among others, reduce the incidences of overlapping roles among agencies of government.

    He expressed readiness to collaborate with other agencies to address the issues that are of interest to MOMAN to ensure that its members remain a going concern.

  • Firm mulls telephone manufacturing plant in Nigeria

    GLOBAL smartphone brand OPPO, on Wednesday said opening a factory in Nigeria was possible in the long run.

    It said this will help to create more jobs and transfer technology to the country.

    Its Marketing Director, Kris Cao, who spoke on the side of the launch of the new OPPO A Series 2020 in Ikeja, Lagos, said opening a factory in the country will also safe cost to the company.

    He said the mobile brand is already in 26 states of the federation just in its eight months of entering the local market, adding it is a mark of acceptability of the brand in the country.

    He said the brand, which is already in five regions, manufactures global products, adding that the products are the same.

    He explained that  OPPO A Series 2020, which includes the OPPO A9 2020 and OPPO A5 2020 smartphones  are the brand’s latest offering for the mid-level smartphone market segment. With its combination of high quality and affordability, as well as superb photography, gorgeous design and a long-lasting battery, he said the brand emphasizes that the A series will continue to be the essential handset to generation Z youth.

    Also speaking, its Marketing Manager, Nengi Akinola, said the firm named this two handsets in celebration of the beginning of the new decade and also to commemorate the success of A series over the past 10 years while welcoming a whole new generation of mobile users.

    Read Also: OPPO Mobile opens Lagos service centre

    She said:  “This new name also reflects our vision for the coming ten years. It highlights the brand’s latest technologies, stunning design, superb photography, powerful performance and perfect tuning to the needs of young people.”

    She added that the two latest handsets offer more possibilities than ever before.

    She said the devices inspire users to play, with its all-purpose 48MP quad camera that pushes the bounds of creativity, and a 5,000mAh Ultra Battery that provides even longer use. It provides outstanding entertainment to users, helping them ease the stress of daily life, while inspiring them to be more positive and explore more of life’s possibilities.

    Tailor-made and well equipped, it’s an exciting phone for young, motivated consumers who are eager to connect with the world, discover more fun and explore their curiosity. Its impressively versatile camera technology broadens users’ creative horizons, and the whole smartphone offers an immersive entertainment experience and powerful performance.

    Versatile Camera Tech Brings Users Even More Photography & Videography Options

    The OPPO A9 2020 comes with a multipurpose Quad Camera setup, including a 48MP Main Camera + 8MP Ultra-Wide Lens + 2MP Mono Lens + 2MP Portrait Lens, while the OPPO A5 2020 also comes with a multipurpose Quad Camera setup but with a 12MP main camera.

    These offer all-around use that can satisfy users’ needs for all shooting angles and scenarios, including the Ultra Night Mode 2.0 and a whole host of artistic portrait styles.

    The A9 2020 is equipped with 16MP selfie camera while A5 2020 with 8MP selfie camera, both using AI Beautification technology for tailor-made selfies to better cater to different markets and beauty trends.

    This technology automatically identifies skin tone, age, gender, and skin color. It differentiates users for customised beautification. An all-new algorithm for smoothing out blemishes on the skin and sharper features create a make-up free look, allowing users to embrace a better version of themselves.

     

     

     

  • 49 firms submit recap plans to NAICOM

    THE National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has received the recapitalisation plans of 47 insurers and two reinsurers.

    This is coming following the circular issued by the Commission directing the risk bearing companies to submit their recapitalisation plans by August 20, 2019.

    Head, Commissioner for Insurance’ Directorate, Rasaaq Salami, explained that the Commission, in keeping with the recapitalisation road map, has concluded review of the submissions of plans of insurers and reinsurers and have communicated individual companies on their positions.

    He said: “26 companies have been granted “No Objection” to proceed with their plans, and the plans of 17 companies were corrected and have been advised to resubmit their new plans using paid-up capital and not shareholders fund.”

    He further explained that four companies do not have the requisite 2018 financial statements and are thus, advised to review their plans of using Initial Public Offering (IPO) and one company has litigation issues and has been advised to resolve them as soon as possible to enable its progress.

    Read Also: ‘NAICOM’ll prosecute recapitalisation’

    “One company’s submission was noted to have met the necessary requirements; the review of submissions from two companies is ongoing while three companies are yet to submit their recapitalisation plans,” he added.

    He therefore reassured all stakeholders of the Commission’s resolve to adhere to the recapitalisation roadmap towards achieving its desired objectives in their best interest.

     

  • NNPC: Oil will remain relevant beyond 2040

    THE Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mallam Mele Kyari, said fossil fuel would remain relevant in the global energy mix contrary to assumptions in some quarters that  oil demand would be very high even beyond 2040.

    The NNPC chief spoke on Wednesday in his office in Abuja, when he received members of a Higher Command Course of the Indian Army War College on a geo-strategic tour of Nigeria.

    Kyari espoused the uniqueness of Nigeria’s crude oil grades as rich crude with high global demand, saying NNPC was determined to grow Nigeria’s production to 3million barrels per day by 2023 to enable it to take advantage of the gap that exists in the demand-supply balance.

    The Acting Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Samson Makoji disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.

    Read Also: Beware of impostors, NNPC cries out

    He said the age-long bilateral relations between Nigeria and India, which cut across trade, military cooperation and international peace keeping, among others.

    The GMD explained that NNPC’s mandate cuts across satisfying domestic energy needs and contributing to global energy market, especially crude oil and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) deliveries across the world.

    He described energy security as a critical factor in guaranteeing Nigeria’s territorial integrity and growing its economy.

    “Energy security is everything in terms of national security. The recent attack on Saudi oil facility is one incident which has attracted global attention and has the potential to impact global economy,” Kyari said.

    According to the NNPC’s helmsman, understanding the relationship between energy security and global security was important, especially as developing nations strive to grow their respective economies and guarantee their territorial integrity.

    In his remarks, the leader of the delegation, Brig. Gen. Sudhir Malik, said India was the largest trade partner with Nigeria, stressing that oil formed a large chunk of the trade between the two counties.

    He described Nigeria as Africa’s economic power house which shares similar aspirations as India.

    “We are also a growing economy. It is a mutual benefit to both nations. In times to come, we hope that these bilateral relations will continue to grow so that we will also increase the trade volumes,” he added.

    While stating that India was aware of Nigeria’s peculiar security and economic challenges, the military chief, however, expressed optimism that the deep relations between the countries’ armed forces would help in addressing these challenges.

  • Nigeria lost $157.5b to illicit financial flows between 2003-2012, says Buhari

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

    Quoting 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, on the margins of the 74th United Nations General Assembly, under 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.

    Buhari, in a statement by the Special Adviser on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, issued in the early hours of Thursday, 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.”

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

    He noted, however, that “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.”

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

    Read Also: On Buhari’s new economic team

    Citing tax avoidance as another form of illicit financial flow, he quoted the Tax Justice Network and the International Monetary Fund to have estimated over US$200 billion per year as “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 US$143 billion,” he 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,” President Buhari also lauded their “shared commitment to root out corruption from our continent.”

    According to the Nigerian President, “I am motivated by the belief that, if we join hands, we can bequeath to our children an Africa that is not defined by corruption.”

    Emphasizing the imperative of international cooperation towards stemming the incidence of illegal financial flows, President Buhari said, “Any lasting solution to the above challenges will require international cooperation and coordination,” of African countries and their international counterparts.

    “This is one reason why the Nigerian Government supports this initiative of AUDA/NEPAD and remains committed until we ensure that there are no safe-havens for stolen assets from Africa,” he declared.

    On his expectations of the outcome of the meeting, the Nigerian leader said: “I have high expectations for this meeting.  At the end of the deliberations, I expect other African leaders, to see the pragmatic ideas on how to strengthen our anti-corruption institutions to reduce or effectively eliminate Illicit Financial Flows.

    “We need ideas on how to return the stolen assets to their countries of origin.  We also need strategies on how to plug the loopholes that enable companies to avoid paying commensurate taxes in their countries of operations.  You should deliberate on practical ideas to enhance global acceptable assets tracing and freezing, and boost the recovery governance framework.”

    Wishing the meeting also attended by the Presidents of Zambia and Ethiopia successful discussions, President Buhari said he looked forward to reading its resolutions and recommendations.

     

     

     

  • How Ogun’ll remain top most investment destination, by Abiodun

    The Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun has said the state will remain the nation’s number one investors’ choice for long because his administration is consciously working to retain that status.

    According to him, the state with its rich human and natural endowment cannot be compared with any other state in terms of access to land and sea port as well as availability of arable land.

    Gov Abiodun stated this at the 34thAnnual General Meeting of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) in Abeokuta, where he encouraged foreign investors to come and take advantage of the one-stop arrangement created by the recently passed Ogun State Investment Promotion Law.

    “Our state remains the best place for investors to open business. Besides our natural geographical location as the gateway state to Nigeria, we share borders with four other states and we share international borders with Benin Republic, which is a window to the West African sub-region,” the governor said.

    He added that in addition to these natural factors, “our proximity to Lagos, the continent’s fifth largest economy, our administration is providing focused and qualitative governance and create the enabling environment for a public-private sector partnership, which we consider fundamental to the creation of an enduring economic development and individual prosperity of the people of Ogun”

    “So, we are very investor-friendly; we are putting reforms in place to ensure that we are even more investor-friendly. We are trying to ensure that we become number one in the ease of doing business in this country and it is incontrovertible that we house the largest number of industries in the country.”

    The governor, who was represented on the occasion by his deputy, Noimot Salako, said the AGM’s theme: “The manufacturing sector: An integral part of making Ogun State the industrial hub of Nigeria,” was apt as his administration was working with the private sector in all areas of development, especially, in employment generation, wealth creation, food security and poverty alleviation.

    Read Also: Abiodun: Development for the forgotten ones

    He noted that his administration “is committed to making Ogun State a truly Investors’ First Choice Destination not only in Nigeria, but in Sub-Sahara Africa,” adding that the geographical location of the state as the gateway to the country and its proximity to Lagos, the fifth largest economy in Africa, puts the state in a vantage position for this aspiration.

    As Ogun State continued to experience influx of companies, we have deliberately considered the interest of our investors the integral part of our master-plan. We have put in place measures as the foundation to drive key policies in our Public-Private Sector Partnership strategy, and we are already recording positive results.

    “We are consciously improving the state’s ranking on the local and global ease of doing business index so as to promote and encourage local and foreign direct investment in the state.”

    He added that his administration had also put in place mechanism for a transparent, accountable revenue collection system to halt multiple taxation, whilst increasing capital expenditure on infrastructural development of roads, energy and information technology.

    “Ogun State Investment Promotion Agency will be a one-stop-shop, which will help investors to settle down easily without having to go through multiple windows,” he said.

    The governor also used the meeting to inform the investors that government was working towards ensuring that the state of public infrastructure across the state was improved upon.

    He added that the present government was also committed to ensuring that the welfare of workers in the state was attended to and also improve the security of lives and property.

    Governor Abiodun promised to create industrial parks and to “strategically locate them in different parts of the state that will provide 24-hour uninterrupted electricity supply,” which he said would be of immense help to cottage industries in local communities.

  • NGO seeks media support

    A NON-governmental organization (NGO), Search for Common Ground, has called for the strengthening of local journalists to constructively report the November 16 governorship election in Kogi State.

    The organisation spoke at the inauguration of a media training programme for journalists in Lokoja, the state capital.

    It noted the pivotal role of the media in the electoral process.

    The training programme was titled: Role of Media in Conflict Reporting: an Overview.

    Read Also: Kogi 2019: INEC clear 52

    The NGO urged the participants to be mindful of their role in the overall stability of the process.

    “We should be aware of our responsibility as journalists and recognise the power that your words and your language has. They can have instant impact that can help or hurt, hinder the progress towards peace or support it.

    “Be well informed about the issues and people you are writing about. Be balanced in finding out their interests, not just what interests the public. Challenge hate speech, even when it is hidden in metaphors and proverbs, by insisting upon clarity and simple language,” said Temisan Etietsola, the NGO’s Chief Resource Officer.

  • Dead cows: outbreak of epidemic likely, says NMA

    Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Ondo State chapter, Dr. Wale Oke, on Wednesday warned that an epidemic outbreak looms in Ijare community, following the killing of over 36 cows by lightning recently.

    Oke said if appropriate steps were not taken to check the health and environmental consequences of the dead cows, the community risked the outbreak of diseases.

    The medical practitioner advised the community to immediately contact the veterinary department in the state for advice on measures to take to prevent any outbreak of an epidemic due to the incident.

    The NMA chairman said: “The community head should inform the appropriate agency in the state, which would decide on how the dead cows would be evacuated and buried appropriately.

    Read Also: Killing of python caused cows’ death on sacred hill, say indigenes

    “They should also disinfect the place and the town to prevent epidemic outbreak in the community as a result of decomposed bodies of the cows.”

    Recall that last Saturday lightning reportedly killed the 36 cows on the sacred Oke-Owa hill in Ijare, Ifedore Local Government Area of Ondo State.

    The herders abandoned their livestock and fled.

    The traditional ruler of the town, the Sapetu of Ijare, Wemimo Olaniran, had said it was a taboo to eat animals killed by lightning.

    He pointed out that spiritual rites would be performed to prevent spiritual consequences of the incident on the natives and residents of the town.