The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigerian

  • Letter to Nigerian youths

    SIR: Youths are the backbone of every society or nation. They are the agents of development and they can positively change the future of their societies. But today, they are the centre of societal problems. Armed robbery, kidnappings, drug abuse and prostitution are common among our youths that our country depends on for sustainable development. This is because of governmental policies that always neglect their roles and the positive impacts they can bring.

    Why are youths neglected? The answer is simple. They refuse to fully participate in politics aside being political thugs.  They refuse to contest so that they can enact policies that can be in their favour.

    Why is it that our older politicians don’t want to quit politics and give the future generations opportunity to demonstrate their political capabilities in governing this country that we collectively own? Today in Nigeria, if a governor finishes his tenure; the next political ambition is to be a senator for the rest of his life. When we were in secondary and primary schools, we were told that “we are the leaders of tomorrow”. Which tomorrow? I think this tomorrow that we have been patiently waiting for has come and this is 2019. Nigerian youths must fully participate in politics not only by voting or being political thugs but by actively contesting.

    If we really want to address the inequality and the wide disparity between the masses and political elites, we must pressurise National Assembly to quickly amend the constitution so that we can have independent candidates as most youths do not have the financial capacity to contest elections under the platform of a political party. This is because of the huge amount that the political parties charge aspirants and we do not have the resources to buy votes at primary elections.

    Let us strategise for 2019 by making sure that youths contest and win elections in order to bring the desired changes that our future generations would be proud of and would not blame us for remaining in silence. According to Napoleon Bonaparte, the world suffers a lot not because of the violence of the bad ones but because of the silence of the good ones.

    Let us change the political history of our country by not allowing any serving senator to be at the Senate again, let us change the entire members and leadership of the National assembly because we have the power of achieving it, we can make it based on two things.

    First, by rationally using our voters cards  and secondly by utilizing the highest percentage of the population we have, We should utilize these political weapons to ensure that any poor performing governor is voted out; we have skilled, experienced, educated and unemployed patriotic citizens that can replace these self-serving politicians.

     

    • Hasheem B Ahmad,

    <hashimbahmad@gmail.com>

  • World largest brewer concludes merger of Nigerian subsidiaries

    World largest brewer concludes merger of Nigerian subsidiaries

    •Lists shares on NSE

    Anheuser-Busch InBev-world’s largest brewer yesterday completed the merger of its Nigerian businesses with the listing of the consolidation shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

    Three indirect Nigerian subsidiaries of Anheuser-Busch InBev-International Breweries Plc, Intafact Beverages Limited and Pabod Breweries Limited were merged through a scheme of merger with International Breweries subsisting as the post-merger company.

    A total of 5.302 billion ordinary shares were listed yesterday in the name of International Breweries. The additional shares arose from the scheme of merger involving International Breweries, Intafact Beverages Limited and Pabod Breweries Limited.

    With the supplementary listing of 5.302 billion ordinary shares, the total issued and fully paid up shares of International Breweries increased from 3.294 billion to 8.596 billion ordinary shares.

    Under the arrangements for the business combination, International Breweries issued 5.302 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each to shareholders of Intafact and Pabod. Intafact had total issued shares of 1,400 ordinary shares of N100,000 each while Pabod had 4.0 billion ordinary shares of N1 each.

    The share exchange ratio indicated that 29.09 million ordinary shares of International Breweries were exchanged for 10 ordinary shares of Intafact while 3,071 ordinary shares of International Breweries were exchanged for 10,000 ordinary shares of Pabod.

    With the business combination, Anheuser-Busch InBev’s majority equity stake in International Breweries Plc, has increased to 75.1 per cent. The merger was seen as a major strategic move by Anheuser-Busch InBev to upend competition and consolidate its Nigerian base for further expansion into the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

    Under the arrangement, all assets, liabilities and undertakings of Intafact and Pabod including employees, real property and intellectual property rights were transferred to International Breweries upon the completion of the proposed merger.

    Prior to the merger, Anheuser-Busch InBev held 72.17 per cent majority equity stake in International Breweries through its subsidiary-Brauhaase International Management GMBH. After the business combination, Anheuser-Busch InBev’s majority equity stake increased to 75.1 per cent.

    SABMiller Nigeria Holdings BV-a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev had held 75 per cent and 82.81 per cent majority equity stake in Intafact and Pabod respectively. Ministry of Finance of Anambra State held 10 per cent equity stake in Intafact while Ministry of Finance Incorporated of Rivers State held 14.52 per cent equity stake in Pabod.

    After the merger of the three companies-SABMiller Nigeria Holdings BV and Brauhaase International Management GMBH-two subsidiaries of Anheuser-Busch InBev, now hold 47.4 per cent and 27.7 per cent equity stake respectively in International Breweries, giving the foreign majority core investor controlling equity stake of 75.1 per cent. Ministry of Finance of Anambra State now hold 4.7 per cent equity stake while other minority shareholders now hold the remaining 20.2 per cent equity stake.

    The merger is believed to be a major competitive move by Anheuser-Busch InBev to give its operations a major nationwide push to increase its market share. International Breweries is located in Ilesa, Osun State in the South West region. Intafact Beverages’ brewery is ssituated in Onitsha, Anambra State in the South-East region while Pabod Breweries is located in Oginigba, Port Harcourt, Rivers Sate in the South-South region.

  • Nigerian economy attractive to investors, says IMF

    Nigerian economy attractive to investors, says IMF

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said yesterday that Nigeria was still on international investors’ radar despite currency controls being implemented in the country. It however, said worries about repatriating funds out of Nigeria following currency controls last year still dominates investor fears.

    Miriam Tamene, an IMF senior financial sector expert, said there is interest in Nigeria’s securities market. However, investors were being careful because fears of getting trapped still exist.

    Nigeria introduced capital controls following dollar shortages triggered by a currency crisis last year. The naira hit a record of 520 to the dollar, prompting the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to restrict fund flows.

    In April the bank liberalised the market to allow investors trade the naira at market-determined rates in a bid to attract inflows into debt and stock markets.

    The stock market has gained 45 per cent so far this year, helped by demand for consumer goods and banking shares after the central bank lifted currency restrictions for investors.

    Tamene’s comments came after her team visited Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as part of consultations on developments covering the economy. The report of the consultation will presented to IMF board in February.

    “Investors are interested in Nigeria, but with difficulties they had in getting their money out recently, that confidence is not there yet,” Tamene said in a statement released by the SEC.

    Nigeria’s currency market for investors has traded $22.37 billion since it was launched, according to market operator FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange.

    On Wednesday traders said some foreign investors were booking profits from treasury bills and bidding to repatriate funds abroad, creating a liquidity squeeze on the currency market, after debt yields fell.

  • Why Nigerian victims of slavery cannot sue Libya, by Falana

    Why Nigerian victims of slavery cannot sue Libya, by Falana

    •Fed Govt urged to accept African Court’s jurisdiction 

    Lagos lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) yesterday explained why it will be impossible for aggrieved Nigerians, who are victims of slavery to sue the Libyan government.

    He explained that the Federal Government is yet to deposit its declaration accepting the jurisdiction of African Court on Human and Peoples Rights at the court’s registry in Arusa, Tanzania.

    Falana gave the Federal Government till December 31 to deposit its declaration accepting the court’s jurisdiction.

    He said: “If this request is not granted before December 31, 2017, I will not hesitate to approach the Federal High Court for an order of mandamus to compel the Federal Government to deposit the declaration at the registry of the African Court with a view to empowering Nigerian citizens to secure the enforcement of their human rights in the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights”.

    The senior lawyer said this yesterday in a statement in Lagos titled: “Why Nigerian victims of slavery cannot sue Libya”.

    Falana said unless government deposits its declaration with the registry of the African Court, it will be impossible for aggrieved Nigerians who are victims of slavery to sue the Libyan government.

    The activist, however, advised government to demand for payment of monetary damages by the Libyan government to the victims in view of the facts and circumstances of the illegal human trafficking in Libya.

    Noting that Libya has not formally accepted the jurisdictional competence of the African Court, Falana contended that the victims of the illegal slave trade could have submitted a petition to the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights and thereafter apply that the communication be referred to the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights for judicial determination.

    The senior lawyer, who admitted that there was nothing to prove that Libyan government has been involved in the illicit trade, contended that the government was liable on account of its failure to curb the trade in slaved, which he described as crime against humanity.

    In addition to the demand for payment of compensation to the victims of the illegal slave trade in Libya, Falana advised the Federal Government to take urgent steps to facilitate access to the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights by aggrieved Nigerian citizens and non-governmental organisations by depositing the declaration accepting the jurisdiction of the court.

    He said this is in pursuant to Article 1 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, which imposed a duty on the Government of Nigeria to recognise the rights, duties and freedoms enshrined in the Charter and undertake to adopt legislative or other measures to give effect to them.

    Falana noted that over the past 20 years, his law office has been inundated with complaints from Nigerians who were brutalised in some African countries. Falana explained that some of the complaints pertain to the barbaric killing of 18 Nigerians during an armed invasion of the Nigerian Embassy in Guinea Bissau on October 8, 2013.

    According to him, it is common knowledge that Nigerians living in South Africa have been subjected to xenophobic attacks, which have led to loss of lives and destruction of properties on several occasions while other Nigerian have been brutalised or killed gruesomely in some other African countries.

    He noted that of recent, there have been reports of young men and women who were killed in North Africa while crossing the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea on their way to European countries for greener pastures.

    Falana said in the process of such trips, many of the travellers have been captured and sold into slavery in Libya.

    He noted that Federal Government has ordered the evacuation of thousands of Nigerian youths held in notorious slave camps in Libya.

    He added that Nigeria has itself to blame for the tragedy in Libya for blindly supporting “the illegal resolution of the United Nations Security Council which authorised the invasion of Libya to effect a regime change”.

    “Today, not less than five armed gangs are laying claim to the leadership of the country. It has been confirmed that the arms and ammunition looted from the armory in Libya were sold to the dreaded Boko Haram sect. It is also true that the shameful slave trade which Nigeria is battling with is part of the fallout from the removal and brutal killing of President Muammar Gaddafi by armed gangs supported by the allied forces of imperialism led by the United States under President Barrack Obama,” he said.

  • SNEPCo sponsors Nigerian, Chinese suppliers to boost Nigerian content

    More than 20 Nigerian and 60 Chinese suppliers have met in Shanghai in China on how to boost the capacity of indigenous vendors in the oil and gas industry.

    The event was sponsored by Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo).

    Coming shortly after the fourth edition of the Global Nigerian Forum in Aberdeen, Scotland, the  event, offered the Nigerians an opportunity to engage their Chinese counterparts on issues, such as transfer of technology and cost leadership.

    In his opening speech, the General Manager of Shell China Strategic Sourcing Development, Ding, Hiu Kwong said local content development is global, and not limited  to Nigeria, adding that Shell will continue to focus on safety, quality and cost reduction in China, as part of efforts to imp

    The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB)  Monitoring and Evaluation Director, Tunde Adelana, commended Shell Companies in Nigeria for pioneering the collaboration between Chinese and Nigerian suppliers. He challenged the Chinese to establish their presence in the Nigerian oil and gas industry and compete with the other international companies that are taking the lead in major projects.

    Adelana, who represented NCDMB’s Executive Secretary, Simbi  Wabote, said Shell has done well in local content development in Nigeria.

    The Petroleum Association of Nigeria (PETAN) Vice Chairman Geoff Onuoha said Nigerian companies were keen on developing partnerships and effective collaborations for better service delivery lauded Shell “for the tenacity and commitment in pioneering a game changing initiative”.

    Onuoha, who is the NAPIMS Group General Manager, represented by Alexander Chukwu, said: “We expect to see the birth of new joint ventures and collaboration between Nigerian and Chinese suppliers.”

    He advised the delegates to look beyond the event and take advantage of the opportunity to deploy technologies and solutions that deliver quality services and reduce cost.

    SNEPCo’s Nigerian Content Development Manager, Austin Uzoka, said there were many areas in which Nigerian and Chinese suppliers could collaborate in the oil and gas company and that Shell would continue to provide the required opportunities within its resources.

    The Nigerias also visited some companies, among them, Neway valves, the world largest valve manufacturer, Sulzer Pumps, Hilong and MSP Drillex facilities, to deepen their appreciation of best practices.

    The Chinese suppliers, on their part, obtained guidance on business development and capital investment in Nigeria.

    SNEPCo’s Contracting and Supply team tracked the cost opportunities and work to embed them as part of an overarching cost reduction drive and faster supply chain transactions.

  • Oando backs Nigerian creative arts industry

    Oando backs Nigerian creative arts industry

    •Oil firm promotes Lagos Photo Festival 

    Nigeria’s leading indigenous oil and gas company Oando Plc has continued to set the pace for other firms in the area of partnerships and support for Nigerian creative arts industry.

    The company recently partnered with the African Artists’ Foundation (AAF) to promote African art as well as socio-economic diversification through the month long Lagos Photo Festival.

    The oil and gas firm’s backing was informed by lack of support for the nation’s creative sector, specifically tourism, culture and arts over the last three decades, owing to the fact that the area has not been considered a key contributor to the economy.

    The creative sector, Oando Plc said, contributes generously to the foreign exchange earnings of many countries, including South Africa, Kenya, Morocco, Tanzania and the UAE.

    Unfortunately in Nigeria, the sector contributes less than 1.5 per cent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), it added.

    However, Oando noted that the recession witnessed by oil dependent economies has awakened the country to the benefits and need for a diversified economy.

    With Nigeria successfully exiting the recession in September, the Federal Government is implementing initiatives in partnership with the private sector aimed at diversifying the economy.

    The Lagos Photo Festival, which held its grand opening at the company’s state of the art head office, Oando Wings Office Complex on November 25, will run till December 15 across various indoor and outdoor locations.

    The grand opening included a well-curated selection of over 31 of the most talented African artists, including the New York Times portfolio review finalist, Elo Osunde & Kadara Enyeasi among others.

    The festival aims to engage the public with multifaceted stories of Africa through exhibitions, workshops, artist presentations, discussions and large scale outdoor prints displayed throughout Lagos.

    Oando, in 2011, set up its independent charity – Oando Foundation – with the aim of ensuring that children in public primary schools have access to quality education.

    Through the foundation’s work, the company is actively supporting the Federal Government in realising its education development goals.  Today, Oando Foundation has successfully reduced the number of out-of-school children, adopted and renovated over 80 public primary schools across 23 states in Nigeria and impacted the lives of over 200,000 students.

    More recently, Oando joined its JV partners (NNPC and Nigeria Agip Oil Company, NAOC) to champion the Green Rivers Project (GRP) / Farmers Day, a celebration aimed at promoting the importance of agriculture in spearheading the socio-economic development and economic diversification of the country, particularly in the Niger Delta.

    Calling on for more support of the creative arts, Head, Corporate Communications, Oando PLC Alero Balogun said: “For Nigeria to achieve its economic diversification objective, the principle of subsidiarity must apply.

    “The private sector must acknowledge that the government cannot do it all and we owe it to the country we operate in to create a positive and lasting contribution.”

  • ‘Prosecute those behind death of Nigerian girls’

    The Director-General of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Dame Julie Okah-Donli, has asked Italian authorities to ensure that those behind the death of 26 Nigerian girls on Mediterranean Sea are identified and prosecuted.

    She frowned at the haste with which the girls were buried without disclosure of their identities and nationalities.

    Okah-Donli lamented that the girls were buried on November 17, a day after the Italian Embassy in Nigeria communicated to her during a meeting with the ambassador and through an email that the remains would be buried on November 26.

    The NAPTIP boss spoke in Italy at meetings with officials of the Nigerian Embassy, officials of sister agencies and the Nigerian community, in her attempt to unravel the mystery behind the death of Nigerian migrants on Mediterranean Sea.

  • Ogapatapata to bring more Nigerian retailers online

    A new e-commerce platform, www.ogapatapata.com.ng, is seeking to promote Nigerian retailers online. Founded by Solomon Okpa, the portal which was officially unveiled recently in Lagos, said the brand is geared towards revolutionising the Nigerian digital market.

    “I had a deep conviction that one day in the near future, physical shops and market spaces would go extinct and be replaced by virtual shops and markets (e-commerce),” said Okpa in a chat with The Nation.

    “We have also created the e-profile and e-shops to accommodate every Nigeria, both old and young, literate and illiterate.”

    The name, Ogapatapata, is a Yoruba word interpreted to mean ‘ overall boss or leader’.

    The idea of the business was conceived around 2010 and became flesh in October 2015 as a WhatsApp group called “Exchange Items” said Okpa.

    “There and then the first site was coined www.exchangeyouritems.com, which later was changed to its present name www.ogapatapata.com.ng in May 2017. It was officially unveiled September 30, 2017.”

    He disclosed that it is free to use the website and they just have to create a Vendor account and create a store. Over 150 vendors are already registered on the website.

    However, customised advertisements are paid for. Okpa also said the company has not deviated from its initial goal of exchange of goods and services.

    “Our USP is Exchange of items – good for good, goods for services or services for services, reinventing the ancient trade by barter system,” he said.

    “Take for example someone giving out his garri for soup. I have also exchanged my books for slippers and the list is a long one. The concept is that we need money to buy one thing or the other. What if we can bypass money and just exchange what we have for what we want.”

    Okpa said Nigerians identify with the brand name, ‘Ogapatapata’ and the company has the “possibility of competing with other foreign brands like amazon.com, alibaba.com and the likes.”

    He however, said the business faces some challenges, especially, in getting its message to Nigerians.

    “In a market like ours where people are yet to avail themselves with the online business, much advertisement is needed, personnel to visit market women and other subscribers and to achieve that capital is very essential,” he said.

  • Eight Nigerian start-ups, 12 others for World Bank’s digital programme

    Eight Nigerian start-ups are amongst 20 of the most promising African digital start-ups that will take part in the XL Africa residency, the flagship initiative of the business accelerator launched last April by the World Bank Group’s infoDev program. XL Africa is funded by the governments of Finland, Norway, and Sweden, and administered by the World Bank Group with implementation support from IMC Worldwide, VC4A, and Koltai & Co.

    The programme, which ends on November 17 in Cape Town, South Africa, will allow the entrepreneurs the opportunity to learn from their mentors and peers, increase their regional visibility, and get access to potential corporate partners and investors.

    The eight selected Nigerian start-ups that will participate in the event include Electronic Settlement Limited (FinTech, Nigeria), MAX (Transport, Nigeria), ogaVenue (Venue Platform, Nigeria), Prepclass (EdTech, Nigeria), Printivo (Printing, Nigeria), Rensource (Energy, Nigeria), TalentBase (HR, Nigeria), and Tizeti Network Ltd. (Connectivity, Nigeria).Other participating African digital start-ups include Aerobotics (Data, South Africa), Asoko Insight (Data, Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana, United Kingdom, and Nigeria), Coin Afrique (Marketplace, Senegal and Benin), Edgepoint Digital (Jamii), (FinTech – Insurance, Tanzania),and Lynk Jobs Ltd. (HR, Kenya).

    Others are Ongair (SME Services, Kenya), Pesabazaar.com (FinTech, Kenya), Rasello Company Ltd. (SME Services, Tanzania), Sendy Ltd. (Delivery, Kenya), Snapplify (Publishing, South Africa and Kenya), Sokowatch (Delivery, Kenya), and Timbuktu (Travel, South Africa).

    The 20 successful African start-ups were selected from a pool of over 900 applicants, specialising in digital solutions for the African market, including Financial Technology (Fin-Tech), transportation, health care, education, human resources, and Business to Business (B2B).

    All companies provide a digital product or service currently available in one or more African markets and show potential to scale across the region.

    The residency will conclude with the XL Africa Venture Showcase, a regional event organised in association with the African Angel Investor Summit, in which the entrepreneurs will present their business models to a select audience of corporations and investors.

    With support from African investment groups, XL Africa will help the start-ups attract early stage capital between $250, 000- $1.5 million.”We are pleased by the interest infoDev and XL Africa generated across the continent in just a few months,” Director of the Trade & Competitiveness Global Practice at the World Bank Group, Klaus Tilmes, said.According to him, XL Africa attracted firms with high-growth potential, with many having female co-founders, and have already raised early stage investment while also demonstrating significant market traction.

    Besides, the number and quality of applications received, he said, were clear testament to the competitiveness of African start-ups and the key role they play in Africa’s growing digital economy.The selection for XL Africa was conducted by a panel of industry experts from the International Finance Corporation (IFC); implementing partners IMC Worldwide, Koltai & Co, and Venture Capital for Africa (VC4A).

  • Nigerian, French navies partner against maritime insecurity

    Plans are underway for Nigerian Navy (NN) and its French and Spanish counterparts to carry out a joint exercise against pirates in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG) region.

    The Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) Western Naval Command (WNC), Rear Admiral Sylvanus Abbah, during the visit of a French Naval Ship FNS GERMINA, said the exercise was to sustain the gains recorded against piracy and other maritime crimes in the last one year.

    The French warship berthed at the Naval Dockyard Ltd, Victoria Island yesterday, marking its first visit to Nigeria in 16 years.

    Noting the importance of the GoG to global trade, Abbah said world powers were interested in the security of the region.

    He said: “The French Navy is not the only one, countries are collaborating with us. This is why if there is any piracy attack, we are notified in time.

    “From the record of the last one year, piracy in Lagos has reduced.

    “Nigeria is a key player in the region and must participate in the sea exercise. We are happy to have FNS GERMINA. She last paid a port call to Nigeria in 2001 and today, she has visited. It shows the relationship between both nations is improving.”

    FNS Commanding Officer Commander Daetan Gayraud had said the 100 crew-member vessel was heading for Cote D’Ivoire and Gabon from Senegal ahead of the sea exercise.

    He said: “The ship is taking part in operations in troubled Francophone countries to assist in evacuating nationals. It is an operation that began in 1990. We also assist African navies in building capacity.

    “We will be in Nigeria for two days afterwards; we will proceed to Gabon to cooperate with their navies. After Gabon, we will have an exercise with the regional navies, including Nigeria Navy.

    “I hope the existing cooperation between the two navies will continue. We are very delighted to be received by an Admiral.”