The Nation Newspaper

Tag: operation

  • Foundation starts operation

    The Bunmi and Ajibola Health Care Foundation has announced the commencement of its operation.

    Established in April, the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) said it’s focusing on the maintenance and improvement of the health of individuals living in various communities across the country.

    Chairman of the foundation, Ajibola Olulola said: “We were formerly known as Global Healthcare Home Services and we worked with various clients to provide quality home healthcare services. Following our rebranding to The Bunmi and Ajibola Healthcare Foundation, we have extended our commitment to providing high quality healthcare services to individuals and communities having health issues.

    “Our goal as a foundation is to provide medical access to indigent communities where children and elderly citizens have limited access to medical care.”

  • Operation No Afro

    Unbelievably, it has become dangerous to wear an afro in Gboko, Benue State. Those who want to do so are not free to do so. Suddenly, it is not a question of fashion, but a question of permission.

    A December 4 report highlighted the shocking development: “Youths in Gboko have declared war on those wearing afro hairstyles and low waist jeans, who, they suspect belong to cult groups. They drag them to the market square.”

    What follows is forced haircut. Imagine someone wearing “wig-like, curly hair shaped into a smooth round ball,” who suddenly finds that the hair is gone, cut without consent. Males are the target.

    This is the community’s response to cultism. A suspected cult member had allegedly “shot and killed a commercial motorcyclist (Okada rider).” A vengeful mob reportedly killed nine suspected cult members about a week ago in Lessel, headquarters of Ushongo Local Government Area.

    After the revenge killings, the action that may be called “Operation No Afro” commenced.  This report captured what happened on the day the operation began:  “As early as 9am, some of the youths in Gboko, armed with scissors, stormed the market and went after those with afro hairstyle and low waist jeans. Victims of the action were mostly youths aged between 10 and 20, some of them with the ‘Mike Tyson’ hairstyle – the one worn by the former boxing champion. The youths have vowed to stop cult activities in Gboko, the ancestral home of the Tiv.”

    It is not surprising that the operation, according to the report, “has created panic in the town.” Those who claimed to be fighting cultism through this operation took the law into their own hands. This is condemnable.

    It is unreasonable to see the afro hairstyle as a cult symbol. What about innocent people who wear an afro but are not cult members?  While the fight against cultism is positive, the method employed in this case is negative. The operation denies afro lovers their right to wear an afro, particularly in cases where the afro has nothing to do with cult membership.

    Gboko Local Government Area Chairman, Mrs. Berky Orpin, was quoted as saying security agencies and elders had intervened to prevent a breakdown of law and order. Beyond this intervention, the development calls for a campaign to discourage cultism and also discourage people from victimising those who like to wear an afro. The operation against the freedom to wear an afro is nonsensical.

     

  • FRSC to embark on “Operation Show Your Driver’s Licence’’ in Lagos

    FRSC to embark on “Operation Show Your Driver’s Licence’’ in Lagos

    THE Lagos State Sector of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) plans to embark on an “Operation Show Your Driver’s Licence’’  soon, according to the sector commander ,Mr Hyginus Omeje. The aim is to encourage owners of the 56, 767 driving licences currently lying uncollected in FRSC offices across the state to go and pick them. “We are embarking on this assignment so that motorists will come to our office to collect their driving’ licences. There are 56,767 licences yet to be collected by their owners,” he said.

    “We have sent SMS to their owners that their licences are ready for collection but they ignored our messages. The fine for a motorist driving without a valid licence is N10, 000 and the offender must produce the licence within 24 hours,” he added. Omeje said that if, after 24 hours, such offender could not produce a valid licence, his vehicle would be impounded. He said that in such situation, it would be assumed that the driver was not licensed to drive.

  • Shopper protection: Lagos, HP shut int’l counterfeit operation

    The Lagos State government and a leading original equipment manufacturer (OEM), HP, have collaborated to protect shoppers from the menace of counterfeiters.

    Lagos State Police Command, under Commissioner of Police I.O Edgal and HP officials swooped on  a large-scale international counterfeiting operation in the state. As part of the raid, there were several seizures in the Lagos and and also Abuja, in shops, warehouses and at manufacturing sites. The Nigerian officials were seized 142,000 illegal items, which were primarily components for manufacturing counterfeit toner and ink cartridges.

    Counterfeiting is a crime. For users, such illegal imitations can cause a multitude of problems that may lead to performance and reliability issues. Should your printer breakdown because of using counterfeit printer ink or toner, you could also have issues with your manufacturer’s warranty becoming not applicable.

    In contrast, original HP products are designed to meet HP’s strict quality and reliability standards, based on a long history of inventing and testing. Original HP LaserJet and HP inkjet cartridges, unlike counterfeits, benefit from superior performance and consistent results.

    Country Supplies Business Manager, Nigeria and Ghana, Olatunji  Itiola, said: “HP is thrilled to continue its success working with the Nigerian government and authorities, to close down these illegal counterfeit operations. We are proud that the collaboration is working to reduce counterfeiting operations in the region, and bring the associated criminals to justice. With our unwavering efforts and commitment to end these counterfeit operations with local officials, we continue to focus on the safety of our customers through our anti-counterfeiting and fraud programme.”

    Across EMEA over the last five years, approximately 12 million counterfeits and components have been seized by local authorities, supported by HP. HP has conducted over 4,500 audits and inspections (CPPAs and CDIs) of partners’ stocks or suspicious deliveries for customers.

    Through HP’s Anti-Counterfeiting and Fraud (ACF) Programme, the company actively educates its customers and partners to be vigilant against fake printing supplies. It also cooperates closely with local and global law enforcement authorities to detect and dismantle illegal operations that produce counterfeit HP printing components.

  • SON launches operation ‘destroy killer-tyres’

    SON launches operation ‘destroy killer-tyres’

    The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has embarked on a nationwide exercise of destroying  fake and expired tyres. The move, according to the organisation, is to safeguard lives and property.

    Its Director-General, Osita Aboloma, said through its Operation Gbale (meaning operation sweep), the days of fake and expired tyres, which cause deaths and economic losses, were over.

    The standards body noted that  recent statistics issued by the Federal Roads Safety Commission (FRSC) showed that the rate of accidents caused by substandard tyres had reduced.

    Aboloma, who was represented by SON Director of Inspectorate and Compliance Bede Obayi, at the destruction of some fake and expired tyres in Lagos, said: “We are going round the nation to pick all the expired tyres from every corner of the nation and make sure that they are properly destroyed. This is why we have brought you here today to kick off what we call the operation “gbale”. We have volumes of tyres across all our state offices in this country, which we have mopped up as a result of our enforcement exercises.”

    According to him, the agency has conducted series of nationwide campaigns on the negative effect of substandard tyres, urging consumers to check for DOT numbers before buying tyres.

    “We are going to be mopping up the country to make sure that Nigerians are protected from these people selling fake and expired tyres. We have acquired rugged machines that can destroy these tyres and condemn them. The present administration of the agency has made its promise to Nigerians that it is going to get value from our operations,” he assured.

    Aboloma continued:“SON has been at the vanguard of fighting the menace of fake and substandard tyres coming into the country and we have seen cases of DOT erased to deceive Nigerians. We have been carrying out sensitisation campaigns against the use of these substandard tyres because these fairly used tyres have been thrown to the trash overseas and due to harsh weather, the tyres are dead on arrival when they arrive our shores.”

    He said  SON would continue to collaborate with other enforcement agencies to rid the country of substandard goods, pointing out that how to destroy the tyres was a challenge. He reaffirmed that the agency had acquired machines to destroy the products without causing environmental hazards.

    “We didn’t want to throw the tyres into the sea because they will not melt and can cause aquatic problems and when they are burnt, it will cause environmental problems for Nigerians. So, SON got hi-tech machines to destroy the tyres beyond repair so that they do not find their way into the markets,” he said.

    He said the destroyed substandard tyres were worth billions of naira, urging importers to get the approved SONCAP certification, while also advising them to desist from stacking tyres into one another in a bid to save cost. “The storage of a tyre determines its life span, when you continue stocking these tyres into each other, you are only reducing the strength of these tyres, which makes them dead on arrival,” Aboloma said.

  • Nova Merchant Bank begins operation today

    Nova Merchant Limited will today begin operations in Lagos. Its Chairman, Phillips Oduoza, said the lender, which will be officially opened today, will be coming into the market with products, ideas and knowledge that are suited to dealing with the challenges faced by Nigeria businesses.

    “This means as the economy normalises, we scale up with it. That is why we are coming out now. As a new bank, we have come with a clean slate and are well positioned to take advantage of emerging opportunities as the economy recovers,” he said at a press briefing in Lagos.

    Oduoza, who has over 30 years banking experience, said Nova is fully licenced by the Central Bank of Nigeria to commence banking operations.

    “In the past, we used to have Merchant Banks as well as commercial banks but that boundary was removed because of the onset of the universal banking licence just before the consolidation exercise. The implication was that banks could do both commercial and merchant banking. In 2013, the demarcation was brought back following the review of the Universal Banking license. Therefore, you now have merchant banks and commercial banks with different areas of focus and permissible businesses,” he said.

    He said that merchant banks are very important because they support the economic development of the nation through the provision of long-term funding. “In Nigeria, Merchant Banking has not been fully tapped into. Banking penetration in Nigeria is mostly retail banking focusing on retail and corporate clients but we have opted for merchant banking in the strict sense of it with focus on corporate clients and investment banking.

    Nova brings the total number of merchant banks in Nigeria to five, which I believe is still very low in number. There is opportunity for more, considering the key role merchant banks play.

     

  • UNILAG TV to begin operation next month

    UNILAG TV to begin operation next month

    •Varsity gets $5m equipment for world-class broadcasting

    The University of Lagos (UNILAG) television station will begin operations in February for research-oriented education and ease communication within and outside the university community.

    UNILAG’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, gave the assurance yesterday in Lagos in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    NAN reports that the Federal Government recently approved licence for the television, thereby making it the first campus television station in Nigeria.

    According to Ogundipe, the university is set to change the face of television broadcasting through its Mass Communication Department.

    He said: “We are ready to go on air, as we have all it takes to float a world-class television station.

    “Right now, we have the cameras and other gadgets with a world-class studio.

    “The approval to operate a television station will improve our branding. We are bringing professionals to help in kick-starting the station.”

    The vice chancellor lauded the efforts of his predecessor, Prof. Rahamon Bello, as well as Prof. Ralf Akinfeleye of the Mass Communication Department, for pursuing the dream.

    Ogundipe said the university paid N10 million to acquire the television licence.

    Also, the Chairman of the Centre of Excellence in Multi-Media/Radio UNILAG and Television, Prof. Ralf Akinfeleye, told NAN that the television station would be the first of its kind in West Africa.

    He thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for granting the licence to the university.

    The Mass Communication expert also praised former President Olusegun Obasanjo for granting the institution its radio licence in 2002.

    Akinfeleye, a former Head of Department of the Mass Communication, said the station would go beyond the Direct Satellite Television (DSTV).

    The Mass Communication expert said it would enhance the training of modern-day broadcasters.

    He added: “We are indeed happy to see the realisation of this dream. We bided for a World Bank’s $5 million grant for equipment along with 19 other universities, and we won it.

    “I am glad to state that we have taken delivery of various equipment, such as cameras, tele-prompters and other broadcast materials, of that amount. This makes our studio more sophisticated than most television stations in the country.”

    Akinfeleye said the station would also add value to the training of students.

    A Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication Dr Olubunmi Ajibade said the station, which would be hosted on the DSTV platform, would also be used to generate income for the institution.

    Ajibade said Nigeria and Africa would witness professionalism at its best, in broadcasting, with the operation of the station.

    He said: “We train people for the industry. So, we are in the best position to attract the best hands. Fortunately, the World Bank project has already supplied us with world-class equipment for the radio and television operations.”

     

     

  • CIBN’s learning centre begins operation

    The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) has unveiled its learning centre and library in Lagos, where activities have commenced.

    Speaking at the event, CIBN President, Segun Ajibola, said the commissioning of the CIBN Learning Centre and unveiling of the Alhaji A.O.G Otiti Library was the institute’s positive contribution to the economy.

    He said the objective of establishing the learning centre is to cater for the knowledge quest of bank professionals and practitioners in other allied sectors.

    “It is indeed heartwarming for me to witness this occasion and I believe that the early set of professional bankers in the country here present would have fond memories of this legacy building which served as the “melting pot” for them during their journeys towards becoming professional bankers,” he said.

    “With its present Headquarters at PC 19, Adeola Hopewell Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, the chequered history of CIBN would be incomplete without a special reference to the hallowed land on which we all presently stand. It may interest this distinguished audience that this remodeled building served as the first National Secretariat of CIBN and was opened in 1973 by the then Federal Commissioner for Finance, Alhaji Usman Shehu Shagari,” he added.

    “At the CIBN, we are fully aware of the imperative of leveraging technology to meet the capacity building needs of professionals in a knowledge economy. The structure, on the first floor houses three ultramodern facilities that can be used for various kind of trainings which will be furnished with the latest technology in training that would make training to be rewarding.  On the Upper Floor, a Pent Floor, is a multipurpose hall that can be used as a training room, a mini-event hall or cafeteria,” he said.

     

     

     

  • TStv begins operation November 1

    TStv begins operation November 1

    TELCOM Satellite Television (TStv), Abuja plans to begin commercial operations from November 1, according to its management.

    Its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Mr. Bright Echefu said the company has imported one million decoders and licensed 748 agents across the country to boost its operations.

    Echefu said TStv, with a state-of-the-art digital equipment and a crop of talented youths, is poised to change the narration of digital satellite broadcasting in Nigeria.

    He stressed that the firm would transform viewing experience and add values to the industry.

    Briefing reporters at his headquarters in Abuja, Echefu dismissed the wrong impressions created in the social media about  his background and his company, insisting that TStv is a product of his passion and commitment to broadcasting.

    Aided by senior management staff, including a popular musician, Sani Danja, Echefu said TStv is in the business of pay-tv not to displace or fight others such as DSTV, Startimes and Multi-choice, but to build on their achievements for the good of the society.

    Echefu, who conducted reporters round the firm’s facilities in Abuja, said about 5,000 decoders would be given out free of charge for the test-running of the programmes of the satellite television,  which he said has over 17 channels to its credit.

    He said when in full operation, TStv decoders would be fully subsidised given the three years tax holiday granted the company by the government and considering the fact that the company would also create 250 direct employment for Nigerians and 10,000 indirect employment for the people.

    The TStv boss, who said sustainability remains the key issue in the industry, however, lauded DSTV for its contributions to the industry, saying the company made other stakeholders in the industry understand the value of content.

    Echefu said: “ I remain undaunted. I am a very religious person, and I believe, this project is God’s project. I have failed before. But now that God is in charge, I will not fail anymore because God never fails.”

  • Operation Crocodile Smiles’ coming to Ogun soon – Army

    Operation Crocodile Smiles’ coming to Ogun soon – Army

    The Brigade Commander, 35 Artillery Brigade, Nigeria Army, Alamara, Abeokuta, Basil Adoke, has advised residents of Ogun State and visitors not to panic with the imminent coming of a military campaign tagged ‘Operation Crocodile Smiles’ in the state.
    Basil said the exercise, when it eventually arrives and commence, would be targeted only at “miscreants and other criminals,” adding that the law abiding members of the society have nothing whatsoever to fear about it.
    The Brigade Commander who made this known at the Government House, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, in his remarks during the cutting of the 57 Independence Day anniversary cake, said though the  state is “relatively peaceful,” there was also the need to sustain the peace.
    “Operation Crocodile smiles will take care of miscreants and nobody should panic or entertain fear about it except miscreants. There is relative peace in Ogun State but the peace should also be sustained,” Adoke said.
    Earlier, Governor Ibikunle Amosun in his remarks, expressed the confidence that his successor would do better than him as the bar of governance has been raised in the state since May 29, 2011.
    Amosun recalled that the tell tale sign among others, that a successor would out-perform him, include the World bank’s $350m credit facility being extended to the state government to access at one percent interest rate.
    He noted that Lagos state government during the era of Babatunde Fashola, SAN, availed itself of such soft loan facility and that the incumbent administration in Lagos has also  accessed part of that initiative started by Fashola to embark upon the on – going  projects in the state.
    According to the Governor, should the Ogun State government accessed the $350m credit facility, even succeeding administration would access part of the fund.