The Nation Newspaper

Tag: operator

  • Operator, butchers accuse Army of undermining abattoir

    After eight years of stalemate, the Ibadan Central Abattoir, Amosun Village, opened for business in July. Already, activities are reaching the peak, delivering gains to the operator, butchers, state and local governments. But the stakeholders have been battling the leadership of the 2 Division of the Nigerian Army, Ibadan for allegedly providing cover for illegal cattle slaughtering at Odogbo Cantonment, an act that is viewed as undermining the Central Abattoir project, writes Southwest Bureau Chief BISI OLADELE 

    Slaughtering and trading activities are in full swing at the Ibadan Central Abattoir (ICA), ending years of unwholesome production of meat at sub-standard abattoirs across the capital city.

    Meat consumers in Ibadan and communities contiguous to it have heaved a sigh of relief as cows and other cattle are now properly examined and certified by veterinary doctors before they are slaughtered for human consumption at the new abattoir.

    The Ibadan Central Abattoir gained its breath after eight years of stalemate caused by inability of butchers, the 11 local government areas in Ibadan and the Oyo State Government to agree on the modality for operating the N2 billion worth of facility. But the stalemate ended in May subsequent to a landmark agreement to allow the interest of the meat consuming public reign over other factors.

    The butchers agreed to relocate. The government renegotiated terms of engagement and the private company which built the abattoir also made concessions. Then, slaughtering moved into the butchery in July and everyone became happy.

    The story has not, however, been fully rosy as a few butchers who are opposed to the facility have been defying government’s order to relocate to the new abattoir. While some chose to slaughter their cattle at the now illegal abattoirs, some allegedly moved to the slaughter slab of the 2 Division of the Nigerian Army, Odogbo Cantonment located in Ojoo area of the city.

    Southwest Report gathered that the authorities of the cantonment were allegedly shielding the few butchers from arrest by the task force set up by the state government until three weeks ago when the alleged lead butcher at the cantonment, Mr Yekinni Abiola, was eventually arrested.

    But his arrest did not happen by chance. Our correspondent reliably gathered that the butchers and management of the new abattoir petitioned the state government over alleged harassment of butchers and members of the task force by some soldiers from the cantonment.

    The Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development had to send a strongly-worded letter to the leadership of the cantonment to convey the seriousness of the state government over the matter.

    In the petition, the abattoir and butchers accused the cantonment of shielding Mr Abiola and his colleagues who were allegedly slaughtering up to 100 cattle per day in the slab that was meant for a single digit number of cattle. The operator and butchers further alleged that soldiers also provided security for Abiola and his colleagues whenever they took their meat to town for sale. It is believed that the cantonment was generating some revenue through the use of its slab thereby necessitating the need to protect the butchers and their business.

    At the middle of the crisis, two veterinary officers of the state Ministry of Agriculture who  work for the abattoir, Dr Kehinde Oladokun and Dr Ayoola Oladipo were arrested and allegedly brutalised by some soldiers. They were arrested around Bodija Market and taken to the cantonment where they were allegedly beaten up while discharging their duties for the state. They were allegedly viewed as working against the operation of the slaughter slab at the cantonment.

    When contacted, the Deputy Director, Army Public Relations (2 Division), Col. Hassan Mohammed, declined comment on the issue, saying it was already in court.

    Abiola was arrested three weeks ago and was dragged to the mobile court established by the government to hear illegal butchering cases. The court sits in the premises of Akinyele Local Government Area, Ibadan.

    When hearing commenced, Abiola pleaded ‘not guilty’ to the three-count charge of slaughtering cattle without valid licence in Ibadan which is within the operational base of the central abattoir.

    He was charged with slaughtering cows in a place not designated and without valid licence contrary to Section 24(1) and punishable under Section 24(4) of the Oyo State Abattoir and Meat Regulatory Authority Laws 2017. But he was granted bail.

    Abiola’s counsels, S. S. Akinyele and Saheed Oyebiyi, had raised a preliminary objection to the charge, arguing that their client slaughtered at the slab which is exempted from the law. By exempting the cantonment’s slab, the lawyers argued that cattle slaughtered in the cantonment are also exempted from the jurisdiction of the central abattoir.

    But the Magistrate, Mrs R. A. Ebeloku-Mustapha overruled the preliminary objection, saying that the defendant failed to show that he had been licensed by the military who had the registration of exemption. She ordered the case to proceed to trial.

    The cantonment slab was exempted from the government’s directive for all butchers to relocate to the ICA based on the fact that the slab was established purposely for meat to be consumed within the cantonment.

    Sitting on a portion of a 10-hectare land along Oyo Road, the ICA offers modern and traditional slaughtering methods with rapid turnaround time and excellent hygienic condition as against the old unhygienic abattoirs. Its operation has since brought about wholesome economic production of meat from the cattle market through inspection, slaughtering and distribution. It has also given room for effective monitoring and control of animal diseases such as tuberculosis, brucellosis and anthrax which are usually fatal.

    The new abattoir has provided opportunity for proper waste management as well as created employment for hundreds of residents. The state government now enjoys improved revenue along with the 11 local government areas while the butchers’ association as a major stakeholder also easily rakes in structured revenue from every animal slaughtered.

    The abattoir was built and managed by C&E Limited on build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis for 35 years. It houses two slaughter slab buildings, a mechanical slaughter slab building; pig slaughter slab/holding pen, goat and sheep slaughter slab and lairages.

    The modern abattoir also houses a cold store, veterinary building, a clinic, a police station, a bank building, incinerator, an administrative block and a canteen. Facing the Ibadan-Oyo expressway is the meat market section which is made up of meat shops, stalls, lock-up shops and a mosque. The abattoir currently witnesses slaughtering of between 350 and 400 animals daily.

     

  • Operator seeks palletisation policy review

    The General Manager, SIFAX Shipping Company Limited, Mr Henry Ajoh, has urged the Federal Government to reconsider its position on the implementation of the cargo palletisation policy.

    The policy, an initiative of the Presidential Ccommittee on Ease of Doing Business, is part of the new import and export guidelines of the government, which stipulates that all containerised cargoes coming into the country must be palletised.

    It is designed to assist officers of the Nigeria Customs Service and some other agencies to provide an easy and faster way to physically examine cargoes being brought into the country.

    But, Ajoh argued that the government did not adequately engaged necessary stakeholders  before coming up with the policy, hence, the stiff opposition that it has generated.

    While it might appear that the government could be solving the problem of cargo examination with this policy, the SIFAX Shipping boss argued that it would adversely affect the economy as importers would transfer the extra cost to consumers.

    He said: “The implementation of the cargo palletisation policy will lead to an increase in the cost of shipment and importation charges. These extra charges will be passed to the end users, who buy the imported goods. The manufacturers who also need to pay more for his imported raw materials as a result of the policy will also pass this to the consumers. Ultimately, this policy will lead to an increase in the prices of goods and you know the implication of this for an economy just exiting recession.”

    Ajoh further noted that the palletisation policy would not adequately address the challenge of faster cargo clearing as all imported cargoes, whether palletised or  not, would still need to be physically examined by the Customs officers.

     

  • Operator lists gains of digital currency

    Paxful Chief Technology Officer, Artur Schaback has listed the gains of digital curency to the economy.

    Speaking at the Lagos Blocknight 2017 edition of the Nigerian Blockchain Alliance Conference , he explained how the coming of the company has helped to ensure that bitcoin technology is used to help people that cannot carry out online transactions.

    He disclosed that 35 per cent traffic on his company platform comes from Nigeria. He described Africa as its biggest market with the highest numbers coming from Nigeria and Ethopia.

    “We are proud to say one-third of Paxful community is from Nigeria which is our number one country by volume, which is why we would be opening a technology space here soon,” he said.

    Schaback spoke on the theme: Building Successful Blockchain and Fintech Product. He educated the audience on how to develop a Fintech application from the scratch. He also noted that building a successful Blockchain and Fintech Product is not for the weak as there would be challenges and only those willing to take the challenges can build a successful Fintech product.

    He attributed the success of Paxful to a safe and secure platform where people can trade for the value of their work without fear or panic. He added that “if you are a buyer, you are 100 per cent protected. We verify and check all our sellers for safety, you can pay with confidence with 2-factor authentication, escrow, highest level encryption and professional audited security.”

    He said Paxful is not an exchange company, but is in a marketplace for cryptocurrencies where there are sellers and buyers on the platform. “Paxful was able to build a global peer to peer payment platform of the future by simply unlocking the power of people”. He further took the attendees on how to find problems that need to be solved in Nigeria through the use of Blockchain and Fintech applications.

    Schaback gave various insights on building a successful peer2peer bitcoin marketplace.  He mentioned some successful and failed peer-to-peer (P2P) bitcoin marketplace and advised attendees to pick important lessons from the stories they have heard at the conference. He further advised the attendees to challenge themselves, take risks and start building.

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, Joseph Nnanna said the theme of the conference offers a unique opportunity to reflect once again on the impact of financial technologies and digital currency on financial system stability and economic development”

    CBN Chief Information Security Officer, Mrs.Rakiya Mohammed said the apex bank would generate useful and implementable policies and strategies that would form the bases for regulating bitcoin market in Nigeria.

    She said there was need to educate regulators and Nigerians on bitcoin in order to avail them with relevant knowledge about what they do. The two-day conference themed: National Development in the Era of Distributed Ledger Technology & Digital Currency, was attended by industry experts, regulators, national institutions, professionals and private establishments.

     

  • PenCom: regulator or operator?

    PenCom: regulator or operator?

    •It must be compelled to render account of its interim committee’s activities in FGPL

    IT is astonishing that snce the National Pension Commission (PenCom) took over First Guaranty Pensions Ltd (FGPL) on August 12, 2011, it has not held any Annual General Meeting (AGM) contrary to the provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA). AGMs are supposed to be held at least once in a year. What this implies is that for this period, there has not been any audited account for the firm. Indeed, the company’s original owners are alleging that its fortunes have dwindled and that the company is being badly run.
    If this is true, it is sad indeed.
    PenCom took over FGPL sequel to a target examination barely a month after the regulator had affirmed it as the most performing pension fund administrator (PFA), thus making the takeover curious.
    Expectedly, the matter has been the subject of litigation in several courts. Interestingly, PenCom and others that have taken FGPL’s owners to court have lost on all fronts so far. FGPL took the commission to the Federal High Court, Abuja, in 2011, alleging a breach of procedures by it. It said what PenCom ought to have done was to send its observations on the target examination to the company’s directors who would then submit same to the shareholders to vote on, and the result would determine the company’s fate; not a takeover by PenCom.
    The court gave an ex parte order stopping all actions based on the target report, pending the determination of the substantive suit. This was communicated to PenCom. But, curiously, the regulator, which received the court’s order on August 12, 2011, dissolved the FGPL board and appointed an interim committee in its stead on August 15, 2011. However, on June 12, 2012, the court found merit in FGPL’s argument and quashed the target report in its entirety. Indeed, Justice D.U Okorowo upbraided PenCom for contempt of the order of the court and ordered that all parties should revert to the status quo ante.
    The judgment was followed by all manner of subterfuges.
    Instructively, the matter was of such concern that the Attorney-General of the Federation at the time, Mohammed Adoke, wrote letters to PenCom to respect the court’s judgment or show evidence that it had secured a stay of execution. Even the incumbent AGF and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, had intervened to no avail.
    There are other reasons why the real motive for FGPL’s takeover becomes the more questionable. Whereas the firm was on the verge of securing new accounts, including those of the Lagos State government, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), among other juicy accounts, when PenCom took it over, PenCom has, regrettably, not added a single account to what it met on ground. Indeed, it is now feared that the company might have lost its market share in the course of this intervention. It has not been able to pay any dividend since then, either.
    There is an urgent need to compel PenCom to hold an AGM. The true position of the financial status of the company must be ascertained at least in the interest of the shareholders, and, more importantly, the contributors. It is not enough for the regulator to say that FGPL is doing well, when its books are not available for scrutiny. Neither can the regulator say it cannot conduct AGM because of the cases in court, having cherry-picked which aspects of a judgment to respect and which to disobey. The commission should know what to do, especially in the absence of a stay of execution of the judgment of Justice Okorowo nullifying its target report.
    The new pension scheme came into being to enable retirees have a blissful retirement. What is playing out with FGPL may make this lofty dream a mirage. While it is doubtful if the regulator has any right to take over FGPL in the first place, it becomes the more puzzling whether this can be in perpetuity as it is fast turning out in the instant case.
    We cannot deny PenCom the right of appeal that it is exercising in this matter, having lost serially in various courts, either by itself or through some other parties that had gone to court over the same or related matters. But questions can be asked over its handling of the company’s affairs in the last five years, especially as this can make the difference between life and death for millions of Nigerians who had chosen FGPL as their pension fund administrator.

  • Operator seeks low cost capital for domestic carriers

    The Chief Executive Officer of Overland Airways, Capt. Edward Boyo, has canvassed the provision of low cost capital to indigenous airlines by the Federal Government to keep their operations afloat.
    Boyo said such initiative would not be too much a price to pay to make domestic airlines viable as access to funds would enable the airlines acquire aircraft at lower interest rate.
    The repayment of such funds he said should spread across a long period.
    Speaking in Lagos, Boyo explained that some governments across the globe have taken such steps to bail the airlines from collapse.
    He described the provision of low cost capital as the best reform government could carry out to resuscitate the domestic carriers as previous attempts to provide intervention funding for the carriers did not yield the desired results.
    He listed some of the factors militating against the domestic airline operators in the country to include low capacity of funding institutions, which hampers aircraft acquisition and high lending rate to airlines which has become a major challenge for many operators.
    Other factors, according to Boyo, are prohibitive maintenance costs which have made domestic airline operators to ferry aircraft abroad for major checks, such as C and D, high import duties and taxes on aircraft parts which adds to operators operating cost.
    He listed skyrocketing price of aviation fuel which has caused operators over 40 per cent of their operating costs.

    The chief executive officer added that there is no level playing ground for operators in the airline business in the country.
    Boyo said: “But the quickest reform the government can make today is to provide low cost capital for the airlines. And it is nothing new; governments in other countries have done it for their airlines.
    “Every government must protect the economy for the benefit of their people, not opening the economy for foreigners to come and take advantage of them. Due to the high cost of capital in Nigeria, you have a situation where European, American and other foreign companies are coming to drop their aircraft in the Nigeria market. And it is because they have access to cheaper capital
    “The problem that Nigerian operators have is high financing of aircraft. This is a problem with Nigeria and Africa, generally. We have lower financing cost in Europe and more advanced countries of the world. An aircraft is measured by its airworthiness, not by the age.”

  • Abducted bakery operator dies in Calabar

    The owner of a popular bakery on the Chamley Road in Calabar, the Cross River State, who was abducted two weeks ago, Mr Kenneth Anya, has died, it was learnt yesterday.

    Anya, an Igbo businessman, reportedly died on Monday at his home after he was released.

    His abductors were said to have demanded N10 million ransom to release him.

    The cause of his death could not be established last night, but it is believed to be connected with the trauma he went through in the hands of his abductors in the last few weeks.

    Last week, the Igbo community in the state, complained about the rise in kidnappings, especially against its people.

    Also, Igbo businessmen have threatened to close their businesses for two days.

    President of the community in Calabar, Chief Albert Enya, yesterday condoled with the family of the late Anya.

    He urged the residents to always work with security agencies whenever their loved ones were kidnapped.

    Appealing to the government to urgently tackle kidnappings, Enya also urged the residents to be security-conscious.

    The community leader advised the residents to be mindful of their environment because kidnappers always work with information.

  • StarTimes is best Pay TV operator at BoICT 2016

    StarTimes has been named the Best Pay TV Operator at the coveted Beacon of Information and Communication Technology (BoICT) awards.

    The Sino-Nigerian Pay TV firm was declared the winner at a gala, which held at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos.

    At the ceremony attended by the crème de la crème of technology policy makers, captains of industry, regulatory bodies and other key players, StarTimes was presented with the award and commended for its consumer friendly offerings.

    StarTimes is a leading digital-TV operator in Africa, combining satellite and terrestrial DTV systems to provide an open and secure digital wireless platform.

    Speaking on StarTimes achievements, the Editor-In-Chief and CEO of CommunicationsWeek Media Limited and the organisers of the awards, Mr. Ken Nwogbo, said over time, StarTimes has revolutionalise the Pay TV industry landscape in Nigeria with its consistently affordable and public friendly offerings. “Since StarTimes joined the industry, Pay TV has become more popular and accessible for many people,” he said.

    Receiving the awards on behalf of the Board, management and staff of the company, the Marketing Director, Oludare Kafar expressed appreciation to millions of StarTimes subscribers, who made it possible for the company to win the award with a promise of better subscribers’ experience.

    “As a business, we have embraced innovation and cutting edge global technology solutions to deliver compelling digital television experience to our millions of subscribers. With very sharp picture quality, strong signals and rich channels that meet the entertainment need of every member of the family, we offer affordable bouquets of digital television as part of our commitment to guide Nigerians into full digitalisation. We also engage in relevant collaborations with critical stakeholders to achieve this,” he said.

    He said further: “Recently, we have invested heavily into sports content acquisitions and channels, and expanded entertainment horizon for sports loving Nigerians. With StarTimes, Nigerians are guaranteed of an ever increasing buffet of solid entertainment, be it sports, movies, drama, cartoons and music.”

  • Operator censors website as power dips to 2,494MW

    The Nigerian Electricity System Operator has added a password to its website www.nsong.org to prevent unfettered access following the dwindling of power generation in the last few days.

    The website that publishes and updates online data on power generation and allocation to the 11 distribution companies recently revealed the “0MW” allocation in the electricity market, a disclosure that still unsettles the Federal Ministry of Power.

    Despite the censor, our correspondent yesterday got the daily Technical Report Update from a stakeholder in one of the electricity generation companies.

    According to the report, yesterday’s power generation was 2,494 Mega Watts (MW) from which 286.81 MW was allocated to the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) and 200MW to Kano Electricity Distribution Company.

    The report noted that there was no record of system break down, although “some 33KV and 11KV feeders are out of supply due to low generation and heavy rainfall witnessed at some locations.”

    The action was part of face- saving measures the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) adopted to ward -off access of journalists to the website.

    A source in the industry explained the stories that emanated from the website became embarrassing to the electricity market that has now opted to operate an opaque sector.

    Asked why the website has been pass worded, the Managing Director, Nigerian Electricity System Operator, Dipak Sarma, yesterday told our correspondent on phone the information on the website is meant for its stakeholders, not journalists.

    He said: “It is because that data is meant for the stakeholders. By stakeholders, I mean the DisCos and GenCos. It is not meant for anybody other than the stakeholders.”

    The last time the Federal Ministry of Power updated its data on energy generation was on April 3.

  • Challenges of travel business, by operator

    The Chief Executive Officer, Sesby’s Travel and Tours Limited, Adeola Sesby–Banjoh, has  identified  infiltration into the business by people not trained to handle travel planning as one of the major challenges facing the sub-sector.

    She lamented that this has led to poor service delivery.

    Speaking during the  launch of the company’s online portal and services in Lagos, she said the company made a turnover of N1 billion last year, in spite of the several challenges in the sub-sector.

    She explained that the major functions of banks are to accept deposits and lend money to customers, wondering why they should dabble into an area they don’t have core competencies.

    The travel chief described as abnormal, the sale of airline tickets by banks, adding that it does not happen in the United States and Britain.

    She stated that in these countries, the business of selling airlines tickets was restricted to travel agencies.

    “One of our major challenges is that some commercial banks have infiltrated into the travel business by selling airlines’ tickets.It is only in Nigeria that it is done. It is not done in Britain and in the United States,” she said.

    Another challenge, she said, is dearth of funds.

    On the travel agency’s relationship with other stakeholders, such as airlines and the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Sesby-Banjoh said it has been cordial, adding that the firm became IATA travel agent n June 4, 2003.

    She added that Sesby also has good working relations with airlines across the globe, noting that the major aim of the agency is to take off stress from customers.

     

  • How devaluation will impact market outlook, by operator

    Group Chief Executive Officer, Morewits Financial Market Institute, Dr. Oluwatobi Oyefeso, has highlighted some of the implications of the naira devaluation by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    In a report obtained by The Nation, he explained that in a floating exchange rate regime or managed float, such as in the United States and Nigeria, market forces determine currency depreciation or appreciation.

    He said the naira devaluation has been having domino effects on the capital markets’ performance.

    “For fixed income securities, the naira exchange rate depreciation pushes up the domestic inflation through higher import prices. Investors would require higher returns to compensate for the inflation and the CBN may raise interest rates to fight off inflation, thereby pushing up interest rates even more,” he said.

    Continuing, he said that the devaluation will result in the price crash of the fixed income securities and increases investment risk of fixed income securities like bonds and treasury bills (TBs).

    “Expectedly, as the interest rate increases, investors will be averse to investing in the ‘existing’ bonds and treasury bills that pay lower than the new rate.  On the other hand, investors will have preference for the ‘new’ issues whose prices factor in the new and higher rate,” he said.

    He explained that the crash in the fixed income securities, will only be applicable to the ‘existing’ instruments issued prior to the naira depreciation and its associated inflation rate increase.

    “Additionally, there is usually a capital flight from the capital markets to the money markets to capitalise on the new and higher rate in the money markets. This often causes price crash and enhances the investors’ negative sentiments in the capital markets,” he said.

    He said a strong naira can actually hurt the profits of the Nigerian companies when translated to foreign income.  “In the contrast, a depreciated or weak Naira increases the exchange rate for the foreign-currency denominated sales and profits.  Interestingly, a depreciated Naira will boost the Nigerian exporters’ trade and profits as the Nigerian products become more price competitive in overseas markets,” he added.

    Continuing, he said, the naira depreciation will erode the value of the underlying asset(s) forming the mutual funds. “However, the naira depreciation will create bullishness in the money markets via the increase in the demand and price as investors divest from the capital markets to invest in the money markets. In this case, the mutual funds on money markets instruments will experience market growth,” he said.