The Nation Newspaper

Tag: patronage

  • Baru urges patronage of NNPC shipping firm

    The Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru,  has advised partners involved in the Direct Sale Direct Purchase (DSDP) scheme of the corporation to patronise NNPC shipping subsidiary, NIDAS, to ensure profitability.

    He gave the advice to the two relevant subsidiaries: Crude Oil Marketing Division (COMD) and the NNPC Trading Ltd, during his visit to the NNPC Office in Hammersmith, London, where he met with the workers of both the London Office and NIDAS.

    DSDP is a scheme through which NNPC sells crude oil directly to off-shore refiners and receive products from same in return.

    A statement explained that Baru was elated by the giant profitability strides recorded by NNPC/NIDAS after it launched into international freight business.

    He said: “I wish to commend NIDAS for beginning to make money for the NNPC.

     

    I am particularly elated with the company’s performance which has seen it doing 15 voyages on clean petroleum products from October 2018, just four months after it resumed international freight business.”

    He urged them to redouble their efforts towards sustaining the current tempo which he said, was in line with the profitability drive of the corporation.

    NIDAS Ltd Managing Director, Mr. Lawal Sade, who spoke during the visit of the GMD, lauded Dr Baru for his support and efforts in revamping the company which he said, prior to the GMD’s assumption of office, had been moribund.

    “Our recent modest successes wouldn’t have been possible without Dr. Baru’s support. We are truly inspired by this visit and we are ever ready to achieve the targets set for us by the NNPC Management,” he said.

    He said the company would work harder to sustain the tempo by engaging and soliciting the support of sister NNPC’s outfits and international partners towards improving the corporation’s bottom-line.

    Sade told the GMD that NIDAS had already signed Contract of Affreightment (COA) with BP and Socar for their DSDP clean cargoes, while discussions with Vitol, Mercuria and Petrocam are ongoing.

    According to the MD, NIDAS has gradually started to find a good footing from the vessel fixing of last month as they were able to fix vessels below its competitors’ rate, which made some companies particularly Oando to come to NIDAS for a spot charter.

    He observed that they were in the process of deploying IT facilities and software that will enable them monitor their ships on the high seas.

    Established in 2007, NNPC/NIDAS is a fully-owned subsidiary of NNPC charged with the mandate of shipping clean petroleum products into Nigeria and West Africa.

     

  • Between patronage and service

    Where do I begin? This is one of those moments when sadness hovers around the horizon, when it is difficult to make sense out of the goings on, when one wonders if we will ever get it right and when one wonders where the faults should be put.

    The happenings in the polity now bring to mind Toje Onovwakpo and the extent he went to get Oshevire jailed just to get some advantage. Both are characters in Isidore Okpewho’s ground-breaking novel, The Last Duty, which won the African Arts Prize for Literature in the early 70s. Many in the polity are in this mood of implicating the opponents just to score political points and have an edge. This scenario makes me wonder when the rain began to beat us.

    The rain began to beat us long ago. I cannot say specifically when, but it is safe to situate it under the military. Before them, we had the likes of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Obafemi Awolowo and Nnamdi Azikwe. They were not poor, but they were not men of extravagant opulence. We all can see for ourselves what the military guys who replaced them under the guise of being out to fight corruption in the polity have turned out to be.

    Almost all of our past military leaders are rich, seriously rich. Yet, salaries and allowances were all they earned while in service, but today they boast of wealth that cannot be captured on the Forbes’ rich list. They operated in that era captured in Men Without Ears, a novel which shows how patronage has been able to render service to the background. Now, nothing goes for nothing:  the euphemism for the need to grease palms before service is dispensed. Service, in this light, is now seen as a favour.

    It is even worse now that politicking has started and governance has taken the backstage; we are now faced with the question of what should be paramount: service or patronage? Politicians and their foot soldiers will go for patronage any day. If you like, as a governor, tar all the roads, build all the bridges, construct houses for the people and ensure an efficient civil service, you are not guaranteed of support to continue in office if the roads to the stomachs of the political class is not tarred. The roads must be tarred with contracts, many of which they either do not bother to do at all or they do shoddily and expect to be even over-paid. Failure to do this gets the governor or council chairman into the black book of party leaders, who wait for when he will need a fresh mandate to pounce and either ensure he loses or negotiates a better deal.

    Our value system has broken down, so down that what is in it for me is the first question we ask rather than what is in it for the society. The people, who are supposed to be the lifeblood of democracy, have lost their voices to those who can dispense patronage. All thanks to poverty.

    A huge fight has broken out in states. Senators are fighting governors; House of Representatives members are not left out; and members of the House of Assembly are also grumbling. The battles for tickets to seek fresh terms have further shown the advantages patronage has over service.

    When Senator Bukola Saraki became senate president, the need to ‘settle’ his colleagues arose. Saraki announced 65 committees for 109 Senators. All 109 Senators, irrespective of their political party affiliation, whether All Progressive Congress (APC) or Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were ‘taken care’ of as either a standing Committee chairman or deputy chairman. Saraki simply played his cards to consolidate his leadership of the Senate.

    The situation in the House of Representatives was not any different. Speaker Yakubu Dogara upped the calculation by announcing 96 committees to ‘take care’ of the 360-member House. Of the 96 standing committee chairmen and their deputies appointed by Dogara, the APC caucus got 48; the PDP caucus got 45, an indication that Dogara set out to reward his PDP supporters, whose support helped him defeat the APC’s choice, Femi Gbajabiamila.

    Governors also found themselves in dilemma of ‘settling’ supporters. For instance, Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi had to appoint 24 commissioners and 12 advisers. He bought Prado Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) for his commissioners at N11.5 million each. Many of his colleagues also had to appoint several men into positions that their states could do without. It was all about patronage. Supporters, sponsors and party leaders must be settled. Godfathers, too!

    When President Muhamamdu Buhari appointed his ministers after months of delay, the talks about “blue-chip” or “juicy” ministries enveloped the polity.

    A fact we have to live with is that financiers, political godfathers, party founders, sponsors, foot soldiers, promoters and thugs must be taken care of, irrespective of the drain to economic and social order.

    I must point out that political patronage is not alien to advance democracies. In Canada, it is seen as a broad term covering the “granting of favours, money, jobs, government contracts or appointments to individuals or corporations in exchange for political or monetary support”. It also involves hiring political campaign members as staff members for elected officials and outright corruption. In the process, there is conflict of interest and it is a politically volatile subject.

    “Though some efforts have been made to discourage patronage, the practice remains a fixture of Canadian political life,” said a report.

    Prime ministers Pierre Trudeau, Brian Mulroney, Jean Chrétien, Paul Martin and Stephen Harper were said to have all made high-profile patronage appointments.

    My final take: It will augur well for our nation to limit political patronage to harmless staffing decisions, jobs and contracts. We must do everything within our power to discourage patronage that borders on outright criminal corruption, bribery and kickbacks. We should never pay for jobs or contracts left undone all in the name of pleasing party apparatchik. That amounts to disservice to our nation.

  • Ambode seeks patronage of made-in-Nigeria

    The Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, has advised Nigerians to patronise goods made in the country to create more jobs and develop the economy.

    Speaking during the inauguration of the furniture factory, “The Home and You” built by Mrs. Feyisola Abiru, in Ikorodu, Ambode  said the factory would produce industrial made-in-Nigeria furniture that can compete globally for both corporate and home use within and outside the country.  He said it is only through this means that the local economy could be developed.

    Represented by Rotimi Ogunleye and Mrs. Olayinka Oladunayo, commissioners  for Physical Planning and Commerce & Industry respectively, the governor commended Mrs Abiru for citing the factory at Ibeshe, a suburb of Ikorodu.

    “This is the first furniture company of its kind in the Ikorodu axis and a clear indication that the efforts of Lagos Sate government to provide security and infrastructure is beginning to yield positive fruits,” he said.

    Speaking at the event, Mrs. Abiru, identified, “passion and an undying crave for success had been the reason I was able to whether the storms in the early days of the 21 year old business.”

    She commended the Bank of Industry (BoI), in the realisation of the noble dream which today has become one of the major economic drivers in the state and Nigeria as a whole.

     

    “But for the support from BoI, we won’t be here today. They gave us the first facility in 2006 to get us running. We acquired world class machines from Italy, when we needed to improve on our quality and expand the capacity of the business, we approached them again for another facility which was granted in 2017,” she said.

    On his part, Olusegun Osunkeye, the pioneer chairman of the company, described the ‘Home and You’ as a great edifice, noting that  Nigeria would benefit from the establishment of the ultra-modern furniture factory as it would create employment and boost the local content policy of the government.  “They will use local wood to produce first class furniture, so it will create employment and because it is profitable, government will get its taxes, and impact skills on the surrounding. So, it is a factory that will bring many benefits to its immediate surroundings, Lagos state and ultimately to the country at large,” he said.

    At the current rate of population growth, more than 500 million Africans are projected to live in cities by 2030. This growth as well as favourable government policies in some African countries is believed to  favour the furniture businessas this is anticipated to increase the demand for real estate; residential accommodation, office space, hotels and schools.

  • NCRIB seeks patronage

    The importance of brokers in the insurance value chain cannot be overemphasised, Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) President, Mr. Shola Tinubu has said.

    He stated this at  the council’s CEOs’ Retreat with the theme, “The future broker” held in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.

    He explained that brokers were in the professional arm of the industry, who know the nitty-gritty of the business, adding that their engagement gives the client opportunity to maximise their insurance placement without any cost to the client.

    He said they had carefully chosen a theme in line with the vision of the  administration.

    The theme would not have come at a better time, considering the advancement being faced by professions around the world, he said.

    He appealed to the the Akwa Ibom State Government to ensure the inclusion of insurance brokers in its business transactions.

    He said: “This step is definitely in tandem with the NCRIB Act which makes for patronage of only registered insurance brokers.

     

     

    “We will appreciate that our choice of Uyo for the retreat will be the beginning of mutual and beneficial relationship between the Council and the Akwa Ibom State Government.’’

  • Dumpsite affecting patronage, Amusement Park cries out

    The management of Rosellas Amusement Park in Lagos has appealed to the state government to clear the dumpsite near it.

    Its Chief Executive Officer, Mr Ololade Abraham, made the appeal when he spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

    Abraham said the challenge coupled with the incessant flooding that used to affect the park and its environs might lead the park into extinction.

    “I need the state government’s support by providing a good location for the park from its present site,” he said.

    According to him, the park may soon close down due to insufficient funds to run it and also stench oozing from the dumpsite closer to it.

    He appealed to the government to save his park, stressing that workers employed there and their families would be negatively affected if the park close down.

    Ololade listed some parks in the state that had folded up to include: the Leisure Park, Fantasy Land, Family fun and Kid zone.

    “All these parks were tourism sites in the state when they were functioning. They contributed to the tourism prospective of the state and were providing job opportunities to many youths then.”

  • LCCI seeks patronage of made-in-Nigeria goods

    LCCI seeks patronage of made-in-Nigeria goods

    The President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Dr Nike Akande, has advised Nigerians to patronise locally-made products and services.

    She spoke at the 18th Mike Okonkwo Annual Lecture held yesterday at MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos.

    Mrs. Akande who spoke on: Made-in-Nigeria products: The vehicle for sustainable development, said increased patronage would inevitably improve quality of the products, which in turn would increase local and foreign demand.

    The former Minister of Industry described the current economic recession as good for the purpose of forcing Nigeria to diversify from oil.

    “I believe that with more patronage, Nigerian manufacturers will be encouraged to improve the quality of their products. As the quality of our goods and services improve, local and international demand for them will increase.There is no doubt that the fastest route to grow our economy and to create jobs for our teeming population is by promoting non-oil export.  Export led growth will add to our foreign reserves and stabilise the local currency,” she said.

    Also speaking on the ocasion, the Chairman, Erisco Foods Ltd, Chief Eric Umeofia,decried the importation for low-quality foreign goods to the detriment of local ones. He faulted the government for not protecting the interest of local manufacturers through favourable policies and for not providing a conducive environment to compete favourably with foreigners.

    Umeofia said: “Indigenes are not being supported in this country at all.  How can the economy be diversified when the Federal Government votes foreign exchange for people to import goods that can be produced locally? CBN gives us a fraction of our foreign exchange needs yet gives importers of frozen fish, tomato paste and others foreign exchange?”

    To improve the contribution of the manufacturing sector to Nigeria’s GDP beyond three per cent, Umeofia advised the government to emulate countries like China, Taiwan which closed their borders to foreign goods, and the United Arab Emirates, Angola and Ghana, which protect local businesses.

    While lauding the policies of the government that have improved the ease of doing business, Mrs Akande also called on the government to replicate success stories in local production – like Dangote cement, Innoson vehicle manufacturing, Aba shoe factory – in other areas of economic endeavour.

    Mrs Akande urged the government to pay attention to security, enhance regulatory/institutional environment, provide infrastructure, and reward local manufacturers.

  • Sallah ram: Vendors lament low patronage

    The state of the economy is taking its toll ahead of the coming Eid-el-Kabir celebrations. Buyers and sellers of ram appear to be staying off the stakes, leaving the impression that this year’s sallah festival may be dull after all, reports TONIA ‘DIYAN

    For Muslims around the world, again it’s that time of the year they celebrate one of their religious festivals Eid el Kabir, one which requires the killing of rams as sacrifice to Allah.

    The significance of the Sallah rams to Muslims cannot be over emphasised. It remains a core tenet of the Islamic faith. So important is the slaughtering of ram at sallah, that it permeates the rich and the poor.

    But going by the prevailing economic crunch in the country, The Nation Shopping’s findings has revealed that many Muslim faithfuls may not be able to afford rams this year. Although there was a similar development last year, this year’s seem to have been further deepened, especially with the outrageous exchange rate that has persisted through the year.

    This time around, late buyers wouldn’t have to end up with the smallest sizes of ram because the big ones wouldn’t be sold before they get here; there is no best time to buy.

    Leaders across various ram markets visited by The Nation Shopping have blamed this development on a further decline in the economy, devaluation of the naira, poor circulation of money in the country, terrorism in the northern part of the country from where rams are brought to major ram markets within the Lagos metropolis, among others, for the problem.

    They lament that the business is now a sharp contrast to what it used to be- blossoming especially at one week to the festival.

    “We used to be very optimistic that sales would improve weekly and daily as the festival approaches. But the reverse is the case as people are not turning up at all. The cheapest ram we sell here is N60, 000. We have some for N85, 000 and N160, 000 depending on their sizes,” a ram vendor in the Kara market, along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, Hameed Abu, said.

    Another ram trader in Mile 12 market, Mohammed Yusuf, explained that lack of liquidity (cash flow) in the economy is the reason for the low patronage being experienced. The same reason, he further revealed, account for why he only brought few rams to the market for sale.

    At the Alaba Rago market in Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos State, the head Alhaji Suleiman Tanko, corroborated the submission of others in previous market visited.

    “In spite of the increment in the price of ram in the last five years, Muslims in Ojo are managing to buy because they are know the significance of the sacrifice; the unfavourable economy has always been a barrier even to some muslims who have saved towards the celebration,” he said.

  • Lagos assures local contractors of patronage

    Lagos assures local contractors of patronage

    •Govt targets 3000mw in four years

    INDEGENOUS contractors and artisans are be patronised by the Lagos State Government, the Commissioner for Budget & Economic Planning, Akinyemi Ashade, has said.

    Ashade, who is overseeing the Finance Ministry, gave the assurance during the mid-year appraisal of the 2017 Appropriation Act and the 2018 Budget Consultative Forum at Lagos West Senatorial District.

    The local artisans had complained to the commissioner at the Cubic Events Centre, venue of the zonal forum of low patronage by the government, only to be asked to perform their civic duty in tax payment.

    They specifically frowned at preference of their counterparts from neighbouring West Africa countries of Republic of Benin, Ghana and Togo at their own detriment.

    According to them, the cash being repatriated by the foreign artisans was contributing to capital flights as the beneficiaries do not pay taxes. They described it as injustice to compel them to fulfil their tax obligations.

    But Ashade assured them of government patronage, identifying three reasons that could have accounted for job exportation

    The reasons are: lack of the required skill; high contract costs and insincerity.

    According to the commissioner, the government has a plan to recertify the local artisans after sharpening their skills at series of workshops to be oragnised for them soon.

    The commissioner also said that the government would tackle electricity problems to make the Centre of Excellence live up to its bidding as the nation’s industrial hub.

    He described the 1000 megawatts daily supply to the state from the national grid as a far cry from the 10000 megatts need of industrial and residential power consumers in the state.

    Ashade hinted that the executive was already working on the legal framework on power reform, adding that bill on the reform would soon be forwarded to the State Assembly for consideration.

    The government, he explained, has a plan to take the state off the national grid by generating 3,000 megawatts of electricity in the next four years.

    The commissioner said: “Our plan is to take Lagos off the national grid and to be self-sustained in regular power supply. What we need to drive the Lagos economy is 10,000 megawatts but what the state gets is 1000 megawatts.”

    He listed the environment, transport and power sectors as areas of priorities in next year’s budget, urging Lagosians to always pay their taxes.

    Other priority areas according to him, include: security; education; job creation; healthy; tourism; social welfare; economy and justice among others.

     

  • Why local meter producers suffer poor patronage

    The power distribution companies (DisCos) are not patronising indigenous manufacturers of meters because they want to make more money by charging estimated bills.

    The Chairman, Momas Nigeria Limited, a local manufacturer of electricity meters, Mr. Kola Balogun, stated this and listed other reasons to include plans by the power firms to continue to import meters from China and other countries in order to attract foreign investors into the sector.

    He told The Nation, that the power distribution companies were making a lot of money through estimated billings; therefore, they were not interested in sourcing meters locally for their  customers.

    He said whenever the DisCos began to buy meters in large quantities from local meter manufacturers, they would be able to meet the metering demands of their customers.

    He said, when this happened, the power firms would not be able to charge their customers estimated bills, adding that the idea would further weaken their purse.

    According to him, local meter manufacturers have capacity to produce enough meters in the country, adding that the DisCos know this yet they refuse to patronise them because they want to continue to make money through estimated billings.

    He said: “It is not that the local meter manufacturers do not have the capacity to produce enough meters in Nigeria. The capacity is there but the problem is that DisCos want to make money through estimated billings. Also, they want to continue to patronise meter producers abroad where they falsely hope to get better meters.

    “Meters produced by indigenous companies are far better than the ones produced abroad. The love or craze for anything western makes DisCos to jettison local meter producers for their foreign counterparts.’’

    He said the allegation by DisCos that the meters produced in Nigeria were not compatible with their technology was not true, stressing that DisCos were making false allegations.

    ‘’The sector is battling problems, such as scarcity of meters and other equipment.  This made the DisCos to provide costlier pre-paid and smart meters to their customers amid dwindling revenue, he said.

  • Patronage of local meters: Fashola calls for persuasion

    Patronage of local meters: Fashola calls for persuasion

    The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola has said persuasion should be applied to make electricity distribution companies patronise local meter manufacturing companies in view of the dynamics of the economy.

    The minister told The Nation during his visit to Mojec International, a local manufacturing firm in Lagos, that commercial dealings cannot be done by compulsion. “I think that commercial things should be done by persuasion, reason and the dynamics of the economy,” he said.

    The reason power sector players, such as distribution companies and meter manufacturers should embrace persuasion and dynamic of the economy, Fashola said it would make the sector more competitive in terms of pricing and quality products for the local market.

    When the market is competitive in terms of pricing and quality, it would make more business sense to produce and patronise meters locally, he added.

    However, he was pleased that there are indigeneous firms that can meet the metering requirements in the country, but wondered why there is still a huge meter gap in the sector.

    On the challenges of local meter manufacturing, Managing Director, Mojec International, Chantelle Abdul, noted lack of finance to operate factories and vendor financing to off-takers.

    “One of our critical issues at the moment is lack of access to foreign exchange. A lot of our manufacturing inputs rely on goods abroad. My goal as a manufacturer is to produce much of my manufacturing input locally here in Nigeria including our chips, which is the brain of the meter and all other component that is required.

    “There is nothing that stops us from producing the battery, and the capacitors that we need in-country. It is sad to say that we don’t have factories that produce those components here in Nigeria,” she said.

    She expressed the hope that meter manufacturers would get the support of the government both at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and financing institutions to be able to produce the components in Nigeria, noting that they need foreign exchange (forex) to  to do them.

    “We cannot afford to be borrowing at double digit rate, it will automatically increase the price of the meter,” she added.