The Nation Newspaper

Tag: promoting

  • Promoting seamless banking

    Banks are expected to reinforce their commitment to seamless services and support for the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) financial inclusion project. First Bank of Nigeria Limited has migrated from an old analogue operation to a modern day digital banking solution provider to meet its customers’ expectations. Stakeholders speak on the bank’s support for the real sector and contributions to economic growth, writes COLLINS NWEZE.

    Banking in Nigeria is a tough business by all standards. It takes professionalism, commitment and adherence to standard principles for a lender to remain strong in the face of daunting challenges.

    First Bank of Nigeria Limited (FirstBank) is one of such lenders that has migrated from old analogue lender, to a 21st Century digital bank that meets the needs of its customers. The bank has remained strong, maintaing a healthy capital base and cofidence of its customers.

    Speaking on the bank’s status in the industry, First Bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Adesola Adeduntan said despite the regulatory headwinds and business shocks, the fundamentals of the lender have remained very strong with the group’s asset quality.

    He said the bank has through expanding due diligence on risk assets targeted towards profitable transactions, deepening of the effectiveness of the middle office through improved credit monitoring, collection support and  prompt identification of early warning signs in portfolios and by re-instituting a more conscious risk environment through training, coaching and enforcing stricter sanctions for non-performance, remained ahead of other lenders.

    Adeduntan said the bank has also focused on loan and remedial management, voluntary reduction of Single Obligor Limit (SOL) and  increased board oversight by significantly raising the bars of credit approvals through the Board Credit Committee to remain viable despite the daunting business environment.

    The bank chief said building an efficient organisation is at the thrust of the bank’s new strategies and management has reiterated its commitment to driving enhanced profitability through improved revenue generation, cost optimisation and shared services.

    This, he said will be achieved by exploring group shared services to optimise spends across subsidiaries and centralised data centres, optimising procurement to implement best practices, tightening budget controls and improving technology leverage and implementing an Enterprise Resource Planning/Management (ERP) framework to eliminate process redundancies.

    On the future of the lender, he said management recognises that an institution can hardly have an outlook beyond that of its operating environment.

    “The adverse impact on our loan book and the distortion occasioned by the shocks in the global market place notwithstanding, the silver-lining in all of this is that the bank’s fundamentals remain very strong and evergreen. The expanded breath of our service and product offerings through the Holding Company structure is expected to come to fore at a time when the commercial banking sub-sector is under significant pressure,” he said.

    According to the bank chief,   the challenging macroeconomic environment, the dwindling oil price and the resultant impact in the widening of the funding gap for the government present opportunity for project and infrastructure finance, debt capital raising and financial advisory offered by our Merchant Banking and Asset Management group.

    “Similarly, the insurance business of the Group continues to ramp-up in its growth trajectory, supported by the seamless integration of the acquired general insurance business. All of these are in addition to the effort of the Bank to fully integrate its West African operations to our FBN Bank (UK) Ltd to drive significant growth in trade finance,” he said.

    According to the lender, following a detailed model incorporating the bank’s future business growth strategy,   potential economic shocks and the current banking group capital adequacy ratio of 18 per cent, a healthy 200 basis points buffer to the regulatory minimum capital requirement for systemically important banks which came into effect in June, 2016, there are no immediate plans for any fresh equity raise.  The bank said it is  implementing a priority  approach towards capital allocation and optimisation.

    “We are reviewing our dividend pay-out policy by increasing the level of earnings retention thereby reducing dividend pay-out to focus on optimising our balance sheet and retaining a substantial portion of FirstBank’s profit to boost capital position and drive growth,” the bank said.

    Adeduntan said the lender has over the years built an enduring brand that is immediately recognisable as dynamic, dependable, lasting and innovative.

    “These unique moments in history, have helped create a global brand that has made dreams become reality for millions across the world. Over the last decades, we have easily become one of the most recognised brand in the Nigerian financial landscape, and indeed, in corporate Nigeria.

    “And we have completed millions of transactions, received billions of deposits and given out trillions of loans and advances- that’s what makes us a bank. But it’s the smiles, the laughs, the handshakes and the spontaneous hugs from the satisfied customers that keep us going and make us part of the community we serve and a member of the world we live in’.

    The bank has continued to support the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) policy on financial inclusion and taking banking to the gassroots.

    The FirstBank’s  2017 to 2019 strategic thrust is to regain its leadership position through profitable growth that leverages technology to drive innovation.

    “By 2019, we expect to strengthen technology infrastructure to drive efficiency across all areas of the business; strengthen technology infrastructure to drive efficiency across all areas of the business with  focus on key areas of the bank’s architecture; digitising our customer journeys by automating all key processes in the bank; develop and promote a full digital and transaction banking offering; leverage the change in customers’ adoption of digital products across all product categories by making significant progress on automation, analytics and omni-channel capabilities to meet customers’ needs and increase contributions of international subsidiaries, the bank said.

     

    Financial pundits speak

    Speaking on the bank’s anniversary, Chairman, Board of Parkway Projects, a financial technology firm, Richard Obire, said it requires resilience and adaptability for an institution in this environment to sustain operation for years.

    Related to that, according to him, is the capacity to have created an institution, which did not depend on one personality. “There have been several management successions. That speaks to the capacity to have built an institution. It is a legacy bank with tradition of excellence. They have managed to reborn themselves. When several new generation banks came and gave the bank a fight, it responded adequately,” he said.

    According to Obire, the bank had challenges like other institutions, but everything considered, the bank has done very well. He said the bank has been able to deal with its challenges and has leveraged technology to deliver efficient and seamless banking services to the old, young and youths.

    He said: “FirstBank today, banks the old people, the  young and the youths’ markets. The bank has done exceptionally well.”

    Founder/ Chief Executive Officer, Bank Customers Association of Nigeria (BCAN), Uju Ogubunka, said as the name implies, FirstBank has nothing to do with second or third, but remains the first.

    The bank, he said, has followed the sound principles of banking operation and continually complied with the rules of the game.

    He said the bank painstakingly choses its leadership, and management personalities and that has made to thrive.

    “The bank does not put just anybody into management position. It uses core professionals to run the business. The bank spends a lot of money in capacity building and human capital development of its over 20,000 workforce. Also, the bank has earned the confidence of the banking public,” he said.

    According to Ogubunka, the bank has built confidence and the customers deal with the lender based on that confidence.

    The bank’s deposit base, he said, is huge, which is not hot money but hard-core savings deposit, adding that the premium or spread on such deposit is good for the bank’s profitablity.

    The Group comprises 12 subsidiaries, playing leading roles in investment banking and asset management, capital markets, insurance, Microfinance, private equity, mortgage and pension fund custodian services – making it one of the most diversified financial conglomerates on the continent.

    FBN Holdings Plc has, since the establishment of its flagship subsidiary, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, in 1894, played a very pivotal role in nation building and the development of the national and regional economy through its primary role of financial intermediation, projects financing and employment creation through entrepreneurship support as well as its extensive corporate responsibility and sustainability programmes.

    Adeduntan said: “Our heritage as the nation’s foremost and largest developmental financial institution is apparent in the Group’s contributions to economic growth and development. Our developmental philosophy is reflected in our business policy and is self-evident in the composition of our loan book as diversified in the nation’s major economic development sectors. These include agriculture, manufacturing, oil & gas, services and public sector, among others.

    “As a firm believer in the brand Nigeria and a pioneer in national development, we took a patriotic bet on the country in 2015, consistent with our century-long commitment to nation building as a fundamental pillar of sustainable business development. As at the time we took the measured risks, in line with business realities, it was universally acknowledged as bold business moves as well as a private institution’s obligation to support focused national development.”

    The investments and the interventions in the pivotal sectors were well-thought out and in the right direction. However, as global economic trends have turned out, there have been contrary outcomes with such calculated risks. This is especially the case with the change in fortune in the macro economy as occasioned by the sharp decline in oil prices, which has resulted in acute foreign exchange shortage and the resultant impact on the loan book.  The devaluation impact and scarcity of foreign exchange have resulted in a significant reduction in growth projections.

    It is acknowledged that the banking sector can only be as healthy as the economy itself and since the sector is not immune to the macroeconomic distortions, it is expected that the industry feels the effect of the turbulence.

    “We have taken the hits. We could have been more cautious with our business decisions and risk taking. However, our long-standing existence, time-tested experience and strong fundamentals are indicative of the resilience and wherewithal to deal with the shocks and reposition the Group for better stakeholders’ value.”

     

    Infrastructural development

    The Group’s investments in the services’ sector were hinged on contributions to building infrastructure and improving power generation through lending to investors and off-takers. FirstBank participated in financing the new Lekki-Epe Expressway, Tejuosho Shopping Complex, Aswani Shopping Complex, several housing estates. There are infrastructure financing arranged by the debt solution of FBN Capital  – raising money for the acquisition and refurbishment of Egbin Power Station, acting as Mandated Lead Arranger for the funding of Accugas, a gas infrastructure company.

  • ‘Mobile technology promoting credit access’

    Global spread of mobile phones is facilitating easier access to financial services for small businesses at low cost and risk, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Sterling Bank Plc, Suleiman Abubakar has said.

    He spoke at a breakfast roundtable organised by the Financial Services Group of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on deepening financial inclusion through data analytics and financial technology in Lagos.

    Abubakar who was represented by Sterling Bank’s Chief Information Technology Officer, Olayinka Oni, noted that in the context of financial inclusion, “Fintechs hold tremendous potential, challenging old business models with greater speed, accountability and efficiency at a cheaper cost.”

    He said access to financial products and services is becoming more attainable than ever for consumers that live in rural locations or regions without the equipment and infrastructure of a modern economy due to the prevalence of mobile phones and cellular networks.

    Abubakar said financial institutions and Fintechs could objectively use data analytics to extend credit to consumers who previously had to contend with sometimes exploitative informal credit because they had no formal credit history.

  • ‘We’re promoting self-reliance among youths’

    The Chairman of Ijede Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of Lagos State, Comrade Salisu Jimoh Fatiu, has said his administration is promoting self-reliance among youths to boost economic activities in the area.

    The council chief spoke at the opening of the LCDA’s vocational training centre at Igbe.

    He noted that the development of human capital, especially among youths through skill acquisition and vocational training, is his priority to contribute to national growth.

    Fatiu said: “The vocational training centre’s services are targeted at promoting social change and reducing social vices, such as fraud, sexual violence and harassment, unemployment, illicit drug use, armed robbery, cultism, among others, through character-reforming programmes, discovering, mentoring and grooming participants’ talents and potentials of youths to make them useful to themselves and the nation.

    “This administration will take necessary actions to rapidly reposition the vocational training centre as an efficient trainer of skilled workers for building the council. We will endeavour to act swiftly in ensuring that the centre is fully revamped, staffed and equipped to produce more skilled artisans who will meet the current demands of the labour market.

    “This will be done through a fast-track intensive skilled acquisition programme, using a combination of classroom, indoor and outdoor practical and a programmed apprenticeship period.”

    Fatiu said the training programme is a life-transforming exercise that provides a platform for teeming youths to equip themselves with necessary skills for self-reliance.

    The council chief said this would help them to cater for themselves and their families.

    He added: “Youth development is a significant investment, which, if properly handled, will lead to gains in the present and in the future. It would engender tremendous productivity in the economy, generate increase in the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and significantly contribute to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).”

  • Promoting women’s economic empowerment

    Women’s  economic  empowerment  is  essential  for  more  inclusive  growth  in Nigeria. It is for this that the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) is partnering the Mall For Africa to increase the participation of women in e-retailing and export trade, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) is targeting more women for the global market by 2020. It hopes to achieve this by ensuring that women entrepreneurs are better equipped to create and position products to meet buyers’ requirements and to compete in global markets.

    Speaking in Lagos, during the Women Empowerment For Global Market Access 2020 programme organised by Mall for Africa (MFA), NEPC Zonal Coordinator, Southwest, Mr. Babatunde Faleke, said the organisation, in collaboration with the International Trade Centre (ITC), Geneva, plans to train more women entrepreneurs in Nigeria on how to explore export trade.

    Under its SheTrades initiative, Faleke said ITC would provide women entrepreneurs across the world access to a global network and to connect to markets.

    Through SheTrades, he explained, ITC aims to connect one million women entrepreneurs to the market by 2020. It would also help corporations to include more women entrepreneurs in their supply chains, he said. Faleke said the best way to grow the economy was to improve on the volume of exports, adding that the programme would enable small businesses benefit from export opportunities.

    The platform, according to him, is aimed at increasing the participation of women in the export sector as part of the drive to industrialise for a sustainable economic future for Nigeria. He reiterated the determination of the council to strengthen the economic empowerment of women to enable them to participate equally in the  export  market.

    He stressed that encouraging and supporting women’s contributions to trade c would not only propel the economic growth but also transform local communities.

    In the face of heightened global challenges, increasing gaps in the income divide and more challenging economic climates, the Managing Director, Mall for Africa, Tope Folayan, noted that empowering women to participate in economic life across all sectors had become imperative to attain internationally accepted goals for development and sustainability.

    To support this, Folayan said his organisation is focusing more attention on the mainstreaming of gender in its entrepreneurship projects.

    Folayan said MFA created WE-GMAP 2020 platform to accelerate economic growth through increased participation of Nigerian women in global trade.

    In partnership with NEPC, Folayan said MFA was working to move women up the export value chain and increase their economic potential.

    Folayan said MFA is able to leverage its international presence in United States, United Kingdom, Kenya and Nigeria, to provide cross border market opportunities for both import and export.

    According to him, MFA runs an online marketplace where buyers from across the world can purchase products offered for sale by African women from the comfort of their homes and/or offices.

    The Programme Coordinator MallforAfrica WE GMAP 2020, Liz Oluwadare explained that MFA is Africa’s largest online e-commerce enabler which provides Africans with a simple, secure and convenient platform through which customers can purchase items directly from over 150 international online retailers. These include online platform, such as Amazon, Macy’s, eBay, Ralph Lauren and Zara. According to her, many of these stores and brands would otherwise be scarcely accessible to the African consumers.  Through its patented technology, she explained that customers in Africa could now buy and sell globally.

    She said granting African women access to markets for their African made products, offers an uncommon opportunity to harness existing resources, promote inclusive market systems development, boost economic growth and achieve sustainable development goals.  The ‘MFA WE-GMAP 2020’ programme, according to her is expected to achieve these and more. She added that the programme aims to enable 20,000 women entrepreneurs across Africa sell their products globally via an online market place. The programme, she added, is expected to have over two million unique items for sale by women entrepreneurs by 2020.

    Her words: “It is the goal that by 2020, MFA WE-GMAP would have built the capacity of at least 20,000 women to export their products, by improving quality standards, providing access to international markets, offering avenues for financing, and providing various forms of technical assistance to women entrepreneurs across Africa. The initial focus industries are: fashion, clothing and textile, arts and crafts, jewelry and accessories, home décor, cosmetics, and educational materials.”

    She said MFA would provide technical assistance and build the capacity of women to export through training on technology, business and standards for global competitiveness.

    Fashion Designers Association of Nigeria (FADAN) President, Mrs. Funmi Ladipo-Ajala, commended MFA for creating a platform for women to sell their goods with the long-term goal of expanding exports sustainably. For her, ensuring that women take on a greater role in business is crucial to the development of Nigeria.

    By supporting women entrepreneurs to access more markets, she noted that the programme would contribute to creating a more vibrant economy.

    On the economic impact of the fashion sector, Mrs. Ladipo-Ajala said  it has potential to create jobs, add value to raw materials and develop ingenuity.

    She added that, like in so many other sectors, though the ideas and the capacity exist among the talented entrepreneurs in developing countries, there is a need to bring them closer to the market.

     

  • Promoting campus entrepreneurship, jobs through piggery

    Piggery has continued to expand, creating new products and providing opportunities for people. There is, however, a move by stakeholders to encourage students explore such opportunities and  promote campus entrepreneurship, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    Piggery is expanding, creating new products for end-users and providing numerous economic opportunities. This is being driven by growing consumer awareness of the nutritional value of pork and increased income.

    Piggery offers an opportunity for high quality meat and products. There are also vast work opportunities on and off the farm, which increase means of livelihoods for numerous people.

    Speaking with reporters on the sidelines of The Porkies Family Hangout, which held in Lagos, Jotess Agro Chief Executive, Dr. Dapo Onadipe, said pig business has an immense growth potential and young Nigerians stand to benefit a great deal from participating in the pork market.

    According to him, he has done much to promote piggery as a sustainable entrepreneurship through various means.

    Some of the ways he has done this, is by encouraging students’ participation in piggery business, saying student-owned piggeries  have the potential to becoming game-changers for both the students and the public.

    With pork meat being used  for  confectionaries and snacks, the stakeholders are ready to turn students pig farmers to job-creators, who can establish distribution channels thereby providing livelihoods and empower them to make money.

    One of the co-ordinators of the Pork Show, Mr Femi Malomo, said pork business is gaining ground in the country. Pork meat, he said, is the most consumed animal protein around the globe. As the population increases with disposable income,  the competition to supply Nigerians with wholesome, safe pork, according to him, increases.

    According to him, about N3 billion worth of pigs are exported from the country yearly.

    Pig business, he said, is one of the highly valued and high-revenue generating business. With good and practical training, Malomo said small-scale farmers can adopt best practices that will guarantee good returns on investment.

    To succeed in the business, he said new entrants need training on areas such as breeds; breeding; management; shed design; weather management; vaccination protocols; diseases and their prevention; value addition of pork; mycotoxins and economics of the business, among others.

    Another pig farmer, Kola Osunsanmi, said Nigerian pork meat is produced to the very best standards of welfare, quality and safety and the sector is creating more jobs and opportunities for premium pork producers, who can guarantee quality from farm to fork.

    He explained that piggery is a promising and stable source of generating income than poultry. According to him, the piggery business changed his socio-economic status within a short period. But it was not a smooth ride for him when he started managing the animals.

    He started attending training programmes and was in regular touch with animal experts.

    Apart from selling live piglets, he also supplies dressed pork for various social functions. At present, he is involved in the breeding of quality piglets.

    He said since the piglets reared in his farm are improved ones, the demand is obviously high and orders are from different parties.

    According to him, the maintaining piggery reqiures high skill and it’s labour intensive, noting that only farmers with good entrepreneurial skills can succeed in it.

    According to him, would be farmers need training to acquire skills in farm management and entrepreneurship.

    A member of the organising committee of the pork show, Mr Eniola Bamgbelu, said the  growing demand for pork has prompted farmers to go in for pig farming in a big way.

    He explained that pig farming is a lucrative proposition for small and marginal farmers. According to him, there is tremendous potential for pig farmers, because the demand is huge.

  • Promoting bio-fortified crops

    Promoting bio-fortified crops

    An  international organisation, Harvest Plus, is promoting crop bio-fortification, which experts say is a cost-effective method for overcoming deficiencies in crops, writes DANIEL ESSIET.

    Micronutrient malnutrition, also called hidden hunger, is dangerous to health.

    To eradicate it, an international global organisation has taken up the challenge.

    Spearheading the firms is HarvestPlus, a programme of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). It is seeking to reduce micronutrient malnutrition through bio-fortification; by breeding new varieties of staple food crops that contain or provide more vitamins and minerals.

    It is biofortifying crops, such as beans, millet, cassava, maize, sweet potato, rice, and wheat with vitamin A, iron or zinc. The crops are not only high yielding but also drought tolerant and pest resistant.

    One of the benefitting farmers is Atinuke Lebile, co-founder of Cato Foods &Agroallied Global Concepts in Ibadan, Oyo State. A HarvestPlus’ partner, her firm cultivates vitamin A cassava crops as well as rice and vegetables.

    Three years after she started her agribusiness in  2014, she is making money from bio-fortified cassava and other crops she planted on her  farm.

    Lebile is at the vanguard of young farmers planting bio-fortified vitamin A yellow cassava. She has seen many malnourished people suffering from vitamin A deficiency. To this end, she is working with Harvest Plus to distribute cassava root varieties that are rich in vitamin A.

    Besides, she is part of an initiative, She Agric, which encourages African women between ages 18  and 35 to work in the agric sector.

    They are promoting bio-fortified crops.

    Bio-fortification, they said, boosts crops’ nutritional value, which  is cheaper than adding micronutrients to processed foods.

    HarvestPlus International Chief Executive Officer Beverley Postma said the organisation tackles hidden hunger, that affects two billion people worldwide.

    Using advanced, research-backed bio-fortification techniques, HarvestPlus crosses high-yield varieties of maize, sweet potatoes, and other staples with older varieties high in those key nutrients.

    The results are dramatic: reductions in killer conditions such as night blindness (caused by a vitamin A deficiency) are observable within a month of dietary changes.

    But the work is painstaking: It can take six years to develop and grow to maturity a new, high-nutrition crop.

    Postma explained: “HarvestPlus in Nigeria is based on three crops – the likes of cassava, maize, and potato which all have naturally enhanced level of vitamin A.”

    Postma said Vitamin A is one of the vital building blocks that heal secular blindness, strengthens the immune system which makes children and adults less vulnerable to some killer diseases such as  malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhea.

    She added that Harvest Plus is not stopping on the three crops but   planning to develop and release other staple crops so that  vital minerals and vitamins,  such as  Zinc and Iron, can be brought into people’s diet.

    Explaining how the orginsation is planning to reach one billion people by 2030, Postma said: “To scale up to reach these people in 2030, 200 million has been estimated for the project and there is also the need to input more effort in the next five years into completing the research discovery works of these crops.” She added that some funds need to go into the research in IITA on crops like cassava and sweet potato.

    “All these crops require an amazing amount of research and investment to ensure that they are not only nutritious but also yield the maximum result of reducing diseases because a farmer will not  buy crops only because it is nutritious but because it is also performing. The above 200million estimated is about global figure that will be needed across three continents. Continents such as Africa, where five-18 countries will be scaled up,” she added.

    Also in Asia, three to seven countries will be scaled up before the organisation will move to Latin America to do a similar thing.

    ‘’Scaling up, which will take place in these continents, is a big investment because these are the areas where we see population suffer from a high risk of malnutrition.”

    She appreciated the government for its support to biofortified crops and looked forward to continued patnership.

    HarvestPlus Country Manager, Dr Paul Ilona, said: “The food we eat becomes our future. Statistics have shown that every hour we lose 100 children and six women of child bearing age in Nigeria. These figures are alarming as giant of Africa as the issue of malnutrition is a great challenge in the nation.”

    Ilona lauded the government for its effort at adding value to life through improvement in food culture, by mandating food companies to fortify their food.

    ”HarvestPlus is trying to address the need of majority Nigerians, although majority of these Nigerians are low-income earner; about 60 percent of Nigerians earn less than a dollar a day. To what extent can they purchase the nutritious food?” he queried.

    HarvestPlus Chief Scientific Officer Wolfgang Pfeiffer said: “There is an increase in deficiency from Southnorth.’’He  expressed the hope that there would be more biofortified products next year.”

  • Promoting business, culture in Southwest

    In Nigeria, culture plays a dominant role in the lives of the people. It serves as a symbol of unity and help in shaping the way people perceive things. This is evident among the people of the South West where cultural norm and values are held sacred.

    As part of their culture, indigenous music has a lot of influence on their socio-economic lifestyle. It is perceived as a medium of communication where the instruments are used to send messages for correcting the ills plaguing the society or as a means of relating what the deities have concurred on issues of vital importance.

    The importance attached to their culture is evident in the way they greet, an attitude which has become part of their daily life. While greetings are exchanged, it is important for the people to smile and when asked about the wellbeing of someone, time is given to respond as this is considered to be polite.

    The Yorubas greet their elders with a lot of respect. The boys prostrate to greet their elders, while their female counterparts greet by kneeling on one or two knees depending on the tribe.

    Also, other aspects of the people’s culture are seen in the way they dance, in art works, dressing and philosophy. Proverbs and adages form an important part of their everyday language and are used extensively in all forms of communication, but music plays a dominant role in uniting the Yorubas without barriers.

    This has brought to fore the efforts made by Goldberg, also known as ‘Your Excellency,’ a product from the stables of Nigerian Breweries Plc, in promoting the rich cultural heritage of the people of the South West through music, like the Fuji t’o Bam musical concerts.

    It is a talent hunt initiative aimed at discovering promising Fuji artistes and empowering them to contribute to the growth of the entertainment culture of the people of the South West.

    It would be recalled that the brand in 2012 launched the Fuji t’o Bam initiative and has since then produced young Fuji musicians with bright future.

    Fuji music which has grown in leaps and bounds is a fusion of certain musical influences like ‘Sakara, Apala, Juju and to an extent, highlife. Indeed, the growth of Fuji music has been astronomical, particularly, since the mid-80s when the ace Fuji music artiste, Wasiu Ayinde Barrister waxed his ground-breaking ‘TALA-84’, apart from establishing his musical hegemony and imprint in the minds of the South west elite.

    To every Yoruba in the South West, Fuji music needs no introduction. It is so engrained in the socio-cultural life of the people such that it easily appeals to their feelings and admiration. This was one of the factors that led to the success of previous Fuji t’o Bam concerts organised by Goldberg in the South West.

    The indigenous musical platform, which concluded its fourth edition in 2016, had led to the discovery of Fuji talents. Apart from Tope Ajani, who after months of thrills, drills, excitement and emotions, emerged the Wura1 for the 2016 contest; Fuji t’o Bam has also brought to the limelight young Fuji musicians like Akeem Okiki from Osogbo in Osun State after winning the 2015 title; Twinzobia Twins from Ibadan, Oyo State in 2014; and Antenna, winner of the first edition in 2013.

    This year, Goldberg would bring the best of Fuji and Juju music under an umbrella body called “Ariya Repete”, which would commence audition and selection in major cities in the South West in April.

    It would be an unparalleled experience where young Fuji and Juju artistes would compete in their various capacities to win fabulous prizes and recording deals.

    Meanwhile, the inclusion of Juju music, christened ‘Juju to Gbayi’ into Goldberg’s musical concerts came from feedback from lovers of Juju music who felt marginalised and even tried to pass off as Fuji musicians so as to get a chance to contest.

    They felt the urge to partake in similar musical competition where Juju artistes can also be nurtured for future development.

    To achieve the desired results in this initiative, Nigerian Breweries Plc recently organised the Ariya Repete roundtable, like it did for Fuji t’o Bam to deliberate on how to make Ariya Repete a household emblem in Yorubaland.

    The special guest of honour was the Ooni of Ife, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Adeyeye Babatunde Enitan Ogunwusi, (Ojaja II), who was represented by Oba Adebiyi Asoya, the Asoya of Ile Asoya Kingdom.

    In the course of this, notable speakers such as Prof. Tunde Babawale, former Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation (CBAAC) and of the Department of Political Science, University of Lagos, gave the keynote address on the topic: Our Music as a Socio-Cultural Lubricant: Juju and Fuji Music Genres of Southwest Nigeria as Case Studies.

    He traced the origin of Juju music to the old Saro (Olowogbowo) quarter of Lagos where the music genre emerged from ‘asiko’ music associated with “area boys” in the quarter and added that it also incorporated Brazilian Samba elements and the guitar style of Kru sailors from Liberia.

    According to Babawale, the music of the culture of the people of the South West, which is Juju and Fuji, has positively impacted every area of life of the Yorubas, including the reduction of socio-economic tension and the prevalence of religious tolerance.

    Babawale posited that it was a man named Tunde King who later transformed ‘Asiko’music into Juju.  Tunde King and his contemporaries such as Akanbi Wright, J. O. Araba, Daniel Ojoge Aleshinloye and others introduced dundundrums, electric guitars and later acoustic guitars in the process of creating Juju music.

    He said until the 1960s, Juju music rendered in Oyo dialect was mainly performed in Lagos.  By the early 60, its performance had spread to other parts of Yorubaland incorporating other Yoruba dialects like Ijesa and Ekiti.

  • Promoting youth agric entrepreneurship

    Promoting youth agric entrepreneurship

    To engage youths in agriculture, the African Development Bank (AfDB), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation (CTA) are partnering to facilitate access to  financial services, skills and jobs to grow their businesses, DANIEL ESSIET, reports.

    Unemployment among the youth is growing.  The figure increases every year with them constituting more than 50 per cent of Africa’s unemployed population.

    The African Development Bank (AfDB) estimates that  of about 10 to 12 million youths that enter the job market yearly, only three million secure employment in the formal sector.

    As unemployment continues to hurt the youth, AfDB ‘s President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina has noted  that engaging them in efforts to address unemployment challenges is more relevant and important.

    Since he assumed office at the bank’s headquarters in Abidjan some two years ago, Adesina has attempted to draw African governments’attention to the impact of implementing initiatives to enhance the agribusiness sector, while enabling the youth to gain employment and improve their livelihoods.

    According to Adesina,  the bank  is  undertaking a number of initiatives to stop the unemployment crisis, including the Jobs for Youth in Africa (JfYA) Strategy, designed to create 25 million jobs and positively impact about 50 million youth over the next decade. The bank has also embarked on Empowering Novel Agri-Business Led Employment (ENABLE), an initiative which aims at promoting youth entrepreneurship in agriculture and agri-business.

    Adesina stressed that ENABLE championed by the IITA has  received the support of the bank. This, according to him, will give room for the emergence of new agripreneurs, who will help re-brand the agricultural sector.

    At the IITA station in Abuja, Adesina said his determination to create a continental wide platform for the African youth to generate wealth and create employment, was a deliberate attempt to ensure that the continent was able to feed itself again.

    He said the level of hunger, poverty, food importation and insecurity in the continent has increased over the years because the youths, who are supposed to bring about the dynamic change needed to support Africa’s dream of feeding itself, were massively migrating to the western world illegally in search of greener pastures.

    Last year, the bank   approved ENABLE Youth Nigeria programme and provided a $250 million loan, to contribute to job creation, food security and nutrition, rural income generation and improved livelihoods for youths in urban and rural areas.

    The programme will be implemented in all the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    The targeted beneficiaries are in two categories. The first are the unemployed young Nigerian graduates from any field of study, who have finished their National Youth Service Corp programme (Greenfield), while the second are graduate youths, who are already successfully engaged in agribusiness, but have no access to commercial loan to grow their businesses (Brownfields). The mainstreaming of gender and environmental issues across the various components would ensure inclusiveness. The programme  targets a 50:50 male and female participation across the country aged 18 to 35 years.

    The number of beneficiaries according to Director, Agriculture and Agro-Industries Department, AfDB, Chiji Ojukwu,  will depend, in large part, upon the outcome of the agribusiness incubation placement and successful bankable proposals. In general, it is expected that all the youths that have successfully undergone the incubation programme and satisfied the relevant criteria, will move to the next stage of accessing the loans to set up their agribusinesses or may find employment with the private sector and the rural development community.

    Most of the loans will be about $50,000 maximum per business. According to him, agripreneurs can have individual or joint businesses and these must be duly registered by Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

    The target is to reach 1,000 agripreneurs per state, who will establish enterprises, as individuals (about 2,000 for both green and brown fields) and as groups of 10 to  50 (creating about 5,500 businesses).

    The businesses will generate about 185,000 additional jobs. Total direct jobs created by the programme would reach as much as 222,000.

    The AfDB is not working alone on the ENABLE Youth Programme. The bank has IITA  as core-partner. Following the AfDB’s High-Level Conference on African Agricultural Transformation, which held in Dakar, Senegal, in October 2015, governments across the continent, international development partners, agri-business companies, finance institutions, youth and women’s groups expressed interest in working with the bank  in collaboration with the IITA, to develop and roll-out country-specific ENABLE youth programmes designed to sustainably tackle youth unemployment and promote food security.

    Subsequently, the AfDB and the IITA  held design workshop in Abuja last year to provide a well-grounded evidence-based understanding of the programme concept by sharing experiences and lessons learned in promoting youth entrepreneurship and employment in agriculture on the continent.

    The workshop was attended by 240 participants from more than 30 countries, including over 70 young “agripreneurs”, young men and women engaged in agriculture and agribusiness. It featured keynote speakers, including eight Ministers of Agriculture and Youth Employment; IITA Director-General, Nteranya Sanginga; Chief Operating Officer, Tony Elumelu Foundation, Abimbola Adebakin and Adviser, African Union Commission, Mark Kofi Fynn.

    The young “agripreneurs” shared the inspiring stories of how they set up their agribusinesses, described some of the challenges they faced and gave clues to their success stories. This helped to fine-tune the ENABLE Youth programme designed by the incorporation of proven Africa-wide best practices.

    The workshop established a general consensus that the ENABLE Youth programme was a powerful mechanism for boosting youth employment in agribusiness. This  led to the establishment of the  African Youth Agripreneurs Forum and Agri Pitch Competition.

    According to the  bank , there is a proliferation of incubation and accelerator initiatives across Africa in recent years.

    However, there is currently no continent-wide forum/framework to connect the programmes. AYA Forum, therefore, intends to serve as platform for aggregating agripreneurs across Africa and escalating the impact of their activities.

    The AYA Forum will comprise: the AYA Forum, a two-day Conference/Workshop with thematic discussions and presentation of success stories and Agri-Pitch Entrepreneurship Competition that will lead to a selection of three finalists for presentation at the Bank’s annual meetings in India in May.

    The side events include mentoring and incubator training programmes. The AYA Forum will also showcase the strength of collaboration and partnership with key institutions such as the IITA, African Agribusiness Incubators Network (AAIN), CTA, and others.

    The AfDB and its partners, IITA, AAIN and CTA are to launch the Agri- Pitch Entrepreneurship Competition  as an agripreneurship challenge to identify innovative solutions for the sector in Africa. The expected outcome of the challenge is to select winning solutions that can lead to new products, programmes, projects and processes by young agripreneurs.

    AYA Forum is scheduled for the IITA, Ibadan, between April 25 and 26.

  • Shoprite: Promoting CSR through breast cancer awareness

    Shoprite: Promoting CSR through breast cancer awareness

    Shoprite Nigeria has reinforced its commitment to  communities where it operates through its efforts to raise awareness around the impact of breast cancer in the country.

    Through the Shoprite Community Network, the retailer has partnered renowned non-profit organisation, Run For A Cure Africa (RFCA), periodically offering customers free breast cancer screenings at selected stores across the country.

    A recent screening hosted during the opening of its 20th store saw about 300 women being screened on the day. Last June, a screening was hosted at the Ikeja City Mall in Lagos to mark the retailer’s 10th anniversary in the country.

    Shoprite’s partnership with Run For A Cure Africa began in 2009. The Shoprite Community Network provides the resources and platform for the non-profit organisation to fulfil its mandate of fighting breast cancer in Africa by erasing societal stigmas and creating more access to screenings.

    RFCA Coordinator and spokeswoman, Mrs. Ebele Mbanugo expressed her gratitude for Shoprite’s support of the organisation’s work. “I want to thank the Shoprite Community Network for its support of RFCA. With their assistance, we have been able to host five free breast cancer screenings since forging a partnership in 2014. These screenings are vitally important for the early detection of breast cancer. Currently, 75 per cent of breast cancers in Nigeria are discovered in the last stage. If detected early, the probability of survival is above 90 per cent,” she said.

    For Shoprite Nigeria’s Operations Manager, Carl Erickson, the continued support for the work being done by RFCA is important to increase education and survival rates of women impacted by the disease. “We’re glad to be able to offer consumers lower prices, convenience and a world class shopping experience, as well as to create opportunities that can possibly save lives such as the free screenings,” said Erickson.

    Shoprite’s successful expansion in Nigeria over the last decade has been mirrored by its support for local community initiatives, especially in locations where its stores are based.

  • ‘Stop promoting Boko Haram’

    ‘Stop promoting Boko Haram’

    In the face of terrorism, distrust and disillusionment, a university teacher, Dr Yinka Olomojobi, has written a book entitled: Frontiers of Jihad, Radical Islam in Africa. The book’s presentation drew high-profile guests to the MUSON Centre, Lagos. EVELYN OSAGIE reports.

    Why would anybody choose to write a book on terrorism,” Dr Folake Olomojobi had wondered, when her husband, Dr Yinka Olomojobi of Babcock University, first set out to write the book, Frontiers of Jihad, Radical Islam in Africa. Then, she was consumed in fear. Today, her thoughts have changed from fear to pride.

    “Initially, it was weird. I was asking myself: ‘why would you want to do this; wouldn’t you turn out to be a terrorist yourself?’ But as the world news added more spotlight on terrorism, I saw the need for this; and started supporting and paying attention to the work he was doing.

    “It was very time consuming and challenging. It was not easy for all of us. He put in a lot of work: he stayed away from home most of the time as his research took him far from home; he stayed up so many nights, when others things had to be done.

    “But today, we are happy with how it turned out. Whether we like it or not, it is a present reality. And we need people who have been so trained to go into historical reviews, appraise present realities and project into the future. I not only understand the need for the book at such a time as this, I am proud that my husband dedicated his time and knowledge to write it,” she said.

    Her words reflect the feeling at the formal presentation of the controversial book from the stable of Safari Book Ltd at the MUSON Centre in Lagos.

    Dignitaries from within and outside Lagos thronged Agip Recital Hall of the centre for the event.

    Olomojobi’s book focuses on how and why ‘radical Islam’ finds a breeding ground, especially in Africa. Structured into two parts, it consists of 10 chapters. The first part, Exploring the Frontiers of Jihad, has four chapters, the second, Radical Islam in Africa, consists of six chapters and an epilogue.

    With terrorism on the rise globally, any book, such as Olomojobi’s that seeks to throw more light on ways of curbing it is commendable, guests said.

    Like Dr Folake, many at the event praised the author for approaching the issue from an intellectual point of view. They observed that “guns alone will not defeat the insurgents, neither will nuclear armaments”. Success in the fight against terrorism, especially in Nigeria, “remains an illusion as long as sponsors and godfathers of terrorists occupies government positions, wine and dine with those who claimed to be fighting insurgency”, they said.

    They called for the prosecution of all those allegedly linked to Boko Haram, urging  Nigerians to stop promoting insurgency and the insurgents by calling them “Islamic radicals”.

    On the line-up of eminent guests were Former Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN); Founder of Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Babatunde Bakare; Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola, represented by Dr Adeleke Ipaye; Executive Secretary, Muslim Ummah of Southwest Nigeria, Prof Dawud Noibi; veteran journalist, Aare ‘Lekan Alabi; Justice G. C. Okeke (rtd) and Executive Chairman, CEO of Safari Books Limited, Chief Joop Berkhout.

    Also in attendance were the author’s parents, Prof Zach and Justice Rebecca Olomojobi.

    Fashola, chairman of the event, noted that linking acts of terror with criminality gave rise to what is now known globally as “Radical Islam”. Fashola called for a collective fight against the insurgents.

    “The biggest risk of succumbing to this propaganda is to put a religion on trial while expecting its adherents to join the fight against criminals. There is such a word as ‘Radical Islam’. The simple truth is we have allowed the voices of a few criminals to rise above that of billions of law abiding global citizens. I would say it is ‘Radical Dis-Islamisation’. What we are dealing with is a new wave of crime, by criminals who seem to have an edge because of the need for a new global legal order and the gaps created by globalisation.

    “Guns alone will not defeat them, neither will nuclear armaments. It is our collective understanding and our collective agreements that this has nothing to do with religion, it is our development of the appropriate counter-messaging, it is our collective resolve to stop helping to promote their brand, by calling their names, that will expose them for what and who they are, and help us to defeat them,” he said.

    Fashola described Olomojobi’s book as a “seminal work” that answers some burning questions in his heart. The questions, the former governor said, were inspired by a report on Cable News Network (CNN) that North Korea was threatening war on South Korea and an American professor was bought on set to proffer intelligence on North Koreans. And just as he was set to provoke a debate on Nigeria’s university dons/experts and the localisation of knowledge of other African states with the mind of providing intelligence that would form the basis of national security and economic decisions, he got the invitation to attend Olomojobi’s book presentation.

    He said: “I hope it challenges others to respond; because if we take the power of knowledge seriously, we would be reorganising Nigerian universities, encouraging and sponsoring scholars to specialise and do seminal work diverse areas of national and global interests. I am not suggesting that these things do not exist but think if we have more information on terrorism and terrorist groups, it would assist the security services to deal with the terror problems we are currently facing.”

    Bakare, the chief launcher, said the fight against insurgents should be a collective one. He called for the empowerment of more scholars to do such research.

    He said: “I appreciate the contribution of Fashola in separating Islam from radicalism. I was born and raised a Muslim right in the heart of Sokoto; and we still have Muslims in my family. We don’t kill ourselves. Several years ago my uncle was Sarkin Yoruba right in the palace of the Sultan of Sokoto. We live in harmony. And those who are taking advantage of us, we must join hands together to push them out of our quarters.

    “And I trust that we can genuinely do that when we have accurate information so that we do not begin to suspect ourselves. My job is to present the book to you.

    “Thank God for the book has just been presented today. I believe that it would be a good instrument in the hand of those who are in charge of our security. It’d give them insight to look at the mind-set of the people behind the Boko Haram insurgency. “As soon as I held the book, I went straight to chapter eight, Opening the Pandora’s Box of Boko Haram, I browse through and said ‘whoa!’ what an insight.  I pray our nation would begin to focus attention and give tools like Dr Olomojobi to do what they are trained to do so that we can collectively benefit from their genuine efforts.”

    Prof Noibi said the insurgents did not represent Islam. The professor also called for cooperation of all Nigerians to fight insurgency.

    He said: “This well-researched book focuses on the subject which is very important to every Nigerians. Coming from a Christian that is writing on an aspect of Islam, shows that we can live together peacefully with mutual understanding which has been lacking. The important thing to note is that those who carry out evil activities in the name of religion cannot be said to represent Islam which the author has well-explained.

    “I think that this message should be spread across the country so that we learn to show respect one another for the benefit of Nigeria. I believe that if we all unite to fight insurgency and extremism, it is the totality of the Nigerian population that would benefit.

    While blaming the past administration for popularity the terrorist groups have gained thus far, the reviewer of the book, Dr Laja Odukoya said, Olomojobi’s book provides an anatomical dissection of the mode of operations and networks of terrorist groups in Africa.

    He observed further that the book calls attention to the mutation of terrorist and terrorism through exploiting the instrumentality of Internet possibility for training in weapons and self-radicalisation.

    “I find his suggestions of a revised process of de-radicalisation through the same process by which an individual becomes radicalised and the application of African and International solutions to the terrorists challenge logical and illuminating.

    “It is thus apposite to argue that leadership failure, maladministration, cluelessness and corruption of the Goodluck Jonathan administration contributed in no small measure to the monumental crisis and national embarrassment that the Boko Haram has become,” he said.

    The event was steered by Mr Seyi Apampa, a lawyer and colleague of the author.