The Nation Newspaper

Tag: reduce

  • How to reduce losses, by Airtel chief

    Customer service firms could suffer business downturn,  Vice President, Customer Service, Airtel Networks Nigeria, Ajay Bakshi, has said.

    Bakshi, who spoke in Lagos at the Fourth CEO Breakfast Forum of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), Nigerian Chapter, listed areas of potential losses in business to include, loss of customers; potential customers; future customers;  reputation; employees, as well as profit and sales.

    He said the importance of customer service to organisations, is the reason experts across the world have declared 2015 as Year of Customer Service.

    Bakshi, who spoke on  the theme, ‘Managing customer service impact on reputation and bottomline,’ described customer service as not just a fad, but a critical business tool that could make or break a company.

    Bakshi, a Six Sigma Black Belt in Quality Assurance, listed three building blocks for effective customer service delivery. These are finance, training and the working environment of the organisation. According to him, companies must pay closer attention to employee engagement and retention as one wrong communication from an employee could cost companies dearly in lost customer goodwill. Employees are critical pillars of customer service, he added,  but noted the global decline in employee engagement.

    “For me, the engaged employees are the most important because they are the frontline staff who interface with customers and thus bring in the profit. So everything should be done to keep them happy; to make them understand the vision and mission of the company to be able to reflect that in their dealings with customers,” he stated.

    The Airtel Customer Service Director leads a team of 140 associates to manage customer service interface for the Nigerian arm of the fourth largest telecommunications company in the world. Bakshi called on customer facing difficulties to pay equal attention to grooming and retaining “engaged employees” as they do to customer and buyer experience programmes.

    Bakshi said Airtel spends a minimum of six weeks to train new customer service and interface personnel. “They learn what to say, but more importantly what not to say as wrong communication could turn customers off more easily.”

    IABC Nigeria chapter president Mr Chido Nwakanma said the association’s choice of the theme of reputation and the sales function fitted in with the election season in Nigeria. He said: “A general election is above all a referendum on service delivery, a choice by the electorate of who would best deliver service. Service is at the heart of the governance process. The social contract involved in elections and governance involves managing expectations on service delivery. “

    He said service is at the heart of the definition of the 4Ps by customers as well as by the electorate. The 4Ps for customers are about Purpose, Performance, Price and Presentation.  IABC Nigeria, Nwakanma added, invited Bakshi as an expert to speak on the nexus between customer service delivery and reputation.

    IABC Nigeria said communication and communicators have a major role to play for good or ill in the conversations around the 2015 Nigerian General Elections. The association said it would organise a Media Parley involving experts to do a post mortem of the role of communication in the elections after the general elections.

    The IABC Breakfast Forum is a thought leadership platform that enables communication professionals and business leaders share ideas and interact to enhance leadership communication and stakeholder engagement.  Airtel Nigeria sponsored the 4th CEO Breakfast Forum.

  • Reduce petroleum products’ pump price, says Oyo APC

    Reduce petroleum products’ pump price, says Oyo APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State has called for a reduction in the pump prices of petroleum products, in view of the crash of the price of crude oil in the international market.

    In a statement n Ibadan yesterday, the APC said President Goodluck Jonathan and his economic team arrived at N97 per litre of petrol in 2012, citing skyrocketing prices of crude oil in the global market.

    “Oil price has fallen by 49 per cent from 2013 prices and Jonathan administration still claimed it spent a whooping N971billion on its voodoo subsidy payment last year.

    “Does it mean that Nigeria has been buying refined petroleum products at the same rate from nations with functional refineries, despite the crash in crude oil prices? How come Ghana was able to implement a 13 per cent reduction in the prices of same products in its local market?

    “As much as we know that the present administration would never be transparent in its economic dealings with the citizenry since it has prioritised promotion of corruption and pursuit of parochial interests.

     “We challenge the President and his economic team to be honest for once and implement a drastic reduction in the pump prices of petroleum products.”

    The party lauded Governor Abiola Ajimobi for what it described as the governor’s rare display of tact, vision and competence, which made the state’s economy to remain strong, despite the threat posed by persistent slash in the statutory allocations coming from the Federal Government.

    “It can only take a tactful, visionary and pro-active mind to face the challenge of drastic dwindling allocations to a state like Oyo with weak Internally Generated Revenue base to keep the machinery of government afloat.

    “With a paltry sum of N2.9billion being received by a governor who is responsible for the monthly payment of N4.95billion in overhead cost, the task could be more than daunting.

    “We wish the previous administrations had been judicious with the many cash windfalls which they got while in power and thus lessened the burden on the present government.”

  • Lagos urges bakers to reduce pollution for healthy life

    Lagos urges bakers to reduce pollution for healthy life

    The Lagos State Government has urged bakers to embrace the Environment Pollution Management System (EPMS).

    Government said the policy would preserve the environment by ensuring that bakeries maintain standards that would promote safety of the environment and the bread they produce.

    The General Manager, Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), Mr. Rasheed Shabi, said at a seminar themed: “Effect of bakery activities on the environment in the state,” said bakers were crucial to the policy’s implementation.

    Shabi said the carbon audit carried out by his agency showed that bakers contribute 18 percent of emitted pollution in the state.

    The bakers, who produce bread which is consumed by 80 percent of the population, he said, must embrace modern baking standards that would reduce their carbon emission.

    “The EPMS will ensure that you are able to reduce pollution throughout the life cycle of the bakery. The wastes produced by the baking houses could be reused, reduced, recycled or recovered by the operators,” he said.

    The Director of Operational Health, Occupational Health and Environmental Services, Dr. Layeni-Adeyemo said high standard of personal hygiene was sacrosanct for all operators and workers.

    She urged bakers to maintain good hygiene to prevent food contamination and epidemics.

    The Special Adviser to the Governor on Environment, Dr. Taofeek Folami, and Hon. Abiodun Tobun, who chairs the Environment Committee in the House of Assembly, said the seminar would boost bakers’ profitability in their businesses.

    The Chairman, Master Bakers and Caterers Association of Nigeria (MBAN), Prince Jacob Anjorin, urged government to give bakers loans for improved operations.

  • CBN won’t reduce interest rate for now, says Sanusi

    Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Mallam Lamido Sanusi has ruled out a cut in interest rate in the near future.

    He said doing so would have dire consequences on the economy.

    Briefing reporters on the sidelines of the just concluded World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings in Washington DC, Sanusi said a reduction in the Monetary Policy rate would result in an inflationary spiral and put pressure on the naira at the foreign exchange market.

    Acknowledging the agitation for a cut to ease borrowing costs within the economy, the CBN governor said that the monetary tightening was the price to pay for financial system stability, which is the core mandate of the apex bank.

    The retention of the MPR at 12 per cent for almost three years has become a sore point for real sector players who insist that the time was ripe for some monetary easing, now that inflation was in single digit.

    Sanusi, however, said that it was easy to reduce rate by printing more money but with inflation under control and the naira holding steady relative to other emerging market currencies there is no reason to consider easing.

    “We have stability that is very easy to take for granted. In 2009, when I became CBN governor, inflation was 15.6 per cent, the stock market had lost 70 per cent of its value, one third of the banks were about to collapse. The official exchange rate was N145 at the BDC it was being sold at N190. It is very easy when you have established stability for people to start screaming that you are holding policy too tight.

    “You have had a stable exchange rate for two years; we have brought inflation from 15.6 percent to 8.2 going to below eight in December.

    “The stock market has been up 30 per cent between December and now and people are complaining. You want lower interest rates? Where do you want the naira? 180,190? Where do you want inflation rate? 13, 14 per cent? I can deliver interests rates of seven per cent if you want today; it is just to print money. The Fed (US central bank) has delivered zero, it is easy. Print the money, the interest rate crashes, but where do you want your naira? People want a stable exchange rate, they want to have reserves; they want to have low inflation and they want to have low interests rates? I am not a magician.”

    Sanusi, however, affirmed that when the bank is satisfied that conditions are conducive, it will consider easing, but for now, “it has to keep its eye on the ball.”

    “If you look at the CBN Act, our objectives are very clear, we are given responsibility for price stability, for protecting the external value of the naira, which is exchange rate stability, for maintaining the reserves of the country and for financial system stability. We have to keep an eye on the ball.

    It is very easy to call the shots from the sidelines. Supposing I decide today to lower the rate of interest, which is print more money, a number of things will happen. Maybe inflation would go up, exchange rate weakens.

    “Now once the foreign portfolio investor believes the naira is going to be weak and he is therefore going to lose money, remember he bought in dollars, and then you are going to wipe out his profit by basically changing the exchange rate, everybody decides to run out of Nigeria. Then the naira crashes from N160 to N180 or N190 and the stock market crashes and the people who are holding shares default on their loans and the banks get into problems” he added.

    The CBN governor also explained reason for the clampdown of Bureaux de Change operators and the ban on importation of dollars by banks, pointing out that there were a lot of abuses going on in the system that were hurting national interests.

    He said some BDC operators in Kano were found to be buying dollars from Nigerian bank and taking the cash to Saudi Arabia to sell.

    While he pointed out that there was no law limiting the amount of foreign exchange people could take out of Nigeria, those in that trade should buy their dollars elsewhere.

    He also reacted to complaints by Nigerians in the Diaspora over the new policy that compel banks to pay Western Union and Monogram cash remitted from abroad to beneficiaries in naira instead of dollars, insisting that this was the standard practice.

    Sanusi said the CBN had allowed dollar payments because banks had been cheating beneficiaries by offering low rates but that with the current situation, the CBN had decided to review the position.

  • Falana urges govt to reduce electricity tariff

    A lawyer and human rights activist, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), has urged the Federal Government to reduce electricity tariff and decentralise power generation and distribution.

    He said: “In a mid-term report released barely a week ago, the Goodluck Jonathan administration claimed to have performed well. “It gave itself a pass mark in electricity supply. But as soon as the official celebration of deception was over, the country was enveloped in darkness. The disgraceful development was confirmed by the Federal Government, which admitted that 120 million Nigerians have no access to electricity. Two days later, the remaining 47million Nigerians, who are said to have access to electricity, were subjected to system collapse to the extent that electricity supply has fallen below 2,000 megawatts from 4,000 megawatts. The situation has become so embarrassing that President Jonathan has set up a panel to investigate the remote and immediate causes of the system collapse in the energy sector.

    “Having repeatedly said that it would never probe the Olusegun Obasanjo administration, which spent $16 billion to generate darkness in eight years, it is clear that the panel will not be allowed to get to the root of the energy crisis.

    “What is the basis of the probe when it is common knowledge that a cabal of importers of generators, spare parts and diesel, in collusion with official collaborators, have always sabotaged the energy sector?

    “The Federal Government should not waste scarce resources on another panel whose recommendations would be consigned to the archives. Since there are security forces in the country, they should be mobilised to prevent the so-called evil forces from stealing and vandalising electrical equipment and installations.

    “In addition, the Federal Government should decentralise the generation and distribution of electricity without delay. State and local governments should play a dominant role in the ongoing privatisation of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), which is a part of our collective patrimony.

    “Having admitted that Nigerians have been put in darkness, the Federal Government should reduce electricity tariffs by 50 per cent. The proposed tariff should be retained until there is substantial improvement in electricity supply.

    “After all, billions of Naira are daily wasted on the purchase and maintenance of generators as well as diesel by governments, corporate bodies and individuals throughout the country. It is high time Nigerians kicked against bearing the brunt of official incompetence and negligence.”

  • ‘Intervention’ll reduce security challenges in Nigeria’

    ‘Intervention’ll reduce security challenges in Nigeria’

    THE involvement of the Federal Government in the intervention mission in Mali will checkmate Boko Haram activities in Nigeria, Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam said yesterday.

    Relying on security reports, the governor alleged most members of the sect were trained in Northern Mali. he noted the intervention will assist in the destruction of Boko Haram’s major camps.

    Suswam, who spoke in a chat with reporters in Abuja, urged the Federal Government to tighten security at the nation’s borders to prevent sect members and Malian terrorists from sneaking into the country.

    He said: “What President Goodluck Jonathan has done is highly commendable. Based on information from security agencies, most members of the Boko Haram sect were trained in Northern Mali and they were creating a lot of problems for our country.

    “When the President decided that Nigeria will be one of the countries that will intervene in Mali. I think it is a welcome development.

    “The National Assembly too did not hesitate. We are hopeful that in the next few months, the activities of Boko Haram in Nigeria will reduce.

    “This is because the base where they were being trained is being destabilised. So, they will no longer have people who will train Boko Haram operatives.

    “But beyond sending troops to Mali, Nigeria must take steps to ensure the borders are well protected. If our borders remain as porous as they are, then we are going to have problems as some of them will sneak into Nigeria and begin to train people here.”

    Suswam recalled how hard the sect attempted to gain access to Benue State but for the vigilance of security agencies.

    He added: “The Boko Haram kingpin that was traced to Benue was because of the watchful eyes of security operatives in the state.

    “The security personnel were unable to arrest the Boko Haram members, but as it is, we have heaved a sigh of relief, because, according to security reports, they had actually started recruiting people.

    “Unfortunately, when I raised the alarm that they were threatening to attack me, the Nigerian media just moved on me. The media accused me that I was being an alarmist.

    “Since they traced this major operative to Benue, nobody has written to apologise to me that I was speaking from the position of information available to me.

    “If those terrorists could have the audacity to attack the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Adio Bayero, then the media could have tried to find out why I had publicly alerted the nation.

    “Nobody asked me and they went on to write editorials and all kinds of comments against me. And, since they tracked the man there, no newspaper has made a major story because they had already branded me an alarmist and all sorts of names. So, Nigerians should be more careful when issues of security are concerned.”

  • Reduce power at centre, says Imoke

    Cross River State Governor Liyel Imoke yesterday said the proposed constitution should consider critically the restructuring of the Nigerian federation.

    The governor spoke at the public hearing on the review of the 1999 Constitution for the Southsouth geo-political zone in Calabar, the state capital yesterday.

    Imoke, who spoke through Deputy Governor Efiok Cobham, said the centre is too powerful; “the states instead of being seen as the federating units are as seen as “lower partner in the Nigeria project.”

    He said items listed on the exclusive list of the constitution were higher than those in the concurrent list.

    According to him, 68 items are on the exclusive list and only 28 on the concurrent has made the centre a sole proprietor.

    Imoke also called for the review of the revenue allocation formula, which gives the Federal Government the greater chunk of the allocation.

    Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu has refuted reports credited to him that the National Assembly has ruled out the possibility of creating more states.

    Ekweremadu said the position of the National Assembly is to ensure that every request for state creation is treated on its merit.

    His words: “Our role at the National Assembly is to provide leadership, moderate the process, and ensure compliance with legislative due process. For instance, the onus lies on the areas seeking new states, not the National Assembly, to generate the requests and reach out to other parts of Nigeria to see reason with them and support their aspirations.

    “Thus, people seeking an additional state to be carved out from the present Ondo State should also bear in mind that such requests must receive the blessing of Sokoto and Abia states, among others, to scale through.

    “A referendum is also required with the involvement of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). But whereas the processes are obviously cumbersome, it is certainly not an impossible task.

    “All that is needed is political maturity, consensus building, patriotism, enlightenment, and sense of justice,” he stated.

  • Amaechi: Reduce Federal Government’s power

    Amaechi: Reduce Federal Government’s power

    THE powers of the Federal Government should be whittled down and states allowed to have their police, Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi canvassed yesterday.

    To the chair of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), Nigeria is the only federation with a central police system.

    He spoke yesterday at the Alfred Diete-Spiff Civic Centre, Port Harcourt during the Rivers State People’s Public Session on the Review of the 1999 Constitution.

    Amaechi said the central policing was becoming inefficient.

    He said other federations have state and local police, making the security of life and property more effective.

    The Rivers State Economic Advisory Council, chaired by a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), Prof. Nimi Briggs, advocated true federalism, a merger of the two chambers of the National Assembly and a six-year single tenure for the president and governors.

    A retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Adolphus Karibi-Whyte, who chaired the well-attended event, described the 13 per cent derivation paid to the nine oil producing states as poor.

    A former National President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), O. C. J. Okocha (SAN), said there is an agenda to create states.

    He said economic viability should be considered before creating new states.

    Amaechi said: “The centre should not be as strong as it is. There are 17,000 policemen in Rivers state. The policemen have no accommodation. They live at the Civic Centre (venue of the event) and Olympia Hotel (near Government House, Port Harcourt and owned by Rivers government, but moribund and being rehabilitated). We have told them to pack out.

    “State police will ensure effective policing of the citizenry, with the policemen well-equipped and adequately accommodated. There is no forensic laboratory in Nigeria. With state police, states will have forensic laboratories.

    “Election matters should be given to federal police, while cases of kidnapping and stealing can be handled by state police.”

    The Rivers governor also frowned on creation of more states, while citing the financial situation of Anambra state, which had been receiving N3 billion monthly from the federation account, but would use N2.1 billion to pay salaries, leaving N900 million, which would not be enough for development.

    Amaechi said any matter not on the exclusive and concurrent lists, should be on the residual list and be left to states to handle, for the progress of Nigeria.

    The NGF chairman added: “The National Assembly members should carry Nigerians along,” while assuring that he would support the positions taken by Rivers people.

  • Cross River: Children’s kidnappers reduce ransom to N5m

    The two children, a boy and a girl, who were abducted in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, by masked gunmen on Tuesday morning, are still missing.

    Emmanuel (10) and Agbo (4) were snatched on the Murtala Mohammed Road while their mother, Mrs. Juliet Eko, was taking them to school.

    Their father, Mr. Johnson Eko, said: “My wife and our three children were driving out of our street into the highway when some people in a Vento salon car accosted her and used their car to block my wife’s car.

    “They came out and pointed a gun at my wife. They asked for her phone and she gave it to them. Then they picked up our four-year old daughter.

    “The elder brother, Emmanuel, questioned why they were taking his sister away and they took him too. It was at that point that the third child, aged seven, ran out of the car and headed towards the house.”

    He said his wife begged the gunmen to take her car, a Toyota Sienna, and leave her children, but they ignored her.

    Eko, a civil servant with the Cross River State Civil Service, said the kidnappers phoned on Tuesday afternoon and demanded N30 million ransom.

    The matter was reported at the Federal Housing Estate Police Station.

    A source close to the family said the kidnappers have reduced their demand to N5 million.

    The source said the kidnappers have been contacting the family on Mrs. Eko’s phone.

    The source said Eko was allowed to speak with his son, Emmanuel, who said they were okay.

    It was learnt that the kidnappers said the children’s safety could not be guaranteed, if the ransom was not paid by yesterday evening.

    Police spokesman John Umoh said: “At this point, the information we have is not for the public. Making it public might hamper a lot of things.”

    He said they were on the kidnappers’ trail.