The Nation Newspaper

Tag: tracking

  • ‘Most Nigerians ignorant of vehicle tracking devices’

    ‘Gbemi Oyeneyin is Managing Director/CEO, ISN Telematics Limited as well as National President, Telematics Association of Nigeria (ATON), an umbrella body for fleet management, data monitoring and assets tracking. In this interview with Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf he speaks on the challenges and prospects of the tracking industry amongst others. Excerpts:

    What is the potential of the telematics ecosystem in Nigeria? Not much is known about this organisation you lead.

    I became the National President of Telematic Association of Nigeria (ATON) in December 2014. That came about because the Association required branding and then the network supervising ministry, which is the Ministry of Communications and of course, the Federal ministry of communications wanted an organised body because there were too many tracking companies without portfolios operating in the country then, without integrity, standard and all that. And so we had to start serious campaign, mobilisation and we got the NCC involved in helping to setting some standards. They actually went round to close down some Companies that were not registered because for any member of ATON, you must be registered with the NCC. And that takes a whole lot of scrutiny, security checks from the SSS, who will run a check of the companies’ directors, to ensure the people on the team are not fraudulent people and all that. You also require all registration with the CAC documents, audited accounts have to be up to date.

    For us, it took us a year and half to be dully registered to show you how tedious the process was so that at least there could be standards. As at today we’ve about 50plus licensed tracking companies that are members. Since then we’ve been maintained standards aimed at sanitising the industry. Today if you’re looking for genuine and standard tracking company, you know where to go.

    As at today there’s no insurance company can engage the services of any unregistered tracking company. The NCC in collaboration with NAICOM had to mandate all the insurance companies that they’ll be penalised if they deal with touts.

    The tracking companies is still an emerging industry in the country compared to other countries,

    Global market share and where does Nigeria fits?

    What affects tracking companies equally affect insurance, especially in this part of the world. Our own attitude here is that it’s only people that have money that either insures or install tracking devices in their vehicles. A lot of people fail to realise that tracking is a form of insecurity. When we started few years ago, most people didn’t even believe that it could work. But at the end of the day, when people saw that their vehicles are being recovered, they began to have a change of mind about the possibilities, with success stories about recovery in Cotonou, Benin Republic and all that. But as at today, I know that we’ve not covered 20% of the market.

    People still believe that when they buy a new car, they will take it to their pastors and Alfa’s to pray for them and all that, so that nobody will steal it.(laughs).

    Nobody ever prays for incidents but when it happens they all turn jelly. I get sms,where people would say, oh, someone’s vehicle has been stolen and all that. Of course, the first question I normally ask is if the vehicle has a tracker. Once they tell me know, l normally ask them how do we perform magic to bring back such a car.

    Our work really helps the police a lot. Like a vehicle we recovered from hoodlums in December, right from the control room in Lagos here, we were able to track the vehicles’ location and within one hour the vehicle we recovered. So it’s when things happened that people tend to be careful and vice versa.

    And that’s why we are still carrying out more enlightenment campaigns to encourage people. With the kind of mind-set that we have, there’s need for a lot of education. Of course, tracking devices have witnessed lots of revolution lately. The new devices now have apps that can help you to track fuel consumption, monitoring and surveillance, and all that. For those in transport businesses, tracking is absolutely necessary. We have a lot of cab companies which require everyone on their platforms, particularly franchise drivers to have trackers in their vehicles. It’s a most for them. Those in haulage business too must have trackers. For some businesses, especially haulage, having trackers in their vehicles is very crucial. With the device that we have now, you can even monitor fuel consumption easily right from your palmtops.  It’s all value added services, for saving cost. I was coming to work one day, I saw a driver in a posh vehicle parking by the bus stop to pick passengers just because of the N200-500 he wants to make. If one day the driver picks armed robbers have passengers what do you think will happen to that car? These are possibilities.

    Technology for some of these things are alien to us even though we are trying to take charge. In the past there have been cases of tracking devices in vehicles being demobilised. That’s one of the fears being expressed by many today. Are the tracking companies in Nigeria on top of their game?

    It’s because of stories like these that the Association came in to sanitise the business. It’s not just about installing a device. The question is what kind of device? How durable is the device? How effective is the device? Because there are so many inferior devices from the Middle East and all,very cheap ones. Nigerians don’t know that when it’s cheap, it’s for monkeys. If you want a device that’s going to be okay for you, it has to be certified by relevant agencies, meet some standard international specifications and all that.

    For ISN Telematics, we work for the best insurance companies, amongst other big businesses so we can’t just use any device. Another reason is connivance because we’ve also had situations series of cases where the driver knew there was tracker in the vehicle and when he was sent somewhere, he used the opportunity to branch at a rewirers shop and search for the devices and had it disconnected. So what we do now is that there’s a time bomb alert that if power goes off from the device, it’s going to alert us straight. It’s called power tamper alarm. Once power goes off, it’s going to keep buzzing until somebody attends to it from the backend.

    That’s what we have done. Once this happens, there’s going to be a report of the time, location, date that the power went on.

    Even for investigative purposes those are the reports sent to the police.

    The third thing is that time is of the essence in tracking a vehicle.

    To enhance efficiency, clients are given access themselves using apps installed on their phones to do a lot of things. Even if there’s a theft, the moment they drop you off the vehicle whether they take your phones or not, as long as you know the code and the secret device number for you to have access, the device you dial it, it’ll ring twice and send you location report on the Google maps. As long as you know your device ID, anybody can dial it on any network.

    These days it’s easier for us to communicate with the police nationwide. In those days, there were instances where vehicle is stolen in Onitsha along a particular location with descriptions and all that, but for weeks they’ll be looking for the vehicle still or sometime they don’t have fuel in their vehicles and all. But all that has changed as there a lot of improvement as far as our relationship with the police is concerned.

    What’s your level of collaboration with Interpol?

    Yes we work with the Interpol and that’s the standard. We have recovered vehicles from Cameroun, Benin and all that. As long as there’s network coverage it’s possible with the use of international sim cards because we realised that once they snatch any vehicle they’re going outside the borders. If they take your vehicle from part of the south west, you can be sure that the destination would be Cotonuo. And if it’s in south-east , it’s going to be Cameroun. That’s why we resorted to the use of international sim cards to help with monitoring and tracking outside our shores.

    Level of support from the Interpol?

    It’s been superb.

    What of response time?

    You know the GSM has also made communication very easy because even today police have whazapp numbers where you can send pictures, maps, abd all that. Communication has made recovery easy. In those days we had to carry a navigator almost everywhere just to be able to track a missing vehicle. It was very cumbersome.

    But today, with Google maps, all that is a piece of cake. It’ll just guide you to the place from the comfort of your office or home.

    Do Nigerians have the expertise to track companies? What’s required?

    The first thing is, you must be licensed by the NCC. The basic requirement of course is that you must register a limited liability company with a minimum of 10million share capital with directors, bank accounts.

    You must have an audited account. It cost over a million naira to complete registration.

    If you have to set up your own sever, it’s also comes with a lot of cost.

    In terms of skills, we have local expertise.

    Besides, you must have a minimum N10million indemnity bond with an insurance company.

    What’s the value of the Telematics industry in Nigeria in terms of how much you can generate by way of revenue?

    We have over 6,000 vehicles being managed by us alone. So even if you multiply that by an average of say N5million, as an average of the 6,000, you’re talking about N30billion from ISN Telematics alone. It’s huge. But people don’t realise that our work is so important. If one company alone can manage N30billion worth of assets, it’s not easy because we’ve been in business for over 10 years. Multiply that by say another 50 licensed tracking companies, that’s huge because we’re talking about almost N1.5trillion.

    In terms of institutional support, how has it been?

    Like I said earlier, the NCC in 2014, helped to stop the unlicensed tracking companies from operating. That is why as at today, there’s no insurance company that would work with any unlicensed tracking company. It’s all due to the support from the NCC and NAICOM. The main problem now is with companies outside insurance.

    We’re really enjoying anything much from the government anymore in terms of policy support and all that. Beyond what the NCC and NAICOM did two years ago, we still require a lot of support.

  • ‘Nigeria losses over N10trillion annually to illegal tracking companies’

    The country is said to lose in excess of N10trillion annually to activities of illegal tracking companies operating across the federation.

    Making this disclosure at the weekend was ‘Gbemi Oyeneyin, National President, Telematic Association of Nigeria (ATON), an umbrella body for fleet management, data monitoring and asset tracking.

    Speaking in an interview with The Nation, Oyeneyin, who also doubles as the Managing Director/CEO, ISN Telematics disclosed that there are too many tracking companies without portfolios, integrity and standards.

    According to him, ATON, with a member companies of over 50 licensed tracking companies generate about N1.6trillion annually, a development, he said is evidence of the huge potential of the sector to the economy.

    “With each of the 50 member companies controlling assets in excess of about N30billion worth of assets, you can agree with me that there is a lot of potential in the sector in terms of what it can bring into the financial basket of the nation’s economy.”

    Oyeneyin, who reportedly left the comfort of banking job to set up shop over a decade ago, said there is need to step up efforts to wield the sector of unscrupulous individuals parading themselves as auto trackers and fleet managers, to the detriment of serious players.

    Going down memory lane, he recalled that the association in collaboration with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) began series of campaigns to sanitise the sector. “The NCC actually went round to close down some of the companies that were not licensed at the time. Even the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) also supported the awareness drive. Thanks to the collaboration, today, no insurance company cannot patronise unregistered tracking companies.”

    On the global share of the industry and where Nigeria fits, he said: “As at today, we have not covered 20 per cent of the market because some people still believe that when they buy car, they only need to take it to their pastors and Imams to pray against any form of eventuality and all that.”

  • Nigeria engages tracking agency to trace illicit assets

    Nigeria engages tracking agency to trace illicit assets

    In order to check illicit financial flows out of the country, the Nigerian Government has engaged a leading international Asset Tracing and Investigation Agency (Kroll) to trace and track illicit flows and assets from Nigeria to wealthier countries.

    Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, made this disclosure at the ongoing Platform for Collaboration on Tax (PCT) Conference at the United Nations in New York.

    Adeosun was quoted to have said that “the IFFs are driven by the desire to hide illicit wealth, hide the proceeds away from the public eye and law enforcement agencies and conceal the ways and means by which illicit wealth was created. This makes it difficult to trace the associated money flow.

    According to Adeosun, “as part of open government partnership, Nigeria has included in the national action plan a commitment to establish a public register of beneficial owners. To this end, the Corporate Affairs Commission, the custodian of Nigeria’s company registry, is pursuing relevant amendments to the Companies and Allied Matters Act to comply with global standards.”

    Advocating more responsibility on the part of destination countries of illicit financial flows, the minister advised that beneficial ownership registers should be established to allow authorities track money in financial investigations involving suspect accounts/assets held by corporate vehicles.

    In addition, the minister said Nigeria has signed the Multilateral Competent Authority on Common Reporting Standards, which allows for exchange of financial account information.

    Nigeria, according to her, is expected to effect the first exchange by 2019 as soon as the domestic legal framework was completed.

  • Tracking high-profile corruption cases

    Tracking high-profile corruption cases

    The Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) has designed a template for tracking and monitoring corruption cases. Some experts from civil society organisations, anti-graft agencies, Ministry of Justice, the academia and the media met in Abuja to discuss ways to make the exercise effective. JOSEPH JIBUEZE was there.

    Several high-profile corruption cases which began over 10 years ago are still pending in courts, making a mockery of the anti-graft crusade.

    Towards  addressing the problem, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Walter Onnoghen, in his speech at the beginning of the 2017/2018 legal year, announced the setting up of special courts within high courts to handle only corruption cases.

    He noted the public concerns about the slow pace of corruption cases in courts.

    The CJN directed the heads of courts to compile and forward a comprehensive list of such cases to the National Judicial Council (NJC).

    He also asked them to designate one or more courts as special courts for hearing and speedily determining corruption and financial crimes cases.

    The CJN, last October 1, set up a 15-man Corruption and Financial Crime Cases Trial Monitoring Committee, and appointed a former President of the Court of Appeal Justice Isa Ayo Salami as its chairman.

    The committee’s mandate, among others, is to track the cases and report on delays.

    But the committee’s composition was dogged by controversy, culminating in Justice Salami’s rejection of the office nearly a month after he was picked.

    Critics faulted the committee, which comprises former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) presidents and other notable jurists.

    Justice Salami has since been replaced by a retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Suleiman Galadima.

    The Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) has offered to support the monitoring process. It would independently monitor high-profile corruption cases, and send its reports to the CJN.

    PACAC presented a template for the exercise at a roundtable held at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja.

    Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) Abubakar Malami (SAN), who was represented at the event, hailed the initiative.

    The roundtable was held to develop a template for tracking and monitoring high-profile corruption cases in the designated courts, in accordance with existing laws, Practice Directions and rules of court.

    The objective, according to PACAC, is to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the criminal justice sector with regards to the prosecution of high-profile corruption cases through accountability and transparency.

    It will involve evaluating the court’s performance and adherence to extant laws and rules, especially the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.

    The initiative, PACAC said, is in support of CJN’s directive to ensure that corruption cases are timeously concluded.

    At the roundtable were officials of anti-corruption agencies, representatives of the Federal Ministry of Justice, civil society organisations, lawyers, development partners, media and members and staff of PACAC.

    They included Secretary, National Prosecutions Coordinating Committee (NPCC), Mr Sylvester Imhanobe, who represented Malami, Executive Director, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) Mr Adetokunbo Mumuni, university don and private prosecutor Mr Wahab Shittu, and Head of Legal and Prosecution at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Mr Gbolahan Latona.

    Also present were Mr Aondona Orti (National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons), Mr Hajarah Yusuf (Ministry of Justice), Mrs Fatima Kere Aliyu (Code of Conduct Bureau), and Mr Elijah Akaakohol (Independent Corruption Practices and other Related Offences Commission).

    Mr Okike Aja-Nwachukwu (Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies), Mr Barbara Maigari (Partners for West Africa – Nigeria), Mr Chiamata Anyaegbu (Centre For Socio-Legal Studies), and Mr Femi Oloruntoba (National Drug Law Enforcement Agency) were also at the roundtable, among others.

    Why PACAC is intervening

    PACAC chairman Prof Itse Sagay (SAN) praised the CJN for directing heads of courts to designate at least one court to handle only corruption and financial crime cases.

    He said: “We were very happy when the CJN directed that special courts be set up. But we were a little bit downcast when he announced the form of monitoring he wanted. Without criticising them (the committee members) individually – I have nothing against them – but they are too senior. The minute they come into the court to monitor cases, the judge would know who they are, and then the case will not take the natural cause.

    “Secondly, will they have time? Thirdly, many of them are actually defending people in the same circumstances over which the court is presiding. Will they be objective? Those are the issues we raised.

    “That is why we want to complement what the CJN is doing with our own system of monitoring, which we expect to be more efficient and will produce better result.

    “We’re cooperating with the CJN, but we want to refine what he has so kindly provided. That’s the reason we’re here. The template for achieving this end is what has brought us here,” Sagay said.

    PACAC Executive Secretary, Prof Bolaji Owasanoye, added that the committee would use less-known “sentinels” to monitor the cases.

    “We’ll use sentinels, someone who is there and you don’t even know he’s there. As Prof Sagay hinted, we’re not going to use prominent lawyers or counsel who are very well known already and who, when they come into a court, everything becomes politically correct.

    “The job of the sentinel is to help the system by giving us records. We’ll analyse those records, hoping that in the fullness of time, we’ll be able to correct attitudes,” he said.

    He also noted that PACAC’s intervention was in aid of the CJN’s efforts.

    “We want to help the CJN, formerly being able to give him information about who is ignoring the rules. If the law says that an adjournment should not be more than 15 days, and a judge gives more than 15 days, we want to know who asked for it and why it was given.

    “If a Practice Direction says you should assign a case in five days, and it is not assigned in five days, we want to track it,” Owasanoye said.

    Owasanoye said the Acting Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Adamu Kafarati, was considering adopting the FCT High Court Practice Directions on ACJA.

    According to him, if that is done, high-profile cases would be more quickly determined at the Federal High Court.

    He advocated the enforcement of Rules of Professional Conduct for lawyers which provides for sanctions against those who delay cases.

    “We want to start deploying those provisions,” he said.

    Owasanoye added that PACAC’s monitors would focus only on cases involving political exposed persons (PEPs) and those with huge economic implications.

    “It is the high-profile cases that defy all rules. They are the ones giving us problems,” he said.

    The PACAC Executive Secretary said the special courts would be automated to speed up the corruption cases.

    Imhanobe conveyed Malami’s commendation to PACAC for taking the initiative in organising the roundtable.

    He reiterated the importance of monitoring and evaluating ongoing high-profile corruption cases, adding that the NPCC also plays a similar role.

    “We must track cases so as to be able to redeem the innovations and the steps to make the system work. The monitoring will also help us to see areas of improvement,” he said.

    The template

    The working session began with a presentation of the draft Corruption Case Monitoring Template (CCMT) by PACAC’s consultant, Mr. Austin Emumejakpor.

    According to him, its aim is to evaluate the roles of stakeholders, including the court, in corruption cases; identify challenges and causes of delays; recommend ways and means to reduce delays; and improve efficiency towards achieving speedy conclusion of trials without compromising fairness.

    The template is divided into the following sections: case information, summary of background facts, the charges, prosecution details, defendants’ details, case management details, adjournments, costs, trial in absence, trial, judgment, sentencing, summary of progress and next adjourned date.

    Under case information, the monitor is expected to provide information on court location, suit number, and judge.

    Under charges, information needed include date a charge was filed, how many days between filing and issuance of hearing notice, number of amendments, whether adjournment was granted due to the amendment, among others. The monitor is also expected to provide details of the prosecution, such as name of prosecuting agency.

    Under case management, the sentinel is to report whether case management was held immediately after arraignment as provided under the FCT High Court Practice Direction, and if not why; how many witnesses were agreed, whether defence counsel was of assistance to the court, whether trial time estimate was agreed, among others.

    Under adjournments, information required include whether any party was given more than five adjournments in line with Section 396 (4) of the ACJA, and whether the adjournments complied with the time allowed.

    In line with Section 396 (6) of the ACJA, the monitor is to ascertain whether cost was awarded against a party seeking a frivolous adjournment.

    Under the section on trial, the monitor is to note whether the trial held day to day, whether it was concluded within 180 days, and whether judgment was given within three months.

    In monitoring progress of the case, the sentinel is to observe whether the court sat and if not, why; whether there was resistance to an application for an adjournment, and whether the judge was sufficiently in control of the court.

    On sentencing, the monitor will note whether the sentencing was done according to law, and what punishment the law provides for.

    Emumejakpor identified some causes of delays, including the practice of lawyers holding brief for others, and lack of control by judges.

    “Most of the SANs come to court and dictate to judges. You push them (such judges), they fall and roll over. It’s a shame,” he said.

    He also noted that the abuse of adjournments was a problem that must be tackled.

    According to him, the weapon of wasted cost should be used as a deterrent.

    “Such costs should be treated as fines, and people will sit up,” he said.

    He believes if counsel are made to personally pay costs, they would sit up.

    He noted that in the UK, when such fines are awarded against a lawyer, they are registered in his record at the Bar and could lead to loss of clients, who can access such records.

    Emumejakpor said it was wrong for a case to be adjourned because a Chief Judge suddenly asked a judge  to represent him at an event.

    Not only does it lead to a waste of time, but of resources, as counsel and witnesses may have paid for flight and accommodation, he said.

    Emumejakpor added that the default position of all stakeholders should be to comply with the law so that cases can be speedily concluded.

    Experts’ inputs

    Participants noted that the template was too long and complicated. They said the section on disaggregation should also include socio-economic background.

    They suggested that the section on value judgment (with the question: Was the presiding judge sufficiently in control of court?) should be shifted to the end of the template.

    They also suggested that the CJN should be briefed regularly on ongoing cases rather than wait till the end of the case.

    The experts said there should be formal quarterly reports so that the supervising authorities can take immediate actions.

    PACAC was urged to expand the scope of the monitoring. The experts said monitoring should extend post-sentencing.

    For instance, a convict who is supposed to be in prison serving his/her term may actually be walking free. So, monitors should check whether the convict is actually serving his term.

    It was recommended that state authorities should be included as stakeholders in high-profile corruption cases, while the template should be divided into parts from the commencement of trial to sentencing.

    It was further suggested that a whole section should be devoted to case transfer, that there should be different forms – one for during the trial and one after the trial, and that there should be quarterly reporting.

    Participants recommended that sentinels should be adequately trained to carry out their fact-finding covertly and thoroughly in order to achieve the best results.

    According to them, the template should elicit information about a case, charges, prosecution, defendants, case management, trial, adjournments, costs, trial in absence, judgment, sentencing, overview/conclusion of the case,and post-sentence.

    It was also recommended that first part of the template should include name and location of court, including the court number; names of parties, name of judge and registrar, and particulars of the prosecution and defense counsel.

    They suggested that the format of the questions should be made objective to reduce personal opinion.

    They added that the timeline for transfer of cases and the reasons should be provided in the form, while the time a judge sits should be clearly stated.

    The use of colour codes for ease of analysis was also suggested.

    Red could mean that a case is deliberately being slowed and the rules and ACJA are not being followed; yellow could mean that the ACJA is being applied in limited form; while green could mean that the law is being strictly followed and the case is moving at the expected pace.

    PACAC said the template would be harmonised before it is deployed for the monitoring exercise.

    Other observations

    EFCC’s Head of Prosecutions, Gbolahan Latona, noted that the anti-graft war would not be won without the cooperation of all stakeholders.

    He decried that fact that in a Northern state, the EFCC began the prosecution of suspects for corruption based on complaints by a former governor, only for the new governor, through the Attorney-General, to grant them pardon.

    “The trial court, based on the so-called pardon, discharged them and said we no longer had issues before him. We (EFCC) are contesting and appealing the decision,” he said.

    According to him, the role of state authorities was critical, especially in high-profile cases. He also wants the issue of post-sentencing monitoring to taken seriously.

    Prof Sagay noted  that some judges sometimes circumvent the constitutional provision that judgment must be delivered within 90 days of adoption of addresses.

    He said such judges would summon counsel as the 90 days are about end,  raise some “irrelevant” issues about the case, after which they would adjourn again for another 90 days.

    “At the High Court level, the monitors should take note of that. There should be formal report every three months so that the supervising authorises can know what is going on,” he said.

    A journalist and judicial correspondent, Mr Ade Adesomoju, pointed out that the practice of Chief Judges transferring cases from one judge to another when such cases are already at an advanced stage should be stopped.

    A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Sarda Suraj, denied that SANs were a cog in the wheel of justice.

    “We (SANs) want the country to prosper,” he said.

    Lagos lawyer Wahab Shittu noted that monitors should pay close attention to judges’ punctuality, as some of them contribute to delays by sitting late.

  • Tracking that drink down the bottling line

    Tracking that drink down the bottling line

    •Do bottling companies exercise adequate care in manufacturing? Jill Okeke finds out.

    A cursory look at the manufacturing processes of major bottling plants in Nigeria shows a semblance of international standards. From Nigerian Breweries, Guinness Nigeria and Nigerian Bottling Company, tours of their manufacturing facilities at Ibadan, Ogba and Agidingbi reveal they all exercise due care in the manufacturing and processing of their products in a way that makes it a surprise that consumers still find reasons to complain about some of the products.

    Recently, the Nigerian Breweries took many Nigerian journalists on a facility tour of their bottling plant at Ibadan. This visit was aimed at familiarising the media with the internal processes of the leading brewer. It was nice to witness firsthand how alcoholic beverage is processed and bottled to maintain and achieve high hygiene and quality standards.

    One of the highlights of the four-day visit last October was the day three which had the journalists go on a practical tour of the processing and packaging units to see firsthand the various control check-points in place to ensure and maintain high standard in the processing and bottling of the drinks.

    As we left the units overwhelmed, we could not help wondering aloud, “how come with all the quality control measures in place and the meticulousness exhibited by staff that some consumers still come up with claims of seeing foreign bodies in the bottles or under filled bottles and cans?”

    On another occasion, a facility tour of Nigerian Bottling Company’s Coca-Cola bottling plant at Agidingbi, Ikeja, tells a similar story. The plant, known to be the biggest of the various plants of the soft beverage manufacturers in Nigeria, boasts of 12 lines where soft drinks, water and juice drinks are processed and packaged.

    Perhaps more interesting is the case of Guinness Nigeria that recently made strategic investments in the expansion and upgrading of its brewing plants said to have cost up to N52 billion. The confidence of the company in its quality process was exhibited recently when it welcomed a team of the National Agency for Foods and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), led by Dr. Paul Orhii, the agency’s Director General, on a tour of the facilities at the Ogba brewery plant.

    The quality of the production channel caught the attention of Dr. Orhii and his team making him commend Guinness. A satisfied director general gave kudos to Guinness “for maintaining high quality standards in the production of its beverages and high level of compliance with NAFDAC’s regulations and policies.” He also expressed satisfaction about the modern factory established for the production of origin and other products from the stable.

    These tales of leading brewers and bottlers in Nigeria make it more difficult to fathom why consumers’ complaints still abound with the conspiracy theory being peddled in some quarters as being responsible. What is clear is that these companies exercise due care in their manufacturing processes but being human there might still be error margins, though minimal. It is up to the companies to strive for continuous improvement, while regulators like NAFDAC should make such facility tours regular so that the companies would not rest on their oars.

    It is noteworthy that the plants do not just let you visit. The professional standards and care see them put you through an induction course, so that the visitor can get to understand the processes and ask relevant questions as might be necessary.

    Each visitor is provided with Personal Protective Equipment which include, overall, ear plugs, eye glasses, safety boots and hair net. This is a further reinforcement of the desire to ensure safety and comply with international standards by the manufacturers.

    There might also be need for regulators to put discreet measures in place to ascertain the evidence emanating from these ‘guided tours.’ It might be that the companies are staging a show and would do differently when the visitors or inspectors are not on ground. That is, unscheduled regulatory visits should be part of measures put in place to ensure compliance with standards and compliance with quality requirements in the bid to ensure that consumers in Nigeria get the right quality consistently.

    This becomes necessary, because making an example of Nigerian Bottling Company’s Ikeja plant, the facility shows that many control checks and inspections, which the company says is because the empty bottles come in dirty and polluted from the public unlike the plastic bottles and cans. This necessitates more checks for the bottles.

    So, the first control check here starts as soon as the empty bottles are received from the public. The bottles are inspected for chipped necks, breakages, heavy soiling, foreign objects and foreign bottles. The ones that do not meet the standards are eliminated and destroyed at this very first stage.

    Thereafter, the empty bottles on the crates going on the conveyor belt to the uncaser machine which removes the bottles from the crates.

    A second control check called the ‘Pre-Inspection’ takes place at this stage. Here, human inspectors inspect the bottles again for chipped necks, damages, heavy soils, foreign objects like molds, cement, paint, candle-wax etcetera. Bottles that are heavily soiled are removed as part of measures to ensure output quality is not compromised.

    The bottles now go through the washer with its several stages to ensure thorough cleanliness before finally going to the rinser.

    The bottles are again inspected for residual caustic, nonviable mold, bottle appearance and residual liquid. They are now transported to another point where the washed bottles are inspected.

    From this point, the bottles are transferred to the All Surface Electronic Bottle Inspector machine which again inspects the bottles for defects. If the bottles are not okay, the pusher rejects and pushes them out to another line through which they flow out of the unit.

    After this, the certified washed bottles are transferred to the filler. At this stage there are so many critical control points all in the bid to make sure that the products meet the Food Safety Standards.

    It is observed that at any point during the production process, that a malfunction is detected, the whole production is put on hold until the quality re-verification and sanctification is carried out. At every stage, consumer’s interest is guarded and protected jealously, so how come consumer complaints still come up?

    Manufacturing, like any other human endeavour, is prone to errors no matter the level of caution man exercises. This makes it imperative that all hands must be on deck to minimise error margins. This is where visits like the one made by Dr Orhii at Guinness should be more frequent and probably at short or no notice just in case the manufacturers are staging a show with well publicised visits. The interest of the consumer must be paramount and guarded jealously by all stakeholders.

  • Female pupils invent tracking device

    Five students of Princeton College, Surulere, Lagos have invented a device that would help traffic officials track traffic offenders across the country.

    The pupils – Adeola Fasan, 14; Chikodi Ozoagu, 13; Joy Olufemi 14; Abisola Jegede 13; and Mary Okoro 14, represented the Africa region after emerging overall winner in the Technovation challenge, a competition that was organised by Women in Technology in Nigeria (WITIN) last month.

    Their victoryqualified them to participate in the grand finale – the Africa in San Fransisco contest held in the United States, with nine other contestants from other parts of the country. It came up on May 2 and 3.

    The application, which can only work on android phones, is targeted at traffic officials and other para- military agencies when fully completed.

    The device will enable users track any traffic offender no matter the category of the offence or wherever the offender may be hiding.

    The management of the school praised the girls for their brilliance and their efforts at making their country proud, particularly at a time when technology education is not encouraged.

    Princeton ICT (Information and Telecommunications Technology) teacher, Mr Mayowa Oladujoye, said he was proud of the pupils for their commitment and dedication to their studies over time.

    The school management called on the government to further inspire the young girls’ ingenuity by embracing the new technology which it believes, would help in decongesting traffic and boost discipline among drivers.

     

  • Maina: task team tracking N3.3tr stolen fund

    The last may not have been heard about the pension scam.

    The Presidential Pension Reform Task Team (PPRTT) has said it is investigating a N3.3 trillion pension fraud.

    The team said it has lost confidence in the Senate Joint Committee on Establishment and Public Service, which is looking into the activities of the team.

    The Chairman of the task team, Abdulrasheed Maina, spoke yesterday during a chat with reporters in Abuja.

    Maina, who confirmed investigation into the fraud, said the task team has uncovered a huge scam in pension administration and would soon make it public.

    He was not forthcoming with the names of the agencies or individuals involved, saying it was too early and that this might jeopardise ongoing investigation.

    He said PPRTT would go public with the names when investigations are concluded.

    “I want to tell you that what we have uncovered will surprise Nigerians. We have found that pension funds up to N3.3 trillion were stolen by the cabal and we will recover the money,” Maina said.

    He said the task team has recovered about N241 billion and has deleted 73,000 ghost pensioners from the civil service list.

    Maina said over 170,000 pensioners have been captured under the biometrics data capturing exercise.

    He listed part of the achievements of the team to include cutting of N1billion police pension monthly releases (from N1.59billion to N500 million) and the stoppage of monthly leakage of N4.25billion from the Head of Service pension office.

    That N74 billion of the N181 billion discovered and saved by the pension task team has been mopped up for utilisation in the 2012 budget,” he said.

    Maina, who also spoke about his running battle with the Senate Committee on Establishments, which is investigating the Pension Office, said the committee is biased.

    He said: “The committee is unfair to us because it has taken sides with the cabal. It is against those of us fighting corruption in the system.

    “That was why I wrote a protest letter to the Senate President, complaining that the committee is biased. They don’t allow us to answer questions because they will insist on yes or no as answer and this is unfair.”

    Maina denied knowledge of the alleged theft of N195 billion by the Pension Office, saying: “The Pension Task Team does not control or approve the utilisation of the finances of the aforementioned pension offices; and for this reason, it could not have been possible for anybody to hold the team accountable for allegedly missing funds by other pension offices, which the team has no control over.”