ICAN hit by integrity leadership crisis

CMYK

JULY 8 , , , , , 20132013201320132013

Continues on page 18

A CRISIS of Integrityand leadership is currently tearing the In-

stitute of Chartered Account-ants of Nigeria apart. Mem-bers are angry over what theysee as deceit and concealmentof facts by the ICAN leader-ship, a body set up to regulateaccounting practice in Niger-ia.

Trouble started for the bodywhen at the annual generalmeeting of the body last month,a motion meant to revoke theMemorandum of Understand-ing (MoU) between the insti-tute and Babcock Universitywas stepped down on the brief-ing by then President that therewas a court injunction barringmembers from discussing theissue. ICAN had entered intoan MoU with Babcock that itsstudents will take only the PartII examination of the instituteupon graduation.

ICAN had intended at thesaid AGM to void the agree-

By OMOH GABRIEL,Business Editor ICAN hit by integrity,

leadership crisisment, but the university tookthe matter to court. As the casehas just been filed and has notbeen heard, the President hur-riedly at the AGM of the bodywithdrew the motion slated forconsideration on the groundsthat there was an injunction re-straining the institute from con-sidering the motion.

But to the chagrin of mem-bers, there was no injunctionat the time of the AGM.

According to documentssighted by Vanguard,

ICAN had written to memberssaying; “Members are hereininformed that the proposedmotion on review of the MoUbetween Babcock Universityand ICAN billed to be dis-cussed at the AGM on the 31stof May 2013, has been put onhold for the following reasons:

tween the Institute of Char-tered Accountants of Nigeria(ICAN) and Babcock Univer-sity, Ilishan, Ogun State, Ni-geria, granting five-year ac-counting graduates of the uni-versity exemption from all butthe final examination, PE II ofthe Institute, be and is herebyrevoked with immediate effectfrom the date of passing thisresolution.

“That all other Memorandaof Understanding (excludingthe MoU with NOUN) withany other tertiary institutionsuch as Benson Idahosa Uni-versity which alters or has thecapacity of altering the Insti-tution’s qualification process beand is hereby revoked with im-mediate effect from the date ofpassing this resolution.”

Intent on knowing the truth,the institute set up a com-

mittee which findings said;“Consequently, we conducteda search and our findings areas follow: The suit in questionwas filed by Prof. Enyi, Prof.Ishola Akintoye and sevenothers.“The suit was deliveredand assessment for claims be-ing sought was paid on May28, 2013. The writ of summonswas sealed by the Registrar on30th May, 2013.“As at June 11,due to absence of evidence ofservice of court paper onICAN, the file was still at theLagos Division Registrar's Of-fice. This implies that the filehas not moved to the adminis-trative judge's office for it to beassigned to a court. “Pleasefind below major points to noteas an outcome of the meeting:

“There was/is no injunction

Some lecturers, ICANmembers, students ofBabcock Universityand Benson IdahosaUniversity filed a suitagainst ICAN andprayed for the follow-ing reliefs: AN ORDERof Interlocutory injunc-tion restraining the De-fendant/Respondentwhether by itself, itsagent, its privies or itsassigns from present-ing, deliberating, con-sidering and/or ratify-ing the resolution con-tained in the agenda ofthe Defendant/Re-spondent’s 48th Annu-al General Meeting towit; “To ratify the fol-lowing resolutions:That the Memorandumof Understanding be-

CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL SELLING

CBN Exchange rate as at 05/07/2013

107.48 +1.94

102.96 +1.72

120.8 -0.35

2,214.00 -36.00

16.27 -0.15

DOLLAR 154.76 155.26 155.76POUNDS 236.303 237.0665 237.8299EURO 200.6154 201.2635 201.9117FRANC 163.0082 163.5349 164.0615YEN 1.5562 1.5612 1.5662CFA 0.2881 0.2981 0.3081WAUA 231.5465 232.2946 233.0427RENMINBI 25.2413 25.3233 25.4053RIYA 41.266 41.3994 41.5327KRONA 26.8858 26.9727 27.0595SDR 231.9698 232.7192 233.4687

Cover Story

CMYK

18 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 8, 2013

Continued from page 17


Vocation and technical education– a key to improving Nigeria’s

development. Part 3

An entrepreneur is aperson who makes plans

for a business or a piece of workand gets it going.Anyanwuocha (2001) observesthat the entrepreneur is thechief co-ordinator, controllerand organiser of the productionprocess. The entrepreneurcombines other factors ofproduction (land, capital andothers) in such a way as toobtain maximum production ofgoods and services at minimumcosts. In order to effectivelyenhance occupational skills inthe present day, entrepreneursneed also to acquireinformation andcommunication technologyknowledge and skills. Mkpozi(1996) observed that a countrythat is developing andmanufacturing its own goodseither from Hi-Tech or small/medium scale industries usingindigenous skills and exportssome of those goods to othercountries, is usuallyeconomically stable. This couldbe better achieved through theacquisition of entrepreneurialand occupational skills intechnology and vocationaleducation. Individuals withtechnical and vocation skillsand good knowledge of ICT arecharacterized by self-reliance,self-employment and fitproperly into today’s technical,entrepreneurial and businessworld.

The entrepreneur shouldtherefore possess

technical skills, ideas andmanagement skills which arenecessary for the success of theventure. One of such skills isinformation andcommunication technologywhich is characterized byemployee empowerment andinvolves the making ofunskilled and semiskilledworkers to be skilful andfunctional in today’s world ofwork. It also involves thedevelopment of task-orientedteam of workers who no longerdepend on individualmanagers for all theirdecisions to achieve targets.Technical process re-engineering are also requiredto redesign technical workprocesses, jobs, organisationalstructure, management system,and also in process designsusing in manufacturingindustries.

These components of ICThave great implications for theenhancement ofentrepreneurship education intechnology and vocationaleducation field of work.According to Azuka, Nwosu,

,

,

Kanu and Agomuo (2006),classroom behaviour mustalign with ICT-drivenenvironment which isconstantly shaping and re-shaping the work place andconsequently, what is learntand how learning takesplace.

There are various numbersof opportunities fortechnology and vocationaleducation graduates withentrepreneurship skills inICT-driven technical andvocational educationenvironment. Theseopportunities exist invarious forms for enhancingentrepreneurship skills.Nwabuona (2004) viewsentrepreneurship educationas the identification of thegeneral characteristics ofentrepreneurs and howpotential entrepreneurs canbe trained in managementtechniques needed foreffective performance ofpersons for long timesurvival of an organisationafter the acquisition ofoccupational skills.Therefore, the role oftechnology and vocationaleducation in enhancementof entrepreneurship skills isto identify and equipgraduates with criticalwealth of skills, technicalknowledge, and a goodmeasure of self-confidenceusing information andcommunication technologycompetence.

The entrepreneurshould therefore

possess entrepreneurial andmanagement skills whichare necessary for the successof the venture. Ogalanya inNwabuona (2004) identifiedentrepreneurial skills toinclude managerial oradministrative skills, job/technical skills, humanrelations skills, innovative/enterprising skills,competitive skills,communication skills,conceptual/planning skills,supervisory/guidance skills,according skills,inves t iga t ion /prob lemsolving skills. Ohakwe(2003) observedentrepreneurial skills asbanking transactions,internet concepts and skills,internet websites knowledgeand skills. An adequateknowledge of theseconcepts, skills and internetcompetences certainly is anasset to technology andvocational educationgraduates in today’s ICT-driven world.

before the AGM. There was amotion on notice of interlocu-tory injunction. It was a mis-take to have mentioned thatthere was an Injunction at theAGM instead of motion on no-tice of interlocutory injunction.

Council does not have inten-tion of stepping down the mo-tion. Council always works inthe best interest of the Institute;however, no man is perfect.The office of the president isopen to the forum representa-tives on any matters that mayaffect the well-being of ICANmembers and the developmentof the institute at large. Therepresentatives of the forumshould come up with a posi-tion paper on the MoU forCouncil consideration on June27, 2013 and thereafter the out-come would be made known toall members. The forum wouldbe adequately carried along inthis project. ICAN is right toenter into any MoU if it is con-sidered proper; however, mem-bers would be carried along inany future engagements.

“While we are making effortsto summarise the salient infor-mation from the court docu-ments for your information, thecomments of members shall beappreciated.”

Piqued by this discovery,one of the members wrote;

“For me, I was very sure therewas no injunction from dayone. It is unfortunate that ourIPP could go that far to havedeliberately misinformed thehouse that 31st day of May,2013. I think what we need todo is to take the following ac-tions: Obtain an injunctionstopping the implementation ofthe obnoxious MoU until anEGM is held by ICAN; Theinjunction to also direct ICAN

aggrieved member said; “Youwill recall that the motion onMoU with Babcock was valid-ly brought to the ICAN AGMas a motion requiring mem-bers’ decision. The discussionand possible decision was sus-pended based on the informa-tion provided through an un-signed document released bythe ICAN Secretariat. Thissame information was con-firmed by the immediate pastpresident of our great Institute- ICAN in the course of theAGM when the immediate pastpresident mentioned that therewas an 'injunction' stopping themotion from being discussed.We had made a formal requestto have a copy of the said courtdocuments from the Secretari-at and we were informed thatthis will not be available to us. “If the injunction is delivered

on the day of AGM, ICAN owesher members explanations andher next line of action and post-ing of same injunction on theweb site within 24 hours of theconclusion of the AGM. IfICAN already has a copy of theinjunction, there is a compul-sion to make copies availableon the web site and to themembers at the AGM. Expla-nations and next line of actionare also required. It will equallybe right and proper for ICANManagement and Council tomake available, all the MoUssigned with any local or inter-national institution on or beforethe AGM. Except for examina-tion purposes, confidentiality,classified information and se-crecy must give way to open-ness and transparency. This isthe right way to defend ourcharter. This is the minimumexpected of a proactive organ-isation.”

A member of the Institutealarmed by lack of trans-

parency in the handling of thematter said; “I don’t believethat story an inch. You can’teven tell that to my 10-year- olddaughter, let alone profession-al accountants. Rather, I be-lieve this is probably part of agrand design to pull wool overthe eyes of the entire member-ship of the Institute of Char-tered Accountants of Nigeria(ICAN) and I tell you my rea-son for saying so. The imme-diate past President was partof ICAN Presidency when theMoU was signed in May 2010.So he is probably one of the ar-chitects and supporters of theMoU. He also was unconvinc-ingly defending the MoU atevery opportunity at ICANevents during his presidencyand that Professor Enyi was in

to conduct an Extra OrdinaryGeneral Meeting (EGM) with-in the next three months to dis-cuss and take decision on theMoU. I wish to thank those thathave made the sacrifice to ex-pose this wrong doing againstour dear Institute.” “Another

ICAN hit by integrity, leadership crisis

While we aremaking efforts tosummarise thesalient informa-

tion from thecourt documentsfor your informa-

tion, the com-ments of mem-

bers shall be ap-preciated.

From left: Vice President, Association of Private Dental Practitioners of Nigeria, Azuara IfeanyiDavid; President, Nigeria Dental Association, Olojede Olurotimi; Brand Building Director,Unilever Nigeria Plc, David Arome Okeme; and Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor onPublic Health, Dr. Yewande Adeshina, during the Closeup-sponsored Lagos World RecordTeeth Brushing challenge at Teslim Balogun Stadium,Lagos. PHOTO BY AKEEM SALAU

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 8, 2013 — 19

Cover

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In 1986, Nigeria was cash-strapped and could not pay forimport; It embarked on import licensing. Foreignexchange rationing was the order of the day. It bred

favouritism and there was need to change the system. Westerneconomists came in to advise the country. Their prescription forNigeria was to adopt the ill-fated Structural Adjustment

Naira redenominationis now

Programme. They immediatelysaw the naira as an over valuedcurrency. Then the naira wasabout the same value with thedollar. Nigeria took theeconomic suicide pills ofstructural adjustment with thekey point of devaluing thenaira. The naira was devalued.The naira was exchanging atN0.658 to the dollar in 1972;N0.658 to the dollar in1974 andin 1985, a year before SAP, thenaira was exchanging at N0.894to the dollar. In1986 whenNigeria on the advice ofeconomists devalued the naira,it was N2.02 to the dollar.

Since then, the naira hassuffered persistent devaluationat the detriment of the nationaleconomy. By1987, the value ofthe naira had dropped to N4.02.By 1994, it was exchanging forN22.33 at the official market.CBN official figures showedthat in 2004, the nairaexchange rate at the officialmarket as at the end ofDecember was N132.86 whileit was N138.71 in the bureaude change. In 2005, theexchange rate of the naira tothe dollar was N130.29 at theofficial market and N141.93 inthe open market by the end ofthat year. CBN data equallyshowed that in 2006, theexchange rate of the nairafirmed up to an average ofN128.29 in the official marketand N129.32 in the openmarket. In 2008, it lost somevalue to exchange for N126.48officially and N137.65 in theopen market. In 2009, thenaira lost more value to thedollar to exchange for N153.48in the open market. This trendin the loss of value in thenation's currency is expected

to continue and would, byIMF projection, exchange forN202.7 to the dollar in the nextfour years.

When the CBN and themilitary government then werepresented with SAP, the catchwas that it would lead to Nigeriaearning more foreign exchangefrom non-oil export. Thedevaluation policy, Nigerianswere told, will make Nigeriaexport cheaper, encouragedirect foreign investment, andboost government revenue.Policymakers bought the idealine hook and sinker.

They did not take into accountthat devaluation favourcountries that have largemanufacturing bases. Based onWestern economic theory ofelasticity of demand and supply,a change in price brings abouta considerable change in thevolume demanded. Yes, forproducts that the producer hascontrol over its supply, priceelasticity holds, But forcommodities and primaryproduce which prices aredetermined by the vagaries ofthe international market, thetheory breaks down.

Nigeria produces primaryproducts such as cocoa, rubber,groundnut etc and now oil. Theprices of these commodities arenot determined by whateverNigeria does. They aredetermined essentially byinternational market price. The

volume of oil Nigeria is tosupply to the internationalmarket is determined byOPEC and the price ruling bythe international oil market. Itis not what Nigerianproducers want to sell oil orany of the other commoditiesthat they get. The demand forNigerian products is notinfluenced by the prices thatNigerian producers quote forthem, but simply by what the

international commoditiesexchanges quote as prices.

This is not the case with carsand other manufactured goods.In the case of cars and othermanufactured goods as it is inthe West where most of theeconomic theories emanatedfrom, it is the manufacturer aftercalculating his cost, that fixesthe margin he wants for hisproducts. In these economies,adjustment of currency pricesaffect in a great measure, theamount of goods they can sell

to one another. If a particularcurrency is valued higher thanthe other, the cost of importingtheir product becomes higher,so they sell less.

Pricing the naira far lowerthan other currencies at thispoint in time is a great disserviceto the nation. Nigeria is not atthe moment a productiveeconomy, it is essentially aconsuming economy whereanything under the sun is

imported. Of what benefit is itto keep the naira down? Theunemployment situation in thecountry is because the naira hasbeen wrongly priced over theyears. Redenomination of thenaira will deflate prices andrealign the value of the localcurrency with the dollar andother foreign currencies.

This will build a newconfidence in the economy. Itwill enable authorities toeffectively manage generalprice level and the probable

increase in external confidencein the nation’s economy.Redenomination of the nairacould boost the Nigerian capitalmarket. The signal of moreeffective management ofgeneral price level makesinvestors to anticipate lower andstable inflation. Thus, thegeneral level of interest rate, thebane of the economy, isexpected to fall. Such fall ininterest rate will in turn boostinvestment in the Nigerianeconomy. Also, the rise inexternal confidence in theNigerian economy will attractmore foreign direct investmentinto the country with a positiveimpact on the capital market.

If the president is seriousabout letting histransformation agenda makemeaning to Nigerians, heshould immediately embark onthe realignment of the nairawith other foreign currencies.

1972 - 0.658; 1973 - 0.658;1974 - 0.63 ;1975 - 0.616;1976 - 0.62 ;1977 - 0.647;1978 - 0.606; 1979 - 0.596;1980 - 0.550 ;1981 - 0.61;1982 - 0.673 ; 1983 - 0.724;1984 - 0.765; 1985 - 0.894 ;1986 - 2.02; 1987 - 4.02;1988 - 4.54; 1989 - 7.39;1990 - 7.39; 1991 - 8.04;1992 - 9.91; 1993 - 17.30;1994 - 22.33; 1995 - 21.89;1996 - 21.89; 1997 - 21.89;1998 - 21.89; 1999 - 21.89;2000 - 85.98 ; 2001 - 99-1062002 - 109-113; 2003 -114-127;2004 -127-130; 2005 -132-136;2006 -128.50-131.80; 2007 -

120-125; 2008 -115.50-120;2009 -145-171

The naira was exchanging atN0.658 to the dollar in 1972;N0.658 to the dollar in1974 and in1985, a year before SAP, the nairawas exchanging at N0.894 to thedollar. In 1986 when Nigeria onthe advice of economists devaluedthe naira, it was N2.02 to thedollar

Ghana (remember his email onthis forum on 18 May 2013@19:57 about that five-dayGhana conference) few weeksback before the AGM probably(I am giving room for a likelyevent Mr. Enyi paid for him-self to attend the said confer-ence but I doubt it) as part ofthe entourage of the ICAN Pres-idency when the ImmediatePast President (IPP) was ICANPresident. You could call thatcoincidence if you like but noone is fooled.

“Professor Enyi, in one of hisemails to the Elders Forum, con-firmed to the elders on 28 May2013 @16:51 that there was an

injunction. He wrote the word“Injunction” in the said email.Professor Akintoye wrote in hisreply to one of Elder Yemi La-wal’s emails suggesting that hisonly involvement in the MoUwas as an ICAN Accreditingagent at Babcock but it latertranspired that Prof. Akintoyewas a far more interested partythan a mere accrediting agentfor ICAN regarding the MoUgoing by the court papers wenow have which lists his nameas one of the claimants. Weknew that anyway but we justwant them to dig themselvesdeeper into judicial hole, andthey have obliged us. Going bythe aforementioned facts, Itherefore find it extremely dif-

ficult if not entirely impossibleto believe that a person of in-telligence and a professionallike IPP was actually misled inthis MoU issue. It will be a verytall order for me to convince my10-year-old daughter of thatimpression let alone my fellowcolleagues. Let no one befooled.

“The issue of whether he wasmisled or not by legal counselis his problem, not ours and healone and the Council shoulddeal with that. I am sorry if Iam harsh but I have to be hon-est in my views. Tell anotherstory please! One needs morelies to justify a lie and it canonly create more avoidable com-plications.”

Another simply wrote andsaid; “Where weresome council members when aN500,000 web site turned intoa N5 million web site contractbonanza that was awardedwithout due process? Therewere allegations; even the con-tractor was also advanced N3million overnight and anagreement signed even beforethe then IT Committee was in-formed about it. I know whathappened to me for speakingup against it at the then IT Com-mittee meetings. We had out-cries, newspaper reports etc. butno action from council until to-day, and we still demand for aninvestigation into the allega-tions in respect of that web site.

What did council do to deal withsuch weighty allegations onthat issue? Nothing! That defi-nitely calls into question theintegrity of some council mem-bers. I have so many other is-sues that may call into questionthe integrity of some councilmembers.

“Alternatively, are you notaware that some very high-ranking members of the ICANSecretariat failed the Integritytests twice and they are retainedby council? You know that ifthey failed it once, they are sup-posed to be relieved of theirposition, but they are still therebecause of the actions or inac-tion of some members of coun-cil who in my opinion, lack in-tegrity. Please let me stop herebefore I start disclosures thatwill rock the institute more thanwhat we have now.”

ICAN hit by integrity, leadership crisis

20 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 8 , 2013

CMYK

Business & Economy

BRIEFS

By OMOH GABRIEL

A new study hasrevealed thatb e t t e r

work life balance is beingachieved most successfullyby business owners and bythe younger generations inNigeria and Africa. This iscontained in a report byRegus Work life BalanceIndex. However, the Indexhas slipped four points acrossEast and North Africa and sixpoints in South Africa sincelast year, showing thatpeople in business arestruggling with a mounting

Study reveals better work lifebalance by business owners

pressure of work.The study, published for the

second year running byglobal workplace provider,Regus, is based on the viewsof 26,000 professionals inmore than 90 countries withdirect representation in 16African nations. Theinternational study includesEast, North and South Africa.

A study conducted inAnambra State of Nigeriafound that employees wouldwant their employers tointroduce some policyintervention that wouldpositively impact on theirwork-life balance dilemma.

Studies have suggested thatemployees want jobs that givethem flexibility in their workschedules so that they canbetter manage work-lifeconflicts.

In the past, in thecontemporary Nigerianenvironment, a typicalemployee in a public sectororganisation would workconscientiously all the weekdays from Monday throughFriday. This situation hassince changed as employeesin many public sectororganisations areincreasingly complaining thatthe line between work and

non-work time has becomeblurred, creating personalconflicts and stress.

The global findings shouldbe seen in the context of thespecific score for East Africa(121) and South Africa (129)which beats the globalaverage (120) and the scorefor North Africa (113), whichlags behind the globalaverage by seven points.However, positive feelingsabound in the workplace, with78 percentage of East Africansand 79 percentage of Northand South Africanrespondents enjoying workmore than they did a year ago.

Perhaps contrary to commonassumptions, globally theBaby Boomer generationappears less adept atjuggling work and home life.Across the world, youngerworkers enjoy work more thanBaby Boomers (76 per centcompared with 64 per cent)and are more satisfied withtheir productivity levels (81per cent compared to 69 percent.)

Joanne Bushell, Vice-President at Regus,comments; “Staff who arehappy at work are both moreproductive and less likely toleave the company.

As the jobs marketimproves, businesses arerealising that to hire or retaintalent, they must focus onextending their flexibleworking policies, such asoffering a choice of worklocations. This is alreadyhappening – we see ournetwork of local centres usedevery day by people workingflexibly.

Previous research fromRegus showed that 72 percent of professionals globallybelieve that flexible workingimproves their productivity.

*From left; Akin Osuwa, member, Board of Trustees, Experiential Marketers Association of Nigeria (EXMAN); BolaAkingbade,Chairman,Board of Trustees; Kayode Olagesin, President, EXMAN; and Ehi Braimah, member during theEXMAN inauguration and Media briefing held in Lagos.

The Bank ofIndustry (BOI) and the

Ministry of Niger DeltaAffairs have signed aMemorandum ofUnderstanding, MoU, for theestablishment of FishIndustrial parks in the NigerDelta.

The agreement was signedin Abuja by the ManagingDirector of BoI, Ms EvelynOputu, and the Minister ofNiger Delta Affairs, ElderGodsday Orubebe.

Oputu said the MoU wasto advance the cause of theN i g e rDelta, improve lives andboost the economy of thepeople. She said; “Bank ofIndustry is partnering withthe Niger Delta Ministry to

BoI, Niger Delta ministry sign pacton fish industrial parksBY FAVOURNNABUGWU increase and change the pace

in the Niger Delta.“Everybody in Nigeria knowswhat has been happening inthe region before now andwith the setting up of theministry, we all had a greathope and expectations, andwe believe that this newproject marks a newbeginning in the region.”Oputu, who said she wasproud not only as an indigeneof the Niger Delta but as apartner in the progress of thearea, expressed delight atwitnessing the signingceremony of the MoU.

Orubebe applauded thecommitment anddetermination of BoI inworking harmoniously withthe ministry to support anddevelop people-oriented projects.

The minister noted that oilwas a fragment of the naturalresources found in the NigerDelta, stressing that “theregion is well endowed withother natural resources.”

According to him, theestablishment of the FishIndustrial Park programmewill not only create wealth, butgenerate employmentopportunities for the youth.

Orubebe explained that theproject would be establishedin all the nine Niger Deltastates, using two states forthe pilot scheme of theprogramme.

“The partnership will bebased on mutualunderstanding on a 50-50platform where BoI willcontribute part of the fundthat will be committed to theproject.”

FirstBank,UNICEF partneron mobilepaymentsolution

First Bank of Nigeria Plc,through its mobile

payment solution,FirstMonie has partneredwith the United NationsChildren Education Fund,UNICEF on its polio healthscheme to ensure that itsmonetary donations get torecipients despite theirlocations.

Speaking on thepartnership, the head,Marketing & CorporateCommunications, FirstBank,Mrs. Folake Ani-Mumuneysaid, the FirstMonie platformwhich facilitates the entry ofthe unbanked and under-banked population into thefinancial system, offers anexcellent medium forUNICEF to disburse fundssecurely to beneficiariesacross the nation.

The partnership will seeFirstMonie, the mobilemoney payment solution ofFirstBank support theUNICEF Health SchemeInitiative through itspayment disbursementservices and redemptionrelated issues to its VolunteerCommunity Mobilisers(VCMs) as well as theirconsultants across the nation.

The mobile paymentsolutions, also enablessubscribers send and receivemoney, pay bills, buy airtime,and make sundry purchasesin Nigeria without having abank account.

By JONAH NWOKPOKU

Chartered Institute ofBankers of Nigeria,

CIBN has said it is admittingnew members into thebanker•fs professional body.

In a statement, CIBN saidthat 817 students who havesuccessfully completed theInstitute•fs professionalexaminations andcertification would beinducted. These include 162who will be formally admittedinto the Associateship; 642 asMicrofinance certifiedbankers and thirteen holdersof Certificate in Banking.

The statement further notedthat the body is determinedto ensure that the bankingand finance sectors are staffedwith workforce that has therequisite professionaltraining, knowledge andskills, and will as a resultexamine the prospects andchallenges of competencyframework in the industry.

CIBN set toadmit 800 newmembers

CMYK


Business & Economy

BRIEF

Nigeria, Egypt trade volume hits $150m

The EgyptianAmbassador to

Nigeria, Mr. Ashraf Salama,has put the volume of tradebetween Nigeria and Egypt at$150 million.

Salama at the first Nigeria-Egypt Forum in Abujarecently, said the record wasfar under the expectations andcapabilities of the twoeconomies.

The envoy said there is needfor both countries to worktogether to explore thebusiness opportunitiesavailable in their variousdomains.

He said both countriesshould synergise “to boost the

BY FAVOURNNABUGWU

Absence of long-term investmentstunts economy, says SEC DG

BY ALICE FESTUS

THE Director-General,Securities andE x c h a n g e

Commission, SEC, MsArunma Oteh has said thatthe Nigerian economy willcontinue to be weak as longterm investments in theeconomy is absent.

She stated this in herkeynote address during theChartered Institute ofStockbrokers', CIS, secondannual national workshopwhich took place recently inAbuja.

According to her, “Capitalmarkets are capable oftransforming economiesthrough the mobilisation ofsavings for investment incritical sectors. One of theweaknesses of the Nigerianeconomy has been theabsence of medium to long-term capital to enable thecountry achieve the fullpotential that its rich humanand natural resourcespresent.

“It is my belief that thecurrent financing structure ofOil & Gas projects must berevamped. The Joint Venture,JV, model is clearly incapableof supplying the vastinvestment needed in thesector. The NNPC has jointventure arrangements withall the international oilcompanies, IOCs, where it istypically the majority holder.

“JVs are structured in sucha way that funding forprojects is contributed inproportion to each party’sparticipating interest over theyears; the NNPC has haddifficulties meeting up with itsown part of these fundingneeds. The NNPC is clearlycommitted to tackling thischallenge as it was recentlyrevealed that they areconsidering accessing thebond market in 2016 for fundsto finance future JVcommitments. The level ofinvestments required in both

the upstream anddownstream sub-sectors areenormous and it out-sizes thecurrent purse of our nationaloil company.

“Indeed, even the IOCs andindigenous oil companies willfind it increasinglychallenging setting asidefunds for investment infield development orbuilding refineries.Thankfully, that is where ourcapital market is expected tocome in. We are alsoadvocating for upstream Oil& Gas companies to get listedin our market not only as ameans to raise funds, butmore importantly, to submitthemselves to higher

standards of transparency,accountability and corporategovernance, particularly inresponse to the clamour forgreater transparency in theoperations of these oilcompanies.”

Oteh added that in orderfor Nigeria to attain its goalof achieving a marketcapitalisation of $1 trillion,the upstream oil & gascompanies have to be listed.

According to her; “The goalof achieving a marketcapitalisation of $1 trillion isachievable if we get upstreamoil & gas companies listed.Oil & Gas make up almost 15per cent of our GDP but oil &gas companies are less than

one per cent of the NSE’smarket capitalisation.

“Nigeria has comparableproduction levels asNorway but that is notreflected in the number oflistings or in the proportionof oil & gas firms in theNSE’s marketcapitalisation.”

Diving into housing,Oteh spoke on the key rolehousing play in supportingarms-length trade inadvanced economies andthe gains that can begenerated and urgedNigerians to take theadvantage and learn fromthe mistakes of thedeveloped world in order toenjoy the greater benefit offinancial instruments.

*From left; Mrs Oluwatoyin Araromi,Compliance & Ethics Manager, Guinness NigeriaPlc with Pattison Boleigha, Head, Group Compliance & Internal Control, Access Bank Plcand Soji Apampa, Executive Director, The Convention On Business Integrity at the Pressconference on 1st Annual Christopher Kolade Lecture on Business Integrity held at EkoHotel, Victoria Island Lagos. Photo by Akeem Salau.

bilateral trade in the nearfuture by utilising theopportunities available forbusiness in Egypt andNigeria.”

Salama urged the twocountries to tap into the vastresources and expertiseavailable to them.

“Our countries have vastresources and the two nationshave the same aspirations thatcentre on economicprosperity, youthempowerment, viableeducation systems, betterservices and equaldevelopment andopportunities.

“The embassy is workingwith the relevant authoritiesin Egypt and Nigeria to setthe legal framework thatwould facilitate the movement

of people and goods betweenour countries.”

Bello was represented byMrs Gana Wakili, a directorin the Commission

He said that with "thecreation of the favourableinvestment atmosphere in thecountry by the FederalGovernment, the return oninvestment is between 50 and70 per cent.”

According to him, theFederal Government hasprovided several incentiveswhich include tax holiday ofup to five years, 100 per centprofit repatriation amongothers.

Alhaji Mohammed Lere,President, Nigeria-EgyptBusiness Council, said theaim of the council was to open

doors for business activitiesbetween the two countries.

Lere noted that thecouncil was trying tostrengthen the partnershipwith Egypt to see how toattract investors into thehealth, energy and othersectors.

The president who notedwith concern thatNigerians spend millions ofdollars every year to seekmedical care in Egypt saidwith the partnership,Egyptian investors couldinvest in the health sector.

He believes that suchinvestment could saveNigeria the capital flightand provide employmentopportunities for theyouths.

International FinanceCorporation (IFC), amember of the World

Bank Group, hasannounced the launch of itsEnterprise GovernanceTraining Modules, targetedat Small and MediumEnterprises (SMEs) inAfrica.

In a statement from theCorporation, the trainingwill help entrepreneurs gainthe skills needed to succeedin building sustainablebusinesses that createwealth and jobs.

“The governance modulescover several topics such asmanaging relations,implementing enterprisegovernance, managing riskand planning for businesscontinuity.

“The module, which hasbeen successfully piloted inNigeria by Diamond Bank,will be delivered to SMEsthrough IFC’s BusinessEdge partners in more than22 countries in the region,”said Country Manager forNigeria, IFC, Mr. SolomonAdegbie-Quaynor.

“IFC places high priorityon encouragingentrepreneurs to achievehigher performance in asustainable manner. Byhelping expose Nigeria’ssmaller businesses to bestpractices, enterprisegovernance training canhelp Nigerian companiesimprove their access tofinance.”

However, Business Edge ispart of a strategy by IFC tosupport smaller businessesby helping governmentssimplify businessregulations in areas such aslicensing, registration andtaxation.

“To improve SMEs' accessto finance, IFC collaborateswith local financialintermediaries and helpsthem design affordable andtailored credit andinvestment solutions,"Adegbie-Quaynor said.

IFClaunchestrainingmodules forAfricanSMEs

BY PROVIDENCE OBUH


CMYK

Banking & Finance

BRIEFS

More than 5.73m i l l i o nN i g e r i a n s

have now embraced themobile banking platformwhich took off in thecountry two years ago.

Director, Banking andPayment SystemDepartment, Central Bankof Nigeria (CBN), Mr.Dipo Fatokun, disclosedthis at the 18th seminarorganised by the CBN forfinance correspondentsand business editors inUmuahia, Abia State.

Fatokun, who wasrepresented by Payments,Policy and OversightManager of the CBN, ChaiGang, noted that to date,the volume and value oftransactions on the mobilepayment platform hadrisen to 6.85 million andN74.26 billion respectivelyfrom N9.98 billion movedin 1.14 milliontransactions.

He, however, noted thatthe bank is working withstakeholders in theindustry on surmountingchallenges of epilepticpower supply, poort e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o nconnectivity, lack ofsynergy between mobilepayment operators andt e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o ncompanies and the needfor enhanced customerawareness.

Noting that although theagent banking initiative isstill at the licensing reviewstage, he said successfulagent banking and mobilepayments deployments all

5.7m Nigerians now onmobile banking platformover the world havedemonstrated that aneffective agent network isparamount to the success.

“Despite the fact that it’s nota ‘one-size fits all’ approach,agent network developmentand structures have certaincritical aspects in common,not least of all, a clear andwell understood selection andrecruitment process,consistent agent monitoring

and practical liquiditymanagement procedures.

“As we begin this journey,it is worth noting that theaforementioned will be thedrivers for the increase inagent activity in Nigeria. Thiswill be followed by growth innumber of agents, increasedactivity of agents, increase inaverage number oftransactions per agent andthe requisite growth in

financial inclusion and profitmargins for the agents andtheir principals,” he stated.

The CBN director also saidthe apex bank is set tocollaborate with the NigeriaPostal Service (NIPOST) toboost agent banking in thecountry. “We are already inconsultation with the NIPOSTto boost agent banking due toits spread across the country,”he said.

*Kano State Governor, Dr Rabiu Kwakwanso (r), exchanging dummy cheque of two billionNaira with Managing Director of Bank of Industry, Ms Evelyn Oputu (l) after the signing ofMemorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Kano State Government and Bank of Industryat Government House Kano. With them are Commissioner for Commerce, Alhaji DanbarauNuhu (2nd left) and Accountant-General of Kano State, Dr Danjuma Mohammed.

CBN set to introduce financialinclusion index

Central Bank ofNigeria, CBN, has

said Nigeria would sooncome up with a FinancialInclusion Index (FII),which will enable itrelatively measure thecompliance level of peoplethat have keyed into theglobal financial inclusioninitiative.

The CBN furtherdisclosed that thepresidency has given itsassent to the financialinclusion initiative of theCBN. The Director,Development FinanceDepartment of the CBN,

Mr. Paul Eluhaiwe,represented by Dr. PolycarpIsiaku, disclosed this at thethree-day CBN seminar forfinancial correspondents andbusiness editors in Umuahia,Abia State.

Speaking on the theme:Financial Inclusion inNigeria: Issues, Challengesand Prospects, he stated thatNigeria is relatively low inthe number of people thathave embraced financialservices when compared toother developed economies.

According to him,“Penetration of financialservices like payment is very

low and the services beingprovided by banks areexpensive. About 4 per centof Nigerians take insuranceproducts, while the North-East is the most hit in thefinancial inclusion.”

While commenting on theGlobal Financial Index, hesaid that Nigeria which is yetto have its own FinancialInclusion Index will sooncome up with one, addingthat government has thepolitical will to reduce thenumber of currency outsidethe banking system.

Explaining further on thepolitical will, he said; “TheCBN has got presidentialassent on financial inclusion.Mr. President and his cabinet

are keying into financialinclusion strategy that willhelp reduce corruption andincrease savingsmobilisation.”

On his part, Prof. DavidAjakaiye, who spoke onMeasurement of FinancialInclusion in Nigeria, saidbanks should see financialinclusion as opportunitiesand not as obligations.

"So when you allow themarket logic to decide theusage of these services, thenthe essence will be defeated.This is because when thathappens, banks will come outwith less products or evennone since there is noincentives that will enticethem.”

The pound has fallensharply after the Bank of

England (BoE) warned thatmarkets were wrong toassume that it would startraising interest rates soon.Sterling immediately droppeda cent and a half against thedollar to $1.5141.

It came as the bank heldinterest rates at 0.5 per centand kept its quantitativeeasing programme (QE)unchanged. The decisionswere made at the first meetingof the bank’s Monetary PolicyCommittee (MPC) since MarkCarney took over as governorfrom Sir Mervyn King.

The unusual statement bythe bank’s MPC comes as theeconomy shows signs ofrecovery, with severalindustry surveys pointing torising business optimism. TheMPC said that the recovery“remains weak by historicalstandards and a degree ofslack is expected to persist forsome time.”

Pound fallsas BoE playsdown raterise

Customers of DiamondBank Plc have

commended the managementand staff of the bank for theirunrelenting efforts atensuring customers’satisfaction. Thecommendation came at thebank's customers' forum heldrecently in Lagos.

At the forum which wasattended by captains ofindustry and owners of Micro,Small and Medium ScaleEnterprises (MSME), thecustomers stated that thebank's continued focus oncustomers' satisfaction hasresulted in significantimprovements and veryimpressive service delivery.

Speaking at the event, theManaging Director of StinaAgro and Allied IndustriesLimited, Mr. Austine Ajokuemphasised that he and othercustomers that he hadinteracted with wereenthralled with the bank'sexcellent service.

"We are very impressed withDiamond Bank becausebefore we declare ourintentions, they already haveanswers. Our only challengeis the number of branches,which we can see that they areworking on already. For morethan six years, they have beengiving me excellent services,I have other banks, but I preferDiamond Bank because theyserve my needs better".

Customers laudDiamond Bankon servicedelivery

Stories by BABAJIDEKOMOLAFE, PETEREGWUATU &ROSEMARY ONUOHA


Full Page Advert


CMYK

Corporate Finance

By NKIRUKA NNOROMBRIEFS

Group ManagingD i r e c t o r / C h i e f

Executive Officer of FlourMills of Nigeria Plc (FlourMills), Mr. Paul Gbededo, hascommended FCMB CapitalMarkets for its laudableefforts in bringing torealisation, Flour Mills’successful merger withNigerian Bag ManufacturingCompany Plc (BAGCO valuedat N5.1 billion.

Gbededo expressedconfidence that, “the successfulcompletion of the transactionwill ensure the actualisationof Flour Mills Group’s longterm growth strategy with theobjectives of benefiting fromoperational and administrativeefficiencies and creatingsynergies, which are expectedto maximise shareholder valuefor the merging entities.”

Executive Vice Chairman ofFCMB Capital MarketsLimited, Dr. Jonathan Long,who is also the Chairman ofFCMB Group Plc, in hisremarks commended FlourMills on its successfulcompletion of the transaction,saying it would enhanceshareholder value. Speakingon the transaction at a recentevent, he said: “This is asignificant transaction, whichsupports the rapid expansionand diversification of the FlourMills’ Group, boostingdomestic manufacturing,creating job opportunities andenhancing shareholder value.”

Investors list constraints toOTC market for unlistedequities

As trading in unlistedequities commencesin earnest, investors

in the Nigerian capitalmarket have said that thereare still some obviouschallenges, which thepromoters will have tograpple with to make it moreattractive.

Though generality of thembelieve that it is a goodconcept, they said there arestill some unclear issues,which must be settled forretail investors to fullyembrace the initiative.

They listed some of thechallenges to include lackluster performance by most ofthe companies whose sharesare yet to be listed on theExchange and are to betraded on the Over-the-Counter market,determination of pricing,issue of corporate governanceand proper understanding ofthe workability of theinitiative.

The National Association ofSecurities Dealers, NASD,had on July 1st commencedtransaction in unlistedsecurities on the OTC marketwith the promise of doingsame for unlisted bonds inthe next six months.

The NASD has Mr.Olutola Mobolurin as itsChairman and Mr. BolaAjomale as the ManagingDirector. The trading,according to the association,will cover delisted equities,companies that undertookprivate placement, but areyet to list their shares on theNigerian Stock Exchange,NSE and generally all theshares of unquotedcompanies.

Already, 40 stockbrokershave been registered tofacilitate trading in the OTCmarket, while more will beadded in future.

According to Ajomale, theplatform would offer investorsthe opportunity to buy andsell non-listed securities in anorganised and transparentmarket as well as provideliquidity for shares not listedon NSE.

“We will open up withequities and bonds many ofwhich are currently beingtraded on the black or greymarket in the first phase,” hesaid.

He explained thatinvestors could trade sharesof unlisted multinationalcompanies from the marketand those acquired duringprivate placements.

He added that the companyin the second phase wouldhave capacity to trade oncommercial papers whileother complex instrumentslike derivatives and optionswould be traded in the third

phase.“NASD as an OTC market

will not have a trading floor,but trading will be donethrough the internet and ahosted platform leased fromthe NSE,” he added.

Reacting to thedevelopment, Mr. AbayomiObabolujo, President,Association of AvidShareholders, AAS, said theconcept may sound elitistdue to lack of properunderstanding of the conceptby minority investors.

He said, “To me, it is a goodthing because it offersinvestors more basket ofinvestments than is availableat the moment, but the basicthing should have been to doenough publicity beforeintroducing the concept. Thepromoters have not doneenough publicity. Thepatronage may be lowbecause many people do notunderstand what the conceptis all about; they should havegone round the country tocreate awareness.”

Besides, he said that mostof the companies that whichshares will probably be tradedon the Over-the-Countermarket have underperformedin the past in terms ofdisclosure of financialposition, dividend payments

and regular interactionswith shareholders of thecompany.

He noted that wherefinancial statements arereleased at all, they comeout very bad, while thedividend declared by someamount top nothing. Alsomajority of them have ntbeen holding annualgeneral meetings.

He stated that thepromoter would probablysee more supply thandemand due to the lackluster performance. Citing

examples, he said that apartfrom companies likeFrieslandCampina WAMCO,MTN and Nigerite, others havenot performed.

“You cannot tell me to buy theshares of any of the companiesthat did private placement, buthave not listed or to buy sharesof any of the stockbroking firmsthat did private placement.

“This is going to be a majorproblem the problem is goingto have, apart from the fact thatthey have not done enoughsensitization. It is not bygathering the pressmentogether to brief them orgathering few people togetherin Lagos for a launch. Thereshould be enough sensitizationand proper education,” heemphasised.

He further stated that apartfrom the chairman of NASD,who is a well known figure, theother members are not equallyknown, adding that a lot of workshould go into endearingthemselves to the public tocreate trust.

He nonetheless, stated that itwould improve theattractiveness of the market andincrease the possibility ofhaving more companies listedon the NSE.

For Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa,former Managing Director,Neimeth InternationalPharmaceuticals Plc, anythingthat would help investors tocash out of several privateplacements they bought prior tocapital market meltdown waswelcome, but he wondered howthe price would be determinedand demand created for theshares.

Ambassador Olufemi Timothy,National President,Renaissance Shareholders’Association of Nigeria, most ofthe companies which shares arestill unlisted have problem withkeeping faith with corporategovernance, saying that itwould be a huge task gettingthem to comply with laid downprinciples.

He was optimistic that withOTC platform, shareholderswho will eventually buy intothose companies would putthem on their toes.

He also charged theSecurities and ExchangeCommission, SEC, to be up anddoing to stem malpractices.

“It is a brilliant idea, but theoperators should be honest andtransparent. The Securities andExchange Commission mustensure that it does not allowinsider dealing. In all theplatform will give investors theopportunity to diversify theirportfolio and it will also deepenthe market,” he stated.

,

,

Already, 40stockbrokershave beenregistered tofacilitatetrading inthe OTCmarket,while morewill beadded infuture

Flour Mills laudsFCMB Capital onN5.1bn merger

US stock index futuresrose by almost one per-

cent at the opening, Friday,following unexpected in-crease in June payrolls.

About 195,000 jobs wereadded in the month, aboveexpectations for 165,000.There were also positive re-visions to previous months,though the unemploymentrate ticked up to 7.6 percentfrom 7.5 percent.

According to Scott Brown,Chief Economist at RaymondJames in St. Petersburg, Flor-ida, “Markets were braced foran upside surprise, and Ithink this exceeded even thatoptimism,"

Analysts had been lookingto the report for insight intowhen the Federal Reservemight begin to slow its bond-buying stimulus program,which it has said it would doif economic growth and em-ployment data meet its targets.

By PETER EGWUATU

US stocks jumpover payrolls rise

Oscar Onyema, DG, NSE

CMYK


Corporate Finance

*From Left; Executive Director, Business Development, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE),Mr. Haruna Jalo-Waziri; Chief Executive Officer, Airline Services and Logistics Plc, Mr. RichardAkerele; Chief Finance Officer, ASL Plc, Mrs. Peju Shebioba and Head, Product Management,NSE, Mr. Dipo Omotoso at the presentation of Facts Behind the Figures of the company at theExchange in Lagos.

Local investors’ participationcritical to sustaining marketrecovery — Stockbrokers

LOCAL investors’ participation has been identified as key factor for

sustaining the tempo of recov-ery recorded in the NigerianStock Exchange, NSE, in re-cent times.

Stockbrokers that spoke toVanguard on recent develop-ments in the market, where theAll Share Index, ASI, and mar-

ket capitalisation have been ondownward stride, said thatthough statistics showed anincrement in level of partici-pation by local investors, buttheir involvement has beendominated by institutional in-vestors and portfolio manag-ers.

Data from the NSE on for-eign/domestic participation invalue terms indicated that For-eign Portfolio Investment, FPI,reduced to 48.7 percent dur-

ing the month of May, 2013,while domestic transactionsincreased significantly to 51.3percent over the same period.

Analysis showed that FPI,which started at 36.9 percentat the beginning of the yearincreased to 52.8 percent at theend of the first quarter, 2013.

The increasing trend of FPItransactions continued intothe second quarter of the yearand closed at 64.5 percent atthe end of April, but reduced

significantly to 48.7 percent atthe end of May, 2013.

On the other hand, domes-tic transactions decreasedfrom 63.1 percent at the be-ginning of the year to 47.2percent at the end of the firstquarter and closed at 35.5percent at the end of April.The figure, however, in-creased to 51.3 percent at theend of May,

The stockbrokers noted thatthe increase seen in terms oflocal investors came from fundmanagers, saying that moreretail investors’ participationwas needed to stem the tideof bears’ activities and furtherstabilise the market.

According to a stockbroker,who pleaded anonymity, thedepreciation in the marketwas as result of dumping ofshares by foreign investors.

He explained that ?foreigninvestors exited from Nigeriamarket following the an-nouncement by the US Fed-eral reserve of its intension tostop quantitative easing, QE.He insisted that major play-ers in the nation's stock mar-ket were foreign investors de-spite the dominance of localinvestors, insisting that mo-dalities should be put in placeto ensure the return of retailinvestors to the market.

Also, Vetiva Capital Man-agement Limited, a Researchfirm, while presenting reporton the ‘Capital Market RallySentimental or Fundamen-tal’, at the capital market com-mittee meeting in Lagos saidthat globally, activities in thecapital markets receded inthe month of June. They saidthat as a result, the All AhareIndex year-to-date(YTD) declined from 40percent to 20 percent.

The research company saidthat the market has been driv-en by sentiment rather thanfundamentals, stressing thatthe participation of high net-worth domestic investors inthe market is very important.

Giving credence to this, theNSE’s chief executive, Mr.Oscar Onyema told journal-ists in an interactive forum,Friday, that the recent recov-ery witnessed in the capitalwas driven principally by for-eign investors. He noted thatthe influx of foreign investorswas due to various investors’education it held in 2013.

He said, “We went to themand explained the new poli-cies we are putting in placeand what we are doing andthey came back because theyunderstand the dynamics ofthe market. They understandthat stock market is cyclical innature, but we are not focus-ing on foreign investors alone.“We cannot afford to focus onthe foreign investors andleave out local retail investorsand vice versa. There shouldbe a balance between the twoand that is what is what weare trying to achieve.”

BRIEFS

COURTEVILLE BusinessSolution, CBS, has dis-

closed that it is at the verge ofdeveloping a national data-bank of motor vehicle docu-mentation in Nigeria.

The databank, which is thefirst in Nigeria, will be com-parable to any other vehicledocumentation anywhere inthe world, the company saidin a notice to the NigerianStock Exchange, NSE.

The company also said thatit has commenced Auto-Regservice for Kogi State govern-ment, which has mandated itto handle its entire Motor Ve-hicle Administration Docu-mentation with effect from Au-gust 1st, 2013.

According to the company, itis at various levels of discus-sions with several other statesin Nigeria to join the platform.

Courteville’s AutoReg is aweb-based business solutionfor motor vehicle registrationand documentation currentlydeployed through it’s over3500 processing points inover18 states across Nigeriaand in Sierra Leone.

The AutoReg franchise is aflagship service rendered byCourteville Business SolutionsPlc in partnership with licens-ing offices, bank branches andregistered independentprocessing outlets to providefirst-class motor vehicle ad-ministration documentationsystem solutions nationwide.

In addition to the AutoRegservices, Courteville rendersthe same services in the Re-public of Sierra Leone for allonline real time registration ofmotor vehicle administration.

Courtevilleto developdatabank forvehicledocumentation

By NKIRUKA NNOROM

HONEYWELL Flour Mills Plc has successfully completed its expansion projects

with addition of two mills to its existing plant inits Apapa, Lagos factory.“The state-of-the-art fa-cilities designed, produced and installed by BUH-LER, one of the best milling equipment suppliersin the world, is estimated at overN10billion.“Speaking at the company’s Custom-ers Forum in Lagos, last week, the Executive ViceChairman, Mr. Babatunde Folaranmi Odunayo,said with the expansion, the company has in-creased its production capacity by about 62 per-cent to be able to meet the increasing demand forits products.““This will lead to business growthand more profits for you. The expansion projectalso included the completion of a-first-of-its-kindautomated warehouse in Nigeria. These will allallow us to serve you better”, he told the custom-

Honeywell concludes N10bnexpansion project

By PETER EGWUATU

ers at the forum which provided a platform toreview business, recognise and reward deserv-ing customers.“According to him, Honeywellhas the capacity to produce 2,610MT/day ofits products including Honeywell SuperfineFlour, Honeywell Wheat Meal, HoneywellSemolina, Honeywell Noodles, and Honey-well Pasta.

“This expansion is therefore a further testi-mony of consumers’ confidence and wide ac-ceptance of our products. We see this positivetrend continuing and are very upbeat aboutthe future growth and prospects for this com-pany”, he said.“Besides, he said due to thecongestion and space constraint at Tin CanIsland Port, the company has acquired 64 hec-tares of land around the Sagamu interchangealong the Lagos – Ibadan expressway. Thisvast expanse of land, according to him, willbe used for future expansion including newPasta, Noodles, and Flour factories for in-creased production of all the products.

Panasonic to buystake in SlovenianGorenje

JAPANESE electronics producer, Panasonic, will buy

a roughly 13 percent stake inSlovenian household applianc-es maker, Gorenje, for 10 mil-lion euros ($12.91 million),Gorenje said in a statement onFriday.

It said the exact size of Pan-asonic's stake in the companywill depend upon a rise inshare capital to be carried outby current Gorenje sharehold-ers in the coming months butgave no details.

Gorenje is the small eurozone member's second largestexporter and has market capi-talisation of 66 million euros.

26 —Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 8, 2013

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Micro-Finance


CMYK

Commodity Index

Stories byPROVIDENCE OBUH

CBN to carry out constantreview on MfBs framework

The Central Bankof Nigeria(CBN) has said

that there would be aconstant review of theprescribed minimumcapital requirement forMicrofinance Banks(MfBs) in the country.

The new microfinancepolicy framework servesas a platform for theoperational and financialsustainability formicrofinance delivery.The frameworkrecognises threecategories ofmicrofinance banks andstipulates minimumcapital requirements foreach category; "MfB isauthorised to operate inone location, with aminimum paid upcapital of N20 millionand is prohibited fromhaving branches/cashcentres or any otherlocation under the guise

of customer meetingpoints or interactioncentres; states' MfBs areto operate in one state orthe FCT with a minimumpaid up capital of N100million and allowed toopen branches within thesame state or the FCTsubject to CBN approval,while the National MfBis authorised to operatein more than one state,including the FCT witha paid up capital of N2billion and allowed tohave branches in anypart of the country,subject to CBN approval.

Deputy Director, OtherFinancial InstitutionsSupervision Department(OFISD), Mrs. AdetutuOgunnaike, made theseremarks in her paper,titled; The Regulatoryand SupervisoryFramework for theOperations ofMicrofinance Banks inNigeria.

Ogunnaike said; “Theprescribed minimumcapital requirement for

each category of MfBmay be reviewed fromtime to time by the CBN.The revised microfinancepolicy frameworkprovides that MFBs shallbe required to beadequately capitalised,better managed, run onlow cost structure and beoperated in a safe andsound manner. The CBNwill continue to monitorand secure a conduciveenvironment for theconduct of microfinanceand business activities inNigeria.”

She noted that MfBs,who are willing to jointhe sub-sector arerequired to meet thestipulated minimumrequirements for eachcategory, while existingones would be availedfrom time to time to raiseadditional capital wherenecessary, or torestructure theiroperations to conform tothe revised policyframework.

Etisalat pledges suppor tfor cashless policy

With its mobilesolutions thats u p p o r t

cashless payments andtransactions for thebenefit of Nigerians,Etisalat Nigeria hasrestated its support forthe FederalGovernment’s cashlesspolicy.

Etisalat, in partnershipwith the Central Bank ofNigeria (CBN),N i g e r i a nC o m m u n i c a t i o nCommission (NCC),Federal Ministry ofC o m m u n i c a t i o nTechnology, Lagos StateGovernment and theFederal Ministry ofJustice and otherstakeholders, held a two-day conference titled:“Transiting toa Cashless Society:Possibilities &Challenges.” It wasorganised by De Novo, astrategy consulting firm.

Director, BusinessSegments EtisalatNigeria, Mr. LucasDada, said that thecompany is compliant tothe regulatory policy ofthe CBN.

According to Dada,

“We are poised to aidingthe successful transitionof Nigeria to a cashlesseconomy, which is in linewith the realisation of theFederal Government’sAgenda to become one ofthe top 20 economies bythe year 2020. From aninnovative point of view,we have developedproducts that arereliable, safe and secureto support the cashlesspolicy and one of such isthe popular EtisalatEasywallet.”

Earlier, Lagos stateGovernor, BabatundeFashola said that thestate is at the forefront oftransiting to a cashlesssociety and has alreadystarted playingparticipatory andsupportive roles in thetransition.

Fashola, who wasrepresented by theAccountant-General ofthe State, Mr. DavidSunmoni, said, “In Lagosstate, our laws havestarted evolving to coverelectronic transactionsand offer protectionagainst electronicfrauds, whileempowering security

agents to investigate andprosecute online fraudsin a bid to ensure safetyof online transactions inthe state. We have alsodone a lot to increasecitizens’ information andcomputer technologyliteracy. This is why weare introducing e-learning centers in allour institutions and theestablishment of a digitalvillage in Ikeja,designed to fostercomputer literacy amongresidents in Lagos.”

Deputy Governor,Operations, CentralBank of Nigeria, Mr.Tunde Lemo, noted thatthe time was right forNigeria to transit into afully cashless economyafter a successful oneyear test-run in Lagosstate.

Lemo noted that thecashless economy policywas designed to promotefinancial intermediation,enhance financialinclusion, minimizerevenue leakages andincrease the internallygenerated revenue andreduce the incidences ofrobbery.

June 28 - July 04, 2013


Interview

Chief Olabisi Ogunjobi,Chairman, Board of Directorsis this interview with FavourNnabugwu dwells extensivelyon issues bordering on thechallenges of housing in thecountry and the need to reviewthe National Housing Fund,NHF. The former vice presidentof African Development Bank,AfDB who put in 28 years of hisworking life before he retiredin 2005, touches on the contrib-utory 2.5 per cent to housingand the states' partnership withthe mortgage bank and anymore.

Excerpts

Aside the 2.5% contributions from Nigerian

workers, are there other stake-holders in the contribution

Yes, the amount being paidis not limited only to thesestakeholders but also the com-mercial banks in this countryand insurance companies. Ac-cording to the Act the two cate-gories of stakeholders are sup-posed to make investment intothe NHF. However, up till-date, they are not doing that.The Central Bank of Nigeria issupposed to enforce the con-tributions of the commercialbanks has equally not be do-ing so.

How are the states respond-ing to the scheme?

You are correct, till date only18 states are contributing to thescheme. However what wehave been doing over the lasttwo years is to convince andpersuade the states that havewithdrawn to come back and inthe last two years more than 10states have come back so wehave only 8 left and we areworking to see how they willcome back.

The question then is, howwould they come back? Theyneed to see the benefits of theircontributions to NHF and thatwill bring us to the productionof the housing stock.

Over the last few years,FMBN has been making effortsto increase production of thehousing stock.

As part of the strategies to winback confidence, we now en-gage in dialogue with otherrelevant stakeholders like theNigeria Labour Congress,NLC, Nigeria Employees’ Con-sultative Forum NECA, TradeUnion Congress, TUC with aview to ensuring that we havea common understanding andwe are equally committed tomaking the NHF the key ele-ment in provision of houses tothe Nigerian populace.

But more importantly, one ofthe things which this institu-tion is going to do (which wehave started now), is to strivetoward efficiency as an institu-tion.

We must provide good serv-ices to the people; we musthave new products and that is

why we say we are not justholding ourselves to the NHFproviding ministry, we are ex-panding this, not just to the civ-il servants, but to the privatesector and the informal sector.We have also worked out amodel which would enable Ni-gerians in the Diaspora ownhouses of their own. All of theseencompassing strategies areaimed at widening scope of thefund, thereby making it attrac-

tive to contributors.

Do you see the need to re-view the National HousingFund Act?

It would interest you to knowthat NHF is twenty-five yearsold and as such, the Act guid-ing this institution by now hasbecome obsolete. When we sayobsolete, it is not in with a neg-ative connotation; what we aresaying is that the parameters

that were used at the time ofsetting up the institution havechanged because of the dy-namic situation in the Nigeri-an economy. For example, wesay you have to contribute 2.5per cent of salary earned. If youare earning N3, 000 a month,how much was the minimumwage at that time comparedwith the 18,000 we have today?

The 2.5 per cent of N18, 000today amounts to N450. Howmany years would you contrib-

ute 450 foryout o

buya

house of5 million?

That is tosay that yes,at that timethe amountwas suffi-

cient, but when you lookat the situation today,

it is not correct any-more. Thereforethere is a need toreverse or amendthe act to take careof the current is-sues.I also said that like

most agencies in this country,one cannot say that the per-formance has been optimal,(there is no need to deceiveourselves), but I did clearlystate that over the last twoyears, the contributions andcollections which we havebeen able to make over thelast two years is over 40 percent of what was collected

over the last 18 years. We haveour weak points and our strongpoints, all we need do makethe scheme achieve its desiredresult of adding to the coun-try’s housing stock, is to buildon the strong points.

Are there efforts to recapi-talised FMBN?

About two months ago, Pres-ident Goodluck Jonathan madean announcement that theywere going to recapitalise thebank. But again we also needto look at the parameters be-cause FMBN is not the onlyavenue by which the govern-ment puts money into housing.The ministry of Lands andHousing and Urban Develop-ment itself is a very big chan-nel for provision of housing.Apart from that, governmenthas also created what we callthe National Refinancing Cor-poration which will addressanother aspect of provisionhouses to the upper segmentof the society.

So the government is looking

at various ways, and the stategovernments are also doingtheir own beat, the NigerianArmy, the Nigeria Police andthe Navy are all making con-tributions. It is in this regardthat we cannot look at FMBNfigure in isolation.

Secondly what is the correctfigure of the housing demand?When we talk of 16 million def-icit, how robust is that statis-tics? For me as an economist,we need to look at that verycarefully, because in most de-veloping countries like Niger-ia, statistics are just somehow.It is when all these issue arelooked at critically that we canwe can put a figure on theneeded capital base.

A huge number of Nigeriansare yet to benefit from govern-ment housing scheme. What isyour take?

There is no government thathas the objective of makingpeople perpetually homeless.If you say that policies are noteffective, I can understand.Again, why are policies not ef-fective? I am not giving to su-perlatives. Based on theN200billion recapitalisationproposal put up by the Minis-ter of Lands, Housing and Ur-ban and Development, Mrs.Amal Pepple, we are lookingat various segments of the so-ciety and under that arrange-ment, FMBN is supposed toattend to the lower end and themiddle while the high incomegroup will be handled byanother scheme ,called NRC.

How best can the cost ofhousing be moderated?

First of all there has to a dis-tinction between the housesbuilt by FMBN and other mod-els. None of housing projectsfinanced by the bank can bemore than N5million. Again, Imust also tell you that a lot offactors contribute to the highcost of buildings in the coun-try. Most of the materials areimported from the abroad andas such come with prohibitivecost which invariably affects theactual value of buildings. So itis not the FMBN as an institu-tion that will address that; it isa job for the entire country. Andthat is why in the minister’sspeech at the last stakeholders’meeting, she said the newproduct which the ministry iscoming up with will not onlyconsider infrastructure, modelof houses, but at same time theone that will ensure that a twobedroom cost N3.5 million,one-bedroom N1.5m respec-tively. The pilot project is on-going in Nasarawa.

We need to look at the parametersof recapitalising FMBN — Ogunjobi

,

,Over the last few

years, FMBN has beenmaking efforts to

increase production ofthe housing stock


Full Page Advert


Homes & Housing Finance

By YINKA KOLAWOLE

BRIEFS Mortgage dearth: Nigeria’shomeownership lowest in Africa— FMBN

The lack of a robustmortgage financingsystem in Nigeria has

made rate of home ownershipin the country one of thelowest in Africa.

Managing Director, FederalMortgage Bank of Nigeria(FMBN), Mr. Gimba Ya’uKumo, stated this at the 6thannual Abuja Housing Showand Housing DevelopmentAwards. He said Nigeria’shomeownership rate of about25 percent is much lower thancontemporary countries suchas Singapore 90 percent,Indonesia 84 percent, Kenya73 percent, Benin Republic 63percent, South Africa 56percent and Libya 41 percentwhile that of the United Statesis put at 70 percent.

Ya’u Kumo noted thatmortgage credits account forless than 5 percent of totallending portfolio of Nigerianbanks and just about 13.5percent of mortgage lendingby primary mortgage banks(PMBs). According to him,the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) supervision report2008 reveals that 90 percentof housing developments inNigeria are self-financedthrough personal savings forperiods upwards of 10 years.He noted that housing notonly satisfies the basic humanneed for shelter, but it’s a keycomponent of economicgrowth and development.

The FMBN boss assertedthat provision of housing is akey driver of economicdevelopment, and forms asubstantial part of the GrossDomestic Product (GDP) ofmost developed countries,adding that the demand forhousing in Nigeria issignificant and growing at afast pace. “The supply gap forlow and middle incomegroups is huge, reaching acrisis level in some cities inthe country, which isheightened by the rapidurbanisation of thepopulation.” He noted thatthe World Bank has predictedthat the housing problem inNigeria will become evenmore acute, resulting in ahousing crisis by 2020 ifadequate measures are nottaken.

Ya’u Kumo recalled FMBN’smandate as the solesecondary mortgageinstitution in Nigeriaresponsible for encouraging

the emergence and growth ofviable secondary mortgagemarket to service the needs ofhousing delivery in all partsof the country. In line with themandate, he said the bank hasbeen mobilising domestic andforeign funds into the housingfinance sub-sector, while alsocollecting and managing the

NHF in accordance with theNHF Act for the purpose ofproviding affordable homes toNigerians.

He declared that FMBN hasdeveloped e-collectionplatforms as well asinstituting the informal sectorhousing cooperative scheme,as part of recent innovations

and strategies by the bankaimed at bridging the housinggap in the country. Heexplained that the NHF e-collection platform was an IT-driven collection platformrecently launched to captureNHF contributions using ITinfrastructure of allcommercial banks.

BY FAVOURNNABUGWU

NHF contributions hitN22bn in 2012

Contributions into theNational Housing Fund

(NHF) scheme rose to N22billion in 2012 from N17billion in 2011, accounting forabout 40 per cent of totalcollections since inceptionabout 21 years ago.

Chairman, Board ofDirectors of the FederalMortgage Bank of Nigeria,(FMBN), Chief BisiOgunjobi, disclosed this inAbuja, last week, at aworkshop organised by thebank to enlighten the generalpublic and stakeholders onthe role, rules and operationsof the NHF scheme inproviding affordable housingto the people. He noted thatthe scheme has madetremendous progress in thelast two years, but lamentedthat despite the gains, thescheme is yet to fully achieveits set target as a window ofhousing provision in Nigeria.

Some of the limiting factors,according to him, are failureof some states andorganisations to becontributors to the scheme,lack of finance from the banksand insurance companies andpoor management of thefunds. “With theestablishment of the NHF 21years ago, like a child itshould have become an adulthaving reached the age ofpuberty and be eligible to voteand be voted for and ready totake on responsibility forbuilding his or her own family.Unfortunately, the high hopesenshrined in the NHF Acthave not all been realised.For example, while NHF is amandatory contributoryscheme for all Nigerianworkers, to date not all Statesand organizations arecontributors while theinvestments expected fromthe banks and insurancecompanies are none existent.At the same time, themanagement andperformance of the Fund have

been less than optimal,” hestated.

The FMBN chairmanstressed that amidst theseentrenched constraints, thefocus of the bank is to increasethe NHF base, coverage,collection, remittance andachieve overall efficiency andpersuade the non-compliantstates and organisations tojoin the scheme. On thewhole, he identified lack ofaccess to funding, difficultieswith property registration;titling; cost and time offoreclosing; high interestrate; and lack of housingsupply - new construction, asthe major challengesconfronting the housingsector. He however, noted thatas part of the bank’s moves tobroaden the bank’s clientelebase and create productvarieties, moves are on tointroduce new products suchas the Rent-to-Own HousingModel and a HousingScheme for Nigerians inDiaspora.

30-year fixedmortgagedips to 4.3%

Average fixed-ratem o r t g a g e s

nationwide fell the weekended July 3 in the US ashome buying andrefinancing demandslumped and a recent spikein market rates subsided.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgagenationwide dipped to 4.29percent after hitting a two-year high of 4.46 percent aweek earlier, according toFreddie Mac’s weeklysurvey of USA lenders.

The week ended June 27,average 30-year fixedmortgages jumped fromjust below 4 percent tonearly 4.5 percent, thebiggest one-week jumpsince 1987, Freddie Macsaid.

Mortgage applicationsslumped 11.7 percent theweek ended July 3,according to a MortgageBankers Association surveyof lenders. And refinancingapplications sank 16percent week over week,hitting the lowest levelsince July 2011. “At theserates, many fewerhomeowners have anincentive to refinance, andrefinance applicationvolume declined more than15 percent,” said MikeFratantoni, MBA’s vicepresident of research andeconomics.

Cross River,PenCom tobuild 2,000houses forworkers

C ross River Stategovernment is set to

partner with NationalPension Commission(PenCom) to build thesecond phase of 2,000housing units for civilservants in the state.

Governor Liyel Imoke saidthis during the unveiling ofthe South-South office ofPenCom in Calabar.

The first phase of 200units was recently unveiledat the Akpabuyo HousingScheme for civil servants,while an additional 1,000housing units have beenscheduled for Ikom,Odukpani and Ogoja undera Public-Private Partnershiparrangement.

Imoke called on thecommission to use part of itsinvestible funds of overN3.34 trillion to partnerstate governments toenable them executeinfrastructure projects atzero per cent interest rate.

Affordable housing: Nigerians need houses like these


Homes & Housing Finance

BRIEFS

• Functional low-cost housing

THE Federal MortgageBank of Nigeria(FMBN) has called

for the review of the law es-tablishing the National Hous-ing Fund (NHF) so as to meetup the challenges of housingprovision in the country.

FMBN Chairman, ChiefBisi Ogunjobi, who spoke toVangaurd inAbuja, explained that theparameters that were used atthe time the NHF Act wasenacted had changed as aresult of the dynamic situationof the Nigerian economy."The 2.5 per cent contributionmandated by the Act must bereviewed if it must achievethe desired result of provisionof housing to the people. Theparameters that were used atthe time of setting up the in-stitution have changed be-cause of the dynamic situationin the Nigerian economy. Forexample, we say you have tocontribute 2.5 per cent of sal-ary earned. What was the val-ue of the minimum wage atthat time compared with theN18000 we have today? 2.5per cent of N18, 000 todayamounts to N450. How manyyears will you contributeN450 for you to buy a houseof 5 million? That is to say thatyes, at that time the amountwas sufficient but when youlook at the situation today, itis not correct anymore. Thereis therefore a need to reverseor amend the Act to take careof the current issues,” he stat-ed.

Apart from the fact that thestipulated percentage is

too meagre, the board bossalso argued that other stake-holders mandated by the Actto make contribution havealso defaulted. “The amountwhich is being paid is notonly limited to the workersbut also to the commercialbanks in this country. Accord-ing to the Act, commercialbanks and insurance compa-nies are supposed to makeinvestment into the scheme.But, up till date, the twostakeholders are not doingthat. Unfortunately too, theCentral Bank of Nigeria(CBN) that is supposed toensure compliance has neverdone.”

On the ongoing recapitali-sation of the Primary Mort-gage Banks (PMBs), Ogun-jobi noted that it was a stepin the right direction, stress-ing that it is not only good forthe creation of strong institu-tions, but it will also strength-en their commitment toproject execution. “TheN2.5billion ceiling for the re-gional PMBs and N5 billionfor national is a good deal.The stronger you are, the

REAL Estate Developers Association ofNigeria (REDAN) has questioned the

commitment of the federal government to pro-vision of affordable housing in the country.

National President of REDAN, Chief Ola-bode Afolayan, said until government ade-quately recapitalises the Federal MortgageBank of Nigeria (FMBN), promises of pro-viding affordable housing for citizens of thecountry will remain a mirage. Speaking at astakeholders’ meeting in Abuja, he lament-ed that the government has reneged on itsnumerous promises of recapitalising the bankto the tune of $200 million.

“You can see in the last three years, thefederal government has been talking every-day about housing. It is talking about recap-italisation of FMBN. We are tired of thesepromises. We don’t want to believe the pres-ident anymore. A few weeks ago, during theflag-off of housing estate for the paramilitary,the president repeated it that they are goingto recapitalise FMBN. For goodness sake howcan you be saying the same thing for threeyears?

“Each time people like us and others in the

sector listen to the president talking, it helpsus to sit down and reappraise ourselves be-cause we see it as a direction of the govern-ment. But these days we are tired. We don’teven want the government to talk about recapi-talisation anymore. The last time we were withthe president during the Presidential Retreat inDecember and the issue of mortgage refinanc-ing came up, the government said they want toenhance the bank by establishing Mortgage Re-finance Company (MRC) for them to enhancedemand through the provision of mortgages, butthat was the last we heard about it.

“We all see that FMBN is doing a good jobwithin its means. Stakeholders in housing willnot believe a thing from the government any-more, except something is done within the nextcouple of days because we have for three fi-nancial years. The government is really notdoing anything about it. I think that accountsfor a whole lot of building in Abuja up for sales,even the ones within the affordable bracket,people are not coming up for them,” he stated.

Afolayan noted that what this implies is thatpeople will have to forget about governmentwhen it comes to housing provision, but ex-pect 99.9 per cent private sector driven hous-ing development, which may not be afforda-ble.

greater the risk you are ableto undertake, so the recapi-talisation is a necessary stepfor a strong institution. Theability to be able to lend wouldbe strengthened and theircommitment to projects andprogrammes would be en-hanced.

“It is the continuation of the

consolidation we had in thebanking sector. We can all seethe difference between 89banks which we had beforeand the state of the banks atthe post-consolidation era.The various options beforethem include mergers, buyout of some by the others, andof course those that are not

able to meet the criteria of theCBN will just have to fold up.And that is why we are talk-ing of working together withthe CBN and Nigeria Depos-it Insurance Corporation(NDIC) to ensure that depos-itors in those banks are notshort-changed,” he ex-plained.

REDAN questions FG's commitmentto affordable housing

FMBN advocatesreview of NHF Act*Says 2.5% contribution inadequate

By YINKA KOLAWOLE

BY FAVOURNNABUGWU

BoE stimulatesrise in UKhouse prices

VICE Chairman, SenateCommittee on Housing

and Urban Development, Sen.Gbenga Ashafa, has assuredNigerians that efforts are be-ing made to develop the coun-try’s construction industry withspecial focus on affordablehousing.

News Agency of Nigeria re-ported that Ashafa gave theassurance while declaringopen the 57th AGM and Con-struction Industry Exhibition ofthe Federation of ConstructionIndustry in Abuja recently. “Itis pertinent to state here thatthe Senate, through its Com-mittee on Housing and UrbanDevelopment, is working hardto bring about the much need-ed development in the con-struction industry in Nigeria,particularly the provision ofdecent and affordable housesfor all Nigerians. We all knowthat shelter is one of the threephysiological needs of manwithout which man cannotfunction efficiently and effec-tively,” he said.

UK house prices rose lastmonth to the highest in

almost three years as measuresby the Bank of England (BoE)and the government stimulat-ed property demand.

Home values increased 0.6percent from the previousmonth to an average 167,984pounds ($256,000), the high-est since August 2010, Halifax,the mortgage unit of LloydsBanking Group Plc said in astatement in London. From ayear earlier, prices rose 4.1percent.

The property market is show-ing signs of strengthening af-ter the BOE’s Funding forLending Scheme helped tolower borrowing costs and thegovernment set up a programto help people buy homes.Services, manufacturing andconstruction all improved inJune, indicating the economicrecovery is gaining momentum,and the central bank said yes-terday that mortgage demandrose “significantly” in the sec-ond quarter. “Improved confi-dence in both the housing mar-ket and the economy, com-bined with a shortage of prop-erties available for sale, appearto be pushing up house pric-es. Though a subdued eco-nomic background and weakincome growth are expected toremain significant constraintson housing demand,” saidMartin Ellis, housing econo-mist at Halifax.

Senate to focuson affordablehousing

Fire at FCMB Abuja: Area 8 Office of FCMB bank gutted by Fire during working hours inAbuja. Photo by Gbemiga Olamikan.


Insurance

STORIES BYROSEMARY ONUOHA

BRIEFSNIA assemblesinvestigators forclaims overN500m

A pool of independent investigators to investigate

the genuineness of claimsabove N500 million is beingassembled by Nigerian Insur-ers Association (NIA), its Di-rector General, Sunday Tho-mas, has said.

Thomas said that the asso-ciation is working hard to en-sure that the pool is made upof experienced people, add-ing that the task is beyond thecapacity of few individuals.“The first point of call is tohave a pool of investigatorsthat would carry out that as-signment on behalf of the as-sociation. That is the stagethat we are. We are trying tohave a pool of investigatorsthat would handle the task,for the assignment is beyondwhat a person can handle,” hesaid.

The NIA DG said the deci-sion to institute the investiga-tive pool was reached at theAssociation’s Chief ExecutiveOfficers’ (CEOs) retreat heldearly in the year, stressing thatthe initiative would help op-erators learn from mistakesmade in underwriting andclaims handling.

Trouble aheadfor USinsurancestocks

SHARES of property andcasualty insurance stocks

in the US have been underpressure for the last few weeks.The industry is in the earlystages of what could be a sig-nificant decline, following anextended period of strength.

Similar to the risks we havediscussed for the utilities stocksas well as homebuilder stocks,the recent weakness in P&Cinsurance stocks is a direct re-sult of the Fed’s recent com-ments on its bond purchasingprogram.

As the Fed reduces its $85billion monthly purchases ofTreasurys and mortgage-backed securities, interest rateswill naturally rise. As this hap-pens, much of the conservativecapital that has been forced into“safe” areas of the equitiesmarket will move back intohigher-yielding fixed-incomesecurities. We’re already see-ing the effects of this as high-yield, low-risk stocks begintrading down.

massive sensitisation cam-paigns across the country tofurther educate and informthe public about insurance,build confidence and grow thegross premium income.“

The outcome of these effortsby the Commission is alreadybeing felt in the industry andby extension, the economy,”he said. He noted that someimprovements recorded in theindustry in the past few years

NATIONAL Insurance Commission(NAICOM) has

commissioned its North-Cen-tral Zonal Office in Ilorin, ina bid to further enhance itsregulatory capacity.

Commissioner for Insuranceand CEO, NAICOM, Mr.Fola Daniel, said at the eventthat the Commission was es-tablished to regulate and su-pervise the Nigerian insur-ance industry, adding thatNAICOM derives its regula-tory and supervisory powersfrom the National InsuranceCommission and InsuranceActs 1997 and 2003 respective-ly. He noted that as an agen-cy of the Federal Govern-ment, NAICOM’s activitiesare coordinated from its head-quarters in Abuja, with a Con-trol Office in Lagos and twozonal offices in Kano, andEnugu.

According to him, to achievethe Commission’s mandate ofdeepening insurance pene-tration and awareness in thecountry, its Governing Boardin 2011, approved the estab-lishment of three additionalZonal Offices to be located inIlorin, Port-Harcourt andMaiduguri. “Daniel notedthat these locations were care-fully selected owing to theirstrategic economic importanceand relevance to the growthand development of insurancein the respective zones.“Hesaid the Commission is mak-ing arrangements to commis-sion the South-South andNorth East Zonal offices, add-ing that in the quest to deep-en insurance penetration,NAICOM, established a de-velopmental platform calledthe Market Development andRestructuring Initiative(MDRI), which is in line withthe Federal Government’sFSS2020 developmentframework.“Daniel noted thatthe goals of MDRI are to pro-mote public understanding ofinsurance mechanism; buildconfidence in the NigerianInsurance Market, grow thegross premium income, in-crease insurance density andcontribution to GDP and en-sure enforcement and moni-toring of compulsory insur-ances in Nigeria.

This programme has beenlaunched in all the six geo-political zones of the countryincluding the Federal Capi-tal Territory, Abuja. The Com-mission also embarked on

NAICOM boosts regulatorycapacity, commissions Ilorin office

include, increase in thenumber of policyholders from500,000 in 2010 to 1,500,000in 2012, gross premium in-come increased from N157billion in 2010 to N250 billionin 2012; and, resulted in anincrease in the ratio of premi-um to Gross Domestic Prod-uct from 0.5 per cent to 0.7 percent; collaboration with Na-tional Pension Commission(PENCOM) to develop the

annuities market.Others are; companies with

foreign equity increased fromthree to 10, generating sub-stantial foreign direct invest-ment, increase in local capac-ity for Oil and Gas risksfrom10 per cent to 48 percent,and commencement of imple-mentation of Section 50 of theInsurance Act 2003 which hasimproved financial assets ofoperators.

Firm institutes awards for ERM compliance

Conrad Clark NigeriaLimited, am a n a g e m e n t

consulting firm, is set toorganise the Nigerian RiskAwards to celebrateorganisations and individualsthat are pioneering thepractice of Enterprise RiskManagement (ERM) inNigeria across a variety ofindustry sectors.

According to Mr. JoachimAdebayo Adenusi, the ChiefExecutive of Conrad ClarkNigeria (CCN), riskmanagement involves farmore than the prevention ofuntoward events.

He said that in recent years,companies in Nigeria havegone the extra mile in themanagement of risk and manyof them have employedinnovative and practicalstrategies to embed riskmanagement, to drive culturalchange and influencedecision making. “We are nowinviting them to submit theseexamples for consideration forthe awards," he said.

"Businesses need to learn tomanage upside and downsiderisk effectively, without whichthey miss growth

opportunities, sufferdeclining performance andprofitability". He points outthat the effective managementof risk is not a function thatoccurs within the riskmanagement department.The practice of ERM hasgrown exponentially over thelast 10 years and more sosince the start of the globalfinancial crisis in 2008.Regulatory bodies across theworld have adopted risk-based regulatory frameworksin a wide variety of sectorsincluding financial services,insurance, and healthcare.Here in Nigeria the CBN andNAICOM, who regulatefinancial services andinsurance sectorsrespectively, have both led theway with risk-basedregulation.

Adenusi, who was a directorof the Institute of RiskManagement for seven yearsand UK/EU Risk Manager ofthe Year 2009/10, is a highlysought after conferencespeaker and consultant tomajor Europeanorganisations. "It has beeninteresting to see theenthusiasm with which

organisations in Africa haveadopted ERM, as well as theunique ways in which ERMhas been implemented.Irrespective of the country, wehave seen that companies thatimplement ERM properly andthoughtfully have a muchhigher positive impact on thebottom line andorganisational reputation inthe medium to long term,"Adenusi said.

The successful RiskManager of the Year 2013 willhave an all-expenses paidtrip to attend one of theinternational annual riskmanagement conferences2014 in the UK or USA.

The submissions for theNigerian Risk Awards will beindependently assessed andjudged by a panel of highlydistinguished individuals,drawn from within andoutside the country. Theawards will be presented forthe following categories:Banking and FinancialServices, Insurance andPension Services, Telecomsand Media Services;Manufacturing, Productiveand Industry and Oil & GasServices Risk Awards.

ner, this year, among the gov-ernment’s false pronounce-ments on power. He was re-ported to have announced re-cently that the average Nige-rian enjoys eighteen hours ofpower supply NOW. The Min-ister either does not know whataverage means or cannot countto eighteen. It is merely impos-sible for Nigerians to receive18 hours of power supply whenless than 4000MW is availablefor distribution. And now, lessthan 3000MW has been madeavailable for more than twomonths. Will the vandalisationof gas pipelines stop by De-cember to make 10,000MWpossible? The rumour-monger-ing officials did not inform us.

Finally, the President, duringhis interview with ChristianaAnnanpour of CNN, havingbeen thoroughly deceived byhis officials, proclaimed to ahighly skeptical foreign jour-nalist that “most of Nigeriansnow enjoy regular power sup-ply”. The look of contempt onAnnanpour’s face, whichbrought tears to my eyes, saideverything in her mind be-cause she never asks a ques-tion to which she does not al-ready know the answer. With-out a generator working furi-ously, I would not have beenable to watch the interview.The next day, every memberwho came to my club was askedabout power supply to theirareas and Jonathan’s claim.The overwhelming majoritywere livid with rage that thePresident of Nigeria, anotherPh. D holder, could so disgraceNigeria by making a claimwhich can be easily refuted.

So, there we have it; aspokesman with doctorate de-gree, a professor, a graduateMinister and the President ofNigeria are all trying to con-vince us, against the evidencewe have in our homes andwork places, that great im-provements are being made onpower generation and distribu-tion. These lies hurt too muchto laugh; but Nigerians havesuffered the insult too long tocry anymore. The question is:when will it stop, Mr Presi-dent?


“$7bn: intervention Fundpledged by President BarackObama for the upgrade ofpower supply in sub-SaharanAfrica”, PUNCH, July 2, 2013.

The announcement by theUS President to provide

an intervention fund worth $7billion to seven countries inAfrica, including Nigeria,should be regarded as a majorembarrassment to this countryand a vote of no confidence inour ability to solve the powerproblem by ourselves. Presi-dent Obasanjo and GovernorLyel Imoke withdrew $13-16billion from 2003 to 2007 prom-ising to deliver 10,000MW ofpower by 2007. Yet, we arestuck with less than 4,000MWguaranteed power supply andthere is no clue regarding whathappened to the funds drawndown. Why should we again goand accept the US taxpayers’money and drop it down thesame rat hole into which ourown disappeared? Why not callObasanjo and Imoke to a pub-lic hearing and ask them whathappened to our money? It iscertainly more honourable thancollecting another US hand-outwhich will certainly be embez-zled. It is really difficult to un-derstand why Obama is reallyoffering the assistance whichwe don’t need and will proba-bly waste. We have enoughmoney of our own – if Jonath-an will stop corruption at thefederal level.

For the last two months, lessthan 2500MW had been deliv-ered each day on account ofsystem failure we are told; butin reality because of problemsexperienced with gas supply –just as in 1995. In my thick fileon the power sector, on no lessthan forty-five occasions hadgas supply been used as theexcuse by the Ministry of Pow-er, in the last twelve years toexcuse failure to supply up to4,000MW to Nigeria. Half ofthose excuses were offered be-tween 2007 and today. It is badenough that one, only one, air-port in Japan receives4,000MW of uninterruptedpower supply; everyone in gov-ernment should hang his head

in shame that the largest coun-try in Africa can’t even man-age to do what one airport inJapan does without sweat.

The real tragedy of Abati’sresponse to Ezekwesili, whichis the official position, is asso-ciated with the self-indictmentwhen, indeed, a credible gov-ernment could have acquitteditself with the truth. Ezekwesi-li, like anybody else, familiarwith economics, knows thatexternal reserves are neverstatic; they remain dynamic.Furthermore, Nigeria’s exter-nal reserves today are higherthan when she left Obasanjo’sgovernment. So, the questionof what was done with $43 bil-lion does not arise at all. In fact,the present administration hadincreased the reserves becausecrude oil prices had stayedover 100% of the levels theywere in 2006. All Abati had todo was to publish the figureson May 29, 2007 and todayand Jonathan’s governmentwould have been vindicated.The lesson everyone shouldlearn from that altercation issimple. “This is the punish-ment of a liar: he is not believed

even when he speaks thetruth”, according to the Baby-lon Talmud. (VANGUARDBOOK OF QUOTATIONS p127). GEJ’s government lost abattle it should have wonhands down because it lackscredibility.

A few weeks ago, the Vice-President of Nigeria, ArchitectNanadi Sambo, announced thatpower generation will soon hit20,000MW. Based on his pro-fession, Sambo, knows betterthan anyone else that buildingsare instruments for living. But,they become living hells with-out adequate power supply. Tostart with, Sambo failed to tellus when the 20,000MW is tobe expected. He also failed totell us who would be held re-sponsible for delivering the20000MW since government,for the thousandth time, is pri-vatizing. Propaganda does notcome more badly packagedthan that. But, “help” came forthe VP soon enough. The Min-ister of Power, a professor,promised 10,000MW by De-cember this year – a mere sixmonths away. He is the secondprofessor to head the Ministry;

the former, after making theusual empty promises, wassacked for reasons which neednot delay us here. It was goodriddance. The surprising thingis, given the frequent and per-sistent system failure which wehave been experiencing late-ly, the government actuallyexpects Nigerians and the in-ternational community to be-lieve that hogwash. At anyrate, promise of 10,000MWpower delivery is not originalto this government. That vowwas first made by EngineerLyel Imoke, now Cross RiverState governor, when he wasMinister for Power under Oba-sanjo. Raising the national out-put to 10,000MW by 2007 wasthe excuse for raiding the Ex-cess Crude Oil account to thetune of $13-16 billion by Obas-anjo’s administration. Till to-day, Nigerians have not re-ceived 10,000MW; not even5,000MW power supply andno explanation about whathappened to their money.

Still not finished with tellingfibs about power, the Ministerof Information, announcedwhat could be the award win-

POWERFUL LIES: Familiarstories on Blackouts ... PART 2

Business & Economy

Visit: www.Delesobowale.com

FBN Life thinks that Insurance does not onlybelong to the rich. Its

argument is that the greatestvictims and beneficiaries of in-surance schemes are actuallythe people at the lower rung ofthe ladder who unfortunatelydo not get the opportunity ofthe huge insurance marketinggoing on.

So in a bid to make insuranceservices easy and accessible tothe greater number of Nigeri-ans, its Life Assurance division,the FBN Life believes that the

FBN Life partners Airtel on retail insurancefastest vehicle should be themobile phone due to its powerof penetration even in the ru-ral and under served areas.

The company however haspartnered telecom operator,Airtel Nigeria, in introducinga micro insurance scheme,tagged Padi 4 Life

The product which was un-veiled last week in Lagos,showcased a technology-driv-en life protection plan aimedat providing low-income earn-ers living in remote locationswhere insurance infrastructure

and services are not readilyavailable the opportunity totake daily insurance cover forpermanent disability or death.

Managing Director of FBNLife, Mr. Valentine Ojumahwhile unveiling the scheme,noted that it was designed tomake a difference not to therich, but to the majority of low-income earners in the societywho suffer from the effects ofnon-indemnity in the event ofdeath or permanent disabilityof a bread winner.

“Padi4Life is our own way of

enabling bread winners withminimal benefits to leavewealth for their loved ones. Itis revolutionary in the sensethat it helps to address the chal-lenges of distributing insur-ance to the masses who wrong-ly see insurance as the exclu-sive preserve of the rich. Thereal victims of non-insuranceare the poor and not the rich.”

For him, the strategic objec-tive of the product is in conso-nance with the company’s man-date to deploy inexpensive andsimple insurance protection

products across channels andmarket segments in Nigeria.

Also speaking at the ceremo-ny, Airtel Nigeria’s Chief Op-erating Officer and ExecutiveDirector, Deepak Srivastava,allayed fears that the numberof people that would engagein the scheme may hamper itsservices, assuring that the com-pany has made enough provi-sion for adequate network ca-pacity to absorb new custom-ers following subscriptions forthe product. “This is one morereason for Nigerians to port toAirtel,” he observed.

By PRINCE OSUAGWU

Power installation


Appointment & [email protected] 08033348923

CHAIRMAN of theBoard of the Securities and Exchange

Commission, SEC, Dr. Suley-man Abdu Ndanusa, is now thePresident and Chairman of theInstitute of Chartered Secretar-ies and Administrators of Ni-geria, ICSAN.

His investiture was doneThursday, July 04, 2013.

A chartered secretary, econ-omist, banker, lawyer and char-tered stockbroker, Ndanusa hasoccupied important offices andplayed very significant roles inNigeria’s business and corpo-rate environment.

He served variously as Spe-cial Assistant to a former Min-ister of Commerce; DirectorGeneral of the Securities andExchange Commission; LeadConsultant to the Central Bankof Nigeria Bank, CBN, onBanking Consolidation Moni-toring before his appointmentas the Managing Director ofSpring Bank Plc on interimbasis to salvage the crises rid-den bank.

The ICSAN President wasalso a director in the SpecialFraud Unit of the Office of theNational Security Adviser.

Ndanusa graduated from theAhmadu Bello University, Zar-ia with a B.Sc (2nd class up-per) degree in Economics in1978. He obtained an LLB de-

gree from the University of La-gos in 2000 and was called tobar in 2003, also a graduate ofthe prestigious Advanced Man-agement Programme of Har-vard Business School, USA, heholds the Doctor of Letters De-gree of St Clements Universi-ty, UK.

An Officer of the Order of theNiger, OON, Ndanusa hasserved as a Council Member,Nigeria Investment PromotionsCommission, NIPC; Member,Technical Committee on Priva-tization of the Bureau for Pub-lic Enterprises, BPE; Member,National Pensions ReformSteering Committee and cur-rently Chairman / Pro Chan-cellor of the IBB University,Lapai, in Niger State.

Meanwhile, the Board, Man-agement and Staff of the SEChave congratulated the ICSANfor the investiture of Dr. Ndau-sa, saying we joined “wellmeaning Nigerians in felicitat-ing with our illustrious Chair-man for this additional honourand accomplishment.”

Ndanusa now President of ICSAN

•Ndanusa

FG confirms Bello Executive SecretaryNigerian Shippers’ Council

THE Federal Government has confirmed the appointment of Mr. Hassan Bello, as the substantive Execu-

tive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer, CEO, of NigerianShippers’ Council.

Bello, who until his confirmation was on an acting capac-ity following the expiration of the ten-ure of the former Executive Secretary/CEO, Capt. Adamu Biu in December2012, was the Director, Legal Servic-es of the Council.

The new Executive Secretary whojoined the services of Nigerian Ship-pers’ Council in 1998 as a Deputy Di-rector and Head Legal Services, hadworked with ministry of justice, Soko-to State and later Sokoto InvestmentCompany Limited where he rose tothe rank of Acting Managing Direc-tor/Chief Executive Officer.

IPMAN appoints Ogbewe ActingMid-Western zonal Chairman

NATIONAL body of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, has appointed ,

Chief Solomon Nosakhare Ogbewe, as the Acting Zonal Chair-man of IPMAN in Mid-Western Zone

Until recently, Chief Ogbewe who holds the traditional titleof the Uwayoba of Benin Kingdom, was the chairman, Care-taker Committee of the association in the zone set up by theNational body to resolve all disputes in the association.

The National Executive Committee of IPMAN said the ap-pointment was made in consonance with the constitution ofIPMAN under Tenure of Office item (g) on page 38. “A state-ment by Alhaji Aminu Abdulkadir and Mike Osatuyi, the Na-tional President and National Secretary of IPMAN respective-ly, said that it however expected high level of performancefrom Chief Ogbewe on his recent appointment.

The appointment which was communicated to the Area Man-agers of PPMC and Depot Chiefs in Warri and Benin, as wellas the IPMAN Chairmen in the Zoneurged their members to remain focusedand support the Zonal Chairman onhis plan to move the Zone forward.

The statement also indicated that theappointment took immediateeffect.“Meanwhile, the National Advis-er of IPMAN, Elder Peter Ag-bonkonkon, has lauded the re-appoint-ment of Chief Ogbewe as the ActingZonal Chairman of IPMAN in the Mid-Western Zone and pointed out that histenure in the zone had brought a re-markable improvement to its members.

Jonathan appoints Adejuwonnew Ambassador to WTO

President Goodluck Jonathan has appointed Mr. David Adejuwon as Nigeria’s new Ambassador to the World

Trade Organisation, WTO, Geneva, Switzerland.The approval was conveyed to the Minister of Industry,

Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, vide a let-ter with reference “PRES/188/T&I/94” and dated 1st July,2013.

Adejuwon’s appointment is the replacement for Ambassa-dor Yonov Agah, who has retired as a Director in the Min-istry of Industry, Trade and Investment.

The position of Nigeria’s Ambassador/Resident Represent-ative to the WTO is a career Civil Service for professionalofficers on Directorate Level in the Federal Ministry of In-dustry, Trade and Investment, particularly, for Grade Level17 Officer.

Adejuwon, whose appointment is with immediate effect, will be responsible for the coordination of Nigeria’s activi-ties in the Geneva-based trade related international organ-izations such as WTO, United Nations Conference on Tradeand Development, UNCTAD, World Intellectual PropertyOrganisation, WIPO, and the International Trade Centre,ITC.

support, resource materials,teachers training, monitoringand evaluation, an assessmentexercise from 2009-2011.

Director/Co-founder of AHIDr. Uwem Esiet, said the coun-try was not doing badly in itsdrive to reduce the spread ofHIV/AIDS

According to him, “Nigeria isdoing well it is one of the lead-ing rights in the world when itcomes to HIV/AIDS curriculumdelivered education. The scoreanalyses the assessment for2009/2010 academic year andwhat this study has done is a

ACTION Health Incorporated, AHI, has awarded

the Federal Capital Territory,FCT , Lagos, and four otherstates for effectively ensuringthe performance of Family Lifeand HIV Education in theirschools.

They received their award atthe 59th meeting of the NationalCouncil on Education, NCE,held in Abuja.

The other states are Abia,Ogun, Cross River and Plateaustate. The states were rated ac-cording to their participation,dedication, fund support, state

baseline to say where were ourpeople at that time and you cansee that there is no state thatscored zero all through whichtells you that they are imple-menting, they are strugglingthe idea is to let us know thosethat are implementing fasterthan the others and to see howto help those that are not im-plementing to see what aretheir challenges. We will con-tinue to encourage partners tosupport national assessmentand to look for ways of reward-ing those who are doing well.”

Mrs. M.O. Olaoye, Director Curriculum and Examinations, Lagos State; Mr. Laolu Oguntuyi, Director ofTechnical and Vocational Services, Lagos State Technical and Vocational Educational Board, Lagos, andMrs. Doris Deji, Senior Programme Officer Accounts, Action Health Incorporated, Lagos, at the event.

Abuja, Lagos, 4 other states getawards for family life, HIV education

•Ogbewe

Bello


People in Business

Mrs. Ijeoma Tracy Iyoha isthe Managing Director/ChiefExecutive Officer of T racyBridals and Makeovers, anOgba, Lagos-based outfit. Inthis chat with V anguard,Tracy, as she is fondly called,talks about how she got intothe beauty business, thechallenges and the journeyso far.

Excerpts:

Upon obtaining herHigher NationalDiploma (HND) in

Cooperative Economics andManagement from the Instituteof Management andTechnology (IMT), Enugu,Tracy could not get a job butan opportunity came and shegrabbed it with both hands.

“An opportunity came up ina government-orientedprogramme where they teachdifferent skills. A friend of mineencouraged me to give it a trybecause she had been there,”said Tracy.

To her amazement, shefound out so much was goingon there.

“When I got there, I found outthey were very serious, and alot was going on. So I went tothe Cosmetology section whereI trained as a cosmetologistbecause I have always lovedanything to do with beauty andentertainment so this was anopportunity for me to achievemy dream. In the course of thetraining, we were supposed togo for industrial training so Idecided to specialise in aparticular skill. Some of mycolleagues trained ashairstylists and salonoperators, some went tocompanies where they makerelaxer but I decided to go formakeup at Unveil Studios inIkeja. After my industrialtraining, the CEO wasimpressed with myperformance and decided toemploy me after myprogramme so I had theopportunity of working withher for a while. After sometime,I decided to establish my ownstudio about five years agowhere I train people also. Sofar, the journey has beensplendid,” she stated.

Start-up capital:Speaking on her start-up

capital, Mrs. Iyoha said she didnot have much capital at thebeginning but had the drive soshe started from home.

“When I wanted to set up mystudio, I did not have muchcapital so I started from home.I got a banner which toldpeople what I do. From thebanner, clients were coming tothe house and I was beingbooked for shows, weddingsetc. After I raised a littlemoney, my husband saw howdedicated, passionate and

By EBELE ORAKPO

serious I was, so he took it upfrom there. I always tell mystudents that they don’t haveto wait till they get a hugespace. You can start from homeand that is why we havelaptops, Ipads and so on. Geta web site where you tellpeople what you do and theycall you. You can be a mobilemakeup artist; you don’t haveto be at a particular place.

"Once my students starttraining, I tell them to cut downon spending. If you are thetype that is fashion-conscious,you cut down on spending.Spend your money instead onproducts because that is the toolof your trade and as a makeupartist, you can be called uponanytime so you don’t have towait till you graduate. It makesit a lot easier for you; before youround off your training, youfind out that your box is almostfull," she said.

Training school:"I have a makeup studio

where I train people. My feestarts from N40,000 for twomonths or more. The twomonths is for facial course butmost people will tell you theywant you to train them asmakeup artists for two weeks.

You can’t be a professional intwo weeks, even one month, Idon’t do it. It is not all aboutthe money but the end-result.Two weeks is supposed to befor a refresher course not forsomeone who doesn’t have anytraining in makeup. It is alwaysgood to start from the scratch ifpossible, work for sometimewith your trainer. That is whatI do for my students. I don’tcare how much you pay me, Idon’t just let my students go,you have to be very good atwhat you do, so you get not justthe training in the studio, youget the field experience whichis paramount because we meetwith a lot of celebrities, topmodels, designers etc. So youshould be able to interact withthem, understand and relatewith them even when you arenot with me, you already knowwhat to do and what not to do,"she stated.

Iyoha who returned lastmonth from Mercedes BenzFashion week in Malta, saidshe has worked with a lot ofprofessional designers andphotographers both local andinternational, and done shows."We worked backstage, doingmakeup. From Malta, I wentto Paris, did shoots and before

then in March, I wasopportune to go to South Africafor the Mercedes Benz FashionWeek South Africa. I did majorshoots there too."

Challenges:She mentioned electricity,

high rent, half-baked makeupartists and some clients assome of the challenges facingthe business.

“We burn fuel everyday tokeep the studio cool. Everyyear, the landlords increaserent, then there are makeupartists who are notprofessionals, people whodon’t even know what they are

doing. They charge the clienta small fee and rendersubstandard service which theclient only realises afterpaying.

"Another challenge is theclient. As a professionaloutside the country, you arepaid hourly but here, if thereis a show, it is a full day andthey don’t care, they just tellyou this is what they havebecause they know they havepeople who will do it at acheaper rate.

" Aside from that, our clientsalways come back for us.Referral is our major way ofgetting customers. If you are agood makeup artist, whereveryou are, you will keep gettingcalls because people will keepreferring others to you.It is alucrative business if you aregood and you have passion forit," she enthused.

*Mrs. Ijeoma Tracy Iyoha

It's wonderful being amakeup artist—Tracy

I don't care how much you payme; I don't just let my students go,they have to be very good at whatthey do

*Mrs. Iyohaat work

Real economic growth will comefrom agriculture

In recent times, the Ministerof Finance and

Coordinating Minister of theEconomy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has come under severecriticisms for saying Nigeria’seconomy was growing. Manyare wondering why this growthis not reflecting on the livingstandard of the people.Responding to this, Mr.Japheth Omojuwa, aconsultant with Heinrich BollFoundation and one of thepresenters at the recently heldGreen Deal Nigeria Roadshowin Lagos, said the reason whyour continued economic growthover the past 10 years has not

reflected on our GrossDomestic Product is becausethe influence of oil on the GDPis just 15 per cent.

“Although oil is our biggestforeign exchange earner, itcontributes only 15 per cent toour GDP while agriculturecontributes 70 per cent so if wedevelop agriculture, we havea chance of reaching about 70per cent of the population.When we talk of economicgrowth, we can at the sametime talk about developmentbecause the economic growthof agriculture reaches as muchas 70 per cent of the people,"he said.

, ,


Full Page Advert


Aviation

BRIEFS

DIRECTOR General ofNigeria Civil Aviation

Authority, NCAA , CaptainFola Akinkuotu, has appealedto pilots and engineers to com-ply with aviation rules and reg-ulations in order not to createunnecessary tension and con-fusion in the aviation industry.This will help achieve safetyand security in theindustry.“This is just as he of-ficially announced a new Di-rectorate, Directorate of Gener-al Aviation with Captain DejiSasegbon as itsDirector.“Speaking at theNCAA Annex during his firstpublic appearance at an inter-active meeting with airlinesand general aviation operators,the new DG asked the stake-holders to always adhere tosafety standards in order notcompromise safety and securi-ty. “Akinkuotu who was par-ticularly interested in pilots andengineers' role in safety saidthat if these groups do not com-ply to rules it portends more

harm to the industry.“"The rolesthat engineers and pilots playare critical. They know the rulesand if they follow the rules, Ibelieve we will have morepeace because more often thannot it is people who know therules that break the rules."

"I appeal to pilots and engi-neers, you know the rules let

us adhere and make itbetter."“Akinkuotu further saidthat the NCAA would, in thesearch for safety,continue suchinteractions to make safety apriority.“On the general avia-tion directorate he said thatprogress has been made withthe number of flights and pri-vate jets in Nigeria.“ That we

are today witnessing far moreflights, domestic and interna-tional is progress, that there arefar more private jets and theiroperations in Nigeria today isevidence of progress, thisprogress was motivated bychanges both at home andinternationally.This as yourightly conclude informs theneed for, and establishment ofa Directorate of General Avia-tion, and creation of rules toplay by for all." General Avia-tion has been neglected overthe years but has continued togrow and it has to be encour-aged but it also needs to be reg-ulated and that is why NCAAcreated the new directorate."

NCAA DG charges pilots,engineers to comply with rules…Creates General Aviation DirectorateStories by LAWANI

MIKAIRU & DANIELETEGHE

government, AISAN presidentComrade Babatunde Shittusaid, AIS automation would fur-ther boost air safety in Nigeriaand enhance search and rescueoperation as National Emer-gency ManagementAgency,NEMA, is incorporat-ed into the project.

The airports to benefit from theproject include: Lagos, Kano,Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ilorin,Jos, Sokoto, Maiduguri, Ower-ri, and Yola. Others are Zaria,Calabar, Osubi, Minna, Kadu-na, Enugu, Katsina, Ibadan,Benin, Akure, Bebi, Bonny,Eket and Escravos.

Comrade Shittu who led adelegation of AISAN executive

THE management of theNigerian Airspace Man-

agement Agency ,NAMA,weekend said the Aeronauti-cal Information Services (AIS)project has reached ninety sev-en percent completion.

This is coming just as theAeronautical Information Serv-ices Association of Nigeria, AI-SAN, lauded the Federal Gov-ernment for striving to makethe Nigerian airspace to rankamong the safest in the world.

The agency said to expediteaction on the AIS automation,it has install two antennae eachat 11 airport stations across thecountry.

Commending the Federal

on a courtesy visit to NAMAmanagement thanked theManaging Director, Engr.Mazi Nnamdi Udoh for his re-lentless effort in actualizingthe dream of AIS automation,the migration to e-flight plansince November, 2012 in com-pliance with ICAO directiveand the recent deployment ofmore staff to the department.

Shittu also urged Engr. Udohto ensure that Nigeria transitsfrom Aeronautical InformationService (AIS) to AeronauticalInformation Management(AIM) on or before the 15thNovember 2013 according toamendment 37, annex 17 ofICAO convention.

AIS automation reaches 97% completion,says NAMA

cording to Akpabio ''We areconstructing a fuel dump andother facilities that are inher-ent in a world class airport.Most of the staff members areredundant because we arestill constructing the facilitiesthey are supposed to workwith; so we cannot continueto employ until we arethrough.In the interim, wehave to rationalise some ofthe staff to other agencieswithin the state civil serviceuntil we achieve the full aimof the airport.’’

'' The airport is meant torender repair and mainte-nance operations within theregion. Due to the stress be-ing experienced by the teem-ing population of Akwa Ibomby going to Calabar to boardplanes; we have to commencepassengers airlifting from theUyo airport. We are yet to de-cide other services that will beoperational as we are current-ly on expansion to accommo-date internationalservices.''.“He however ap-proved N120million for thepayment of salary arrearsowed the airport staff and re-called those who were wrong-fully dismissed. He also saidthe staff would be incorporat-ed into the state civil service.“

the meeting called to addressthe welfare of the airport work-ers/the National Union of AirTransport Employees (NU-ATE) and Air Transport Serv-ices Senior Staff Associationof Nigeria (ATSSSAN). “Ac-

be ready before continuing toemploy workers. He said theaim of establishing the airporthad not been achieved sincemost of the facilities were stillunder construction.“The gov-ernor gave this order during

GOV. Godswill Akpabioof Akwa Ibom has

asked the management ofIbom International AirportDevelopment Company Lim-ited ,IADCL, to allow the fa-cilities at the Ibom Airport to

We will continue employment when IbomAirport facilities are ready – Akpabio

EUROPEAN pilots ,ECA,and Air Traffic Control-

lers ,IFATCA, have commend-ed the draft report on Occur-rence Reporting in Aviation,tabled by MEP Christine deVeyrac, rapporteur for the Eu-ropean Parliament’s TransportCommittee. The report pub-lished proposes concrete im-provements on the provisionswhich ensure a confidential,non-punitive ‘Just Culture’ en-vironment for reporting relevantair incidents.“

"The rapporteur has recog-nised the importance of creat-ing a solid ‘Just Culture’ frame-work and we warmly welcomethis constructive approach”,says Alexis Brathwaite, Presi-dent of IFATCA.

“The precondition for achiev-ing safety improvements inaviation is to create a sound androbust safety reporting systemin which aviation professionalsshare openly safety informationand learn pro-actively from thepast. All possible safeguardsshould be set up to allow pilotsand air traffic controllers to re-port without fear of prosecutionor reprisals at organisationallevel”.

EU Pilots, TrafficControllerswelcome opensafety reporting

EXECUJET Africa hasbeen recognised for its

'Outstanding Services to Afri-can Aviation Development' atthe African Aviation awards inNairobi.

“The company was praisedfor its expansion into Africaand for increasing the overallaviation services in the regionby the awards organiser Afri-can Aviation journal, at the cer-emony held during the AfricanBusiness Aviation Conference& Exhibition in Nairobi.“EttorePoggi, Managing Director ofExecuJet Africa, says: "We arecommitted to supporting Afri-ca's economic development andare honoured to be recognisedwith this award.

We have worked hard tobuild our facilities and servic-es as business aviation devel-ops in the region. We are ex-tremely pleased that our FBOand maintenance facility inLagos, which has been opera-tional for just over a year, isbeing recognised by interna-tional and local operators for itsexceptional service.

Our managed fleet has grownto over 60 aircraft and we arepleased to be seen as the sup-plier of choice for aircraft man-agement services in Africa."

ExecuJet Africawins award

From R-L, Director General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA; Captain Fola Akinkuotu; Man-aging Director, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, Engr. Nnamdi Udoh and Director ofAdministration, NCAA, Mr Aba Ejemibi during the interactive meeting with Airline and General AviationOperators at the NCAA Training Centre, Murtala Muhammed Airport International, Ikeja, Lagos.

Photo by Lamidi Bamidele


International

BRIEFS

SOUTH African gold andforeign-currency reserves

dropped for a second month inJune after the price of bullionfell and the central bank in-creased swap transactions.Gross reserves dropped 2.4 per-cent to $47 billion, the Pretoria-based central bank said on itswebsite today. That was lowerthan the $47.6 billion medianestimate of five analysts sur-veyed by Bloomberg. Net re-serves declined to $44.6 billionfrom $45.4 billion.

“The decrease in the grossreserves mainly reflects valua-tion adjustments emanatingfrom the significant decline inthe U.S. dollar gold price andan increase of foreign exchangeswaps conducted for liquiditymanagement purposes,” thecentral bank said.

Gold slumped 11 percent lastmonth to as low as $1,180.57 anounce on June 28. It was trad-ing at $1,241.32 as of 7:22 a.m.in London. The central bank hasbeen building reserves to act asa buffer against currency vola-tility. The rand has dropped 16percent against the dollar thisyear, the most of 16 major cur-rencies tracked by Bloomberg.The rand fell 0.1 percent to10.0471 against the dollar as of8:22 a.m. in Johannesburg.

PAYROLLS rose by195,000 workers for asecond straight

month, the Labor Departmentreported in Washington. Thejobless rate stayed at 7.6 per-cent, while hourly earnings inthe year ended in June ad-vanced by the most since July2011. Job gains, rising incomesand a rebound in housing aregiving Americans reason toboost the spending that ac-counts for 70 percent of theeconomy. Stocks climbed afterthe report, while Treasuriesdropped, sending the 10-yearyield to the highest in almosttwo years, on expectations thedata make it likelier the Fed-eral Reserve will start trim-ming the $85 billion monthlypace of bond purchases inSeptember.

“The job market is stronger,”said Harm Bandholz, chief

US employment generationexceeds June forecastU.S. economist at UniCreditGroup in New York and the topforecaster of payrolls over thepast two years, according to datacompiled by Bloomberg. “It’s agood number, especially withthe upward revisions.” Fed “ta-pering is getting closer.” TheStandard & Poor’s 500 Indexrose 0.4 percent to 1,621.05 at10:02 a.m. in New York. The 10-year Treasury note yield in-creased 19 basis points, or 0.19percentage point, to 2.70 per-cent, the highest since Aug. 1,2011. Revisions to the prior twomonths’ payrolls reports added70,000 jobs to the employment

count in April and May. Gainsin private employment over-came declines in governmentpayrolls. Private payrolls in-creased 202,000 in June aftera 207,000 gain the prior month.Retailers, professional andbusiness services, health careand leisure and hospitalitybusinesses led the payrollgains in June.

The improving labor market is encouraging some

people to switch jobs. Amongthem is Brian Lambert, 44, wholast month joined Red RobinGourmet Burgers Inc., a chain

based in Greenwood Village,Colorado, as director of loyaltyprograms. “There seem to be alot of jobs available, it’s just amatter of finding the right job,”he said. “And then when youdo, competition is fierce.” Fac-tories reduced payrolls by6,000 in June, while construc-tion companies added 13,000,the most in three months, to-day’s report showed. Automak-ers boosted employment by5,100 workers, the most in fourmonths. Retailers added37,100 jobs in June, with mostof the increase coming frommore hiring at motor vehicledealerships and home-im-provement outlets.

New cars and trucks sold inJune at the fastest pace since2007 as American drivers re-placed aging vehicles and arebound in housing construc-tion moved trucks off dealerlots. That helped new car salesbeat estimates last month, giv-ing a lift to General Motors .and Ford Motor. Brisk salesare boosting hiring at dealer-ships. “We would take 10 salespeople in a heartbeat,” saidDon Hicks, owner of ShortlineAuto Group in Aurora, Colora-do, which employs about 150people at four dealerships. “Ifthey were available andtrained, or trainable, we’d takeanother five or six technicians.It’s crazy trying to find people.”Auto industry sales climbed toa 15.9 million annualized pace,exceeding the 15.5 millionmedian estimate of economistssurveyed by Bloomberg.

SA foreigncurrency reservesdrop for secondmonth

US stocksfluctuate as jobsdata spursstimulus concern

The S&P 500 gained 0.2percent to 1,619.19 at

10:35 a.m. in New York, afterrising as much as 0.7 percentearlier. The benchmark index isup 0.8 percent for the week. TheDow Jones Industrial Averageadded 16.32 points, or 0.1 per-cent, to 15,004.87. Trading inS&P 500 stocks was 25 percentbelow the 30-day average dur-ing this time of day. U.S. mar-kets were closed yesterday forthe Independence Day holiday.“This is not a booming report butit is a satisfactory report,” Dav-id Kelly, the chief global strate-gist at JPMorgan Funds in NewYork, said by telephone. His firmoversees about $400 billion inmutual funds. “If the economycontinues to improve at thispace, the Fed is going to haveto take away quantitative eas-ing and these low levels of in-terest rates cannot be sustained.This is good news for the stockmarket but the market need toadjust to that.”

7:01 a.m. in Accra. “Nobody isquoting rates because every-body is seeking to buy,” Koteysaid.

The cedi may strengthen withproceeds from Eurobonds,pushing the currency belowthe 2 per dollar level, Kotey andAbubakar said. “If the marketbecomes liquid, it will impactthe currency,” Abubakar said.By the end of the year, the cedimay reach 1.99 per dollar, hesaid. The currency has de-clined 6.6 percent this year, thefifth-worst among 24 Africancurrencies tracked by Bloomb-erg. Ghana’s trade deficitworsened to $334.6 million inthe first quarter from nearzero a year earlier, as theworld’s second-biggest cocoagrower and Africa’s second-

eign reserves dropped to $4.99billion in April from $5.01 bil-lion in March, according to theBank of Ghana.

The central bank sells dollarsto lenders at irregular intervalsbased on market demand, whichis led by manufacturers seek-ing raw material, oil importersand traders, Abubakar said.Ghana’s economy, the second-biggest in West Africa, is fore-cast to grow 8 percent this year.“I am able to meet less than 10percent of client demand in aday,” Abubakar said. Currencytrading among banks ceasedabout two weeks ago becauseof the lack of dollars, said NikoiKotey, a trader at CAL BankLtd. in Accra. The cedi weak-ened 0.7 percent to match arecord low 2.04 per dollar as of

CURRENCY traders inGhana are waiting for

the West African nation’s sec-ond sale of Eurobonds to re-vive business as a scarcity ofdollars halted buying after thecedi reached a record low.“The interbank market is vir-tually dead,” Sadiq Abubakar,a currency trader at Interna-tional Commercial Bank inAccra, the capital, said byphone yesterday. “We’re hop-ing to see if the Eurobondcomes to fruition, then we willsee some liquidity in the mar-ket.” Finance Minister SethTerkper said Ghana plans tosell $1 billion of internationaldebt this month, followingRwanda and Nigeria as Afri-can nations tap investor appe-tite for assets from the world’sfastest growing region afterdeveloping Asia. Ghana be-came the first sub-Saharan Af-rican nation outside of SouthAfrica to issue Eurobonds, sell-ing $750 million in 2007. For-

largest gold producer sawexports drop 7.3 percent, thecentral bank said May 22.The current account, thebroadest measure of trade ingoods and services, widenedto a deficit of $1.1 billion inthe first three months from$986.6 million a year before,the Bank of Ghana said. Yieldson the nation’s debt due Oc-tober 2017 fell 33 basis points,or 0.33 percentage point, to6.41 percent as of 9:06 a.m.in London. That compareswith 4.95 percent at the endof the 2012. Adams Nyinaku,head of treasury at Bank ofGhana, wasn’t available tocomment, said a woman whoanswered two calls made tohis office yesterday and didn’tgive her name.

Ghana’s foreign exchangemarket dries up before bond sale

From left: Seun Faluyi, Managing Director, Global Oceon; David Kirubi, Sourcing Manager,GE Africa; Lazarus Angbazo, President/CEO, GE Nigeria; Vincent Ebuh Jnr, BusinessDevelopment, Global Oceon; and Tassie Stanford, Managing Director/CEO, Tilone, at the GESupplier Fair held in Amsterdam


BRIEFS

Advertising, Media& Marketing

Stories by PRINCEWILLEKWUJURU

commemorate the 40thanniversary of the association,hosted by the Ogun StateGovernment in Abeokuta, theOgun State capital, the AAANPresident, Mrs. Bunmi Oke,said while the 40th Anniversaryis a mark of continued creativeexcellence and contribution tothe growth of Nigeria andglobal Advertising and theeconomy at large,governments all over the worldnow retain the services ofprofessional marketingcommunication outfits to sell

How govt can sell policies to citizens — AAAN

BEFORE nowgovernments were not

taking advertisement messagesseriously, but today, the ad bugis building up in theconsciousness of governmentmachinery. The need to toe thefirst contact line is becomingimperative in communicatinggovernment policies.

In effect, the need forcommunication professionals toarticulating governmentpolicies is becoming a majorcampaign by the Association ofAdvertising Agencies ofNigeria (AAAN). During itsannual general meetings heldin the past, the professionalbody toured states to increaseawareness and sensitizevarious governments on theneed to engage communicationprofessionals to craft strategyfor effective policycommunication to avoid theusual public apathy towardsgovernment policies.

In recent times, majorgovernment policies have beenwidely criticised. Nigerianshave gone to the streets toprotest some policies e.g. thesubsidy protest in 2012 whichhitherto led to loss of lives,property and revenue togovernment and privateinstitutions.

AAAN penultimate weekemphasized the need forgovernments to retain theservices of professionalmarketing communicationoutfits to sell their policies.

During this year’s annualgeneral meeting to

for Nigeria.SMEs contribute to improved

living standards, bring aboutsubstantial local capitalformation and achieve a highlevel of productivity andcapability. SMEs arerecognised as the principalmeans of achieving equitableand sustainable industrialdiversification.

Tipping SMEs to anchor thegrowth of Nigeria’s economy,.In the next couple of years, theMinister of Trade andInvestment, OlusegunAganga, said that Micro,Small and MediumEnterprises, (MSMEs) remainthe backbone of thedevelopment of any economyand the driving force ofnational growth.

According to him, in Nigeria,there are currently over 17million MSMEs employingover 31 million Nigerians.“They account for over 80 percent of the total number ofenterprises in Nigeria andemploy 75 per cent of the totalworkforce,” Aganga disclosed.

their policies.“Agency role in national

development goes beyondoffering marketingcommunication services to theprivate sector. It extends to fullyengendering properunderstanding of governmentpolicies and revealing to thepublic ways by which they canparticipate, benefit andcontribute to the growth of theeconomy,” she said.

Oke said advertising agencieshad driven the economy fairlywell in the past years. Using

the agencies’ successes inbuilding international brands,she said at a time whenIntegrated MarketingCommunication is bracing upfor the challenges ofglobalization and reform in themarketing communicationsector of the Nigerian economy,the industry was poised toenhance its relevance andharness its knowledge, views,perception and experience,and channel them througheffective and productivecontributions.

...As Amosun tasks practitioners on clear idea MDA season7 beginsBy AYOMIDE BABATOLA

MALTINA, the non-alcoholic malt drink

from the stable of NigerianBreweries plc has set the stagefor Season Seven of thepopular family dance show,Maltina Dance All (MDA).The 2013 edition tagged: “TheEvolution” will chronicledance styles from 1960 topresent day in a unique andexciting way that willhighlight these eras.Renowned for promotingtogetherness with friends andloved ones, the MDA is theconsumer engagement andexperiential marketingplatform that the branddeploys to resonate withesteemed consumers and thesociety in general.

Prior to the commencementof the Press briefing, theAtrium of the SilverbirdGalleria in Lagos suddenlychanged when close to thirtydancers appeared on thescene which prompted thedancing season.

improvement in the area ofinformation technology, sincethe introduction of GSM in2001. However, there is still alot more to be done to ‘catch-up’ with the rest of the worldand compete successfully in thefast-moving world economy.

In developing a knowledge-driven Nigerian economy,there is need for a new wave ofcollaboration between differentagencies and different sectorsof the economy to make it areality. For instance, Small andMedium Enterprises, SMEs,have become the mainfoundation for economicdevelopment, marketprosperity and employment-generation, making anoticeable contribution to thenational economy. Thedevelopment of SMEs is anessential element in the growthstrategy of most economies andholds a particular significance

information and possession ofhigh skills and the increasingneed for ready access to all ofthese by the business andpublic sectors, other schools ofthought reason that“knowledge is universal” andso, is not exclusive to thecountries of advancedeconomies and neither does theconcept of set knowledge-driven economy.

They maintain that otheremerging markets like SouthAfrica and Singapore havedeveloped their ownframeworks for catapultingtheir countries into knowledge-driven economies. Like the USand UK, Nigeria, (with apopulation of over 150 millionpeople), has the capacity tomake a successful transition toa truly knowledge-driveneconomy. Already, the countryhas recorded a remarkable

I N F O R M A T I O NC o m m u n i c a t i o n

Technology (ICT) plays a vitalrole in economic development.All over the world, excitingtrends are emerging, withknowledge fast becoming astrategic asset for businessgrowth. Advances ininformation andcommunication technology areoccurring on an incrediblescale. For countries, which aretapping into the new ideas,innovation and technologiesthat are proliferating in aknowledge-driven economy,there is a abundance of wealthand opportunities for theirentire people.

While some schools ofthought ascribe the concept ofa knowledge-driven economyto trends, in advancedeconomies, to a greaterdependence on knowledge,

Firm launchestri-vision mobileadvertising trucks

By PRISCA SAM-DURU

An Ikeja-basedp r o m o t i o n a l

communications company,JigsawDBS Limited haslaunched a first-of its-kindmobile advertising and brandactivation trucks into theNigeria advertising industry.

The brand activation trucktrademarked Gotcha! whichwas unveiled to the media andselect marketing industryplayers recently in Lagos,comes with safe platform andhand rails, custom-built hugebattery capacity to power itson-board public addresssystem as well as illuminatethe advertisement panels evenwhen the vehicle engine isswitched off, for brandambassadors on outdoor salespromotion.

Each side of the purpose-built mobile advertisementtrucks, is tri-panelled, with acapacity to take three differentmessages on each side,making available to clients atotal of 12 message options inultrawave display motion. Allthe sides of the freightlinersprinter trucks are also lit toensure visibility of theadvertisements at night.

Link Forum: Anchoring economicgrowth on SMEs via ICT

Beneficiary, Mrs. Iyabo Oladipupo, Mr. Tope Ashiwaju, PUblic Relations Manager, DUfil PRimaFOods Plc, other beneficiaries, Miss Aishat Adewunmi and Mrs. Isimat Iyanda at the presentationof Mobile Carts by DUfil Prima FOods PLc during the INdomie Empowerment Programme whichheld in Lagos recently.


,

,

Email:[email protected], [email protected] page:www.lesleba.com/blog2Website: www.lesleba.comTel:0805 220 1997

Omoh Gabriel - Group Business EditorBabajide Komolafe - Finance EditorClara Nwachukwu - Energy EditorPeter Egwuatu - Head, Capital MarketYinka Kolawole - Snr Bus. CorrespondentFavour Nnabugwu - Insurance CorrespondentGodwin Oritse - Maritime CorrespondentGodfrey Bivbere - Maritime CorrespondentMichael Eboh - Capital Market ReporterFranklin Alli - Industry/Agric. ReporterEbele Orakpo - Energy ReporterIfeyinwa Obi - Maritime Reporter

CONTRIBUTORSPrincewill Ekwujuru - Media/MarketingNaomi Uzor - IndustryProvidence Obuh - Micro FinanceLAYOUT - Graphics Department

O U R T E A M

volume, value and generalfigure emanating from theExchange.

Onyema noted that a lot ofinvestment had gone into theNSE’s technology upgrade,manpower education andvarious other processes thatensure that the market data areprocessed and made availableto the public, saying that itwould amount to intellectualtheft to distribute suchintellectual property withoutcompleting the necessaryrequirements.

Specifically, he stated that todate, NSE has spent over $10million in securing its newtrading engine –Horizon –which would be in place byfourth quarter of the year,while saying indiscriminatedistribution would undermine

THE Nigerian StockExchange, NSE, has

threatened to take legal actionagainst any vendor orinstitution that carries outfurther distribution of itsmarket data without registeringwith the Exchnage and payingthe accompanying fees.

Chief Executive Officer,NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema, gavethe warning, Friday, at astakeholders’ interactive forumto give an update on marketdata distribution.

Market data in this regardinclude data generated fromthe NSE on day-to-day basis,which include the price list ofthe listed securities, the

the value of the data.He explained that the

electronic media would berequired to pay $4,500 perannum to display the real timedata, while they would need topay $3,000 for delayed data. Healso said the exchange willcharge $25,000 and N1.2million per annum for thoseseeking to redistribute real-time international and localdata, respectively.

He said, “NSE provides freeaccess to data on its website.As long as you are notdistributing, you can access itwithout paying any fee.Anyone who wants to distributeit must sign an agreement withus and a licence fee paid. Thefee allows you to use the datathe way you want.

“What we are trying to do is

to provide structure andstandardise the re-distributionof data so that investors thatwant to use the data will knowexactly what they are getting,when they are going to get itand the quality of what they are

getting.“Currently, the NSE is

allowing the print media anddealing member firm todistribute the price list withoutpaying any fee, but anagreement needs to be signed.”

Market data: NSE threatens legalaction against unauthorised vendors

By NKIRUKA NNOROM

Business & Economy

THE MAN "FASHOLA" BY FASHOLA

In the absence of theusual compliment ofeffusive media adverts,

the special interview granteda select group of editors wasprobably the most publicevent in the recent celebrationof Babatunde Raji Fashola’s(BRF) 50th birthday!

However, the essence of theinterview is probably thelessons on determination,commitment, simplicity,integrity, and discipline,which could serve as beaconsfor youths, who may findthemselves at variouscrossroads of life.

For example, on the subjectof birthday celebrations, BRFrevealed, “I am not aceremony person; I don’t likethose formalities, and Iremember that when I wasChief of Staff, I turned 40, andmy friends said "No! It's a lie,we are going to have a party”and I said “No! If you do it,I’m going to have to runaway!" Inevitably, however,the party lobbyists triumphed;but then, BRF added, “howthey got me to do it, I can’tquite say, but what Iremember (on that day) wasthat I had to wake up veryearly, and I said, “Thisshouldn’t be! This is mybirthday, and I should besleeping”!!

On the funding of thebirthday bash, Fasholaconfirmed that “I funded my40th birthday by myself; I amnot quite sure I can do the

same now; even as aGovernor, I am not even surethat I want to spend that kindof money on a party, as if wecan’t eat small rice andchicken in the house.... Theidea that probably I wouldhave a birthday party attaxpayers’ expense issomething that doesn’t sitquite well with me.... I don’twant to cling to things thatare not real. I try as muchas possible to keep my feetfirmly on the ground, becausethere are two people here;there is Tunde Fashola andthere’s the Governor of LagosState...; after 2015, I will beleft to carry on with mybirthday; so, let me get usedto that now. That is what Itried to do, since I took office.”

On growing up andeducation, Fashola has this tosay “I was very horrible withmathematics, I just managedto score 50 or 60 to passarithmetic...; ultimately, theonly professional course Icould do without mathematicswas Law"! According to him,“school was too much of aproblem; there was football tobe played, and I didn't learnhow to study until I was inthe 'A' level class". Theturning point came when hefailed the school certificateexaminations; apart frombiology, all the other subjectswere P7 and P8, and F9 inmathematics! Consequently,his father refused to pay anymore exam fees, andarranged for hisapprenticeship to a motor

mechanic!!

According to Fashola, “Ithink it was that shock

treatment that changed myattitude; I went on to write thesame exams again, and Ipassed, and I got into A-levelclass; it was very good, andmy dad said it was probablybecause I hadn’t discoveredthe football field in thatschool! In a sense, it wastrue; by the end of first year,

I got into football team inIgbobi College, and thegrades just started dropping! I tell everybody who cares tolisten that I am a product ofmany chances.... I don’tthink that any parent shouldgive up on any child.”

“By the time I entereduniversity, nobody told me togo and study... I was ableto combine football and tenniswith my academic work;

what I simply did was that by6.00 a.m., I was up to do myexercise. By 8.00 a.m., Iwould be in class till 4.00p.m., and by 4.00 p.m., I wasin the sports complex till 7.00p.m.; by 8.00 p.m., I atedinner, and studied for onehour thereafter everyday tillI left the university, and itworked! Ultimately, I leftuniversity with a 2:2, and thelaw school result also was a2:2”.

For Youth Service, he wasposted to the Ministry ofJustice in Benin, but afterwaiting endlessly for theSolicitor-General for threedays to formally accept hisposting, he eventuallyrejected the offer. His grousewas that "I don’t want to bein an environment where Ican’t think on my own andtake decisions".

At home, Fashola noted thatthere was freedom, love andfear of God; “stealing wasunforgiveable; you couldn’tforget your classmate’s biro inyour bag, because you willreceive the anger of myparents.... You may say thatthey were strict, but many ofmy generation went throughit; it curtailed greed, builtdiscipline and reinforced self-denial.... If they ask yououtside whether you werehungry, you will say no, Ihave eaten”

On the subject of publicservice, Fashola noted,

“I didn’t plan to run for office,but I had the choice to say no,and run away; however, fromthe day I made a decision totake the offer, I knew that itcame with consequences.... Public servants are a smallpart of the population...; Iwant us to discuss thegovernment, especially in ademocracy, as something thatall of us own.... I feel morecomfortable with the conceptof an action governmentrather than an actionGovernor, because,government is institutional.

"Before I was Chief of Staff,if it rained, I slept more, butonce I got into government,the rain meant a differentthing to me; then I lost myevenings, my entire sociallife..., I was working about 17hours a day and I was agingvery quickly. Nobody wantsto be in government forever;not if you will do the work!”

Instructively, after servingformer Governor Tinubu forover five years, Fashola stillneeded Asiwaju's assistanceto equip his chambers inpreparation fordisengagement after theelections in 2007, butaccording to him, "then camethe 'bombshell' aboutgovernorship; and here weare. So, nobody planned itand it was not on my radarat all"!

SAVE THE NAIRA, SAVENIGERIANS!!

I feel morecomfortable

with the conceptof an actiongovernment

rather than anaction

Governor,because,

government isinstitutional

ICAN hit by integrity leadership crisis

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Transcript of ICAN hit by integrity leadership crisis