BusinessDay 05 Mar 2021

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news you can trust ** friday 05 march 2021 I vol. 19, no 771

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Failed food blockage in Nigeria confirms law of economics MICHAEL ANI

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ome food traders attempt to pull the plug on supplies to their largest market came unstuck as it fell on the wrong side of basic economics.

By blocking food supplies headed for some of the largest markets in Nigeria, such as Mile 12 and Oyinbo markets in Lagos; Bodija Market in Ibadan; New Benin and Ikpoba Hill markets in Benin City; Onitsha Main Market in Anambra, and Abeokuta Market in Ogun State, the

traders not only cut off their largest markets but opened the door for wastage of the mostly perishable goods, particularly vegetables.

The traders, who eke out a living from their sales of food produce, would find that losing their largest markets comes with severe challenges.

Take the case of Adamu Danjuma, whose trailer load of tomatoes that was headed for Lagos was intercepted on the road. Nearly all his goods were already

Continues on page 30

Some participants at yesterday’s BusinessDay ‘Diaspora Today,’ a virtual event, with the theme: Gearing for Growth: Harnessing Diaspora Dynamism for Domestic Development.

See story on page 2

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Double wahala for electricity customers: bad service, unresolved complaints ISAAC ANYAOGU

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he power surge that day was unusual, the wires shrieked and bright sparks lit up the night sky in Yaba, a Lagos suburb.

Darkness blanketed the horizon, from the sky a half-moon spied

Continues on page 2

Inside To sustain recovery, CBN extends interest rate cut on pandemic loans

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news What Nigeria must do to attract more diaspora investment Endurance Okafor

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ore than two years after Somadina Iruegbu, a Nigerian UK-based businessman, acquired a large plot of land in one of the most sort-after axis of Lekki, Lagos State, intending to develop it for commercial purposes, he has been unsuccessful in getting a land title.

Even after asking his lawyer to take over the land registration from his brother who was stuck in the process, a year into it, Iruegbu said he was tired of the different payments his lawyer was requesting to ‘settle’ some officials at the land registration office, to help fasten the process.

“I am regretting the investment, if I had invested that money in the UK or even any other country, it would have at least yielded some kind of return by now,” Iruegbu lamented in a WhatsApp call with BusinessDay. Like Iruegbu, a lot of diaspora Nigerians have had a fair share of the harsh business environment. Possibly, Iruegbu’s experience might even discourage others.

The bottlenecks associated with getting a land title is not peculiar to Nigerians in the diaspora or those with plans to develop lands for commercial use, it also affect a lot of the country’s residents who either do not know people in high offices or lack the funds to ‘settle’ their way out of the normal but long registration process.

Data by PwC show that about 97 percent of lands in Lagos are unregistered.

This, according to analysts, makes it difficult for banks to validate claims to land or for land occupants to use their land to create wealth or to start a business.

While Nigeria moved 15 places to 131 in World Bank Doing Business ranking for 2020, it ranked 149 on the ease of obtaining Construction Permit and requires 17 procedures, 118 days, and 27.5 percent of property value, a factor PwC says would encourage more informal construction of properties and increase risks in the real estate sector.

“Whatever has been done has still not solved the problem of titling, forget the e-certificate. The people that will provide the e-certificate can be bottlenecks in

the process,” Jide Ogunleye, CEO of Denaro properties Limited, says, adding that officials won’t move land document file except they are paid.

The bureaucratic corruption, bribery, embezzlement and extortion in the different levels of government is not peculiar to the land titling office, it is the same for many government establishments.

From lack of motorable roads, unstable power supply, absence of modern agricultural processing infrastructure to policies inconsistency, the harsh operating environment in Nigeria, although witnessed some improvement, has kept not just foreign investors away but Nigerians in diaspora.

The total value of capital importation into Nigeria declined by 74 percent to $1.46 billion in the third quarter of 2020 from $5.63 billion in the corresponding period of 2019. While the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic can be easily blamed for the decline, BusinessDay survey shows that before the pandemic, the country was struggling to attract the much needed foreign direct investment. COVID-19 only made an already bad situation worst.

As companies continue to grapple with high production costs and low demand, with SMEs and critical businesses shedding jobs and many others folding up, analysts recommend the following things Nigeria must do to attract both diaspora and other investors to boost GDP and create employment for its young population.

Infrastructure Investment in key infrastructure, particularly as it affects some of the import growth sectors of the Nigerian economy, is key if Africa’s most populous country must attract some of its citizens abroad and generally other investors.

For example, Yewande Sadiku, executive secretary/ CEO, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), said Nigeria stands a chance of becoming the largest source of food for Europe because of its arable lands and closeness to the continent.

“Nigerian stands a fantastic chance of becoming a veritable supplier of agricultural products to

Continues on page 30 www.businessday.ng

L-R: Bashir Jamoh, directorgeneral, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA); Victor Ochei, executive director, Cabotage and Maritime Labour Services, and Ifeanyi Okowa, Delta State governor, during a visit to the governor by the management of NIMASA led by the DG, in Asaba, yesterday.

To sustain recovery, CBN extends interest rate cut on pandemic loans HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE & GBEMI FAMINU

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he Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) extension of the interest rate it reduced during the pandemic (officially known as discounted interest rate) by another 12 months is seen as a big boost for an economy licking its wounds from recession, most analysts polled by BusinesDay said.

Discounted interest rate is a rate charged by the monetary authority, in this case, the CBN on the deposit money banks.

On March 1, 2020, the CBN reduced the interest rates on its intervention funds from 9 percent to 5 percent per annum for one-year period.

The reduction was part of measures to mitigate the negative impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the Nigerian economy. One major impact of the intervention was in the management of NonPerforming Loan (NPL) in the banking system.

Although the banking sector NPLs rose to 6.01 percent at the end of December 2020 from 5.88 percent at the end of November 2020 and above the prudential maximum threshold of 5.0 percent, analysts said it would have been worse than this if not for the discounted facilities and moratorium for banks and other financial institutions.

Akintunde Olusegun, analyst at Polaris Bank Limited, said extending the discounted rate was good for the economy as the COVID-19 pandemic

was still on. Most businesses affected have not recovered, and ending it now would not have helped those businesses.

He said the CBN acted in the right direction, noting, “It gives the companies the opportunity to rebound. The impact of the previous discounted rate could be seen on the GDP, which came against the predictions of most economists and the IMF. Surprisingly, Nigeria exited recession.”

The extension followed the positive impact recorded in the first discounted intervention facility in 2020. Borrowers of the facility were majorly the manufacturers and agribusiness operators.

Data from FBNQuest showed that the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) made a good recovery from 44.5 to 53.0 in February 2021. The good recovery was driven by medium-sized and small firms.

According to Ayodeji Ebo, head, retail investment, Chapel Hill Denham, it is positive development. It will help the banks in managing NPL. If it is positive, it gives them leeway.

The discounted rate for the CBN intervention facility last year provided support to most companies, especially, in the real sector. It helped in the increase in crop production and reduction in cost of fund.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report showed that agriculture contributed 24.23 percent to nominal GDP in the fourth quarter of 2020, higher than the rates recorded for the fourth quarter of 2019,

Double wahala for electricity customers: bad service...

Continued from page 1

above and all was quiet.

It will take another three months for people in that part of Lagos to see power supply again. Even then, it came at the cost of prolonged anguish and needless acrimony.

However bad it sounds, this

is one of the fortunate communities. Many customers have been compelled to buy their own transformers after years of futile attempts to get their distribution company (DisCo) to resolve the problem.

So, when the Nigerian

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but lower than the third quarter of 2020, which recorded 23.38 percent and 28.41 percent, respectively. The annual contribution of agriculture to nominal GDP in 2020 was 24.45%. Crop production sector grew by 3.68% in Q4 2020 from 1.38% in Q3 2020 and 2.52% in Q4 2019.

Total disbursements of the CBN’s intervention facilities as at January 2021 amounted to N2 trillion. Specifically, the CBN has disbursed N192.64 billion to 426,016 beneficiaries from the COVID-19 Targeted Credit Facility (TCF) meant for household and small businesses. It has also disbursed N106.96 billion to 27,956 beneficiaries under the Agri-Business Small and Medium Enterprises Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS), while in the Health Care Support Intervention Facility, it has disbursed N72.96 billion to 73 project that comprise 26 pharmaceutical projects and 47 Hospitals and Health Care Services Project in the country, among others.

Olalekan Aworinde, senior lecturer, department of economics, Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos, explained the discounted interest rate is a rate charged by the monetary authority, in this case, the CBN on the deposit money banks.

The discount rate is used to determine or gauge the time value of money in an economy.

“The CBN extending the discounted interest rate for the purpose of intervention is a right step in the right direction. The implication of this on Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) released on its Twitter handle a detailed dispute complaint resolution process mapping, dozens of customers have described it as a charade. The process of resolving customer complaints in Nigeria’s troubled power sector would have been hilarious if it were not so pathetic. @Businessdayng

the economy is more likely to be positive. If the rate reduces, it will also have effect on the lending rate,” he said.

This implies that the lending rate will also reduce and it will make investors as well as entrepreneur have access to loanable fund at a lower interest rate.

Another implication, he said it would have on the economy, is that it will increase the level of investment and thereby reducing the level of employment and later on engender growth.

Frank Onyebu, chairman, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Apapa branch, commended the financial regulator for the extension, adding that the move was timely and quite beneficial to business owners, especially manufacturers.

“Going by the general trend of things in the economy, manufacturers are struggling and this will help in reducing their business burden.

Policies like this are what Nigerian manufacturers need to thrive and significantly impact the economy,” Onyebu said.

The production process has been very difficult lately due to the FX shortage and unavailability of raw materials locally, he noted, adding that the inventory of unsold goods has been on the rise due to decline in demand.

He also said although many manufacturers were beneficiaries of the intervention facility in 2020, however, they will work more on repaying existing loans for now rather than taking new ones.

“I appealed at two Ikeja-NERC Forum Rulings to NERC on February 14, 2019, and no response from NERC after two years. NERC is fraudulently in alliance with DisCos against consumers,” said Chinedu Bosah, a customer on Twitter.

NERC invites discontent

Continues on page 30

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NEWS

Apapa: Lagos assures call-up system must be sustained, but residents have concerns CHUKA UROKO

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ix days into the implementation of the electronic call-up system to control trucks movement in Apapa, the Lagos state government is beating its chest on the level of success attained, assuring that it will sustain the enforcement of the system.

Though the call-up system which was introduced on Saturday, February 27, has been able to restore relative sanity in Apapa and environs as the trucks are largely off the major entry routes to Apapa, residents of the port city say they have their concerns. “We are still apprehensive despite the relative sanity we have seen in our environment. People who were benefiting from the chaos that we used to have are not happy and so they will go back to the drawing board and find a way to scuttle the new system,” Ayo Vaughan, chairman of Apapa GRA residents association said on telephone interview.

“I am just coming back to Apapa from Ikoyi and it took me less than 20 minutes to do that. But I could see some trailers lining up on the bridge.

We have no problem with that if only the trailers are moving and there is a lane left for other road users, especially the residents,” he added.

Vaughan tasked the Lagos State government and authorities of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to ensure that the system is not hijacked by people who profit from chaos, stressing, “the bottom line is control; let there be effective control of the movement of the trucks.”

On his part, Yinka Adewale, a resident of Jakande Housing Estate, Mile-2, Amuwo-Odofin, noted that there has been a bit of sanity in his area since Saturday. “This is how Oshodi-Apapa Expressway used to look like many years ago. This new order must be sustained in the interest of the public,” he said.

However, Oluwatoyin Fayinka, special adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on transportation, has a ready response to the residents’ concerns as he assured that the new system would be sustained.

Fayinka who is also the chairman of the Lagos State Special Traffic Management Enforcement Team on Apapa,

however, noted that there was still room for improvement.

“Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has directed us to constantly assess the situation after the commencement of the call-up system. Though there is a lot of improvement, there are still some grey areas to be cleaned up for improvement.

We will not relent in sustaining this current order in Apapa,” the special adviser who was on inspection of Apapa, assured.

To further assure Apapa residents and other stakeholders of government’s determination to sustain the new order, Hakeem Odumosu, the Lagos Commissioner of Police, warned police officers deployed to enforce the callup system against corrupt practices and adherence to rules of engagement, saying that anyone caught in the act of indiscipline would be severely punished.

Driving through Bode Thomas in Surulere to Costain onto Eko Bridge; then Carter Bridge through Ijora Olopa down to National Stadium, on Thursday, it was discovered that the heavy presence of trucks on these routes were gone, giving motorists easy and pleasurable driving experience.

Communal clash: Kwara imposes curfew on Offa, Erinle

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overnor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State, has imposed a curfew on Offa and Erinle towns; a statement signed by Rafiu Ajakaye, the chief press secretary to the governor, has said.

The curfew will be in force between 6p.m. and 8 a.m. until further notice.

The statement said the curfew became necessary following the renewed hostilities between some groups of persons from the two communities Thursday.

“The curfew takes immediate effect from 6p.m. Thursday, March 3, 2021. Security agencies have been deployed

to enforce the curfew. While security forces on ground are to maintain the peace, military reinforcements from Sobi Barracks and the Mobile Police force from Ilorin have been deployed immediately,” it said.

It warned all residents “to withdraw from the streets of Offa and Erinle and all contested areas immediately”, adding that “Residents are to stay indoors until the curfew is reviewed.”

The governor also urged residents of both communities and travellers crisscrossing the areas to comply with the directive to save lives and property.

He appealed to leaders

on both sides to restrain and caution their people against provocative action, and to maintain peace.

“The security forces are urged to be very firm in dealing with the situation and in enforcing the curfew,” the statement added.

Recall that Offa/Erinle communities have been in conflict spanning several years and the hostilities have also claimed many lives of indigenes of both communities.

Although series of curfews had been imposed in the past, even during the administration of Bukola Saraki as governor of the state, the communal clashes have continued.

Ex-KPMG chairman, Seyi Bickersteth dies at 69

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igeria’s corporate world is mourning the passing of, Seyi Bickersteth, the immediate past senior partner/chairman at KPMG. Seyi, an exercise buff who frequented the gym, ran and cycled regularly and inspired many, passed in his sleep at his home in Lagos on Tuesday morning.

Bickersteth was once senior partner at Arthur Andersen, senior partner at KPMG and chairman, KPMG Africa. He was chairman of several companies including Diamond Bank Plc. He is regarded as a giant who in his time, shaped great minds, shaped economies, built organisations and impacted corporations.

Bickersteth is an alumnus of the University of Ibadan and York University, Canada where he obtained a Bachelor and Masters degrees in Economics respectively. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (FCA) and Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (FCTI).

He served on the board www.businessday.ng

of Good Governance Africa (Nigeria Chapter), American Business Council, Nigerian Economic Summit Group and Technical Committee of Review of Petroleum Industry Bill.

He was a member of the Trade and Investment Committee of the Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce; was a director of the NigerianSouth African Chamber of Commerce and currently a Director of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group.

He was also involved in Vision 2010, which prepared a memorandum on the vision for Nigeria by year 2010. He chaired a working group on “Nigerian Tax Reforms 2003 & Beyond” for the Federal Government of Nigeria. https://www.facebook.com/businessdayng

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NEWS

Lagos, CIG Motors eye production of vehicles in Nigeria

Wike wants 10% for host communities in PIB

…as Sanwo-Olu unveils new ride-hailing taxi scheme

he Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) under consideration by the National Assembly (NASS) must increase host community allocation from the 2.5 percent suggested, to not less than 10 per cent.

This was the position of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State when members of the NASS committee on PIB paid him a visit on Thursday.

The NASS members were in the state to hold town hall meeting in relation to the PIB. The PIB provided for 2.5 percent of the operating capital (OPEX) of each oil company, something the oil companies have kicked as being a huge burden on them. Experts have said putting such pressure on OPEX of oil companies at a time Nigeria is asking the oil companies to reduce their expenditure to less than $18 per barrel.

Wike, who did not state where he wanted the 10 percent to come from, said it was also necessary that the bill states in clear terms what specific development projects that the allocated fund should be spent on, so that development of host communities can be truly actualised.

Experts who gathered in Lagos between March 3 and 4 2021 supported the demand for specific projects the host community fund should address to avoid the NDDC overhang which the fund would be spread to almost everything

Joshua Bassey

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agos State government on Thursday signed a joint venture agre ement with an automobile company - CIG Motors Company Limited, for the establishment of vehicle assembly plant in the state.

With the deal sealed, it is expected that within the next 24 months, the state government would have a jointlyrun factory for the production of different classes of brand new cars.

The planned vehicle assembly plant is a fallout of the bilateral agreements reached between the state government and Chinese Investors’ Community when SanwoOlu visited the Asian country in November, 2019.

The governor also, yesterday, signed another partnership agreement with CIG Motors for the take-off of a new e-hailing taxi scheme

aimed at redefining road transportation in Nigeria’s most populous city. The new ‘Lagos Ride’ scheme would be commencing operations with 1,000 units of brand new Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs).

IBILE Holdings Limited, a state-owned corporation, would be driving the two investment agreements on behalf of the Lagos State government.

At the signing ceremony held at State House, Marina, Sanwo-Olu said the ride-hailing taxi was a social intervention programme initiated with an objective to create jobs and economic opportunities for residents of the state.

The new scheme, he added, was also in fulfilment of his administration’s desire to give residents a better choice in road transportation - offering a safe, efficient and modern cab model in line with the policy thrust of his government’s T.H.E.M.E.S agenda.

The governor said the taxi scheme, which is expected to commence operations in six months, had been structured along a profitability model and designed to be self-sustaining for expansion and growth.

“I am elated to unveil the Lagos State taxi scheme, which is another innovative policy of this administration targeted at making life easier for Lagosians, improving mobility and creating a seamless multi-modal transportation system. The modern ride-hailing service is one of the state government’s socio-economic intervention programmes, which will be professionally managed in line with global best practices “Our social intervention programmes are tailored towards the eradication of poverty, provision of jobs and other employment opportunities as well as the provision of basic necessities, that make good governance our people’s reality. A major attribute of a

modern megacity is a worldclass transportation system with inter-connected services and mobility choices for the citizens,” he said.

Under the taxi scheme, Sanwo-Olu said the cooperative society in the state ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment would give operators brand new SUVs for a period of four years, during which they would pay a monthly instalment. At the end of the credit tenure, the operators will have the opportunity to fully own the cars.

Diana Chen, chairman of CIG Motors Company Limited, pledged the full commitment of the automobile firm to the agreement.

Chen, who is also the vice chairman of China-Africa Business Council (CABC), disclosed that the automobile firm would sponsor 50 students for a two-year engineering training in a vocational school in China to strengthen its partnership with the Lagos State government.

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Ignatius Chukwu, Port Harcourt

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under the sun with little or no achievement.

Governor Wike stated that oil bearing communities have suffered the loss of their livelihoods, good drinking water and their socio-cultural life disrupted because of the insensitivity of the International Oil companies (IOCs).

He said: “It is unfortunate that people produce oil but live in poverty. I believe that this PIB committee will make recommendation of how certain percentage must be given to the host oil communities.

“There are issues of education and health. Don’t just say 10 percent to the oil host communities. It must be tied to specific projects so that whoever is in charge will know it and not buy rice at Christmas for the people in the name of Community fund.

“I have found out that part of the problem we have in communities is that they allow these oil companies to divide them. They cause crisis among them; divide and rule. That is the pattern of IOCs.” “NDDC will leave their job and begin to buy vehicles for police, army, and asphalting barracks. Is it what NDDC is meant to do? That is where we have lost it,” he said.

Nwokolo Onyemaechi, chairman of the National Assembly committee who led the delegation, said the committee was in Rivers State to have town hall meeting with stakeholders to resolve issues of what should be allocated to host communities in the PIB.

Rep declares UBE Act amendment as urgent national priority Seyi John Salau

L-R: Kayode Faizal, shopper and customer marketing manager, Beiersdorf Nigeria; Sola Fijabi, director, PACE Sports and Entertainment Marketing; Stephen Hamalyfeto, president, Nigerian University Games Association; Samuel Ocheho, general manager and head, global marketing, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, and Ikechukwu Nwaguru, head, content and partnership, at the 2021 international press conference of Higher Institution Football League, in Lagos, yesterday.

Opportunity for investors to earn rental income opens as Zylus launches scheme CHUKA UROKO

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p p o r tu n i t y ha s opened for investors desiring to invest in a real estate scheme for purposes of earning rental income. Zylus Group International, a real estate investment firm, is offering the opportunity to yield-seeking investors.

The firm, whose mission in real estate industry is to deliver trend-setting and innovative products, recently expanded its investment portfolio with the launch of a new investment scheme called Rentizy.

Zylus is a fast-rising pri-

vately owned organisation based in Lagos, Nigeria with interests in real estate, human capital development, agriculture, infrastructure, and general construction. In just a few years, the company has set a standard in the industry.

Rentizy is an investment scheme holding out promise for a good return on investment which the initiators say will allow investors to earn up to 40 percent on rental income within the first 14 months of investment. This comes with other benefits which Rentizy offers, according to the developers.

“We set up Rentizy in order to create opportunity for those who want to earn rental www.businessday.ng

income without owning a property, and also to aid government’s drive in reducing housing deficit,” Oluwatosin Olatujoye, Zylus GMD, explained at the unveiling of the new scheme.

He added that the mission of the group is to operate an organisation that is geared towards problem-solving through innovation. “We are poised to deliver excellent services and increase investors’ return through research. We aim to deliver on our promise; Rentizy will set a new standard for real estate investment in Nigeria,” he assured.

The new scheme has unique features which, Wasiu Sonekan, the company’s

managing director explained, are tailored to meet the needs of a modern investor who wants to earn rental income through a secured and reliable platform.

He explained further that invested funds in the scheme would be used strictly for the development and construction of affordable housing units.

“Rentizy is a real estate investment initiative of Zylus Investment Limited, a subsidiary of Zylus Group International. It is divided into three categories, one for investors, and the other for those who want to rent apartments to live, and those who want to rent apartments to own,” he said.

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ouse of Representatives chairman on Basic Education, Julius Ihonvbere has restated commitment to championing the amendment of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Act 2004 as a matter of urgent national priority.

Ihonvbere stated this during a recent meeting with a delegation of the #AmendUBEAct Coalition at the National Assembly, Abuja.

Invictus Africa, Malala Fund, PLAN International Nigeria, Save the Children and YouthHubAfrica represented the coalition at the meeting.

The legislative parley was part of the wider Malala Fund COVID-19 campaign strategy, aimed at ensuring more gender-responsive legislation and plan for the recovery phase of the pandemic in Nigeria.

The Universal Basic Education (UBE) Act amendment bill is at the committee stage at the House of Representatives. The bill seeks to extend free and compulsory educa@Businessdayng

tion from nine to twelve years, ensure an increase in basic education financing and promote gender-responsive learning, among others.

Ihonvbere noted that the burden of Nigeria’s out-ofschool children could hinder Nigeria’s quest for sustainable human and economic development, coupled with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. He noted that education has the potency to change children, communities and the country.

“I am committed to Basic Education sector reform and glad to sign this declaration.

I am an academician and the chair of the House committee on basic education. I focus my entire constituency allowance on basic school renovations and furniture because if I do not make an impact on basic education, what else can I do?” said Ihonvbere.

Concerned about the state of basic education in Nigeria, Ihonvbere promised to build consensus amidst legislators on education financing and the extension of the coverage of the UBE Act (2004) from nine to twelve years.

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The shared burden of leadership THE LEADERSHIP FACTORY WITH

TOYE SOBANDE

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eaders often make mistakes, and sometimes unexpectedly.

When these mistakes happen, they are plagued with varying emotions and the fear of reactions from people who look up to them, haunt them. They are faced with a tough decision: to share their mistakes with their followers and risk being perceived as a failure or hide the truth and face the ripple effects of the error alone.

Leaders who choose the former enjoy the relief of a Shared burden and all the encouragement they need to get past that phase, while those who chose the latter continue to struggle to get past that phase and continue to wallow in fear. This could lead to irritation at work, grumpiness, transfer of aggression to subordinates, increased workplace tension, and intense fear of being discovered.

As a leader, you can avoid these negative consequences altogether by doing the needful: sharing the burden with your followers by admitting that you made a mistake and you won’t always have the answers. Not only will this admission of truth help you as a leader, but it will also incur support and understanding from those who look up to you. Leaders are not superman; they have struggles and shortcomings that

they are sometimes scared to share, and overcoming this fear requires courage. The courage to admit that you don’t have everything figured out and afraid to say it. The willingness to learn from colleagues and subordinates even when you are in a position of authority indicates that you have passed the actual leadership test.

Teamwork is an essential factor that makes an organization thrive amid industry challenges. As simple as teamwork sounds, it can be very nightmarish for a leader to unify people of varying backgrounds, intellects, expectations, and experience to work as a team to achieve a common goal.

Still, it is possible to position themselves as a ‘people’ person and open themselves up to vulnerability.

Leaders who are not afraid of showing their weaknesses earn an unrivalled commitment and solidarity from their associates. Everyone brings their best to the table so that things won’t fall apart. When burdens and struggles are not hidden, it breaks the hold they have on the victim. There are less tension and more transparency.

When a leader is known for not hiding the truth and reality of good and bad situations from his staff, this emboldens others to speak up when they are struggling with challenges at the workplace, and it becomes a cultural norm. Your followers will confidently approach you for help and support rather than bottling the issues for fear of being reprimanded. This creates a better working environment that fosters sincerity and truthfulness.

Those considered ‘weak links’ can step up their game and become more productive because of the anticipated positive response when they seek as-

sistance. This culture is preserved and becomes a norm in the workplace.

There is no fear of being shamed for mistakes made, and employees are encouraged to desist from sugar coating the truth of workplace situations to please their leaders.

When leaders express their vulnerability without shielding it from those closest to them, it breaks the cycle of fear imminent in the workplace, reduces workspace tension, and fosters effective communication. Communication is vital to the smooth running of any workplace; it is the foundation of human relationships and disseminating information across various arms of the organization. It brings leaders closer to their followers and deepens workplace connection for effective collaboration and increased productivity.

Leaders who communicate effectively with their followers are considered easy to work with, and they earn the unreserved commitment of their subordinates.

Such leaders do not only lead any organization, but they also enjoy the dividend of open communication.

Their associates are not afraid to correct them constructively when such leaders are wrong. They also suggest new ways to make the workplace more effective because such associates know that their ideas will be welcomed and received with open arms.

The Building of Trust is essential for an organization to continue to grow and succeed, especially in a world that can frequently be unstable. Having trust between the leaders and followers makes work go smoother and creates an environment conducive to innovation and expansion of knowledge.

According to Nienaber, when it comes

‘

Such leaders do not only lead any organization, but they also enjoy the dividend of open communication.

Their associates are not afraid to correct them constructively when such leaders are wrong

Toye Sobande is a Lawyer and Strategic Leadership Expert. He is the Principal of Stephens Leadership Consultancy LLC, a boutique consulting firm offering creative insight and solutions to businesses and leaders. Email: contactme@toyesobande.com

Is it a/an honour to be schooled in a/an European country?

T

he controversy surrounding sounds and letters has been demystified in one of my previous lessons, but the choice of indefinite articles (a, an) before words has not received my linguistic intervention; hence, the focus of this treatise. The indefinite articles are used before singular count nouns. It should be noted that article ‘a’ precedes consonant sounds (not necessarily letters), while article ‘an’ is a precursor to vowel sounds (not necessarily letters). This clarification is essential because consonant letters do not always guarantee consonant sounds and vice versa. It is, therefore, paramount to pay attention to the sound manifesting from each letter before choosing a preceding article.

Accordingly, this piece will shed light on some letters that confound speakers of the English language as regards the choice of indefinite article.

First off all, there is the need to discuss the variants of the glottal fricative /h/, especially in the Nigerian context. A renowned Nigerian phonologist, Segun Awonusi, discussed h-weakening, h-restoration, variable h-dropping and h-insertion. H-weakening is the non-articulation of h in /h/-full words.

Many Nigerians unconsciously omit the /h/ sound in words such as house, head, hinge, height and heart. In these words and others in the category, the /h/ sound should be articulated, and the article ‘a’ should precede the words. In effect, we have ‘a hungry man’, ‘a heroic feat’, ‘a house’, ‘a haircut’ and so forth. H-restoration, by striking contrast,

is the articulation of h in /h/-less words.

This is usually born out of spelling-induced pronunciation. Words in this category are heir, hour, honest and honour. By reason of the reality that the /h/ sound is silent (an aphthong) in these words, the appropriate article that precedes them is ‘an’, since the letters after h produce vowel sounds. In accordance with that, one should say, ‘an honest driver’, ‘an heir to a throne’, ‘an hour’s time’ and ‘an honour’. There is also the variable h-dropping, which accounts for words where the /h/ sound is a variant. Thus, the sound is either dropped or retained in such words.

Quintessential examples are ‘hotel’, ‘historic’ and ‘historical’. As a matter of fact, native speakers often used to refrain from enunciating the ‘h’ in ‘hotel’, ‘historic’ and ‘historical’, in the 18th and 19th centuries, thereby necessitating the use of ‘an hotel’, ‘an historic occasion’ and ‘an historical novel’. In contemporary standard English, though, the ‘h’ is now articulated by a preponderant percentage of native speakers.

Consequentially, we have ‘a hotel’, ‘a historic event’ and ‘a historical document’.

Having taken that into account, the readership should note that while the older version is not altogether inappropriate, it is advisable to always apply the contemporary variant (a hotel, a historical setting, a historic development), just to be on the safe side (not ‘at the safer side’).

As an aside, the general reader should be mindful that, although ‘historic’ and ‘hiswww.businessday.ng

torical’ are adjectives, they have a nuanced difference and should never be deployed indiscriminately. ‘Historic’ means ‘famous or important in history’, while ‘historical’ pertains to ‘something that occurred or is set in the past’. Put in proper perspective, a ‘historic development’ is one that is renowned or extremely important, whereas a ‘historical development’ simply refers to one that transpired in the past.

In furtherance of that, h-insertion is the use of the /h/ sound in /h/-less words. This is predominately used by second-language users of English, who vocalise words such as ‘egg’, ‘average’, ‘order’ and a repertoire of other /h/-less words with the /h/ sound.

Speakers of English must make a deliberate attempt to avoid the unwitting articulation of the /h/ sound in those words.

Another difficult sound to deal with as regards the choice of article is the yod sound. It is phonologically represented as /j/ and commonly portrayed as ‘y’ in its orthographic realisation. Moreover, it is the initial sound in words like yam, you, youth, yoghurt, et cetera. The confusion with this sound is when it is realised by vowel letters ‘e’ and ‘u’; the yod sound is present in words beginning with the vowel letter u, such as ‘union’ and ‘university’. In such a situation, the readership should note that ‘a’ is the appropriate article to deploy.

The glide /j/ is equally found in words like ‘Europe’ and ‘euphemism’, which begin with letter e. The vowel letter should not tempt us into thinking that the article ‘an’

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to building trust, there are two ways to express vulnerability: being passive in terms of reliance behaviour or being active in disclosure behaviour. In practice, this might mean leaders are reducing control mechanisms and monitoring systems and sharing important strategic data and information.

Vulnerability demystifies the air of ferocity known with leadership positions, as often, people have this image of leaders being stuck up and ruthless when it comes to achieving things.

However, many successful leaders have shown that vulnerability does not take away from your tenacity; it only enhances it. It builds bridges of communication and sustains a longlasting work experience that is fun yet impactful at the same time.

Being vulnerable allows leaders to be honest and open to getting the ideas and resources they need to be better at their jobs while also encouraging followers who might not be giving their best because they are afraid of failure. In the end, vulnerable leaders are those willing to take risks, and in doing so, they are showing the courage it takes to realign and accomplish more extraordinary things.

Conclusively, the vulnerability in leadership doesn’t translate to weak leaders who are baring their inadequacies to garner pity or accept defeat but break the fear of being misunderstood, the fear of making mistakes, and admitting that they are humans first before they became leaders.

THE GIFT OF GAB

GANIU BAMGBOSE is appropriate in this circumstance, hence we say ‘a European nation’.

Last but not least, some acronyms can make the choice of article difficult to make.

Users of English may wonder, for instance, whether to say ‘a SSS2 student’ or ‘an SSS2 student’. Since meticulous attention must be paid to the articulated sound, and not the letter, one can tell that the initial sound in ‘SSS2 student’ is /e/, which is a vowel sound.

It will, therefore, be appropriate to say ‘an SSS2 student’—not ‘a SSS2 student’. In the same vein, it behoves you to say ‘an MC’ (though you say, ‘a master of ceremonies’), ‘an SUV’ and ‘an NDA graduate’.

The deployment of the indefinite articles could be technical, particularly with regard to confusing sounds such as the glottal fricative /h/ and the yod /j/. Thankfully, this treatise serves as an eye-opener to the intricacies surrounding such usages among non-native speakers of English.

Dr Ganiu Bamgbose (Dr GAB) has a PhD in English and lectures in the Department of English, Lagos State University, (LASU). He is the author of English for Today; an online class on English grammar and usage.

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Ehingbeti summit and the Lagos of 2030 HUMANANGLE

FEMI OLUGBILE

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here is a popular song in Lagos. ‘ B ’ o j u o t’Ehingbeti, oju o le t’Eko’ It roughly translates as Lagos will stand tall, as long as Ehingbeti is there for us.

Ehingbeti is the stretch of land and water that goes from the Apongbon area in the east up the Marina to Iru creek and Onikan, opening up the island to the world with Porto Norvo a few nautical miles to the west, and reaching out eastwardly to a Lekki corridor that used to be wooded jungle.

Anyone with any sense of history will understand why Ehingbeti is so important to the pride, identity and even the survival of Lagos.

It is worthwhile recalling an incident described in British history books, with self-serving understatement, as ‘the Reduction of Lagos’. In November 1861, after a failed attempt to reach a trading and anti-slavery deal with the feisty, popular King of Lagos, Oba Kosoko, an armada of British warships descended on Lagos, determined to bring it to heel, by whatever means necessary, and to depose Oba Kosoko.

But Kosoko was not about to take anything lying down.

His war-chief, Oshodi Tapa had deployed his soldiers along the shoreline and in inland positions, to resist the invaders. They

were armed with muskets.

On the 23rd of November 1851, the British Commander received the go-ahead from London. HMS Bloodhound entered the eastern side of the Marina.

But when the British attempted to land, they were met with a relentless fusillade from Oshodi Tapa’s men, who knew the terrain of the area now named Ehingbeti like the back of their hands. A number of British soldiers were killed. The remainder beat a hasty retreat.

It was to be a short-lived victory for Eko and her monarch.

On the 26th of December 1851, the British force returned ‘in full force’, with HMS Bloodhound surrounded by twenty-three gun boats. The big guns deployed on the warships made the muskets of Oshodi-Tapa’s five thousand soldiers look, and sound, like toy guns. Over five days, a frightful slaughter ensued. The British canons were so loud they could be heard in Badagry.

With the Yoruba penchant for creating language out of everyday life, the onomatopoeia ‘Agidingbi’, which now describes a location near the seat of government in Alausa, was born.

Lagos lay in ruins.

Out of a population of 22,000 souls, only 5000, mostly children and the elderly, were left in the town. But it was both a tragedy and the beginning of a new life for Lagos. Some locals had actually supported the rout of Kosoko, even if not the carnage that achieved it. Ajayi Crowther and other Christian missionaries moved in, bringing not only Christianity, but Education. The returnee ‘Saros’, from being a group who feared they might be ‘re-enslaved’ by their fellow Lagosians, became the local

gentry. Trade flourished so dramatically Lagos quickly outshone its contenders to become the primary node for international commerce on the West African coast. The many ‘firsts’ achieved

by Lagos would follow. Colonial Englishmen built their elegant homes and offices along the Marina and were soon joined by wealthy locals. A central business district took shape, snaking down Broad Street to Apongbon.

‘Apongbon, incidentally is another Yoruba neologism derived playfully from a description of the ‘red’ beard of popular Scots trader William McCoskry who plied his commerce in the area.

It was the success of Lagos, and the even greater potential of it, that made the concept of Nigeria plausible.

Ehingbeti Summit has been taking place since 2000. Intentionally, it is a periodic, aspirational, direction-setting exercise for the Eko Project. But Eko did not just start being pushing to be an outlier in 2000. Lagos had Carter Bridge, the first modern bridge in Nigeria, in 1901. It had an intracity tram service providing mass transit in 1902. It was the starting point of a train service that ran across the length and breadth of Nigeria more than one hundred years ago. Lateef Jakande, a man in the tradition of visionary Lagosians, was going to build the first metroline in this part of Africa, until it was rudely aborted by soldiers.

For 2021, the theme of EHINGBETI is ‘For a greater Lagos – setting the tone for the next decade’.

As usual, big names were on parade. Mo Ibrahim. Okonjo-Iweala. Akin Adeshina. The talk of Lagos becoming a great megacity has been around for several years. Of course, be-

‘ It was the

success of Lagos, and the even greater potential of it, that made the concept of Nigeria plausible

Olugbile is a writer and psychiatrist. synthesiz@gmail.com

Travelling in the countryside

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broad, when white people buy homes in the countryside, it is a big deal. This is because they are rare, posh and very expensive.

But back in Nigeria it is easy peasy, you can just move to your local government headquarters for next to nothing. Food is cheap, life is simple and there is fresh air.

But it is not for the bourgeoisie.

Here you are considered low level if you live in the countryside, what is considered living in the village. Going to the countryside for me is very therapeutic.

Food in all their royal colours encouraging you and satiating your appetite. I love mangoes. Fleshy, yellow and semi-firm.

All along the countryside you can get fresh fruits for a lot less than you get in the cities and a lot fresher. I also collect Onions now, quite expensive nationwide and I get my yams and garri. Garri with groundnut has always been my thing on

a hot day. Salted Nigerian groundnuts. A sprinkle of sugar... Heaven.

Nigerian countryside not only presents fresh fruits and food but the clean air devoid of pollution. I sit lazily under a thatched roofed open gazebo in our family compound eating roast yam and red oil peppered sauce. Between mouthfuls of roast yam, you drink water from the earthenware pot. The water tastes earthy but cool and fully satisfying. A goat approaches me eyes droopy, drunk on guinea corn gruel left in a wide bowl for the animals in the compound. The chicken charges at a small bird flying low over the corn stash. The sun is just coming through in the mid-morning and the local market across the road is just coming alive. I am in my simple Bobou wearing a simple pair of bathroom slippers. I wear no makeup because there is no need for it. No one really cares about your cat eye

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yond conquering the cyberworld and building iconic roads and bridges, everyone knew it was necessary that the people be reasonably happy and healthy, and that their city be truly liveable, which it was not, yet. In 2013, Babatunde Fashola actually organized an international ‘Lagos – Liveable City’ conference, where a roadmap was drawn up to take Lagos from the bottom of the international pile in ‘liveability’ to an ambitious high.

Lagos, by 2030, according to its present Governor, at EHINGBETI, would have a functional light rail system, taking Lagosians from Alagbado to Iddo, and from Badagry to CMS. They would connect with bus systems and ferries on the waterways. Thirty-five million Lagosians would be efficiently transported daily, cutting travel time by 250%. The fourth mainland bridge would be a done deed. Thousands of kilometers of fibre optic cable would carry broadband internet all across the megacity. Smart cameras everywhere would help with security, traffic control and data collation.

Agriculture would focus on value addition. The Imota Rice Mill would be one of the largest in the world. Lagos would be a centre for Medical Tourism.

It is a beautiful, compelling vision in a land where all the current talk is about herdsmen who boast they own all the country, kidnappings all over the land, mutual distrust, suspicion of government, and bric-a-brac hurled daily across ever-expanding lines of fissure in the national fabric.

But this is Lagos, and, you know, it is all possible, if only…

TALES FROM THE MAIN ROAD

makeup or your false eye lashes. The low cast wind kisses my face. The sun is rising but the weather is cool.

I am already sleepy end and sucking on sweet tangerines, I am preparing to return to my bed. I am at the countryside, I really am here to sleep a lot, sleep well and do nothing for at least two days. The greetings are warm and fuzzy. The mask appropriate hugs are giddy and familial.

I am chuffed. I am not being judged. I am one with the earth in the countryside. The smell of the earth rises to meet my nostrils as a neighbour sprinkles water on the red earthy ground. It smells like rain and the smell is heady. It is time to go inside, lie on a couch and doze off. From my half sleep, I hear a knock on the door. My aunty arrives at the door. Food flasks on a fancy tray.

She has delivered smoked fish in fresh okro soup with a yam flour meal. My favourite. I eat heartily as we chat. More

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EUGENIA ABU

sleep. The countryside beckons. City life is getting stressful.

Nigeria’s countryside is beautiful.

Travelling there is an experience. Look at the trees. Visiting is amazing. Ask Stevie wonder who is going to relocate to Ghana.

He understands the countryside.

Eugenia Abu is a broadcaster, writer, trainer, brand and multimedia strategy expert and media consultant.

Email: abu_eugenia@yahoo.com Phone number: 08033109820

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Men in dark times (2) THE NEW WEALTH OF NATIONS

OBADIAH MAILAFIA

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he American diplomat John Campbell observes that Nigeria is always “dancing on the brink”.

Constantly tempting fate may be a good plot in a Dostoevskian novel or in a Brechtian drama. But in real life, it can lead to irreversible trauma. Human systems can only take so much.

Today, the drums of war are sounding louder than ever before.

And it is being led by those who have never experienced the horrors of war.

As a child, I remember how my father, a churchman, harboured a dozen Igbo families in our modest home a few months before the outbreak of war in July 1967. One woman had given birth on the day they arrived. I had never seen such fear in the eyes of grown men. Igbos were being hunted down like wild game throughout the cities and towns of the North. After several weeks, we were threatened with death. With sorrow and tears, Baba had to let them go. In thick of night, they set out on that long trek into the bowels of the primeval savannah, never to return. I still weep when I think of it.

Someone recently sent me an SMS about the real meaning of war: “War is starvation; war is rape; war is deprivation of movement; war is fear; war is lack of access to health care…war is diseases; war is hope-

lessness; war is losing children….war is losing loved ones; war is not going to school; war is not going to work; war is creating an entire generation who will be illiterates; war is so much more than just shooting guns and ending lives.”

Emeka Nnolim sent me excerpts from his manuscript on his experiences of childhood in Biafra: “We were now all refugees….lack of food introduced a new disease – kwashiorkor. Children, adults walked about with oversized heads and or stomach on spindly legs with owlish eyes.

Their hair is dirt brown and all are accompanied by flies. Hovering above were vultures. It was not uncommon to see corpses at the primary school, church, along the road or on the way to the stream. They were quickly buried. No one wailed or mourned anymore. I lost count of bodies quickly wrapped in cloth, mat or palm fronds before burial…. Parents abandoned children who could be seen opening their mouths full of flies without a sound coming out, dropping dead along the road.”

Wartime British Prime Minister Winston Churchill warned that war never follows a straight, unilinear path: “The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events. Antiquated war offices, weak, incompetent or arrogant commanders, untrustworthy allies, hostile neutrals, malignant fortune, ugly surprises, awful miscalculations – all take their seat at the council board on the morrow of a declaration of war. Always remember, however sure you are that you can easily win, there would not be a war if the other man did not think he also has a chance.”

Before Nigeria goes up in flames, let us speak and act with the highest sense of responsibility. Albert Einstein famously observed that God does not play dice with the universe.

God is engaged in a great thought experiment to see if we Nigerians can forge out of our multifarious ethnoreligious communities a prosperous democracy that can become the beacon of hope for our benighted continent.

But there are no guarantees. We will survive and flourish if we muster the courage and vision to build a New Nigeria. We will surely perish if we continue on the path of folly.

In the rebuilding of our country, we must place women and the youth at the centre of all our national development efforts. Far from being lazy, Nigerian youth are hardworking, creative and brave. The aura and energy around them is extraordinary.

Look at Nollywood, look at Afro-beat.

Ask Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg who visited our country and was awed by what our young people are doing in technology. The EndSARS protests were their shiniest hour.

Fanon famously declared that, “Each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfil it or betray it”. The mission of our generation is to salvage our country from the jaws of catastrophe. Political science teaches that nations that flourish are those that continually reinvent themselves while those that fail to reform will atrophy and die.

In the Old Testament, when the Israelite exiles in Babylon heard about the sacking of Jerusalem by foreign conquerors, Nehemiah, an official in the court of the Persian King Artaxerxes, asked that he might be permitted to go back and rebuild

‘ However sure you are that you can easily win, there would not be a war if the other man did not think he also has a chance

his country. The king granted him approval.

Nehemiah was a man with a plan.

He created an investment fund. He drew up a bill of quantities; sourcing for building materials of the highest quality. He gathered a team and began the work. They inevitably encountered enemies such as Sanballat of Samaria, Tobiah the Ammonite and Geshem the Arab. He marshalled a strategy to defeat them. And Jerusalem was rebuilt.

We are in dire need of heroic nation-builders. We need nothing less than a new covenant of hope.

All of us Christians and Muslims are children of Abraham. We are in the deep hole we are in today because of a collective failure of leadership.

The Swiss historian, Jacob Burckhardt, in his magisterial study of the state in renaissance Italy, described the state as a “work of art”. Great states are not products of chance.

They are products of imagination, creativity and purpose-driven leadership. Great states are built with the same vision and passion with which Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel and Beethoven composed his great symphonies. It calls for men and women of singular courage – men and women who have conquered fear.

(Being the Concluding Part of 2nd Goke Omisore Voice of Reason Annual Lecture, Delivered on Friday 19 February, 2021) Dr. Mailafia is a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, a development economist and public finance expert with a DPhil from Oxford obmailafia@gmail.com; 08036590990 (text messages only)

The PR woman: Choose to challenge stereotypes

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n 2016, Yuyu Chen on DigiDay referred to the US Bureau of Labour Statistics, stating that ‘women make up 61.3 per cent of the PR industry and 69 per cent of Public Relations Society of America’s members.’

Similarly, an essay titled, “Gender imbalance: why is the female-dominated PR industry still led by men?” published on the International Public Relations Association (IPRA) website, by Elina Melgin, CEO for ProCom, the Finnish Association of Communication Professionals states that as of 2013, Finland had as high as 89.2 per cent of industry practitioners as women.

International Women’s Day celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, and champions equal rights for women. With data showing that public relations is one of the few professions dominated by women, one might consider that worth celebrating and suggest that not much campaigning needs to be done for PR women. Not quite!

This is because as Melgin points out, ‘although women account for a significant majority of PR practitioners in many countries, men still occupy the lion’s share of top jobs.’ Data on the gender make up in Nigeria is not readily available but a mental count of the heads of communication in conglomerates, multinationals and

banks would suggest similar statistics as those seen in the US and Europe. However, while more women might head the public relations function in conglomerates, multinationals and banks, men are at the helm of most of the big consultancies, leaving the middle management and day-to-day specialist functions to women.

Globally, there are also no academic studies to explain why the profession is female-dominated but some assumptions have been put forth. One popular assumption is that women make better public relations practitioners because they are more sensitive and so display better emotional intelligence than men. This sensitivity is linked to the boundary spanning function, which public relations plays in acting as a mediator between the organisation and the public. Another popular notion is that because women are innately nurturers, they are better multi-taskers than men who tend to be single-mindedly focused. Women are also believed to be more collaborative than competitive. The collaborative spirit and ability to multi-task are particularly important when managing several clients or heading a communication department that deals with multiple stakeholders such as employees, shareholders and the media.

While some of these assumptions are seeming strengths, they do not necessarily

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serve the PR woman’s interest. Because of the so-called higher emotional intelligence, women are expected to smile more than men and to be people pleasers. Sometimes a woman is invited to a meeting with a male client or stakeholder in the hopes that her femininity would win the firm new business or placate a hostile stakeholder.

And the notion that women are less competitive could lead to stunted growth.

There are also some less flattery assumptions. Most popularly, the belief that the job is glamourous and not very demanding so a safe bet for women. It is also argued that because public relations’ contribution to overall business performance is considered difficult to measure, men would rather build careers in more related professions like marketing, which can deliver more quantifiable results.

This year, the International Women’s Day campaign theme is #ChooseToChallenge. It is a global call to choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality, so very apt for the challenges the PR woman faces. The good news about the gender imbalance in the public relations industry is that it presents a great opportunity for the PR woman to rise to the top. The PR woman must therefore challenge stereotypes if she is to make it to the top. The PR woman must prove that

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OLAMIDE BALOGUN her profession is not about glamour but influence and responsibility.

Managing communication for an organisation faced with a crisis is certainly not glamourous. Public relations is also not about smiling in front of the cameras. It is about driving a strategy that builds credibility for an organisation, so that its services are trusted so much that it becomes the first choice for consumers. It is also not writing press releases because, in today’s digital world, the PR woman works round the clock to stay abreast of happenings so that she can quickly respond to anything unbecoming if and when necessary. As such, the PR woman is knowledgeable.

She is ready to serve, efficient yet flexible.

As with every profession, women who practise public relations for many years become a master at their game, and when this happens, the fame and fortune follow.

But PR is neither about glamour nor is it a safe bet for career women. A challenged world is an alert world, let’s all take reEfe Obiomah is a public relations consultant and thought leader based in Lagos

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Friday 05 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

EDITORIAL PUBLISHER/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Frank Aigbogun EDITOR Tayo Fagbule

DEPUTY EDITORS Lolade Akinmurele John Osadolor, Abuja NEWS EDITOR Osa Victor Obayagbona NEWS EDITOR (Online) Chuks Oluigbo MANAGING DIRECTOR Dr. Ogho Okiti EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS Fabian Akagha GM ADVERT Ijeoma Ude GM CONFERENCES Obiora Onyeaso GM BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (North) Bashir Ibrahim Hassan GM BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (South) Ignatius Chukwu GM DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION SALES Rerhe Idonije BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER (South East, South South) Patrick Ijegbai COPY SALES MANAGER Florence Kadiri

Negative perceptions of electricity tariff increase have to be fixed

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any Nigerians react negatively to any news about electricity tariff increase and this is largely due to the perception that they are paying for darkness. Since the model on which electricity pricing is based demands a biannual review, it is important that stakeholders fix the perception problem with tariffs.

F o r e x a m p l e , N i g e r i a ’s eleven power distribution companies (DisCos) collected N56.1billion in December as revenue, the highest ever, on the back of the newly introduced service-based tariff.

According to data from DisCos principal Accounts, for the past six months, the average collections was N45.6billion but collections rose in December, the first full month of the implementation of the Service-Based Tariff for electricity consumers in Bands A - D by over 15 percent more than the November collections of N47.7billion on the back of the SBT. But customers around the country complained that electricity bills were outrageous in that period. Many took to

social media expressing their disappointment. Our review indicates that their complaints were valid. Without meters to measure consumption, and the regulator’s unwillingness to enforce the cap it placed on estimated billing, DisCos were writing bills upon a cruel exercise of discretion.

While improved DisCo revenue is good as it could spur new investors into the troubled power sector and make available more funds to settle the invoices of other market players, many Nigerians who are on estimated billing say they are being cheated and are calling for rapid deployment of electricity meters. If customers are left feeling cheated that will not augur well for sustainability in the sector.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) introduced the Service-Based Tariff plan in July 2020 but it could not take effect until December due to the challenges with COVID-19 and labour protests.

Under the SBT, customers are grouped in different tariff bands according to the number of hours of power supplied daily with the highest receiving 20 hours or more, paying between N45 and N55 kwh and the poorest people

getting less than 4 hours of supply daily and seeing no increase in their tariff.

Therefore to fix the image problem electricity pricing has, DisCos should begin to communicate better how tariffs are arrived at to their customers in the different bands. This involves more than a routine press release, but convening stakeholder meetings with community development associations and advocacy groups in the sector, as well as deploying technology including social media to drive home the message.

Much clarity is still required on how the Service-Based Tariff is supposed to work. Many customers are unclear about what tariff bands they are placed. Customers who have been placed on Tariff Band A dispute the DisCos claim that they send them 20 hours of supply daily.

In reality, no DisCo is meeting its supply contract under the SBTs and why many are not protesting is because of the uncertainty surrounding which bands different customer clusters are grouped.

The Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) that contains the parameters for pricing electricity is meant to be reviewed twice every year to bring it into harmony with economic realities such as gas

prices, inflation, and exchange rates. NERC needs to resist pressure from the Federal Government to halt these reviews. In January, the minister of power intervened to stop the first MYTO review for 2021, a development that makes a mockery of the regulator ’s claim that it is independent. This is unacceptable if we must build a sustainable electricity market.

Current efforts to meter Nigerians should be stepped up as customers are only seeing words rather than meters. On the one hand, the Federal Government claims it is issuing free meters under the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) but drill down a little, and confusion sets in. The DisCos tell customers that meters are not free, the Meter Asset Providers tell them that the government has suspended metering, the regulator says someone will pay for the meters, and the Central Bank is writing checks and imposing new conditions.

Nigerians cannot accept a tariff increase if they think they are not getting a fair deal. Therefore metering should be a priority followed by the actual supply of electricity if the communication to improve opposition to tariff increase will succeed.

DIGITAL ADVERT SALES MANAGER Linda Ochugbua HEAD, HUMAN RESOURCES Adeola Obisesan

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COMPANIES&MARKETS Opay outlines growth plans for 2021 after a successful business year MICHAEL ANI

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igerian payment and financial service company OPay has unveiled its growth plans for 2021 and beyond after achieving a successful business year.

Joshua Yau, managing vice president, Opay in Nigeria said amidst the pandemic, lockdown, and global uncertainty, OPay had its most impactful and transformative year yet in 2020.

Yau, while speaking alongside other senior executive team shared the firm’s “2020 Review and 2021 Update” agenda in Lagos at a press conference, noting that as a payment company, it grew its total gross transaction value 4.5 times to over $2 billion in December.

According to Yau, the pointof-sale (POS) terminals deployed in its mobile money agent and merchant network represented roughly 1/5 of offline payments in Nigeria by year-end. Its mobile wallets have more than 2 million wallets with balances, totalling over $17 million.”

Iniabasi Akpan, country manager in reviewing OPay’s operations and performance in 2020, said the company provided Nigerians convenient access to cash and job creation, driven by innovation.

“We helped to give easyto-access financial services to close to more than ten million Nigerians in all corners of the country. Our agents serve a population that is far from bank branches and ATMs, often in the outskirts of cities, suburban areas, or rural areas”.

“We believe that the impact we have made so far could not have been without our most important partners – our

agents and merchants. By providing their customers with convenience, they were able to earn a solid income with many expanding their businesses, even in the difficult pandemic”, Akpan notes.

Akpan also touched on the company’s ride-hailing business, which was shut down in June 2020; “Due to the visible brand of ORide – including its iconic green helmets – and its frequent everyday use, many customers gradually gained an impression that OPay is a ride-hailing company. We just want to take the time today to clarify and emphasise that OPay was and remains a payment and financial service company – a Payments Fintech. Our businesses are licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria like any established financial institutions - and OPay is today one of the leading Fintechs in Nigeria.”

VP, Payments Solutions and Corporate Partnerships, Ola-

dipo Omogbenigun, shared that OPay’s growth plans in 2021 will rely on developing and deepening their strategic partnerships in the financial ecosystem with banks, regulators, card schemes, payment processors, payment service providers and other key players.

He also shared plans to partner and support banks to scale deposits many-folds this year - since by regulation; OPay needs to safeguard its wallet deposits with established banks. Oladipo also gave insights into Opay debit cards, which are scheduled to launch this year. The cards are the first of their kind and will be directly linked to Opay wallets. This will further bolster our gospel of financial inclusion. Opay wallet users will be able to use the cards on ATMs, POS terminals at merchant locations and ecommerce sites, according to Omogbenigun.

“We have launched CreditMe, which gives easy access to credit to all wallet users at

the point of purchase. We have also just launched standardised loan products to our agents and merchants based on our 6relationship. We think access to savings and loans through our partners is the critical step in true financial inclusion beyond just accessing cash,” Omogbenigun adds.

VP, product and engineering, Dotun Adekunle shared plans around empowering offline payments and encouraging online businesses.

“We have innovatively built technological workarounds to ensure higher network availability on our systems without compromising speed and quality of service, despite ecosystem challenges that would have led to incessant downtimes”.

“Our goal is to make payments integration easy and simple so developers and innovators of digital products can focus on building the core functionality of their products”, Adekunle notes.

Regarding regulation, Ak-

L-R: Henry Odein Ajumogobia, principal partner, Ajumogobia and Okeke Law Firm; Moyo Onigbanjo, attorney general and commissioner of justice, Lagos State; Chu Maoming, consul general of the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China, Lagos; Babjide Sanwo-Olu, governor, Lagos State; Diana Chen, chairman, Choice International Group and Chief Association Officer, CABC Nigeria and vice chairman, CABC, China and Linus Idahosa, vice chairman, Choice International Group,at the Commissioning of the China Africa Business Council, The Belt and Road Service Connection & The Mediation Center in Lagos

Nonos Catering empowers women in business IFEOMA OKEKE

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onos Catering Service, a fast growing catering company in Lagos, is set to empower women in catering and events business via a one-day summit with successful female professionals in the Industry.

Organised by Nonos Catering Mentoring Initiative (NCMI), the summit tagged ‘Spend the Day with Successful Business Women in Catering and Events,’ holding on March 10, 2021 at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, and would have notable successful women in the industry interact and teach the upcoming ones on how to build their businesses to become profit making ventures.

According to the managing director of NCMI, Abumere Uto’ the idea is for successful women who have reputable profit making businesses in catering and events to share their growth story to; inspire, motivate, empower and encourage the women who register to be NCMI mentees.

“By becoming a mentee, we hope that their businesses will gain more visibility, increase profit, employ better marketing strategies as well as reduce loss and wastage,” she said.

Buttressing on the vision which she birthed three years ago, Abumere pointed out that being a trainer and mentor to many women, she realised that there was a strong need to bridge the gap by bringing women at the business start-up stage to meet with established and successful women in the same line of business together.

She said: “I saw the eagerness to learn and hear the success stories of these women who inspired them on a daily basis.

“So on the 9th of March, 2018, I launched the NCMI by inviting 20 women that

engage in the business of catering and events to understudy me for a day. The idea of the ‘meet and greet’ was to share my start up story, weaknesses and strengths, success stories and failures in the hope of; inspiring, correcting, motivating and empowering.

“It is my vision that the mentees of NCMI become women who network, collaborate, share business opportunities and increase the quality of their service and productivity. I want them to be women who will also increase their visibility through adverts and social media activities to create more business profitability and sales.

“Most impor tantly, I would want them to become mentees who will make better business decisions, reduce their cost prices and risks which in turn will guarantee the growth of their business from the time they joined NCMI. “Through these benefits they are empowered to excel in their businesses as catering and events professionals in the Industry.”

Commenting on meeting the goals of the annual Summit, Uto who holds a Master Degree in Globalisation and Development from the University of Manchester, United kingdom, said her organising team observed the growth and keen interest of participants and decided to host a larger group as it received over 180 applications for the last mentoring initiative held on the 5th of September 2019.

“We had turned down about 60 applications due to the size of the hall and other financial constraints. From the feedback received from participants and beneficiaries of NCMI, we have no doubt that the goals of the initiative are extremely beneficial to women in catering and events who own businesses that are experiencing poor returns,” she stated.

Gradely Platform boosts capacity development with new learning management system AMAKA ANAGOR- EWUZIE

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radely, a Nigerian education technology start-up, has launched a virtual learning management system (LMS) for schools in line with its determination to develop learning capacity among students and to produce globallycompetitive learners as well as resilient leaders.

The start-up, which raised $150,000 in pre-seed funding from angel investors and venture capital firms such as Ventures Platform and Microtraction, is Africa’s first

truly personalised learning platform that empowers educators and parents to make a positive impact on children’s learning.

Boye Oshinaga, the cofounder/CEO of Gradely said during the launch of the platform in Lagos, said it is a teacher-led LMS known as Gradely for Schools, which was built for personalised learning, with features such as live classes that aid engaging class experiences.

According to him, a platform is also an assessment tool that is fitted with the Nigerian and British curriculum-aligned question pool.

“It is a proctored examination system that helps to hold credible remote academic evaluations, and a suite of personalised video lessons, practice quizzes and games library to support in-class efforts with students at home.”

Oshinaga further said it is possible to use Gradely at home as a standalone learning supplement or in conjunction with school so that homework and class material can be viewed directly on the app as well.

On her part, Folashade Adefisayo, Lagos State Commissioner for Education,

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said the platform is in line with the education and technology agenda of the Lagos State Government.

Adefisayo, who said Lagos State Government is interested in integrating technology into the teaching and learning process, revealed that during the lockdown, the state was able to deploy various forms of technologies in schools to aid learning.

To take education in the state to the next level, she said, the government will fully integrate technology into the teaching and learning process, and also into

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school administration and governance. “We have decided that we are going to invest in radio stations where we would be running classes across all levels.”

Adefisayo hoped the government would be able to use the platform to assist out of school children and to get them to keep on learning as though they are not in school.

She further lauded Gradely for partnering with the government to support schools by offering 10, 000 students in public schools’ access to the LMS and personalised contents in partnership with some non@Businessdayng

government organisations that provide the electronic devices for learning.

So far, Gradely has been used by over 5,000 Nigerian parents and 200 schools and made achievements such as receiving “The Adaptive Learning Solution of the Year” 2020 Award by the Federal Ministry of Education and being a part of the Facebook FBStart Accelerator.

The firm recently trained 5,000 Nigerian teachers on effective usage of Digital Learning Platforms and rewarded 100 schools with one-month free trials to the soon-to-be-launched LMS.

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ElectHER launches Agender35 campaign to back 35 women for political office in 2023 ENDURANCE OKAFOR

…secures $2m out of $10m non-partisan fund

lectHER- a nonpartisan organization focused on getting women into elective office, has unveiled its Agender35 campaign, a deliberate effort to de-risk the process of women running for elective office and increase women’s political representation in Nigeria by 2023.

Through its three-point agenda, ElectHER plans to leverage its $10 million Fund to empower 1000 Nigerian women, and directly fund 35 women to decide, run and win in the 2023 elections.

While unveiling the campaign in Lagos on Monday ElectHER said its agenda also includes advocating for the legislation of a minimum 35 percent women’s representation quota in appointive and elective office and sensitizing voters while also engaging citizens on the dire need for women’s representation ahead of 2023.

Even though women constitute about 50 percent of the Nigerian population, only 4.1 percent occupied a political position in 2019. This record puts Nigeria as one of the countries with the lowest representation of women across parliament in Africa.

The adverse effect of this inequality gap, according to ElectHER, has led to poor policy outcomes and the low prioritization of social development over the years and it’s crippling socio-economic progression in the country.

“Agender35 is a movement that requires the collective effort of all critical stakeholders- citizens, the

media, political parties, the private sector, the third sector but also the government,” Ibijoke Faborode; Co-founder & Executive Director of ElectHER said.

According to her, if Nigeria maintains the current level of ignorance on sociopolitical issues, there will be no country in the next two decades.

“This is why the bold support from Platform Capital Group- a critical private sector ally and Agender35 anchor partner who have committed $2million through its impact division- Diatom Impact, presents an enabling environment to effectively challenge the status quo and foster multi-stakeholder partnerships,” Faborode said.

One why Platform Capital Group decided to contribute $2million to support the Agender35 campaign, Akintoye Akindele, Chairman of the group company said the company’s obsession with changing the African narrative is holistic and not limited to business alone.

“We believe that promoting women in leadership and supporting their participation in politics and policymaking across all levels of society is critical to ensure the Africa of tomorrow emerges,” Akindele said.

ElectHER believes the gross under-representation of Nigerian women in elective office poses a severe threat to nation-building and socio-economic growth.

“There is overwhelming evidence that shows the benefits that accrue to a society when women are in

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political leadership and the highest levels of power and decision making,” Abosede George-Ogan, Co-founder of ElectHER said, adding that “If what we want as a people is a better Nigeria regardless of tribe, ethnicity, religion, geography, or generation, then we must unite around the Agender35 campaign and give women the opportunity they deserve so they can show us what they are capable of.”

She concluded by encouraging whoever might be tired, feels like giving up or those who think they have no business with politics to join ElectHER on its journey.

“Finally, I am calling on organizations who understand like Platform Capital Group that Nation building is a collective effort to partner with us,” George-Ogan said.

ElectHER said it plans to use the $10 million nonpartisan fund to provide matching funds to directly support two women to run for executive office, three women to contest senatorial seats, 15 women to run for State House of Assembly Seats, and 15 women to run for Federal House of Representatives seats.

“Each woman will receive a support pathway through ElectHER’s comprehensive four-step approach which is Engage, Encourage, Equip and Enable.” Over the next month, ElectHER said it plans to launch a series of targeted, institutional, and crowdfunding activities including the WomenforWomen Fund, Citizen Campaign Fund for Women, HNI fundraising rounds, ElectHER Hollywood Fund.

L-R: Nwamaka Onyemelukwe, public affairs communication and sustainability director, Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited; Alfred Olajide, managing director, Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited; Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, first lady of Lagos State, and Obuesi Philips, SWEEP foundation executive, at the Waste In The City flag-off event, sponsored by The Coca-Cola Foundation, in Surulere, Lagos.

L-R: Tony Okpanachi, MD/CEO, Development Bank of Nigeria; Abba Bello, MD, Nigerian ExportImport Bank (NEXIM); Jonathan Tobin, executive director, corporate services and commercial, Bank of Industry, (BOI); Ladajau Dachi Augustine, representing Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and Olukayode Pitan, MD, Bank of Industry, (BOI), during the 2021 Association of Nigerian Development Finance Institutions (ANDFI), CEOs Meeting, organised by BOI, held in Abuja

Pauline Tallen (l), minister of women affairs, and Anthonia Ekpa, permanent secretary, of the ministry, during the news conference on 2021 International Women’s Day and Zero Discrimination Day in Abuja.

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Sigfox partners Google Cloud to extend IoT service portfolios JOSEPHINE OKOJIE

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igfox, a leading global 0G network and Internet of Things (IoT) platform services provider, has partnered with Google Cloud to scale its cloud infrastructure and extend its IoT services portfolio.

According to Sigfox, the partnership will enable Sigfox to rapidly accelerate its massive IoT agenda—processing billions of messages each month from objects connected to the internet using data stored in the cloud.

“We are delighted to announce the partnership between Sigfox and Google Cloud, whose pedigree and reputation in the technology markets are exemplary,” Lare Ayoola, Tranter IT CEO and

executive chairman said in a statement made available to BusinessDay. “Combining their best-inclass technology with Sigfox’s technical expertise provides a powerful and synergistic combination which will undoubtedly bring significant value to the various industries we provide digital transformation services to,” Ayoola said.

Sigfox is the world’s largest dedicated LWAN service provider for connecting simple, low-powered, low-cost IoT devices to the Internet.

Already deployed in 72 countries, covering more than 1.3 billion people, Sigfox’s 0G network is used for a wide range of IoT use cases, from tracking shipping containers and monitoring fire hydrants, to securing buildings and helping farmers www.businessday.ng

monitor irrigation levels.

In recent years, due to an explosion in the number of internet-connected devices, Sigfox now processes billions of messages each month (an increase of 145percent in 2020) from the millions of objects connected to its network—and the company needed a more scalable, long-term solution.

The organisation says it has chosen Google Cloud as the backbone for its 0G network to bring better scale, increased reliability, and best-of-breed compliance and security to Sigfox’s platform.

Google Cloud will also enable faster improvements to Sigfox’s connectivity, geolocation, and other value-added services towards ultra-low-cost and ultra-low-power IoT solutions.

L-R: Ossai Nicolas Ossai, chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Treaties, Protocols and Agreements; Nasiru Daura, representatives of the Speaker, and Akinyele Olu, clerk of the committee, during a public hearing on a Bill for An Act to Repeal and Enact Treaties, at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja.

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Friday 05 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

FINTECH News

Products Review

Technology Review

Personality Review

Company Review

5 top crypto career opportunities for Nigerians FRANK ELEANYA

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ny ardent Twitter user who follows a sizable number of the Nigerian tech community would have in recent times noticed some job announcements from platforms like BuyCoins, Binance, Luno, Quidax, and a few others looking for a Fullstack Engineer or Principal Engineer or Head of Desk.

It is a growing trend in the cryptocurrency market in Nigeria despite being nascent.

In February, Patricia Technologies, a cryptocurrency exchange began the search for a senior blockchain engineer.

T h e c r y p t o c u r re n c y job market in the country is growing alongside the global market. For instance, research by Monster listings for jobs mentioning either “cryptocurrency,” “bitcoin,” or “blockchain” has risen 194 percent year-over-year, from 2018 to 2017.

Despite the prohibition placed on banks from transacting with businesses in the cryptocurrency by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) investors are moving ahead to secure the best talents for different expansion dreams.

Below are four of the career paths you should consider if you are considering the space. Locations are not

always important as most of the positions can be done remotely.

Full-stack Engineer A full-stack developer is a web developer or engineer who works with both the front and back ends of a website or application - meaning they can tackle projects that involve databases, building user-facing websites, or even work with clients during the planning phase of projects.

The phrase full-stack evolved from a technical descriptor meaning the full set of primary technologies that comprise a complete technical solution. It typically means the database and operating system (back end) up through and including the user interface (front end).

According to one expert, when you ask a developer “Are you full-stack?” you are actually asking “Are you a software engineer?”.

A lot of crypto employers in Nigeria are looking for developers who know how to work on all the parts of a site, so they can use the best tools for the job regardless of whether it’s technically “front end” or “back end”.

Public relations The industry is still growing and faces a lot of heat from authorities very often, plus a lot of people are coming into the market who have little or no idea of what they are getting into. Hence, it

is going to require a lot of education to get people, investors, and regulators fully comfortable with the market.

A public relations officer tries to convince the audience to promote the idea of the cryptocurrency and get the audience to buy the product. For cryptocurrency to continually succeed, wouldbe users and investors need to know it exists - and how it works.

PR people are storytellers.

They create narratives to advance their agenda. PR can be used to protect, enhance or build reputations through the media, social media, or selfproduced communications.

A PR professional is also qualified for communication roles like the ones listed by Luno recently.

Customer Service Though underrated, customer service is one of the most important roles at any company. It’s relatively accessible and has a lower barrier to entry than the more technical fields such as engineering and data analytics.

BuyCoins describes their customer service reps as Customer Success Associates because the ultimate goal is for customers to feel satisfied and accomplished after using their products and services.

A Customer Success Associate is dedicated to guiding customers and answering their queries, aiding in the onboarding process, and efficiently resolving issues that customers may experience.

Customer Service is a field that most employers overlook,

but crypto exchanges fully understand that at the end of the day, customers make the business so it’s essential to keep them satisfied at all times.

Some skills required to be a customer service professional include clear and efficient communication, empathy for the customers, and passion for the product.

Really great customer success associates also go the extra mile to really understand the products and services that the company is building from a technical standpoint.

Senior Blockchain Engineer Blockchain engineers or developers find themselves in one of the most marketable career paths. They are programmers who create applications for blockchain.

They typically have a lot of experience working with software languages including Python, Javascript, and C++ before becoming blockchain developers.

Aspiring blockchain engineers need to be comfortable with learning as they go since it is a new and emerging space. This may require adopting a new mindset that focuses on efficiency, scalability, and distributed computing. It is more than just another programming paradigm.

Experts also suggest learning about concepts like incentivisation, supply, and demand, and opportunity costs might be vital to understand in the blockchain development channel. Hence, effectiveness as a blockchain engineer requires a hybrid of a junior economist, a software developer, a data geek, and an auditor.

Data Analyst Binance recently put up an opening for data analysts but for its Asia business. Big data analytics is very crucial to the cryptocurrency market. Where blockchain gets put to use, big data analytics helps to show businesses, no matter their size more details on every transaction. This extra logging of transactional data makes the adoption of cryptocurrency and the blockchain easier.

How crypto exchanges checkmate scam activities FRANK ELEANYA

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n the last Friday in February 2021, the Vice President of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo became the most important voice in the government on the side of the crypto market.

During a presentation at the Bankers Committee conference, he suggested that the country’s financial regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) may be acting in fear rather than knowledge in putting prohibitions on financial services to the market.

According to the VP, the most sensible approach to the market is a robust regulation since it is impossible to enforce a total ban.

“Cryptocurrencies in the coming years will challenge traditional banking, including reserve banking, in ways that we cannot yet imagine, so we need to be prepared for

that seismic shift,” Osinbajo said in a video posted on his official Twitter handle.

The CBN had said the directive became necessary to protect the financial system and the generality of Nigerians (including the youth population) from the risks inherent in crypto assets transactions. The regulator claimed the risks have escalated in recent times and have dire consequences for the integrity of the financial system and financial stability.

The market’s link with criminals is not a surprise for cryptocurrency exchanges. It is a reality many of them have taken measures to address.

Their efforts have ensured that Nigeria does not feature on the list of countries considered a haven for money laundering, illicit transactions, and terrorism financing.

“Nigeria is one of the safest crypto markets in the world when it comes to the use of cryptocurrencies. Niwww.businessday.ng

geria is not even on the map for illicit transactions for cryptocurrency transactions, but you find the likes of the US, Russia, Germany, and Vietnam,” Senator Ihenyen, President of Stakeholders in Blockchain Association of Nigeria (SiBAN) said in an interview.

In view of the delay by regulators to sanitise the market, exchanges that operate in the country have been self-regulating their operations. Self-regulation in the context of exchanges is the establishment of guidelines and a code of conduct for market participants to operate businesses within the ecosystem. Those guidelines span a broad spectrum, from knowing your customers (KYC) to maintaining transparency to ensuring security against hacks.

The guidelines employed by crypto exchanges often align with elements defined by the International Organ-

isation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) in a 2000 paper. The elements include transparency and accountability, contractual relationships, and coordination, and information sharing.

Users who register on Binance, for instance, have to provide their governmentissued ID or BVN, and also pass a 3D liveliness test or Selfie amongst others, and accept the Terms, the Privacy Policy, and other Binance Platform Rules. They also have to agree to provide complete and accurate information when opening a Binance account and agree to timely update any information they provide to Binance to maintain the integrity and accuracy of the information.

“We are now required to comply with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) legislation in several of the countries we operate in. Where that’s not

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yet the case, we have clear guidance from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to measure our approach against,” Luno noted in a post.

The London-based exchange said it applies robust AML and CFT controls that, wherever possible, are based upon the laws and regulations that apply to the financial services industry.

Local exchange, Quidax said its commitment to maintaining the best standards of KYC and AML is to prevent the abuse of its products and services for money laundering.

BuyCoins also said it has been proactive about setting up KYC and AML frameworks to limit the extent to which its users can perpetrate fraud.

Prior to trading on the platform, they are required to undergo an effective yet userfriendly verification process involving the submission of their Bank Verification Number (BVN), phone numbers, and other legitimate forms @Businessdayng

of identification (i.e. international passport, National Identity card, etc.)

The use of BVN and other forms of ID shows an alignment between crypto exchanges and the Central Bank of Nigeria when it comes to the safe and ethical movement of money. The initiative that Nigerian crypto exchanges have taken to ensure that users are trading safely and in compliance with general anti-money laundering policies indicates a clear readiness to cooperate with national regulators.

On their part, Ihenyen said SiBAN, as well as other blockchain associations, have from time to time engaged operators to ensure they are compliant with the best practices. In 2020, the Blockchain Industry Coordinating Committee of Nigeria (BiCCoN) working together with authorities set a task force to police crypto scams in the country.

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MONEYINSIGHT

The Boss Series: A must-have manual for startups and entrepreneurs In 2019, the failure rate of start-ups was about 90 percent. Research concludes 21.50 percent of start-ups fail in the first year, 30 percent in the second year, 50 percent in the fifth year, and 70 percent in their 10th year. Patience Bamidele Amaebite is committed to changing this narrative through business coaching for start-ups and her via ‘The Boss Series’. She spoke to Stephen Onyekwelu. Excerpts:

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ell us ab out your entrepreneurial journey.

I am the author of Phenomenal Coach and Renowned Business Strategist.

I bring over 16 years of corporate experience in finance, accounting, process, and human resources to the table. I also hold certifications in brand building, customer relations, entrepreneurship, marketing, business strategy, and life coaching.

I help individuals and organisations take the leap into greatness and achieve results that they so desire. I am a professional and expert with several industry expertise and certifications.

My background in finance, business management, and global human resource management has helped me to navigate the corporate and consulting space in order to add immense value to my clients.

Why has it been your mission to support SMEs and startups?

Well, I honestly feel that in life we all must stand up and be counted.

The deposit of knowledge and experience within me tends towards getting others help, support, and equally the needed boost to get out of the state they found themselves in.

Working with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) provides an opportunity to help and reach more people and individuals. It’s also an opportunity to contribute positively to the economy.

How do you evaluate entrepreneurs and start-up businesses in Nigeria?

The statistics about how start-ups fail within the first two years of existence is enough motivation to see a decline of that reality.

Evaluating start-up business and entrepreneurs might be a tough one due to several reasons.

However, this is not to say that it is impossible.

The evaluation will be driven through context, the type of small business, location, market size and market share.

I think the business entrepreneurs have a huge task in their head; the task of providing value, staying consistent, scaling, and maintaining counsel. It is a promising reality and we hope they get things off the way.

In recent time, there has been a social media rave about your new book; *The Boss Series.* Tell

Can SMEs/Start-ups connect with you for a One-on-One or Group coaching session, and how?

Oh yes, I am available for coaching and can be reached via Instagram - @deleamaebite, email – deleamaebite@gmail.com, telephone - +2348171318719 and my website is www.deleamaebite. com.

About the Author

us about it.

The Boss Series is the latest product that I have put together to end the ignorance and difficulties business leaders and owners face while running their business.

It is a five-part series book with the following title: Hey Boss, Go Boss, Flow Boss, Grow Boss and Show Boss.

The boss series is more than having any average book; they are tools for everyone who seeks a meaningful pursuit in life.

How did you manage to run your various businesses like *The Tribe of Oofy and WalletCubes* while writing this book?

I must confess that multi-tasking will place a huge demand for you.

The tribe and other products that I manage were scheduled into engagements. Each aspect of the book was divided into segments and I also enlisted the help of a team to ensure that we were able to meet up the several demands of the project.

Please can you let us know what inspired the name ‘The Boss Series’?

The inspiration behind the name, title is the audience. I desire to work with bosses and improve their professional outcomes.

Also, I see myself as a boss and leader, therefore this inspired the name.

What are the challenges that Small Medium Enterprises face, and how does your book -- The Boss Series help entrepreneurs to grow and scale through the challenges?

Some of the challenges smallmedium enterprises face are issues of motivation, managing teams, vision alignment, professional and people development.

These and many more have been addressed in the Boss Series.

The Boss Series does not only speak to the leaders but will ultimately affect the entire team and workforce. The ultimate outcome is growth.

What were the inducements, research, expertise that led to your book?

The books are a compendium of research online, offline, as well as within my knowledge domain.

The combination of contemporary examples, as well as industry models on the specific area I am addressing in the book, brought the content to life.

The Boss Series is a product of surveys, weeks of research, and content development.

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Please how is The Boss Series important to the average entrepreneur in Nigeria?

The average entrepreneur needs hands-on support with the contextual reality of the issues within the domain of the entrepreneur.

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With the Boss Series, we can guarantee the average entrepreneur will be able to lead sustainable business and contribute to the system.

What are some of the key takeaways you hope readers pick in your book?

Key takeaways from the book include: Growth must involve and affect all stakeholders; leadership for business requires growth, consistency, and competence; winning demands all from your team and visibility is key.

How would reading your book improve the mind-set, lives, and livelihood of the readers?

It is often said that readers are leaders. The books will definitely position the readers to gain insights and knowledge that is capable of translating them into true leadership. I am one who also believes that there is a correlation between knowledge and earn.

When people learn more they get to earn more. So, I am very positive the books will better every reader.

How can people get access to The Boss Series collection?

The books will be dispatched to strategic locations for delivery, pick-ups and also available via online stores, major book stores, and platforms shortly after the book launch. @Businessdayng

Patience Bamidele Amaebite leads the charge in propelling Individuals and Organisations as they start their journey into personal fulfilment, business intelligence, financial literacy and wealth creation.

She’s the Founder of ‘Tribe of Oofy’, an online learning, mentoring and coaching platform for bold and ambitious women and ‘WalletCUBEs’, a financial services company focused on wealth creation strategy and management.

She obtained a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Masters of Business Administration from two Nigerian Universities, and Masters of Science in Global Human Resource Management from the University of Liverpool, in the United Kingdom.

She brings over 16years of corporate experience in finance, accounting, process and HR to the table. She also holds certification in brand building, customer relations, entrepreneurship, marketing, business Strategic and life coaching.

Today, she offers a wide range of coaching programs, online courses and services, from individual coaching, corporate coaching, executive coaching, and training to seminar and keynote speeches.

She’s also an author, sought-after keynote speaker, and personal and business growth strategist who works with organizations, individuals and TEAMs as a turnaround expert.

If YOU need to start and grow a business or personal brand that predictably generates leads, attracts new clients and, most of all, creates financial freedom and the lifestyle you desire, Dele is your go-to-source. She’s all about helping individuals build a sustainable, profitable and global brand.

She’s fondly called ‘The Springboard’ due to her expertise and strategy deployed into launching brands and individuals’ groups into greater heights. Dele is a conference speaker and has facilitated training sessions across the globe.

Friday 05 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

19

INTERVIEW Employers want those who can adapt, innovate and embrace change - Oyelade JENNIFER OYELADE, director of Transquisite Consulting, an international human resource consultancy and expatriate management services tells BusinessDay’s BUNMI BAILEY, how companies can leverage COVID-19 disruptions to improve their operations and capacity for future growth.

T

he World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2020 projects that t e c h n o l o g i c a l c ha n g e could displace jobs, will Nigerians be left behind in terms of jobs of the future?

Unfortunately, this will be the case if organisations do not embrace technology now. The workforce has a subliminal division in terms of embracing technology; the Millennials and Generation Z have fully embraced technology and are actively integrating it as additional skills to their core discipline. However, you will find that the reluctance to embrace technology advancement will stem from Generation X purely because of the fear of the unknown.

Without sounding ageist, the older generation are creatures of habit, so embracing something new can seem daunting. These are the professionals that sit in executive leadership positions, so if diligence is not taken these organisations will find themselves losing their share value and market domination.

In some job functions, systems are replacing people and while I believe systems displace the true essence of the “customer experience”, in some cases it is more cost-effective to invest in a system especially where the tasks can be automated. So, to compete with a system, you have to justify your relevance by understanding how you can use the system to maximise your deliverables as an innovative professional as opposed to how a system can replace you as a way to streamline resources.

The world is digitalising to improve operational structures, increase productivity, and to strategically position themselves for external investment. So, for professionals to remain relevant by 2025, they need to diversify their skill set by acquiring digital skills that complement their core discipline.

For example, if I am a finance graduate with a professional accreditation from CFA or CIMA, what is going to differentiate me from other candidates with the same academic background and experience, is the additional skills that I have acquired to add to my market value.

Courses in Business Intelligence, and Data Analytics will give me the ability to make informed business decisions, and the exposure to forecasting, comparing, and analysis which are essential skills to develop on the path to strategic leadership.

With remote working on the rise, what are the sought-after jobs and skills in 2021?

The ideal candidate requirement goes beyond the technical competency, soft skills, and culture fit. Employers are particularly interested in candidates who demonstrate the ability to adapt, embrace change and ride the waves of innovation.

The key to achieve this is to cultivate a Small and medium-sized enterprise mindset of working in an unstructured

Jennifer Oyelade

environment. As a business, products and services may change dependent on the demand of their target audience.

Sometimes, the demographics will change altogether and as a candidate, you have to be ready to move when the course changes direction.

This will not be the business practice forever, but at the same time who knows tomorrow. Employers want to have that confidence that you will not crumble under pressure and not flee at the first sight of a hurdle.

Working remotely requires a lot of self-motivation, being proactive, and discipline. There is no framework that supports micro-managing and handholding, so you must be accountable for your own output. Where there is minimal operational support, you will have to utilise the resources you have and work within the tightest constraints without compromising the quality of your deliverables.

Everyone loves a solution provider, but in a time where there is a global pandemic, it is a core necessity when we are all trying to adapt to the new ‘norm’ that comes with its own obstacles. To operate a sustainable business, employers need candidates who are innovative and see an opportunity in every situation. If there is a problem, how do we fix this immediate challenge? And if we are experiencing it, how many others are experiencing this too? Can our immediate solution fix a life-long problem in the future?

And most Importantly is it a profitable venture to embark on?

Companies cannot afford to waste resources so now it is more paramount than ever for employees to work smart, with little emphasis on working hard.

COVID-19 has made remote work necessary, how can organisations navigate this transition and maintain productivity? www.businessday.ng

The promotion of collaborative working is essential when working remotely.

Software like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet and Skype have made it easy to set up group workflows and think-tanks to encourage idea-sharing and seamless interactions amongst colleagues. Where distance is a factor, these platforms provide clear channels of communication where everybody understands what is expected of them and supports teamwork despite the distance.

As an employer, there needs to be a level of transparency; Do not engage with your team only when there is a need for delegation. Carry them along with any new developments within your organisation and open the floor for think-tank sessions around business improvement initiatives or sales strategy.

Keeping your team abreast about the organisation’s development creates a sense of accountability from an employer’s perspective. This also builds trust amongst a team and eliminates doubts, and assumptions that can arise due to lack of communication and transparency.

To keep your employees accountable, implement rotational leadership roles, where over the course of a week, one team member will be held accountable for the team’s deliverables. This boosts productivity and gives each team member a sense of leadership.

Through this rotational exercise, you may identify potential leaders within your organisation that you did not even know you had. Then, should an opening arise, instead of hiring, you can then groom those employees for leadership positions in your succession plan.

What are the current jobs/skills opportunities that people can leverage on in this pandemic?

A diverse pallet of cross functional expertise! Employers want cross-func-

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tional candidates with skillets they can utilise to the fullest. They are looking for professionals who can adapt and understand that their role can diversify according to the economic wave and as a result, their role may require them to wear many hats.

Cross-functional employees do not veer from their core discipline, they are a definition of those who have imbibed at least one skill set in what I call the H.O.I.S.T sectors.

The dictionary definition of “hoist” is the act of raising or lifting something, but in terms of sought-after skills, H.O.I.S.T stands for Human Resources, Operations, Information such as Data or Information Systems, Sales, and Technology.

Including finance, these are the only sectors that are recession-proof and skills developed within these areas will always be sought-after. Regardless of the sector you find yourself in, be it hospitality, healthcare, manufacturing, or agriculture; there will always be people who work within an operational structure, who use information or systems, to implement sales strategies using technology with the overall objective of running a profitable business.

Adapting an additional skill from the H.O.I.S.T sectors to your core discipline does not depreciate your expertise or create an impression that you are a jack or jill of all trades. In fact, it enhances it and automatically differentiates you as a candidate with more to offer in a market where talented professionals are many and opportunities are few.

A Human Resources Manager with experience in Data Analytics would serve my objectives better than a People Analytics professional who does not have the generalist experience to lead my organisation. An IT professional with experience in HR would be able to understand the systems I need to manage my business at its best capacity.

It is very achievable to carve a niche within your discipline, and if implemented well you can increase your market value in terms of remuneration and strategically position yourself for unique career opportunities.

You recently launched a book titled “Careerectional Facility”, can you tell us more about it and the inspiration behind it?

Careerectional Facility is a play on words between career and correctional facility – the prison we put ourselves in the quest for career fulfilment while believing there are certain rules and processes that we need to follow to get there. The truth is – there are no rules! There is no template, format, or structured way because every journey is unique to an individual. We have all been given different advice on how to secure a job or how to move up the career ladder at some point in our lives; this book dissects this and educates the reader that the process is not a onesize-fits-all cap. @Businessdayng

My objective was to create a go-to manual in your time of need to reaffirm yourself of your journey whether you are an entry-level professional finding your way, a professional who has found themselves in a stagnant place, or executives who have paid their dues to the workforce and want to capitalise on their expertise outside of the 9-5 conventional space.

What happens if the economy has a ripple effect on business trends, which again has a ripple effect on the demand of particular skill sets, so since the world, as we know it evolves every day, why should we lock ourselves in professional confinement?

Over the course of my career, that spans three continents; two things have remained the same till date. Firstly, the evolving changes in the labour market, and secondly, the similarities in the obstacle’s professionals face in the pursuit of career fulfilment.

Having been on both sides of the interview table as a candidate, employee, employer, and Hiring Manager. I took my time to consolidate my experience and write this book from a multifaceted perspective to ensure that it provides insights that will still be relevant three, five and 10 years from now.

In the wake of the increase in unemployment and the instability of the global economy, this book enlightens people on how to strategically place themselves in a position to be relevant in a market where the talented professionals are many and the opportunities are few.

What can the Nigerian government do to address its unemployment challenges?

Invest in the infrastructure of the country starting with human capacity.

People build the economy, not systems!

I cannot stress the importance of intentional human capacity development tailored to the country’s objective to be a sustainable economy. The main issue is we will cut our own nose to spite our face and that makes us our own hindrance. We believe that because it is foreign it is better. We invest too much in the importation and lose focus on increasing our GDP by leveraging our own resources.

The focus should be on exportation to promote multilateral trade and less on importation. To stay afloat, our resources need to circle back to empower businesses in-country and lean only on foreign aid and investment as a form of support and not a means of survival.

As a nation, we need to take innovation seriously, and leverage technology to open the door to global opportunities. Some of the best tech professionals are Nigerian and they are doing amazing things abroad, why do we have to seek greener pastures before we make a difference? To eradicate unemployability, we need to restructure our economy and promote innovative initiatives within our sectors to build a sustainable and profitable market.

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Friday 05 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

LEADING WOMAN

supported by

With a PhD at 26, her eyes on the mark, WENDY A. OKOLO steadily soars a break after my Ph.D, so when I got to NASA, I came with ‘fire’. Trust me when I say you can deal with some of that unconscious bias.

KEMI AJUMOBI

Associate Editor

Wendy A. Okolo (PHD) is an Aerospace Engineering researcher in the Intelligent Systems Division at NASA Ames Research Center. Her focus is in the area of systems health monitoring and control systems design with applications to air and space components, vehicles, and systems. To that effect, she manages a multimillion dollar sub-project on a System-Wide Safety Project, leading a team to develop the monitoring, predictive, and mitigation capabilities that will enable the safe operations of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the U.S. national airspace.

Her research experiences also include stints at the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, where she worked on her dissertation research in aircraft formation flight for fuel savings. Her efforts were demonstrated with flight tests by the U.S. Air Force to realise easily attainable fuel efficiencies with existing and new aircraft.

At 26 years old, Wendy became the first black woman to obtain a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington. Her graduate studies were recognised and funded by the U.S. Department of Defence through the National Defence Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship, Zonta International through the Amelia Earhart Fellowship, the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the Texas Space Grant Consortium.

I

Growing up had a normal childhood. I didn’t see myself as anything out of the ordinary.

I was a little quiet. I went to St Mary’s Primary School in Lagos Island and then Queen’s College in Lagos for secondary school. I was very active in church. I was in the choir, I used to dance. I have two big sisters and a younger brother and we’re like everything a family should be. My sisters are very influential, always there and helping me out. They influenced who I am today, and my mum particularly.

International Women’s Day, what does the month mean to you?

March is a reminder to recognise and amplify the woman that you know, and then push for the thing that you want. Ask for that promotion today.

It’s an opportunity to be bold, and if you cannot be bold for yourself, be bold for others. It is a month to take it all, you deserve it, ask for it.

Love for science School was easy for me, I got A’s all through, but my mum said I was going to become an Engineer even before I knew what it was.

I was telling everyone that I wanted to become an Engineer, but I didn’t know what Engineer I was going to be. I didn’t decide what engineering to specialise in right before I started my first semester but later on, Aerospace was what I fell in love with because it was fascinating.

Being at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) U.S.A I wasn’t one of those people that wanted to work in NASA. What happened for me was, I got a Ph.D. When you get a Ph.D, most people fall in love with the research and having that independence to study what you want to study. NASA for me was one of the places that gave me that opportunity. That opportunity to have an idea and apply for a grant, get it and do that work. That’s why I’m at the research center in Silicon Valley, California.

Having a PhD at 26 I didn’t think about it until people just started asking the question. I just loved school. I really liked it.

For me, it was just about learning and being in that environment. I sometimes think about all the classes www.businessday.ng

I should have sneaked into to learn something new about something else. I liked school so I stayed there. After my bachelor’s degree, I did the whole track and doing a Ph.D. in something like Aerospace as a black woman, exposed me to a lot of opportunities and I took advantage of that.

Being a young Black girl at NASA at the challenges I think everyone that is not as widely represented in any field will have those challenges, and it’s not even what you will expect.

The people you might expect to have your back are the ones who do not, then the ones that you think will not have your back, are your biggest champions.

My first supervisor at NASA was a White man in his 50s and married. He was my ‘guy’. He’ll keep it real, and then, you’re in places where you’re dealing with toxicity from a woman, but one of the things that I have, is the support system that is unparalleled: my sister, friends and my husband. I lean on that support. No matter what the field is, when you’re represented as much, you see those who say ‘who does she think she is?’ I’ve risen really fast at NASA, I’ve been rapidly promoted, I’ve gotten everything I wanted there. So, it could be ‘who does she think she is?’ But I came hungry, I came ready to work. I took

COVID-19 Experience The pandemic has been ‘interesting’. It’s been good and bad. My family was unscathed till the #EndSARS incident and that was tied to COVID-19. COVID-19 happened, palliatives were hoarded, people were at home, people were hungry, people were angry, they took to the streets, they protested, hoodlums hijacked and looted and my mum’s house got broken into.

There was a trickledown effect and that was the thing that finally got my family in early October.

But for me, before that, COVID-19 forced us all to be still. I was starting to see people burn out. I don’t know if it’s our generation that is working harder and not smarter, but everyone is tired. 2019, I kept saying ‘I need a break’… just that period of rest and rejuvenation. It might be that this is not okay to say because people have lost lives, but it forced us to be still and think differently nevertheless, we’re going to come out of this very differently.

COVID-19 has shown that we are as productive, if not more productive, when we had some flexibility with our work life schedules. Better for the organisations, they don’t have to be paying overhead. I would appreciate some more of that flexibility, giving us time to really connect with what really happens because, depression rate is going up, people are needing antidepressants. We were not built to live like this.

Read the concluding part of our interview with WENDY A. OKOLO on our website www.businessday.ng as she graces our Women’s Hub cover for this week.

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T

he first International Women’s Day occurred in 1911 and was supported by over a million people, however, today; it is being celebrated globally in different ways by different races and tribes. It has become a global event and back here in Nigeria, we intend to contribute to the narrative. By “we”, we refer to us at The Bank Of Industry, where on the Gender Desk, we are gearing up for our annual International Women’s Day celebration on the 11th of March 2021.

The International Women’s Day is on the 8th of March, but you will agree the entire month is about celebrating women therefore, on the 11th of March, The Bank Of Industry will be having a virtual conference.

This year’s theme is “Choose to challenge” and the beauty of a challenge is that, after a challenge comes change. We are identifying with these imminent changes and we are poised to speak about them at our virtual conference.

Talking about change, many businesses have suffered challenges due to COVID -19, and though many are still struggling to pick up, others have, but they can do better. It is the reason that at our conference this year, one of the things our distinguished panellists will be talking about is how women entrepreneurs can be supported and empowered as their businesses try to recover from the aftermath of the pandemic.

Our speakers will be providing key recommendations to the bank and policy makers on ways to forge ahead.

They will also be sharing on their stories to inspire the participants. We understand the power of telling stories, and we know that someone’s life can change, someone’s life can be better; someone’s hope can rise if they hear the stories of how someone else persevered and scaled through.

These are reasons behind our decision to tell the ‘change story’ in allegiance to the theme for this year.

Our speakers include our

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Managing Director/CEO, Olukayode Pitan, 4 distinguished ministers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 4 First Ladies, Special Guest of honour, Dame Pauline Tallen (OFR), Guest of honour and our former MD/CEO, Ms Evelyn Oputu.

Also, our keynote speaker is the Chairman of First Bank and Founder/CEO of Sokoa Chair Group, Ibukun Awosika. We also have the CEO of The Whitaker Group, Rosa Whitaker and other illustrious and accomplished Nigerian female entrepreneurs to grace the event and share their stories. We are indeed poised to deliver an experience for our guests that they will not forget in a jiffy.

There is a lot to learn and read about us, and we will be sharing more about it on this platform and also on the 11th. When we say “a lot to read”, for instance, more than N75billion has been expended on helping over 500 businesses of women and as such, creating over 3 million jobs. We have supported women owned businesses during the pandemic which includes reduction of interest rates by between 2% and 4% for at least 1-year commencing April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021 on all BOI direct loans. A term loan previously granted at 10% interest rate reduced to 8% and working capital granted 12% to15% reduced to 10% to 13% respectively.

Also, 3 months moratorium on principal repayment granted to all beneficiaries of the BOI Fund from April 1, 2020 to June 31, 2020. There was also waiver of late payment charges, implementation of presidential directive on BOI direct facilities as well as implementation of various directives from different fund owners such as CBN, AfDB, BRAVE WOMEN and so on.

We look forward to having you amazing women join us on the 11th to hear more.

Registration and other details will reach you soon.

See you next week!

Friday 05 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

The Yacht: Latest indulgence in town OBINNA EMELIKE

Hotels

Top BusinessDay Partner Hotels Four Points by Sheraton Hotel (Oniru Chiefatancy Estate,Lekki) Tel: +234 1 448 9444

O

rdinar ily, a yacht is always luxurious and an epitome of unique unwinding, otherwise it will be a mere ship.

With stunning views, tasteful furnishing, worldclass service, and all-round grandeur, The Yacht Hotel is simply luxurious.

Set on Lekki Phase 1, one of the sought-after real estate hotbeds in Africa, the luxurious boutique hotel is the finest luxury offering in town.

Amid the ambiance, elegance, and closeness to the natural environment, the new hotel is taking care of a group of exquisite people who want a luxurious lifestyle.

In line with its name, The Yacht Hotel curates specialties that justify its privileged location, amid a serene environment and impeccable personalised service, which guests enjoy on visit.

The magnificence starts from the entrance, which showcases the property’s architectural masterpiece, and leads visitors further into the hotel for the real indulgence.

From the well-decorated front desk manned by experienced hands and faces whose smiles leave visitors guessing on the adventure that awaits them, to the wellappointed restaurant, lounge and to rooms with unique

21

Transcorp Hilton Abuja 1 Aguiyi Ironsi Street Maitama, Abuja Tel: +234-708-060-3000

The Wheatbaker #4 Onitolo(Lawrence Road), Ikoyi, Lagos.

Tel: 01 277 3560

views, the 22-room hotel is truly a place to indulge in luxury without watching your back.

The room offerings are truly breathtaking and a good reason to visit. From executive city studio, executive city cabin, deluxe city cabin, deluxe city suite, deluxe seaview, to executive seaview room, accommodation options are simply comfort beyond imagination.

The cabins are infused with vibrant art, neutral colours and a calming elegance that draws guests in, while the suites offer sea or city views, which feature spa-inspired bathrooms with deep soaking tubs, rainfall walk-in glass showers and balconies to enjoy the sea breeze and take in the sunset.

Moreover, the highlight of the room categories is the Ex-

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ecutive Seaview room. Wellappointed with king-size bed for two adults, the 36m² room is the most luxurious room in town amid world class amenities that enable guests to unwind into casual luxury.

It overlooks the tranquil waters of the Five Cowrie Creek with a stunning view of the iconic Lekki-Ikoyi link bridge.

However, The Yacht Hotel hopes to unveil its Admiral Room soon. The suite comprises a whole big apartment, like the Presidential Suite and will add to the luxury on offer at the hotel, when it is opened.

As well, there is comfort beyond the room. The restaurant, which offers standard continental dishes, is a place the guests look forward to.

For the bold, lounging or dining at the beautiful terrace overlooking the sea is the deal because nature is awake as cool sea breeze caresses the guests and aids digestion.

Of course, the indulgence is heightened with the gym and the Oriki Spa, an indigenous spa brand that has proven its worth over the years in many hotels it partners.

But another highlight, and a major one for that matter, is the helipad at the roof of the hotel. It does not land helicopters, but it is the highest point on a ship, hence the lounge at the rooftop to culminate the luxury offerings at the hotel.

According to Ronald Stilting, group general manager, The Yacht Hotel, the hotel is a luxurious boutique hotel and it is very unique because of the location. “It is for people who appreciate luxurious lifestyle and we are at par with the market leaders in the Lekki-Ikoyi-Victoria Island axis”, Stilting says.

Also explaining the rationale for the name yacht, the astute hotel expert notes that a yacht is a large ship and an

epitome of luxury, floating on water, hence the same idea is translated into the hotel with the same luxurious ambiance and feel.

“It is more of the ambiance and luxury feel because a yacht is always luxurious otherwise it would be called a ship. We wanted to translate this feeling of luxury on water, which you find on a yacht into a hotel, hence The Yacht”, he says.

Also explaining the essence of the helipad, the group general manager, says that helipad is usually the highest point on the ship, and the hotel’s helipad is a bit unique with a rooftop lounge. “It is called a helipad not because a helicopter lands here, but because it is the highest point on a ship”, he explains further.

For the hotel boss, the guests can continue their luxurious explorations beyond the comfort of the bed.

For the adventure-minded, there are hired boats for guests who want to experience The Yacht beyond the room. They cruise on water to see the most alluring sights of Lagos aquatic landscape, especially the Lagoon and the sand beaches of the Atlantic Ocean.

For the health and safety conscious guests, The Yacht has taken necessary precautions to ensure the safety of both staff and guests.

Some of the measures include; contactless checkin formalities, temperature checks, sanitizing of POS machines before and after usage, elevator button disinfection, wearing of masks, among others.

With all these in place, Ronald Stilting and his team of hospitality professionals, woo discerning guests to visit and experience the best of luxury in town as The Yacht Hotel is simply sheer luxury for those who love life and want to live it to the fullest.

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Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham Abuja 1 Uke St, Garki, Abuja.

Tel: +234 9 4603900, +234 805 7522500

Lagos Continental Hotel Plot 52, Kofo Abayomi St, Lagos Tel: 01 236 6666

Radisson Blu Hotel Ikeja #38/40 Isaac John St, Ikeja GRA100271, Ikeja Tel: +234-908-780 5555

206 Exclusive Hotel Plot 206 Oladipo Diya Road Opposite Olympia Estate

By Games Village Second Gate Durumi2 Abuja

Novotel Port Harcourt Address: 3 Stadium Road Rumuomasi, Port Harcourt Rivers State, Tel: 0809 713 5734

Radisson Lagos Ikeja #42-44 Isaac John Street, GRA Ikeja, Lagos

Southern Sun IkoyI Hotel Address: 47 Alfred Rewane Road, Ikoyi, Lagos Tel: +234 1 280 5200 / +234 1 280 0630 Email: ssikoyi.reservations@ tsogosun.com

Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel 1A,Ozumba Mbadiwe,Victoria Island. @Businessdayng

22

Friday 05 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

ENTERTAINMENT ‘Content streaming has come to stay as reliable complement to conventional platforms, TV’ In the last quarter of 2020, the Nigerian streaming business welcomed a new entrant. Since then, Wooclick, an online movie streaming platform, has recorded impressive performance in the competitive streaming space. In this interview, Ubiebi Emoefe,creative director, Wooclick International,speaks to Obinna Emelike on the difference the platform brings to the table, easy access and affordability of movies, potential of streaming business, plans and other related issues.

F

or thos e who are coming across the Wo o click brand for the first time, what is Wooclick all about?

In ver y plain terms, Wo o c l i c k i s a n o n l i n e streaming platform, where you can watch Nollywood/African movies at very affordable rates.

It is an emerging brand in the movie streaming industry, with lots of features that ensure both the viewer and the content p rov i d e r g e t va l u e f o r t h e i r t i m e a n d i nve stment.

Considering that movie streaming/rental service is becoming very competitive, what is your edge over other platforms, especially the established ones?

It is quite competitive a l r i g ht, b u t l i ke o t h e r industries, there is still room for a lot of improvement and other players.

The digital space is very broad and can accommodate as much as we can think and innovate.

The most important parts o f a n y i n n ov a t i o n a re the value it brings and t h e p ro b l e m i t s o l ve s.

Wooclick creates a very profitable avenue for movie/content producers to get value for their work and investments.

Viewers also get to pay for only what they consume as every aspect of Wooclick was developed by us and can be updated to suit demand promptly without technical delays.

Content is key in the movie streaming business, how do you get your contents and how has the relationship been with content providers?

Content is king, and what Wooclick is offering is the coronation of these kings. The platfor m is an open affiliate system that gives a larger part of control to the content provider, and payment goes direct to the producers account with no middles. As the viewer pays to watch, the producer gets paid directly; he can t ra c e a n d q u e r y e ve r y form of transaction as it

contents on Wooclick, why and how does that work?

Our goal is to simplify the process of generating value for your content, to make it very easy for producers who want their movies to be appreciated anywhere in the world to have access to promote their movies. It is easy, flex ible, and once you register as a producer, (for free) you have access to register your movies for uploads but will not be on the public space until our backend team finishes the film review, which will be done within 24hours.

Is t h e op en a f f il iation to all movie/content providers across African countries and beyond, truly working?

Sure, it has been tested, and it is in perfect

‘

Ubiebi Emoefe

relates to his content on his dashboard. We expect more producers to use the platform to market, promote and satisfy their teaming fans with their contents.

Yo u t a l k e d a b o u t renting a m o v ie from as cheap as N100, how workable is that considering the huge cost of acquiring content?

The platform also helps the producer reduce cost of production and hardcopy distribution. The baseline concept has always proven t o b e t h e m o s t p ro f i table and effective form of marketing. Banks, telecommunications and other large corporations have adopted this concept over the years and it has worked. It does not reduce the value of the content, it just makes it easy for more people to accept and appreciate the www.businessday.ng

production. Like I mentioned before, the platform gives more control to the producer, so they can determine the price of the movie per time.

For movie lovers, especially those in the diasp ora, h o w easy can they access your platform?

The platform can easily be accessed on the worldwide web. It is accessible from any part of the world on www.wooclick.net.

Payment is often an issue in online transactions, amid growing internet fraud. How secure is your system for customers’ online transaction?

We are in partnership with payment switches like Interswitch, and card owners like MasterCard, and the official payment gateway is OSOFTPAY. All these partners will ensure a fast and easy payment

process. For payment security, the portal is secured using SSL and our p rov i d e r s a re a l s o Pc i Dss compliment, there is practically nothing to be worried about in terms of security.

One cannot run a successful streaming business without world class technology, what is your technology backup and who are technical partners?

We are in partnership with streaming giant, Vimeo, and we also have a light and scalable database hosted with Microsoft azure. Our team of software engineers and programmers are young and always updated with any new tech available, so we are at the top of it when it comes to tech.

You talked about open back end for producers and content developers to upload and promote

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Our team of software engineers and programmers are young and always updated with any new tech available, so we are at the top of it when it comes to tech

@Businessdayng

order. That is our goal, and we hope to take it one step at a time. We have enjoyed relative acceptance within Nollywood, when we have reached a set mark within the Nigerian industry we will then open other layers of the platform. Collection system within other countries is a major factor too, but we have already made plans and will unveil them in different African countries in the shortest possible time.

The pandemic opened great opportunities for streaming business last y e a r, d i d y o u b e n e f i t from the boom?

The year 2020 was a very difficult year for every sector, especially the entertainment industry, in terms of shows, movie premieres and cinemas.

But streaming gained p ro m i n e n c e f o r h o m e relaxation and safe enter tainment. The pandemic per iod inspired the creation of Wooclick, not basically because we wanted to cash in, but we realized that a lot of content producers were finding it difficult to get a platform that will serve their interest. Wooclick was introduced into the market on December 24, 2020, and since then it has enjoyed massive acceptance by both movie lovers and content producers.

What is your projection for the streaming busine ss this year, as things are getting back to normal?

S t re a m i n g b u s i n e s s h a s c o m e t o s t ay , n o t basically as a rival to conventional platforms and television, but a very reliable complement. For Wooclick, we hope for major collaborations and more investors to come in, because the space is massive.

Where do you see Wooclick in 5 years from now?

Our goal is to be the major plug for African contents, both for those in Africa and in Diaspora.

With the right partnerships and investment, the goal is achievable.

Friday 05 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

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business south-south COMPLETE COVERAGE OF SOUTH-SOUTH / SOUTH-EAST

Patronizing Made in Nigeria products will enhance country’s economic growth, prosperity – Ikpeazu industrial shoes to the Nigerian Railway Corporation, and has become the official supplier of shoes to the Nigerian Correctional Services.

He therefore, beckoned on other agencies in the country yet to identify with the Enyimba Automated Shoe factory to do the needful for the growth of the nation’s economy.

The Governor expressed joy that his campaigns for the Made in Aba products and its standardization has paid off as artisans in Aba now proudly inscribe: “Made in Aba” on their products as a brand.

The Abia State chief executive, who commended President Muhammadu Buhari for the Executive Order on compulsory patronage of locally made goods, added that such has started yielding results for the economic prosperity of Nigeria.

UDOKA AGWU, Umuahia

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overnor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has urged various security agencies in the country to jettison the idea of traveling abroad to acquire security boots but rather patronize the Enyimba Automated Shoe factory which has sufficient capacity to produce such boots in commercial quantity, and at world-class quality.

Ikpeazu stated this at the Abia Social media Converge with the theme: “Social media for Good Governance,” held at the Michael Okpara Auditorium, Umuahia.

He said that Made in Aba shoes could compete favourably with any other brand globally.

He disclosed that the Enyimba Automated Shoe factory has just concluded the supply of

Okezie Ikpeazu

Motorists ask Enugu government to take action on bad roads in state REGIS ANUKWUOJI, Enugu

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otorists and commuters in Enugu State have expressed worries over the poor state of internal roads in the state, especially in Enugu metropolis. As a result, they are calling on the state government to urgently address the roads, so as to boost business and social life in the state.

For the past two years, many roads in Enugu capital territory had not been rehabilitated, making the streets virtually impassable. The situation creates traffic snarls on a daily basis, as most motorists drive against the traffic to the consternation of other road users.

Chinedu Udechukwu, a bus driver who operates from Gariki to New Market told our reporter that there were over 2,000 potholes between Gariki and the end of Agbani Road.

The potholes, he said, are responsible for the traffic jams experienced daily on the road stretch. “A journey of 30 minutes now takes one-and-a-half hours.

The worst hit is at the popular major bus stops as traffic starts building as early as 6:00 am, and lasts the whole day.”

Other road users interviewed

also lamented the financial losses they incur on a daily basis due to bad roads in the metropolis.

They called on the state government led by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to assist the drivers by repairing the roads, so that the cost of transportation in the city would be reduced.

However, Enugu State government had last year inaugurated a committee on road maintenance whose major duty is to fill all potholes in all the roads in the metropolis.

Unfortunately, investigation by our reporter revealed that no tangible work has been done so far. Motorists are of the opinion that the situation may worsen during the rainy season, if nothing was done in the next few months.

According to them, this would equally affect other spheres of life in the state.

They also called on the state government to jettison the erection of pedestrian bridges, and use the money to maintain the roads for free movement of the residents in and out of the state.

They however, commended the government for capturing the building of flyovers in the 2021 budget for easy movement of people and goods. www.businessday.ng

Royal father, land-donor communities honour Otunta, outgoing VC of MOUAU UDOKA AGWU, Umuahia

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ollowing his sterling performance in managing the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU), and the harmonious relationship that existed between the university and its land-donor communities, the traditional rulers of the land-donor communities association have conferred a chieftaincy title of – Anya Eji Mara Mba on Francis Otunta, a professor of Mathematics, the outgoing Vice Chancellor of MOUAU. Speaking during the occasion which took place at the palace of Eze Ben Oriaku, chairman, Traditional Rulers of Land Donor Communities in Umudike-Ukwu autonomous community, Ikwuano LGA of Abia State, the monarch said, Otunta established ‘Town and Gown forum’ of land donors and host communities of MOUAU, a novel idea that brought mutual respect among the university and its land donor and host communities.

The chairman, Traditional Rulers of Land Donor Communities said the peace and harmony enjoyed in the university environment were the direct products of the initiative, coupled with the help of the traditional rulers of land donor communities that brought it into fruition.

He recalled the challenges faced by the land donor traditional rulers

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prior to the coming of Otunta as MOUAU Vice Chancellor, where communities and their individual kings would go to the university to tackle their issues privately.

He observed that the Otunta-led university administration succeeded in tackling the issue; and in turn, harmonized the processes, which gave birth to a healthy, cordial relationship between the university and the donor communities.

On what motivated the traditional rulers of land donor communities to confer the high chieftaincy title to the outgoing vice chancellor and professor, Otunta, Eze Oriaku likened him (Otunta) as a man who has come to fulfil a prophecy; was able to harmonize the land donor communities traditional rulers, adding: “Traditional Rulers Of Land Donor Communities Association can be said to be a baby product of Professor Francis Otunta.”

“The association since its inception has functioned accordingly, and within these years of existence, the communities felt the impact of the unity among the traditional rulers. Through this union, the issue of disharmony between the university principal officers and the royal fathers seized,” Eze Oriaku said.

He pointed out that the harmonious relationship created by Otunta led administration buried the difficulties their children had faced gaining admission into the institutions. “Even in employment, @Businessdayng

especially in the junior staff cadre, the association made a remarkable impact,” the Eze said.

Otunta, in a memory lane, recalled his journey to the MOUAU, and the useful roles played by the land donor communities traditional rulers. He said he quickly embraced the host/donor communities to build sustainable peace currently witnessed in the environment.

He described the traditional rulers as a ‘bunch of honourable people.’ Otunta passionately appealed to the traditional rulers to support his successor, Maduebibisi Ofo Iwe, and help him to succeed in his tenure as the Vice Chancellor of MOUAU. The Vice Chancellor designate, Iwe, the university registrar, Jacinta Ogwo-Agu; bursar, Joseph Kalu; immediate past chairman, Traditional Rulers Of Land Donor Communities and traditional ruler of Awom La Ebo autonomous community, Eze Christopher Ejirika; vice chairman, Traditional Rulers Of Land Donor Communities, and traditional ruler of Okwu-Olokoro autonomous community, Eze Boniface Izuogu; chairman Oboro traditional rulers council, Eze Larry Ogbonnaya; among other MOUAU principal officers were present during the event which also saw the traditional rulers present a welcome plaque to the incoming vice chancellor.

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Friday 05 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

Sports 2020 Olympics: D’Tigress, D’Tigers open campaign against USA, Australia tutored side file out against world number five-France before their last game against host-Japan (10th) on Monday, 2nd of August for the conclusion of group B games.

Meanwhile, D’Tigers on the 29th of July will battle Australia in group B at the Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo.

Alongside Australia, the number one ranked team in Africa currently on a 9 match unbeaten run in all competitions will also play winners of the Olympics Qualifying Tournaments from Serbia and Belgrade between the 29th of June and 4th of July.

Following the completion of the group games, the top two teams in each group and the two best losers will

Stories by Anthony Nlebem

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’Tigress will on Tuesday, 27th of July square up against USA for its opening game at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics according to the official fixture released by the Federation of International Basketball Associations.

The reigning African champions who missed out of the Rio 2016 games will be presented another chance to prove a point against the team they narrowly lost to at the 2020 Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade.

Friday, 30th of July will see the coach Otis Hughley

qualify for the quarter-finals.

They will be divided into Group D (best 4 teams) and Group E (remaining 4 teams). The quarter-finals pairings for the men will be decided on 1st of August with the women’s tournament draws taking place the following day.

Women’s games QF actions will be on Wednesday, August, 4th before the Semi-Finals and the Bronze Medal Game on Friday, 6th of August and Saturday, 7th of August respectively.

For the men, their quarter final games will come up on the 3rd of August before the semifinals two days later.

The men’s final will be played on Saturday, 7th while women’s final will be on Sunday, 8th of August.

Ighalo eyes return to Super Eagles

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dion Ighalo, former Manchester United forward has revealed he would soon make a decision regarding a possible return to the Nigeria national team.

The 31-year-old announced his retirement from international duty in 2019 after helping the Super Eagles finish third at the Africa Cup of Nation, where he emerged as the top scorer.

But his early form during a recent loan spell in England

and at new club Al-Shabab of Saudi Arabia, where he has three goals and an assist in five appearances, has led to calls by Rohr for him to return to the fold.

Asked if he might make an international comeback, Ighalo told BBC Sport Africa: “I have been approached by the coach, but I haven’t decided yet whether this is a path I want to follow again.

“We’ve been talking about it for a while and hopefully soon I will make that deci-

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sion, “Ighalo told BBC Sport Africa.

Victor Osimhen has been filling the void for the Super Eagles left by Ighalo’s departure and the Napoli striker is the overall top scorer with four goals in the 2021 Nations Cup qualifying.

However, Super Eagles manager Rohr has struggled to find another striker to compliment Osimhen, with the likes of Paul Onuachu and Kelechi Iheanacho failing to convince the German.

“I need to decide because I have huge respect for my country and the coach, so it’s only fair to let people know where you stand,” he added.

Ighalo captained his country’s youth side at the Under-20 World Cup in 2009 but then had a six-year wait for his senior debut in an international friendly at home to Uganda in Uyo. The player endured death threats aimed at his family after failing to score at the 2018 World Cup. But he produced seven goals to finish top scorer in the 2019 Nations Cup qualifying and his five goals and one assist helped Nigeria finish third at the tournament in Egypt.

Ighalo only made two tournament appearances for the West African nation, yet his 16 goals at international level rank him among the country’s top six scorers.

Klopp to withdraw Liverpool players from qualifiers

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iverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has threatened to withdraw his players from international matches this month if there is a chance they will have to quarantine on their return under coronavirus rules.

Arrivals in Britain from “Red List” countries are subject to 10 days’ hotel confinement, which would apply to Brazilian trio Alisson Becker, Roberto Firmino and Fabinho and Portugal forward Diogo Jota.

World governing body FIFA has given clubs dispensation to prevent players

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who may be affected by the regulations from joining up with their countries for the matches, which include World Cup qualifiers.

And Klopp fully intends to apply it, saying: “I think all the clubs agree that with the same problems we cannot just let the boys go and then sort the situation when they come back by placing our players in a 10-day quarantine in a hotel, it is just not possible.

“I understand the needs of the different FAs (football associations) but this is a time where we cannot make everyone happy and we have @Businessdayng

to admit the players are paid by the clubs so it means we have to be first priority.”

Klopp said he was focused on the challenge of finishing in the top four, which would mean qualification for next season’s Champions League.

Liverpool are two points behind fourth-placed West Ham after beating Sheffield United.

“A week ago we were out now we’re around it again,” said Klopp. “The challenge and job is clear. We have to win games and as many as possible to make it. We know that.”

Friday 05 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

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Friday 05 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

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Friday 05 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

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Live @ The STOCK Exchanges Prices for Securities Traded as of Thursday 04 March 2021 Company

Market cap(nm)

Price (N)

Change

Trades

Volume

Company

Market cap(nm)

Price (N)

PRICES FOR MAIN BOARD SECURITIES (Equities)

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@Businessdayng

Change

Trades

Volume

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Friday 05 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

Live @ The Exchanges Market Statistics as at Thursday 04 March 2021

Top Gainers/Losers as at Thursday 04 March 2021 LOSERS

GAINERS Company

Opening

Closing

Change

FIDSON

N4.9

N4.41

-0.49

0.05

NNFM

N7.02

N6.32

-0.7

N0.45

0.03

ENAMELWA

N22.1

N19.9

-2.2

N1.05

N1.11

0.06

NEM

N1.91

N1.72

-0.19

N19

N20

1

NCR

N3.43

N3.09

-0.34

Opening

Closing

Change

UPL

N1.11

N1.22

0.11

MORISON

N0.55

N0.6

PRESTIGE

N0.42

LEARNAFRCA

CAP

Company

ASI (Points) DEALS (Numbers) VOLUME (Numbers) VALUE (N billion) MARKET CAP (N Trn)

39,378.31 4,040.00 272,510,061.00 3.395

Iheanyi Nwachukwu

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Manufacturing Practice’ (cGMP) Compliant facility, is crafting an exemplary architecture for the Nigerian pharmaceutical industry by playing defining roles in the emergence of a new generation of industry players, as the importance of the pharmaceutical industry to the prosperity of the global economy cannot be overemphasised.

In a statement provided by the Chief Financial Officer, Fidson Healthcare PLC, Imokha Ayebae, he said,

“We are glad about the successful registration of Fidson Healthcare Plc’s N10 billion CP Programme on the FMDQ platform. This is particularly significant as it coincides with the company’s 26th anniversary on March 1, 2021. Since its inception in 1995, Fidson Healthcare Plc has remained committed to the growth of the healthcare sector in Nigeria. This strategic move aligns with our vision to be the preferred healthcare provider as a leading player in the phar-

Iheanyi Nwachukwu

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isted stocks on the Nigerian Bourse have lost approximately N228billion within just four (4) trading days into this new month as sell-side activities increase.

The market furthered into the negative region after Thursday’s dip by 0.41percent. Month-to-date (MtD), it has decreased by 1.09percent while year-todate (ytd), it is down by 2.25 percent.

As the bears gradually regain position on Custom Street, the stock market of Africa’s largest economy is not far from closing the first week of March in red.

The market is worse off as investible funds continue to move out of equities due to impressive yields in the fixed income market.

“Nigerian equities

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Nikkei 225 28,930.11JPY -628.99-2.13%

S&P 500 INDEX 3,807.88USD -11.84-0.31%

Deutsche Boerse AG German Stock Index DAX 14,056.34EUR -23.69-0.17%

Generic 1st ‘DM’ Future 31,178.00USD -58.00-0.19%

maceutical manufacturing industry in Nigeria and West Africa. The CP Programme, which is poised to further broaden the company’s sources of capital by accessing funding from the Nigerian debt capital markets, will also reduce our overall funding costs. Proceeds from this Programme will be used to meet the company’s short-term working capital requirements which are geared towards providing quality services to our valued customers”.

Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index 3,503.49CNY -73.41-2.05%

Hikari AV to supply bespoke Samsung display solutions at the art hotel

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oremost indigenous AudioVisual Systems Integrator and Authorized Samsung Electronics Solutions Partner, Hikari AV Limited is set to deploy 80 Samsung Smart TVs and Samsung Flip 2.0 at Art Hotel.

The solution is aimed at improving customers’ lodging and meeting experience. Upon full deployment, Art Hotel will boast of ideal home-away-from-home environment and best in class meeting rooms where innovative technology meets cutting edge design.

According to the Chief Executive Officer, Hikari AV, Anuoluwapo Rotimi Agboola, guests expect in-room technology that is at par with, or better than the experience they have at home. It is crucial that hotels upgrade their in-room infrastructure to meet this growing expectation, so they do not lag behind the competition.

“Smart TV is more

than just an entertainment device, Smart TV technology transforms the entire purpose of a television set, unlocking richer features and productivity benefits for the hotel as well as its guests. We are delighted to be providing this bespoke technology solutions that would uplift the customer experience at Art Hotel,” Agboola said.

Hikari AV will also be deploying Samsung Flip 2.0, a powerful intuitive flip chart designed for collaboration, allowing teams work smarter. The device comes with the Pen mode feature giving users that smooth pen to paper like writing experience. With a simple finger or palm, users can easily wipe out the screen. The device also features the Multi-User Functionality of up to four users at the same time. With the Securing Content feature, the Samsung Flip 2.0 allows users to safeguard confidential meeting information with a password.

Fate Foundation launches new programme with Youth Business International

Equities lose over N200bn in 4 days have since maintained a southward direction, losing 5.6percent in February 2021... The question on many investors’ minds is largely to know if this is a temporary lull, a correction, or a significant crash”, according to United Capital research analysts.

The analysts had reiterated that the sustained reversal in the yield environment weakens investors’ interest in equities.

“We view the current bearish performance in the market as a correction that is likely to extend through the period when yields in the fixed income market stabilize. We recognize this as an opportunity for investors to take advantage of lower prices to buy into stocks forecasted to deliver solid earnings in 2021, employing a patient approach in building up positions”, United Capital research said in a recent note.

FTSE 100 Index 6,650.88GBP -24.59-0.37%

20.602

FMDQ Exchange approves registration of Fidson N10bn Commercial Paper on its platform ommitted to the continuous development of the Nigerian financial market, in collaboration with market stakeholders, FMDQ Securities Exchange Limited (FMDQ Exchange), a wholly owned subsidiary of FMDQ Holdings Plc (“FMDQ Group), has through its Board Listings, Markets and Technology Committee, approved the Registration of the Fidson Healthcare Plc N10 billion Commercial Paper (CP) Programme on its platform.

This milestone for Fidson Healthcare PLC (Fidson), a leading pharmaceutical manufacturing company in Nigeria, has seen it join other corporate institutions across various sectors of the economy, to not only raise capital to support its business operations, but to also enjoy the benefits of visibility, transparency and liquidity that come with FMDQ’s Quotation Service. Fidson, which runs a ‘Current Good

Global market indicators

…To support young entrepreneurs hit by the economic impact of Covid-19 The NSE All-Share Index (ASI) and Market Capitalisation which opened this week at 39,799.89 points and N20.823trillion respectively stood lower at 39,364.67 points and N20.595trillion at the close of trading session on Thursday. In 5,486 deals, investors exchanged 493,172,597 units valued at N4.722billion.

Fidson Healthcare led the laggards after its share price moved down from N4.9 to N4.41, losing 49kobo or 10percent. Northern Nigeria Flour Mills followed, after its share price decreased from N7.02 to N6.32, losing 70kobo or 9.97percent, while Nigerian Enamelware lost N2.2, from N22.1 to N19.9, down by 9.95percent.

NEM Insurance share price decreased from N1.91 to N1.72, losing 19kobo or 9.95percent, while NCR lost 34kobo or 9.91percent, after moving from N3.43 to N3.09.

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ate Foundation has launched new programme with Youth Business International aimed to support young entrepreneurs hit by the economic impact of Covid-19.

Funded by the Standard Chartered Foundation, the project is part of future makers by Standard Chartered, a global initiative to tackle inequality. FATE Foundation aims to support 2,000 young entrepreneurs whose micro and small businesses have been especially hard-hit by COVID-19.

The global economy is suffering from catastrophic economic shocks as a result of COVID-19. With typically tight margins, micro, small and medium businesses are vulnerable to economic downturn.

The current pandemic and the resulting lockdowns are having a particularly serious impact on business owners and entrepreneurs

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from underserved communities, including young people (aged 18-35 years), women, refugees and other migrants and those with disabilities and visual impairments.

Many are struggling to get through the crisis and need support now.

Micro small and medium businesses have a crucial role to play in economic recoveries post-COVID and ensuring supporting a diverse range of young entrepreneurs will contribute towards a richer, more varied and more resilient economy for everyone.

Funmilayo Hannah Awoyomi, an entrepreneur who owns 701 Stitches and is based in Kaduna has this to say “Small businesses like me have suffered a lot since March, 2020. Business has not been the same since the lockdown was first implemented. We need to know how to compete without spending our entire savings on this digital marketing @Businessdayng

thing that everyone is talking about. I look forward to being part of a program like this.”

FATE Foundation will provide a holistic package of support including Digital Transformation Workshop, Resilience Building Series, and Remote Consulting & Advisor services to be delivered virtually to 2000 entrepreneurs across Nigeria. We will specifically target underserved entrepreneurs between the ages of 18-35 who have been hardest hit by the crisis.

Adenike Adeyemi, Executive Director of FATE Foundation, said “We are committed to supporting young Nigerian entrepreneurs contribute to the economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic and are excited to be part of their success stories. We are also excited about the potential of this programme in making significant impact in the Nigerian Entrepreneurship space”.

Friday 05 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

Airport police nab suspects selling fake COVID-19 certificates IFEOMA OKEKE

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peratives of the Nigeria Police, Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Command, have arrested five suspects for selling fake COVID-19 certificates to travellers at the airport. Two other suspects, are however, said to be at large.

The arrested suspects include Achibong Idonrenyin, Moses Samuel, Popoola Adewala, Wale Aderele and Abdulmalik Ibrahim. The two at large are Shehu Imam and Adeola Dalington who works with Sky Blue Services Limited, a cleaning service at the airport.

The police said the suspects had been selling fake COVID negative certificates to unsuspecting travellers within the international wing of the airport.

Briefing journalists on Thursday in his office at the airport, Bature Umar, Police Commissioner, Airports Command, said that the incident occurred on February 19, 2021 at the airport where a British Airways passenger, Michael Osagbogun was defrauded of the sum of N50,000 for COVID-19 test.

According to the police chief, one of the suspects had approached Osagbogun promising to produce a COVID-19 test negative certificate for him.

Two of the suspects, Popoola Adewale and Ade-

ola Dalington, who knew the airport environment well due to the nature of their jobs at the airport, he said, allegedly took the victim to one of the toilet facilities at the airport where the sum of N50,000 was obtained from him under the pretext of producing a valid COVID-19 negative certificate for the victim.

Umar explained that one of the suspects, took the victim to DAT Cybercafe at No. 4, Oriyomi Street, Ikeja where a fake COVID-19 positive certificate was eventually procured for him.

But, despite the payment of the sum, he said the victim who was on his way to London, United Kingdom was denied boarding by the officials of the airline based on the fake COVID-19 negative certificate he presented at the counters.

He emphasised that the victim immediately raised the alarm, which led to the arrest of four suspects and a guarantor to one of the two suspects at large.

Umar explained that the combined team of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Aviation Security (AVSEC), a department in the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) tracked and arrested the suspects.

On interrogation, Umar explained that the suspects confessed to the crime, but claimed that it was their first time of engaging in the criminal activity.

news

AfCFTA: Sirika calls for implementation of SAATM, African Union Passport IFEOMA OKEKE

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adi Sirika, the minister of aviation has called for the implementation of Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) and the proposed African Union Passport among others.

Speaking during the maiden implementation engagement series for aviation industry by Nigeria’s National Action Committee on the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Sirika explained that for effective implementation of AfCFTA in the aviation sub-sector, the national action committee needs to look into challenges in the implementation of SAATM itself.

He suggested that there needs to be harmonisation of border management protocols to enable seamless facilitation of goods and people as

this is important for perishable goods.

“For example, you cannot fly bananas across borders and keep them in the storage facilities for days. There should be efforts to fast-track the implementation of African Union Passport to eliminate the requirement for visa. This can facilitate easy movement for businesses or frequent flyers across the continent.

“The whole essence of civil aviation is to create efficiency in journeys as we advocate for the strengthening of AFCAC (African Civil Aviation Commission) to harmonise civil aviation regulations for aviation service providers in order to actualise the Yamoussoukro decision and SAATM which is the flagship project for the African Union Agenda 2063,” the minister said.

He stressed on the need to enforce appropriate rules and regulations to give fair and equal opportunities to all stakeholders and promote fair

competition.

“We also advocate for special support for the aviation industry specifically, to upgrade fast-track systems in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt and Enugu in a view to matching international best standards.

“In our own modest way in Nigeria, we have developed these five airports. We have completed Abuja, Port Harcourt and put to use, Kano is completed and will be put to use in March, Lagos will be put to use in the same March and Enugu in due course,” he added.

Musa Nuhu, director-general of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority,(NCAA) explained that Nigeria being the dominant market in Western and Central Africa and a major market in the continent, has excellent opportunities and potentials and these have been largely ignored or not exploited over the years.

Nuhu further explained that it was a significant opportunity

M

nered several asset management companies to deliver the broad range of investment products on the M36 platform.

Chuka Emerole, head, treasury at Union Bank, said “M36 eliminates the traditional barriers to investing and offers investors direct access to financial instruments that would usually require the service of an investment or relationship manager. We have designed M36 to ensure simplicity in the on-boarding and investing process while also empowering the customer to make sound investment choices based on their financial objectives. We worked with key partners to deliver both the experience and products on M36 and are confident that we have launched a superior product in today’s marketplace.”

With the 24-hour concierge service, M36 users can access round the clock support from investment advisors as they actively manage their portfolios.

M36 also offers loans, personal travel allowance, will and trust services and many more essential products under its Life Essentials menu. www.businessday.ng

for Nigerian airline operators to go into the cargo business and transport these goods massively and in a few hours to their destination countries.

Funke Adeyemi, director for Africa with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the convener of the engagement described aviation as an accelerator and the only sector that can traverse borders quickly with speed and relatively safely, because of all the technical standards that are put in place since 1945.

“We believe aviation can really be an accelerator for the AFCFTA and so does African Union which is why they have three flagship projects which they launched in 2018 and 2019 starting with the Single African Air Transport Market.

“What SAATM is designed to do is to create a Pan African air transport market; almost a domestic market across Africa that connects cities by air,” Adeyemi said.

Swype Global Announces N20 Million For Swypatune Naija Series 1 Contest

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M36 redefines digital investment in Nigeria – Union Bank 36, a new digital platform designed to deliver a wide range of investment products directly to individuals, has launched in Nigeria. Through an innovative, user-friendly app, M36 offers investment options not typically available on self-service digital platforms including foreign currency transactions, commercial papers, local and foreign denominated bonds, treasury bills and other fixed income products.

M36 also offers bespoke solutions for both new and experienced investors as well as a 24-hour lifestyle concierge service to meet the needs of discerning customers.

In a rapidly evolving environment with changing consumer behaviour fuelled by technology and growing access to information, M36 is looking to expand opportunities for investors at all levels, while also simplifying the process of investing.

M36 was developed by Union Bank as part of its strategic focus on delivering superior customer solutions leveraging technology and innovation. The bank part-

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L-R: Kasimu Maigari, member, House of Representatives committee on customs and excise; Leke Abejide, chairman of the committee, and Muktar Ahmed, also member of the committee, during the Nigerian Customs Service budget defence at the National Assembly complex, in Abuja, yesterday.

NAN

Axxela completes 18km gas pipeline to Rite Foods BUNMI BAILEY

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xxela Limited has through its subsidiary, Transit Gas Ni g e r i a L i m i t e d (TGNL), and in partnership with the Nigerian Gas Marketing Company Limited (NGMC) commissioned an 18km gas pipeline system in Ogun State, Southwest, Nigeria.

The 150mm standard cubic feet (scfd) gas pipeline runs from Ibefun to Rite Foods Limited’s large-scale factory in Ososa, Ogun State.

Rite Foods is the manufacturer of Bigi Drinks, Rite and Bigi Sausages, and Fearless Energy Drinks. With consistent gas supply, the fastmoving consumer goods company will achieve significant energy cost savings.

Speaking on the project commissioning, Bolaji Osunsanya, Axxela’s CEO, high-

lighted the company’s commitment to growth and industrialisation, saying, “This venture is in firm alignment with our near-to-long-term market expansion strategy, and emphasises our push to broaden our asset portfolio and strengthen our market play within the gas sector.

“A x x e l a / N G M C p i o neered gas distribution in the Greater Lagos area, and our present positioning enables us to significantly increase our industrial and commercial client footprint across the South-western corridor.”

By providing the gas advantage, the CEO said, “The company is enabling the development of self-sustaining industrial clusters to bolster Nigeria’s industrialisation and socio-economic empowerment.”

The Sagamu Gas Distribution Zone (SGDZ) development is a joint venture between NGMC and TGNL,

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which commenced operations in 2019 by delivering gas to growing industrial users including Apple & Pears Limited, West Africa Soy Industries Limited, Uraga Power Solutions Limited, Emzor Pharmaceuticals Industries Limited and Coleman Technical Industries Limited.

Speaking on the NGMC/ TGNL JV and the new pipeline grid, NGMC’s managing director, Faruk Usman, said: “As part of our strategy, we are delighted to pioneer and implement initiatives with private players, which is a clear indication of our willingness to collaborate and ensure the success of Nigeria’s Gas Expansion Programme.

The SGDZ will contribute to the development of Sagamu and its environs by facilitating industrial growth, cleaner energy generation, and fostering community employment through gas availability.” @Businessdayng

wype Global, a UK startup operating in the digital technology space, has announced the launch of Swypatune Nigeria Series 1 with a prize pot of ₦20 million to be won by contestants.

Swypatune is the world’s first dedicated digital contest and pitching platform.

The Swypatune app offers aspiring artists a new way to contest and win amazing cash prizes and the opportunity to be discovered, just by downloading the app, signing up, and uploading their content from their mobile devices.

The general public gets to vote for their favouriteartists while also standing the chance to earnfantastic prizes and rewards.

Peter Atorough, the founder and chief executive of Swype Global captures it: “Our mission is to harness the possibilities of digital mobile technologies and expand access to opportunity for people who live anywhere, wherever there is a connection.”

Some of benefits of joining the Swypatune Naijacontest include: ₦10million ultimate winner prize and a song recording deal while Voters get an opportunity to win Swypatune credit coins that can be redeemed for offers on the app.

Atorough adds that contestants get a chance to work with renowned producers on the continent and win MULTIPLE CASH PRIZES at the end of each round in the four-round contest.

The Swypatune app is available on Google Play Store and App Store for free download.

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Friday 05 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

news Double wahala for electricity customers...

Continued from page 2

customers to complain to their DisCos and if it is not resolved, escalate it to the forum offices - a quasi-court where the regulator adjudicates. But customers say cases are not addressed fairly or timeously.

Many are ignored altogether.

In Bosah’s case, he included copies of the letters in his interaction with the Ikeja DisCo and NERC on his Twitter post, and what stood out was an allegation that it took Ikeja Electric over five months to respond to his complaints.

The problem with NERC’s process mapping for complaints resolution is that it presupposes that the DisCos are a tad interested in dealing fairly with their customers.

It also assumes falsely that NERC has a functional system to track complaints that were satisfactorily resolved, or is even willing to do so, and that the regulator has any intent to sanction recalcitrant DisCos. According to the 2019 annual report of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, the bulk of complaints received were from the power sector.

“Some of the recurring consumer complaints handled by the Commission in the electricity sector were wrong, estimated billing, non-provision of prepaid meters, unlawful disconnection, harassment

by DisCos, no provision of infrastructure (electric poles, transformers, and accessories) and poor customer service,” the Commission said.

Nigeria sold off national power assets to private investors in 2013, but the investors seem to have kept the entitled mentality of their civil service predecessors.

NERC has published on its website rights and obligations of customers but there is no confidence in its ability to enforce the right of customers.

The regulator is seen to be keener in fighting boardroom wars than working for the Nigerian people. Last year, it ordered the removal of the Board of Directors of Ibadan DisCo, and an Ibadan Federal High Court promptly nullified the decision, ruling that it contravened the Electric Sector Power Reform Act (ESPRA).

The pain points for customers - metering, reckless over billing by DisCos, poor service, and unwillingness to repair broken distribution assets, rarely rank high in the regulator’s priority, customers say.

NERC introduced a service-based tariff system in November 2020, compelling customers to pay a higher tariff rate based on the hours of power supply daily.

Yet, no DisCo in Nigeria is meeting its obligation to supply the contracted hours,

none has been sanctioned but customers have been compelled to pay the increased tariff rate.

“We average 6-8hrs of light/day and we are billed as customers on tariff class C. We pay between 37k to 46k/ month for light we don’t get to use,” said Adewole Olusegun, a customer under Ikeja Electric.

According to Ikeja Electric, with the revised tariff regime, Non-MD customers in Band C customers with a minimum of 12 hours daily will be charged N37.95/Kwh, while Band C customers with a minimum of 12 hours daily will be charged N37.95/Kwh. The level of discontent arising from poor service delivery by DisCos and the regulator’s ineffectual arbitration process are sullying what little reform gains the sector has recorded.

In October last year, the Federal Government announced that it was issuing 1 million free meters to customers under the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) to resolve the estimated billing complaints, as of February this year only a paltry 30,000 meters have been installed.

“We have reached 39 percent disbursement on the NMMP (420,152 meters).

From the tracking that we are doing, the total installations so far are below 30,000 meters (~7 percent installation to disbursement ratio),” said Ahmad Zakari, special adviser to the president on power, in a confidential mail to DisCo owners seen by BusinessDay. “This ratio paints the programme in a bad light and is putting the entire programme at risk. Therefore, we need clarity from the DisCos and their respective MAPs on how we can recover and get back on track,” Zakari said.

Butpublicly,governmentofficials lie about progress with reforms in the power sector while in reality, it is motion without movement, just rocking a chair without changing its position - all fluff, starved of substance, according to a customer.

This is why complaints are not reducing significantly in a sector supposedly undergoing reforms. During the second quarter of 2020, the 11 DisCos received 203,116 complaints, indicating 0.68 percent fewer complaints than those received during the first quarter of 2020, the regulator said in a report.

However, some customers have reneged on their obligation to pay bills promptly, some bypass meters and steal power while others vandalise DisCos’ assets. They justify these actions on a regulator that seems incapable of protecting them. www.businessday.ng

Failed food blockage in Nigeria ...

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spoilt before the blockage ended Wednesday.

Danjuma, who could not immediately estimate the size of his loss, is one of the known farmers in Sokoto who grows vegetables and sends them to Lagos and other adjoining states. The proceeds of the sale go into sustaining his family of eight.

Danjuma’s vegetables were among the hundreds of items trapped for days en route Lagos and denied entry into their largest markets.

The pain felt by Danjuma provides a clue of the ugly experience waiting to be told by hundreds of farmers whose goods ranging from tomatoes to onions, fruits and yam tubers down to potatoes and grains were held back during the incident.

Although some level of normalcy has been restored and free movement of farm produce across the regions has begun, analysts say the food blockage was always going to cause untold hardship for farmers while also leading to food price hikes in the states expecting the produce.

The Amalgamated Union of Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria (AUFCDN) had

embarked on the blockage in protest of the alleged killing of its members, among other issues.

The union had also demanded payment of N475 billion compensation for the lives of members and properties lost during the #EndSARS protest and the Shasa Market crisis in Oyo State.

Money is made where the food is consumed In 2019, Nigerians spent N22.8 trillion on food items, according to data on household expenditure published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The bulk of this amount was thrown into the purchasing of starchy roots, tubers and plantain; rice, vegetables; fish and seafood; grains and flours; pulses, nuts and seeds; meat; fruits; oil and fats.

The total amount spent on vegetables and meat alone came to a total of N2.95 trillion. Notably, the NBS data showed that consumption expenditure in the period was higher in the South West, as the region spent N6.2 trillion on food.

This was followed by the N4.6 trillion spent in the South-South region; N4.3 trillion in the North Central; South-East (N2.6 trillion), and

What Nigeria must do to attract ...

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Europe, not just because of Nigerians in the diaspora but because of the universe of consumers of not only produce from Africa but food produce generally,” Sadiku said at the BusinessDay ‘Diaspora Today,’ a virtual event yesterday, with the theme: Gearing for Growth: Harnessing Diaspora Dynamism for Domestic Development.

While Nigeria has the ninth largest stock of arable land in the world, its lack of modern agricultural processing infrastructure, good transport network and lack of storage facility lead to damages of the majority of its farm

produce, one of the reasons it largely depends on importation to feed its people.

“So, we have the capacity from arable land perspective to feed the world but we need investment in food preservation in modern agricultural methods and ensuring that the quality of our food products meets what in desired in the export market,” Sadiku said.

Policies Having policies that are sufficiently stable to support long-term investment is another thing analysts have recommended that Nigeria must do to attract long- term investment.

Investors’ uncertainty in

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finally North East (N1.59trn), the data showed.

The above data show why the South is the market for most of the food produced in Nigeria and validates why Danjuma, who lives in Sokoto, takes the pain of moving his goods to Lagos where they are consumed more.

The effect of the food blockage may take a week before it dissipates and food prices begin to normalise, according to Ayodeji Balogun, CEO, AFEX, Nigeria first private sector commodities exchange, and tech-enabled agriculture company.

“The prices will affect mostly perishables like vegetables, tomatoes and pepper in the Southern region. It will also affect export shipment for certain commodities that are headed towards Apapa Port,” Ayodeji said.

Africa’s most populous nation is already grappling with rising food costs caused by a host of factors, including lingering insecurity challenges and acute dollar shortages.

Nigeria’s inflation accelerated for the 17th consecutive month to 16.47 percent in January, caused by rising food prices that rose to 20.57 percent, the highest on record.

This has continued to put a strain on consumers whose income have been badly af-

fected by the pandemic, erode returns on investments, and increase the headache of policymakers who are battling to get the economy on its feet after suffering its worst recession last year. It could also worsen poverty levels and widen the inequality gap of the country.

According to Emmanuel Ijewere, vice president, Nigerian AgriBusiness Group (NABG), it is a wake-up call for states to plan in improving the country’s storage capacity to save for rainy days and tackle any impending food situation.

Nigeria is producing less and less food for its growing population hence it is prone to any sudden shock in the food supply, he noted.

BusinessDay’s price trend watch shows that while prices of tomatoes, pepper, onions and other vegetables doubled in the Southern region of the country due to distortion in the supply chain, the price crashed significantly in the North caused by the supply glut, thereby leading to waste and destruction of the items as there was no demand to meet up with the excess supply.

As economists put it, in a market, particularly a case of perfect competition, the forces of demand and supply are at play and as such, neither the seller nor the buyer alone can control the market.

Nigeria’s policy inconsistency is usually triggered by the fear that a new government, for example, is unlikely to retain the policy implemented by a past administration.

Like India has successfully done, Andrew S Nevin, partner/chief economist, PwC, Nigeria, said there was a need for Nigeria to engage its citizens abroad through the state governments.

“Nigeria needs to start from the state policy level and they need to engage more of its diasporas” through the use of some tools like “database and other social-technical help.”

Nevin believes many Nigerians in the diaspora want to support “their state

or region and necessary the country as a whole.”

Ac c o rd i n g t o Ab i k e Dabiri-Erewa, chairman/ CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Nigerians in the diaspora want ease in being able to get their businesses done in Nigeria.

If most of the bottlenecks keeping Nigerians in the diaspora away from investing in Nigeria are fixed, the country will not only be attractive to its citizens abroad but to other investors. This, according to Sadiku, is because “the same things that Nigerians in the diaspora need to better invest in Nigeria are the things that investors generally need to better invest in Nigeria.”

@Businessdayng

Friday 05 March 2021

BUSINESS DAY

Oil price soars 5.2% after OPEC+ decides not to increase production DIPO OLADEHINDE

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rent, the benchmark for Niger ia’s cr ude oil moved above 5 percent to $66 on Thursday after the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies members agreed to keep production levels unchanged, a notably more dovish stance than the expected modest production rise.

Early indications that OPEC+ won’t rush into boosting output aggressively and cautious commentary from the Russian and Saudi energy ministers reflected in the oil market on Thursday as international benchmark Brent crude rose 5.4 percent to $66.14 a barrel as at 5:15 Nigerian time while U.S.West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures stood at $63.97, around 4.39 percent higher.

During Thursday’s meet-

ing, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, Abdul Aziz Bin Salman urged “supply caution and vigilance in the oil market” and told members that “the right course of action now is to keep our powder dry, and to have contingencies in reserve to insure against any unforeseen outcomes.”

A similar cautious stance was echoed by Russian deputy prime minister, Alexander Novak, who said the oil market has not fully recovered yet “but we are in a much better shape, COVID remains an uncertainty, we have to stick to agreements.”

While this comment added to the oil boost, according to oil market watcher and Energy Intel reporter, Amena Bakr, the comment was “code for the market can take more supply.”

Recall, there has been a long-running tension between Russia and Saudi Arabia on easing production, the former seeking more output even as Riyadh seeks higher prices.

Bloomberg agrees and notes that “between the lines, Novak is clearly making the argument for a production increase, while Prince Salman is making the argument for either a roll-over or a smaller increase.”

While the Thursday decision will give the coffers of members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies a much needed boost after a year of financial pain, it also carries some risks. Crude prices in the high $60s could help revive the cartel’s nemesis -- U.S. shale drillers.

Implication for Nigeria The implication of Thursday’s meeting showed Nigeria’s economy will continue to struggle with its low production quota.

The quota is about 1.45 million barrels a day. Although reports show that Nigeria breached its quota by producing 130, 000 barrels more to 1.6 million barrels

per day. Late last year, Nigeria applied to have its baseline figure to be reviewed based on disagreements over the classification of output from the country’s Agbami field.

However, the news of higher oil price is also expected to ignite Nigeria’s oil revenue and more interest in Nigeria’s Eurobond market.

Higher oil price is also expected to give Nigeria’s naira a reprieve, easing investors’ concern that a steep devaluation may be unavoidable.

While the higher petrol price translates to higher revenue, it also means if the Federal Government’s pricing template is anything to go by, Nigerians may have to brace for an increase in the pump price of fuel in February.

This is going to add more financial burden to Nigerians who are already complaining of the high cost of petroleum products, which has negatively impacted on the price of goods and services.

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NEWS

Imo strengthens enforcement of COVID-19 safety protocols SABY ELEMBA, Owerri

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mo State government has unfolded new measures to strengthen compliance to COVID-19 established safety protocols in the state.

Ugochukwu Nzekwe, special adviser to Governor Hope Uzodimma on public safety, who disclosed this when the special adviser (health) - Lina Okereke visited him in his office, also said that a training programme would soon be organised for safety officers to further enhance total compliance to all COVID-19 safety protocols in the state.

Such officers, he said, would also assist to ensure that electrical appliances in public places are switched off after the day’s business while water is installed.

Nzekwe, a two-time member of the state House of Assembly, said that he would soon commence official visits to all public health institutions in the state to as-

certain their level of compliance, noting that acts which constitute public hazards require self- discipline by all to eliminate.

As a public outfit saddled with the responsibility of promoting public safety, Nzekwe said, would establish synergy with all relevant government establishments to further encourage public compliance to the global COVID-19 safety protocols.

Nzekwe, who decried the absence of face masks, hand sanitisers and water in some private establishments he visited, noted that a sustainable synergy with all sister organisations and institutions in the state would help to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier, the SA on health, Lina Okereke urged for harmonious working relationship between her office and that of public safety She commended the efforts being by the public safety office in promoting public health.

Weak institutions aiding insecurity in Nigeria - Obaseki Churchill Okoro, Benin

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L-R: Femi Adesina, special adviser to the president on media and publicity; Osagie Ehanire, minister of health, and Faisal Shuaib, executive director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency, (NPHCDA), during the weekly State House ministerial briefing at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, yesterday.

NAN

NIWA targets 1000 containers haulage from Lagos to Onitsha Emmanuel Ndukuba, Onitsha

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he National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) says it is targeting to haul 1,000 containers per trip from Lagos to the Onitsha River Port, aimed at decongesting the Lagos ports.

This move is also expected to reduce congestion on the Ore-Benin-Asaba Expressway, plied by most containerised trucks delivering goods to the southeastern part of the country from Lagos.

The haulage, according to George Moghalu, managing director of NIWA, would take a maximum of four days from Lagos to Onitsha through the Burutu port in Delta State.

Moghalu disclosed this in Onitsha on Thursday, saying the agency intends to achieve this in collaboration with a private company - Akewa Colmar Terminal Limited, (ACTL).

Moghalu, who spoke through Jibril Darda`u, general manager, corporate affairs of NIWA, said the www.businessday.ng

agency was also engaging the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) and other stakeholders to facilitate the commencement of the cargo haulage. According to him, there is an effort to make Onitsha River port functional and decongest the Lagos ports.

“The idea of hauling containers from Burutu ports to Onitsha River port will help to avoid the two small bridges of Gbarekolo and Bumandi.

“Gb a re ko l o a n d Bu mandi bridges are too tiny

and shallow for sea moving badges or vessels to ply through, which is why the company, ACTL, is considering the route from the Lagos ports to Burutu port, then to Onitsha River port as the final destination.

He said that the chairman of ACTL , Kenneth Donye, had during the proposal defence at NIWA liaison office in Abuja, expressed the readiness of the company to carry out historic transshipment from the Lagos ports through Burutu to the Onitsha port.

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do State governor, Godwin Obaseki on Thursday identified weak institutions as one of the factors aiding Nigeria’s heightening insecurity.

Obaseki spoke at a SouthSouth zone mass sensitisation of the public on community policing with the theme, “Understanding community policing: a framework for action,” which held in Benin, the Edo State capital.

The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Phillip Shaibu, said to succeed as a nation, Nigeria must strengthen its institutions.

Harping on the need to strengthen institutions instead of individuals, Obaseki said Edo State was leading in this direction.

“Government is not a human being but an institution, and that is why some of us who have been nicknamed leftist believe that when we strengthen our institutions, we have solved our problems half way.”

“We have weak institutions; if we don’t strengthen them, anyone you build will crash because we have spent all our life as a nation, building and celebrating individuals instead of institutions for the common good of the country,” Obaseki said.

He said Edo State was in support and ready to partner with the police in securing lives and property through community policing.

“You can’t give a young man gun and pay him N50,000 naira, even when N50,000 cannot pay his transport fare to his office. We @Businessdayng

have to start a conversation and that conversation has to start with building strong institutions. The Edo State government is in the forefront of supporting community and state police,” he added.

Speaking also, Mohammed Adamu, the InspectorGeneral of Police (IGP), described community policing as capable of solving crimes and strengthening partnership between the police and the public.

Adamu, who was represented by Zaki Ahmed, Assistant Inspector-General Police (AIG), Zone 6, Calabar, observed that community policing was a problem-solving approach aimed at improving service delivery of the police to the public as well as addressing community issues.

“Community policing is designed to set a new partnership and cooperation between the police and the people. This partnership is aimed at bringing the police to the grassroots, involvement of stakeholders and participation of every instrument of security and safety which affects all strata of the society,” he added.

Issa Aremu, one of the facilitators of the programme expressed concern over the shortage of police officers, adding that recruitment of more officers would enhance productivity.

“Insecurity is the greatest thing confronting Nigeria today, with banditry, kidnapping and Boko Haram, it is time we start organising. The security issue should challenge us to get organised and solve the problem of insecurity,” he said.

BUSINESS DAY Friday 05 March 2021 www.businessday.ng

By Kemi Ajumobi Kemi@businessdayonline.com

Women in Business Tosin Faniro-Dada

Funbi Matthew

MD/ CEO of Endeavor Nigeria

Chairman Of The Board, Centre for Organisation Leadership & Development (COLD)

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osin Faniro-Dada is the Managing Director & CEO of Endeavor in Nigeria. Tosin is passionate about supporting entrepreneurs and helping them scale, not just for the immediate impact this has on their organisation, but more for the multiplier effect this confers on the larger society and economy.

She has worked with entrepreneurs in various life-cycle stages, supporting them with interventions and resources to help them thrive.

A Certified Public Accountant licensed in Massachusetts USA, Tosin graduated Summa Cum Laude (highest honors) with a B.sc in Accounting from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, and an M.sc in Accounting from Boston College. She is currently participating in an Advanced Management and Advanced Leadership program at INSEAD. Tosin was the Director, Programmes & Coordination, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), where she led the fund’s intervention programs; providing access to finance to MSMEs, facilitating training and job placements for young people, and supporting entrepreneurs in Lagos State, under the Lagos Innovates program.

Endeavor was formed in 1997, with a unique approach to supporting highimpact entrepreneurship by selecting ‘big bubbles’ – proven, visionary founders with strong leadership potential, in local emerging market ecosystems and providing them with unparalleled access, networks and services on a global scale. In 2019, Endeavor entrepreneurs generated over $28 billion in revenues, and created over 4 million jobs worldwide.

Endeavor Nigeria launched in February 2018 (Endeavor’s sixth market in Africa), with the support of seven local business leaders, their founding Board of Directors, and in partnership with the Omidyar Network.

Their aim at Endeavor is to usher in a new era of growth and economic development, by supporting the uncommon success of high-impact founders, whose companies have potential for large-scale job creation,

investment, and innovation.

Endeavor Nigeria selects and supports founders of high-impact companies, that recognises a responsibility to pay-it-forward by working with Endeavor to reinvest their experience, knowledge, time and capital in Nigeria’s entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Endeavor entrepreneurs receive unparalleled access to over 4,000 leading mentors, investors and businesspeople, guaranteed capital through Endeavor Catalyst, their coinvestment fund, and customised services to help scale the businesses.

The Endeavor experience is designed to help their entrepreneurs do three things: think bigger, make better business decisions and multiply their impact on the ecosystem here in Nigeria.

They select scale-up and growth stage companies, that are at critical inflection points in their life cycles, and offer their founders curated experiences based on a menu of infinitely customisable products and services based on each entrepreneur’s needs.

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unbi is a proven organisation development and strategic human capital, dedicated business management professional, with over a decade progressive experience in legal, property management and consulting industry, managing the day-to-day operations and administration with the goal of meeting, and exceeding both internal and external stakeholder expectations, using the values of organisation development to drive productivity and efficiency.

She is a Project Management Professional (CPMP); Organisation Development Certified Professional (ODCP), Senior Professional HR International (SPHRI), Member- Organisation Leadership & Development Network (MOLDN), Associate of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria ACIPM, amongst others.

She has planned, organised, and executed activities of human resource departments, and advises on personnel policies and procedure.

Matthew is positioned as a strategic organisation development and HR business partner, who creates alignment between an organisation’s strategy, structure, management processes and

practices, work processes, learning, people and reward, as well as develop and implement sound human resources management strategies, deployed operation-real life-based solutions, and practices for business improvements.

She currently runs a leadership and organisation development podcast, targeted at educating executives on the importance of leadership development, as well as the alignment of organisation practices to strategy.

Her future goal is to develop enough capacity to impact a broader spectrum of the society globally and locally.

As a Practice Development Manager at Bloomfield Law Practice, she oversees the design and implementation of organisation development strategy and related projects.

She also develops and implements talent acquisition strategies and functions across, to ensure proper alignment with on-going needs, and goals of the organisation as well as best practices.

Funbi supervises and monitors change management strategies, processes and interventions that support Bloomfield Law Practice’s immediate and futuristic goals.

She ensures the design and update of the organisation’s structure as well as advising business leaders on the appropriate structure and reporting line. Also, she provides strategic direction for the design and implementation of succession planning, career management framework, and initiatives in order to foster employee engagement, career fulfilment and business sustenance as well as administrative business continuity.

Matthew is the Chairman Of The Board, Centre for Organisation Leadership & Development (COLD).

COLD is a Zimbabwe incorporated management consultancy and vocational education and training institution. They are a global learning organisation that moves organisations, work teams and individuals up the ladder of growth continually.

COLD is a leadership and development institution, with a commitment to building effective organisations through training and education of individuals, teams, leaders and aspiring leaders; and restructuring or reengineering organisations for growth and sustainability.

Published by BusinessDAY Media Ltd., The Brook, 6 Point Road, GRA, Apapa, Lagos. Advert Hotline: 08033225506. Subscriptions 01-2950687, 07045792677. Newsroom: 08164361208 Editor: Tayo Fagbule. All correspondence to BusinessDAY Media Ltd., Box 1002, Festac Lagos. ISSN 1595 - 8590.