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THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
ISSUES
Confronting challenges of constituency projects (2) By Anthony Otaru Continued from yesterday N his speech, Alhaji Turaki said, “As you are Iinitiated all aware, constituency projects are projects by members of the National Assembly for the development of their constituencies.” According to him, these projects are funded from the Federal Government Annual Budget. ‘’Records indicate that some of these projects dated far back to 2006, recorded a total of 2,399 identified constituency projects captured in the Federal Government’s 2013 Appropriation Act.” Several challenges facing the Ministry and by extension, the success and challenges of the projects were brought to the fore recently when the Senate Committee on Special Duties Mark and Inter-governmental Affairs led by its chairman, Senator Clever Ikisipo visited the Min- acute shortage of accommodation, stressing istry. that the situation is so bad that directors and At the brief ceremony, the committee said it senior staff of the ministry share the same office, was particularly irked by the continued delay tables and other facilities, a situation he deof contractor payments, especially those that scribed as unfit for proper work. has completed their various projects. “Other challenges include the process of proIn his brief remark, the Chairman of the com- curements, which is absolutely controlled mittee, Senator, Clever Ikisipo said that the Na- by the MDAs without the ministry’s imputes, tional Assembly would no longer tolerate a lack of proper planning of some of the projects, situation where legislators are constantly ha- as well as improper supervision on the side of rassed for this same reason. ‘’I must let you the MDAs,” he noted. know Mr. Minister that we at the National AsThe minister, nevertheless, assured that consembly are under pressure from our various tractors that have completed their jobs in 25 constituencies accusing us of only signing con- states after monitoring, have been certified for tracts and hijacking the funds without any payments as soon as possible because the Minconcrete evidence to show for them. istry of Finance has already released the funds “I must equally let you know our dear Minis- to the supervising MDAs. ter, that more worrisome are the legislators Contributing, the Permanent Secretary of the themselves, they come to the committee on a ministry, Mrs. Wilfred Oyo-Ita, said the monidaily basis complaining of being prevented toring exercise created a lot of awareness in the from knowing contractors handling their minds of the people as they have started seeing projects let alone having the idea of the speed the dividends of democracy as captured by the with which they carry out the jobs.” projects already completed. Senator Ikisipo, however directed the Min‘’I will use this opportunity to appeal to the istry to ensure that all contractors who have committee to ensure that this ministry is very meticulously finished their works be paid well captured in the 2014 budget,” she rewithout delay. He also called on the Minister marked. From the obvious, the constituency to expose any shady deals that may be ob- projects may continue to nourish above menserved in the course of the monitoring. tioned problems except the Legislative and ExResponding, the Minister, Alhaji Kabiru Tu- ecutive arms of government sit together, review raki, used the forum to open up on all chal- the overall objective of the projects devoid of lenges confronting the Ministry and by undue politicking and perhaps, ensure that all extension, the projects themselves. aspects of the programme and projects are fully Turaki said, ‘’I am very happy that this com- handled by the supervising ministry of Special mittee is here. In the first place, I must quickly Duties and Inter-governmental Affairs. say that this Ministry was fully established in This singular move will help to douse tension March this year, this means that it has no and friction between the MDAs versus the Spebudgetary provisions for year 2013. ” cial Duties Ministry as well as the Apart from the above, the ministry is facing contractors and the legislators.
By Cleopatra Eki
‘M
OBOLAJI Abijo belongs to the new generation of self-employed Nigerians, who see only possibilities where others see failure and frustration. Jovial, polite and vastly talented, the Chief Executive Officer of Boslapam Nigeria Consult said his organisation specializes in exportation of agro-allied products such as shea-butter, bitter-kola, charcoal and chilly pepper among others. He is an expert in all fields of exportation and in training of individuals or corporate organisation interested in exportation business. Mobolaji believes that the exportation business is not well harnessed but is more lucrative than the importation business because it creates wealth and would boost the nation’s economy. His office located at Seun road, off Funsho Avenue behind the Teslim Balogun Stadium Surulere, Lagos has a staff strength of six and other contract workers outside the office. He is also an Executive member of Network of National Shea-butter Co-operatives. According to him, in the past he had ventured into businesses like importation of cars and travels/tours. However, he has fully settled for agro-allied pursuits in the past six years, which is an advantage to enable him meet today’s business challenges. Abijo stated that his company is dully registered with appropriate government agencies like CAC, NAFDAC, SON, immigrations and Customs with export license in order to do exportation business and he does not cut corners. He noted that consistency, perseverance and prompt delivery of products and services gives the organisation an edge over similar companies as well as poise to meet the clients’ needs at all times. He said: “Boslapam Nigeria Consult specializes in the ex-
‘Exportation business is wealth creation’ portation of agro allied products such shea-butter, bitter-kola, ginger, chilly pepper and host of others with the aim and objectives of using our local currencies to bring back foreign currencies to boost the nation’s coffers.” A more interesting aspect of the Urban and Regional Planning graduate is that he loves hard working people and enjoins them to come into exportation of agro-allied products, which is in huge demand and very few persons are harnessing it. According to him, “most young people are wasting away, others want to get rich quick without hard –work, while others don’t want to work in the bushes/farms where they would feed themselves, families and society.” He advised this generation of young Nigerians to take advantage of the progressive and profit-making business of agro-allied products. “Ghana’s government has huge vote for shea-butter and encourages the youths to do the business. What is the size of Ghana when compared to Nigeria?” he remarked. Abijo observed that Nigeria is a major player in crude oil business but can do more to improve the lot of her citizens, if there is diversification to agriculture. He went on: “In the past, agriculture produces pyramids of groundnuts from the North; Cocoa from the South, we have to embrace agriculture or agro-farming. Sadly, since our high dependence on oil boom, most youths leave the rural areas for the urban areas for white-collar jobs, abandoning farming for the elderly. Some of the youths are not patient; they want to have everything before venturing into business. This is not necessary because it is better to start with little capital/fund and allow your business to grow. “Although the Nigerian government partially supports exportation business through the Bank of Industry which only supports your business stability after three years of existence, but more awareness is needed to showcase agro-allied products than to rely on crude oil earnings.” He advised jobless youths to embrace farming or agriculture like fish farming, rice production among others, whether in a small or large scale, because the population has high demand for food. According to him, they would start exporting products in kilograms or tonnes depending on their financial status; he believes that there is a huge market in the exportation business that the youths are not tapping into. He also enjoined them to associate with co-operative societies of agriculture to benefit. Abijo organizes three regu-
lar training programmes in a year for prospective exportation business people, which covers introduction and understanding the nitty-gritty of agro-export, learning how to use export to overcome financial problems and understanding export marketing plans. He mentioned some of the nitty-gritty areas of the business as including the registration of the business with Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), working with relevant government agencies (Immigration, Customs, SON, NAFDAC, Nigeria Chambers of Commerce for exportation, acquiring export licence, having a domiciliary account for foreign business transactions, proper documentations, a small office or start from your home, looking for genuine foreign buyers for your local products and sourcing for local products and sellers. Abijo, however, cautioned prospective agro-allied export owners to be wary of fraudulent foreign investors especially those who use the Internet to swindle unsuspecting local sellers. He suggested that such investors (individuals/companies) should be properly verified or checked at or from the various embassies, that is, get data from the embassies so that they don’t fall prey to foreign swindlers. Some of the challenges associated with exportation business, he observed, include that one should be abreast of the exchange rates of local and foreign currencies, know the various means of foreign payments and documentations like Free on Board, Cash on Delivery, cash against documentation, Bill of Lading, letters of Credit as well as identifying genuine documents from fake ones. He advises them to avoid cutting corners and work with appropriate government agencies to meet the standards and specifications of goods. They should also be familiar with foreign contracts and terms, stressing: “if you don’t understand or knowledgeable about the terms and conditions of any contract, try to consult a lawyer; endeavor to know the market prices locally and internationally too.” He loves travelling and relaxes during his trips while purchasing his products or raw materials. He goes to Minna, Niger state for sheabutter, Saki, Oyo State for bitter-kola, Nasarawa State for chilly pepper and Kwara State for charcoal. Abijo’s Philosophy of life is, “Do good while you are still on earth and when you die, you still have a good legacy.” Abijo, a native of Lagos Island, attended elementary school in Lagos, Federal Government College, Minna, Niger State and Federal University of Technology, Akure where he read Urban and Regional Planning.