Women coalition seeks gender balance at confab

NECA’s Network of Entrepreneurial Women (NNEW), in collaboration with a coalition of women associations, has called on the Federal Government to address gender equality and increase the number of women to participate at the forthcoming national conference.

   Speaking with newsmen in Lagos yesterday, NNEW’s 1^st Vice President and head of the advocacy committee, Fayo Williams, regretted that of the 492 delegates, only about 72 or 14.6 per cent would be women.

   According to her, “the list excludes some critical interest groups where women are significantly represented, especially the entrepreneurs and women in the rural areas, who do not belong to any formal group.

   “All effort must be made to ensure that the delegates structure is designed to foster adequate involvement as prescribed by the 1995 African Charter for Popular Participation in Development and Transformation.

   “Since the conference is geared towards charting a new future for Nigeria and women constitute more than half of its population, the women demand equal representation of men and women or at the very least, 35 per cent representation.”

By Adeniyi Idowu Adunola

Dana Motors partners Kia on raising autoplant in Nigeria

As part of efforts to drive the nascent national automobile industry initiative, Dana Motors limited, has signed an agreement with Kia Motors Corporation of South Korea, to establish an assembly plant in Nigeria.

  Dana Motors, which is the sole distributor of Kia motor in Nigeria, said it was part of its commitment to the development of the auto policy in Nigeria.

  According to the auto firm, the choice of the firm was not out of place considering its technical know-how and world class facility.

  Dana said the Korean auto giant would provide the technical know-how for plant, machinery and assembly of the vehicles, restructuring its existing short term obligation to align with investment done in long term assets.

  The Auto policy forms part of the agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan’s Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan and the National Enterprise Development programme. The President’s plan is commendable and fully supported by Dana Motors and KIA, as it is setting the stage for a new era of industrial, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises development in the country intended to transform the nation’s industrial landscape, leading to an increase in skills development, job creation and conserve foreign exchange.

The Auto Policy, which has been promoted by the Ministry of trade and investment under the leadership of Dr. Olusegun Aganga, will accordingly fast-track industrialization, accelerate inclusive economic growth, transform Nigeria’s business environment stopping the drain foreign reserves by importing  and start production and assembly locally.

  Dana Management team led by Mr. Jacky Hathiramani (MD/CEO) and KMC official Mr. Homer Kim leading the delegation of officials from South Korea were present at the ceremony to sign the document in the presence of Director of policy and planning Luqman Mamudu for the National Automotive Council (NAC) representing the DG.

  The Director NAC, commended Dana Motors for taking a bold step to establish a Motor vehicle assembly plant which will create significant good quality employment and a wide range of technologically advanced manufacturing opportunities. Dana Motors CEO in his response said that Dana Motors aims to set an example for others to follow, with state of the art systems, technology and logistics applied to the assembly plant. He further communicated that the project has been planned to have minimal adverse effect on the health and safety of the workers.

   “Dana Motors aims to surpass customers expectations and with the growing population of KIA cars across Nigeria there is a need to better support for maintenance by upgrading facility and investing in people thereby creating jobs, increasing skills and ultimately producing cost effective vehicles and also to promote the development of the automobile sector and drive the components parts requirement of international standard at competitive prices” concluded Mr. Hathiramani.

By Adeniyi Idowu Adunola

Reliving the past with ‘Spirit of Lagos’

Several people would find it odd to hear that Lagos has a ‘spirit’. While it is not out of place to attribute a spirit to an emerging mega city such as Lagos, as it may conjure some diabolical feelings to some; but in reality, Lagos has a spirit.

   A group already goes by the name ‘The Spirit of Lagos’ and they simply depict the essence of the commercial nerve centre of Sub-Sahara Africa. “It is the embodiment of all things good about Lagos and the very lifeline that connects its glorious past with its future that we dream of,” Olaniyi Omotosho, the project coordinator said.

   Omotosho is worried that the once vibrant, enterprising, fun-loving and accommodating spirit, which Lagos is known for, has been challenged and diluted by a combination of factors. This is a problem the group is determined to address through a creative campaign.

   The factors include widening gap between the government and the governed, poor quality of life, unemployment, high density/poor housing, education, healthcare, social/environmental services, which resulted in indifference and diminished sense of belonging towards communal development and sustainability.

   “The initiative is to discuss the development possibilities that can make the city a better place for all to live in. It will probably be the most transformative thing to happen in this city in several decades. And it is only fitting to have it taking place in Lagos, the crown jewel of the Nigerian economy. Hopefully, its success will spur renewed focus, across the country, on ambitious, value-adding infrastructure projects,” he stated.

   The group noted: “As apathy deepens over time and people do not see a way out, a state of contagious depression, cynicism and negativity results. They loose all sense of restraint and violate established laws with adverse effect on them and society at large.

   “People become desperate and look to survive by any means necessary. Social values spiral down, as people stop caring for one another. This manifests in increased armed robbery, vandalism, lawlessness, road rage, kidnapping and others.”

   The group believes that recourse to social justice, equal opportunity, civic responsibility, citizenship education and good neighborliness would address the issues.

   Speaking on the subject of social justice, the group stated that Lagos historically has always been a fair and just place to live, both in terms of access to recourse for injustice and a collective responsibility to fight wrong to an individual or group.

   “History is replete with examples of these acts of liberation that make everyone ‘free’ in Lagos. These will be reenacted and presented to enliven Lagosians to a spirit that should never die through indifference and a lack of information of all that the government continues to put in place to ensure justice for all,” it explained.

By Adeniyi Idowu Adunola

Airtel rewards ‘Google Cloud App Developer’ challenge winners

Airtel Nigeria has rewarded some young Nigerians who excelled in the just-concluded Airtel/Google cloud applications development challenge.

  While announcing the winners in Lagos, The Director of Products and Services, Maurice Newa, said Airtel is committed to discovering talent hence its decision to partner Google in the app challenge.

  He said: “The Google cloud development challenge was an initiative Airtel Nigeria identified as very impactful thus threw its full weight behind it because of our commitment to creating credible platforms for the development of local talents and also providing Nigerian youths with plethora of opportunities to succeed.”

  Jambite online prep school app fetched the duo of Aneke Chidindum and Nosa Harry Belvi the third position while Mapplusyou app secured Adewale Obadimo and Ayodele Adebayo the second place slot. The star prize of N1 million went to Femi Taiwo and Tunde Owokoniran with Funnyleni app.

  The challenge, according to the organisers, was aimed at testing the knowledge of Nigerians and indeed Africans on how well they know the web, in various categories such as social & entertainment; education, business & non-profit.

  Programme Manager Outreach, Sub-Saharan Africa, Google, Chukwuemeka Afigbo averred that “one thing Google hold dear is the importance of the web and the importance of the Internet is the relevance of the web.”

  Afigbo observed that the importance of the app challenge was to encourage young Nigerians to get creative with the web and to encourage best practices amongst best app users.

  He noted that the winning apps were based on relevance to the Nigerian environment, originality and the responsiveness of the app to different screen-size phone, tablet or regular screen.

  Aneke Chidindum, developer of the Jambsite online prep school app, explained that the idea behind the app is to create an avenue where web users can learn various subjects and assess one’s self instead of the usual social media which gets heavy visitors on a daily basis.

  The second and third place winners were rewarded with N500, 000 and N250, 000 respectively.

By Adeniyi Idowu Adunola

MTN thrills youths at Valentine party

IT was a night of splendid and memorable entertainment at the weekend as the telecommunications giant, MTN, hosted thousands of Nigerian youths at a Valentine Rave party held at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos.

 The event was marked by good music and a convivial setting, as the young and not-too-young Nigerians came out to take advantage of the platform to give and receive love in an atmosphere of fun and excitement.

 Speaking on the reason for the event, General Manager, Consumer Marketing, Kola Oyeyemi, said: “We at MTN are committed to greatly impacting lives. We love the youth of this country and we want to create a platform where this love from us to the customers and also amongst the customers themselves can be celebrated with good music.”

 " Nigerian youths have chosen to be here over other places tonight, they want to have fun on Valentine night. We promised a lot and we are indeed delivering on our promises,” he added.

  As Nigeria’s popular DJs dished out monster hits from their wheels of steel one after the other, the crowd roared in delight.

  Led by Jimmy Jatt, each DJ proved his mettle to convince the audience they were worth all the hype and praises that were heaped on them prior to the event.

  Others on the wheels of steel mixing, blending and scratching to the delight of the excited crowd were Big N, Caise, Neptune and Obi. One after the other, they churned out heart thumping numbers from the past, the not-too-distant past and the raves of the moment.

  Then came the performances by the best of Nigerian musicians. Sound Sultan did not fail to impress as he and his crew rocked the staged, effectively setting the tone for other performances. Then came Chidinma (a.k.a Miss Kedike) who held the ageless crowd captive as she thrilled the crowd with her sing-along signature track "Kedike". 

 Then came Praiz. As soon as he started singing "Oshe", the crowd erupted in recognition of the track, which is one of those currently ruling the airwaves. After that came the ‘First Lady’ of Nigerian music scene - Tiwa Savage and her sultry dancers. Like those before her, she also did not disappoint, as did her best to wow the crowd. She started out by singing a love song to all the guests. Then as if to underscore the importance of the event and her audience, she taunted, "my husband allowed me to come out here on a Valentine’s night because you are all special!”

  International music star Mario Winans also performed to the excitement of the guests. He noted: “I’m so happy to be with you guys, and I promise to keep coming to Nigeria “because I love you guys."

By Adeniyi Idowu Adunola

Lagos disburses N47.4b into RSA

Lagos State Government has so far disbursed over N47.4 billon into the Retirement Savings Accounts, (RSAs), of the state retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme.

 The Director-General, Lagos State Pension Commission (LASPEC), Rotimi Adekunle Hussain, disclosed this recently, at the 10th Retirement Bond Certificates presentation to employees, who recently retired from the state’s public service.

 Hussain, said the state government had been steadfast in its commitment at sustaining full implementation of Contributory Pension Scheme even beyond the present administration.

 He added, “From the inception of the scheme in 2007 to date the government has contributed about N47.4b being monthly deduction of 7.5 per cent of the basic, rent and transport allowances from the salary of every worker and counterpart 7.5 per cent contribution by the state government, into the RSA of every employee with the state approved Pension Fund Administrators (PFA).

“The development is in line with Fashola administration’s determination to make life meaningful for employees of the public service after their retirement.”

 He further explained that LASPEC remained resolute that every employee in the state public service is adequate equipped and empowered with the necessary knowledge contribution pension scheme before exiting the scheme.

According to him, the Lagos State Pension Reform Act 2007 is aimed at protecting the retirement benefits of the workers, promote good pension administration and reduce the risk mostly associated with the previous pension laws to the barest minimum.

To this end, Hussain advised all the retirees to live their life in retirement responsibly and not to engage themselves in businesses that could put their retirement benefits at undue risk

 Before this recent development, the state government was said to have paid a total accrued pension right of N18.97bn into the RSA of 3,489 retirees.

Adeniyi Idowu Adunola

US business group visits Nigeria, to partner entrepreneurs

An Atlanta, US-based group, Geek Gone Global, is currently visiting Nigeria to explore business opportunities in Nigeria and Africa.

Speaking with journalists after the visiting team was hosted by the Managing Director of Shod Systems Nigeria, Alhaji Hassan Sharafadeen; the head of the delegation, Faruq Hunter, who is the CEO of GeniusCorps Inc, US said the company is a conglomerate of 16 companies that came together to partner Nigeria and African countries with the objective of solving some problems associated with African rural communities.

“We are encouraging Africans to do things on their own and accomplish goals. We believe that Africa is investment haven, especially in the sectors like software development, distribution of energy and water and mostly agriculture. It is all about allowing the people to take control of their lives and destiny. We encourage African to shun the importation of food and make use of their local materials to boost their economy. The problem isn’t opportunity but awareness. So we are here to create awareness,” he said.

Geek Gone Global will also visit places like Dakar, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Nairobi and Cairo.

Earlier, Hassan had stated that the group and his own company have the same vision, which according to him, is to encourage and assist young Nigerians entrepreneurs start their own business at minimal cost by providing virtual office space opportunity to serve as soft landing and rapid smooth start up. 

“We encourage youths to become entrepreneurs early enough as this will further boost Nigeria economy instead of relying on government jobs that might not come,’’ Hassan said.

 By Adeniyi Idowu Adunola

Old students sue Osun over schools’ reclassification policy

A GROUP of old students of St. Charles Secondary School, Osogbo, Osun State, has asked the court to stop Governor Rauf Aregbesola from including the school in the ongoing merger and reclassification in the state.

  The suit, filed by a current student and Chief Funsho Abiri, a 1975 graduate of the school respectively, is seeking the court’s declaration that the governor’s action is illegal, null and void.

  In a motion ex-parte filed by their counsel, O.G. Olujimi & Co., the claimants are asking the court for, among others, an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the defendants from reclassifying the school pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit on the matter.

  Also, in a motion on notice, they contended that the governor’s executive declaration violated the Education (National Minimum Standards and Establishment of Institutions) Act CAP of 2004 and the National Secondary Education Commission et al Act CAP of 2004, both of which prescribes a national structure for secondary schools for the country and vest the power for restructuring them in the Minister of Education.

By Adeniyi Idowu Adunola

Bonluck debuts with buses, coaches

With improved high end technology aimed at upping the ante in the bus and coach segment, a Chinese motor company, Bonluck Nigeria Limited, has thrown its hat into the Nigeria market ring.  

  The company, which has over five decades of experience in building buses and coaches, is coming into the market with several unique selling propositions as enunciated by its Regional Managing Director, Friday Yange.

  At a briefing to herald the commencement of its operation in Nigeria, Yange said that the company’s product, which was from the stable of Jiangxi Kama Business Bus Company Limited of China, stands out as the preferred brand.

  He disclosed that Bonluck products had successfully passed Standard Organisation of Nigeria Products Assessment Conformity Program (SONCAP), Australia ADR Certification, US DOT Certification and EU ECE Certification.

  Bonluckbus is the first Bus and Coach manufacturer in China, exporting in large quantities to developed countries including the US and Australia with its intellectual property and Chinese national brand.

  The managing director noted: “Our products include 12 major series, covering all models of six-metre to 15-metre high-end passenger vehicles for inter city transportation, urban passenger vehicles, road passenger vehicles, Motor homes, special vehicles and commercial vehicles. In addition to marketing of compressed natural gas (CNG) luxury passenger vehicle and urban passenger vehicle, hybrid power passenger vehicle and urban passenger vehicle using Zinc air fuel cell.”

  He also stated that, the company has an international network of auto manufacturers and dealers adding that this will “enable us to source and import vehicles of all types and specifications upon customer’s request - should such vehicles are not readily available. Lead-time for these imports range from as low as four weeks to three months depending on the vehicle. We offer our corporate clients full package of services which include, full after-sales service support and repairs, one to two-year warranties depending on the vehicle, genuine spare parts, fleet branding and financial options.

  According to him the operation in Nigeria and Africa region would be specially for the sale of buses and coaches because they are ardent and strong believers in innovation; taking “pride in our various products and relationships, poised to become a preferred brand to our target market by providing efficient, durable, innovative products and services.”

  He assured that Bonluck understood that as times and market evolve, it will continue to re-invent, re-align and diversify its business interest such that it can remain competitive - evolving into auto assembling and manufacturing to serve Nigeria and the whole of Africa.

  The company plans to position itself as the preferred Bus and Coach Brand by providing cost effective and durable product through prompt after sales service support to customers and good returns to stakeholders.

  The company in China covers a total area of 150,000㎡ with 30,000㎡ of workshop area and has a modern production system and assembly plant. With a production capacity of 5,000 units of buses and coaches annually there is room for 10,000 units per year after expansion.

By Adeniyi Idowu Adunola

Primate Udofia Tasks Politicians On Forgiveness

PRIMATE of the African Church, His Grace, Rev. Emmanuel Udofia, has advised politicians to remain focused and forgive one another, as that is the mark of God’s children.

  He made this known during his visit to African Church, Salem, Lagos, recently. He said: “If we don’t forgive one another, nothing good will come out of it.”

  He said they should be disciplined and be exemplary role models, showcasing the qualities of Christ, as the light unto other people’s darkness, for the nation, society and the Church to be the very best, to happily live in and serve, at all times.

  He added that whatever they do now, they should remember that one day they would give account to God. “Wherever we are, we are there because God wants us to be there. And one day, He will call us to give account of it”.

  He urged them to rule in the fear of God, noting “When they have the fear of God in them, they will be able to plan well and do what they want to do with passion.”

  He also advised Christians wishing to go into politics to do so but that they should have the mind of serving and not for how much money will be earned in a month, how much money will come to his constituency or how much money he will embezzle. Rather, they should go there with the heart to serve their fatherland. “I believe if these was practiced, Nigeria will be a better place.”

By Adeniyi Idowu Adunola

Navy seeks concession for security hardware

The Nigerian Navy (NN) yesterday requested for more concessions in the purchase of Excess Defence Articles and other maritime security hardware from the United States.

The Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Rear Admiral Usman Jibrin, made the plea at the opening ceremony of the exercise Obangame Express 2014, the final planning conference, held in Lagos.

Jibrin urged the US to expand its current training support to the West African sub-region, to cover a wider area of human capacity development, as well as the number of beneficiaries.

He noted that the US government and its allies have been making concerted efforts to enhance the capability of the Gulf of Guinea nations to monitor and protect their territorial waters.

Others include the protection of the various exclusive economic zones from all forms of illegalities.

He added:``Many countries in the sub-region have benefited from the US facilitated maritime domain awareness facilities, as well as Excess Defence Article acquisitions.`We have been able to use the capacity so acquired in improving security within our maritime domain, in particular and the wider Gulf of Guinea maritime area.

By Adeniyi Idowu Adunola and Tolulope Okunlola