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1bn for ‘BH’: Loan or supplementary appropriation?

I would like to bring to your attention, the urgent need to upgrade the equipment, training and logistics of our Armed Forces and Security Services to enable them more forcefully to confront this (Boko Haram) threat”.

I want to improve on our achievements – Umeh

As the September 30 election into the Nigeria Football Federation Executive Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation draws near, outgoing First Vice President, Chief Mike Umeh sees himself in a pole position ahead of other contestants for the NFF presidency. Umeh and Maigar Umeh and Maigar Umeh has the uphill task of warding off what is expected to be stiff contests from the likes of Amanze Uchegbulam, Amaju Pinnick, Taiwo Ogunjobi, Shehu Dikko and Dominic Irofa to the NFF hot seat. But the Anambra FA Chairman said he is not cowed by the calibre of the other contestants, pointing out that he had the advantage of being the incumbent Vice President. “As the incumbent Vice President, I should be the number one candidate then others will follow,” Umeh said in Lagos yesterday. He hopes to ride on the back of the achievements of the Aminu Maigari-led board to the secure victory at the poll, pointing out that “we as a board were very lucky because we surpassed the achievements of all the boards before us.” Continuing, the former Chairman of Rangers International Football Club of Enugu said, “I hope to dwell on our achievements because they were areas we did very well and certainly there were others that needed improvements. SoI hope to improve on our achievements.” Umeh is confident the Super Eagles will improve and eventually secure a ticket to the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. “Nothing good comes easy,” he said in reference to the Super Eagles poor start to qualifiers. “We have to put all that behind us and forge ahead. I know if the team puts its acts together, we will qualify.” - See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/09/want-improve-achievements-umeh/#sthash.OkmwF80Q.dpuf

Regulators must protect consumers by firm and fair regulations — Loremikan

Shina LOREMIKAN is a seasoned human and workers’ rights activist who has struggled on social-based issues, including democratic and constitutional processes, for over two decades alongside prominent civil rights activists such as Barrister Femi Falana and the late Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti, etc. The Coordinator of the Campaign Against Impunity, he has also worked as the Secretary of the Campaign for Democracy and Human Rights (CDHR), and is with the Consumer Rights Advocacy Network of Nigeria. In this interview, he tackles one of the important concerns of the consumer in Nigeria… You have been on a campaign against pirate marketing in the alcoholic beverages industry, which involves two of the biggest players in the sector. What is your concern with this? Thank you very much. It’s good that you observed that this act of pirate marketing involves two heavyweights in the alcoholic beverage industry, with one seeking to gain an edge over the other through unfair practices. Naturally, in marketing there is competition, particularly between or among those who offer a similar range of products and services, which cater to about the same needs or wants. Shina-LOREMIKAN Shina-LOREMIKAN Every company is struggling to gain a larger market share and hence profits, but one should not seek to gain advantage over the competition through unscrupulous or underhand means. That definitely violates certain codes, principles and legislation that protect the marketing of goods and services in the country. All cannot be said to be fair in war, as even the Geneva Convention has clauses that seek to protect groups like prisoners and the weak during the physical acts of combat between nations. That is basically our concern. We have a situation in which one of the two major breweries you referred to has embarked on a conscious and deliberate programme of de-marketing the other, which is its close competitor in the alcoholic beverages sector. This situation leaves me with no option but to describe the affected competitor as the ‘assaulted brewery,’ because of the perceived underhand method by which the aggressor brewery goes into meeting with major retail outlets across the country and inducing them with juicy incentives not to stock, display or sell the products of the assaulted brewery. We reliably gathered that some of the incentives offered include branded promotional materials like refrigerators, coolers, seating sets, larger discounts on sales and regular supply of crates of free products. This becomes a concern for us because consumers are being manipulated and coerced into switching allegiance, out of necessity or availability, and made to patronise brands of beer and malt drinks that might not have ordinarily been their first choice. This is an unfair creation of artificial scarcity. How did you get to know about this? The Consumer Rights Advocacy Network of Nigeria (CRANN) is a coalition of NGOs and civil society groups who have come together to monitor and intervene in trends relating to how consumers in Nigeria perceive or are satisfied with the goods/services being offered across board by corporate organisations and other levels of entrepreneurs. We came about as a result of a general climate of dissatisfaction with a lot of goods and services in Nigeria, and due to the observation that there is a general weakness in regulation that makes several organisations or entrepreneurs get away with the provision of bad products/services. We operate through support for the activities of our different member organisations on consumer-based issues, and we also have an office where people can report incidences that infringe their rights as consumers. Once we receive genuine complaints, we take these up with the relevant organisations involved and seek redress. We became aware of this issue of pirate marketing in the alcoholic beverages industry because many people complained to us in their capacity as consumers and potential consumers. Equally, a number of complaints came through our member organisations from various parts of Nigeria. Can you expatiate on how this has become an issue for consumer rights advocacy? Essentially, within most marketing spaces, the sanctity of the consumer’s ability to choose from a range or variety of products is usually guaranteed and protected by legislation. The consumers’ space for choice should ordinarily be expansive and protected, and most organisations offering goods and services are generally aware of this, which is why we have fair competition and anti-competitiveness laws in our legal books in Nigeria. However, it becomes insidious when a corporate organisation endeavours at de-marketing its competition by offering those manning the distribution channels incentives as a way of monopolising the market and earning more revenue at the expense of competition. It is like turning marketing into a crude war strategy, instead of a refined strategy that promotes products, grows their brand identity, and ensures their success within a context of fairness. Our position is that even if our hardworking marketers of products have hard-pressing targets, they must still strive to win by fair means. We strongly believe this to be highly unethical, as it narrows the space for choice in what ought to be an open and free market place. Why should the consumer be forced to compromise his or her choice and patronise only what is available? For us at CRANN, unethical marketing practices leaves the consumer unsatisfied and short-changed, and is a corporate crime that needs to be addressed in very strong terms. It must be stopped to allow for the growth and development of the alcoholic beverages sector and the Nigerian economy, and as a way of ensuring investor confidence in our country. Does this sort of marketing portend negative consequence for the national economy in any way? Certainly, Anti-competitive marketing always has very negative consequences for any economy that fall victim to it because it kills competition and entrenches monopoly. This is bad for sectoral growth and development, while also jeopardising the livelihoods, incomes and tax-paying capacities of the numerous people who are part of the income-chain tied to the other levels of the competition, which is the alcoholic beverage industry in this case. Sadly, it is this sector today, but it might be another one tomorrow, as people, including marketers are always looking out to replicate models that appear to work, whether it is ethical or not. So, how do you think that this situation can be resolved and justice granted to the organisation you refer to as the ‘assaulted brewery’? This is clearly a case for regulation, signifying a playing ground that is not level, where the underhand practices of certain organisations are not sanctioned or penalised. There is need for fairness in marketing practices, predicated on allowing industry players in the sector freedom to operate on a level ground, according to the same rules and on equal terms, while guaranteeing appropriate and unbiased regulation by concerned agencies. This necessitates firm, fair, acceptable and impartial regulation as a way of checking the tendency of corporate bodies to act in unethical and unscrupulous ways. Only efficient institutions promote growth and development in the economy, and the country as a whole. - See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/09/regulators-must-protect-consumers-firm-fair-regulations-loremikan/#sthash.yQfi9sFm.dpuf

I threw away SIM cards worth millions of Naira — Tobi-Williams Dimoji

He has never done anything else but business. His experience traversed from tel e-communications to shipping and now publishing, properties and computers. Okey Tobi-Williams Dimoji is popular in his line of business with headquarters in Anthony Village , Lagos where a street is named after him. The graduate of University of Nigeria, Nsukka is currently undergoing his P.hd programme in the same University after an eight year sojourn in the United Kingdom where he ran a shipping business. Here, he talks about his business experience. Excerpts. What is your business story? Tobi-Williams Dimoji Tobi-Williams Dimoji Really, I have a media background. Both my first and second degree were in Mass Communication. I started my business with telecommunications. Before the advent of GSM, we were a leading telecommunication company in Nigeria. The company then was called, ROYAL STRIDE Nigeria LTD. I would say that we laid the foundation for the take off of GSM in the country. Of course, this is an age of public relations and every one will like to be recognized, so, we are also into public relations and publishing and we handle events for people. We were deep in telecommunication in Nigeria and ushered in the GSM business. Explain how you ushered in the GSM business? Before the GSM came into Nigeria , there were a lot of noise about its coming and a lot of people look forward to its coming. Apart from MTEL, which was a major player, there were nothing like, MTN, ETISALET, AIRTEL and others. MTEL then had something they called agents and you must be accredited before you can play a role then. We were one of those agents and then at that point, we had almost about 15 branches in the country. And before the advent of GSM, we had serious seminars where we invited most of those network providers. But then, somewhere along the line, most of those agents who were accredited by MTEL at that time were already used to a certain regime in which the network provider for instance was not a player in the retailership of their services. A lot of people thought it was going to be the thing. But then, when the GSM network came, the game was quite different. They became marketers. A lot of agents as well because of their anticipation of what GSM was going to be went to borrow money from the banks to support their business. Unfortunately for them, these banks were supporting the networks. Until CBN sanctioned them, the banks were selling GSM inside their banking halls. So, you go around to borrow money from a bank to do business and you go back there next time to discover that the bank was doing the same business that you are doing. At the end of the day, the networks did not play the roles the way they were being played under the MTEL era. The resultant effect was that you found yourself competing with the network providers who have not as at that time streamlined what their operations was going to look like. It is only now that they have found their level and of course, have streamlined everything. For someone like me at a time, one of these network providers did what they called, “Buy One, Get One Free, BOGOF”. What we did was that we bought a bundle of mobile phones with SIM cards and paid like N20,000 and before you know what was happening, the prices of SIM cards were crashing. Sometimes, you got stuck with the ones you have. And if you notice, when GSM came for the first time, SIM cards were sold for N10,000, N5,000, N2,000 then but now, they are sold for N100. Some of us were hoping that there was going to be an official scarcity sort of so that we could sell and recover our money because in those days when there was an official scarcity of goods, you could rocket your prize. But this thing kept crashing until it was sold for N100. This affected 100% of all the former agents and that was why they all crashed. Including your business? Yes, we had to pull out because the thing affected everybody. Just like I said, the network providers were as at that time trying to streamline themselves and have a good framework under which the agencies could work. So, those who are really surviving now are those who were never part of the former NITEL era. How much did you lose during this period? We lost a lot of money. I remember throwing away over N2 million worth of SIM cards because, we bought these phones and SIM cards and before you know what was happening, the prices crashed. Why did you not sell them at give-away prizes then? There was this constant hope that things would change but they didn’t. They kept crashing and you didn’t know what the next day would look like. It was only recently that anybody who wants to enter into the business knows what he or she is going in for. Even at that time, the networks were finding it difficult to operate. That was why networks like ECONET has undergone so many changes. Afterward, we moved on to so many things. I was in UK for eight years and I ran a very successful shipping company. The business is still there in the UK. Why did you decide to leave a very lucrative business like shipping in UK in the hands of other people to come back to Nigeria? Nigeria is my country and they say home is haven. Shipping is a very vast area and it all depends on the branch of shipping you’ re doing. I am doing international shipping. The branch of shipping I wanted to do was the one that required my presence, so I was there for eight years. But then, Nigeria is our country and we cannot be in another man’s land for ever. That is why I have decided to come back. The business is still there and we are running that with a good management but I have decided to invest in some other things too. What other things are you into now? I am into publishing. Now, that is my course of study in the University. We are also into public relations and advertising under the company name, Wesley & Bryan Limited. Publishing is something I studied for seven years. I have a BA and an MSC in Mass Communication. I have also, enrolled to do a PHD programme in University of Nigeria, Nsukka. I saw a copy of Computer Village Weekly published by you? What is the inspiration for it? I noticed that a lot of things goes into the market which the major newspapers in the country would not be able to capture. The market is a billion dollar market and I discovered that the main stream media might not be able to cover a lot of their activities. That was why we decided to float that. It is meant to capture what goes there since that is where major telecommunication companies in the country comes to market their products. So, we feel that as long as you use a mobile phone or a computer, you cannot do without the computer village. So, the paper is sort of a community paper. How would you compare running a business in Nigeria to running a business abroad? Of course, there are a lot of advantages about being in Nigeria to do your own thing, whether you like it or not. Here you meet your old school mates, your acquaintances, you also, meet people who are very connected to people. And don’t forget that Nigeria is a developing country and this means that you have a chance to be part of that development. So, when you are in a country like Nigeria that is developing, you should know that we are not just a developing country but we have resources. There are lots of developing countries that do not have resources but Nigeria is a developing country with resources. The important thing is for you to simply sit down, analyze the country and ask yourself, where you can key in. It is not going to be that easy because the country is not just an easy place. But by the time you are able to understand the place and key in properly, every other thing will fall into place. - See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/09/threw-away-sim-cards-worth-millions-naira-tobi-williams-dimoji/#sthash.qwatXHVn.dpuf

Nigeria needs better enforcement against fake, unregistered products — Emeka Ajoiyi

Mr. Emeka Ajoiyi is the Country Manager, Inbisco Nigeria Limited, the commercial arm of Mayora Group. Noted for his remarkable business inclinations which came to light at a very young age, Ajoiyi was determined to reach the skies. Shortly after his university education, he ventured into entrepreneurship, then manufacturing of a good number of food products in the country. His voyage into manufacturing of quality food products in Nigeria endeared him to many other notable food products manufacturers across the world. In this chat with Vanguard, he opens up on his journey into manufacturing, what he thinks about the sector, why he became Country Manager, Inbisco Nigeria Limited, and lots more. Excerpts: Background Mr. Emeka Ajoiyi Mr. Emeka Ajoiyi After obtaining his Higher National Diploma (HND) in Marketing from the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu in 1997, Ajoiyi went on to the University of Calabar where he obtained a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management. Not done yet, Ajoiyi who is a member of the Chattered Institute of Marketing (CIM) United Kingdom, member, National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN), Associate Member, Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) etc., proceeded to ESUT Business School in Enugu where he obtained a Master’s degree in Business Administration, specializing in Marketing all in his bid to sharpen his entrepreneurial skill and be on top of his game. He worked with Cadbury Nigeria PLC so many years before moving to Inbisco Nigeria Limited What we do According to Mr. Ajoiyi, Inbisco Nigeria Limitedprovides Nigerians with “safe, delicious and affordable food products such as candies, chocolate, wafers, biscuits, cookies etc., mostly to the delight of Nigerian children as well as children all over the world.” Job creation He said the business which is less than three years old, currently employs about 40 qualified Nigerians. “It is also providing secondary employment to almost 1000 citizens of this country. This is apart from the quality and affordable food brands that Nigerians enjoy from the stables of Inbisco. Challenges Speaking on the challenges facing the business, Ajoiyi regretted that despite being a good corporate citizen that complies with all regulations especially declaration and remittance of taxes, Inbisco Nigeria, like every business has its own challenges. “Every business comes with its own start-up challenges. In our own case, we had enormous challenges starting up the business in Nigeria. First was cost of funds. It is unattractive to borrow from within Nigeria when compared to other parts of the world and this puts the business under a lot of pressure. Another issue is start-up regulatory bureaucracies that force one to skip timelines more than once; there is lack of credible data to aid commercial planning. Finding the right people to employ is always challenging although our business is more of an equal opportunity type of business and does not discriminate against any set of individuals. Once an individual is qualified in his/her field, he/she has the chance of becoming relevant to his society. “There is also the market challenge or the challenge of competition. It is rather funny that you never get to meet these challenges the way you left them the day before. Thankfully, our products are of mass appeal for all ages and social economic classes,” he said. Sourcing raw materials “We never had much constraints in this regard and on many occasions, we source abroad as we are looking forward to consistent supplies here in the country. Business regulatory requirements “Being a food company, all our products go through NAFDAC registration. This forms part of the initial regulatory requirements we comply with before bringing any brand to the market.” While appealing to government to assist businesses by providing basic infrastructure, Ajoiyi said: “In general, I think we need to emulate some countries in infrastructure development especially power. We also need to form strong institutions that can confront our national challenges as they occur. The importance of security to investment cannot be overemphasized. For the food industry in particular, there is need for better enforcement against fake and unregistered product entry and distribution in Nigeria. The market is currently flooded with food products that no one can attest to their safety and unsuspecting consumers are mostly at risk,” he stated. - See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/09/nigeria-needs-better-enforcement-fake-unregistered-products-emeka-ajoiyi/#sthash.wsxeqcLP.dpuf

Oboli thanks fans, says doing something new a bit scary

After a successful two weeks in cinemas ‘Being Mrs Elliott’ the highly anticipated movie from Nollywood actress, director and producer, Omoni Oboli has lived up to expectations in the cinema with high box office sales. Speaking on the acceptance rate of the movie at the cinemas, Omoni said “the rate at which the movie was accepted is overwhelming. It was really worth all the sleepless nights and hard work, just to see the way ‘Being Mrs Elliott’ was accepted. During the premiere, the cinema release, I felt so loved and appreciated. According to her “I couldnt have done it without all lovers of Omoni. Doing something I had not done before was a bit scary. But seeing the love, acceptance, encouragement, prayers and calls, I know that I am on the right path. Even at the cinemas, people were always telling me “Omoni, you did well”, “congratulations” “way to go girl”, and I am indeed grateful.” - See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/09/something-new-bit-scary-omoni-oboli-confesses-thanks-fans/#sthash.FADQfLe2.dpuf