JUNE JULY 2021

Ifie Sekibo: Making Heritage Bank the Accelerator of Businesses and Productivity in Nigeria

by with No Comment BankingMonthly Post

Ifie Sekibo, MD/CEO Heritage Bank Plc smiles with satisfaction as the bank is buzzing with ideas and activities aligned to the future. The fact that the Nigerian authorities place so much importance on economic diversification away from a reliance on just the oil/gas sector to other areas like agriculture value chain, industry, tourism to technology with their eyes firmly on the future excites Sekibo. Looking at the government ERG agenda, he realises that the country has clearcut plans to becoming one of the world’s leading nations by around 2030.Then he makes the bank partner with businesses, great and small, to enhance their productivity and value creation.

Sights set on helping businesses succeed  and the future, the presence  of Heritage Bank Plc on the Nigerian banking landscape is a positive and timely intervention to propel the economy into more productivity. It also limits any negative impact on the government’s goals in maintaining fiscal sustainability and economic development in the long term leading to the government’s  development Vision.

Sekibo is a trend setter passionate with financing revolution in Nigeria. And his character is rubbing on Heritage Bank’s brand, with a lot of strategic partnerships with government(s) and private organizations.

Heritage Bank is passionate about helping businesses grow on all fronts with its different initiatives to deliver banking solutions that empower SMEs as they deliver products and services solutions to the public. This is because it recognises that SMEs stimulate growth and development within an economy. And it is at the forefront of helping the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) deliver its programmes to the people.

Under the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) and the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), Heritage has been providing on-lending funding to aggregated farmers to grow various products that serve as raw materials to the processors, thereby ensuring market linkages and access to the market as well as reduce importation and conserve Nigeria’s external reserves.

Through its strategic partnerships with government and private organisations, the bank has continued to make efforts to transforming the nation’s economy through championing entrepreneurial schemes for businesses and the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector is not left out. Its focus is on dependable job-creating sectors, such as education, agricultural value chain (fish farming, poultry, snail farming), cottage industry, mining and solid minerals, creative industry (tourism, arts and crafts), and Information and Communications Technology (ICT).

Over a year  ago,  Heritage launched the Nationwide Dukia-Heritage Bank Gold & Precious Metals which stands to create new opportunities for Nigeria to grow its potential reserves of 200 million ounces of gold. The Nationwide Dukia-Heritage Bank Gold & Precious Metals Buying Centre will fast-track 10per cent contribution of mining sector to GDP by 2026. Referring to this giant strides, the Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo remarked back then that the launch of this project between Heritage Bank and ‘Dukia Gold SPV’ would enable Nigeria to mine reserves properly, trade responsibly, refine locally and boost the nation’s foreign reserves.

Mr Sekibo is making so much happen at Heritage Bank, supported by a very solid board and a vibrant management team. Under their collective watch, the bank is showing a lot of commitments to create enabling environment, resources and support required to innovate and accelerate impactful solutions with the potential to radically improve financial inclusion/intermediation, health, automobile, agriculture, and other related problems affecting critical sectors of the economy.

In terms of the agricultural financing revolution, Heritage Bank is firing on all cylinders. In order to support the real sector and unlock food potentials, Heritage Bank Plc has provided over N5billion long term facility under the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS) to Triton Aqua Africa Ltd (TAAL).

TAAL known as Triton Farm accessed the CACS through Heritage Bank, which was used to set up aquaculture businesses; nursery/hatchery to produce fingerlings and brood stock in Ikeja and earthen ponds for catfish and Tilapia in Asejire, Iwo and Gambari towns in Oyo State.

Under the arrangement, TAAL will also help small-scale farms increase their fish production by making fingerlings available to them. In the short term, the loan is expected to help Triton double its current production capacity of 25,000 metric tonnes with a projection to scale it up to 100,000 metric tonnes in five years.

The bank also has thrown its weight behind Globus Resources Limited, a subsidiary of Triton Group, to flag off the second phase of afforestation programme in Oyo state.

Nigeria’s demand capacity for fish was estimated at 2.7million metric tons and the country currently produces 800,000 metric tons. Triton is now producing over 25,000 metric tons and with them on board, over 25,000 metric tons capacity will be added to our current production, the company’s projection is to exceed 100,000 metric tons in 5years.

At the state level, Heritage Bank entered into partnership with the Oyo State government in a multi-billion-naira project to give agriculture a boost. Under the initiative, the bank supported the Oyo State Agricultural Initiative, OYSAI, a programme designed to revive agriculture, boost agro-allied businesses and massive empowerment programme for both youth and women across the state through the creation of thousands of jobs in the sector.

This huge, albeit laudable, project that is spread across 3,000 hectares of land in 28 of the 33 Local Government Areas of Oyo State is in three stages: food crop cultivation, cash crop/horticulture, and food processing. Heritage Bank is supporting agro investors involved in this initiative with funds and advisory services and indications are that the programme has already led to more than 30 per cent increase in food production in the state.

The Bank has also supported thousands of small holder farms in Kaduna and Zamfara states to benefit from the bank’s financial support for rice and soya beans production under the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP).

Equally, Heritage Bank’s role in GEZAWA Commodity Market and Exchange Ltd is a big testimony of the bank’s commitment to agriculture. With this particular initiative, the Nigerian agricultural sector is set to witness a huge growth, as Heritage Bank Plc the lead settlement bank for Gezawa Commodity Market (GCMX) has collaborated with key stakeholders to revolutionise agricultural value-chain, aimed at providing fully integrated ecosystem for commodity Exchange.

Heritage Bank was appointed as the Lead Settlement Bank and Transaction Adviser to the Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Ltd. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the two firms last year, with over 10, 000 farmers in 3000 cooperatives in the 44 local governments of Kano States hosted. The partnership between the bank and the Exchange would facilitate the ease of agro commodity trading in a more structured way, especially with the closeness to the Dawanu, the largest grain market in Africa.

The MD/CEO of Heritage Bank Plc, Ifie Sekibo, who was a panelist at the 2nd GCMX Farmers’ Cooperative Forum in Kano then, stated that the partnership was targeted to de-risk the sector that would bring about structured and enhanced agro-business and attain food security that leads to economic development.

Sekibo, who was represented by the Executive Director, Jude Monye explained that the partnership which would help bridge the huge gap associated to risk, will fast track effective price discovery mechanism and traceability and enhanced trade settlement services.

According to him, with its assigned position Heritage Bank would play a pivotal role in ensuring that there would be an effective and readily available platform for market linkages among players in the agribusiness value chain, involving FMCGs, warehouse operators, collateral managers, processors, farmers’ cooperatives to transact in a seamless way that guarantee quality, quantity, payment and delivery.

Speaking the event, the ED/CEO of Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Segun Awolowo, was confident that the initiative would help foster diversification of non-oil export trade, stating that NEPC would ensure that the primary for the signing of the MoU would be achieved, whilst calling for the need to ensure adequate and seamless supply of agricultural commodities for the business to be sustainable.

The Gezawa Project Consultant, Binchang Binfa, Managing Director of Makarios Global Resource, disclosed, “the ultimate goal was to unlock the vast potential of agricultural value chain via partnerships and synergy with likeminded enterprises, organisations and institutions that will mutually create wealth, generate local employment and contribute significantly to the economic growth and GDP the nation.”

He stated that the Exchange would provide services on price discovery and transparency, increase foreign exchange earning capacity, commodity storage and warehouse receipt system, employment generation of 15, 000 direct and indirect jobs, investment opportunities, increase in non-oil export, ease of doing business, weather report, soil test report, as well as 24/7 online trading of commodities on a live trading platform.

Apart from all mentioned above, Heriatage Bank has continued to support Nigeria’s aspiration and roadmap to become a leading Information Communication Technology (ICT) Hub in Africa, The Bank gave out the sum of $40, 000 grants to winners of the maiden edition of HB Innovative Lab.

Worthy of note is the bank’s giant stride in support of tourism, aimed at boosting Nigeria’s tourism via creative arts industry through support and sponsorhip.  Its commitment to the development and growth of the creative industry is quite encouraging, where it holds monthly draws.

Heritage Bank has continually fulfilled its promises to support the Nigerian Creative Industry, as millionaires emerged from the YNSPYRE product in collaboration with the CREAM Platform.The Heritage Bank’s YNSPYRE event commenced on a great note when D’banj and CREAM Platform introduced the CREAM Merit winners for March, BERRI, a music artiste who carted away sum of N10million in form of promotional, while Clara Aden, a visual artist received N1million in financial support and Hanzy, a music artiste got over N1million Naira in form of mentorship support as well as Merchandise support from partner company – Boomplay.

For instance, the April Raffle Draw produced 10 lucky winners of N50,000.00 each while cheques of N200,000 each were also presented to 5 Winners from the March 2021 Draw.

The epoch-making event, held at the Balmoral Hall of Federal Palace Hotel in Lagos had in attendance alongside Divisional Head, Corporate Communications, Heritage Bank – Fela Ibidapo; Dapo Oyebanjo a.k.a D’banj and his partner – Oje Anetor; notable dignitaries from different walks of life – Director General of the National Lotto Regulatory Commission, Lanre Gbajabiamila and Stanley Mukoro. Also present at the draw were – Sunday Are, Chief Damian Okoroafor, Poco Lee, representatives of the NLRC, Boomplay and members of the media.

It is also at the forefront of Financial inclusion in Nigeria. The country’s central bank has set an ambitious target of attaining a 95% rate of financial inclusion in the population by 2024. This is currently around 63.2%. The financially excluded is over-represented by people in the informal sector, many doing jobs such as harvesting crops, mining or selling goods at markets.

They are usually paid daily and do not have bank accounts. Despite not wielding much financial power individually, together, they contributed 65% to Nigeria’s GDP in 2018, making them a group that holds a lot of untapped potentials. It’s no wonder that the government has made catering to this sector a priority. Heritage Bank Plc is doing this.

With all these activities and more, it is clear that Heritage Bank Plc is pushing productive efficiency by supporting businesses, corporations and SMEs, creating millions of direct and indirect jobs in the country, helping to tackle unemployment in urban, semi-urban and rural communities. By so doing, Heritage Bank is moving Nigeria forward on the watch of Ifie sekibo.

tinubu 1

The Family Compound Politics of Bola Tinubu: Leader building and helping Leaders to the Top

by with No Comment Politics

Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu is an inspirational and developmental leader, with strong emotional intelligence. He believes in making more resources available to the people. He sees Nigeria’s biggest resources to be the minds of the people. If the minds of people are developed, they will be able to develop ideas for business, committed leadership and good governance and then help the state build prosperity where everyone is financially independent and able to cater for himself. So he believes in building a bigger cake so that everyone can have enough.

Tinubu  is a selfless person who possesses a solid negotiation and deal-making skills with a strong vision of tomorrow. Through creative endeavors, he builds the road to recovery, prosperity, and growth.  He is a politician who is not creating followers, but rather building leaders at various levels. His spectacular political network, his negotiation skills and understanding of deal-making, his propensity for spotting talent, building and helping leaders to the top are what endear him to many.

He gathers a preponderance of brilliant men and women who can take Nigeria to the zenith of greatness to work as a think-tank to fashion out Lagos development plan along his vision. And this expands his influence tremendously as its grows in national politics as well as West Africa international politics each passing day.

His political assets lie in a sort of family compound politics while many other leaders barricade themselves in castles with dogs at their gates. In the middle of this family compound, he sits a unifying figure who calms frayed nerves. Beyond any other thing, this is what gives Tinubu pre-eminence over all his contemporaries who were governors at the same time with him. While these are keeping followers who they have reduced to slavery and servitude, Tinubu builds leaders at different levels around himself. This explains why his yearly colloquim usually draws a large audience of quality people.

 

This is what has contributed to his glittering records and achievements in both the private and public sectors, to his general acceptance, to his formidable political network, to his popularity across West Africa.  In Sierra Leone Tinubu is a household name just as he is well-known in Liberia and Gambia as he is known in Ghana.

According to Dele Momodu, his excesses are mitigated by several strong and positive qualities. He is generous to a fault. He has lifted many souls, old and young, from penury and perdition. He is a classic example of the Good Samaritan.

In 2014, Tinubu demonstrated this in Sierra Leone. At that time, the Njala University in Sierra Leone awarded him a doctorate degree for his service to development in Africa. Njala University, marking its 50th anniversary was agog with over 6,000 people in attendance when Tinubu landed there in the company of the then Sierra Leonean President Ernest Bai Koroma.

“The key to our future is by investing in education and the lives of the youths who are the limbs, the hands of our development, so that Africa will not remain stagnant.” Tinubu  said, praising the University for the Quality Education it had offered thousands of youth through the years.

Tinubu excited the University faculty, students, their parents and community when he announced a 5-year rolling scholarship for 50 indigent students of the Njala University and also donated a building to the rebuilding efforts of the University. He said he had no other choice than to be part of rebuilding Sierra Leone, particularly a campus that was destroyed and abandoned for 15 years. He thanked the University for the honor awarded.

when Tinubu became Governor of Lagos state in 1999, there were multiple challenges on the way to achieving his aspirational vision of making Lagos state   become the best place in Nigeria and one of the best places in the world. The  educational facilities in the state needed much attention. Transportation system was chaotic, as the roads that the military left behind were terrible. From Abule Egba, Agege, Ikorodu, Badagry  to Lagos Island, the roads were mostly in bad shape. There was also a shameful waste management procedure. At that time, the filth in Lagos was massive, especially during the rainy season when heaps of corn husks would fill the side roads.  Hospital buildings were dilapidated and wards were often overcrowded and in deplorable condition. Court buildings, too, were equally in deplorable state. The problem of job creation was also there. Equally, the internally generated revenue ( IGR ) of Lagos was nothing to write home about. It was a paltry N600 million monthly.

His background in Accounting set him thinking. Having been head hunted by top accounting firms like Arthur Andersen and Deloitte, Haskins and Sells, and joined Mobil in Nigeria where he excelled and rose to become a top executive in the company, Tinubu believed he must not fail the people.

So he assembled some of the best Nigerian local and international minds  with  expertise to form a think-tank group that would help his government fashion out the blue-print  for Lagos state development in different areas: education, economy, environment, food security, security, transportation,  healthcare and productivity.

When the group submitted its findings to him, one thing struck him: investing in and qualifying citizens to become productively useful. This is not a luxury, it is essential for any society that seeks to be among the most advanced globally, and a role model of development, as is the case in Lagos state. There are many considerations in this regard:

First, he believes the progress and development of a nation or any society is inconceivable without capable and qualified individuals in various fields. Therefore, advanced countries have prioritised the human being, ensuring freedom and providing the means to qualify and empower individuals in all sciences, knowledge and skills to make them a key building block in the country’s progress. In this way the public are an active element in building civilisation and achieving a nation’s aspirations. “Men are the ones who build factories” and “the true wealth is that of men” are the best expression of his inspiring vision.

Second, was the focus on the economy. To do this, he reached out to the organized private sector and created the yearly Ehingbeti retreat where government officials  hold dialogue, with some private sector inputs.  This led to the idea of encouraging  knowledge economy. The state’s move towards a knowledge-based economy, which depends on vital fields such as IT, sciences, especially medical science, environment  and other areas of knowledge  required the existence of a qualified population adept in these fields. This would enable Lagosians to stay abreast of progress in the future as the state continues the comprehensive and sustainable development process it is experiencing.

During his term in office, he put on ground a sort of entrepreneurship incubation to develop the skills of Lagosians so that they would be able to cope with such challenges as those being ushered in by industry 4.0. now, through the gradual emergent of robotics and artificial intelligence,

In this regard, it is worth mentioning that the Lagos state University Medical College is one of the first university of its kind in Nigeria in terms of service delivery. This stresses that he while he was Governor of the state, Tinubu was keen to advance education to cope with new technologies to deliver quality healthcare to the teeming population of Lagos.

Third,  qualifying citizens through human capital development was crucial. Putting on ground mechanism for giving people, especially youth, access to different areas of knowledge and equipping them with modern skills in various fields that serve the goals of productivity and human dignity became central to Tinubu agenda then. So, it was necessary to provide some training programs in various fields to hone the skills of Lagosians with different educational levels. Development covers all, not just for graduates alone, but also other categories of people such as artisans as well. So that everyone would play a part in the advancement of the state, which “is moving toward a bright future.”

He ensured that this became a reality in the state. The successful implementation of which has become a priority for subsequent authorities in the state. Undoubtedly, equipping Lagosians with in-demand labour-market skills and specialisations would help achieve the objectives of this policy by providing different Nigerian entities with citizens capable of running them effectively and efficiently. This highly skilled workforce would also spearhead the development of many organisations, improving their services and the tasks they were entrusted with, in order to achieve their goals.

Fourth and most importantly, Tinubu gathered exceptional human resources for his leadership recruitment programme , infusing them with leadership and management skills. Thus a sort of  ‘leadership school’ came on board under his tutelage. Many of those occupying various levels of leadership positions in Nigeria today were once students of the school. Tinubu mentored them along developmental vision and began to help them climb to the top.

The “Tinubu leadership school”, which intensifies the need for qualified human resources able to keep pace with, and adapt to rapid global developments in governance landscape as well as the economic landscape, developing the soft skills and intelligence to solve problems and cope with developmental and governance challenges in Nigeria. This is on the back of Awoism philosophy and progressive tradition of development. Many politicians owe the success of their careers to Tinubu, notably Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, Femi Gbajabiamila, Rauf Aregbesola,  Lai Mohammed, Kayode Fayemi,  Babatunde Raji Fashola, Akinwunmi Ambode,  Engr  Ganiu Johnson,  Hon. James Faleke, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, Senator Tokunbo Abiru, Comr Tokunbo Jaji, Williams Genesis, Abike Dabiri

Half of all those currently occupying seats in the various houses of assembly in the south-west Nigeria have passed through Tinubu leadership school. His model has always been to encourage the younger generation for development. Dear to his mind is the need for a clear commitment to meet development targets, whether in the state or local government level.

The aim was to ensure they are aligned with the mechanisms and plans in place to achieve the aspirations and directives of the leadership that had made development a top priority, with the leadership’s goal to create opportunities for Nigerian citizens

When the APC was formed–a merger of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC, headed by current President Muhammadu Buhari), and the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA)–Tinubu was a key member and a key player in bringing together these parties to oppose the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 2015 elections.

Strategic vision

Tinubu’s political career started in 1992. He was elected to the highest legislative house in the Nigerian Senate. When that ill-fated experiment by General Ibrahim Babangida went the way, it was programmed to go, Tinubu fled Nigeria and regrouped with like minded patriotic Nigerians to form the external wing of the pro-democracy National Democratic Coalition (NADECO). After the death of General Sani Abacha, Tinubu returned home to contest as Governor of Lagos State and won a convincing victory.  Then he put on ground mechanism to raise young leaders with commitment to development through a compelling world view.

In an effort to raise more leaders like himself in the country to deliver efficient and effective services to the people, Tinubu regularly gathers brilliant men and women  and mentor them. The mechanism is to work with stakeholders, including various entities in government and the private sector. The success of Bola Tinubu’s strategic vision, which aims to raise Nigerian happiness rates, with the current target of increasing the number of Nigerians, cannot be achieved without the engagement and effective involvement of all stakeholders. Thus, it is a tradition of that leadership tradition to link up with stakeholders and the grassroots in their actions.

But it’s a powerful developmental worldview, which resonates with a lot of people. Each leader has followers who don’t merely believe that worldview. They inhabit it. It shapes how they see the world, how they put people into this category or that category. And they can’t get their facts wrong as long as they get the worldview right, and as long as they don’t disappoint followers who stay embedded within that worldview.

This explains why none of Tinubu’s successors—from Fashola through Ambode to Sanwo-olu can be described as intellectual lightweights. And Lagos has become one of the better run states for it—development in every sector.

Many of the roads that were so bad when Tinubu became governor  gradually became motorable before he left office in 2007. Now Lagosians are impressed by the state of many roads. He also raised the IGR from N600 million to over N6.5 billion before he left office. The same Lagos that had an IGR of just N600 million in 1999 now has the fifth largest economy in Africa.

Some of Tinubu’s notable achievements as Governor of Lagos (1999-2007) include; improving the state’s waste management system and better incentives for civil servants, (salary increases and better quality of working environments). creation of the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASMA) as a response to traffic hold-up, creation of KAI Brigade within the Ministry of environment.  The establishment of Lagos state mediation Centre to help settle some cases among Lagos citizens, upgrade of primary and secondary schools, upgrade of the state healthcare delivery system. In light of his leadership’s awareness of the importance of investment in human resources, Lagos state under Tinubu made it a top priority within the holistic development strategy to create enterprise training centres across the state

LCDs and Investment as a Prior

The need for fast and even development of the grassroots made Tinubu to create 37 additional local development areas (LCDAs) to join the 20 local government in the state. By so doing, investment and development would be fast-tracked across the state. Not just within Lagos metropolis.

His successor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, was responsible for the implementation of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Lite System, which ferries passengers in high-capacity buses on dedicated bus lanes. Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, the immediate past Governor also did well in the area of road construction, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the current Governor, has been praised for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country’s most densely populated state.

Zenith

Zenith Carex: A silver lining in Africa Logistics Services

by with No Comment Logistics

Adelana Olamilekan, CEO  Zenith Caret International Logistics is one of those at the fore front of driving indigenous companies that put Nigeria on the global scene for the benefits of the country. He strongly believes in the advancement of regional development by providing compelling logistics services with a clear direction and vision that embodies global best practices and appreciates the recognition of honour in business dealings. No wonder, he looks forward to the opportunity of working with  global giants and leading brands to deliver value across Africa..

Generally, industries can make a variety of goods, but they struggle to transport them safely and quickly to customers without established networks. At the moment, farmers in Nigeria only expect about 50% of their produce to be delivered to distributors or buyers in a sellable condition. According to global property consultancy Knight Frank, the cost of transport takes up 50-75% of the retail price of goods.

One of the biggest needs felt in Nigeria is logistics in the areas of air express mail and freight delivery services to enable commerce across the country, next to the need in all urban centres in the country which is decent housing for people. But there is hope, from both foreign investments and home-grown solutions. Zenith Caret Logistics stands out here.

The company offers unique air express mail and freight delivery services to its clients in new and innovative ways that would mark clear departure from existing methods. Its vision is to enhance customer satisfaction by re-inventing schedule integrity and fidelity to the air express industry through the use of efficient and modern technology and the skills of highly trained personnel.

It runs its operations with a sense of honor on the back of technology. What this means for our technology-driven world is that we are witnessing one of the most efficient logistics companies  of our time. Its performance is daily convincing thousands of business people and logistics services users to convert to its services, which has ultimately given this company, an unprecedented power that no Nigerian logistics company has enjoyed to date.

As the country braces for a contraction of up to 10% this year, sound economic and regulatory management becomes the most important path to recovery for governments. Business must also be an engine for growth, as a joint commitment between public and private sectors to stimulate trade, partnerships, and investment will be key for reactivation, employment, and regional stability. Part of the creative private operator helping to push these is Zenith Caret Logisitics.

Through the creation of a strong platform it has established, award winning Logistics company, Zenith Carex International which bagged Logistics Company of the Year 2019, is helping to provide solution in this area in Nigeria. As a result, it is fast becoming the preferred Logistics Partner of business people, providing comprehensive range of Courier, Cargo Haulage, Clearing & Logistics Services.

Owned by Mr. Adelana Olamilekan, Zenith Caret Logistics company has gathered much momentum, delivering efficient services to different high profile clients. As a result of this efficiency, many industry players have been applauding Zenith Caret Logistics’s action. Indeed, it has gone a step further and committed itself to looking at how to make affordable logistics service a reality in Nigeria. It revolutionises cargo delivery by making sure that everyone in the supply chain is connected to ensure the safety and accountability of cargo in transit. A call centre of staff is able to monitor truck deliveries enroute in real-time and communicate directly with drivers, manufacturers and distributors, aided by GPS satellite positioning.

For far too long, many of the entities entrusted to provide this basic human need have failed due to inefficiency, and have not been able to perform the core functions effectively. There appears to be a complacency in attitude displayed by the key logistics companies. While it is understood that the challenges in logistic coordination is enormous, it is almost evident that with Zenith Carex Logisitcs,  the chain of coordination apparatus, monitoring of cargoes and the reporting is not stuck in inefficiency, spilling over into it overall good performance.

According to logistics experts, Mr Ade Olubo and Felix Tuedor, solutions like Zenith Carex have been having a knock-on effect of benefiting other industries as well, such as agriculture in Nigeria at the moment.

“When they are able to get similar spoilage from source to destination, it will encourage them for the next season to build more capacity into their farm,” Mr Ade Olubo told the TELESCOPE Magazine. “It appears that decisions of Mr  Olamilekan to set up the company is substantively solid in the interest of the people, and its services are structured to suit individual business men needs, for the good of trade and commerce in this country”.

No wonder ,Zenith Carex International, which bagged Logistics Company of the Year in 2019 has been  extending its tentacles by opening more branches in the country. In 2020 while opening the its branch located at 80 Awolowo way Ikeja Lagos, Mr Adelana said Zenith Carex international was established to offer unique air express mail and freight delivery services to our clients in new and innovative ways that would mark clear departure from existing methods.
“Our vision is to enhance customer satisfaction by re-inventing schedule integrity and fidelity to the air express industry through our use of efficient and modern technology and the skills of highly trained personnel.

“In the same spirit our mission goes with equitable returns for investors and job satisfaction for our personnel.

To exhibit at all times, a thorough understanding of the various air Express services.
To establish and maintain a trustworthy relationship between our esteemed clients and international trading partners. To relentlessly work towards a strict adherence to professional ethics and institutional regulations. To initiate, develop and maintain a delightful corporate culture of excellence in all air express matters. To give painstaking attention to fast and efficient delivery services. To ensure and nurture a conducive environment for staff

To succeed in all its endeavors, Zenith Caret International strengthens commitments to the regulatory environment and roadblocks to efficiency. In order for the serious investment platform to succeed, it redesigns a sound business model to delight its clients.

Of course, open markets, regional business groups, and partnerships are not common in these days of neo-protectionism, but they are vital as a tool to stabilize and rebuild the wounded economies of Africa. This is a clear case in Nigeria. Through creative endeavors like Zenith Caret Internatioanl Logistics which many other companies can emulate, and smart policies to attract and retain investments on the government side, which are urgently needed, Nigeria and these other countries can rebuild, stabilize and build the road to recovery, prosperity, and growth. With being faithful to his strong vision and mission, Mr. Adelana Olamilekan has made Zenith Carex International, a company of choice in Africa: a silver lining in Africa Logistics Services.

Mr Bello

The Achievements of Barrister Hassan Bello at the Nigerian Shippers’ Council

by with No Comment By Godwin Ededuan

Trade Facilitation, Governance, Intermodal Transportation, Ports Efficiency

Barrister Hassan Bello , the immediate past Executive Secretary, Nigeria Shippers Council (NSC) is a national gem, for he performed exceedingly well while in office, due to his leadership styles and efficiency.

As he leaves office, many industry bigwigs concede he has added much value to their business, helping them to reduce the cost at the ports. As a result of these, he is highly popular and people in government respect his views on issues of maritime business and trade facilitation. These  people include major stakeholders such as shippers, freight forwarders, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA).

Mr Olumide Adeola, a clearing agent speaks glowingly about Barrister Bello’s teure at the NSC.

“He is a good leader and manager of men and materials. He is a good role model to many others in position of authority. His tenure would go down as a period of development and problem-solving in Nigeria shippers council. He did a lot to cancel many illegal and high charges being collected at the ports,” he recalls.

A freight forwarder Mr Olusola Thani  says there’s a lot to learn from Bello. “I want to introduce this gem to the new generation of Nigerians.  Thani says even the cosmopolitan nature of Bello and his leadership style, which is a huge talking point, made him able to achieve so much

“You only have to look back at how the different things are being done at the ports now, compared to the old ways of hardship and arbitrariness of the early years before he was appointed into office and you will find the answer.”

This is true indeed. In a bid to put an end to the negative impact excessive charges were having on doing business at Nigerian ports, the port economic regulator, the NSC in 2018 embarked on a mission to get the shipping companies to cut down charges

Bello also made possible the re-introduction of the Cargo Tracking Note (CTN) at Nigeria’s seaports. The policy which was vehemently opposed to by industry operators, including shipping lines, importers and exporters and even clearing agents when it was first mooted in 2015 has now been approved by the Federal Government due to rising insecurity in the country.

Speaking sometimes ago on the CTN after its re-introduction by the Federal Government, Hassan Bello explained that the trade facilitation instrument has gone above CTN and now known as Advanced Cargo Information System (ACIS) currently being implemented by 23 countries including Cameroun.

Bello however said the introduction of the ACIS would not be done immediately, explaining that the ports economic regulator was fashioning out the best way to go about this.

He described ACIS as having so many benefits in cargo facilitation and addressing issues of leakages and corruption in the ports. Under his watch, the Nigeria Shippers Council has given CTN the lowest cost in Africa since according to him, the NSC should not be seen as adding to the cost of doing business.

Barrister Bello was appointed in 2012, following the expiration of the second term of the former Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Capt. Adamu Biu. The Federal Government of the then President Goodluck Jonathan appointed the agency’s Director of Legal Services, Hassan Bello, as acting Executive Secretary/CEO of the NSC. He was confirmed as substantive CEO of the agency the following year, and would go on to serve two terms till he leaves office this June 2021.

Barrister Bello is part of a new generation of leaders who are visionary in their thinking and who work not only for national goals and development, but for greater global peace, sustainability and prosperity.

While in office at the Nigeria Shippers Council, achieved quite a lot.  He is on record as a man who fairly balances the interests of ports stakeholders, being maritime economic regulator, maintaining links with the terminal operators, shipping companies, and freight forwarders, as well as Nigerian Customs, the Port Authority, and many other agencies. The reason for this is the need to develop Nigeria into a preferred destination for cargo in West Africa. And also to ensure an improved intermodal environment, a reduction in seaport congestion and increased cross-border trade between the north of Nigeria and neighbouring landlocked countries.

The Nigeria Shippers Council has broadly two mandates. The first mandate is it being an intervention agency to make sure that there is balance in the transactions between the supplier and the users of shipping services. In this role, it ensures balance between the supply and the demand side of the shipping industry, coordinating all factors. The second mandate is trade facilitation, and the council has done this successfully to propel the integrity of Nigeria international trade. In an interview, Bello talks about the council’s mandates.

“As Nigerian ports economic regulator, the Nigerian Shippers Council negotiates with service providers and government alike while also taking care of the interests of  shippers, playing  the role of a neutral umpire to all parties.  In this regard, the NSC is working with the terminal operators, shipping companies, and freight forwarders, as well as Nigerian Customs, the Port Authority, and many other agencies. The reason for this is the need to develop Nigeria into a preferred destination for cargo in West Africa. Nigerian ports and terminals are in competition with other ports in the neighborhood and we have to attract cargo. Therefore, the Shippers council is streamlining procedures, such that shippers will have no choice but to bring goods to Nigerian ports because of their efficiency.”

The functions of the Council enumerated in its Act, also include such thing as advising the government on shipping services.  That means it will advise the government on adequacy of services, whether shipping services are adequate or not, advising the government on the class of vessels to be used in transportation, advising the government on the quality of the vessel.

Equally, the Shippers council is at the forefront of pushing on to ensure that improved cargo railway service, ICDs, the Truck Transit Parks (TTPs) and the dry ports are all in place, working seamlessly to enhance trade in Nigeria. With all these going on, the NSC is working to improve the country and regional economies, infrastructure and livelihoods. And these have portrayed Barrister Bello as a strategic person with his task of managing. There are many examples of how highways, dry ports buildings, seaports are improving the quality of lives of different Nigerian communities.

The Nigeria Shippers Council is also involved with the National Single Window (NSW) of the Federal Ministry of Transportation to ensure a 48-hour clearance of goods at the ports. This is a National Single Window, whereby all the interface and integration of all system to work seamlessly together. Now there is a committee which include the Nigeria Custom Services, Nigeria Port Authority, Nigeria Shippers Council and some other relevant organizations under the PEBEC [Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council], the ease-of-doing-business organization under the Vice President, which is looking at the National Single Window to remove opaqueness, create transparency and simplify documentation.

With a good staff support made up professionals who are aware of their mandates and know how to execute these mandates, the Nigeria Shippers Council is doing great jobs under the watch of Barr  Bello. The NSC became very potent since 2006 Ports reforms of former President Olusegun Obasanjo  administration and has increased its clout since then.

In the closing days of April,  Barrister  Bello made a working visit to the NIMASA headquarters where he met Dr Bashir Jamoh, director-general of NIMASA. The visit was an important move to harmonise rates, operations and to curb delay, corruption at Nigerian ports. And that heralded a great new chapter in furtherance of efficiency, and accountability at the ports. That day, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) agreed to implement joint measures to minimise delay and corrupt practices at the country’s ports.

The two agencies of Federal Government expressed hope that full automation of processes at the nation’s ports would go a long way to curbing human interface, delays and corruption at the ports. NIMASA and the Nigerian Shippers Council thus agreed to harmonize the implementation of Port and Flag State Administration to minimize human direct contact onboard vessels, calling at the nation’s ports in line with provisions in the Nigerian Port Process Manual (NPPM).

Bashir Jamoh of NIMASA disclosed that the Agency’s operation was close to 85percent automated, adding that NIMASA had undertaken an in-house harmonization exercise to reduce human interface and now fully ready for inter-agency harmonization. He also commended the management of the Shippers Council for its commitment to ensuring the success of the introduction of cargo tracking notes in port operations.

He thanked the NSC boss for obtaining approval for the cargo tracking note. He said that would reduce loss of man-hour and assist in exposing non-declaration or under declaration at the nation’s ports, thus improving revenue generation for the federal government.

Responding Barrister Bello said that cost of port operations in Nigeria could be reduced by over 35percent when standard operation procedures contained in the Nigerian Port Process Manual were fully implemented.

Another good initiative of the NSC is the idea of dry ports and Inland Containeer Depots (ICDs). The fact that the NSC has grown in strength and is at the forefront of promoting National and global sustainability inspired the government to come up with its “step-up” strategy to build dry ports in different areas of the country. This step is now yielding fruits, and it will help generate foreign exchange for the government as Chad and Niger Republic will take advantage of them.

On Friday May 21, Transport Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, was in Ibadan Oyo State to inspect the level of completion of the Ibadan dry Port. Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde was very happy with the port project. At a meeting  he held with Transport Minister  over the dry Port, an elated Governor Makinde, disclosed that the state has plans to invest for 15% equity in the proposed dry port. He also disclosed that the Lagos-Ibadan rail corridor would have a business district created around it.

“We visited the Ibadan railway station and the dry port. I restated that our state government is prepared to invest to get 15% equity in the dry port” the Governor said.

I also confirmed that we had reconstructed the major road around the rail corridor – the 65km Moniya-Ijaiye-Iseyin road. And that our plan is to create a business district around the rail corridor which will include total reconstruction of link roads in the area,” Makinde stated.

Hon. (Mrs) Tolulope Akande-Sadipe K.the Member representing Oluyole Federal Constituency & Chairman House of Representative Committee on Diaspora,  is also happy about Amaechi visit to the Port. She disclosed her role in the project and appealed to Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State not to lose the Ibadan Inland Dry Port to Ogun State.

Akande-Sadipe who was a Special Adviser on Projects and Public-Private Partnership to late Senator Ajimobi said that her sweat and the support of her late boss secured the Ibadan Inland Dry Port. She further revealed that the project was conceptualized by her during the last administration.

The lawmaker said “The idea sprung up on a visit to Lagos to see my mother, the traffic from trucks queuing to get into the Apapa ports led to the brainwave that this could be another economic opportunity for Oyo State, which had an advantage based on its geographical position and the new train line from Lagos. Knowing that this would further stir up the economic revival in our beloved Oyo State. I approached the Governor with the idea and he gave his consent to commence the leg work.”

“I contacted Mr. Hassan Bello led Shippers Council through Mr. Anifowoshe who was based in the Ibadan office in 2018 and extensive talks about decongesting Lagos by setting up an Inland Dry Port in Oyo began.”

“The rationale for Olorisha Oko was based on its location as the point where the first phase of the new train line from Lagos to the North passing through Ibadan would terminate. That way, containers could be shipped by train from, Lagos ports to Ibadan and further on with the completion of other stages of the project, as is the case in developed Nations. I and my Bureau of Investment Promotions and Project Office team most especially Mr. Kunle Olusina with the support of our principal, the Governor late Senator Abiola Ajimobi worked tirelessly to make it a reality”. She spoke.

“I put so much effort into making the inland dry port a reality, my sweat and support from Ajimobi secured the Federal government approval of the project during the administration of Koseleri Late Senator Abiola Ajimobi.

The lawmaker noted that the Inland Dry Port would bring about 24,000 direct new jobs and also attract new investors and big corporations to take advantage of the free trade zone. We all know what that will mean to the youths of Oyo State – Job creation, both blue and white-collar

The Oyo State Government and the Federal Government proposed Inland Dry Port was estimated as an investment of approximately a whopping sum of $99,665,626 (N35.9bn), which is expected to ease the pressure on the Apapa Seaport and the perennial gridlock on the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway as well as make the ardous task of import clearance mire accessible to the hitherlands of the SW and the Northern part of the Nation.

Bello at that time said that the project would have equipment parking, truck parking, among other facilities, and would occupy 90 hectares of land, which was provided by the state government.

She gleefully prayed that progress will be made as she looks forward to attending the opening ceremony as a proud daughter of Oyo State.

Full commercial train services commenced on the Lagos-Ibadan rail line after train operations commenced on December 7, 2020, linking major cities in the South West including Lagos, Ibadan and Abeokuta.

With the success story of the Ibadan Dry Port, other states have also begun plans for a dry port with Kano State disclosing that its inland port will cost $27 million and would be completed fully in December. The launch of operations at Kaduna appears to have helped accelerate progress on the other ports. In November 2015, five months after the inauguration of the Kaduna facility, Simon Lalong, the governor of Plateau State, said that he was looking into resuscitating plans for an inland container facility. The original plan, conceived as a component of the federal government’s strategy in 2006, had been cancelled by the previous state administration. The state is now once again looking for private investors to develop the project.

It is on record that in March 2006 the Federal Executive Council approved plans for six dry ports to be developed under public-private partnerships using a build-own-operate-transfer model. Eight locations were chosen for the facilities, which will have the same functions as seaports, including the ability to process cargo and clear it through Customs.

The ports, to be located at Ibadan in Oyo State, Isiala Ngwa in Abia State, Jos Heipang in Plateau State, Bichi Village in Bauchi State, Gombe in Gombe State, Bulunkutu in Borno State, Zawachiki in Kano State and Zanfarawa-Funtua in Katsina State, will have a combined capacity of 179,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units. Concessionaires were also approved for the developments, which will be operated by private consortia for 25 years. These include Catamaran Logistics, Dala Inland Dry Port, Dunca Maritime, Eastgate Terminal, Inland Containers Nigeria, Equatorial Maritime and Migfo Nigeria.

All these are made possible through the effort of the Nigeria Shippers Council. Its success in providing  roadmap for sustainable economic development and helping to reduce cost of ports operations along the Ease of Doing business programme of the Federal Government  has been phenomenal with its Executive secretary Hassan Bello at the steering.

Under the leadership of Hassan Bello at the Nigeria Shippers Council, Nigeria witnessed a comprehensive advancement in ports operations and development of intermodal transportation that keeps pace with the rhythm of the modern era, anticipates a promising future, and achieves rates of development and growth that can dazzle the world.

342

Governance Outlook As President Buhari Focuses On Nation Building, Security And Unity Of Nigeria

by with No Comment By Akintunde OgohGoverance

The plans of the Federal Government in growing the economy and changing the lives and livelihood of Nigerians for the better is largely dependent on the shape of events this year. Unarguably, President Muhammadu Buhari focuses on nation-building, security and unity of Nigeria, despite the country’s many challenges. He is passionate about laying a solid foundation for the transformation of the country which future leadership can take forward.

Nigeria faces challenges no doubt, and 2021 is a pivotal year. To state that Nigerians live in challenging times is also true. The realities include a world faced with a pandemic the scale of which hasn’t been seen in 100 years. The crisis has crippled economies of many powerful countries. And last year, it destroyed global supply chains and disorganized once productive and viable sectors of the economy in different countries.

Nigeria has its own fair share of these. According to the world bankwhile Nigeria has made some progress in socio-economic terms in recent years, its human capital development remains weak due to under-investment. “It ranked 152 of 157 countries in the world bank’s 2018 human capital Index.The country continues to face massive developmental challenges, including the need to reduce the dependency on oil and diversify the economy, address insufficient infrastructure, build strong and effective institutions, as well as address governance issues and public financial management systems. These pre-existing structural challenges have left the Nigerian economy especially vulnerable to the COVID-19 outbreak and its consequences.

Inequality, in terms of income and opportunities, remains high and has adversely affected

poverty reduction. The lack of job opportunities is at the core of the high poverty levels, regional inequality, and social and political unrest.”

Despite all these, the Buhari administration has within limited resources designed responses that are targeted at mitigating the full impact of these scourges. What happens this year determines how well the responses will succeed.

But the country, in fragile financial and social health, is being propped up by an army of certain nationalist individuals in a crusade against people bet

ting on its demise. Key members of President Buhari’s cabinet, policymakers, and certain influential characters are among these pillars of support.

These include Vice President YemiOsinbajo, National Security Adviser, Gen Munguno; DG  Directorate of state security  (DSS)YussufBichi, the ministers of Interior, RaufAregebesola, Transport-Rotimi Amaechi, Works and Housing-Babatunde Fashola, Communication and digital economy-Isah Pantami, Finance-Zainab Ahmed, Health-OsagieEhanire, Trade, and Commerce-Niyi Adebayo, Labour-Chris Ngige, members of the Governors Forum, led by Ekiti state Governor KayodeFayemi, the Governor Central Bank of Nigeria, the National Economic Advisory Council led by Prof Doyin Salami.  These will help shape events this year, along with some critical agencies and MDAs such as the Nigeria Customs Service and the Nigerian Ports Authority.

Influential characters outside government include former President Olusegun Obasanjo,  former Heads of State: General Yakubu Gowon, General AbdulsalamAbubakar, former Vice–President Atiku Abubakar, GeneralTheophilus Danjuma, Chief Edwin Clarke, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Prof Wole Soyinka, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

So what’s up? What happens this year?

The Economic Sustainability Plan of the Federal Government has earmarked N2.7 trillion earmarked for it,  in spending to create and sustain jobs and livelihoods for those who have been impacted the most by the COVID-19 crisis. The Federal Government will also galvanize productivity through various other packages designed to boost the SMEs across the country.

Despite battling with low public revenues, and the hydra-headed monster of low oil price and a reduced production quota from OPEC, this administration remains committed to honouring the promises made to the Nigerian people across the key areas of Security, Economy and fighting Corruption.

The year will witness one or two Inter-Ministerial Retreats being held. The entire Government apparatus will gather to review performance over the lastone year, with a singular objective of identifying how to improve in those areas where successes fell short of target, and how to replicate those key elements that led to success in others.

Frank conversations will take place between the participants and independent assessors. Amongst the critical themes that emerged from the two-day session was the need to improve focus, coordination, and collaboration amongst Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, and the importance of rigorous execution, monitoring, and evaluation of projects and activities against set targets.

Expectedly, Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, (PEBEC) led by Professor YemiOsinbajo will feature prominently to define the course of the year. In a renewed attempt at further deepening the reforms of the nation’s business environment, the PEBECmembers will work seamlessly with ProfessorOsinbajo.

Others of the PEBEC  include the Ministers of Industry Trade and Investment, OtunbaNiyi Adebayo, the Vice Chairman of PEBEC; Finance, Budget, and National Planning, HajiyaZainab Ahmed; Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi; Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed; Interior, OgbeniRaufAregbesola; Budget and National Planning (State), Clem Agba; Special Adviser on Ease of Doing Business, Dr. JumokeOduwole, and Senator AishatuDahiru Ahmed, representing the National Assembly among other top government officials.

Recently, PEBEC has resolved that CEOs and Heads of some Federal Government regulatory agencies be presented with the outcome of a recent survey that exposes major pitfalls in the operations of the agencies.

The Cost of Compliance Report which was presented to the Council at its first virtual meeting of early this year revealed persistent corruption, the duplicity of functions, poor service orientation, and several anti-business disposition in some of the regulatory agencies.

Vice President YemiOsinbajo, SAN, who presided over the meeting directed that CEOs and heads of such government regulatory agencies involved should be presented with the outcomes, and interaction should take place regarding some of the worrying disclosures in the report of the survey conducted by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, PwC.

Prof Osinbajo who said the report revealed human issues that are not unavoidable, stressed the important roles regulatory agencies play in ensuring businesses are able to thrive seamlessly without inhibition. He noted that doing otherwise would only jeopardize the government’s efforts in creating a conducive business environment. The focus will be on this area this 2021.

In the area of domestic policy actions this year, Nigerians will see critical decisions being taken around the economy. These are decisions which previous governments had neglected over the years, and as a result, cost the country several billions of dollars.

These domestic policy decisions are by no means easy but are in the best interest of development and President Buhari’s nation-building effort. The impact of this decision is to have an improved allocation of very scarce resources, create an opportunity for private sector investment to return to sectors where government intervention had created distortions in various ways. The return of the private sector promotes job creation and provides for the entrepreneurial genius that is embedded in Nigerians.

President Buhari will move to settle the rift between farmers and Fulani herders in the South-west, where the issue had blown into an open confrontation in Ondo and Oyo state, where there was even direct attack on the Seriki Fulani at Igangan town, Ibarapa area of Oyo state.  The president is also aware that there are historic fissures that exist in various locations across the country. Of course, he has advocated for dialogues between key parties who are direct stakeholders in ensuring peace.

Many elder statesmen, traditional rulers, and influential figures will be playing a leading role in bridging and or mediating these fissures to bring about lasting peace.  This is one area where influential people like His Eminence the Sultan of Sokoto and Ooni of Ife and some other traditional rulers will matter this year. General Gowon and  General Abdulsalam Abubakar will probably go round on peace-building initiatives to meet stakeholders, mostly traditional rulers.

In a highly fragmented landscape, Chief  Olusegun Obasanjo has mastered the art of using the media “to really stoke excitement.” We can expect him to that this year. Gen Danjuma, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, and Sheik Gumi will also be in the news.

Other giants like  Atiku, Adebanjo, and Clarke are also there. But Obasanjo is probably more of an attention-seeking persona, he’s much more of a showman. We will see pretty much of this in the course of the year.

Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. Swept on by the success of his strategy and big thinking, he is considered by many fans to be a visionary, his slightest word enough to sway millions of people.

the mere mention of the name of the publisher of the Nation newspaper apparently delights many people. He is likely going to be much in the news this year.

All these influential figures will shape the year pretty much. They will invest their time in trying to ensure the unity of the Nigerian state. They will build bridges over those fault lines and pour water to douse the burning embers of ethnicity and religious differences so that the values of tolerance and peaceful co-existence become cherished as common assets for all.RaufAregbesola, minister of interior will be much involved with this. So also is  AlhajiBich, DG DSS as well as General Monguno, the National Security Adviser.

Government’s attention will also be on employment generation. President Buhari is known to be concerned with how Nigeria growing youthful population can compete in a world that has no boundaries and barriers, given the country’s natural resources and its very fertile land. Focus will be  on how the country can best improve agricultural practices and increase yields per hectare, so that youth are encouraged into agriculture as a choice and farmers benefit from their sweat and honest labour.

These are the things that will occupy governance in 2021. They will occupy the thoughts of the  President Buhari too, as he is focused on deepening Nigeria’s unity and laying a solid foundation for the transformation of  the country so that future leadership can build on, march towards prosperous nation building.

645

Commodore Lawal and the Pursuit of Excellence at the Military Pension Board

by with No Comment By Amos BalogunSecurity

Commodore Saburi Abayomi Lawal was appointed the Chairman of the Military Pension Board (MPB) in September, 2020. Until that appointment, he was the Director of Finance at the Defence Intelligence Agency. He hit the ground running immediately, focusing on improving the welfare of the retired Military personnel and also maintaining cordial relationship between the Military Pensions Board (MPB) and veteran bodies of military retirees in Nigeria.

Surrounded by wonderful staff, he has been working tirelessly to achieve ease for military pensioners while he has also been able to keep the integrity of board intact since he came into office. His focus is on achieving excellence to keep retired military men happy. In this way more morale and patriotism will be built in serving officers and men of the armed forces of Nigeria.

The Military Pension Board is charged with the responsibility of administering pensions of military retirees, payment of death benefits to next-of-kins of deceased personnel of the Armed Forces of Nigeria through funds allocated to it by the National Assembly. And since its creation, the welfare of the retired Military personnel has remained a priority.

To continue the existing cordial relationship between the retired service men and the MPB, Commodore Lawal met with  stakeholders as soon as he settled in office. He held a maiden interactive session with representatives of 14 veteran bodies at the MPB Headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday 6 October 2020.

In his welcome address, he emphasized the importance of dialogue and exchange of ideas between the Board and the veteran bodies. According to him, there wouldn’t have been a MPB if there are no military pensioners. He added that the cooperation of all veteran bodies was key to his vision of taking the Board to higher levels, saying he would do all in his power to sustain prompt payment of all entitlements of military retirees or their NOKs in a transparent and accountable manner and to uphold principles of fairness and service to humanity in the discharge of the Board’s mandate. He assured that the MPB would ensure that the welfare of military retirees receive needed attention as the Board would do everything possible to ensure better welfare for all military retirees.

He appreciated the leaders of the veteran bodies who attended the meeting, disclosing that he had instructed that the processing of monthly pensions should be completed by 22nd of every month in anticipation of release of funds by the Federal Government. According to him, this would help ensure prompt payment and early crediting of retirees’ bank accounts before the end of the month.

Leaders of the various groups present at the event were happy and commended the coordination of activities that culminated in the successful maiden interaction between Veterans Associations and the MPB. According to one of the representatives, “this is a significant leap ahead of his predecessors in his administration aimed at building a very friendly and purposeful relationship between the veteran community and the Board. He is definitely moving in the right direction”.

The 14 veteran bodies present at the event include the Nigerian Legion, Ex-Servicemen Pensioners Association, Ex-Servicemen & Family Welfare Association, Retired Army, Navy and Air Force Officers Association (RANAO), Retired Member of the Armed Forces (REMENAF),  Association of Ex-servicemen Pensioners, Committee of retired Generals and Equivalent in Lagos and the Foundation for Care of Retired Military Personnel. Others are Coalition of Concerned Veterans, Veteran Federation of Nigeria, Foundation for the Support of Nigerian Veterans, Ex-Service Men Mando, Green Heroes Foundation, and the Ex-servicemen Welfare Association Masak.

Early in November 2020,   Commodore Lawal, appeared before Senate Committee on Defence, to defend Military Pension Board 2021 budgetary estimates, where he called on the committee to favorably consider the MPB 2021 budget estimates.

“We appeal to your committee to kindly increase the military pensions board overhead and capital cost allocations to accommodate the rising inflationary trend in the society and to enhance infrastructure development of the board.”

 

He said the annual budgetary allocations to the MPB are divided into pensions, gratuities, death benefits, allied cost, overhead cost and capital expenditure.

Some days after that, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) Department of Defence Transformation and Innovation (DTI)  visited  Commodore Lawal and expressed satisfaction with the performance of the Military Pensions Board (MPB). This was due to its compliance with the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Strategic Directive 01 of 2019. ) Air Vice Marshal HE Eze, the Director of Monitoring and Evaluation (DME), gave the impressive assessment, during the DTI’s second transformation sensitization/evaluation visit to the Military Pension Board in Abuja.

Speaking during the visit, Air Vice Marshal HE Eze noted that the DTI team was delighted by the level of compliance witnessed at the MPB. According to him, the Board has been able to perform at a commendable level which is worthy of emulation by other DHQ establishments.

In his remarks, Commodore Lawal thanked the DHQ Team for the commendation, assuring them that the Board would continue to ensure efficient service delivery in the execution of its mandates. He stated that in compliance with the CDS Strategic Directive 01-2019, the Board has been able to complete the construction and equipping of a composite indoor sports complex and the construction of 4 blocks of transit accommodation for officers and men.

That visit was followed by that of the National Executives of the Nigerian Legion who visited the Military Pensions Board (MPB sometime in November 2020.  Commodore Lawal received the Chairman in his office in Abuja, where they decorated Commodore Lawal with the 2021-Armed Forces Remembrance Day emblem

He assured the delegation that the Board would sustain prioritizing the welfare needs of all military pensioners in the country. He assured them that the Board will continue to prioritize prompt payment of monthly pensions as the government continues to release funds on time.  Lawal told them that under a proposed electronic verification, pensioners would not go through the ordeal of traveling from their respective villages or communities to state capitals. “They will only have to visit any of the accredited banks with their BVN and be screened”, he added.

Earlier, the Chairman of the Nigerian Legion, Brigadier General Adakole Jones Akpa (rtd), lauded the Board for the new innovations introduced in the payment of pensions of retired Military men, adding that the era of collapsing while waiting to be paid is gone for good. He, therefore, charged the Board to sustain the feat and ensure that the welfare of the retired Military men remains a priority.

In his words, “we have observed that Military retirees are paid as at when due, the era when retired military men die or collapse while waiting to be paid is gone. I want to commend the Military Pension Board for doing a great job”.

Commodore Lawal also visited the Acting Chairman of the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission (NSIWC) in his office in Abuja to solicit for the speed-up of the process for the issuance of a new payment chart for military retirees incorporating the minimum wage policy of government . The two agencies therefore had an extensive

21252

AVM Muhammed Restoring Dignity, Trust and Efficiency in NEMA

by with No Comment Security

President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Air Vice Marshall Muhammadu Alhaji Muhammed (Rtd.) as the Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on 30th April, 2020, for an initial period of 4 years.  Since then NEMA has been undergoing a positive turnaround for the best in its disaster management mandate in Nigeria, shedding the toga of mismanagement and inefficiency with which it had been associated for a long while.

“In practical terms, disaster management will seek to mobilize resources of all relevant bodies and organizations, national or international, towards preparedness, prevention, mitigation, emergency response and recovery” So said the DG during his first media briefing on 21st May 2020.

AVM Muhammed is one of the most eminent generals who have helped sow the seeds of national development in the soil of this country. At NEMA, he has brought flexibility, innovation, creativity and culture of empathy to bear on the staff.  This has given rise to a culture of efficiency and prompt response to distress calls and disaster management. Within a short period this became noticeable, and led to the success in the management of the 2020 flood crisis. Today it reflects in the discipline ways things are handled NEMA.

The appointment of this brilliant Air Force officer, who did the profession a lot of good, was a milestone decision by President Muhammadu Buhari. And it remains one of the best decisions of the current administration in effort to restore confidence and credibility to the agency. For him, innovation and development at every level and in every field of human endeavor is necessary. Due to his foresight, in always giving priority to issues of safety and security, he has been able to bring NEMA out of the darkness and into the light in recent years. And that has brought to an end years of controversies and confusions in leadership of the agency.

AVM Muhammed came to NEMA with a vast wealth of experience and achievements to benefit the nation and disaster management. He was a former Chief of Policy and Plans at the Nigerian Airforce before his retirement. A holder of prestigious national and international flying licenses and recipient of several distinguished military service honours, he had also held other operational and strategic positions in the Nigerian Airforce that include the Air Secretary, Air Officer Commanding Tactical Air Command, Air Officer Commanding Logistics Command and Managing Director of Nigerian Airforce Investment.

He has flown several aircraft types which include: Air Force One (B737 BBJ), Alpha Jet, Gulf Stream 550, Dassault Falcon 900, Citation Jet, L39 ZA and Bulldog 123. His decorations include General Service Star (GSS), Pass Staff College(PSC) and Fellow Defence College among others.

This huge experience he has put on display at NEMA in its disaster management, making prompt response a priority under his leadership. Before his appointment, the President was obviously not happy with the ways emergency cases were being managed despite the increasing spate of disasters in Nigeria, with many lives often being affected, communities devastated and environments negatively impacted. Some of these include flooding, fire disasters, terror attacks, sudden collapse of houses. Then corruption cases of outright diversion of relief materials for victims of disaster were also in the dirty baggage.

Then it was established that disasters were made worse by lack of prompt response by NEMA  personnel. Then there comes the challenge of evacuation of victims to safer areas. These two issues made many to view the agency with contempt as being too slow and inefficient. The appointment of Air Vice Marshal Muhammed changed this perception of inefficiency, as he promptly restored trust and efficiency in NEMA.

Being aware of the problems in the agency, the DG took the responsibility to serve with altruism to restore its focus in the service to humanity. As soon as he assumed office, AVM Muhammed gradually began to re-establish the lost partnership of the agency with its critical stakeholders including the supervising ministry, National Assembly, States Emergency Management Agencies and the relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). This is because he believes that timely rescue intervention could save a lot of precious lives.

He observed that there was a general lack of proper education and enlightenment and a near total absence of disaster management and response initiatives in many states of the county. This is  worst at the level of the local council as most of the 774 local government area councils have become dysfunction due to lack of disaster management structures at the grassroots level. This is especially so with fire and flood.

Of course, nearly all countries operate a reactive approach to fire, which a major concern is given the limited resources usually deployed to put out a fire.  But a lack of proper education and enlightenment on this makes matter worse in Nigeria. About 7% of Nigeria burns annually mostly caused by human actions. Unfortunately, there is very little capacity for fire monitoring and management in the country. Existing fire management approaches are ineffective and spatially limited. Trends in fire occurrence are poorly documented and this makes it difficult to assess changes in fire regimes and relate this to natural resource productivity in the region.

AVM Muhammed felt there was a need to put workable disaster management infrastructure into proper use for the benefit of the people. Training and capacity building is also important to him, since NEMA is responsible for the preparation of human resources. He ensured this in the six geo-political zones so that he could better coordinate the human resources development of the agency in addition to catering to the training needs of the stakeholders.

Thus he began to build synergy with the 36 states disaster management outfits. Then he deployed flood assessment and response teams to different states while collaborating with stakeholders.

The renewed rapport was responsible for the success in the management of the 2020 flood. For instance, the Nigerian Air force in collaboration with the agency used its specialized surveillance aircraft to conduct aerial assessments of the flood plains along River Niger from Kebbi State to Kogi State. The deployment of flood assessment and response teams comprising of NEMA and stakeholders staff to affected states was made easier because of the synergy with the various states’ governments and their respective emergency management agencies.

AVM Muhammed recognizes the importance of media as a veritable tool in public sensitization on disaster prevention, preparedness, mitigation and response in line with NEMA’s mandate on disaster awareness. He regularly tells NEMA’s staff to work smart and fast for the safety of lives and properties of Nigerian citizens. He also emphasizes the need for collectivism in disaster management, and always expresses the need for transparency in the management of the agency’s resources and assured that media would be actively involved to keep the public abreast of its activities.

Recall his inaugural media briefing on 21 May, 2020, where the DG sought to mobilize available resources on the fight against disasters. At that time, he assured of his commitment to uphold public trust and confidence as DG NEMA. He promised to effectively respond to disasters as they occur and even before they occur. “..little can be done to avert the occurrences of these disasters. What is important therefore is to effectively respond and mitigate the effect of disasters once they occur”.

At that time, He also said staff would be equipped with the requisite knowledge through trainings to ensure they give the best whenever called upon. Then the DG unveiled his roadmap to reinvent and reinvigorate disaster management in Nigeria. These included deliberate efforts on disaster awareness and risk reduction, targeting 100% of Nigerians. He promised to work with the States Government and other stakeholders towards the development of disaster resilience in communities through the implementation of the Sendai Framework of Action.

AVM Muhammed knows his briefs so much. And he understands the full weight of the challenges involved, imperative for human capacity, equipment as well as need for a culture of empathy on the part of staff. And practices like slow response to disaster issues or diversion of relief materials by officials have become things of the past, with a culture of transparency instituted.

In October 2020, NEMA distributed relief materials to 715 households ravaged by flood in Paikoro and Bosso local government areas of Niger State. Mrs Lydia Wagami, head of NEMA, Minna Operations Office, represented by Alhaji Hussaini Isah, head, Search and Rescue Unit, flagged off the distribution of the relief items at Maikunkele in Bosso local government secretariat.

Wagami, said the flood disaster which occurred in August, affected 715 households and farmlands in 57 communities of the two local government areas. She noted that the director general of NEMA, AVM Muhammed, directed the Minna operations office to assess the level of damage in order to provide relief assistance to the affected persons.

According to her, “It was based on the assessment report that President Muhammadu Buhari who is always passionate about reaching the grassroots approved the relief items for the affected persons.” She added that the relief items were to ameliorate the hardship caused by the flood on the people.

The retired military officer with vast experience and records of achievements as a fighter pilot, he understands the imperative for human capacity and proper use of equipment. Bringing this to bear, the Director General said he will ensure availability and workability of necessary search and rescue equipment that could be deployed whenever the need arises. He identified also as priority, the strengthening of institutions for Disaster Management at the lower level of Governance (states and local governments). This would translate into the much desired strengthening of collaboration and coordination with all humanitarian actors from Federal down to the community level.

The process for repositioning and re-invigoration of NEMA for better coordination and management of disasters to save lives in Nigeria have begun under the leadership of AVM Muhammed.

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Appointment of Service Chiefs: A Lift-off for Great New Benefits for Nigerians

by with No Comment By Akintunde OgohPowerSecurity

President Muhammadu Buhari has gone up with the appointment of some of the most intelligent and knowledgeable officers in the Nigerian armed forces as service chiefs early this year. On Tuesday, January 26, the president removed all the four former service chiefs, replacing them with young vibrant officers. These included General Lucky Irabor, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Lt-General Ibrahim Attahiru, Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Air Marshall Oladayo Amao, Chief of Air Staff (CAS), and Vice Admiral Zubairu Gambo, Chief of Naval Staff (CNS).

As soon as this appointment was announced, commentators began to pour praises on the president for doing things right this time. He was praised by his critics, too. His new appointments are of high quality in terms of official announcements about their background. This was welcomed and pleasing to President’s critics who in the past had accused him of appointing only Northerners. President Buhari has also, apparently, balanced the appointment with respect to the region of origin.

Though the military is the only institution where national identity is stronger than ethnic and religious identities which tend to predominate in Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari has been facing criticisms for his failure to address security issues and, at the same time, especially in the predominantly Christian south, for choosing his military chiefs from among his own northern Muslim Hausa-Fulani community.

But with this recent appointment, critics and even sworn enemies of the president are saying he has done well. Nobody can accuse President Buhari again of appointing only his tribesmen as service chiefs. In the appointment of these service chiefs, two are Hausa and Fulani, one is Yoruba while one is Igbo. Hence the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria appear to be represented: Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo

This is congruent with the principle of “Federal character,” which holds that government positions should be equally distributed across the federation. The new chief of defense staff, Gen.Lucky Irabor, is from Delta State in the South-south. The chief of army staff, Lt-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru is from Kaduna in the North. The chief of navy staff is Vice Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo, is from Kano in the North, and the new air force chief of staff is Air Marshal Isiaka Oladayo Amao, from Osun state, South-west.

Meeting the new appointees at the President Villa, Abuja, the following day after their appointment, President Buhari congratulated them on their new roles while pledging his support to the armed forces. He charged them to be patriotic and serve Nigeria wholeheartedly. It was President Buhari’s first meeting with the service chiefs who were appointed on Tuesday.

They were led to the meeting, which was held behind closed doors, by the Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Magashi, (rtd). According to a statement by presidential spokesperson, Mr Femi Adesina, the president urged the new appointees to be loyal to the country, adding that the country was in a state of emergency.

“We’re in a state of emergency. Be patriotic, serve the country well, as your loyalty is to the country,” President Buhari said.

“There’s nothing I can tell you about the service because you are in it. I was also in it, and I will pray for you. I also assure you that whatever I can do as Commander-in-Chief will be done so that the people will appreciate your effort,” he was quoted as saying.

The timing may have been a bit off, but the president was spot on with this strategic appointment and his charges to them. Since then many public affairs watchers and commentators have been praising President Buhari over the appointment of these sterling military officers. Prior to his making the appointment, there had been a groundswell of calls from stakeholders on him to change the former service chiefs. The appointment of these new service chiefs represents an exciting new development for the war against terror and banditry.

It is also a culmination of strident calls by stakeholders for a change of strategy in the conflict going on in the North-east Lake Chad Region, especially against the Boko haram insurgents, which has claimed over 100,000 lives since it started in 2009. Equally, data shows that 1000 military and security personnel were killed while about 3.7 million people have been internally displaced, according to the 2021 statistics of the Human Rights Watch.

In its own report, the United Nations Committee on Human Rights (UNCHR), says 30,000 refugees have fled the North-western part of the country to the neighboring Niger Republic in the last two months. According to the reports, “growing insecurity and atrocities across North-western Nigeria, most of it at the hands of armed gangs that rob, loot, rape and kill.”

But with the appointment of this new set of service chiefs and a change of strategy, analysts believe the war on terror and banditry would be won within a short while, judging by the antecedents of the service chiefs. Both Major-General Irabor and Major-General Attahiru have been theatre commanders of operation Lafia Dole, at different times.

And as Nigerians swim in the euphoria of this appointment, they want the roads to be free from kidnappers’ control. Nigerians pray for an end to the insurgency. In order to achieve all these, the citizens expect the new service chiefs to bring new ideas. They desire an entirely new approach to tackling terror and banditry. They spoke of their high expectations and what they believe the new service chiefs should do differently. Tackle Boko Haram, herdsmen from all fronts.

while many Nigerians are happy that this appointment will usher in great benefits for Nigeria. But  John Campbell, an American expert on political and security developments in sub-Saharan Africa has this to say: It remains to be seen whether the new team will be any more successful than the last. The military remains under-resourced. But the drivers of conflict, especially in the north and in the oil patch, are primarily (not exclusively) political. But no political initiatives are underway to address the widespread sense of grievance. Absent political initiatives, critics see the replacement of the service chiefs as reminiscent of “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.”

Does this observation by Campbell really contain some grains of truth? Truth is, there is absolutely none! A lot of Nigerians say reference to the Titanic is far off the mark and derogatory. While many agree that insurgency is like cancer, and fighting it is not an easy thing because it is nature, they believe that the service chiefs will succeed if they work as a team.

Commodore (Dr) Kunle Olawunmi, an associate professor of Criminology and Security Studies, doesn’t share Campbell’s view. He believes the service chiefs will succeed, though insurgency is difficult to fight. He says a soldier is trained to fight external war, not insurgency. That is why the war against insurgency is not a very easy thing. He says it is asymmetry warfare. You can’t easily recognize insurgents, they have no geographical territory, this keeps shifting. So insurgency is like cancer.

“You see, I was once a principal war officer. Who organize the logistics for these people? How come they have such firing power?  One thing to know is there are different dimensions to insurgency-economic, ideological, political dimensions. I would advise Irabor and his team to tackle these dimensions and bring down the center of gravity of insurgency. They can do this if they work as a team. They have what it takes to make Nigeria gainfully tread the path of peace, security and progress”. Says the retired Naval officer..

Many experts share a similar view with Commodore Olawunmi. Former Minister of Defence, Major General Godwin Abbe (retd) says  “For the new men, I think it is important they realize that fighting insurgency is like a team of doctors trying to cure a cancer patient. It is very unprofessional to predict that a cancer patient will be cured or that he will recover fully. That is what insurgency is, all you do is to approach the challenge from various dimensions that could bring the insurgency to submission. In the case of Nigeria, the new service chiefs should try and work together as a team because in unison they will certainly do much better and they should be more ruthless in their approach to acts of disloyalty.”

To Paul Oni, Nigerians will be at peace with the way life is panning out for them as a result of what the new service chiefs will achieve for them if they work as a team. There is also need to counter the ideology of the insurgents while dealing with other dimensions. “The new service chiefs truly have plenty to offer,” says Squadron Leader Paul Oni, (rtd).

“I think it’s important to always give your best in everything you do,” he says. Whatever you do give it your 100 per cent. “These generals will do that and help us achieve some sanity and confidence to move about.”

Indeed Oni seems right. This is because as soon as they were sworn-in by the president, the Chief of Defence Staff went on a visit to Borno state with the other service chiefs.

Little wonder Irabor is the go-to person for major stakeholders looking to up to how a change of strategy in the war against terror could be achieved.  So he has capacity to do things differently from what used to be. He has more experience, resources and intelligence than merely “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic as asserted by Campbell. Rather he comes with ideas and innovation to build an entirely new ship with good materials. Having been battle-tested by being theatre commanders of operation Lafia Dole, at different times, underscores how experience will help General Lucky Irabor manage issues as Chief of Defence Staff, advancing the Nigerian armed forces. The same goes for Geneal Atahiru in terms of managing the army. Equally, Air Marshall Oladayo Amao and Rear Admiral Zubairu Gambo, too. Each of them has astounding ability of forecasting trends and solving problems. They will bring their experience to bear in making Nigeria safe and secure for all.

They have all studied and trained in various prestigious institutions across the world and have attended several military, leadership and transformational courses. These courses popular among the military and security personnel are not just about warfare or how to build war strategy  alone, but are also billed to develop peace-building, promote  a community-building ethic and a belief system that values life, rules of engagement, personal development, social responsibility, management  and strategic expression. There are a lot of ‘out of the box’ and different innovations they will bring to bear on the country’s armed forces, ensuring strategic disciplines and practices. So they have all what are needed to end insurgency in the country.

Soon many people will recognise the benefits of their raft of collective efforts as Nigeria begins to reap the benefits of it. This is the opinion of Col Roberts Falola, (rtd).  “The mix of administrative, intelligence and combat actions on all fronts will render some favorable results. Field operations at the North-east theatre will see more success from now on. The western fringe will also see peace. ”

How do you predict that, The TELESCOPE asks Col. Falola

“I don’t have a crystal ball to peer into,” says the 70-something, with a laugh. “I’m able to visualise a day when a lot of things would improve with the activities of these service chiefs. Great services will be delivered to the nation. And confidence and hope would soon replace fear and despondency in different parts of Northern Nigeria. At the same time, the military will transform their operations to implement new global standards.”

He lists a few ‘signals’ that he noticed in different parts of the country. He describes this as coccoing: “People are tired and do not want to go farm and go out at midnight anymore. Restaurants are no longer  crowded on Saturday evenings. New services are not springing up to help them enjoy life any more.

Falola also sees some encouraging signs on the horizon. “We have seen somel improvement at the war against insurgents since the appointment of these generals in the last two months. Their logistics and routes have been destabilized, and  movements curtailed. This was mainly led by better trends in the military which continues to recover ground from the insurgents. This will be further supported by higher activities at the Defence Headquarters and the service chiefs,” he states.

For the time being, seat belts fastened and doing the right things seem to be the formula for future success, fully deployed by these service chiefs. And the Chief of Defence Staff General Irabor took the first step in this direction  when he and his team travelled to Borno state to see Governor Umara Zulum as soon as they assumed office.

These are dedicated, intelligent, outstanding and highly productive officers with good background in value and character.

 

General Leo Irabor is from Agbor in Delta State, he was a member of the Regular Course 39 of the NDA. He served as a Commander Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) of the Nigerian Army, Minna. Irabor also served as Chief of Training and Operations (CTOP), Defence Headquarters. He served as the theatre Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole and headed the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) as the Field Commander. He also served as the Chief of Staff to the Chief of Army Staff. He is a trained engineer.

Lt- General Attahiru Ibrahim until his appointment as the Chief of Army Staff, was the General Officer Commanding 82 Division, Nigerian Army. He was appointed to lead the offensive against Boko Haram in the North-East in May 2017. He was, however, redeployed by the then Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai after a string of attacks by the insurgents, including after giving him a deadline of 40 days in July of that year to deliver Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau dead or alive.

Air Marshal Isiaka Oladayo Amao, the new Chief of Air Staff, , was born on September 14, 1965 at Enugu. He hails from Oshogbo in Osun State. He enlisted into the Nigerian Air Force on January 19, 1984, as a member of the 35 Regular Course of the Nigerian Defence Academy. He had previously served as Trainee/Squadron Pilot, NAF Unit 99 ACTG Kainji (1993-2004), Instructor Pilot/Squadron Pilot, 301 FTS Kaduna (2004-2007), Air Assistance to Chief of Air Staff, Deputy Defence Adviser, Nigerian High Commission London, Assistant Director of Operation Defence Headquarters, Director of Policy and Plans, Nigerian Air Force. Until his appointment, Amao was the Commandant Armed Forces Resettlement Centre Lagos.

Vice Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo was born on 22 April 22, 1966, and hails from Nasarawa Local Council in Kano State. He enlisted in the NN on September 24, 1984, as a member of Regular Course 36 and was commissioned Sub-Lieutenant on September 24, 1988. He is an Underwater Warfare specialist with a sub-specialisation in Intelligence. The senior officer has attended several military courses, which include; Sub-Technical course and Officers Long course both at NNS QUORRA. He also attended Junior Division 48/89 and Senior Course 26 both at AFCSC Jaji.

Other courses attended include the National Defence Course at the South African National Defence College. Until his recent appointment as the CNS, he was the Director of Procurement at the Defence Space Administration. He holds a PGD in Transport Management and a Master’s degree in Transport Management (Logistics option), both from the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology.

These brilliant trend-spotters and very patriotic officers would be opting for a strongly intelligence-infused operations which has become vital to boost performance. With them good times are here,  the ship of the state remains afloat and stifle away vitality from insurgency and banditry. That way, Nigeria can find the real treasures to stand on in the service chiefs.

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Access Bank’s Graceful Leaps into Massive Continental Opportunities on the Watch of Herbert Wigwe

by with No Comment BankingBy Kunle Olu Ojo

Access Bank Nigeria Plc on the watch of its Group Managing Director, Mr Herbert Wigwe is bouncing like a sportsman with jump-enabled shoes and thriving well at a time that many analysts are projecting Nigerian banks to walk a tightrope amid low revenue environment.

Reasons: brilliant ideas, good management, good thinking, innovation to build industry resilience and drive long-term sustainability by Wigwe and his team. They have a strong focus on consumer lending, payments and remittances, digitization of customer journeys, and customer acquisition at scale. These customers include valuable high net-worth individuals, corporate bodies and other institutions.

In his book, Business Stripped Bare, celebrated iconic entrepreneur and founder of the Virgin Group, Sir Richard Branson, says, “without trustworthy banks, there can be no business, no employment, no money.”

According to Branson, “People have got to be able to go to bed at night secure in the knowledge that the money they deposited today will still be there for them to withdraw tomorrow.”

Access Bank fits into the model of the trustworthy bank that Sir Richard talks about. This bank has been firing on all cylinders, acquiring more values, as it rides into eight more African countries. This is happening despite the claims by industry experts that Nigerian banking industry is faced with a tougher operating environment that could threaten the operators’ ability to meet their stakeholders’ needs and expectations yet perform meaningful corporate social responsibility roles. According to these experts, even valuable customers such as high net-worth individuals, corporate bodies and other institutions are equally challenged.

But not Access Bank,  it is able to weather this storm like an eagle. Its plans to expand to more African countries is part of a strategy to support trade and finance in the continent and take advantage of the newly formed African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The countries are Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Angola, Namibia and Ethiopia.

Its GMD Mr Wigwe, disclosed this during a presentation and investor conference call. Right now, the tier-one bank operates in 12 countries. According to Wigwe, across Africa, there is an opportunity for the bank to expand to high-potential markets, leveraging the benefits of AfCFTA., observing that the pan-Africa trade agreement, among other benefits, will expand intra-Africa trade and provide real opportunities for Africa.

Asserting that the bank would use its office in London to expand representative offices in India, Lebanon and China, he stated that the plan is for the bank to establish its presence in 22 African countries so as to diversify its earnings and take advantage of growth opportunities in Africa.

According to him, Africa has enormous potential and there are opportunities for an African bank that is well run, that understands compliance and has the capacity to support trade and the right technology infrastructure to support payments and remittances, without taking incremental risks.

“We believe that we are best positioned to basically do all of that. Our focus is to become an aggregator in Africa and we are building a global payment gateway and providing trade finance support and correspondent banking across the continent. We are focusing on the key markets.

“The approach would always be that in the country we wish to go to, that we have the right skills. We would not just be a drop in the country in which we are present, we would make sure that we have an impactful presence in each of the major countries in which we are present.

“In doing this, we are also mindful of the country we are going to so as to make sure that it is of benefit to the bank. As we do this, we are working with our friends and partners.

“We are diversifying our earnings away from volatile markets as well and we are orchestrating our operations from the global payments gateway and ensuring that using Access Bank UK, providing corresponding services from digital platforms, the overall profitability of our franchise,” he explained.

Commenting further, on AfCFTA, he said the bank would use its digital framework to benefit from the deal. And as the bank continues to entrench itself in the local market because, Wigwe believes there is still so much work to be done.“So, we are doing everything possible to satisfy our customers and also to ensure that our channels are adequately secured. We are also ensuring that our staff is very efficient,” the CEO said.

Access Bank has acquired more heft with it getting the approval of holding company (Holdco) structure.  The Holdco will consist of four subsidiaries: Access Bank Group; payments business; consumer lending and agency banking; and insurance brokerage.

According to Wigwe Access Bank Group will consist of Nigeria, Africa and international subsidiaries, while the payments subsidiary will leverage the strong suite of the bank’s assets.

“The consumer lending business has seen 60 per cent growth in digital lending volume and value. The insurance subsidiary will adopt a dynamic and creative approach to deliver value-added services focused to meet customer insurance needs,” he said.

He explained that Access Bank has been driving its revenue growth through retail expansion, which has grown consistently across all income lines, driven by a strong focus on consumer lending, payments and remittances, digitisation of customer journeys, and customer acquisition at scale

“We have maintained strong capital levels despite investments for growth, accumulating capital over time. Despite investment in organic and inorganic growth in the past, the bank has improved its capital ratios, given optimum capital structure (tier 1 and tier 2),” he added.

Another innovation by Access Bank Plc is the way it has partnered with American Express to broaden the acceptance and usage of American Express cards in the country. According to Mr Robert Giles, Access Bank’s Senior Banking Advisor Retail Banking, the partnership would enable American Express Cardholders to use their cards at a wider range of merchant locations in Nigeria for tourism, business or private visit, and international American Express cardholders would also be able to withdraw cash from Access Bank ATMs.

“This announcement places Access Bank as the first full-service bank to acquire merchants who will accept American Express Card payments in the country.

“Local merchants will now have the option to accept American Express through Access Bank, thereby not only encouraging increased merchant business activity but also offering travelling American Express Card holders the opportunity to transact using their preferred method of payment.

“This new partnership will broaden the acceptance of American Express payments via Access Bank as well as Access Bank ATMs and e-commerce websites nationwide,” Giles said, adding  that Access Bank merchants who embraced American Express cards would benefit from an additional high-spending customer base.

“This is great news for Nigerian businesses and will help bring foreign exchange inflows into the country. We value the confidence that American Express has placed in us to significantly enhance the payment experience in our market,” he said.

Vivi Galani, Vice President EMEA Network Partnerships for American Express, said the company was pleased with the partnership to expand its presence in Nigeria.

“This agreement will give international card members even more locations to use their cards in Nigeria, whether they are travelling for business or leisure, and this will be particularly important as international travel resumes. For local merchants, it provides the opportunity to capture more business from global card holders visiting the country,” Galani said.

In another brilliant move, Access Bank has also decided to take a shot at Bancassurance. Why is this? It plans to avail its numerous customers the best underwriting and claims experience by entering into a partnership with Coronation Insurance Plc to drive an efficient and effective Bancassurance system.

The partnership was introduced to the Corporate Clients of Access Bank during an earlier organized webinar themed, “Managing Risks that Keep CEOs up at Night,” held on October 7, 2020.  According to Wigwe, Coronation Insurance satisfied all the required criteria, part of which informed the decision to establish this relationship which is perceived as a transformational partnership.

On why Coronation Insurance was picked as its partner, Mr Wigwe said: “In choosing among a pool of potential organizations to fill this gap, we have had to look at a couple of identifiers, with the first among them being underwriter speed of response to customers and the second is the financial strength and the capitalization base of the underwriter.

“Given all these, and with the interest of its customers at heart, Access Bank considered all of these qualities and found coronation to be leading between the various categories. We want our customers to have the best underwriting and claims experiences.”

In his own response, the Chairman of Coronation Insurance, Mutiu Sunmonu, commended the partnership. He said: “The Partnership will elevate the level at which Insurance Services are delivered to Corporate Customers in the Country, matching the level of growth recorded in the Banking sector over the last two decades, only over a shorter period”

A selection of distinguished keynote speakers from prestigious institutions with expert knowledge was invited to deliver presentations and share their insights on the topic of managing business risks.

Bode Augusto, founding MD of Augusto & CO shared detailed insights with respect to macroeconomic and project completion risks. Simon Morris, Partner of Trinity International (UK) went further in elaborating on macroeconomic risks that impact businesses and how to mitigate these risks while Nico Conradie, the MD of Munich Re Africa (South Africa) gave very practical guidance and advice on how CEO’s can safeguard their organisation from cyber risks and fraud.

According to Yinka Adekoya, CEO/MD of Coronation Insurance, we are pleased to have commenced this partnership with Access Bank and the webinar event is one of the initiatives we have outlined for customer engagements. We are looking forward to more customer engagements”.

With all these steps, Access Bank is living  up to its billing of  a holding company (holdco) structure, with four subsidiaries: Access Bank Group; payments business; consumer lending and agency banking; and insurance brokerage on the watch of Herbert Wigwe.

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Why Insurance Cover is a Necessity for All

by with No Comment BankingEconomyPolicy

Many Nigerians don’t fully understand the benefits of insurance, and as such they feel they don’t need any form of insurance cover. But this should not be so. We all need insurance.  You need one form of insurance cover, I need it too. Yes, we all need an insurance cover since there are so many uncertainties in life. But then you need to know and understand what it is that you are covered for. So there is need for you to understand the needs and benefits of insurance so as to make an informed decision before you purchase a cover.

Insurance operates on the basis that losses and misfortunes can occur anytime. It is informed by the wisdom that it is better to plan for a rainy day, so as to reduce or manage the impact of a loss, should it occur. There are also various religious teachings that underscore the importance of insurance as a financial planning mitigation tool. In the traditional African societal set up, insurance was also practiced. In Nigerian society, it used to exist in one form or the other and continues to be practiced in some areas till date. Among the Yoruba, there is what is called Esusu-by pooling resources to help those in need. This practice, however, is not sustainable in the current life these days. As a result of this fact, there is the need for individuals to purchase insurance covers.

Why Insurance?

You need insurance because losses and misfortunes occur from time to time. In most cases when incidents such as fires, sicknesses, motor accidents and death occur, you are not prepared for the financial consequences that follow. We see cases where people resort to borrowing money from friends and relatives who unfortunately, in most cases, are often short of money. What do you expect from someone who has no money to assist you?  They don’t have, and therefore do not help much.

In extreme cases, we see cases of families disposing off assets at very low, throw-away prices because of the emergency situation. It is even sad when such assets are sold to pay for medical bills and the patient whose bills need to be paid dies before the asset is even paid for. No doubt this is double tragedy. And while insurance will not stop such deaths or losses from occurring,  (such as life or medical cover), it definitely helps cushion those who have suffered losses by availing funds to cover for the insured losses

Right Policy

Life has a lot of uncertainties. By buying insurance, you transfer possible financial losses from yourself to an insurance company. While you cannot avoid the misfortunes of life, you can be sure that with the right insurance policy, you will recover from your financial loss. So as to fully appreciate the importance of insurance and purchase the right insurance cover for yourself, you may need to:Identify your risks and needs and then do the followings:

  1. prioritize them. Remember that not all risks are insurable and your insurance needs are specific to you. You should not buy an insurance product simply because your friend bought a similar product and it sounds good.
  2. Insurance is not a straight fitting jacket! Discuss your risks and needs with an insurance company or a broker or an agent near you. Always compare policy benefits against premiums of several insurance companies before you settle on one. A colleague once mentioned that insurance intermediaries (brokers and agents) are like doctors who diagnose and prescribe medication for their patients in that they should help you identify that area in which you are hugely exposed and advice the right insurance product for you!
  3. Match the available insurance products to your needs and choose the one that best meets your needs at affordable cost. When you match your needs with the policy, it is highly unlikely that you will cancel the policy before it matures. This is because you will have understood it and known exactly that which you are getting into. Once again remember to purchase only that cover that you need, based on your risk assessment and prioritization. Where possible avoid instances of buying more or less than you need.

Peace of Mind

Perhaps the most significant benefits of insurance include protection of family and assets and the resultant peace of mind that one has when they have an insurance policy. There are also other benefits like savings, financial security, investment vehicles and tax relief. Lastly, remember that your health is your wealth- sicknesses strike without notice. So take charge of your health and consider buying a medical insurance cover. The NHIS Scheme of the Federal Government is there for you and your family to use.  Paying N5,000 a year to NHIS for health coverage for one year is nothing, compare to the cost of healthcare. When anyone in the family gets sick, such a scheme will shield you from out-of-the-pocket medical spending.  Then what about children education? The future belongs to the educated-with education becoming increasingly expensive; consider buying a policy for your children’s education. Accidents occur anytime, anywhere-consider purchasing a personal accident cover against disabilities and deaths resulting from accidents (even those from accidental stair case falls.