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NIGERIA’S TOPMOST REALTOR, MOROLA BABALOLA LAUNCH AFFORDABLE HOUSING SCHEME, CELEBRATES BIRTHDAY WITH A BANG.

Undoubtedly, Morola Babalola is one of Nigeria’s fastest-growing Realtors and Properties Manages with the genuine good of the masses at heart, driven by the passion to see low-income earners become proud homeowners and hand them the opportunity to live among the high mighty of the society.

 

 

Little wonder why friends, families, and well-wishers on Monday, despite the day being the first day of the week,  gathered to raise a glass in honour of this rare gem and philanthropist at heart, as she marked her 2021 birthday and the birth of her ‘newborn baby’: Affordable Housing Cooperative Society which is set to further put joy deep into the grassroots with affordable housing scheme.

Having worked so tirelessly to ensure the project see the light of the day, the CEO of Townsend Property Investment Company finally unveiled the scheme which is a major departure from the norm, targeted at slums to palaces and the homeless into landowners.

With this gesture, Morola has definitely shattered the Chinese wall between many Lagosians and owning properties in the State.

With this development, the mother of three made it clearly bent on seeing the somewhat neglected set of people in the society when it comes to homeownership: the okada riders, the petty traders, the slum residents, even students, boast of their own houses in Lagos.

In her presentation, Morola explained that this one of its kind society would partner with cooperatives from multinationals and small and medium enterprises.

After the official unveiling of AHCS, prayers, well wishes, and accolades were showered on the celebrant for her evident selfless gesture to the society. Friends and colleagues also told tales of Morola’s enchanting love and attitude.

Among the high profiled personalities who came to felicitate with Morola were, the Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Housing, Toke Benson-Awoyinka, Chairman, Star Petroleum, Otunba Babatunde Babalola, Honourable Gbenga Ashafa, Queen Ayo Balogun and many more.

 

Road Concession: FG to launch Procurement Portal to Ensure Competitiveness and Transparency

The Presidency has disclosed that the Highway Development Management Initiative, which is a scheme by the Federal Government to concession roads will launch a procurement portal on March 29th, 2021 to ensure competitiveness and to guarantee transparency.

 

 

 

The Presidency disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday, stating that the HDMI would be live on hdmi.worksandhousing.gov.ng   on March 29th.

 

 

HDMI is an effort of the FG to mobilize private capacity, resources, and entrepreneurship into the Nigerian highway sector; and convert roads from just social assets into assets of commercial opportunities.

 

 

“To ensure competitiveness and to guarantee transparency, a procurement portal has been developed to serve as the interface with the public and manage the HDMI from Procurement to Implementation

“All transactions will be done through this portal. No personal inquiry will be entertained by any official or staff of Federal Ministry of Works and Housing,” FG stated.

 

 

HDMI is made up of 2 categories namely the Value-added Concessions (VAC) and the Unbundled Assets Approvals (UAA), the UAA provides an opportunity for small businesses to take advantage of the commercial opportunities that are available along the Right-Of-Way. While under the VAC the road pavement and entire right of way is concessioned for development and management by the concessionaire.

The VAC will be rolled out in phases. The First Phase will involve twelve roads and cover the 6 geo-political zones. The Projected Capital Investment of N1,134,690,048,000.76 and employment potentials of over 50,000 direct jobs and 200,000 indirect jobs.

The FG also disclosed that 5.6% of the 35,000 km (1963.24 km) of the  Federal road network, would be offered for concession.

The roads are BENIN – ASABA (125KM); ABUJA – LOKOJA (193KM); KANO – KATSINA (150KM); ONITSHA – OWERRI – ABA (161KM); SHAGAMU – BENIN (258KM); ABUJA – KEFFI – AKWANGA (122KM); KANO – MAIDUGURI (lot 1 Kano-Shuari 100KM; lot 2 Potiskum-Damaturu 96.24KM) LOKOJA – BENIN (270KM); ENUGU – PORT HARCOURT (200KM); ILORIN – JEBBA (129KM); LAGOS – OTA – ABEOKUTA (80KM); and LAGOS – BADAGRY (79KM).

It was reported earlier this year that the FG received the Outline Business Case Certificate of Compliance for 12 pilot federal highways billed for concession.

Following the receipt of the Outline Business Case Certificate of Compliance, the FG stated that private individuals will be allowed to build, operate and maintain assets on some federal highways that are available for concession.

N276.07bn Profit: Dangote Cement incur N97bn Tax in 2020

Dangote Cement, one of Nigeria’s largest indigenous companies and the largest by market capitalization incurred a company income tax of N97 billion for the financial year ended December 2020.

 

 

 

This s according to the information contained in its full-year audited financial statements for the period under review.

Dangote Cement has enjoyed Pioneer Status over the years and has often been criticized for not paying enough taxes despite its mega-profits.

 

 

The N97 billion incurred in 2020 is the highest company income tax reported by Dangote Cement since it became listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

 

 

It incurred N49 billion in taxes in 2019 and got a tax credit of N89.5 billion in 2018.

Despite incurring N97 billion in taxes during the year, Dangote Cement’s actual tax paid was just N20.9 billion in 2020 compared to N4.6 billion paid a year earlier.

Tax incurred in the profit and loss statement is an accounting provision and is not always the actual tax paid in cash.

Putting it into context, the dividend paid during the year is N272 billion and interest payments to its creditors totals N48.2 billion.

Despite the Covid-19 Pandemic, the Cement Giant reported full-year revenue of N1 trillion, the highest it has ever recorded since it was privatized almost 20 years ago. The company also reported a profit before tax of N373.3 billion only and a profit after tax of N276 billion, its highest since 2018.

Nigeria like most countries in the world has faced a challenging 2020 due to the impact of Covid-19 on the economy, especially the private sector. However, mega-corporations like Dangote Cement appear to have even performed better during the year. The cement industry in general also appears to have performed well during the year as the combined revenue of the top 3, Dangote Cement, Lafarge, and BUA rose to N1.47 trillion from N1.28 trillion.

The impressive result nonetheless, Dangote Cement’s margins remained strong during the year posting a gross profit margin of 57% in line with its 3-year averages. However, the higher taxes incurred in 2020 dropped profit margins to 26.7%. When compared to 2018 when it still enjoyed Pioneer status, the company posted profit margins of about 43%.

 

Tesla Boss, Elon Musk Lose $8bn just this Week

Tesla boss, Elon Musk, the second richest man on the planet lost $8bn from his net worth this week.

 

 

 

According to Forbes, Elon Musk is currently worth $162.4 billion and is still the richest man. Musk’s net worth is highly intertwined with his shares in his Tesla company.

 

 

This week the shares took a hit which led to the $8bn loss. We are going to briefly explain what led to this loss below.

This week German automobile giants, Volkswagen announced a detailed plan to get involved in the blossoming electric car market. According to the plan, they hope to become the leading electric car manufacturer in the world by 2025.

The announcement drove up Volkswagen company shares by 15%. Experts and analysts strongly believe Volkswagen would be a very competent competitor to Tesla. This led to a 6.9% drop in Tesla shares shaving $8bn from Musk’s net worth.

The automobile industry has been dominated by German companies for a very long time. German automobile companies have at many times in the past set high standards that US carmakers have struggled to compete with.

The entrance of an 84-year-old German automobile company into the electric car market seems to have set off the alarm bells in the US Market.

Elon Musk is still the second richest man in the world behind his American counterpart, Jeff Bezos.

CBN Naira4Dollar: Nigerians in Diaspora Made N200million from 1 Week Remittance

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s Naira4Dollar scheme may have attracted about $40 million in foreign remittances in one week, according to a reliable source with knowledge of the scheme.

 

 

 

Sources informs that the scheme had performed a lot more than expected as remittances via commercial banks have picked up suggesting Nigerians in the diaspora have embraced it.

 

 

According to the source, the CBN received circa $40 million last week from remittances up from about $6 million before the policy was introduced. At $40 million a week the CBN could be attracting about $160 million a month or $1.9 billion per annum. This will be higher than the estimated $1.1 billion received in 2020 from diaspora remittances but much lower than the $3.2 billion received in 2019.

 

 

The central bank captures remittances in its Balance of Payment report and the Foreign Exchange Flows data. While the BOP includes non-cash items remitted into Nigeria, the Foreign Exchange Flows Data records cash items only.

It was reported recently that commercial banks in Nigeria are automatically opening domiciliary bank accounts for Beneficiaries of diaspora remittances in Nigeria under the CBN’s Naira4Dollar scheme. As the beneficiary receives the inflows, N5 for every dollar remitted is a credit to the naira account of the beneficiary.

The CBN Naira4Dollar scheme appears to be recording success since its introduction three weeks ago. A $40 million a week inflow suggests most of the dollars are either in domiciliar account of customers or withdrawn and exchanged at the black market.

The CBN believes remittances paid in dollars and sold on the streets will improve liquidity in the retail end, thus strengthening the exchange rate.

However, the latest information suggests the exchange rate between the naira and dollar is N486/$1 higher than the N480/$1 exchanged just before the new policy was introduced.

At $40 million the CBN would have incurred a cost of about N200 million.

Luckybet Launches Mobile App, Promises More Juicy Odds for Users

In a bid to provide the finest betting experience for millions of Nigerians, leading gaming and entertainment company, Luckybet, has launched a new mobile app. 
Announcing the new app on Monday, Marketing Manager, Anthony Onyemauwa, disclosed that the app is designed to introduce users to the broadest range of offerings and opportunities in the sports betting market.
“From inception, our focus has been to creating new and richer experiences for our users by connecting them to a world of endless possibilities. Our new mobile app is not only a demonstration of this commitment, it is a call for users to take charge of their individual destiny by exploring the opportunities offered by our innovative technology,” Onyemauwa said.
“The app is safe, secure, easy to use and generally offers an incredible user experience.  It also boasts of a great variety of bets and competitive odds from both the domestic and global betting markets. By downloading the app, users are ushered into a world where they can change their own lives forever.”
Onyemauwa explained that the mobile betting app, which is also available on the web platform, provides users tons of betting options, including the highest odds on virtual games and a mouth-watering 250% accumulated bonus.
Licensed by the Lagos Lotteries Board and widely acclaimed by punters as one of the most reliable online betting platforms in Nigeria, Luckybet is committed to empowering users to become luckier and live the life of their dreams.
Download the app here [https://bit.ly/2P1F92y].

Men are also being Harassed Sexually – US Envoy

Pics Source: Lakov Filimonov / shutterstock

The First Secretary of the United States of America Embassy in Nigeria, Madison Conoley, has said the male gender should also be considered as victims of sexual harassment while finding a solution to the scourge.

 

 

 

He stated this on Tuesday at Bowen University, Iwo, Osun State, during an interview with journalists on the sidelines of the 16th annual conference and celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Fulbright programme.

 

 

The envoy said, “We very much support the association’s (Fulbright Alumni Association of Nigeria) efforts to address the issues in a transparent way.

“We know from empirical studies that men are not only aggressors, they are also victims of sexual harassment. If we want to solve this problem, we need the full conversation from all segments of society and all genders.”

 

 

The Vice Chancellor of Bowen University, Prof. Joshua Ogunwole, said many rape cases were unconnected with substance abuse.

He said sexual harassment and substance abuse needed to be tackled squarely, adding that this would help the larger society.

The Deputy Commissioner (Legal), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Mr Adenekan Shogunle, identified concentration of power, especially in the hands of few individuals, as one of the factors responsible for cases of sexual harassment.

Shogunle said sexual harassment was not peculiar to educational institutions alone, adding that there were reports of such cases in the civil service, law enforcement agencies and judicial work force.

The immediately past Vice Chancellor, Federal University, Oye Ekiti, Prof. Kayode Soremekun, said if the issue of mal-governance was not addressed, there was little that could be achieved in curbing sexual harassment.

FG begins process for concession of 12 highways

The Federal Government on Tuesday issued a notice for the commencement of the procurement process for the 12 federal highways mapped for concession under the Highway Development Management Initiative.

 

 

 

Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, issued the notice in Abuja and unveiled the portal that was developed to ensure that the procurement process was seamless.

 

 

The 12 highways so far mapped out for concession by the Federal Government have a combined length of about 1,963km and represents less than 5.6 per cent of Nigeria’s 35,000km federal highway network.

 

 

The 12 routes for concession under the pilot phase include Benin-Asaba, Abuja-Lokoja, Kano-Katsina, Onitsha-Owerri, Shagamu-Benin and Abuja-Keffi-Akwanga.

Others include Kano-Shuari and Potiskum-Damaturu, Lokoja-Benin, Enugu-Port Harcourt, Ilorin-Jebba, Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta, and Lagos-Badagry-Seme border.

Fashola said, “These 12 roads were carefully chosen to ensure that each of the six geopolitical zones are covered.

“The initial capital investments that we foresee is something in the order of N1.13tn and the employment potentials are an estimated 50,000+ direct jobs and 200,000+ indirect jobs.”

On the procurement portal, the minister said it was developed to ensure competitiveness and guarantee transparency, adding that it would serve as the interface with the public and manage the HDMI from procurement to implementation.

He explained that the portal would give access to relevant documents, news updates, videos, ensure the management of the public private partnership procurement process and the process of approvals and permits, among others.

“Therefore, to those writing letters of inquiry, making offers of interest on the HDMI, offering to provide services like tolling, weigh bridge, rest houses, etc, we are sorry we cannot respond to those letters in order to maintain the integrity of this process and to keep the playing field level,” Fashola stated.

He further noted that currently, the government was executing over 700 different contracts for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of over 13,000km of roads and bridges across all the 36 states including the Federal Capital Territory.

He said the HDMI was an effort by government to mobilise private capacity, resources and entrepreneurship into the Nigerian highway sector.

Traditionalists Warns Kwara Govt, House of Rep over Hijab

The global head of Ifa priests, otherwise called the Araba Agbaye, Chief Owolabi Aworeni, on Tuesday cautioned the Kwara State Governor, Abdualrahman Abdulrazaq, against actions that might incite violence in the state.

 

 

Also, Aworeni urged the House of Representatives to halt a bill which sought to institutionalise the use of hijab in the country.

 

 

The issue of hijab has spurred heated reactions in Kwara State with Christian mission schools shut down in resistance against the move by the state government to enforce the use of hijab by Muslim students in the schools.

 

 

However, the Araba, represented by his deputy, the Araba Oluisese of Ibadan, Ifalere Odegbola, in an interview with journalists in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Tuesday, said, “We are appealing to the Governor of Kwara State to caution against steps that are capable of turning Kwara State and the entire country into crises.

“Peace will reign supreme if religions generally are given pride of place. Let the Christian schools be, same for Muslim schools and schools for the traditional worshippers, without any religion lording it over the other.

“A traditional worshipper who decides to attend Christian school should imbibe the Christian practices and principles and ditto for a Christian child who chooses to attend a Muslim school. If he decides to attend the school, he has to abide by the practices.

“It is wrong for a child who belongs to another faith to want to force his way through. The governor should desist from acts that can incite violence or civil disorderliness. Academics should not continue to get interrupted as we have it at the moment.

“In the same vein, we are appealing to the National Assembly to drop the issue of use of hijab; we are warning that religious intolerance should not be allowed to polarise us as a people. Nigeria as a secular nation should be receptive to all religions and people should be free to practice their own faith without any interference.”

NDLEA intercepts parcels of cocaine, heroin going to UK, Ireland, Australia

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has intercepted well-concealed and unaccompanied parcels of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and cannabis sativa being shipped to the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, Australia, Maldives and New Zealand.

A statement signed by the agency’s Director, Media & Advocacy, Femi Babafemi and made available to NAOSRE stated that a notorious trafficker, Sikiru Owolabi, who is behind at least two of the parcels has been traced and arrested after days of thorough and systematic surveillance by NDLEA operatives. Undercover narcotic agents attached to two international courier companies in Lagos made the seizures.

Sikiru Owolabi, who has made useful confessions during interrogations, was tracked after 1kilogramme of cocaine concealed in cream containers and meant for Dublin in Northern Ireland was intercepted at one of the courier firms in Lagos. This was also followed by the discovery of another 200grammes of cocaine meant for London, United Kingdom in the same courier company.

In another undercover operation, 320grammes of heroin concealed in earrings coming from Congo and going to Australia was seized at a different courier firm in Lagos, just as another 390 grammes of cocaine hidden in men’s clothing and going to Northern Ireland was intercepted in the same company.

While 500grammes of cannabis sativa concealed in automobile parts going to New Zealand was seized at one of the courier companies, 200 grammes of methamphetamine hidden inside an award plaque and going to New Zealand, with another 200 grammes of methamphetamine concealed in a book and going to Maldives, were equally intercepted in another firm.

Beside the arrest of Owolabi, efforts are ongoing to track and arrest other traffickers behind the other unaccompanied illicit drugs packaged as parcels for shipment to Europe.

Chairman-Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Brig. General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) has commended the men and officers involved in the operations to frustrate attempts by drug barons and traffickers to ship illicit drugs overseas through unaccompanied parcels. “I ask all our men and officers involved in the various overt and covert operations across the country to continue with the ongoing offensive action until we chase the criminal elements out of their illicit and damaging trade”, General Marwa admonished.

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