Business

2011: ATCON To Task Politicians On ICT

Published

15 years ago

July 6, 2010

President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr. Titi Omo-Ettu, has said that the body will task all presidential aspirants for the 2011 general elections on their plans and agenda for Information Communication Technology in Nigeria.

Omo-Ottu, who said this in his remarks at the IT Assembly in Abuja, on Friday, also encouraged all other ICT bodies in the country to ensure that only politicians who were ready and willing to use ICT had the opportunity to lead the country.

He noted that the reliance on mobile technology in the country could not be ignored, adding that it also offered huge businesses waiting Nigerian IT professionals to leverage on.

While urging them to look into the content creation aspect of mobile technology which was currently imported into the country, Omo-Ettu noted that good political leadership was required to enable Nigerian IT professionals to make use of the advantages.

He said, “I want Nigerian IT practitioners to know that their own aspect of the business is mainly in content creation which, for now, is only imported, if it exists at all in our own industry. My position is that opportunity cannot be more than this.

”Good political leadership is one of those things that will take us there and professionals in all their groupings can bring this about by making sure it is only the politicians who are ready and willing to use ICT that have the right to lead us, come 2011.

”We in ATCON will invite the presidential candidates of all the political parties for the 2011 elections to address our members on what plans they have for ICT, while I admonish all other professional associations at all levels to also engage the politicians at various levels on what they have in stock for their own professions and trades too. With that, we shall put politicians on the spot and prepare them for accountability in all aspects of their responsibility even before they transform into ‘excellencies’ and ‘honourables’.

“To me, while politicians are campaigning to catch our votes, we too shall be campaigning to stop the unsuitable ones among them from coming into office, since such minds can only take us back, not forward.

”ATCON recently admitted that there was stress and distress in the telecoms industry, belying the popular but false belief that telecommunication firms are making excessive profit.

According to him, it is the false belief that made everybody, including state and local governments to impose frivolous, unfair and sometimes illegal taxes on telecommunication firms.

Experts have also said the CDMA operators in the industry have been walking on tight ropes with their poor performances. The year 2009, according to them, was particularly turbulent for the telecoms industry due to the global economic meltdown but the CDMA service providers recorded huge losses.

ZOOMmobile has been at the bottom of the CDMA market revenue table, while Visafone reportedly recorded losses in 2009, but refused to make it public. Starcomms recorded N666m operating loss in 2009, while Multilinks‘ loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation almost tripled to $88m in the 12 months ended last March.

Business

PENGASSAN Tasks Multinationals On Workers’ Salary Increase

Published

5 days ago

December 8, 2025

The Tide

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has asked companies in the oil and gas sector to undertake urgent review of salaries of their workers in view of the prevailing harsh economic conditions in the country.

Also, the pensioners of Chevron Nigeria, under the aegis PenCoN, have lauded the President of PENGASSAN, Comrade Festus Osifo and his executive on their unrelenting efforts toward addressing pension abnormalities faced by retired workers in the oil and gas industry.

The association also appealed to the federal government to take necessary measures to check banditry and terrorist activities in parts of the country.

PENGASSAN President, Osifo who addressed journalists shortly after the National Executive Council meeting of the association in Abuja, at the weekend, said that though a lot of success has been recorded in negotiating salary reviews for its members, there are still organisations that have failed to lift their workers from the present harsh economic situation.

He said within this period, PENGASSAN has signed numerous Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) which has brought smiles to the faces of its teeming members.

“This is because we recognise that our job, literally, is how to protect the job of our members, and how to enhance their pay,” he said.

Osifo said that operators in the oil and gas sectors always go for the best qualified professionals to carry out their operations.

“So, the same way they recruit the best, we also challenge them to provide the best condition of service and provide the best remuneration.

“Yes, today, a lot of companies will have achieved successes, but there are still few that we are still discussing at their CBAs, that we are not yet there.

“We still use this opportunity to call on these companies that are still foot dragging, that are still holding back, even with the massive devaluation that has occurred in our country, that still don’t want to fix the remuneration of our members.

“We are calling on them to do the needful, because for us in PENGASSAN we will push without holding back. We will push, using everything in our arsenal, to ensure that the needful is done,” he said.

Osifo spoke of the dispute with the Dangote Refinery group, saying there are still pending issues to be resolved.

“Gentlemen of the press, during the networking session, we also looked at the issues that are plaguing some of our branches, and you know that recently, we had some challenges in Dangote Refinery and PetroChemicals Ltd.

“And within this period, since our last National Industrial Action, we have been engaging them in a lot of conversations, but the issues are not fully resolved. There are still a lot of pending issues.

“Yes, the NEC decided that, yes, let us still consummate that process by pushing those issues, by engaging in dialogue to resolve the issues, and by also engaging all our social partners and stakeholders to get the issues resolved,” he said.

Business

SEC Unveils Digital Regulatory Hub To Boost Oversight Across Financial Markets

Published

5 days ago

December 8, 2025

The Tide

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has launched the Regulatory Hub, a new centralized digital platform designed to streamline collaboration, strengthen oversight, and improve transparency across Nigeria’s financial and capital market ecosystem.

The Commission disclosed this in a statement posted on its website.

According to the commission, the platform connects key regulatory and security institutions including the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), enabling them to exchange information securely and in real time.

The launch of this regulatory hub comes ahead of the implementation of new tax laws in January 2026, with agencies such as the FIRS spreading its tentacles across sector to monitor compliance.

According to the SEC Director-General, Emomotimi Agama, the launch marks a significant step toward modernizing Nigeria’s regulatory framework through technology.

“The Regulatory Hub is a major step in our commitment to leverage technology for stronger regulatory synergy. By connecting regulators on one platform, we are building resilience, enhancing market integrity, and promoting investor confidence,” he said.

The SEC said the platform would help reduce bottlenecks in regulatory processes and facilitate faster, more informed decision-making across agencies.

Reinforcing the DG’s comments, the Executive Commissioner, Operations, Bola Ajomale, highlighted the operational benefits of the new system.

“The platform will significantly improve the timeliness and quality of regulatory decision-making. It provides a single window for regulators to share data, respond to requests, and collaborate seamlessly in safeguarding our financial and capital markets,” he said.

The commission believes the Regulatory Hub would support its broader mandate to strengthen investor protection, enhance market stability, and harmonize regulatory activities across the financial sector.

It urged stakeholders to initiate interest by emailing the Commission, adding that once registered, participants would be able to access the Hub and take advantage of its features.

Business

NAFDAC Decries Circulation Of Prohibited Food Items In markets …….Orders Vendors’ Immediate Cessation Of Dealings With Products

Published

5 days ago

December 8, 2025

The Tide

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has raised an alarm over the growing circulation of banned food products across markets in the country.

The agency, in a Press Release dated 6 December 2025, warned that these items including pasta, noodles, sugar and tomato paste are expressly listed on the Federal Government’s Customs Prohibition List and are illegal to import.

NAFDAC stated that the sale and distribution of such prohibited items violate national trade laws, compromise the integrity of Nigeria’s food control system, and pose significant public health risks, as they have not undergone the agency’s mandatory safety and quality evaluations.

Importers, market traders, and supermarket operators have therefore, been directed to immediately cease all dealings in these items and to notify their supply chain partners to halt transactions involving prohibited products.

The agency emphasized that failure to comply will attract strict enforcement measures, including seizure and destruction of goods, suspension or revocation of operational licences, and prosecution under relevant laws.

The statement said “The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has raised an alarm over the growing incidence of smuggling, sale, and distribution of regulated food products such as pasta, noodles, sugar, and tomato paste currently found in markets across the country.

“These products are expressly listed on the Federal Government’s Customs Prohibition List and are not permitted for importation”.

NAFDAC also called on other government bodies, including the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service(NIS) Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigeria Shippers Council, and the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), to collaborate in enforcing the ban on these unsafe products.

By: Lady Godknows Ogbulu