Business

Lawyer Wants Buhari To Curb Diversion Of Nigerian Cargoes

Published

11 years ago

April 20, 2015

70 unit Nissan buses donated for tricycle operators in Akwa Ibom State, recently.

Maritime activities closed last Friday with a Maritime Lawyer, Dr Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), urging the Federal Government to device a strong port administration, to reduce cargo diversion to neighbouring ports.
Agbakoba, Principal Partner, Olisa Agbakoba Legal (OAL), made the plea in an interview with newsmen in Lagos.
He expressed concern about a situation where a large number of goods coming into the country were smuggled in.
“Eighty per cent of cars coming into Nigeria come through Cotonou and they are brought here; but if they are brought directly, these would create jobs.
“Benin Republic has a well-developed Ports and Harbour regime that gives the nation 30 to 40 per cent of its national incomes.
“Yet all the ocean-going vessels that call at Benin Republic are then trans-shipped into Nigeria.
“If people know that they can ship their things easily, the port business will grow. We are giving our maritime business to 17 other countries in West Central Africa,” he told The Tide source.
Agbakoba, a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), expressed concern about the incursion of indigenous coastal trade (Cabotage) by foreign ships, saying that this would hinder job opportunities for Nigerians.
“In Cabotage, I started shouting that foreign vessels in our waters were going to 10,000 and Nigerians do not have anything, how do we get jobs?
“If the maritime sector is properly harnessed, it is a very strong source of alternative revenue. The maritime lawyer also noted that the nation was losing huge amounts of money due to lack of a law like the Ports and Harbour Bill, in managing the ports.
“The Ports and Harbour Bill has not been passed and without the bill, how can you talk about ocean and sea-going vessels or ports.
“The money we are losing from the absence of a law to manage our ports is incredible,” he said.
In the week under review, Mrs Jean Chiazor-Anishere, President, Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA) Nigeria, lamented that there were no enough indigenous ship owners to benefit from the Local Content Act.
“Nigerians are not seeing the benefits as fast as they want to see it because we do not have enough ship owners who will benefit from the Local Content Act.”
“Of the very few ship owners we have, how many of them have supply vessels?
“How many of them have oil tankers and are looking at huge contracts?,” she noted.
“We have to change our mindset but the Federal Government too has to assist in terms of financing,” Chiazor-Anishere told reporters.
She urged the Federal Government to establish a maritime bank, to enable maritime operators to access loans on a single-digit platform.
Chiazor-Anishere also said that the maritime bank would provide avenues for job opportunities, as ship owners would have loans to procure more ships.
Also, during the week, a 21-member steering committee was inaugurated under the auspices of the Port Consultative Council (PCC), to draw an agenda for deliberation on the revival of the nation’s port industry.
At the inauguration in Lagos, Chief Kunle Folarin, Chairman, Port Consultative Council (PCC), said the committee would facilitate the “Roadmap and Modules” for the port industry, in the next four years.
“The ultimate goal of your assignment is to provide instruments that will guide and shape the Roundtable of a wider regime of participants,” he told the committee members.
“Members of the Roundtable will design the Roadmap that will regain the hope and aspirations of the maritime sector,” Folarin said.
According to him, the Roadmap and Modules will serve as the pillars for the policies, legal framework and economic targets that will propel the maritime sector and the port industry.
“We are all aware of the challenges we have faced in the maritime sector in the last two decades; the decline and the decay of both operational modes and infrastructure in the port industry.
“There is no time more appropriate than now to address this situation and work toward the re-engineering of the entire sector to be competitive and productive,” the maritime expert added.

Business

Boat Mishap Kills Pastor, Wife And Church Members In Brass Water

Published

2 days ago

May 18, 2026

The Tide

A boat accident in Bayelsa state has killed a serving Pastor, Wife and other church members along Brass waterways

The sad incident happened at Odioama in Brass local government area of Bayelsa State when the Pastor, wife and members of his church were in a programme.

?Tide confirmed that the lifeless body of the Pastor’s wife has been found and deposited in a mortuary while the remains of her husband ,the Pastor is yet to be recovered

as search party are still ongoing.

Although the real cause of the boat Mishap is not yet known as at the time of this report, our Correspondent gathered that the identities of the Pastor, wife and church members were not disclosed to the public.

The mishap, Tide gathered occurred on Friday morning when the church members were on a boat transit

The Bayelsa State government and the state police command are yet to issue official statement’s on the sad accident

By: CHINEDU WOSU

Business

Rivers Workers Seek Scrapping Of Contributory Pension Scheme

Published

2 days ago

May 18, 2026

The Tide

The Rivers State Council of Nigeria Civil Service Union has called on the State Government to urgently scrap the contributory pension scheme, describing it as unfavourable to long-serving civil servants in the state.

Chairman of the union, Chukwuka Osuma, said this in an interview with newsmen in Port Harcourt, recently.

Osuma said the current pension structure has continued to worsen post-retirement hardship for workers.

He noted that the contributory pension scheme had failed to provide adequate retirement security for workers who had spent many years in service, especially those approaching retirement age.

According to him, civil servants who had served for more than 20 years were among the worst affected under the scheme, insisting that many retirees could no longer cope with prevailing economic realities.

He also informed that the Union has made moves to showcase their concerns, pleading with Governor Siminalayi Fubara to abolish the pension policy and introduce a more favourable arrangement for affected workers.

“The union was not opposed to pension reforms, the contributory scheme should only apply to newly employed workers or those with fewer years in service”, he said.

Osuma explained that workers who had already spent decades in the civil service ought to remain under a more secure pension structure capable of guaranteeing stability after retirement.

The labour leader further noted that inflation and the rising cost of living had continued to erode the value of retirement savings, thereby increasing the suffering of pensioners across the country.

He also appealed to the state government to consider extending the years of service in the civil service from 35 to 40 years and the retirement age from 60 to 65 years.

Osuma argued that such adjustment had become necessary in view of present-day economic realities and changing conditions in the workplace.

The unionist also reviewed that similar policies had already been adopted in some sectors and jurisdictions, expressing optimism that the State could also implement the reforms for the benefit of workers.

He however, commended Governor Fubara for approving an N85,000 minimum wage for workers in the state, noting that the amount was above the national benchmark of N70,000.

Osuma also acknowledged the government’s efforts in the area of workers’ promotions and bonuses, but insisted that pension reforms and extension of years of service remained critical to the long-term welfare and stability of civil servants in Rivers State.

By: King Onunwor

Business

FG Begins South-West Tour To Promote New Cooperative Bank

Published

7 days ago

May 13, 2026

The Tide

The Federal Government has launched the South-West zonal engagement and ministerial advocacy tour on the Cooperative Bank of Nigeria share capital mobilisation, sensitisation and cooperative sector digitalisation.

Reports say the initiative was launched through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.

According to reports, the advocacy tour, organised by the ministry’s Federal Department of Cooperatives, began on Monday in Lagos.

Speaking at the event, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security and Supervising Minister of Cooperative Affairs, Dr Aliyu Abdullahi, said the initiative was part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

Abdullahi described the exercise as a strategic effort to reposition the cooperative sector as a key driver of inclusive economic growth, financial inclusion, enterprise development, food security and national prosperity.

“Today represents a defining moment in our collective determination to reposition the cooperative sector as a major driver of inclusive economic growth, financial inclusion, enterprise development, food security and national prosperity,” he said.

The minister noted the modern cooperative movement in Nigeria originated in the South-West following the 1934 Strickland Report, which led to the enactment of the Cooperative Societies Ordinance of 1935.

According to him, the decision to commence the sensitisation and share capital mobilisation tour in the region is symbolic, as it marks a return to the roots of cooperative development in the country.

Abdullahi said the advocacy tour was a direct outcome of resolutions reached at the 8th Regular Meeting of the National Council on Cooperative Affairs held in Abuja in March 2026.

He said the council approved the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme, a comprehensive framework designed to strengthen the cooperative sector and align it with the administration’s goal of building a one-trillion-dollar economy.

“The reform programme focuses on seven strategic pillars, including governance reforms, cooperative financing and the establishment of the Cooperative Bank of Nigeria, digitalisation, capacity building, value chain development, inclusion of youths, women and persons with disabilities, and strategic partnerships,” he said.

He said the establishment of the Cooperative Bank of Nigeria and the digitalisation of the cooperative sector were the two major transformational initiatives under the programme.

“The Cooperative Bank of Nigeria is aimed at rebuilding a strong cooperative financial system capable of supporting cooperators, farmers, artisans, traders, SMEs, youths, women and persons with disabilities with accessible and affordable financial services,” he said.

Abdullahi emphasised that the proposed bank would be government-enabled but not government-funded.

“Government is not establishing the bank as an owner, nor will it rely on Treasury Single Account funds.

“The role of government through the FMAFS is to provide policy support, stakeholder coordination, regulatory facilitation and an enabling environment under the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme,” he said.

Also speaking, the Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment, Mrs Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to cooperative sector transformation.

She described cooperatives as critical tools for promoting inclusive growth, grassroots productivity, food security, financial inclusion and community wealth creation.

Ambrose-Medebem said Lagos State would continue to support reforms and collaborate with stakeholders to ensure the successful implementation of the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme (2025–2030).

“Together, let us build a cooperative ecosystem that is modern, transparent, digitally enabled, financially inclusive and globally competitive.

“Let us build cooperatives that not only mobilise savings, but also mobilise prosperity,” she said.