Business
Fire Disrupts Ecobank’s Operations In Lagos
For over three hours, fire disrupted banking services at the head office of Ecobank Nigeria Limited. on Ahmadu Bello Way, Lagos, yesterday.
The Tide’s source, who visited the scene of the fire incident reported that the fire started at 8.30am.
A witness, Mr Malachy Okoli told the source that the fire started when a tanker was discharging diesel into the bank’s fuel dump.
Okoli said that staffers of some commercial banks around Eco Bank used their fire extinguishers to contain the fire before the arrival of officials of the Federal Fire Service.
The Tide’s source reports that some youths were seen around the place scooping diesel from the gutter not minding the risk and a lot of kiosks around the bank were destroyed by the inferno.
Deputy Commanding Officer, Lagos Command, Federal Fire Service, Ganiyu Olayiwola, said the bank alerted the command at about 8.55am.
“We quickly alerted our people and we were able to contain the fire, the first thing we did was to evacuate all the personnel and secured the area so that we would be able to perform our work effectively,” Olayiwola said.
Director of Operations, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Mr Femi Giwa, said the agency was alerted at about 8.55am.
“At about 8.55 am, we got a distress call at the Lagos State command and control centre concerning an inferno within the Ecobank head office.
“We activated our response and mobilised our respondents to the scene of the incident,” Giwa said.
He said officials of the agency discovered a tanker with 33,000 litres diesel, while trans-loading caught fire.
“We need to appreciate the Lagos State Fire Service, the Federal Fire Service and LASEMA Response Unit, the Ecobank Fire unit, UBA fire unit, Julius Berger and others for their efforts”, said Giwa.
“We were able to contain the inferno within the generator area where they have the tank and the building, as I speak to you is in good condition and the adjourning buildings were not affected.
“Personnel and occupants within the building were evacuated within the muster point. We recorded no injury, no death and I speak to you we were at the dampening stage,” Giwa said.
Representative of Eco bank, Mr Tunde Dawodu, said the fire started at about 8.40 am, when a tanker that came to supply diesel apparently caught fire.
“Immediately we activated the emergency protocol and all staff were evacuated from the building even though it did not affect the main building.
“We decided to fight it with fire gadgets that we had and we reached to the fire departments, the state, the federal, LASEMA and some other corporate organisations.
“As you can see it is just the tanker and one of our generators that were affected, it did not affect the building, the personnel or our operations,” Dawodu said.
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Blue Economy: Minister Seeks Lifeline In Blue Bond Amid Budget Squeeze

Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy is seeking new funding to implement its ambitious 10-year policy, with officials acknowledging that public funding is insufficient for the scale of transformation envisioned.
Adegboyega Oyetola, said finance is the “lever that will attract long-term and progressive capital critical” and determine whether the ministry’s goals take off.
“Resources we currently receive from the national budget are grossly inadequate compared to the enormous responsibility before the ministry and sector,” he warned.
He described public funding not as charity but as “seed capital” that would unlock private investment adding that without it, Nigeria risks falling behind its neighbours while billions of naira continue to leak abroad through freight payments on foreign vessels.
He said “We have N24.6 trillion in pension assets, with 5 percent set aside for sustainability, including blue and green bonds,” he told stakeholders. “Each time green bonds have been issued, they have been oversubscribed. The money is there. The question is, how do you then get this money?”
The NGX reckons that once incorporated into the national budget, the Debt Management Office could issue the bonds, attracting both domestic pension funds and international investors.
Yet even as officials push for creative financing, Oloruntola stressed that the first step remains legislative.
“Even the most innovative financial tools and private investments require a solid public funding base to thrive.
It would be noted that with government funding inadequate, the ministry and capital market operators see bonds as alternative financing.
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