Nation
Local Electronic Card Industry May Save Nigeria $300m Import Bill
Nigeria may be saving about $300million annually with local manufacture of electronics card as bank cards alone gulp about $36million.
This was disclosed by the Managing Director of one of the few electronic cards manufacturing firms in sub-Sahara Africa, Electronic Payplus Limited, Bayo Adeokun.
Speaking to some media operatives at the backdrop of commencement of operations at its multimillion dollar new manufacturing installations, Adeokun stated, “Bank cards alone is about $36million every year prior to our intervention. I have not done the cost of SIM card; I have not done the cost of tax card by Lagos State Government for instance and other states that are now coming up with that; I have not talked about the national ID card and I have not talked about the voters card. By the time you put everything together in terms of dollar you will be talking about $300million savings for the country.”
Calling on the Federal Government to take steps to protect investments in the card industry, he stated further, “In this period that remittances from abroad is going down, crude oil revenue is coming low and all of that the government really needs to make a lot of savings in terms of foreign reserves.”
He also harped on the employment value the industry adds to the economy saying, “Prior to this (commencement of its new production lines) Electronic Payplus had about 100 staff. Now, we are up to 150. So, we are also generating employment. I mean, if you look at the nature of Nigeria, those 50 staff, each of them has dependence, so, we are talking of additional 500 or more that we are catering for.”
Giving details of the company’s new production capacity, he said, “We can do any smart card. So, the purpose is to extend it to every area of the economy. I showed you national ID card downstairs we produce for Nigeria. So, we are known to the government. Now, when the present administration came in they said there is no money to finance the production of that again. So, they said they want to go into digital ID card. We are also playing in that space because we have the license.
“We presently enrolled Nigerians in Diaspora. We do local enrollment that is currently ongoing as well. We have the license to produce that. We also are presently working with the Lagos State Government because they want to roll out what is called residency card which is also going to be a payment card. So, we are going to service all the industries.
“We are also talking to telecommunication companies on the possibility of supplying their SIM cards as well.
“Also are looking beyond Nigeria. We have customers all over Africa. All the banks in Gambia we produce all their cards, for instance. We have customers in Ghana, Guinea, Cameroun, Uganda and Kenya.”
On the impact of the company’s new production facility upgrade, he said, “What we have done is 60 million production cards per annum capacity. But the idea is all about improved turn around that we can offer because, today if you give me an order of one million cards, I can deliver it within a week. I can even deliver 250,000 per day to you. So, we believe that, that will be a game changer for us, and in addition we are now able to scale up our capacity utilization as well”.
The State Nursery and Primary School II, Mgbuanyim, Elele in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State held its eighth Inter House Sports School competitions last Saturday.
Speaking at the event, Chairman of the occasion, Hon. Innocent Worisah, called on both governments and community leaders to invest more in sports as it would help to boost the economy of the State.
Worisah said this at the annual inter house sports Competition of the school, saying that appropriate sporting facilities should be provided to all schools in the State and that would discover talents like Austin J. J Okocha and the rest.
“To me sports remains the only avenue that brings youths together, and promotes peace and unity among them. I urge Government at all levels and community leaders to join hands and build a better society through sports.
“I commend the headmaster of the school and his team for ensuring that the competition was a success” Hon. Worisah said.
Also speaking, the Education Authority Desk Officer in the LGA, Solomon Umeto also called on Government, mostly the LGA Chairmen to pay more attention to sports development at the grassroots level.
“It is obvious that sporting activities reduce youth restiveness and nefarious activities, investment in sports can create million jobs for the teeming youths who are desirous to do sports”, Umeto said.
By: Tonye Orabere
Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has set up new command posts in Kebbi and Sokoto States to boost staff performance, security and better protect critical national infrastructure in the states.
Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, who commissioned the two commands, said Federal Government would not relent in ensuring the protection of citizens at all times by providing the necessary supports, and logistics needed to maintain the current tempo of development to ensure effective discharge of the Corps core mandates
Represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr Shuaib Belgore, Aregbesola stated that the Federal Government was dedicated to continuously support the Corps to enhance performance and boost national security.
According to a statement signed by the agency’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Olusola Odumosu, the minister also tasked personnel in the two states to live up to the mandate of the agency and exhibit the highest level of discipline in their conduct.
He further charged the personnel to “abstain from rancor and unnecessary rivalry and ensure effective synergy with military and all other law enforcement agencies”.
Aregbesola commended the leadership of the Corps for the tremendous transformation witnessed within the last two years as he further attributed it to the doggedness, determination, pragmatic approach and readiness of personnel to impact positively on the nation’s security.
Present at the event were governors of the two states; Atiku Bagudu of and Aminu Tambuwal who were both represented.
The Nigerian Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Lagos State Chapter, in collaboration with FH1360/Alive and Thrive Project hosted an interactive media round table aimed at promoting maternal, infant and young child nutrition, with an intervention of reducing the total number of anemia and all deficiencies related to mother and child.
Chairperson, NAWOJ, Lagos State, Adeola Ekine, said the initiative was focused on improved reporting of maternal nutrition coverage in journalism.
She added that the annual event provides insight on illnesses affecting children and mothers and their possible solutions
The Lagos State team Lead, Alive and Thrive, Olawunmi Ajayi, who spoke extensively on Maternal, Infant and young child nutrition (MIYCN), noted that Nigeria loses about 2313 children daily translating to 844,321, children death annually, half of which are due to malnutrition.
“You don’t have to spend a lot on trying to impress people about your feeding habit you just have to make sure you are providing and feeding a well-balanced diet.
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