Register now to receive our news updates via our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Mr. Jean Ziegler, Vice-President of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee writes on the”The tragedy of Noma (more…)

Civil Liberties Organisation, CLO, has challenged the leadership of Bayelsa Expenditure and Income Transparency Initiative, BEITI, to furnish Bayelsans with the financial position of the state and local governments as per income and expenditure.

An insurance expert has identified government’s non-challant attitude towards insurance laws and practices as one of the major factors hindering the growth of the industry. (more…)

Nigeria’s central bank offered $150 million at its twice-weekly auction, the least since March 29, while banks sought to by $214 million, according to an e-mail from the CBN Dollars were sold for between 147.9 naira and 148.6 naira.

“If the central bank fails to meet lenders’ demand consistently for about three weeks, the naira is bound to come under fresh pressure,” Kweku Brown, an analyst with Source Capital, a financial advisory company, said by phone from Lagos.

The naira weakened for the first day in three, dropping 0.3 percent to 150.17 versus the dollar as of 4:03 p.m. in Lagos.

The currency of Africa’s biggest oil producer depreciated to 152.35 per dollar on May 18, the weakest level this year, with demand for dollars exceeding supply at all currency auctions from April 26 till then.

The central bank increased dollars on offer to ease pressure on the naira, with the currency appreciating 1 percent since May 18.

But the managing director of the affected firm, when confronted by CyberLIFE Monday in his Computer Village office regarding the issue angrily said: “The issue has been sorted out with Microsoft. I have called the Country Manager of Microsoft. I have called Technology Distribution on the issue,”

Meanwhile, investigations by the NCC, according to the statement identified an operator (names withheld) as the real culprit. According to the statement, the said operator was already known to the NCC as a suspected software pirate and had previously evaded arrest during another raid by the NCC.

The counterfeit software in question according to the report was being offered to customers at almost the same price as genuine Microsoft software, a strategy that can trick customers into believing the product is genuine.

With this, it was gathered that the customer had contacted Microsoft who then brought the issue to the attention of the NCC who did a thorough investigation after which the decision to raid the premises of the affected firm was taken.

“We take our responsibility to protect our customers and partners in Nigeria very seriously.

When a customer comes to Microsoft and asks for our help because they’ve been duped by a dishonest supplier, we make every effort to ensure that they receive the support they require by following up with local law enforcement authorities like the NCC.” Uzo Okpaka, Channel Compliance Manager for Microsoft Anglophone West Africa, said.

The NCC raid, with the support of Microsoft, according to Abel Odje, Managing Director, Ruthabel ICT, has helped level the playing field for honest businesses like mine.

” “I don’t want to lose money to unscrupulous resellers who exploit customers’ good faith with fake software.”, he added.

While warning on the economic implications of pirated software products, Dale Waterman, Microsoft’s corporate attorney for Anti-Piracy in the Middle East and Africa noted that “We are aware that these high quality counterfeit software is being produced by very sophisticated organized crime syndicates in China.

“International police organisations such as Interpol have even suggested there is a link between intellectual property crime and terrorist financing.”

With the increasing sophistication of software pirates and cyber criminals, Microsoft, he said warns Nigerian consumers to avoid the threats to their online identity, as well as their wallets, by insisting on genuine technology from their local retailers.

Meanwhile, in a country where the Business Software Alliance (BSA) estimate the PC software piracy rate is 83%, Microsoft works closely with the Nigerian authorities to help build cases against counterfeiters that put consumers and businesses in Nigeria at risk.

Frequently, counterfeit software is vulnerable to computer viruses, malware and hackers, leaving consumers unprotected against data loss or identity theft. Meanwhile, local businesses have difficulty competing with pirated software that has been priced at below-market levels and are forced to cut jobs.

From the capital of old Eastern Region-Enugu State , Igwe Uche Nwachime in Nkanu, was abducted and later slaughtered because his relations had refused to pay ransom on time as requested by the kidnappers. Report also had it that the proprietor of Gold Riveri Hotel Enugu was kidnapped and later released upon the payment of a N5 million ransom.

In Abia State , which is fast becoming the most notorious state where kidnapping business booms, the chairman of Enyimba Football was kidnapped. Justice Awa U. Kalu was shot in a failed kidnapping bid. Some Imo State indigenes had also been kidnapped recently; they include Mr. Celestine Ngaobiwu, a member of the Imo State House of Assembly and two sons of the Speaker of the Imo House of Assembly.

Three persons were killed earlier in the year when unknown gunmen kidnapped a movie star Peter Edochie in Onitsha, the commercial nerve centre of Anambra State . According to reports, the victims were killed to facilitate Edochie’s kidnappings. The actor hit the limelight as Okonkwo in the television adaptation of Chinua Achebe’s book, “Things fall Apart.” He was kidnapped after his bodyguards were overpowered.

Few days after the Edochie incident, about six people were killed in Imo State when kidnappers reportedly invaded Orlu and Ikeduru areas of the state. Two kidnapped Indians were reportedly rescued with some of the gang members seriously injured when a team of policemen confronted the gang at Ama Nwozuzu in Ikeduru. The cases are endless.

The wide-ranging state of insecurity in the South east, security experts say, had reached a stage where practically everybody is now worried about the frightening dimension the region is headed.

Presently, hardly can people sleep with both eyes closed for fear of being kidnapped. Businessmen, politicians and other wealthy persons have taken voyage as well as with their businesses for fear of being kidnapped. In the last few years, kidnapping and hostage taking have moved from the Niger Delta creeks to Ndi-igboland.

The ogre has broadened and taken unfathomable derivation in the land where many able-bodied but unemployed youths proliferate. Within the South-east, Abia State is the epicentre followed by others in the region. Everybody is now concern. It is expected against obtainable verification that the rich government officials, traditional rulers, elected politicians and their immediate families are now the target of the men of evil.

There appears not to be hiding place for the rich, even though some of them have relocated their families outside the South-east geo-political zone or outside the country. Even Lagos that was once regarded as insecure state is now a heaven of choice for many.

Recently, the profit-making activities in Aba, the commercial nerve centre of Abia State, were crippled as banks were forced to close their doors against demanding customers after frequent violent attacks on banks. At a point, the evil men outsmarted all procedures adopted by the banks to avoid them.

“While insecurity disrupts socio-economic and political activities in the country, it also slows down the pace of economic growth and development. Many investors continue to flee the country”, an Aba based bank manager who does not want his name mentioned, told LEADERSHIP SUNDAY.

Sadly, the news the international community has about the South east is that it is most unsafe to live and do business. To be sure, the World Bank recently rated Imo State as one of the worst states in the country to do business. “Before any foreigner contemplates of coming to Nigeria, he or she would not only be calculating the high cost of investing in the country, but also the safety of his or her life”, the bank manger said.

The National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) recently expressed regret over the serious security problems in the South east region. It said that “the security challenges had worsened the already bad and unfriendly business environment that is negatively affecting the growth of businesses and socio-economic activities in the area.”

“If industries are closing shops and investors are not forthcoming because of insecurity and other attendant problems faced by businesses, then the future, particularly that of the children should agitate the minds of everybody.”

Apart from NACCIMA, the police, states in the south east and other segments of the society are worried. Recently peeved by the state of insecurity- kidnapping in Anambra, the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ogbonna Onovo, announced the deployment of 16 units of anti-riot policemen to the area to complement the efforts of policemen attached to the state commands. But in spite of this, security experts and monitors say the level of insecurity in the region had heightened.

The chief police officer had partly blamed the high wave of crime in the country, especially in the South-east on materialism and loss of societal values. He noted that people were ready to do anything to get rich and be celebrated in the society. While also blaming the high rate of kidnapping and armed robbery in these areas on unemployment, he however said that most of the graduates of Nigerian universities are half-baked, but carry about certificates they could not even defend.

A delegation of senior executives, led by EIB Vice President Plutarchos Sakellaris, will be in Nigeria from 7th - 12th February, to hold meetings with top Government officials and discuss deals with key players in the Nigerian financial sector.

The European Investment Bank is the European Union’s long-term lending institution, owned by all 27 member states, and last year invested in excess of EUR 79bn in projects across the European Union, Africa and beyond. Vice President Sakellaris is responsible for lending operations in sub-Saharan Africa

In recent years the European Investment Bank has provided over EUR 220m of funding for projects across Nigeria, alongside 3.5bn of investment in Africa, Caribbean and Pacific countries under the Cotonou Mandate.