6 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 NEWS Season of surprises: MTN excites Nigerians with freebies In its bid to ensure a memorable yuletide by giving back to Nigerians, MTN Nigeria has commenced its season of surprises giveback initiative. The giveback initiative, which kicked off at the Police Barracks, Falomo, Lagos, where MTN surprised the residents with various gifts such as food items and household gadgets, will move around the country over the next two weeks. Speaking on the initiative, general manager, consumer marketing, MTN Nigeria, Oluwole Rawa, said the aim of the initiative is to bring back the essence of the season which is giving and showing acts of kindness. “We understand the importance of the season, which is why we have come up with this drive. We want to surprise Nigerians with random act of kindness, which is the essence of the season. As always, we aim to spur show act of kindness and give to others,” he said. While encouraging Nigerians to watch out for the Yello train as it will be travelling across the country, Rawa also revealed that the season of surprises will also touch the online community. An Inspector of the Nigerian Police and resident of the barrack, Wole Oguntoye who got a gift of a television set at the event, commended MTN for the kind gesture. He also urged companies to emulate MTN and show appreciation to Nigerians for their patronage all year long. 2018 budget: Senate queries NNRA for utilising N367m without approval OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja Senate has queried the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA) for utilising N367 million, being 75 percent of its internally generated revenue in <strong>2017</strong>, without National Assembly approval. It also rejected the 2018 budget proposal of the Authority, on the grounds that its budget estimate was not accompanied by the projected IGR for next year. This was the outcome of the 2018 budget defence of NNRA before the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) on Wednesday. In his budget presentation, director-general, NNRA, Lawrence Anikwe Dim, admitted that out of the N490 million generated in <strong>2017</strong>, 25 percent was paid into Treasury Single Account (TSA), while the re- Thursday <strong>14</strong> <strong>Dec</strong>ember <strong>2017</strong> Prices of second-hand clothes soar by 30% as harmattan season kicks off Prices of secondhand clothes, especially cardigans, socks and sports wears have gone up in popular markets in Lagos, as the intensity of harmattan increases. A check-in at Yaba Market Wednesday shows that cardigans for adults, which cost N800 before the harmattan, is now being sold at between N1,500 and N2, 200. Similarly, cardigans for children now cost between N800 and N1000, as against N400 before Wednesday. The check revealed that Nigerians, particularly women, have continued to troop to the two major second-hand clothes markets at Alaba Market and Balogun to buy the commodity. A second-hand clothes seller at Yaba Market, Kunke Alabi, told <strong>BusinessDay</strong> that LSSTF injects N21bn into security in 10 years JOSHUA BASSEY Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF) says a total of N21 billion has been injected into the security architecture in the state since its inception 10 years ago. This comes as the Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, ordered the purchase of 30 new BMW motorcycles to enhance security patrol across the state. The additional motorcycles are to complement what the police, Rapid Response Squad (RRS) and other security agencies already have on ground. The LSSTF was established in 2007 by the previous administration of Babatunde Fashola, as a purpose-driven public/private initiative to maining N367 million was spent by the Authority. This presentation did not go down well with senators as they accused the NNRA of violating the Constitution. A member of the committee, Andrew Uchendu, said the panel would not continue with budget defence if the amount was not properly accounted for. “If the amount the Director General was referring to was not captured in your budget performance for <strong>2017</strong>, then how do we proceed with budget defence for 2018, if that huge sum has not been accounted for in your budget performance? Then we have not started budget defence. “You are coming for budget defence. And that amount of money was generated and utilised. And you didn’t think it was necessary to account for it. We have had some experijointly fund security at the time bank robberies were weekly occurrences in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial and financial headquarters. Oye Hassan-Odukale, chairman, board of the LSSTF, disclosed, Tuesday, at the 11th town hall meeting on security, held at the Lagos House, Alausa, with Governor Ambode, top security personnel and captains of industry in attendance, that the LSSFT had so far injected N21 billion into funding security apparatus in the state. According to Hassan- Odukale, Lagos State government made 71 percent of the total donations in cash and kind to the LSSTF since its establishment, while the L-R: Timothy Nubi, director, centre for housing sustainable development, UNILAG; Michel Puchecos, country chief executive officer, Lafarge Africa plc; Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, communications, public affairs and sustainable development director, Lafarge Africa, and Chris Ogbechie, professor of strategic management, Lagos Business Schoolat the launch of Lafarge Africa sustainability report in Lagos, yesterday. Pic by Olawale Amoo ence with them over the last 12 years. And this type of situation has always arisen and it is not acceptable at all,” he said. Also speaking, chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Baba Kaka Garbai, pointed out that any amount internally generated must have the approval of the National Assembly before utilisation. He said: “What you have done without approval is an infraction of the existing laws guiding public expenditure.” Another member of the panel, Clifford Ordia, spoke in the same vein. An attempt by the chairman of the Committee, Tayo Alasaodura, to give the NNRA soft landing by submitting that the Authority be pardoned, was rebuffed by his vice, Gershom Bassey, who insisted that this would amount to a cover up. balance of 29 percent came from private sector donors, including banks, corporate bodies and individuals. Meanwhile, Edgal Imohimi, the state commissioner of police, has disclosed that the police shot dead 32 armed robbers during gun-battle, arrested 299 others and lost six officers in the last 10 months. Imohimi, speaking at the town hall meeting, said from January to October <strong>2017</strong>, 299 armed robbers were arrested while 32 robbers were killed during encounters with the police. The police boss said 231 vehicles were recovered in the last 10 months, while 21 armed robbery attempts DAVID IBEMERE … as Lagos to buy 30 new BMW motorcycles to beef up patrol were foiled, saying, “Regrettably, six police officers were shot dead in the line of duty.” He, however, said to ensure low crime rate was sustained, increased police presence in all crime prone areas and other locations had been implemented. According to Imohimi, the challenges being faced by the police include dearth of patrol vehicles, while many vehicles attached to the divisions had become rickety and unserviceable due to old age and over usage. The command would need additional 200 patrol vehicles, equipped with communication gadgets, five lorries troop carriers and five heavy-duty towing vehicles. there was low patronage but he made a lot of sales in children cardigans and socks because of their high demand. Alabi said people, particularly women, like wearing socks to prevent dryness and to keep their legs from dust, saying, “A few months back a pair of socks cost N100 as against its current price of N200 depending on its quality so also a pair sportswear cost N1,500 as against N1,000.” Another seller, Patrick Okojie, said the price of second-hand blankets now cost between N4,000 and N4,500, as against the usual price of N3,000. Okojie noted that the current economic realities and difficulty in getting in second-hand wears were affecting their businesses, noting that the prices of secondhand clothing had risen in Togo and Cotonou in Benin Republic, the major transit centres for the business. “We normally import the materials from Togo and Cotonou in the Benin Republic, but the difficulty in getting this wears to Nigeria is a big challenge for us,” he said, saying a bail of cardigan that cost N80,000 before, now cost N150,000. “People don’t patronise us like before, they prefer to use the old ones they have at home because there is no money,” he said. He further explained that sport wears bail cost N180,000 as against between N120,000 and N150,000, adding that the unit price of sport wears depend on the quality of the product or material, ranging from N500 to N700. “We are facing a lot of challenges now due to the low patronage, which can be attributed to the economic situation in the country,” he said.
Thursday <strong>14</strong> <strong>Dec</strong>ember <strong>2017</strong> C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 7