01122019 - 13 states struggle for 7.5 metric tonnes of rice

Like any other nation of the
world that is faced with
challenges on the Ease of
Doing Business, the
Nigerian business environment
has often been described as
tough, given the realities of
insecurity, multiple taxation,
infrastructural deficits which
include but not limited to poor
electricity and bad roads, as well
as the slow rate of economic
growth occasioned by
fluctuating oil price.
Reports have shown
appreciable growth recorded by
some corporate organizations in
Nigeria despite these
challenges and the outstanding
heights they have attained
today, would not have been
SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 1, 2019, PAGE 25
SPECIAL SECTION ON OUTSTANDING CEOs
possible without the
painstaking efforts of some
thorough-bred and purposedriven
Chief Executive Officers
(CEOs) who have through
exemplary leadership skills
made their various
organizations succeed against
all odds. Such CEOs obviously
deserve recognition for their
uncommon resilience and
innovation.
•Becky Damilola-Oke •Boma Femi Julius
•Tommy Odama •Austin Ume Zurike •Victor Ehimuan
The Amazon Of The Nigerian Real Estate Industry
budget of N10.6 trillion, the Federal country. If we want to solve the deficit
Ministry of Works and Housing is under the four years remaining for
only getting six percent. Out of the this administration, we will need a
six percent, the minister says capital minimum of seven million houses
projects will take 80 percent while per year and the only way this can
the remaining 20 percent will go be achieved is for the government to
into housing, which means there bring foreign and local investors
will be more deficits.
together to map out strategies to
achieve this. If this can be done, the
deficit will reduced by at least 70
percent, but is obvious the federal
government is looking in this
direction.
State governments should
Engr Dr. Becky
Damilola-Oke
GMD/CEO, Bstan Group
She is a core professional in
engineering and construction
with 18 years of professional
experience, Engr Dr. Becky
Damilola-Oke is the Group
Managing Director of Bstan Group.
She bagged her first degree in civil
engineering at the University of
Benin, thereafter, she proceeded to
the prestigious Oxford University,
UK where she obtained a master
degree in construction
management. She later attended
Dominican University, USA for a
doctorate degree in estate
management and civil construction.
She is a member of the Nigerian
Society of Engineers (NSE) and the
Council for the Regulation of
Engineering in Nigeria (COREN)
among other professional institutes.
About Bstan Homes
We have been in the industry for
12 years and we have done so much
in the real estate industry. I
branched from pure construction to
real estate because I have passion
for people and looking at the
housing needs in Nigeria, I want
to be a stakeholder in impacting
lives through the provision of
shelter. I believe every Nigerian
should have a home, but we don’t
have the enabling policies and
there is less support from the
government. We have completed
over 22,000 housing units across
Nigeria and we are currently
working on the construction of
20,000 housing units across seven
estates located in Abuja, Lagos and
Port Harcourt.
Challenges of real estate
development in Nigeria
The Land Use Act is the greatest
challenge hindering the growth of
the real estate industry because
land titles are not regulated as they
should. During the eighth
assembly, the amendment for the
act scaled through the first reading
and nothing was heard again, the
ninth assembly is here and we are
still advocating for the act to be
passed to law. It is the reason why
foreign investors are not interested
in the Nigerian housing sector.
When it becomes a law, the new
act will ensure that land titles are
duly regulated, it will abolish
bureaucracy and mortgage will
work as it ought to. It will also put
an end to scams perpetrated by
companies that are not meant to be
in business.
Another issue is that the sector is
underfunded. Out of a total national
•Oladipo Raji •Ebenezer Olufowose •Kabir Ayinde
•Becky Damilola-Oke
Bridging the gap in demand and
supply for housing
The housing deficit in Nigeria is
alarming. If it should be truly
measured, we should be hitting
50 million because the
population is growing and
people are being
displaced every year by
flooding and insurgency
in some parts of the
encourage Public-Private
Partnership by releasing lands to
developers who will build houses,
because government cannot do
everything. PPP is a system that
works all over the world, when the
right policies are in place.
BOMA JULIUS: Developing Careers
In The Oil And Gas Sector
He is drilling fluids
specialist with a passion
for imparting knowledge
to others. Engr. Boma Femi Julius
is the CEO of Globat Oil and Gas
Skills; a training institute which
specializes in petroleum
processes, technical and
operational procedures as well as
project management.
An alumnus of the Federal
University of Technology, Owerri
where he obtained a bachelor of
engineering degree in polymer
and textile engineering, Julius
started his career in the oil and gas
industry as a mud engineer with
Geo-Fluids Limited and he has
gone on to work with a number of
companies across African and the
Middle East including
Schlumberger, Baker Hughes and
Saudi Aramco. To further enhance
his skills, he also trained at
Petroskills and Murchison
Drilling School both in the USA.
According to him, he was
inspired to set up the institute
given the fact that a large number
of Nigerian oilfield workers don’t
have the funds to go abroad for
training. He said, “Training people
has always been a part of me.
During the course of my career
abroad, I discovered that even
though the local content act has
helped in empowering Nigerians
with oil and gas skills, the level of
education is still low. Oftentimes,
some of friends in Nigeria would
call me to explain certain processes
to them, so I decided to set up Globat
Skills to enhance technical and
professional competence among
our engineers because it is
expensive to go abroad for
training.”
He added that the training at the
institute which is based on
American Petroleum Institute (API)
curriculum covers both theory and
practical sessions with the approval
of the Department for Petroleum
Resources (DPR). Also, Globat
Skills is affiliated with reputable oil
and gas training institutes which
assist in facilitating international
certification for trainees.
Since the inception of the
company in 2015, the company has
contributed to the career
progression of Nigerians in the oil
InfraFocus Technologies Limited,
ConnectFocus Technologies
Limited, SoftFocus Technologies
Limited, SmartFocus Technologies
Limited and Soft Solution Concept
Limited.
An alumnus of Federal
Polytechnic Ado-Ekiti, Lagos
Business School and the Federal
University of Technology, Akure,
within a space of four years, Raji has
grown the Focus Group from an
and gas sector, some of whom are
now gainfully employed in Kuwait,
Gabon, Saudi Arabia and
Nigeria.
“When we started, I
wanted our trainees to be
the best, so I brought in
professionals from different areas of
the industry to teach various
courses. These are leading technical
experts who are adept at addressing
the challenges the industry is facing
today by combining academicbased
learning with hands-on
training. Till date, we still bring in
experts from USA and other
countries to train our students.
“This is our way of contributing
to the local content initiative and we
have been getting recommendation
from our past students. It gladdens
my heart to know that we are
developing careers and helping
people gain employment. When we
started, people were coming on
their own, but now, we have
companies that are sending their
staff for training”, he informed
With a vision to build an institute
that will outlive him, Julius
informed that a branch of the
SME to become a powerhouse in
the Nigerian ICT sector. Earlier in
the year, the company became the
youngest ICT group to be certified
to the ISO9001:2015 standard in
sub-Saharan Africa.
Describing the operations of each
of the subsidiaries, Raji explained
that the flagship subsidiary which
is InfraFocus Technologies provides
hardware and infrastructure
solutions around servers, storage,
Future plans for Bstan
Homes
Part of our plan for the year 2020
is to work with states ravaged by
insurgency in building IDP homes
where the people can be resettled.
Our projects in Abeokuta and
Ibadan will soon be coming up as
part of the plans to expand our
operations to other states of the
federation where we will build
affordable homes for Nigerians.
Our immediate goal is to take over
the nation as the choice provider of
affordable homes and at the same
time create employment
opportunities for Nigerians.
institute will soon be coming up in
Lagos and Ghana, while the South
African branch will start classes in
the first quarter of 2020. “I have
observed that the reason why we
don’t have indigenous companies
that are over 50 years is because the
entrepreneurial understanding and
exposure of most business owners
in Nigeria ends within the
satisfaction of their family circle.
The founder of Julius Berger is no
more, but the company is
challenging the trend to meet up
with the standards of the modern.
The vision for us is big, but the
immediate plan is to stabilize our
current structure. We are also
working on extending our services
to cover recruitment for oil and gas
firms in Nigeria, such that we can
assist our students with job
placements after training”, he
informed.
We Create The Future To Stay Ahead Of Competition
Oladipo Raji
President/CEO, Focus Group
ladipo Raji is the President/
OCEO of Focus Group; one of
the fastest growing ICT
conglomerates in Nigeria with a
clear focus on providing end-toend
ICT solutions and services to
solve present and future problems
with five subsidiaries namely,
•Victor Ekpenyong
•Boma Femi Julius
end user devises, and data center
infrastructure. ConnectFocus
Technologies provides network and
connectivity solutions around Local
Area Network (LAN), Metropolitan
Area Network (MAN), wide Area
Network (WAN) and system
integration.
SoftFocus Technologies offers
software solutions for front end
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