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Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2022—25 Flutterwave planned IPO and the lessons for Nigeria By Omololu Oduyoye WE, the older folks, may disagree with the mannerism of the ‘‘sorosoke” (speakup) generation, but we lack the impetus to question their ability to put in the work and get the job done. In the midst of chaos, heated polity and uncertainty that clouds Nigeria day-to-day, the tech space which they clearly dominate provides the silver lining that continues to thrive in spite of any assumed impending doom. The Nigerian tech ecosystem speaks to the core of our resilience and capacity as a people, especially the versatility of our youth and the potential therein. I remember a few years ago when Paystack was valued and acquired for US$200million; the whole country went agog. It opened the eyes of those in authority to the potential of the tech industry that many of us have been discussing and lecturing them on. None of those at the helm of affairs could ever think that any agency of government, apart from NNPC, could pull such a figure, let alone a small company that started somewhere in Yaba and was less than a decade old. Flutterwave hit the air waves While policymakers were still stunned and ruminating over that, Flutterwave hit the airwaves with a staggering US$3billion valuation. That is more than what Nigerian non-oil sectors made in 2021. From various reports, Flutterwave has taken a giant step to go public and list on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange. If this is true and they succeed, it will be a watershed for Africa's tech and innovation sector. Not just in service delivery but payment ease and testament to our hidden potential. According to Tekedia, the company has disclosed its plan to use the proceeds from the listing to grow its expansion into new African opportunities and also expanding into lending. Through its Flutterwave capital, it will provide collateral-free digital loans to business owners in Nigeria. With this support, businesses can easily access loans of up to 2million Naira without collateral, cumbersome documentation and other stringent terms and conditions. What the government should now do is to refocus the drive for revenue generation with a well-formulated termed blueprint to grow the tech space by allocating grants for equity participation in innovations from talented youth with the primary target of exporting such innovation to the world. It is not enough to attend the grand opening of these and that or visit Silicon Valley. It is selfevident that the ideas we seek from abroad are domiciled in our youth here and in abundance. The continued failure to do this will be the exportation of these brains to countries willing to give them the needed support while we end up paying for the innovations developed by them. The Flutterwave story, alongside many from the tech industry, is very similar to the everyday Through its Flutterwave capital, it will provide collateral-free digital loans to business owners in Nigeria struggle of the average Nigerian - growth without institutional support or lifeline. All personal hard work and perseverance. Let me say this: Flutterwave should be a source of inspiration and pride to Nigerians. That no matter what anyone may think of our country or its people, no matter the shenanigans of some misguided youth troubling the street of Dubai with daggers, the Flutterwave identity is who we are. Not the cultists that have overrun the Mafias in Italy or the Nigerians in different gallows in Asia for drug trafficking. It is the signpost of the endless possibilities we can achieve and the hope that dreams, no matter how tall, can be achieved. •Omololu is a Chartered Accountant and financial advisor. He was a Financial Controller with African Capital Alliance (ACA) and Audit lead at KPMG. :Vanguard :@vanguardnews NEWS HOTLINES: Abia varsity puts proposed fee hike on hold By Steve Oko U MUAHIA—THE Management of the Abia State University Uturu has put on hold the proposed increase on school fees in consideration of the effects of the biting economy on parents and guardians. Vice Chancellor, Professor Onyemachi Ogbulu, disclosed this during an interactive session with Students Union Government, Students Representatives Council, Faculty and Departmental Presidents, Hostel Governors and the Management of the institution. He, however, said that the inevitable upward review of school fees which had already been agreed upon in an earlier meeting with the necessary stakeholders, would definitely be implemented but not in the current semester. The VC asked students to get ready for the new fees which he said, had become imperative to enable the university deliver quality services in view of the econiomic realities. "I just want to remind you that as agreed during our town hall meeting, school fees have to be increased, but not now. The upward review has to be done some time in the future. "We won't just increase fees but provide safety nets to ensure that no student drops out of By James Ogunaike ABEOKUTA—THE Ogun State government, yesterday, said it plans to decongest all its overcrowded schools as part of efforts to create enabling environment for teaching and learning in public schools across the state. The State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu, who disclosed this at a stakeholders’ meeting in school". The VC pleaded with students to pay their fees on time to enable the institution serve them better, stressing that the Senate policy on "no fees, no exam", shall be strictly implemented. "All students have six weeks from commencement of semester to pay school fees and register for courses while portal for course registration will be shut down one week before exam", he added. Explaining that the cost of running the institution had gone up particularly following the increase in the cost of diesel, the VC appealed to students to get ready to adjust to some inevitable challenges. "Before the strike, we were buying diesel for N350 per liter but now it sells for N850. We want you to be prepared for adjustments". Plans underway to decongest all our schools —Ogun govt Abeokuta, said the present administration has renovated over 960 schools, while over 25,000 tables and chairs had been provided in the schools to cushion the effects of shortage of furniture in the schools across the state. Arigbabu who noted that the immediate past administration in the state left the state education sector in a sorry situation, said that the Dapo Abiodun led administration has overhauled the sector to meet up with the 21st Century standard. He said: “The government is working round the clock to decongest all the overcrowded schools across the state. The government would make provisions to build more classrooms in some existing schools, establish schools in newly developed areas and as well take over community schools in the state to accommodate more students. Defamation against Pastor Olukoya: Maureen Badejo loses at London court L ONDON—LONDON- BASED Vlogger, Ms Maureen Badejo is in the news again. But this time, for the bad as she has again lost an appeal against mounting court rulings against her in respect to several defamatory statements she had made against Dr. Daniel Olukoya and his wife, Folashade. Olukoya is the founder and General Overseer of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (worldwide). In the latest ruling, the High Court Appeal Centre, Royal Courts of Justice, London, on September 13, 2022, ordered that: “Permission to appeal is refused. The application is totally without merit. Pursuant to CPR 52.4(3), the defendant may not request this decision to be reconsidered at an oral hearing.”
26 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2022 N-Delta militants at war over pipelines surveillance contract Continues from Page 5 and be sending people or even if he sent people, did he ask all of them to come to Ode- Itsekiri or to Warri to meet him in his palace?” Reverse contract or wait for anarchy, Lori- Ogbebor tells FG Reacting to the contract awarded Tompolo yesterday, Chief Lori-Ogbebor lambasted the Federal Government for failing in its responsibility to manage oil resources in the Niger Delta and maintaining peace in the country. Addressing newsmen in Abuja, she said: “I have called you because of the anarchy in our land. There is anarchy in Niger Delta. Some weeks ago, I was a guest at national television and they sought my position on insecurity in the country. ‘’What they asked was connected to the train tragedy. But I told him then that the instability in the country, which is in the Northern areas of the country is little compared to what was coming in Niger Delta. “I said there will be anarchy and it will be very serious. I told the anchor people should be worried about what is happening in the Niger Delta for two reasons. One, the Niger Delta is where the food is produced, the food basket of the nation and is also what gives us foreign exchange. Till today, people have been crying about foreign exchange and it keeps worsening every day. “It is not only that our food basket will stop, our food production, even the foreign exchange of Nigeria will keep going down the drains. I told them, kidnapping is one thing but killing, bloodshed and kidnapping, alongside lack of foreign exchange will be double tragedy. At the time I said it, they said I did not understand the question posed to me. ‘’But I am sure now that they understand. It is not more than four weeks and everyone is running amok, with revelations coming out. When I talked about small and big thieves, they did not understand me. When I talked about vessels being used to take our oil to the high seas and oil bunkering, they did not understand me. I warned then that it is not the small thieves that they should worry about but the big thieves and since then, they have pursued vessels out of our waters. “Mallam Kyari, GMD of NNPC agreed that everybody is involved in the stealing, that they even found pipelines in churches and mosques. That is how bad it is. I said then that the problem we have is FG, all they do, instead of tackling this problem, is to give few people money to go and give few boys in the communities.” She noted that the award of the humongous contract sum to one individual in the Niger Delta is a clear demonstration of government abdicating its responsibilities to the people. Chief Lori-Egbebor cautioned that both state and federal governments must demonstrate the needed political will to implement the NDDC Master Plan and avoid enriching few individuals to the detriment of the common good of the people of Niger Delta, insisting that failure to heed the advice could spell doom for the country. “In fact, it is unable to manage oil in Niger Delta, take control of the country. They now went back to what we cried against some years ago, dumping money in the hands of some people, abdicating their responsibility to the people to take care of Niger Delta. This was why a week ago, they handed over pipeline surveillance to Tompolo and another man who is part of them, Dokubo has come out to say no, that Tompolo is nobody, and that he dared not come to his area. “I am not to say who is right or who is wrong but the truth is that you dare not go to another man’s land to take care of what he laboured to plant. So, Dokubo has said it, that when they were fighting the Itsekiris, they knew that the oil in Delta State belong to Itsekiris but they all converged to fight the Itsekiris, that the main oil is in Ijaw land — Bayelsa, Rivers, Kalabari and other areas. “Now, Dokubo has said Tompolo should not come to his area, whose area will Tompolo go with money being paid to him to look after? Because it is clear now that Itsekiri people have more oil in Delta State than anybody else? What is the Federal Government going to do? Now the house is divided against itself? The Federal Government is busy creating NNPC Limited to come and carry oil in the Niger Delta, and they want to do that very quickly, and talk unequivocally as if all is well but all is not well. “Recently, Dokubo was brandishing assorted weapons and the Federal Government kept quiet. If this is allowed to continue, anarchy will consume Naira depreciates to N436.5/ $ in I&E window By Elizabeth Adegbesan The naira yesterday depreciated to N436.50 per dollar in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window. Data from FMDQ showed that the indicative exchange rate for the window rose to N436.5 per dollar from N436.04 per dollar on Tuesday, indicating 46 kobo depreciation for the naira. Similarly, the naira depreciated by N2 in the parallel market yesterday. Vanguard findings from black market traders showed that the indicative exchange rate for the market rose to N707 per dollar from N705 per dollar on Tuesday. the nation. The Federal Government must stand up to its responsibility against any form of lawlessness and do the needful, so that peace will return to Niger Delta and Nigeria in general. To achieve a lasting peace in the region, FG must withdraw the Tompolo pipeline contract award, constitute NDDC board properly and ensure a holistic implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act.” Ignore Lori-Ogbebor’s call to revoke Tompolo contract —IPDI Tackling Lori-Ogbebor yesterday, the National president of IPDI, Austin Ozobo, said in a statement: “We have studied Chief Lori-Ogbebor’s statement and wish to state that it did not come as a surprise because she is on record to have opposed every effort to attract development and positive appointments to Warri area, Delta State and the Niger Delta region. “The IPDI calls on the Buhari to present N19.76trn budget next month •As Gbajabiamila inspects Reps’ temporary chamber for plenary By Levinus Nwabughiogu ABUJA — Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, yesterday gave a tentative date of first week in October, 2022 as the time President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to lay the proposed budget of N19.76 trillion for 2023 fiscal year. He dropped the hint while inspecting the level of work on the conversion of two hearing rooms, 028 and 231, to a temporary chamber for plenary as the construction of the National Assembly Service Commission office. It will be recalled that the old chamber as well as the dome in the White House area of the National Assembly building leaked seriously during rainfall, to which the parliament had appropriated N37 billion for renovation. The renovation, which will include other critical areas of the building will be handled by the Federal Capital Development Authority, FCDA. However the budget was later pruned to N9 billion. Gbajabiamila, who stated that the job which started in August this year, will be completed within one year, added that the incoming 10th assem- losses By Prince Okafor NIGERIAN business men have cried out over the unfavourable trade imbalance between them and their foreign counterparts. The Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service, NAQS, had disclosed that the country loses about $362.5 million annually in terms of foreign exchange to the ban on the exportation of dried beans in the last eight years. Similarly, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, From left: National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, Chief of Staff to the President, Professor Agboola Gambari and Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, at the Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja, yesterday. bly would take off at the temporary chamber. He said: “The renovation work started in August. It started few weeks behind time but for a good reason. So far, between August and now, giant strides have been made. “You see that the old chamber have been ripped apart. The innovations are going to be like state of the art. We will at the end of the day be proud to have chamber that match the best standard all over the world. I’m quite impressed with the work so far. I will encourage them to double the pace. Because as it is, unfortunately or fortunately, this is not for the benefit of the 9th Assembly it is for the benefit of the 10th Assembly. “The old chamber is not going to be ready until sometimes in August 2023. So, we are talking about close to one year. But so far so good, we are happy and this temporary site where we will be sitting for the next 9, 10 months is honestly a far cry from where we used to be but they have done well in adapting, this used to be hearing room to a legislative chamber. Adaptation - you made a lot of innovations. We are ready to work. “The 10th Assembly is most likely (taking off here) unless NNPC and FG to ignore Chief Lori-Ogbebor. She is neither a Niger Delta activist nor a leader in the region. Also, she does not live in the Niger Delta to feel the devastating effect of the activities of oil theft nor has any stake in the region through investments. “All her investments are in Abuja and Lagos, from where she addressed press conferences from time to time to promote her selfish interests at the expense of the ordinary Itsekiri people that she claims to be fighting for. Let her invest in rural Itsekiri communities like Ogheye and Ebrohimi to develop the communities as Chief Tompolo did with Kurutie, if she loves her people. “Niger Deltans from across the nine states of the region have wholeheartedly embraced the award of the surveillance contract to Tompolo and are ready to work with him. This is evident in the thousands of people that have paid solidarity and consultative visits to him at Oporoza, Delta State. MARKETING Edge, Nigeria’s leading and authoritative brand and marketing publication has announced its annual 2022 National Marketing Stakeholders’ Summit & Brands & Advertising Awards of Excellence. The iconic two-in-one event, which will also mark its 10th anniversary, is scheduled to be held on 16th September, 2022 at the exquisite Harbor Point Hall in Victoria Island, Lagos. Export rejects: Nigerian traders cry out over NAFDAC, lamented that over 76 per cent of the country’s commodities were often rejected by the European Union for not meeting required standards. Vanguard’s finding equally revealed that the European Union had banned beans, sesame seeds, melon seeds, dried fish, dried meat, peanut ships, groundnut oil, palm oil and yam, for not meeting the required standards. The EU also claimed that beans contained between 0.03mg kilograms to 4.6mg/ kg of dichlorvos (pesticides) contrary to acceptable limits, “The fact that Tompolo can deliver on this very sensitive national assignment is not in doubt and key stakeholders are all behind him to stop the environmental genocide in the Niger -Delta, increase the nation’s oil production and protect the environment. “IPDI strongly believes that this contract would lead to the employment of thousands of youths and help in addressing youth restiveness in the region; hence well-meaning Niger Deltans support him.’’ work can be accelerated but we don’t want to accelerate work and compromise quality of work. So, it’s better late but done well, everything worth doing is worth doing well. “So, right now they bill to open that place in August. If we are lucky and they are able to move faster and work 24/7 round the clock, may be a month or two earlier in which case the 10th Assembly will come into new chamber.” Speaking on the capacity of the temporary chamber to accommodate the 360 lawmakers, Gbajabiamila said: “You can see the configuration, it is not just this place, it is also upstairs. “So, I think it is about 100 and something here and about 200 and something upstairs but it has been configured in such a way that everything is connected and you can see the screens, I can see everybody upstairs, everybody presiding can see everybody upstairs, can see everybody downstairs.” On his part, a national commissioner in the National Assembly Service Commission, Bassey Olusegun Etuk, said the 400 capacity building would cost government N11.6 billion. Marketing Edge announces 2022 awards, taps Sanwo-Olu as keynote speaker stressing that they constitute a danger to human health because of high levels of pesticides. Available statistics showed that in 2013, a total of 24 agroproducts originating from Nigeria but exported to the United Kingdom were rejected, while the figure increased to 42 in 2014. In 2016, 24 exported food products were also rejected. It would also be recalled that the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, recently inaugurated a technical committee to address incidences of export rejects. The hybrid event will feature a Summit in the morning with the theme: “Technological Explosion in the Digital Age: Imperative for the Marketing Communications Industry”, while the Award Night commences at exactly 5 PM at the same venue. Dignitaries lined up for this year’s event include Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Governor of Lagos State as a Special Guest of Honour and Keynote Speaker; Prince Dapo Abiodun, Governor of Ogun State as Special Guest of Honour; Dr. John Kayode Fayemi, Executive Governor of Ekiti State and Chairman Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Mr. Udeme Ufot, a seasoned advertising practitioner, business leader and former President of Association of Advertising Practitioner of Nigeria. In addition, the summit will be led by an impressive array of iconic personalities, including Guest Speaker, Tolulope Adedeji, Marketing Director, ABInbev, West Africa; Emeka Chris Okeke, Group MD/ CEO, MediaFuse Dentsu International and Director of Dentsu Ghana; Ozone Mbanefo and others.
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