Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, weekend, installed the new Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdu-Rasheed Akanbi, charging the new monarch to rule with wisdom and the fear of God.

The agricultural sector is dominated by oil palm producing companies, which are experiencing a recovery in earnings growth after a period of slowdown. The earnings prospects for the operators here usually change with changes in product yields – which is a weather dependent factor. This tends to create an unstable pattern of growth in revenue and profit.

All Progressives Congress, APC has said that the financial recklessness exhibited by the previous government of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan was responsible for the fall of Naira and dwindling economy.

The Chief Executive of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Oscar Onyema, has said that the outstanding federal government N2.2 trillion budget deficits could be effectively financed through the instruments in the capital market. He stated this while appraising the performance of the stock market in 2015 and making projections for 2016, saying: “The capital market has an opportunity to effectively finance the FGN’s proposed budget deficit for 2016 and the implementation of its Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF).”

Commercial banks in the country are flouting the directive of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the e-dividend iportal nitiative. While SEC directed that registration on the portal will be free for investors in the first 90 days, investigations reveal that some banks are charging investors as high as N3,150 to register on the portal. Financial Vanguard investigations reveal that some banks as at Friday, charged investors as high as N3,150 for verification and stamp on mandate form.

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has released the deposit insurance guidelines for mobile payments systems. Mobile payment refers to the use of mobile telephone technology for payment and financial transactions. In a statement announcing the guidelines, NDIC said that deposit insurance for mobile payment system is known as “Pass-Through Deposit Insurance scheme.”

Last week in this column I said in there was no need to continue the sale of foreign exchange by the Central Bank of Nigeria to Bureau De Change in the country as it was no longer tenable. Little did I know then that the CBN was going to act fast on it. But before that evening press conference by the CBN Governor, I received several calls, some accusing me of working for some vested interest, while others were threats of possible reprisals. The curious thing is that some of the calls were from politicians who have been beneficiaries of the scam. The truth is that these are self serving individuals whose only interest is their pockets and stomachs.

Huge strides have been made in the last few years to try to tackle the many endemic problems which assail the country with political and economic stability being seen as the key weapons in attacking the corrosive influence of corruption. Whether the actions being taken on the ground now lead to dramatic improvements in levels of transparency and levels of corporate governance remain to be There have been a number of improvements that is allowing Business enterprise to grow. If these improvements continue and more are created, then Nigerian can escape its third world status and become an emerging economy.

The declining fortunes of investors in the Nigerian stock market is indicated by a debilitating loss of N1.764 trillion in ten trading days, as the stock market maintained its free falll last week in response to further decline in crude oil price to below $30 per barrel, and the historic depreciation of the naira to N300 per dollar in the parallel market. Meanwhile, analysts have predicted further fall this week given the persistent weakness in price of crude oil.

“We expect a very competitive game against going by the quality of players in their team. “I also believe in my players and they are in great spirit ahead of the game. “It will be good if we can start the competition on a positive note as it will improve the confidence of my players.”

SUPER Eagles coach Sunday Oliseh says paramount before him now would be to ensure Nigeria pick three points in today’s African Nations Championship group opener against the Mena of Niger Republic at the Kigali Regional Stadium.

THE name, Asuquo Ita may not ring a bell in the country. But, Eskor Toyo does amongst intellectuals, academics, economists, trade unionists, human rights activists, leftists and in university campuses across the country. However, both names refer to the same person. The real name of this revolutionary professor of Economics and moral leader of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is the former, while Eskor Toyo was his nom de plume which stuck and under which he became a professor.

THE Niger Delta Security Watch Organisation of Nigeria, weekend, alleged that President Muhammadu Buhari has shrunk the judiciary to a paper tiger, crushing the hope of the common man to get succour from that arm of government.

Nigerian students in the United Kingdom participating in the Federal Government’s amnesty programme under the aegis of Niger Delta Scholarship Students’ Forum, NDSSF, United Kingdom, yesterday appealed for the payment of amnesty students in the United Kingdom, who have outstanding cases of non-payment of stipends accumulating to six months. They also want the government to look into cases of students who have not received their in-training and house allowances.

Expected Marketing Communications budget cut by advertisers in the face of difficult economic and political decisions occasioned by the slide in the international oil market is likely to trickle down to media agencies, forcing them to innovate to survive the economic hardship. However, the growing challenges in the Nigerian economy resulting from slump in oil prices, ever rising dollar, free failing Naira, greater competitive pressure and poor governance are all said to be responsible for the pressures on businesses in Nigeria.