MOTORISTS have decried the incessant harassment and impounding of their vehicles on major highways across the country by officers of the Nigeria Customs Service, (NCS).

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, has kicked against the suggestion by the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, that the nation’s four refineries be sold as scrap, saying it is a fraudulent way of ripping the country off its national assets.

FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange Plc has outlined key initiatives that it intends to concentrate on in the course of the year to drive development in the Debt Capital Market (DCM).

It has happened to many investors. Your stockbroker helps you to sell your shares. You had instructed him to sell at any price because you need the money urgently. He sells the shares at N20 per share but tells you he sold at N18 per share. Or the broker uses your money for his expenses and tells you he is yet to sell the shares. These unethical practices have caused many investors to lose confidence in the stock market and hence discouraged from investing in the market.

WAGL has secured LNG for the project, but has not revealed the name of the supplier.

Entrepreneurs occupy a central position in any market economy. They serve as the spark plug in the economy’s engine, activating and stimulating all economic activities.

He pointed out that 900,000 litres divided by 5,000 litres comes down to about 180 and should this be multipled by N600 million, it comes down to N108,000,000,000.00. A large chunk of this amount is lost daily through smuggling of the product, he said. This is outside the revenue that should have been collected by the various government agencies like the NPA, NIMASA, NCS etc should these ships had berthed at the nation’s ports.

“Normally one would expect 2016 to be markedly better in all these areas. The budget appropriation for 2016 had been variously described as capable of lifting the country out of the woods. One hopes and prays this would be so, but the continued slide in the price of oil which is the premise of the budget gives cause for concern. As a nation we need to find alternative source of funding fast. In this regard one hopes that the Solid Minerals sector would be adequately explored.

Talking to the Chief Executive Officer of Erisco Foods Limited, Chief Eric Umeofia, you will feel the pains of a man that has high hopes for the country’s manufacturing sector, but feels dejected by the activities of those holding the economy down. His tomato paste plant in Lagos, one of the biggest in Africa, provides jobs for many Nigerians and he believes he can create more jobs if the system is clean. Today, the industry is plagued by importation of substandard but cheap tomato paste from China, so, Umeofia is left to fight to keep his local plant afloat and has become a strong advocate for the manufacture of goods locally as against importation. In this interview, Umeofia shares his pains and hopes for the manufacturing sector.

Ever since the naira entered into a tail-spin, performing woefully against other currencies, there has been an outpouring of concern by disillusioned citizens. Perhaps because of the high prevalence of poison in contemporary politics in the country, all manner of suggestions have been made.