We have a lot of new things happening at SON. What we have been doing is to try to communicate the benefits of standardisation which translates to quality for Nigerians. We have devised innovative ways of communicating to people to buy the culture of standardisation. The major mandates of SON has not changed- elaboration of standards and quality assurance, the regular inspections of factories and production lines of products; audit of companies and advising industries to improve on their products.

First City Monument Bank’s (FCMB) women staff have taken financial literary to children as part of its commitment to educating them on the importance of savings. The women, through FCMB across the country, hosted pupils from various schools, under the theme, ’Kids Banking Excursion Programme”, where they were exposed to the general dynamics of banking, financial literacy and how to cultivate savings habit from an early age.

The Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc has stated that the Nigerian capital market slumped below its three-year low in 2015 due to dwindling crude oil price, foreign exchange problems and exodus of foreign portfolio investors.

The Federal Government has earmarked N40 billion in the 2016 budget to implement a comprehensive housing development plan for Nigeria to avert a housing crisis in the country. President Muhammadu Buhari disclosed this last week, in Abuja, at the 35th Annual General Meeting and international symposium of Shelter Afrique, a pan-African real estate finance institution.

Managing Director/Chief Executive of Premium Pension Limited Mr. Wilson Ideva has said that there is need for increased public awareness of the workings, benefits and imperative of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) especially in the face of the current economic uncertainties. Ideva stated this while reacting to the award won recently as the pension company of the year by Businesstoday, an online news outfit in Lagos last week.

Chairman of Bank Customers Association of Nigeria, Mr. Uju Ogubunka, has said that over 70 per cent of Nigerians are financial illiterates. Ogubunka noted that everyone needed financial inclusion irrespective of gender, age or profession. Ogubunka stated this at the Financial Literacy Excellence Award (FiLEX), in Lagos last week.

Standard Chartered Bank has announced plans to launch its newest mobile and online banking platform to one million clients across eight African markets. After the roll out to Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe in the first half of 2016, the bank will launch fingerprint recognition technology in Botswana, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe for the firs time later in the year, giving clients a more secure and convenient way to log in to their accounts. In Nigeria and Ghana, mobile banking clients will move to the bank’s standard global platform.

The management of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria, GSK Plc has allayed fears of job cuts after its planned divestment of its drinks business later in the year. The Legal Director/ Company Secretary, GlaxoSmithkline Consumer Nigeria Plc, Mr. Uchenna Uwechia, who disclosed this to select journalists in Lagos stated that the Board of Directors of GSK Plc has accepted Suntory Beverage & Food Limited offer for the divestment of its drinks bottling and distribution Business.

A new Managing Director has been appointed for Jaiz Bank Plc. He is Mr. Hassan Usman. The Board of Directors of the bank appointed Usman substantive Managing Director to run the affairs of the Bank subject to the approval of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Recently, online job portal, Careers24 introduced an online solution, a feedback mechanism that provides unfettered access to employees to rate their employers. Called the Company Review, the new solution democratises employer performance assessment, thereby providing a two way seamless communication pathway for both the employee and the employer to make informed decisions.

Etihad Airways has appointed George Mawadri as its new General Manager in Nigeria. He will be responsible for growing Etihad Airways’ relationships with its travel trade and corporate customers while furthering the development of the airline’s commercial strategy in Nigeria.

The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency,NAMA, has assured stakeholders that the nation’s airspace remains one of the safest on the continent of Africa for air navigation. This was disclosed by the Acting Managing Director of NAMA, Engr. Emma Anasi while declaring open the demonstration of Aircraft e-Clearance User Acceptance Test Module to National Air Defence Corp, Security Agencies and other stakeholders in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Challenges facing outdoor practitioners in Lagos seems not to have abated, as the state government has concluded plans to handover the state’s out-of-home business to Jean Claude Decaux; a foreign agency, to manage. Outdoor practitioners in Nigeria have over time complained of strangling regulations and high rates by states’, signage and advertising agencies.

Nestle Nigeria Plc has signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, with International Fertilizer Development Centre, IFDC, to support the local farmers and facilitate government’s economic diversification agenda. The partnership, a two-year pilot project, aims to help smallholder farmers, of whom 40 per cent are women, in Sahel and Sudan Savanna areas of the country to develop farming as a business and improve the quality and yields of millet and sorghum, which are popular staple crop ingredients in West African nation.

Chief Executive Officerof Ed Theo Energy Limited, Fola Aguda has said Nigeria should urgently begin to explore non-oil options available for it, in order to remedy the current economic challenges occasioned by fall in crude oil prices.Aguda made this statement while addressing newsmen ahead of the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International, FGBMFI annual seminar scheduled for Friday June, 10th and 11th in Lagos.