Two weeks ago, the Managing Director of Union Bank, Mrs Funke Osibodu, who was drafted for a two-year rescue mission to Union Bank, one of the eight rescued banks, had an interactive session with business editors in her office. Below are excerpts of the session.

The new prudential guidelines recently released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have run into stiff opposition in the banking industry.

Insurance companies in the country stand the chance of losing billions of naira from federal government on insurance of public building and building under construction if the malicious protest going on in the sector over government’s insurances continue just as the government explains reason behind March 1, 2010 insurance year for group life.

The Executive Secretary of Nigeria Accounting Standards Board, NASB, Mr. Godson Nnadi, has emphasized the need for the establishment of an independent accounting and auditing standard setting body for Nigeria and other African nations.

MESSRS. Richard Gill and Olutunde Adebayo have joined the employment of Nigeria’s only publicly quoted telecommunication company, Starcomms Plc, as directors to strengthen the operations of Starcomms and sustain its innovation drive among others.

For most people, a car is a necessity. We often depend on our vehicles to get us to and from work every day, transport children to events, and even for pleasure.

It was one of the most hyped government programmes ever seen on these shores. Billboards were mounted in Lagos and Abuja announcing the Imo Investment Summit. The organisers sent text messages to the mobile handsets of people almost every hour. The Imo State Government was holding its first investment summit in its 34 years of existence.

Insurance companies in the country may be daring the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) on
the regulator’s resolute to ensure that underwriters meet their claims obligations as claims ratio of some insurance companies are still below 10 per cent

Developers have been reviewing downwards the prices of their properties on offer, a reflection of the gloom in the property market occasioned by the paucity of funds in the economy resulting from the unwillingness of the banks to grant credits.

WORRIED by complaints of customer abuses by telecommunication industries, the Consumer Protection Council, CPC, said it has concluded arrangements to come up with an all-embracing regulatory framework to check consumer abuses in the telecom industry in Nigeria.

The issue of poverty has become a front burner issue all over the world especially in the continents of Africa, Asia and Latin America. The interest shown all over the world may be genuine but there are some elements of enlightened self interest. For example, in Nigeria, most of the violent clashes have been attributed to poverty. Poverty is always a threat to political stability and peace.

MINISTER of Commerce and Industry, Senator Jibril Martins Kuye, has disclosed that Nigeria was prepared to do business with Ukraine once it is ready to respect the country’s cultural and educational ties.

The Ogun State government has called for increased private sector participation in the development of affordable housing in the state to ensure provision of decent shelter for people resident in the state.

Spain provides a sterling example of how it can be done right. Through the 1990s, the Spanish government pursued a radical reforms programme, easing corporate taxes and regularising labour laws.

Elder Nnamdi Martin Onyenmuru is the Managing Partner of Martin Onyenmuru & Co. Chartered Accountants and also the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Martino Systems Limited, an outfit that deals on electronics.