JUXTAPOSING THE REALITY WITH WHAT IS HAPPENING TO NIGERIAN CRUDE GIVEN AMERICA'S DISCONTINUED PATRONAGE

 

MUCH ADO ABOUT SHALE OIL AND GAS: FRACKING AND SEISMIC ACTIVITIES STILL REMAIN MAJOR ISSUES TO FULLY HARNESSING THE POTENTIAL OF SHALE:

 While it is true that there are major advances in the discovery of Shale Oil and Gas, there are also linkages to unfavourable seismic activities based on the process being used to extract Shale. This process which involves hydraulic fracturing (or franking for short) involves an artificial stimulation technique in which rock is fractured by a hydraulically pressurized liquid. Some hydraulic fractures form naturally, but fracking attempts to do this artificially and thus leads to tremors and earthquakes as have been recently discovered. Truth therefore is that while Shale Oil discovery may be a major break-through, Science and Technology is yet to find a suitable and environmentally friendly way of drilling for Shale Oil.

 

What I reckon may be happening is that America is using its Crude Oil Reserve in Alaska to make-up for the gaps in its global demand, while it tries to perfect current unfavourable consequences from Fracking. My take is that Nigeria should immediately pass the Petroleum Industry Bill, so as to encourage investment in the Oil and Gas Sector and deepen local participation in areas such as Gas, Refining, Petro-Chemical (Fertilizers and others) as well as Polymer-Tech so this God-given resources can become a driver of Nigeria's Industrial Growth, a key component of the GDP and a chief foreign exchange earner.

 LET'S IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES, RATHER THAN CRYING OVER THE CHALLENGES - TIME FOR SMART LEADERSHIP

 1. Just imagine what it will be like to have 40 - 50% of refined petroleum products in Africa come from Nigeria.

 2. Just imagine what it will be like to have Nigeria become a key supplier of fertilizer to African Countries, not to talk of Plastics, Bitumen and other derivatives from Crude.

 3. Imagine what this will mean for local employment and the economy of the Niger-Delta region.

 4. Just imagine if the Trans-Sahara Gas project can be completed and Nigeria becomes a key Gas supplier not only to Africa, but also Europe, given the proximity. Truth is, while we cry about Shale, we must also start to take practical steps rather than just squander our God-given resources the way we have been doing. Its time for Smart Leadership - one that understands the problem and has the capacity to proffer solution!

Bolaji Okusaga is a Lagos based PR Practitioner

 

HOW DO WE MAKE NIGERIA A SUSTAINABLE ENTERPRISE?

This seems to be the all-important question that no one is proffering an answer to. We have a Constitution that says all monies that accrue to government must go to the Federation Account and must be shared amongst the different tiers of government in agreed ratio with no provision for savings or investments. As if that is not enough, the issue of recurrent to capital expenditure in the annual budget also remains a major bane to development - what with a housing deficit of 17 million, with over 135,000km of road network in the country still remaining un-tarred; with Doctor to patient ratio still very low and hospital facilities nationwide inadequate for a population that is increasing by over 2% each year - the question remains: how do we move forward?

 WITH 72% ALLOCATED TO RECURRENT EXPENDITURE AND 28% TO CAPITAL PROJECTS - LITTLE WONDER WHY NOTHING NEW CAME OUT OF THE 2009 - 2014 OIL BOOM?

 It is common knowledge that our Public Service rather than add value keeps depleting the nations resource base. A lot has been said about Government being the biggest employer of labour, but truth is, what percentage of the 72% budgeted for recurrent expenditure actually goes to salaries and emoluments of public sector workers? Analysts posit that just 40% of the entire 72% voted for recurrent expenditure actually goes for Salaries and Emoluments. The rest is swallowed up by corruption.

 IF I WERE PRESIDENT, I WILL SEND THE ENTIRE PUBLIC SECTOR HOME AND STILL PAY THEIR SALARIES UNTIL I AM ABLE TO DETECT THE HOLE THAT IS SWALLOWING 60% OF THE AMOUNT BUDGETED FOR RECURRENT EXPENDITURE

 This sound illogical, but very plausible, because by sending the entire public sector home while still paying them salaries, you will be able to determine the service that is really essential and also saving about 60% of the amount allocated for recurrent expenditure.

 IF I WERE PRESIDENT - I WILL COMPEL THE GROUPING OF STATES INTO REGIONS SO AS TO HAVE ECONOMICAL VIABLE UNITS AND NOT TAKERS

 What is the use having 36 States with over 60% of the States as takers and not givers? Shouldn't we be moving towards more economical models which enable better resource management and frees the private sector to actually lead growth while government boosts Capital Expenditure and ensures budget performance while reducing corruption?

 UNFORTUNATELY, NON OF THE SO-CALLED PEOPLE ASPIRING TO RUN NIGERIA IN 2015 ARE FOCUSING ON THIS ALL IMPORTANT ISSUE. How do we create a viable nation and prioritize what really matters?

Bolaji Okusaga is a Lagos based PR Practitioner

THE BASIC RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE INVESTOR RELATIONS UNIT OF A QUOTED COMPANY

INTRODUCTION

 A Company’s Investor Relations Structure and Activity Chart should include the guiding philosophy, the roles and responsibilities, the activities as well the deliverables of the unit in support of the Company’s corporate goals.

GUIDING PHILOSOPHY

The Investor Relations Unit serves to handle Investor related issues, manage market expectations and release information required for investment judgment suitable to the stockholder or the Investor in order to improve The Company’s market value thereby engendering sustainable superior returns to Shareholders.

POLICIES – CREATING A PLATFORM FOR VALUE ENHANCEMENT

The unit shall in alignment with its guiding philosophy develop the following policies and plans to guide its operations:

·         Disclosure policy.

·         Definition of "material Information".

·         Deciding who will be the company spokesperson.

·         Disaster plan.

·         Annual and quarterly report preparation policy.

·         Analyst policy and media contact list from the Capital Market Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CAMCAN).

·         Appropriateness of advertising.

·         Informing employees of stock movement or participation in stock plan.

·         Creating or enhancing mailing lists of target audience.

 

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

·         Increase visibility in the financial community

·         Decrease stock price volatility

·         Make a public offering of stock

·         Increase percent of stock owned by institutional investors or employees

·         Attracting new or more analysts to cover the company.

STRUCTURE AND ACTIVITY CHART

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Maintain Shareholder Register

Liaise with Registrars on updates to Shareholder Register

• The unit will on a Monthly basis request a current list of the Company’s Shareholders from the Company’s Registrars.
• This list will contain the names of the Company’s current Investors and their holding.
• Upon receipt of the list, the unit will proceed to upgrade its register and furnish the Company’s Management with same.
• The list where possible will contain current addresses of the Company’s shareholders.

2. Attend to Shareholders complaint and enquires

Keep a Register of complaints, letters, etc. Liaise with Registrars to handle issues of reconciliation, Share Certificate issuance and unclaimed Dividend and Certificate

• The Unit will upon receipt of Investor complaint, register such complaint in a register.
• The register will among other things record the following:

-       Name and contact of Investor

-       Nature of complaint

-       Date filed

-       Status

-       Action taken

-       Resolution

• Having recorded the complaint, the department will proceed to resolving the complaint.
• Where the complaint is related to missing share certificates and a request for a re-issue, the following steps shall be taken:

-       The complainant shall be given a standard affidavit format on which he is expected to depose in a court of law and return the hard copy of same to the unit for further processing

-       Upon receipt of the sworn-affidavit, the unit will do a photocopy of the affidavit and then forward the original copy with a letter to the Company’s Registrars

-       The Complainant shall be re-issued a Certificate by The Company’s Registrars within 72 hours of the receipt of the affidavit and the same certificate shall be dispatched to the Complainant within 24 hours of the receipt of re-issued certificate by the unit

• Where the complaint is related to errors in name or address printed on the certificate or units of shares subscribed to, the following steps shall be taken:

-       The complainant will be requested to do a letter to the unit   

      stating the correct name, address or unit of shares

      originally subscribed to

-       A covering letter will be attached to the complainant’s letter and both shall be forwarded to the Registrars for processing.

-       The necessary corrections and dispatch of corrected certificate shall be done within 72 hours of the forwarding of the certificate to the Registrars

 

3. Handle Director’s Shareholding issues

• The unit shall, as directed by Management, deal on Director related issues. 

4. Keep records of exceptional transactions relating to Share movement.
• The unit shall liaison with the Corporate Finance unit keep track of exceptional transactions relating to the Company’s share movement
• And shall immediately notify Management of such exceptional transactions

5. Track the quantity of Shares traded on daily basis as well as the Share-price
• The unit shall generate report on traded Shares fortnightly
• The unit shall do this through monitoring of stocks traded daily as well as the price
• The unit shall also prepare Quarterly Share-range Analysis.

6. Edit monthly Investors Digest

• The unit shall gather, edit and publish Investor related news and information on a monthly basis

7. Stock Exchange Liaison

• The unit shall in liaise with the Stock Exchange on behalf of the Company and as directed by Management.

 

8. Organization of Road-shows, Fact-behind the figure, Stock-brokers and Investors Forum

• The unit shall as directed by Management convene forums that help to help to improve the visibility and investment appeal of the Company. 

9. Organization of AGM, Board and other statutory meetings

 

• The unit shall organize the Company’s investors gatherings such as Board Meetings and AGM’s

10. Publication of Annual Financial Reports and Accounts

• The Unit shall, working closely with the Financial Control and Legal Units publish the Annual Financial Reports and Account.

CALENDAR AND ACTIVITIES

• Look out for HNI’s and Institutional Investors who presently have little shares and delight them through responsiveness to complaints and release of timely information.

-       Publication of Monthly Investors Digest

-       Quarterly letter to these group of Investors by the CEO and Company Secretary intimating them of the activities of the Company and leaving a line for response and suggestions

-       To boost interaction, the unit shall mine data on their business, family and birthday using a structured questionnaire

THE NIGERIA IMMIGRATION SERVICE RECRUITMENT TEST AND UNEMPLOYMENT IN NIGERIA

a. THE IMMIGRATION SERVICE RECRUITMENT DRAMA
Recently, we saw vivid pictures of a segment of the Army of the unemployed in Nigeria. We saw a massive head-count, we saw desperation, we saw tears, we saw death... 
b. UNEMPLOYMENT: A MANIFEST, YET IGNORED PROBLEM
I have repeatedly said before now, that unemployment is at the heart of the crime and violence in this Country, for where do you think the political thugs and the willing tools in the hands of political paymasters come from? Certainly, from the Army of the unemployed. Recent statistics put Nigeria's unemployment rate at 23.9% and our Youth unemployment rate at 54%, but I think these figures are pretty conservative. The problem is masked by our extended family system and the fact that an employed person may actually be catering for about seven to ten unemployed people. 
c. IS THERE REALLY A CORRELATION BETWEEN GROWTH AND OPPORTUNITIES WITHIN THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY?
The problem stems from the fact that the economy, though growing at a year -on-year average of 6% in the last ten years, is not creating opportunities for people at the bottom of the pyramid and also throwing up very few opportunities for movement into the middle class. Growth merely mean the creation of more billionaires and the purchase of more private jets and the display of crass materialism by the less than 1% of Nigerians in the upper class on the streets of London, Paris and New York.
d. WHAT DRIVES CLASS MOVEMENT IN NIGERIA - IS IT HARD-WORK OR CORRUPTION?
Certainly, wealth in Nigeria is largely driven by corruption and rent-taking, made possible by access to power as opposed to hard work, rare genius and a culture of investment and industry as it happens in other climes.
e. ADDRESSING MASS UNEMPLOYMENT
Nigeria's unemployment, is driven by structural and institutional failures and the only way to address it, is to do the following 5 things:
1. Over-haul the system - reduce or eradicate corruption and rent-taking
2. Improve the tax system by making those who earn more, pay more for the maintenance of the social order
3. Revamp the social security system - lets work towards getting a credible figure of both skilled and unskilled unemployed people in every nook and cranny of Nigeria and build a support system which does not glorify indolence but works to support people by building the right skills and matching skills with the right job / entrepreneurial opportunities.
4. Strengthen the institutional framework - Rather than celebrate wealth without questioning its source, let's create a system where the nations resources are deployed for the greater good and allow honest private initiative thrive.
5. Work to create a smaller government and a bigger economy - Reduce the size of government and deploy resources to social and physical infrastructure which create the the right investment and business environment. Let government play the role of the enabler and not a back-door participant, devolve powers to the regions, create a smaller government and a bigger economy underscored by strong and unwavering rules which does not cringe in the face of nepotism or corruption and prioritize sectors of the economy which has the greatest potential to employ more people like Agriculture, Manufacturing and Construction.

REBASING NIGERIA'S GDP AND THE WORLD BANK REPORT ON POVERTY - MATTERS ARISING

Interesting news, Nigeria's Gross Domestic Products now stands at 510 Billion Dollars, purportedly making Nigeria the biggest economy in Africa, but that is not the real news. The real news is that we have a growing economy side by side growing poverty.The real news is that there is growth in the midst of high unemployment? Does this not point to some form of dysfunction in the macro economy? I platform my argument on three interesting scenarios thrown up by the rebased GDP figures:

1. HOW COME NIGERIA'S NOLLYWOOD IS DOING BETTER THAN BOLLYWOOD WITH A MORE ORGANISED STRUCTURE?
The rebased GDP figures shows that the Services Sector has dethroned Agriculture as the highest contributor to Nigeria's GDP as Services Industry which hitherto contributed less than 10% now contributes about 50% to Nigeria's GDP. This is mainly due to new figures coming through from Telecoms, Information Technology, Movies (Nollywood) and Music under the Services sector. The Services sector raked in about 260 billion dollars (about 40 Trillion naira) out of Nigeria's total GDP figure of 510 billion dollars. The question to ask then is how come Nollywood racked in $5.6bn when Bollywood with a better industry structure is doing $3.2bn? How was the figure for Nollywood calculated without an organised Studio, Box Office and Distribution System? Ofcourse Nollywood indeed has great potential to do more but I reckon that government needs to help create the right structure for the thriving of a creative economy, but that is not currently happening with Intellectual Property rights abuse currently at its highest. I reckon the number of jobs that is being lost to Pirates is something that we need to look into.
2. HOW COME AGRICULTURE CONTRIBUTES ABOUT A QUARTER TO THE GDP WHILE MANUFACTURING IS DOING A PALTRY 7%
Aside from what the current Minister of Agriculture is doing to support small-holder farmers, is there a long term strategy for Agriculture which can push output Northward and help the move from Farm-gate to Factory-gate? This is because normally, Agriculture should function as a primary industry which supports the secondary Industry - Manufacturing. But with Manufacturing contributing only 7% in the rebased GDP figures? Does this not give the government cause for worry? 
3. HOW DO WE TRANSITION OUR ECONOMY FROM A PIRATE ECONOMY TO AN ORGANISED ECONOMY?
From the rebased figures, it is apparent that growth came only from the Nigerian enterprise spirit and not a concerted effort on the part of the Nigerian Government to deepen the economy and create an enabling environment for business, no wonder there is so much income inequality and joblessness. I would imagine that the rebased GDP figures merely throws more challenges in the face of government as opposed to a cause for celebration. There is still so much to do to transition our economy from a pirate economy to an organised economy.

BRIDGING NIGERIA’S INFRASTRUCTURE DEFICIT - THE SEARCH FOR AN ALTERNATIVE MODEL

The recent study conducted by Mckinsey on Nigeria's Infrastructure requirement threw up the need for the investment of well over 31 Billion Dollars investment annually, well over a 10 year period for Nigeria to bridge her huge infrastructure deficit. Given the huge amount required therefore, it is near impossible to expect government to foot the entire bill, neither will traditional project finance models essentially leveraging medium to long term funds from Banks and Development Finance Institutions do much, given huge of funds required for infrastructure projects and the mirades of needs that DFI's contend with on the African Continent. So projects such as the 2nd Niger-Bridge, the East West Road, Dredging of the River Niger to allow Sea-going Vessels to Dock at in-land Ports, a Standard guage rail line connecting the State capitals and economic centres of Nigeria from North to South, Power Dams, Electricity Transmission Lines, Electricity Distribution Infrastructure and other critical infrastructure are not attended to, affecting the quality of Economic growth, the creation of jobs and the enhancement of the economic well-being and standard of living of Nigerians.

Furthermore given the fact that in government, there are competing needs and limited resources,  the projects needed to jump-start Nigeria's industrial revolution become mere pipe-dreams. So how do we move forward? Where are the risk-takers who will partner with government knowing the risk involved with Community resistance to Tolling and all other forms of payment for access to public infrastructure once concession-ed?  Apart from these, there are also other encumbrances to Public Private Partnerships, which should otherwise have helped unlock the required funding for economically viable public infrastructure projects, chief among such obstacles confronting private participation in public infrastructure provision is funding! A project such as the Lagos Ibadan Expressway will require well over one billion dollars to remodel the road and without a good Financial Model, how will Financial Institutions come together to fund such projects?

DRIVING PPP's THROUGH STRONG REGULATIONS AND BUILDING AN ALTERNATIVE FINANCIAL MODEL FOR INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS

Its been said that government cannot be left to go it alone with regards to bridging infrastructure deficit, but we all know the political risks as well as Financial model risks involved in putting together a Public Private Partnership deal? Hence, you find the failure of PPP projects the like of the Lagos Ibadan Expressway, the Lagos Local Airport and lately the Lekki Link Bridge. But we cannot allow that to frustrate the delivery of economic infrastructure which have potential to create jobs as well as leapfrog growth and development. So we need to think through a proper financial model and a strong regulatory platform for delivering PPP's - one that ensures that projects time horizons are shortened, project partners reap benefits derivable from such projects, with minimum resistance from users of such economic infrastructure, citizens, local community and politicians.

BRIDGING THE FUNDING GAP - HOW CAN PENSION FUNDS HELP?

With the Nigerian Pension reforms, we suddenly have a situation where we have trillions of naira sitting with Pension Custodians which are deployed to all manner of investment which do not add much value. For a while, the CBN under its Financial System Strategy -  FSS2020 - has been trying to help unlock Pension Funds for infrastructure Financing with very little success thus far. I reckon that government needs to throw its weight behind this initiative as it will have multiplier effects in the sense that once we are able to develop critical economic infrastructure such as Roads, Bridges, Rail as well as Power and Energy Infrastructure. it will automatically reduce the cost of doing business, create more jobs, lead to output gains with consequent impact on our Gross Domestic Product.

THINKING OF AN ALTERNATIVE INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING MODEL - ONE THAT OFFERS A WIN-WIN PROPOSITION FOR GOVERNMENT AND ITS PRIVATE SECTOR PARTNERS

I reckon also that in terms of gains accrual to Pension Custodians and Administrators, Infrastructure Financing will have very positive impact as it will help value addition and risk diversification. Also from the Infrastructure Project Owners and Off-takers, the deployment of patient capital will lessen the burden of having an investment-mismatch and limit defaults. My take therefore is that government should throw its political weight behind birthing an alternative funding model for infrastructure projects - one that meets  Nigeria's economic target, makes  us competitive in terms of the ease of doing business and delivers quality growth which creates jobs and enhances the living standards of Nigerians.

BOKO HARAM AND THE ALMAJIRI SYNDROME: WHAT'S THE WAY OUT?

Thank God the Sallah celebrations are over with no major security skirmish in the North or around Nigeria. It seems to me that the State of Emergence declared by President Jonathan is actually working, but at the risk of speaking too soon I reckon we should look at a more sustainable solution to these security challenges rather than imagine that the brute force of Military power can continue to lead the way in the quest at having a safe, peaceful and harmonious society where people can live their lives without fear of losing it to mindless causes and where business can flourish and grow unhindered. Thank God, the Sallah passed without any bombs exploding or without some hoodlums going into a school to shoot at innocent students, however, we must use this period of respite to critically re-examine and reassess the security situation in Nigeria with specific focus on the North.

BEFORE BOKO HARAM, THERE WAS A CULTURAL PRACTICE:

Before the coming of Boko Haram, there exist an archaic practice up North where people willingly firm out their male Children to Religious Clerics to be trained in Arabic and the Doctrines of Islam. Over time, these Clerics took on more Children than they can care for, leading to a situation where the Children are left to go into the streets in search of food and alms. This situation continued over time,creating a mass of uneducated, ill-bred and ill-prepared people who lead a desperate, destitute and despondent life which makes them vulnerable to indoctrination and puts them at the disposal of mischievous Clerics and Politicians alike. A manifestation of  this cultural practice are the incessant religious uprisings in the North starting from the Maitasine Riots to its later day devious and dangerous transmutation - Boko Haram.  Ofcourse, some have blamed the Boko Haram uprising on the Arab spring which suddenly liberated potent energies and weapons that had hitherto been held bound by Dictators like Moamar Ghadaffi, my take has always been that behind every fire, is a fuel which had seemed harmless until there came a flicker of fire romancing the seemingly harmless fuel and giving birth to death and destruction. In the case of Nigeria, there was already an Army, willing and able to start a crisis and suddenly arms came pouring in, and with it, the spirit of death and destruction. Unfortunately, years of irresponsible and careless leadership up North as with everywhere else in Nigeria, had failed to see this coming!

WHAT'S THE SOLUTION?

Although I am not one of President Goodluck Jonathan "cry till your voice becomes hoax" supporters, I none the less acknowledge that the problem was not caused by him and that the solution actually lie far from the ambit of his influence because the problem stems from an archaic cultural practice which has created an army of ill-informed and ignorant mass that are usually willing sparks for religious or political fire. I do not mean to denigrate anyone or lay the blame at anyone's table because indeed inimical and antediluvian cultural practices exist in every culture - from the sacrifice of human beings as penance for communal sins in parts of Yorubaland,  the Osu Caste system in Igboland, to the killing of Twins in Calabar;  cultural practices which bear no place in modern societies had existed in our various communities, but what shows an indication of progress in any society, is the ability to rethink the route that  society must take in order for there to be peace, progress and prosperity under a changing order. This fact become more glaring when one notes the fact that Europe did indeed pass through the dark-ages long before the coming of the Industrial Revolution and America actually fought a war of liberation in 1776 and a war between the Industrial North and Agrarian South before settling to the ideals which today makes them a model for democracy and free-markets. What this points to is that any situation can turn around for good depending on how it is managed.

THE SOLUTION IS NOT IN MILITARY BUT SOCIAL SECURITY

Although, I supported and still support the idea of State of Emergency declared in volatile States in the North by President Goodluck Jonathan, I believe however that Military putsch is not a sustainable solution, rather the solution lie in Social Security:

1. A resolve by Northern Elites, working with government, to rein in the inimical Alamajiri tradition and create a vent for everyone who is born in the North of the Niger to have access to education (inspite of the fact that Boko Haram preaches that education is a sin).

2. The creation of Welfare camps for existing destitute and despondent Almajiri's with soft infrastructure such as Mobile Clinic, Skills Acquisition Centres and Farm Settlements. This is in keeping with the need to positively engage the Mass of the Almajiri's.

3. The creation of a social safety net built around trade and guild systems such as credit and thrift systems which can free up their productive energies and consequently raise SME's in traditional Northern trade and businesses such as Pasturing, Hides and Skin, Tie and Dye and Farming with a possibility of moving from primary production to secondary production as the society settles on a growth and productive part.

4. Decentralisation of Nigeria's Policing system in order to allow for local intelligence and a better understanding of cultural nuances which often lead to unrest.

All of the above may seem simple, but it does demand firm introspection not blame trading, a sense of sincerity, a willingness to concentrate on the big picture rather than chasing shadows and above all, it will require a lot of political will on the part of the Nigerian power elite to achieve.