By Royal Ibeh |

Nestlé Nigeria has commissioned Technical Training Center, (TTC), in Ogun state, in line with the its commitment to help young people build the capabilities and skills they need to contribute towards accelerating industrialization.

The TTC, in Ogun state, is the third training center in the country. The first technical training centre was inaugurated in 2011 at Nestlé’s Agbara factory in Ogun State and in 2017, the company opened the second centre in the Abaji factory, in the Federal Capital Territory to cater for young people in the Northern part of the country.

Over 160 students have benefitted from the technical training program since its
inception, with 95 per cent of them directly employed by Nestlé Nigeria. Country HR
Manager, Nestlé Nigeria PLC, Shakiru Lawal, announced the resumption of 50 new
students across the three training centres at Agbara, Abaji and Flowergate in the past week.

Trainees participate in an intensive 18-month program which builds their competence in machining, mechanical fitting operations, electrical operations, instrumentation operations and automation, culminating in the prestigious London City and Guilds technical certification examination.

Speaking at the commissioning of the Flowergate TTC, the MD/CEO, Nestlé Nigeria,
Mr Wassim Elhusseini said, “The technical training program is an initiative of our
global flagship program, Nestlé Needs Youth. The program is one of the sustainable
pathways through which we contribute to meeting the technical needs in the industry
while enabling young Nigerians access economic opportunities. Young people have
a key role to play in shaping the future we desire. We are determined to remain at the
forefront of the fight against youth unemployment by helping young people develop the capabilities and skills they need to contribute towards accelerating the
industrialization we need to grow our economy”.

Participants at the ceremony included parents, the trainees, the Traditional Ruler of Remoland and community leaders, representatives of the Government of Ogun State, Industry associations, and program partners including the Switzerland Embassy and Nigerian Employers Consultative Association (NECA).

The Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbagbu said, “The set-up of Nestlé’s third technical training center in the country and second in Ogun State, attests to her commitment to manpower development, capacity building and technical skills acquisition, also focus areas for the Ogun State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. I sincerely appreciate
the company for her investments towards building the competences of young people
over the years and for her support and collaboration on the State Government’s effort
towards improving technical education in the state”.

In his comments, Mr. Wale Oyerinde, Director General, Nigerian Employers Consultative Association (NECA) said “With the rising unemployment and challenged
educational system, one of the sure paths to rapid national development is Technical
and vocational skills development. We commend Nestlé for her commitment and
massive investment, not only in youth development but also in skills and National
development. This effort is commendable and also worthy of emulation by other
companies”.

Also speaking at the event, the Ogun State Commissioner for Youth and Sports
Development, Dr Kehinde Oluwadare said, “I congratulate Nestlé Nigeria as she
continues to contribute to the development of young people in Ogun State and the
nation by prioritizing skills development and job creation. I am particularly delighted
that the vision of the company is in tandem with the focus on youth empowerment
by the Prince Dapo Abiodun led Administration”.

HRM, Alaiyeluwa Oba Babatunde Adewale Ajayi, the Akarigbo and Paramount Ruler
of Remoland said, “We are proud to be associated with Nestlé, particularly on the
commencement of this wonderful initiative. I commend the Management of the
company for investing in technical education of young people, who are the future of the country. We will make sure the company continues to have the enabling
environment to continue to do good for and within this community”.

Anthonia Ehibor is one of the twenty trainees admitted into an 18-month Technical
Training program at Nestlé Nigeria’s newest Technical Training Center (TTC) at the
company’s Flowergate Factory in Ogun State.

Anthonia, an indigene of Edo State with an Ordinary National Diploma (OND) in
Engineering from the Federal Polytechnic Auchi, aspires to develop her technical
competence in order to secure a good job in her chosen field. “I need to earn an
income to meet my needs and to support my family,” she said.

Expressing her delight on behalf of the trainees, Anthonia Ehibor, said, “We are
excited to be the pioneer students of Nestlé technical training centre, Flowergate. We
appreciate Nestlé Nigeria for creating this opportunity for us to gain the skills we need
to be future-ready. We look forward to learning, sharing ideas and networking within
the 18 months of the training. You can count on us to put in the hard work and
commitment required to make you and our parents proud”.

The Supreme Court of Nigeria on Wednesday ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from implementing the February 10 deadline for the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes to stop being legal tenders.

The ruling was delivered following a seven-man panel of the Supreme Court led by Justice John Okoro, which unanimously granted an interim injunction restraining the FG, CBN, commercial banks etc from implementing the February 10, deadline for the old 200, 500 and 1000 Naira notes to stop being a legal tender, according to Channels Television.

The court further held that the FG, CBN, commercial banks must not continue with the deadline pending the determination of a notice on notice on in respect of the issue on February 15.

By this ruling, the old Naira notes continue to be legal tenders in Nigeria even after the February 10 deadline issued by the apex bank.

Recall that on February 3, three state governments including Kogi, Kaduna and Zamfara approached the court to file an ex-parte motion to halt the CBN’s naira redesign policy.

Commenting on the ruling, the lawyer to the three state government, AbdulHakeem Mustapha (SAN), said they dragged the Federal Government and the apex bank to the highest court because the policy is causing hardship on Nigerians, especially those in the rural areas.

“We invoke the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court when there is a dispute between the state government and the Federal Government. It is one of the few occasions where the Supreme Court act as the original jurisdiction. So, we invoked the powers of the Supreme Court to hear this application,” the senior advocate said.

“The reason for it is that as well-intentioned as this policy of the Federal Government on this naira redesign, it is causing hardship all over the country. As we can all see, banks are being harassed, Nigerians are suffering, especially the downtrodden, even in the urban areas they are having difficulty, but it is more excruciating in the rural areas.

“So, the three state governments – Zamfara, Kaduna and Kogi deemed it fit for us to invoke the powers of the Supreme Court to intervene.”

The House of Representatives has agreed with the Central Bank of Nigeria on the naira re-design and issues arising from its scarcity in circulation. This is even as Godwin Emefiele, governor of CBN, says banks will continue to accept old naira notes after the stipulated deadline.

Emefiele gave this assurance today when he appeared at an interactive session with the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee on the currency redesign and naira swap policy.

He said the CBN will also accept the old naira from banks after the February 10 deadline.

Emefiele made reference to the CBN act which mandates the apex bank to continue to accept old notes after its expiration.

However, the CBN governor did not mention a duration when the banks will stop collecting the old notes.

Section 20 (3) of the CBN act states: “Notwithstanding sub-sections (1) and (2) of this section, the bank shall have power, if directed to do so by the president and after giving reasonable notice in that behalf, to call in any of its notes or coins on payment of the face value thereof and any note or coin with respect to which a notice has been given under this sub-section, shall, on the expiration of the notice, cease to be legal tender, but, subject to section 22 of this act, shall be redeemed by the bank upon demand”.

Speaking further on the CBN act, he explained that even after the old currency has lost its legal tender status “we (CBN) are mandated to collect these money (old notes) and I stand with the house of representatives on this”.

“What does that mean? It could (old notes) have lost its legal tender status which means we have moved on. But if you have your money that you have not been able to send to the bank, we will certainly give you the opportunity to bring them back into the CBN to redeem it. Either you pay it to your bank account or you want to do exchange, we will give you. You will not lose your money. This is the assurance I give to Nigerians,” Emefiele said.

United Bank for Africa Plc has appointed Ghanaian national, Abiola Bawuah, as its Africa new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Bawuah will oversee the bank’s operations across Africa, excluding Nigeria, according to the bank’s statement.

She is the first female CEO of the UBA Africa and her appointment demonstrates the bank’s commitment to diversity.

Before her appointment as the bank’s Africa CEO, Bawuah was UBA’s Regional CEO for West Africa, managing operations in nine subsidiaries including Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, and Sierra Leone. She had also served as the CEO of UBA Ghana.

Commenting on Bawuah’s appointment, the UBA Group’s Board Chairman, Tony Elumelu, said, “Abiola has contributed significantly to the growth of UBA Africa for close to a decade. She brings a wealth of experience in commercial banking, and stakeholder engagement. It also gives me great pleasure that with her appointment, the UBA Group Board has now become a majority female board.”

The bank also announced other key executive appointments across the group.

The appointments include: Regional CEO of UBA West Africa, Chris Ofikulu; Deputy Managing Director of UBA Ghana, Uzoechina Molokwu; Managing Director/CEO UBA Liberia, Ayokunle Olajubu; CEO of UBA UK, Theresa Henshaw; Deputy CEO in UBA America, Usman Isiaka; and Group Treasurer, Adeyemi Adeleke, all appointments subject to their various local regulatory approvals.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has released inflation figures for December 2022 seeing a slight drop from the previous 21.47 percent in November 2022 to 21.34 percent.

This is the first time the country’s inflation figure will drop month-on-month in the last eleven months.

Compared to November 2022, the rate dropped by 0.12% points, representing a 5.72% points increase compared to 15.63% recorded in the corresponding period of last year.

Food inflation, a closely watched indices, fell to 23.75% in December 2022 from 24.13% recorded in the previous month.

On the other hand, the “All items less farm produce’’ index or Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce, stood at 18.49% in December 2022. This is 24.8 basis points higher when compared to the 18.24% recorded in November 2022.