Category: Business

 

Wao!!! How time flies, Nobody knows you when you are still struggling, the only people that know you are fellow hustlers like Yours.

The difference between the time of Labour and Harvest is just time. With patience, You are sure going to make it.

The only reason you should be sad is if your throwback Pictures look good than your present situation.

Almost everyone knows Star Actor, Muyiwa Ademola. He has been through a lot in the Yoruba Movie Industry. He started as a Minor character and Later became a major thing in the Industry.

 

 

 

 

There was pandemonium on Wednesday at the Costain area of Lagos State as an official of the Lagos State Management Authority and a bus driver were reportedly beaten to a pulp.

It was  learnt that officials of LASTMA had allegedly apprehended the bus driver at the Costain bus stop, for allegedly violating a traffic rule.

It was alleged that an argument ensued between the driver, his conductor and the officials. In the ensuing scuffle, a LASTMA official allegedly punched the driver and he slumped.

A mob was reported to have barricaded the road in protest as the driver lay on the floor, foaming in the mouth.

The mob reportedly vandalised a LASTMA patrol car which drove into the protesters at the time, beating up the officials.

They were said to have mobilised and also attacked the LASTMA office in the area and vandalised vehicles in the yard before the intervention of policemen from the Iponri division.

A witness, Ibrahim Adisa, said the incident happened around 9am.

He said, “We saw that the LASTMA officials held the bus driver at the junction for breaking traffic rule. The man did not release the vehicle to them, which started an argument. The driver and the conductor then started fighting the LASTMA men.

“One of the LASTMA officials put his hand in the pocket and brought out a ring which he used to hit the driver. The man fell and started foaming in the mouth. The officials then took his bus into their yard and left him on the ground.

“A mob barricaded the road and vandalised a LASTMA patrol car that came in that time. They beat up all the officials in the car. After that, they carried the man’s body into the LASTMA’s office and chased out the workers.”

Punch Metro learnt that the driver was later taken to a hospital after the police arrived to quell the unrest.

A motorcycle rider said the situation would have been worse but for the intervention of the police.

“Traffic was at a standstill and the hoodlums were looking for LASTMA officials or any government official to attack,” he added.

As of 3pm when Punch correspondent left the area, no traffic official was in sight as police patrol vehicles mounted surveillance in the area.

The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the incident, adding investigations were ongoing.

She said, “Yes, I can confirm that LASTMA officials impounded a vehicle and the driver and his conductor engaged the LASTMA officials in fisticuffs, which led to two losing consciousness. The two are the driver and a LASTMA official. They were both rushed to the hospital where they are currently recuperating. Investigation has commenced into the matter.”

The spokesperson for LASTMA, Mr. Mahmud Hassan, in a statement, denied that the driver was beaten by an official of the agency.

He explained that some hoodlums, who were attempting to free the driver’s bus, invaded the premises of the agency and vandalised vehicles.

He said, “The commercial bus was apprehended for illegal picking and dropping of passengers in the Costain area. The commercial bus was subsequently taken to the nearest yard of the agency at Iponri for booking.

“However, in a bid to circumvent the law and retrieve the vehicle from LASTMA’s yard, the driver mobilised friends and hoodlums, who attacked the Iponri office of the agency. They injured our personnel and damaged vehicles in the yard. However, when the driver’s action did not yield the desired result, he stripped himself naked and created a scene in order to draw the sympathy of unwary members of the public.

“When the act failed, his friends and hoodlums put him in a wheelbarrow with a clear intention to cause commotion and breakdown of law and order.”

Hassan said two of the hoodlums had been arrested and would be arraigned in court.

The General Manager of LASTMA, Mr. Bashir Braimah, according to the statement, said no amount of violence would make the agency to shy away from its statutory responsibility.

 

 

 

 

There was pandemonium on Wednesday at the Costain area of Lagos State as an official of the Lagos State Management Authority and a bus driver were reportedly beaten to a pulp.

It was  learnt that officials of LASTMA had allegedly apprehended the bus driver at the Costain bus stop, for allegedly violating a traffic rule.

It was alleged that an argument ensued between the driver, his conductor and the officials. In the ensuing scuffle, a LASTMA official allegedly punched the driver and he slumped.

A mob was reported to have barricaded the road in protest as the driver lay on the floor, foaming in the mouth.

The mob reportedly vandalised a LASTMA patrol car which drove into the protesters at the time, beating up the officials.

They were said to have mobilised and also attacked the LASTMA office in the area and vandalised vehicles in the yard before the intervention of policemen from the Iponri division.

A witness, Ibrahim Adisa, said the incident happened around 9am.

He said, “We saw that the LASTMA officials held the bus driver at the junction for breaking traffic rule. The man did not release the vehicle to them, which started an argument. The driver and the conductor then started fighting the LASTMA men.

“One of the LASTMA officials put his hand in the pocket and brought out a ring which he used to hit the driver. The man fell and started foaming in the mouth. The officials then took his bus into their yard and left him on the ground.

“A mob barricaded the road and vandalised a LASTMA patrol car that came in that time. They beat up all the officials in the car. After that, they carried the man’s body into the LASTMA’s office and chased out the workers.”

Punch Metro learnt that the driver was later taken to a hospital after the police arrived to quell the unrest.

A motorcycle rider said the situation would have been worse but for the intervention of the police.

“Traffic was at a standstill and the hoodlums were looking for LASTMA officials or any government official to attack,” he added.

As of 3pm when Punch correspondent left the area, no traffic official was in sight as police patrol vehicles mounted surveillance in the area.

The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the incident, adding investigations were ongoing.

She said, “Yes, I can confirm that LASTMA officials impounded a vehicle and the driver and his conductor engaged the LASTMA officials in fisticuffs, which led to two losing consciousness. The two are the driver and a LASTMA official. They were both rushed to the hospital where they are currently recuperating. Investigation has commenced into the matter.”

The spokesperson for LASTMA, Mr. Mahmud Hassan, in a statement, denied that the driver was beaten by an official of the agency.

He explained that some hoodlums, who were attempting to free the driver’s bus, invaded the premises of the agency and vandalised vehicles.

He said, “The commercial bus was apprehended for illegal picking and dropping of passengers in the Costain area. The commercial bus was subsequently taken to the nearest yard of the agency at Iponri for booking.

“However, in a bid to circumvent the law and retrieve the vehicle from LASTMA’s yard, the driver mobilised friends and hoodlums, who attacked the Iponri office of the agency. They injured our personnel and damaged vehicles in the yard. However, when the driver’s action did not yield the desired result, he stripped himself naked and created a scene in order to draw the sympathy of unwary members of the public.

“When the act failed, his friends and hoodlums put him in a wheelbarrow with a clear intention to cause commotion and breakdown of law and order.”

Hassan said two of the hoodlums had been arrested and would be arraigned in court.

The General Manager of LASTMA, Mr. Bashir Braimah, according to the statement, said no amount of violence would make the agency to shy away from its statutory responsibility.

 

An indigenous firm, Erisco Foods, has said it may be forced to shut down its production in the country due to its inability to access foreign exchange from the Central Bank of Nigeria for the procurement of machinery.

The company’s Chief Executive, Mr. Eric Umeofia, said it would lay off 1,500 employees and quit Nigeria for a more favourable business environment if things don’t change.

He said this in Lagos on Wednesday when some of the company’s workers held a protest, lamenting plans by the company to halt operations and lay off workers.

Umeofia said, “It is difficult for indigenous manufacturers to access forex despite CBN’s promise to manufacturers that they will allocate 60 per cent of foreign exchange to them.

“It is unbelievable that for over two months, no forex has been allocated to Erisco Foods whereas the same forex is allocated daily for the importation of finished goods.

“Products that can be easily produced locally like fish head, tomato paste, razor blade are on the forex bids of the various banks.”

He said that the high interest rates charged by commercial banks, importation as well as policy constraints were disincentives to manufacturer’s production in the country.

He said, “The prices of our products are high due to high cost of production and this is in addition that we currently generate our own power.

“We have lost over N3.5bn in our bid to industrialize Nigerian economy and (are) ready to move our production section to another country.”

Umeofia complained that the penchant of Nigerians for imported goods and lack of clear policy against importation of goods that could be manufactured locally were destroying manufacturers.

He said, “We have stock of tomato paste worth over N6bn now and not selling due to dumping and conspiracy against indigenous manufacturers.

“We have complained publicly and officially to all the relevant government agencies with loads of evidence, but regrettably nothing has changed till date.

“We will be forced against our patriotic wish to relocate our operations to a country where there is conducive and favourable environment for manufacturing if within 30 days from now nothing significant is done by the government to address these issues.

“We will lay off 1,500 of our employees in the factory, replicate our $150m investment in another country and from there imports tomato paste to Nigeria.”

Erisco Foods has a production capacity of 450,000 metric tons of tomato paste annually for 22 brands with over 2,000 workers.

The company’s workers had in their hundreds held a peaceful protest against the management’s plan to shut its production worth about $150m.

The workers were seen carrying placards and chanting songs around the factory premises in Oregun, Lagos.

The Area Sales Manager, Erisco Foods, Mr. Ayoola Oladayo, urged the Federal Government to save their jobs by intervening in the situation of the company.

He said, “We appeal to the government to save our jobs and families.

“The unemployment rate is alarming and we do not want to be classified as jobless in this harsh economic situation of the country.

“About 2,000 of us will be affected in various factories if the company shuts down.

“We urge the government to assist Erisco Foods and other indigenous manufacturers to continue to contribute to the country’s GDP.”

Mr. Obinna Ezeugwa, another worker, said that the country needed active participation of the private sector to create employment for the citizens for sustainable economic development.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A 35-year-old woman, Loretta Ewere, has been electrocuted at her fiance’s home on Ajoke Kazeem Street in the Idimu area of Lagos State.

It was learnt that Ewere’s fiancé, Segun Tolani, was fixing an electrical fault when the incident happened.

She was said to have been rushed to a private hospital in the area but was rejected before being confirmed dead at the Igando General Hospital.

Our correspondent, who visited the area on Tuesday, gathered that Ewere and Tolani had scheduled their wedding for November and preparation was in top gear when tragedy struck.

A resident, who did not want to be identified, said the incident happened around 1pm on Saturday, adding that it created chaos in the neighbourhood.

He said, “The man had wanted to change his old cable TV decoder and antenna. When power was restored, he discovered that he didn’t have electricity in his house.

“He wanted to do it himself, but neighbours advised him to get the service of an electrician. He contacted an electrician who billed him N2,500. But he said the charge was too high. He decided to go and rent a wooden ladder from someone in the area.

“He mounted the ladder on the wall and called the lady from inside the room to assist him in holding the ladder. She held the ladder with one hand and held an iron pole beside the room with the other hand.

“While he was working, the wire fell and touched the pole she was holding and that was how she was electrocuted.”

PUNCH Metro learnt that Tolani called for help from a next-door neighbour, whose wife reportedly rushed to the scene to pull out the victim with her bare hands.

She was reportedly flung by the electric current.

An electrician was said to have been invited, who then disconnected the power.

“The woman fell down and hit her head against the concrete floor. People tried to resuscitate her by giving her milk; but she didn’t come round. A lot of time had been wasted. She was rushed to a private hospital in the area, but she was rejected.

“We took her to the general hospital, where she was confirmed dead. Her corpse was deposited in a mortuary,” another resident said.

PUNCH Metro gathered that Ewere, an indigene of Ewuru, Delta State, worked in Union Diagnostics, a medical lab in Ikeja, while Tolani, who hails from Ekiti State, worked with an insurance company.

When our correspondent visited the victim’s family house on Ogidan Street, Idimu, they said the family was too distraught to talk about the incident.

However, a relative, who identified himself simply as Charles, blamed the incident on Tolani’s stinginess.

He explained that the duo had been living together for the past four years, adding that the two families had started preparation for their wedding.

He said, “They did their introduction four years ago and since then, they had been staying together. Their marriage was slated for November and the two families have bought clothes and sent invitation to people.

“Around 1pm of the day that she died, she called one of her friends that she would be going to shop for the wedding, not knowing that she would die that day.

“It was the man’s stinginess that killed her. If he had paid someone to fix the electrical fault, this would not have happened.”

Meanwhile, friends of the victim have started paying tributes to her on the social media.

One of them, Kehinde, wrote on Facebook, “Loretta (Ewere), a member of the Purchasing and Supply Students Association, The Polytechnic Ibadan, was kind-hearted, brilliant and reserved.  The industrious lady was preparing for her last two exams (slated for October 4 and 6) left for her to become a graduate when she died.  We love you, but God loves you most. I pray He accepts your soul and comforts your household.”

The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the incident.

She said the corpse had been deposited in a mortuary for autopsy.

She said, “The woman, Loretta Ewere, was electrocuted around 9am. She was living with one Segun Tolani, to whom she was supposed to be married next month. They were fixing a GoTV antenna when power was suddenly restored. Ewere, who was holding the antenna wire, was electrocuted. The corpse has been deposited in a mortuary for a post-mortem examination.”

• Punch