Business
Lagos, One Of Most Recognised Sub National Economies In The World- CPC
…Commends Lagos Gov For Providing Quality Leadership
…As Ambode Tasks Council To Extend Operation To Transportation, Other Sectors
Director General of the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) Mr. Babatunde Irukera on Monday said that the Lagos State economy has emerged as not only one of the largest sub national economies in Africa but also one of the most recognised sub national economies in the world.
Irukera made the submission when he led a delegation of the CPC, top officials from the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) on a courtesy visit to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode at the Lagos House in Alausa, Ikeja.
The CPC boss, while noting that Lagos was strategic to Nigeria’s growth and development, said the State had become a model for other States in Nigeria and a force to reckon with in the global space.
“Lagos State is one of the largest sub national economies in Africa and one of the most recognised sub national economies in the world. That is something, because it means that the economy of Lagos is far larger than many countries in the world. To lead that kind of a State is an incredible thing because in many respects you are leading a sub national entity that is greater than many nationals all over the world. So, you actually have Presidents that are actually smaller than the Governor of Lagos,” he said.
Irukera, who said they were in Lagos to flag off advocacy on the National Quality Infrastructure Project, noted that the choice of Lagos was due to its strategic positioning in terms of housing the bulk of production and importation activities in Nigeria and also for the fact that majority of complaints received by the CPC comes from consumers in the State.
He said the National Quality Infrastructure Project was a partnership between the Federal Government and UNIDO to sensitise citizens about demanding quality and also ensuring the manufacturers of goods and services respect appropriate quality standards.
While commending the State Government for setting up the Consumer Protection Agency (CPA), Irukera lauded the Governor for providing quality leadership which according to him has raised the bar of governance in Nigeria.
“The fact that we recognise your record as an individual and in the period that you have led Lagos State demonstrates that beyond recognizing what the issues are, you are right on board and working on the issues.
“While people might excuse the proscription of their rights by their government, they certainly will never excuse a government that cannot protect it from other private citizens and you have demonstrated that you recognise that as an important thing and you have taken a fundamental step to that,” Irukera said.
Responding, Governor Ambode charged the CPC to look beyond the rights of people to have quality products and services and beam its searchlight on other key sectors which have direct impact on the standard of living of Nigerians.
“The kind of services that we provide in terms of transportation; is it the kind of thing that our people should have, should we just label them and say that is what their own lifestyle should be? These are things that we should find some platform to talk about,” Governor Ambode said.
While pledging support for the ‘National Quality Infrastructure Project’ the Governor said the campaign would ensure that the right of Lagosians and Nigerians in general to quality goods and services is guaranteed, adding that concerted efforts must continue to be done by all stakeholders to ensure that Nigerians are only exposed to the best.
He said his administration had already queued behind the advocacy with the setting up of the Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency (CPA), chaired by consumer rights advocate and lawyer, Mrs Olufunmilola Falana.
“I am very excited that the Consumer Protection Council is on this advocacy. We are excited also that barely three weeks ago, we were also able to set up our own agency and with a charge that they must commence operation immediately to be able to do that missing part between the ordinary Nigerian citizen and the product of goods and services in this country.
Governor Ambode had earlier in his opening remarks said he had initially wanted to cancel the visit due to the demise of his Special Adviser on Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives, Mr. Deji Tinubu last week Thursday who ought to have coordinated the visit by the CPC delegation.
“We should have cancelled this courtesy visit but again you know the business of government will always go on because we had actually agreed about two weeks earlier that we would receive the Consumer Protection Council. As at this morning, it should have been Deji that should have been sitting beside me here, because we are yet to have a Commissioner for Commerce. This was one of the last assignment that he was actually doing on Thursday to clear this visit. So, in his memory, we had to ensure that we do this courtesy visit. That’s how government business is. I don’t want to start Monday on a solemn note, so I do this courtesy visit with all sincerity and all sense of responsibility”, Governor said.
Among those present at the visit include the National President, NACCIMA, Iyalode Alaba Lawson; Chief Technical Adviser, UNIDO, Dr. Shaukat Malik; Deputy Director, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment, Mr. Adamu Moh’d Abdulhamid and Chairman, Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency, Mrs. Funmilola Falana.
NNPCL and Corruption’s Final Throes
By Pius Olasanmi
In the twilight of the Obasanjo administration, when Nigerians were still capable of being outraged, when Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) of refineries was a buzzword that still held some mysticism to bamboozle citizens, during a conversation, a certain man said something profound. The man said, “As a businessman, if I were the owner of these refineries, knowing that they are three decades old, I would take the last money I have, hire bulldozers, raze them to the ground, and obtain loans to build new ones.”
When we pressed him further on why he would engage in such waste, he explained that repairing the refineries is the real waste. He explained that even if the TAM were honestly carried out, a thirty-year-old refinery would never compete favourably with a new one that would integrate contemporary technology. Operating at its best, such a refinery would never be comparatively more efficient. It is therefore pointless to have spent another one naira on the refineries at that point.
A few months later, I had a conversation with a then-lawmaker on an entirely different matter. I mentioned that the National Assembly has failed by not crafting legislation that would criminalise and punish public office holders who foist wrong decisions on the country. The logic: a public office holder need not steal to be punished, wrong decisions should attract penalties for an office holder who opts for the worst of all options when there are less injurious ones.
These established premises speak to the ongoing nauseating efforts at revisionism by those who wrecked the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and its previous iteration, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Notably, this campaign to rewrite history is traceable to Engineer Mele Kolo Kyari, the disgraced immediate past Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL and his hirelings. They have suffocated the news and the public opinion space with even more lies than they spun while in office.
The Saint Kyari campaign is anchored on convincing Nigerians that the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna Refineries were fully functional when he was booted out of office. So brazen is the campaign that one of its talking heads challenged the group chief executive officer (GCEO), Engr. Bayo Ojulari, to “inform Nigerians categorically what happened to the functioning refineries he inherited from his predecessor, Engr. Mele Kyari.” The effrontery.
We have not forgotten so soon the charade that followed the baffling claim that Nigeria has spent $2.8 billion on the repair of the refineries, while they are not churning out even a single litre of refined product among them. Saint Kyari and his goons played all manner of tricks, all of which embarrassed President Bola Tinubu, who had counted on ticking off the return to productivity of the refineries as part of his achievements, only to realise that he was deceived into celebrating phantoms. Tragic.
Lest we forget, 200 trucks were arranged as props in a well-directed video clip to celebrate the re-streaming of the Port Harcourt Refinery. The disappointment. Nigerians were to learn from several reports that the Port Harcourt refinery was not producing and was instead using old, stored petroleum products to load trucks. Worse still, the Kyari crew was passing off sanction-tainted Russian-sourced crude oil refined in Malta as locally refined products. More insult was piled on the assault on our collective sensibility with the lies that the Port Harcourt Refinery exported semi-finished products. Brazen.
Meanwhile, Kyari and his hirelings called those who pointed out or protested these glaring scams all manner of names. They hid behind industry technicalities and jargon to create the impression that those of us who knew Nigerians were being robbed did not understand what we were saying. The point remains that a $2.8 billion investment can potentially build a refinery with a capacity of around 100,000 barrels per day (bpd). Of course, the actual capacity of such a refinery will depend on various factors, including the complexity of the refinery, the technology used, and the location. That is the amount that Kyari’s regime at the NNPCL took and did not give Nigerians refined products.
Fast forward to Kyari’s sack and the appointment of Engineer Bayo Ojulari, who has demonstrated that things can indeed be done differently. Kyari’s exit was expectedly followed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) going after him and his associates. The extent of the theft is better understood against the backdrop of N80 billion being found in the bank account of one of his associates. They went on the run.
Perhaps because the EFCC was biding its time on securing international warrants for the arrests of these characters on the lam, they have become emboldened. They have decided to fight back and rewrite the story of their participation in the greatest fraud against Nigerians. Engineer Ojulari’s renewed mindset, which is entrenching a semblance of the transparency Nigerians demand, became their natural target. The demons that once roamed around the corporation came out with malevolence. They started spinning stories of corruption to tarnish the incumbent who refused to hide their crimes. The objective: bring Ojulari down. But alas, he is winning the war as it stands.
His innocence is proven, and it is glaring that those who want him out are mere charlatans who can no longer ply their corrupt wares because of the impact of the new reforms. Corruption in the NNPCL is in its final throes. The fake news being unleashed against the incumbent leadership is akin to corruption’s last kicks as reforms in the sector strangulate it and its practitioners. The reforms must take place in the NNPCL, whether the industry demons like it or not.
As a parting shot, Kyari and his associates would do well to prepare their defence. In addition to accounting for the $2.8 billion they laundered in the name of repairing the moribund refineries, they must also answer for the poor decision to fix that which is irretrievably broken. Awarding contracts for Turn Around Maintenance of 59-year-old refineries that a right-thinking person had suggested should be demolished almost twenty years ago, when they were only 30 years old, is criminal. Trying to deceive Nigerians that the fake repairs worked is treason.
Olasanmi is a public affairs analyst writing from Lagos.
GRANDIS 5STAR LUXURY APARTMENT & SUITES SET TO REDEFINE LIVING IN VICTORIA ISLAND
Set to Rise elegantly against the Lagos skyline, is the Grandis 5Star Luxury Apartment & Suites. According to Adejuwon Ademola, The General Manager of the Development company, it is more than just a residential building
“it’s a lifestyle statement. Standing 17 floors high in the heart of Victoria Island, this revolutionary masterpiece of modern architecture will offer a panoramic 360° view of Eko Atlantic, Victoria Island, and Ikoyi, transforming every apartment into an exclusive penthouse experience for the world’s most discerning elite.”
Developed by Dumarco Construction Limited, a globally acclaimed company with decades of delivering complex, high-value projects in the highly regulated petroleum, oil, and gas industries, Grandis 5Star brings unmatched international safety standards, uncompromising quality, and timeless elegance into Nigeria’s luxury property market.
> “When you live in Grandis, you’re not just buying a home—you’re investing in peace of mind, world-class safety, and an effortless luxury experience that will remain pristine for decades,” says Adejuwon A. Ademola, General Manager of Dumarco Construction Limited.
The Gold Standard in Safety and Quality
Dumarco’s roots in the oil and gas sector mean the company operates to some of the strictest safety protocols in the world. Every stage—from conceptualization, design, construction, to long-term maintenance—follows internationally accepted procedures and quality assurance measures. Cutting corners is simply not in Dumarco’s vocabulary.
> “In the oil and gas industry, there’s no room for compromise. We’ve brought that same discipline and zero-tolerance for mediocrity into property development,” says Ademola. “That’s why Grandis will be one of the safest and most enduring residential developments in Nigeria.”
To ensure transparency and prevent (project complacency), Dumarco deliberately separates the developer, contractor, and consultant roles, engaging only the most competent professionals in each respective field. Dumarco’s project team includes globally recognized contractors such as Julius Berger, Cappa & D’Alberto, and Elalan, Migliore Construczione & Tecniche (MC&T) and their partners VENCO IMTIAZ CONTRACTING COMPANY (VICC) based in Dubai, UAE, Business Contracting Limited, alongside leading consultants like Morgan Omanitan & Abe, LAMBERT, and James Cubitt.
Grandis – Investments, appreciation, returns and profitability
Our selection process for the location of the project alone was pains-taking and completely thorough scientific process. Top professional companies were employed to conduct a scientific data acquisition and analytical survey of the entire Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Lekki and Eko Atlantic before a project site is selected. Analyzing and acquiring areas developmental charts and trends, studying and gathering historical and present sale prices, rental charge and occupancy rates over a 50 year period from every individual street before the selection of the location of any of our developments especially true for the Grandis Project
He adds,
“Our clients and residents can be rest assured that the location of Grandis has been scientifically proven through all existing data to provide our clients with a 100% occupancy rate, highest developmental location, highest rental income and investment returns. ”
The Grandis Experience
Located minutes away from international corporate headquarters, embassies, and landmarks such as Eko Hotel, Radisson Blu, and the Radisson Red, Grandis offers unmatched convenience for professionals, diplomats, and high-net-worth individuals. Every residence is designed for both indulgence and efficiency, with high-grade finishes, smart-home systems, and private amenities that ensure seamless living.
From sunrise over the Atlantic to the glittering Lagos night skyline, residents will enjoy uninterrupted luxury, supported by discreet and highly trained staff, advanced security systems, and a design that prioritizes comfort and privacy.
> “We designed Grandis for people who want everything—security, elegance, convenience, and the assurance that their home will look as spectacular in 20 years as it does on day one,” Ademola notes.
A Legacy That Lasts
With its combination of visionary architecture, peerless safety, and meticulous maintenance planning, Grandis is built to remain iconic for generations. Thanks to Dumarco’s meticulous approach, the building’s service charges are expected to remain low while its value and appeal continue to appreciate over time.
In a market often marred by shortcuts and substandard practices, Mr Ademola says
Grandis stands as a beacon of what luxury living should be—safe, spectacular, and built to last.
“Grandis 5Star Luxury Apartment & Suites — Where safety meets sophistication, and every detail is designed for a life well-lived.”
He added
Website -www.dumarcoltd.com
Project website – www.26idowutaylor.com
Email [email protected]
Tel / WhatsApp +234 9077777883
GM – Adejuwon A. Ademola
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