Author: Saint Augustine

The governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano has been named winner of this year’s edition of the Nigeria Integrity and Anti-corruption Awards. According to Ethics and Corporate Compliance Institute of Nigeria who instituted the awards, Governor Obiano earned the confidence of the awards’ panel for his commitment to public safety and security. In the words of Dr Dagogo Lawrence, a spokesman of the institute, “Governor Obiano has demonstrated that the challenge of securing lives and properties could be prioritized and achieved with prudent leadership and focused direction.” Speaking further, he explained that “in a very short while in these…

Rev. Jonathan Nicol is the President, Shippers’ Association of Lagos State (ASLA). In this interview with our correspondent, he bares his mind on the activities of the maritime industry in the year 2014, the prospects of the industry this year and other matters thereto. Excerpt: What is your assessment of the maritime industry in the out gone year? First of all, I want to say happy New Year to all practitioners in the maritime industry. 2014 was a year of remembrance because a lot of things happened during the year. The first thing is the awareness of the practitioners in…

The Shippers’ Association of Lagos State (SALS) has called on the Nigeria Customs Service to adopt the electronic manifest as well as a miniature video of all the contents of a consignment coming into the country as a way of accelerating the release of containers in the country. Speaking in an interview with newsmen in Lagos on Tuesday, the President of the association, Rev. Jonathan Nicol also warned against incessant querying of consignments duly released from the ports contending that it was wrong for junior officers along the road to query the authority of the releasing officer who in most…

Barr. Emeka Akabogu is the Principal Partner of Akabogu and Associates as well as the Chief Executive Officer of the Admiralty Resources. In this Interview with our Correspondent, he bares his mind on the maritime sector in the last one year, the Port and Harbour bill before the National Assembly and others. Excerpt: What is your assessment of the maritime industry in the last one year? The industry has been evolving as far as I am concerned. I think it is difficult to place the group of the industry within any specific time bound because if you look at what…

Mr. Johnson Chukwu is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Cowry Asset Management Limited based in Lagos, Nigeria. In this interview with our correspondent, he bares his mind on the dwindling oil prices, devaluation of Naira and many more. Excerpt; Going by the persistent fall in the oil prices and the measures being put in place by the Federal Government to cushion the effect on the nation’s economy, could it be said that the Nigerian economy is distressed? One cannot say that the Nigerian economy is distressed. What is happening is that the Nigerian economy is going through…

The Associate Convenor, Standing Conference of Mediation Advocates (SCMA), Barr. Valentino Buoro has predicted that the maritime industry would experience a boom this year especially in the area of cargo interest. Speaking in a chat with newsmen in Lagos on Tuesday, Buoro stated that with the coming on board of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council as the economic regulator, all of those unorthodox practices of giving bills that had no bearing in the smooth transaction in the maritime industry would no longer obtain. While adding that the activities of the freight forwarders would be more regulated this year as there was…

The President, Shippers’ Association of Lagos State (SALS), Rev. Jonathan Nicol has said that following the precedent set by the Seaport Terminal Operators (STOAN) and the Association of Shipping Line Agencies (ASLA), this year may witness a lot of the operators in the maritime industry going to court to enforce one right or the other. Nicol who was speaking in an interview with newsmen in Lagos on Tuesday also said that because of the culture in Africa where when one takes someone to court, one may likely become lifetime enemies, most people may not want to go to court so…

By Chuks Oluigbo The debate as to whether someone’s given name has anything to do with how that someone eventually turns out in life is an open-ended question. But whether we are for or against, the truth is that in life, we often find individuals who go ahead to fulfil the meaning of their names in every sense of it like a prophecy, negatively or positively. One man that has positively fulfilled – and continues to fulfil – his name in recent history is Victor Umeh, the indefatigable national chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the party’s…

The governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano has condoled with President Goodluck Jonathan on the passage of his sister, Mrs. Nancy Jonathan-Olei who recently died at the age of 53. In a statement signed by James Eze, his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Governor Obiano expressed a deep sense of regret that the late Mrs. Jonathan-Olei passed on at a very young age, describing her death as colossal loss to her family and the nation. According to him, the late Mrs. Nancy Jonathan-Olei was a pillar of strength to her family while she lived and a tremendous influence on…

The Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano has on behalf of the government of Anambra state expressed profound appreciation to Ndi Anambra for the peaceful and memorable Christmas and New Year celebrations witnessed in various communities in the state. The governor was particularly impressed by the enthusiasm and sense of duty displayed by Ndi Anambra through their positive response, attendance and participation in the activities and programmes of the maiden Anambra Heritage Festival which held from December 23 to 26, 2014. The Festival activities included reading by Novelist and Newspaper Columnist, Prof. Okey Ndibe, Masquerade display at Ekweme Square,…