Jumia donates 100,000 CE certified face masks to Federal Government

Success Damian:

L-R: Mr Musa Makoji (Deputy Director, General Services); Mr. Fredrick Kolo (Regional Manager, Jumia Services); Mrs. Juwaretu Olumoko (Director, General Service); Dr. Adebimpe Adebiyi (Director, Hospital Services), and Dr. Ahmad Baba (Technical Adviser to the Permanent Secretary) during the donation of 100,000 CE certified face masks by Jumia Nigeria to the Federal Ministry of Health in Abuja to support the government in fighting the spread of COVID-19 pandemic

Leading eCommerce platform, Jumia, has donated 100,000 CE certified face masks to the Federal Ministry of Health to support the government in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a press statement, the donations were received by the Director, Hospital Services, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Adebimpe Adebiyi on behalf of the Honourable Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire at the Ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.

Jumia has also offered the support of its integrated logistics network to support the distribution of essential products, medical equipment and Personal Protective Equipment.

Juliet Anammah, Chairwoman, Jumia Nigeria and Group Head, Institutional Affairs at Jumia Africa said: “We are proud to make this contribution partner with the Nigerian government in fighting against COVID-19 and supporting our communities. E-commerce platforms like ours, with e-payment and last mile delivery capabilities, are uniquely positioned to be part of Nigeria’s response strategy to this pandemic and we are swiftly taking actions.”

In a letter of acknowledgement and appreciation to Jumia Nigeria, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Health, Alhaji Mashi Abdullahi - on behalf of the Honourable Minister of Health wrote: “The Federal Ministry of Health heartily appreciates your kind gesture in the fight against the pandemic. 

"The support which includes the donation of 100,000 pieces of CE rated masks, provision of delivery and logistics network and other support services towards the response will indeed go a long way to compliment the ongoing efforts of containment and control of the spread of the pandemic.”

He continued: “I also wish to assure you that the ministry will not hesitate to further solicit your services in any area of need in this regard. Please accept the assurances of our esteemed regards.”

Lagos residents scramble for free food stuff ...as PWAN rolls out palliative

Success Damian:

L-R: Executive Director PWAN Lekki, Nnadi Daniel; Managing Director PWAN Lekki, Odusanya Mukaila Odutola; Managing Director PWAN Advantage, Chinedu Ezenwa; Group Executive Director PWAN Group/ Managing Director PWAN Legend, Afam Okonkwo; Managing Director PWAN Plus, Julius Oyedemi; Managing Director PWAN Heaven, Dr. Fred Okpaje; and General Manager PWAN Homes, Olusegun Joseph at the PWAN COVID-19 palliative/food distribution in Lagos, recently

Residents of Sangotedo in Eti-Osa local government area of Lagos State heaved a big sigh of relief, yesterday, when PWAN Group, foremost real estate marketing company, touch the lives of over 1000 families with generous gifts of food stuffs.

Each recipient smiled home with rice, noodles, vegetable oil, tomato pest enough to last a family seven days.

Over 1000 pieces of ankara face mask were also given out even as the residents were encouraged to embrace safety advise by government and medical experts as a measure to check the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.

The Chairman of PWAN Group, Dr Augustine Onwumere, said that he was deeply touched seeing that the stay-at-home order, which ordinarily is a positive move by government to arrest the spread of coronavirus in the country, had unfortunately subjected many families to hunger and serious economic challenges.

"As a responsible corporate organisation, we could not just sit back and watch residents of our host community languish in extreme hunger, without making efforts to cushion their sufferings.

"Lockdown without food is a knock down; that is why we took necessary steps to ensure that everyone benefited from our food distribution exercise," Dr. Onwmere, further explained.

The Managing Director of PWAN Plus business concerns limited, an affiliate company with the PWAN Group, who coordinated  exercise, Julius Oyedemy, added; "The essence is to support the Federal government in spreading help to the unreached. As an organisation, we are targeting to reaching out to over 1000 families and suffering masses who cannot afford food at this critical time of COVID-19 pandemic." 

Oyedemi explained that, the exercised,  which began  on  April 25 in Sangotedo, would be replicated in over 15 communities in Eti-Osa, Ibeju-Lekki, Epe local government areas where PWAN Group is located.

To achieve quality distribution as well as ensure social distancing, the Group collaborated with Eti-Osa local government officials, the police and community heads. That conscious arrangement reduced the scramble for the food stuff to a harmless to small groups of residents eager to grab a piece of the generous package. 

 "What we are doing is also a kind of  Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) to the communities to touch lives at this point in time where people are hungry. 

"We have rice, cartons of noodles, vegetable oil, tin tomatoes to share for people to feed during these trying times," the Group Executive Managing Director, Afam Okonkwo, said.

OPSN urges government to suspend proposed increase in electricity tariff

Success Damian:

 

The Organised Private Sector of Nigeria (OPSN) has called on the Federal Government to suspend the proposed increase in electricity tariff in the best interest of the Nigerian economy.

The call was made in a press statement by the Nigerian Association of Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) on behalf of The Organised Private Sector of Nigeria (OPSN). 

The group stated that the proposed increase in electricity is not business friendly, and will have a catastrophic impact on the real sector; spell doom for the small and medium companies; and further inflict misery on the citizenry. “Therefore, the proposed tariff increase should be suspended in the best interest of the Nigerian economy,” the statement read.

It further stated that even if electricity tariff cannot be reduced, it should not be increased. “Any increase in tariff will reinforce the already high cost of doing business for the Private Sector and further depress productivity in the manufacturing sector.”

It said that Government being a major stakeholder in the electricity industry should concentrate on developing processes and polices to attract significant investment to encourage scale generation with improved transmission and distribution infrastructure in the industry. It said that Evolution of a more realistic tariff structure that will support the growth of the sector is very critical at the moment and so  Government should review the privatization/unbundling of the electricity industry in the best interest of the over two hundred million of Nigerians.

The statement read in part “Position of the Organized Private Sector of Nigeria (OPSN) on the proposed increase in electricity tariff by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

The leadership of the Organized Private Sector in Nigeria (OPSN) appreciates the efforts of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to ensure and sustain improvement in electricity supply and seamless operations of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) for the benefit of the country as a whole and private business in particular. This is reflected in a number of regulatory interventions to ensure that stakeholders operate in line with the set guidelines. In particular, the Order on the Transition to Cost Reflective Tariffs in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (Order No: NERC/198/2020), released on Tuesday, 31st March 2020.

Also worthy of note is the Press Release dated 31 March 2020, issued from the Office of the Honourable Minister, Federal Ministry of Power titled COVID-19: Minister’s Statement on Tariffs and Palliative Measures for the Power Sector. This Press Release from the Federal Ministry of Power referenced the NERC Order announcing a 3 month delay in the implementation of the Tariff measures, and also indicated inter-alia, that there will be no tariff action in APRIL, 2020.

Even though Order No: NERC/198/2020 specifically states that “there shall be no increase in tariffs of end-use customers on April 1, 2020”, the recently concluded nationwide stakeholders’ engagements and the just concluded review panel sessions with the eleven DisCos alluded to the fact that there could still be an increase in electricity tariff this year. This was also confirmed in the Statement from the Ministry of Power which says “...Tariffs will only be raised as the DisCos improve quality and supply, meter consumers and agree with consumers on rates.”

Against the background of the foregoing, the OPSN wants to use this opportunity to draw attention to some obvious questions that readily come to mind, which are also captured to some extent, in the summary of the findings of Order No: NERC/198/2020: They are the following: Should any increase in electricity tariff be approved by NERC in the face of the prevailing inadequate electricity supply?

Why has NERC not addressed the issue of current exploitative tariff structure that is skewed against the private sector but increased liquidity in the coffers of the Discos?

Is the level of improvement in electricity distribution and associated infrastructure commensurate with previous upward reviews in electricity tariff?

What is the level of investment and achievements made by the DisCos in reciprocation for previous reviews?

Is NERC satisfied with the current high-level inefficiency that pervades the operations of the DisCos?

Are the prevailing macroeconomic fundamentals including the backlashes of COVID- 19 congenial to an upward review in electricity tariff?

The Private Sector Performance and Electricity Supply

It is fundamentally true that improvement in electricity supply in terms of tariff, quantity, quality, reliability and efficiency in service delivery is critical to the growth and development of private sector businesses, especially manufacturing. This is the major reason why the OPSN has followed with keen interest, all recent developments relating to issues of electricity supply, particularly the desire to put in place a cost-effective electricity tariff in the industry. 

For the records, private business operators in Nigeria, especially the manufacturing sector are already plagued by high cost operating environment arising from poor regulatory environment, macroeconomic asymmetries and high cost of energy. This unfriendly operating environment is responsible for the oscillatory performance of the sector in the past few years. For instance, Electricity outages averages about 10 hours per day, electricity expenses still constitute about 40% of total cost of production and the average cost of self-generated electricity averages N119 billion in 2019 alone. Most worrisome is the fact that operators in the Private Sector, especially the manufacturing sector bear the burden of commercial and technical losses through very high monthly electricity bill that is largely estimated.

General Observations on the proposed increase in Electricity tariff

The OPSN has observed that despite numerous increases in electricity tariff, the sector is plagued by poor generation and transmission. Likewise, inefficient distribution and inadequate supply remain crucial challenges facing private sector operators, particularly those in manufacturing. It is therefore important that any upward electricity tariff that will add up to the already bloated cost of production in the sector should be avoided. One would believe that before embarking on this outrageous increase in electricity tariff, its impact on the manufacturing sector and the economy at large would have been properly evaluated to mitigate a crowding out effect on the economy.

The Lord’s Chosen holds crusade live on Cable TV, Social Media platforms

Cyriacus Nnaji:

The Lords Chosen Charismatic Revival Ministry has stated that it will be holding its annual Easter Crusade live on the Church’s cable Television and other social media platforms.

In a press statement by Director, Public Relations, Pastor Louis Chidi the move is in the light of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent directive by the government on the cessation of movement in many part of the country.

“With all gratitude to Almighty God, we wish to inform the general public and our esteemed worshipers that, in light of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, and subsequent directive by the government on the cessation of movement in many parts of the country, The Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Movement wants to reiterate that the church has fully complied with the directive and has thus temporary suspended all church activities particularly in Lagos and Abuja until further notice.

“Sequel to that, we have concluded plan to broadcast live on our Chosen Revival cable TV and all social media platforms during the two - day Easter program titled ‘God’s Covenant of Peace and Blessing’ date Saturday 11th April and Sunday 12th April, 2020, time 10am daily.

Pastor Chidi said the special programme will help bring to mind the significant of Easter which by extension is the victory over hopelessness and misery. “As we know that by His death and resurrection, the covenant of peace and blessing which mankind originally had with God at creation was restored. So, the concept of Easter is inextricably tied to peace, hope and blessing, and these are what help believers to walkover sad and sordid situations that might bog them down and give them a sense of hopelessness.”

He stated that Easter brings optimism that no matter how difficult or how challenging a situation may be, having knowledge of the resurrection will remind Christians that if Jesus could defeat death, then all things are possible adding that tt also suggests that as bad as the prevailing situation might appear, there is the expectation that things will get better if people repent from their sins and accept Jesus as the Lord and Saviour.

Chidi said the nation is therefore advised to use the opportunity availed by the occasion to humbly draw closer to God, repent from wickedness, plead for His mercy and intervention in a time like this.

Quoting Matt. 11: 28- 30 which says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” he said God has offered humanity everlasting peace at no cost. 

Chidi said that the cost will be high if we reject this free offer. “If the world particularly Nigerians will acknowledge and appreciate this wonderful work of grace and return to their God, then the pandemic of COVID-19 and its attendant economic crises will be overcome.

“Through prayers during this programme the Holy Spirit will deal with the challenges of the present pandemic and evoke the covenant of peace and blessing upon the participants. As we return to God apologetically for our sin, peace shall return to all and the entire country shall rejoice.

“No participant will go empty handed because God Almighty has seen our hopelessness and therefore has scheduled the program to bring peace and blessing of unspeakable joy to us.

“It does not matter the nature of the ugly situation prevailing in the world today, our assurance is that by this program He will intervene and cause the hostility of our enemies to cease as He did in the bible days. 

“The program will definitely douse the anxiety that has hitherto pervaded the country and the world. The General Overseer Pastor Lazarus Muoka is inviting all to join and witness the demonstration of God’s power that will bring a lasting peace to the country,” Pastor Chidi revealed.