Business News
Anger as Lagos closes roads to welcome President Buhari
Published
3 years agoon

President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to the nation’s commercial capital, Lagos, has continued to generate anger and displeasure among Lagosians.
During the 2-day visit, he will commission the new Bus terminal at Ikeja, he is also expected to perform the official flag-off ceremony for the construction of the Lekki Deep Sea Port project, Ibeju Lekki and also inspect the ongoing Eko Atlantic Project.
In addition, he will attend the Colloquium organised to mark the 66th Birthday of the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu scheduled to hold at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island.
The visit will no doubt cause untold hardship to Lagosians, economic losses to private businesses, and corporate organizations as the state government has announced the closure of some major roads in the state.
This according to the Lagos State government is to facilitate smooth movement of Mr. President and his entourage while in Lagos.
Areas to be affected by the traffic diversion include Bank Anthony Way in Ikeja, Agege Motor Road, a section of Eko Hotel Road in Victoria Island and Old Marina in Ikoyi axis.
Areas to be affected by the traffic diversion include Bank Anthony Way in Ikeja, Agege Motor Road, a section of Eko Hotel Road in Victoria Island and Old Marina in Ikoyi axis. #PresidentialVisit
— The Lagos State Govt (@followlasg) March 27, 2018
The State Government has also declared a work-free day for workers in the state this, however, excludes workers in the private sector.
Reactions from Lagosians on social media.
Lagos is already on lockdown just because our President is visiting us today… There should be other convenient ways of doing this…
— Dele Momodu Ovation (@DeleMomodu) March 29, 2018
Lagos DON'T DO IT. Absolutely avoid VI of you can today. Entering via Bonny Camp thru CMS is a no. You are diverted inside Lagos Island. Many side roads close to Eko hotel are closed. Drove around for 20 minutes trying to get to my office @Gidi_Traffic
— Tolulope Adeleru-Balogun (@tolulopeab) March 29, 2018
Today’s Lagos road closures are totally unnecessary and unfortunate. In the 21st Century, nobody closes down a mega city. President and Governor should simply have used helicopters. No right thinking person will close down New York or London or even Sydney
— Atedo Peterside (@AtedoPeterside) March 29, 2018
What kind of a country is this? Because the president is coming to Lagos state people cannot go and look for their daily bread, all the major road closed because PMB. When is Nigerian leaders going to learn, despite all the security details. May God help us
— Henry Ukaegbu (@IamHenryUC) March 29, 2018
It's 6:30am and the island is already on lock down because PMB is coming to Lagos to launch a bus station and the Eko Atlantic. Public holiday declared by the state government. The president is probably still asleep in Abuja.
— CharlieLeaks (@chaplinez70) March 29, 2018
It says everything about us that the only way to secure the president during a state visit to a metropolis like Lagos is to shut it down. In 2018. President and governor are both members of the "progressive APC."
There is a curse on this country.
— Babanla (@biolakazeem) March 29, 2018
Lagos went from a 'street smarts' city to a 'megacity' to a dumb city.
The way Mr Ambode tosses the state, one can easily forget this was once a state whose stubborn restlessness prompted the military to flee from Dodan Barracks to the safety of Aso Rock.
— Ayo Sogunro – #Transformist (@ayosogunro) March 28, 2018
Fikayo has a degree in computer science with economics from Obafemi Awolowo University. ITIL v3 in IT service management. An alumnus of Daystar Leadership Academy. Prior to joining Nairametrics had stinct in Project management, Telecommunications among others. Also training in Consulting and Investment banking from Edubridge Academy. He has very keen interest in Politics, Agri-business, private equity and global economics. He loves travelling and watching football. You can contact him via [email protected]


Companies
Nigeria’s border reopening will not impact profitability in 2021 – Flour Mills GMD
Flour Mills Nigeria Plc has stated that the recent reopening of the nation’s land borders will not affect the profitability of the company.
Published
1 hour agoon
January 26, 2021
Mr. Omoboyede Olusanya, the Group Managing Director of Flour Mills Nigeria Plc has disclosed that the recent reopening of the nation’s land borders will not adversely impact the performance and profitability of the company in 2021 and beyond.
He added that FMN will continue to leverage brand loyalty, product standardization and innovation, as well as improved cost efficiency to increase profitability in 2021.
This statement was made by the Olusanya during the company’s 9M’20/21 Investor Webinar which held virtually on January 26, 2020.
According to the statement made by Mr. Olusanya at the virtual meeting, the reopening of the nation’s land border will not affect the company’s sales and revenue, as Flour Mills Nigeria is focused on increasing operational efficiency with accelerated plans for cost optimizations across the group to ensure competitive product offerings and profitability in the new operating environment, occasioned by the border reopening.
He revealed that the company will continue to invest in local content development, production capacity and aggregation to strengthen product innovation and product standardization in a bid to foster brand loyalty.
In line with this, Flour Mills Nigeria has invested heavily to upscale its Regional Distribution Centers (RDCs), in order to gain direct access to consumer market segments across the country, and expand consumer reach with the road to market initiatives and product offerings across the group, especially in the B2C segment.
Olusanya revealed that the group has successfully opened new regional distribution centers (RDCs) in Kano, Magboro and Abuja targeting the new fast-growing B2C product categories (fats, sugar and garri).
He added that the FMN Group among other strategic investments made, has invested in trucks to support the RDCs, animal feeds and starch value chains; as well as sales force automation platforms to ensure high-quality processes and services.
He concluded that the activities of the company will be complemented by the efforts of the nation’s border security, as these agents would ensure that the borders do not become porous, and would help to curtail markets from being proliferated by imported items.
What you should know
- Recall that Nairametrics reported that Flour Mills Nigeria Plc declared a profit of N5.65 billion in the third quarter ended, 31st December 2020.
- The report revealed that the profit which Flour Mills made in the third quarter of its accounting year 2020/2021 rose by a whopping 150.36% when compared to the profit it made in the corresponding period of 2019.
- It is important to note that the impressive performance of the company was driven by the agro-allied segment. The Agro-Allied segment benefited immensely from the August 2019 border closure, as the profit from this segment improved by 15,268%.
Coronavirus
South African President appeals to wealthy countries not to hoard COVID-19 vaccines
South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa has called on the world’s wealthiest countries to stop “hoarding” vaccines.

Published
4 hours agoon
January 26, 2021
The South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa has urged the world’s wealthiest countries to stop “hoarding” vaccines and called for an end to “vaccine nationalism.”
He made this call at the World Economic Forum’s virtual Davos Agenda event, where he clearly cautioned that some countries had ordered more supplies of vaccines than they needed, and that this was counterproductive to the global recovery effort.
According to him,
- “Ending the pandemic worldwide will require greater collaboration on the rollout of vaccines, ensuring that no country is left behind in this effort”
- “The rich countries of the world went out and acquired large doses of vaccines from the developers and manufacturers of these vaccines, and some countries have even gone beyond and acquired up to four times what their populations need”
- “That was aimed at hoarding these vaccines and now this is being done to the exclusion of other countries in the world that most need this”
What they are saying
According to Africa CDC Director, John Nkengasong, the African continent is quite facing a “very aggressive second wave” of the pandemic, with mortality increasing on average 18% across the 55 African member states last week.
“We as a continent must recognize that vaccines will not be here when we want them, but as such we need to really focus on the public health measures that we know work”
He however praised the progress of the African Vaccine Acquisition Task (AVAT) Team, which he said was created when AU nations realized “how the world’s richest countries are behaving.”
What you should know
- South Africa is the country, worst hit by Covid-19 on the continent.
- As at date, the country had recorded more than 1.4 million cases with 41,117 deaths.
- The African Vaccine Acquisition Task (AVAT) Team has secured a provisional 270 million doses for AU member states directly, in addition to the 600 million expected from the World Health Organization’s COVAX initiative.
Coronavirus
IMF optimistic about global economy but warns new Covid variants could affect recovery
IMF is quite optimistic about the fortune of the global economy but expressed fear that the new Covid variant could derail economic recovery.

Published
5 hours agoon
January 26, 2021
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has expressed optimism about the global economy but warns that the new COVID 19 variant could affect the global economic growth, according to its latest World Economic Outlook.
According to the report, “the institution now expects the global economy to grow 5.5% this year — a 0.3 percentage point increase from October’s forecasts. It sees global GDP (gross domestic product) expanding by 4.2% in 2022”.
According to its Chief Economist, Gita Gopinath:
- “Much now depends on the outcome of this race between a mutating virus and vaccines to end the pandemic, and on the ability of policies to provide effective support until that happens.
- “There remains tremendous uncertainty and prospects vary greatly across countries.
- “China returned to its pre-pandemic projected level in the fourth quarter of 2020, ahead of all large economies. The United States is projected to surpass its pre-Covid levels this year, well ahead of the euro area.
- “Policy actions should ensure effective support until the recovery is firmly underway, with an emphasis on advancing key imperatives of raising potential output, ensuring participatory growth that benefits all, and accelerating the transition to lower carbon dependence.”
What you should know
- There has been a surge in the number of reported cases of the new variant Covid-19 infections and deaths over the past few months.
- The new variant has been described as being more infectious and potentially deadlier than the original strain.
- The IMF had cut its GDP forecasts for the euro zone this year by 1%.
- It is being projected that the 19-member region, which has been severely hit by the pandemic, would grow by 4.2% this year.
- Germany, France, Italy and Spain — the four largest economies in the euro zone — also saw their growth expectations cut for 2021.
- Economic activity in the region slowed in the final quarter of 2020 and this is expected to continue into the first part of 2021. The IMF does not expect the euro area economy to return to end-of-2019 levels before the end of 2022.
- IMF revised its GDP forecast upward by 2% points on the back of a strong momentum in the second part of 2020 and additional fiscal support, with GDP expected to grow to 5.1% this year.
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