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Capital Market, Postal Industry Joint Efforts Crucial for Economy- Uba

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(L-r): Dr David Ogogo, registrar/chief executive officer, Bayo Olugbemi, president/chairman of Council, both from the Institute of Capital Market Registrars, Mallam Ibrahim Mori-Baba, the out-going postmaster general of the Federation (NIPOST), Dr. Michael Umo, general manager, Bulk Post Ventures (NIPOST), Okey Uba, CEO, Ebony Express Limited and Guest Lecturer and Nornah Awoh, guest lecture, during Bulk Post’s Customer Forum 2015 held in Lagos on Monday.
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The Capital market and postal industry collaborations are crucial for the nation’s economic development says Mr. Okey Uba, managing director and chief executive officer of Ebony Express Limited.

Uba made the remark while presenting a paper titled, “Postal Industry and Capital market: A Synergy for Wealth Creation”, at Bulk Post Annual Customer Forum/public lecture held in Lagos on Monday.

He said that the ultimate role of the capital market is to raise fund for both Government and Companies through investments in securities by the public.

While carrying out this role, he said, securities documents are generated including public offer forms, share certificates or lodgment notices, annual reports, dividend warrants or dividend credit advise, rights circular, share transfer forms, among others, which require delivery.

Thus, the capital market operators engage the services of the postal industry to collect, convey and deliver these documents to shareholders.

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“In all, the common gain from this activity of the capital market operators and the postal industry is wealth creation for the investing public,” he alluded.

But he argued that in recent years, there has been a sharp decline in the production of these documents, especially annual reports and notices of extra ordinary and rescheduled meetings.

The development, he said, is threatening the hitherto cordial and profitable relationship between the two sectors. 

According to him, the onus lies on the Capital market operators and their regulators to adhere to the set guidelines by producing the necessary documents due to the least shareholder in the most accessible terms.

Uba’s assertions where convoked by incessant claims among courier operators and shareholders that the securities and exchange commission (SEC) and capital market regulators seem to overlook the adherent to certain rules by companies in the dealing with their shareholders, especially in cutting down on number of annual reports and notices printed or produced in digital compact discs (DVDs). 

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As such, capital market and sub-sectors have continued to witness decline in patronage, but the Guest Speaker believes that adhering to standards will help to halt the decline in capital market mails, and rebuild the much desired confidence, by the investing public in the Capital Market.

He said, “The Postal industry, conversely, should strive to meet the challenges of effective and efficient delivery of such documents to the shareholders. Socio-economic development of a nation demands interdependence of industries. No industry operates in isolation; else the principle of redistribution of wealth be truncated; when this happens, companies will go into extinction with resultant loss of jobs.

“The effect of general loss of jobs in an industry on the society, especially on security is better imagined. This explains why developed economies, with near perfection in ICT, deem it plausible not to completely demateralise their capital market documents”.

He added that information and trust are key factors for the growth and survival of a business hence the relationship between the capital market operators and investors is maintained with effective information dissemination.

“This information is bellied by physical documents delivered to the investors by the postal industry,” he said.

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He said, whilst documents like share certificates and dividend warrants can be dematerialized, annual reports and meeting notices is better materialized as they are avenues through which shareholders/investors, their proxies and indeed the general public keep abreast of development in quoted companies.

Earlier, Bayo Olugbemi, managing director of FirstRegistrars and Investor Services, urged the courier operators to gear up their operations in line with international best practices.

According to Olugbemi who chaired the occasion, it has become obvious that courier operators cannot depend wholly on capital market documents for delivery hence the market is passing through a phase that will affect other operators dependent on it.

He cited the e-dividends and e-annual reports as part of measures by companies to cut costs as the hash economic environment impact their operations too.

According to him, apart from devising means to carefully handle the DVDs at their disposal for delivery, the operators must think outside the box to leverage opportunities in other areas like the ecommerce delivery, bulk email/digital marketing, among others.

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Court Remands Akujobi, Ex Access over alleged Theft of N294.5m

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Chinonso Akujobi, former staff of Access Bank in Lagos, has been remanded in Ikoyi prison after she was arraigned on a five-count charge bordering on stealing to the tune of N294.5m.

Court Remands Akujobi, Ex Access over alleged Theft of N294.5m

Akujobi who is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was arraigned before Justice I.O. Ijelu of the State High Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos.

EFCC alleged that Akujobi stole the money between January and December 2025 while under the employment of Access Bank Plc.

As stated in one the charges, the defendant stole the money through unauthorized payments from the general ledger of Access Bank to her account number 0036668871 with the name Chinonso A., Uchechi A. and Florence A., thereby committing an offence of stealing, contrary to Section 280 and punishable under Section 287 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

‎The defendant pleaded “not guilty“ to the charges when they were read to her.

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‎In view of this, S.M.Yabo, prosecution counsel, asked the court for a trial date and also prayed for the remand of the defendant in a Correctional centre.

Justice Ijelu, thereafter, adjourned the case till October 8, 2026, for the hearing of the bail application and the commencement of trial.

The Judge also ordered that the defendant be remanded in the Ikoyi correctional Centre.

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NSIB Faults Runway Identification, Reveals Cockpit Disagreement in Asaba Jet Incident

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The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) says the flight captain of the VMO Aero aircraft that landed on a roadway near Asaba Airport in Delta State told investigators that the observer pilot mistakenly identified the paved road as the runway before touchdown.

The bureau disclosed this in a preliminary report released on Thursday on the June 10 incident, which prompted the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to ground the private jet.

The aircraft had seven people on board, including the pilot-in-command (PIC), second-in-command (SIC), an observer pilot, a cabin crew member and three passengers.

According to the report, the aircraft was cleared by Air Traffic Control (ATC) to approach Runway 11 at Asaba Airport after the crew requested a right orbit.

The crew initially discontinued the approach, executed a missed approach and repositioned for a second landing attempt.

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NSIB said the crew reported that the aircraft’s navigation systems indicated it was correctly established on the published RNAV Runway 11 approach.

“The PIC and SIC reported that the observer pilot identified the paved surface ahead as the runway,” the report stated.

However, the observer pilot gave investigators a different version of events.

According to NSIB, he said the aircraft remained inside cloud until late in the approach and that the Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) repeatedly issued “TERRAIN, TERRAIN, PULL UP” alerts.

He also said he observed a telecommunications mast directly ahead and instructed the flight captain to abandon the approach and climb immediately.

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The bureau further disclosed that a cabin crew member reported that one of the passengers became concerned after overhearing discussions among the pilots and asked whether one of them was undergoing training. The passenger was reportedly reassured that all three pilots on board were experienced captains.

NSIB said no abnormal events were reported in the cabin before touchdown.

The aircraft eventually landed at about 8:57 a.m. on an under-construction paved roadway near Asaba Airport instead of the designated runway.

The bureau said its investigation into the incident is ongoing, while the preliminary report highlights conflicting accounts among the cockpit crew over the circumstances that led to the erroneous landing.

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EU warns Meta over addictive Facebook, Instagram designs, threatens fines

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European Union has warned Meta Platforms Inc. that it could face a significant financial penalty unless it changes what regulators describe as the “addictive design” features of Facebook and Instagram.

EU warns Meta over addictive Facebook, Instagram designs, threatens fines

The European Commission issued the warning in preliminary findings released on Friday, saying Meta had failed to sufficiently address risks posed by its platforms, particularly to children and vulnerable users.

The Commission said features such as infinite scrolling, personalised content recommendations and automatic video playback were designed in ways that encouraged excessive engagement with the platforms.

EU Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, Henna Virkkunen, said protecting the physical and mental well-being of European citizens should be a priority for social media companies.

The Commission said Meta should consider introducing design changes, including disabling autoplay and infinite scrolling by default, providing effective screen-time reminders and adjusting recommendation systems to reduce the focus on maximising user engagement.

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The findings were issued under the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which sets obligations for major online platforms to address risks associated with their services.

Meta, however, rejected the Commission’s conclusions, saying it disagreed with the findings but would continue engaging with European regulators.

The company said it had already implemented measures aimed at protecting younger users, including Teen Accounts that allow parents to manage screen time limits and restrict access during night hours.

The EU said its investigation, which began in 2024, found that existing time-management tools on Facebook and Instagram could easily be bypassed, while parental controls required technical knowledge that limited their effectiveness.

Regulators also expressed concerns over children’s nighttime use of the platforms and the possibility that features such as Reels and Stories could encourage compulsive behaviour.

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If the Commission’s preliminary findings are confirmed, Meta could face a fine of up to six per cent of its annual global revenue under the DSA.

The warning comes as the EU steps up efforts to strengthen online safety measures for children, with an expert panel established by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expected to present recommendations on protecting minors online.

Several EU member states, including France, have also supported discussions on restricting social media access for children, following Australia’s decision to ban users under 16 from accessing social media platforms.

Meanwhile, the Commission is continuing a separate investigation into whether Meta’s recommendation algorithms create “rabbit hole” effects by directing users towards increasingly extreme content.

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