General News
Nigeria Losses Revenue from Improper Planning- Oyedokun
Nigeria Losses Revenue from Improper Planning- Oyedokun
Mr. Oyewole Ayodeji Oyedokun is the president, Records and Information Management Awareness Foundation (RIMA Foundation).
He is a member of renowned international networking bodies, such as the Network and System Professionals Association, USA; International Association of Business Communicators (IABC); Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM) and Computer Professional Registration of Nigeria. He works for a major oil and gas company in Nigeria, where he has served for over thirteen years and still waxing stronger.
Oyedokun was among a thirteen-man committee inaugurated in March 2010b by the Lagos State Government for the formulation of Policy on Records and Archives management in Lagos State. At RIMA’s first quarterly training for Information Management professionals, he spoke with Peter Ugwu on the imperative of a national database, among other issues. Excerpt.
Encouraging Societal Changes through ICT and Records Management
Overview of RIMA’s Activities
RIMA has been in operations since 2004 as a Non-profit Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), with the sole objective of promoting proper management and security of records and information in Nigeria, and Africa in general; for the benefit of the society encouraging investment and provision of employment opportunities.
Records and Information Management (RIM): A specialized Discipline
Yes; RIM is a specialized discipline with gamut of disciplines that requires different skill set. Some of the functions in the Records and Information Management (RIM) industry include but not limited to Records Management (RM), Archives Management (AM), Documents Control (DC), Health Information Management (HIM), Data Management and Analysis (DMA) and so many others. Regrettably, within the scope of Africa, one will discover that majority of these disciplines are almost non-existing and people have been lamenting for lack of employment opportunities; uncharitable structures for investment and so on. RIMA Foundation discovered this gap and realized that by developing the records and information management industry; this will really help to alleviate the sufferings of our teeming youths. Records and Information are very important aspect of any business, required for the efficient administration and sustenance of the business regardless of the sector they belong to. And when we talk about governance, we will find out that majority of the problems we are piqued with, especially in this part of the world, are largely drawn from poor handling and management of records and information thereby making it almost impossible for government to demonstrate to the populace talking about transparency and accountability, not necessarily in the financial aspects alone, but in the area of good information management governance. For example, for a government to prepare a budget; beneficial to the citizenry, there has to be accurately captured and recorded information concerning the population, which will inform certain government’s decision in implementing assured policies. Information, if properly harnessed could give government the right direction. You can imagine, each general election period in Nigeria is followed by revalidation of voters register, with several millions budgeted for it, but if we had a proper national database, budgetary allocation to such exercise would have been cut down and channeled towards other developmental projects.
Records and Information Management Policy Debate
I will say this forms part of our mandate. Our directive is to identify the various gaps, challenges being faced in the information management industry, covering both private and public arena, and proffer a way on how to tackle them. So, we are favorably disposed to any legislation that will promote proper handling, management and security of records and information in Nigeria.
Improper Information Management and Security Lapses in Nigeria
Infact, managing information is very keen and directly applicable to every facet of our life. So, in the area of security, if we had maintained good information governance about the citizenry, adequate security would not have eluded us as it is presently.
Manual Record Management in ICT Era
There are cases of things being done wrongly because of the system we run in Nigeria, and so many things are responsible for that. Firstly, there is growing fear in people when it comes to ICT. In fact, some people, when you mention ICT, they are thrown off-balance; a lot of people feel threatened by this. Even in organizations, workers will think that implementation of ICT solutions will lead to job loss, which is not. Is aimed at enhancing whatever activity they are involved in. They are supposed to see it as complement to whatever profession they are involved in. IT is not coming to take over anybody’s job; rather it will create greater opportunities and better career ladder which will eventually give room for growth within the organization.
Awareness Campaign
We have been involved in so many awareness campaigns to raise the tempo for proper management of records and information in Nigeria and other parts of Africa. We have worked with many international organizations for us to learn best practices, around the world. We target a-home-grown solutions to our problems and our activities are progressive in nature. RIMA has been partnering with a good number of international organisations on different projects and programmes. Aside the free quarterly training organized for students, professionals and other interested members of the society, we have outlined a number of awareness programmes for the year. And we are not giving up in promoting professional ethics among RIM practitioners in Nigeria and Africa. Quite a number of them are not aware of certain expectations that they are supposed to leave up to within their organisations, which is one of the key consciousnesses RIMA Foundation is out to create in them.
Perils of Inexistence of National Database
Apart from the improper planning and decision making suffered by the different countries as a result of lack of a national database, the country will continue to loss revenue.
Generic or Unified Retention Period of Confidential Records
The implications of not having a generic or unified retention period for confidential documents has a lot of negative implications, but I will stress on the fact that if we continue to shy away from maintaining a general standard for every practice, we should not expect (positive) results. Because people will tend to do things the way it suits them; which boils down to revenue loss. We will continue to mark time, while losing valuables. And the process must be back up by the law.
SIM Card Registration and Skeptic Public
I will not out-rightly blame whoever is skeptic about his or her data being captured, particularly in the absence of framework or infrastructure in place, like the records and information policy we are harping on. Presently, we do not have laws to address personal information protection act or law in Nigeria. In fact, it is very wrong for government to start asking for (personal) information from the masses without putting the necessary infrastructure in place, because a house that is not built on a solid ground will collapse.
Unfair Treatment of Professionals
I will share the blame between the practitioners and the organizations. From our findings, quite a good number of Information Management Professionals (IMPs) are not doing enough to convince their management on how relevant they are to operations of their organizations. Some of them are not innovative enough to come up with projects that will add value to their organisations. Talking about the organizations, you will find out that most of them are yet to realize that information is a very important aspect of their businesses, thereby not regards it as an asset to cater for and guide jealously. These are some of the challenges that we (RIMA Foundation) believe will be overcome with time as we proceed in our resolve for a better society through information management.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery is reportedly nearing completion of a $2.5 billion private placement that values the company at about $40 billion ahead of its planned public listing.
Private placement is the direct sale of company shares or bonds to pre-selected investors instead of the general public and it is used to raise money quickly while avoiding strict public reporting rules.
People familiar with the transaction said investors acquired as much as 6 per cent of the refinery, according to a BusinessDay report.
The reported terms would value the business at approximately $40 billion.
Neither Dangote Group nor the refinery has publicly announced the final amount raised, the identities of most subscribers or the precise percentage sold.
The figures should therefore be treated as transaction details supplied by unnamed sources rather than confirmed company disclosures.
The reported $2.5 billion total is nevertheless significant as it indicates strong demand for exposure to a privately controlled refinery that has rapidly become central to Nigeria’s fuel supply and an increasingly important exporter of petroleum products.
The placement was said to have attracted more demand than the available shares, allowing the company to secure substantially more than the amount initially associated with the fundraising exercise.
Femi Otedola, chairman, First HoldCo, is the only major participant publicly identified in the report.
He reportedly committed $100 million to the transaction and sold his investment in Geregu Power Plc to finance the acquisition.
Nigeria’s pension industry was also reportedly cleared to participate.
Access to more than $17 billion in retirement assets would broaden the refinery’s potential investor base beyond wealthy individuals and conventional institutional buyers.
Participation by Pension Fund Administrators would, however, require careful attention to valuation, liquidity and portfolio-concentration limits.
Retirement funds must balance the attraction of a large Nigerian industrial asset against their responsibility to protect contributors’ savings.
The implied $40 billion valuation represents investor expectations about the refinery’s future earnings rather than only the physical cost of constructing the facility.
Its ability to process 650,000 barrels of crude daily gives it a central role in supplying Nigeria and other markets, but its commercial performance remains connected to crude availability, product prices, exchange rates and regulation.
The refinery has struggled to obtain all the Nigerian crude it requires under the government’s naira-for-crude arrangement.
It has consequently purchased some feedstock internationally and recently moved local petroleum-product pricing into dollars to align sales revenue more closely with its foreign-currency expenses.
Those constraints will be important during any public offering.
Prospective shareholders will want greater clarity on crude-supply contracts, debt, operating margins, export revenue and the company’s relationship with Nigerian regulators.
It is also unclear whether the private placement involved newly issued shares, a sale by existing owners or a combination of both.
That distinction determines whether the reported $2.5 billion becomes fresh capital for the refinery or proceeds received by selling shareholders.
The transaction could provide a useful price reference for the planned initial public offering.
Federal government will next month launch Nigeria’s first national organized crime strategy to strengthen the country’s response to terrorism, cybercrime, human and drug trafficking, kidnapping, illicit financial flows, and other forms of organized crime.
Major General Adamu Laka, national coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Centre under the Office of the National Security Adviser, disclosed this in Abuja during the validation of the strategy document.
He said the strategy provides a coordinated national framework for tackling organized crime through improved intelligence sharing, stronger collaboration among security agencies, and closer cooperation with the criminal justice system, civil society organizations, and international partners.
Major General Laka explained that the document was developed through a partnership involving the Federal Government, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the United States Government, and other stakeholders.
Speaking at the event, Cheikh Toure, UNODC representative, said the strategy would strengthen Nigeria’s capacity to combat transnational crimes, including drug trafficking, cybercrime, human trafficking, kidnapping, and illicit financial flows.
Also speaking, Douglas Grane, acting director of the United States Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, reaffirmed the U.S. government’s support for Nigeria’s efforts to tackle organized crime through stronger inter-agency and international cooperation.
Representatives of the National Institute for Strategic Studies, the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit, and the National Cyber Security Centre also endorsed the initiative, describing it as a major step towards improving Nigeria’s fight against organized crime.
FATE Foundation, with funding from the Citi Foundation, has launched the Youth Entrepreneurship Incubation Programme to equip young people in Nigeria with financial literacy and entrepreneurship skills.
Delivered through free, safe, and accessible platforms, the programme supports the incubation and scaling of youth-led enterprises, enabling income generation and job creation.
In October 2025, FATE Foundation was selected as a recipient of Citi Foundation’s 2025 Global Innovation Challenge to Accelerate Youth Employability. Joining the cohort of 50 organisations globally, the Foundation will receive $500,000 over two years to advance its youth employability initiative.
“We are excited to be selected for Citi Foundation’s 2025 Global Innovation Challenge,” said Ayomide Akindolie-Igwe, Executive Director of FATE Foundation.
“This support enables us to equip young entrepreneurs in Nigeria with the financial literacy and skills needed to build and scale sustainable businesses.”
The programme addresses youth employability by tackling Africa’s growing jobs crisis. By 2030, the African continent will be home to 40% of the world’s youth, and with one in three under 35 already unemployed, this initiative will support Nigerian youth with a two-phase approach. It begins with financial literacy training before progressing to entrepreneurship development, incubation support, and access to tools needed to build viable, job-creating businesses.
“Through this innovative initiative, FATE Foundation is supporting low-income Nigerian youth to develop essential financial and entrepreneurial skills using accessible platforms.
“This support is not just helping individuals to succeed; it is building a solid foundation for sustainable enterprises that will drive job creation and contribute significantly to our nation’s economic vitality. This initiative is empowering and investing in the future of Nigeria, one youth at a time,” said Nneka Enwereji, MD/CEO Citibank Nigeria Limited.
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