General News
Postal Bill Will Make the Industry More Viable -Oladepo
Siyanbola Oladapo, managing director of Bowill Errands Courier is a consummate professional with over years of experience spanning the courier, oil & gas, and the financial sectors. Oladapo, is also the secretary general, Association of Nigeria Courier Operators (Anco) has been in the vanguard for a robust courier sector capable of contributing to the country’s GDP. He spoke to peter ugwu on issues relating to the industry in Nigeria.
Threats to Courier operation
The threats are many. One, we are talking about non-professionals in the industry. The Courier Regulatory Department (CRD) headed by Dr. Simon Emeje has been trying his best to address that aspect.
And that is why you see people operating using another person’s license; and the public is not even asking them to provide such evidence while giving out contracts.
Even some of the genuine ones lack the capacity to compete in the sector. Apart form that, we usually operate with courier bikes; most of the states hiding under the security threats in the country and the nuisance of the okada riders, have placed ban on motorcycles. That tells on our business seriously.
For instance, in Lagos you have to meander through a lot of routes to deliver parcel. We have tried to discuss with the state government for them to appreciate the peculiarities of our business.
Multiple taxes are another challenge. We encounter harassments from Local Government officials. Thus, the weight of different taxes and levies we pay are forcing some companies out of business.
Although these officials are getting more enlightened in Lagos, but how about their counterparts in other parts of the country? And government has to look at the issue of inter-state taxes.
These things are hurting businesses. And FAAN has not been fare to us. Sometimes, they would want us to pay at every airport.
Also, the increased cost of petroleum products adds to the burdens. At the end of the day, the customers pay the costs.
Postal Service Commission Bill
I think members of the National Assembly need to understand the importance of this Bill to the nation.
If we have the bill come on stream, then we could be able to arrest the problems associated with employment, especially the unskilled young people.
The Bill will address the injustice done on the postal sector after the severance of the Post and telecommunications (P&T) by the government.
Because telecommunications is now under a commission; the growth as witnessed within the short period is so phenomenal and until we do the same thing for the post there will continue to be issues that affect the industry.
The Commission is very important in the sense that it will institute professionalism, and will position Nipost to occupy its rightful place.
In fact, more investors will be attracted to the sector and checkmate haphazard practices and irregularities.
For instance, in the telecom sector, no one can just rise up and do anything he wishes; is being manned by professional and the regulator is independent for now. The sector is not under all comers’ affairs arrangement.
So, if the postal aspect is messed up, the confidence will be eroded; there is no incentive.
People come to Nigeria because of the large market, however, we have to be independent to reap from such investment; the regulatory body should not remain under Nipost. If that is not done, we will go back to square one.
Bulkpost Centralization
We need to understand something; it was once decentralized and there were abuses.
So, when the new leadership came in they discovered the challenges and I think they meant well for the industry players.
Some of my colleagues might not want to believe the fact that centralizing it solved a lot of problem.
Under the previous arrangement, the internal problems that faced the management affected the process.
Decentralization would have been the best, but the present structure I think is part of monitoring procedure adopted in the system.
Even though they usually have more than they can bear, but it needs to increase the number of personnel.
And they could partner with courier companies who have enough spaces, and staff to carry out their sorting.
We have engaged the Postmasters General on this and we found out that they are trying to sanitize some areas of the business.
Capitalization
The fact is that, there are a lot of hypocrisies with the so called capitalization in the banking sector.
As a professional banker who spent more than 10 years in the industry, I can tell you that what they did then wasn’t the best.
The problem is not capitalization alone it has to do with the corporate governance, the ethics of the profession.
It is not enough getting a fresher, who probably left school yesterday and because he has ‘little change’ you make him the managing director of a bank.
There was a lot of deficiency with the manpower.
Bring deposit today, you are promoted; he takes the money from there and go to another bank and within two year he becomes a manager, they know how to attract funds but lack the necessary skills to utilize them.
More so, fixed assets are not capitalization in the real sense, but they calculate the buildings used by those banks as part of the process.
Coming to courier industry, we don’t need capitalization as it were; rather we need the industry to be categorized.
For instance Wema Bank is now saying I want to be regional, the same thing can be implemented in the courier industry.
And that is why we are clamouring for upgrading of CRD to a full Commission, so that they will have enough manpower to monitor such development.
Capitalization, actually gives room for those with the intellectual milieu to manage the sector, but we must be careful with that as well.
Bowill Errands’ Annual Lecture
The median edition started with the impact of the economic melt down on courier industry.
The second edition looked at the synergizing the sector and the last edition focused on the challenges and opportunities in fright business.
The reason was based on the fact that most operators channel their attention to capital market and on the impact of ICT.
This year the committee is trying to come up with a topic that will open the eyes of the industry players on the way forward. It has come to stay and a thing of pride for the industry.
Aviation Rows and courier Sector
It increases our cost of operation and when that happens, it is usually passed down to the customers.
They will start looking for other means to do their business.
And the charges here are not comparable to what is obtainable in developed countries and that is why when government took them up, there were fears.
But we must not fail to ponder on the charges of FAAN. What are the costs of aviation fuel in Nigeria?
So, no body can sincerely blame them.
How about the cost of hotels that there crews will stay? And you have to buy diesel, and other exorbitant exigencies.
They have to charge much.
So, government must consider these things to determine whether they are ripping off on Nigerians really or they were seeking for a means of survival in a harsh economic environment.
Nitel/Mtel
The lesson we must learn from the intrigues that surrounded the whole thing is sincerity which is important in governance.
How sincere were the people involved in the commercialization, privatization and the liquidation processes?
Until Obama put his feet on the ground and said no, the Republican were pushing for America to sell her biggest auto company, but now it is about the leading auto companies. They bailed it out.
The process was transparent. So, the case of Nigeria is that when there is no sincerity of purpose whatever project we embark on is bound to fail.
Bowill Errands
Bowill Errands is one of the best and well structured courier companies in Nigeria. From onset, it set out to function on the areas of haulage and logistics. We have been in operations for five years.
Although as the MD, I have been involved in courier sector for more than 12 years now. We are in our own building; I am not sure of any indigenous company operating its office in private property like this.
And we have been adding values to the sector since we started.
Bowill Errands has been organizing annual public lecture to highlight the challenges and opportunities in the sector; the very first indigenous courier firm to do that.
We have been doing that for the last three years and for the benefit of the industry.
Overview of Courier Industry
Courier business in Nigeria is supposed to be a vibrant one. It’s an industry capable of providing employment for lots of people; both skilled and unskilled labour.
It has a very wide market, but we have not been able to tap into it.
Presently, we have over two hundred companies in the country and we can still accommodate more, but people must be professional in their dealings.
Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has urged the Federal Government and the National Pension Commission (PenCom) to suspend the proposed increase in Nigeria’s mandatory pension contribution from 18 per cent to 21 per cent, warning that the policy would raise the cost of doing business, threaten jobs and undermine enterprise sustainability at a time of mounting economic pressures.
Dr. Chinyere Almona, director general of the LCCI, said while strengthening retirement security remains an important policy objective, increasing mandatory pension contributions by three percentage points would impose additional financial burdens on businesses already grappling with high borrowing costs, persistent inflation, foreign exchange volatility, rising energy prices and multiple taxes.
According to the chamber, the proposed increase comes at a period when many businesses, particularly micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), are struggling to remain profitable amid Nigeria’s challenging operating environment.
The LCCI noted that Nigeria’s existing mandatory pension contribution rate of 18 per cent comprising 10 per cent by employers and 8 per cent by employees is already broadly aligned with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average of 18.8 per cent.
It argued that raising the contribution to approximately 21 per cent would place Nigeria above several comparable economies, including the United Kingdom, where mandatory contributions stand at 8 per cent; the United States at 12.4 per cent; Kenya at 12 per cent, subject to earnings caps; and South Africa, where there is no equivalent mandatory private-sector pension contribution.
The chamber warned that implementing the proposed increase would significantly raise employment costs for employers, discourage new recruitment, constrain wage growth and place disproportionate pressure on MSMEs, which account for a substantial share of employment in Nigeria.
According to the LCCI, the higher payroll obligations could also reduce Nigeria’s competitiveness as an investment destination, encourage non-compliance with pension regulations and push more businesses into the informal sector.
“A stronger pension system cannot be built on weaker businesses,” the chamber stated, stressing that economic sustainability and business growth remain critical to expanding pension coverage over the long term.
The LCCI therefore called on the Federal Government to defer the proposal until a comprehensive Nigeria-specific actuarial and economic impact assessment is conducted to determine its implications for businesses, workers and the broader economy.
It also urged policymakers to engage in extensive consultations with organised private sector groups, labour unions and other key stakeholders before implementing any changes to the country’s pension contribution framework.
According to the chamber, the government’s immediate priority should be restoring business confidence, preserving existing jobs, encouraging investment and expanding the formal economy, which it described as the most sustainable pathway to improving retirement savings.
As an alternative to increasing contribution rates, the LCCI advised PenCom to focus on developing more innovative investment instruments capable of generating stronger returns on pension assets.
The chamber said improving investment performance would enhance contributors’ retirement savings without imposing additional financial obligations on employers and employees already facing difficult economic conditions.
Nigeria and the African Development Bank (AfDB), on Sunday, called for stronger African ownership of the continent’s vast mineral resources and advocated greater data sovereignty, regional collaboration and strategic financing to ensure Africa derives more economic value from its natural assets.
They spoke at the Ministerial Forum on Critical Minerals, Value Chain and Beneficiation: Pathways for African Transformation, organised by the African Development Bank in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
Speaking at the forum, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, urged countries to embrace data sovereignty, regional collaboration and strategic financing to ensure mineral wealth translates into sustainable economic growth across Africa.
Alake urged ministers from Africa’s mineral-producing nations to pursue greater regional cooperation rather than isolated national strategies, arguing that coordinated action would enable the continent to derive greater value from its abundant mineral resources.
Alake said Africa must move beyond exporting raw minerals and adopt practical measures to secure full control of its natural assets through value addition and local processing.
He said: “While the mantra of value addition has ushered in an era of economic independence for mineral-producing nations, we need concrete actionable strategies to take charge and be in full control of our natural assets to ensure total economic freedom.”
The minister, who chairs the Africa Mineral Strategy Group (AMSG), said Nigeria had continued to champion a common continental agenda on mineral development through collaboration with more than 30 member countries focused on promoting value addition.
He also advocated greater African control over mineral resource data, describing the continent’s long-standing dependence on the Australia-based Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC) reporting standard as outdated.
Alake added, “For the overall interest of the continent, and to efficiently and effectively safeguard its resources, Africa should take charge of the coding mechanisms utilised to assess its mineral assets.”
He urged African countries to adopt the Pan African Resource Reporting Code (PARC), developed by the Africa Minerals Development Centre (AMDC), saying the framework would promote transparency, consistency and ethical reporting while reflecting Africa’s unique geological and environmental realities.
Alake further proposed the establishment of a West African minerals processing hub and corridor stretching from Lagos to Dakar, modelled after the Lobito Corridor, to reduce infrastructure costs, encourage collaborative investment and enable participating countries to specialise in processing specific minerals.
According to him, the regional model would lower financial burdens on individual countries while promoting shared risks, increased trade and stronger value chains.
He also lamented the low level of intra-African trade, which he said stands at about 16 per cent, compared to roughly 60 per cent in Asia and 70 per cent in Europe.
In his remarks, AfDB President Dr. Sidi Ould Tah, described Africa’s mineral sector as a paradox, noting that despite the continent’s vast mineral endowment, it has yet to achieve corresponding gains in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or attract sufficient Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
Tah said Africa must overcome the disconnect between its enormous natural wealth and its limited global economic influence by strengthening financing mechanisms and developing integrated mineral value chains.
The forum concluded with the adoption of the Abidjan Declaration, which commits African countries to coordinate policies on critical minerals, regional infrastructure development, value-chain expansion and capital mobilisation.
Under the declaration, the African Development Bank pledged to deploy its financing instruments, technical expertise and capital mobilisation capacity to support mineral-producing countries, reduce investment risks, finance strategic infrastructure and accelerate the development of competitive and sustainable mineral value chains.
A statement by the Special Assistant on Media to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Lara Owoeye-Wise, said the declaration also urged African countries to strengthen national and regional capacities capable of attracting investment, financing viable projects and creating quality jobs through local value addition.
The forum brought together more than 20 ministers responsible for mining, energy, industry, natural resources and the green economy, alongside representatives of the African Development Bank, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), the U.S. Export-Import Bank and mining companies from Germany, Canada and the United States.
Participants reaffirmed that stronger African cooperation, regional processing infrastructure, strategic financing and greater control over mineral resources remain essential to transforming the continent’s mineral wealth into broad-based and sustainable economic development.
Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, governor, Anambra State, has approved an indefinite ban on graduation ceremonies in kindergarten, primary and secondary schools across the state as part of efforts to reduce the financial burden on parents.
Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, governor, Anambra State,
The directive was confirmed by Dr. Law Mefor, commissioner for Information and Value Reformation, in a statement issued on Friday.
According to the commissioner, the government deemed it necessary to clarify the policy following public inquiries and concerns over the scope of the ban.
Mefor explained that the directive applies to all graduation-related ceremonies in both public and private schools across the state.
He said the ban covers events described as graduation, passing-out, crossover or any other ceremony organised to mark the completion of kindergarten, primary or secondary school levels.
The government said the decision was taken to discourage unnecessary financial obligations often imposed on parents through elaborate school celebrations.
The commissioner clarified that students completing Senior Secondary School (SS3) are exempt from the directive.
However, he stressed that graduation ceremonies for SS3 students are not compulsory and may only be held without imposing any financial burden on students or their parents.
According to him, schools choosing to organise such ceremonies must ensure that no levies, compulsory contributions or hidden charges are demanded from parents.
Mefor warned that the state government would not hesitate to sanction any school that violates the directive.
He said schools found organising prohibited graduation ceremonies or imposing illegal charges on parents risk severe penalties, including possible closure.
The commissioner urged school proprietors and administrators to comply fully with the directive in the interest of parents and the education sector.
The state government said the policy is part of broader efforts to make education more affordable and eliminate unnecessary expenses associated with school activities.
Many parents have previously complained about the increasing costs of graduation ceremonies, including compulsory levies for gowns, entertainment, souvenirs and other related expenses.
The government expressed optimism that the directive would ease the financial pressure on families while encouraging schools to focus more on academic excellence than ceremonial activities.
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