Economy
Lagos Safe for Investments, Business Owners–Commissioner
By Dipo Olowookere
Commissioner for Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Relations in Lagos State, Mr Seye Oladejo, has assured business owners in the metropolis that their investments were in safe hands.
Mr Oladejo gave this assurance during the simulation exercise carried out by officials of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) alongside other emergency stakeholders code named ‘Operation Oko Jasosa’ at the early hours of Sunday, April 29, 2018, as a way of reassuring investors and entire residents of Lagos of the preparedness of the State emergency responders to swiftly respond to emergency situations in a very coordinated manner.
The Commissioner, who spoke through the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr Jemilade Longe, disclosed that the exercise shows the capability of the various emergency responders in the state and should further convince Lagosians beyond mere promises that Lagos state government places high premium on protection of life and property.
He added that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, since inception of his tenure three years ago, made a commitment to deploy a sizable chunk of the resource of the state towards protecting Lagosians as well as foreigners residing in the state.
“Disasters and accidents are thing that you cannot predict but for our investors, what the state government is saying is that if for whatever reason there is an accident, they should be rest assured that we have skilled officials, the needed synergy and equipment to combat surmount such situations. The implication of this is that our people can now go to sleep without any fear because there is a government that cares for them,” the Commissioner stated.
Giving an overview of the operation, General Manager of LASEMA, Mr Tiamiyu Adeshina, explained that the main rationale behinde the entire simulation process was the display of synergy that exists among all those involved in attending to emergency situations.
He added that exercise was intended to sharpen synergy, foster collaboration, improve the level of preparedness and increase the response capability of relevant stakeholders in the management of multiple casualty incident especially along the 3rd Mainland Bridge known do such multiple accident cases.
“There is nothing to panic about, this simulation exercise is delibrately planned to prepare our men, that is all emergency responders for a situation like this.
“After this exercise now, LASEMA and other stakeholders involved in this simulation process will go back to the drawing board to reappraise our performances, evaluate the entire rescue operation and design a better way to handle this type of scenario whenever it happens.
“It is part of the proactive measures we decided to carry out so that we won’t start learning how to combat real accident scenes when very precious lives would be involved,” the General Manager averred.
He described the entire synergy among the responders as perfect, saying that the equipment and professional skills of the rescuers have been put to test and can successfully handle real-life situations similar to the simulated accident scene.
He reassured Lagosians that wherever they are and at whatever time of the day, LASEMA with the support of other relevant stakeholders will do all within their power to make sure that they are safe.
Mr Tiamiyu disclosed that the simulation exercise that was concluded within an hour on the 3rd Mainland Bridge was a result of meticulous paper work, planning and several round table meetings that lasted for over 4 months.
The General Manager urged residents of the state to always remember the free-toll emergency line of 767 and 112.
He said, “Dont leave anything to chance, take advantage of this free lines and activate the call immediately an emergency is perceived so that swift assistance can come and the degree of injuries or casualities will be very minimal.”
He said that throughout the period of the rescue operation there was adequate traffic traffic control on the bridge, live update on television stations where motorists and Lagosians at large were advised not to panic.
The nickname given to the rescue operation ‘Oko Jasosa’ derived its name from the vehicle that plunged into the Lagos lagoon from the simulated accident that involved a luxurious bus and five other vehicles.
The exercise involves men of the LASEMA Response Unit (LRU), Lagos State Fire Service, Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS) State Environmental Health and Monitoring Unit (SEHMU ), Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Lagos State Neighborhood Safety Corps, Lagos State Waterway Authority (LASWA), Rapid Response Squard (RRS), Marine Police National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Nigerian Security & Civil Defence Corp and Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).
By Adedapo Adesanya
Food Concepts Plc neutralized the gains recorded by three securities, returning the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange into the negative territory with a 0.27 per cent loss on Thursday, December 4.
Yesterday, the share price of the parent company of Chicken Republic and PieXpress declined by 34 Kobo to sell at N3.15 per unit compared with the previous day’s N3.49 per unit.
This shrank the market capitalisation of the OTC bourse by N5.72 billion to N2.136 billion from N2.142 trillion and weakened the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 9.57 points to 3,571.53 points from 3,581.10 points.
Business Post reports that Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by 50 Kobo to N38.50 per share from N38.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained 29 Kobo to sell at N55.79 per unit versus N55.50 per unit, and Geo-Fluids Plc added 5 Kobo to close at N4.60 per share compared with Wednesday’s closing price of N4.55 per share.
Trading data indicated that the volume of securities recorded at the session surged by 6,885.3 per cent to 4.3 million units from the 61,570 units posted a day earlier, the value of securities increased by 10,301.7 per cent to N947.2 million from N3.3 million, and the number of deals went up by 146.7 per cent to 37 deals from the 15 deals achieved in the previous trading session.
At the close of business, Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 5.8 billion units for N16.4 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 170.4 million units worth N8.0 billion, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.5 million units valued at N4.2 billion.
InfraCredit Plc also finished the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units transacted for N16.4 billion, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.2 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units traded for N524.9 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The upward trend witnessed at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited in recent sessions continued on Thursday as it further improved by 0.10 per cent.
This was despite investor sentiment turning bearish after the local equity market ended with 23 price gainers and 28 price gainers, indicating a negative market breadth index.
UAC Nigeria gained 10.00 per cent to finish at N88.00, Morison Industries appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N3.54, Ecobank rose by 8.53 per cent to N36.90, and Coronation Insurance grew by 8.47 per cent to N2.56.
On the flip side, Ellah Lakes depreciated by 10.00 per cent to N13.14, Eunisell Nigeria also shed 10.00 per cent to finish at N72.90, Transcorp Hotels slipped by 9.95 per cent to N157.50, Omatek shrank by 9.23 per cent to N1.18, and Guinea Insurance dipped by 8.46 per cent to N1.19.
Yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 152.28 points to 145,476.15 points from 145,323.87 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N97 billion to finish at N92.726 trillion compared with the previous day’s N92.629 trillion.
Customs Street was bubbling with activities on Thursday, though the trading volume and value slightly went down, according to data.
A total of 1.9 billion stocks worth N19.2 billion exchanged hands in 23,369 deals during the session versus the N2.3 billion valued at N21.0 billion traded in 21,513 deals a day earlier.
This showed that the number of deals increased by 8.63 per cent, the volume of transactions depleted by 17.39 per cent, and the value of trades decreased by 8.57 per cent.
For another trading day, eTranzact led the activity chart with 1.6 billion units sold for N6.4 billion, Fidelity Bank traded 31.0 million units worth N589.3 million, GTCO exchanged 28.3 million units valued at N2.5 billion, Zenith Bank transacted 27.1 million units for N1.6 billion, and Ecobank traded 21.9 million units worth N744.3 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira marginally depreciated against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday, December 4 amid renewed forex pressure associated with December.
At the official market yesterday, the Nigerian currency lost 0.01 per cent or 18 Kobo against the Dollar to close at N1,447.83/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,447.65/$1.
It was not a different scenario with the local currency in the same market segment against the Pound Sterling as it further shed N15.43 to sell for N1,930.97/£1 versus Wednesday’s closing price of N1,925.08/£1 and declined against the Euro by 20 Kobo to finish at N1,688.74/€1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,688.54/€1.
Similarly, the Nigerian Naira lost N5 against the greenback in the black market to quote at N1,465/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,460/$1 but closed flat against the Dollar at the GTBank FX counter at N1,453/$1.
Fluctuations in trading range is expected to continue during the festive season as traders expect the Nigerian currency to be stable, supported by intervention s by to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)in the face of steady dollar demand.
Support is also expected in coming weeks as seasonal activities, particularly the stylised “Detty December” festivities, will see inflows that will give the Naira a boost after it depreciated mildly last month, according to a new report.
“As the festive Detty December season intensifies, inbound travel, tourism spending, and diaspora inflows are expected to provide moderate support for FX liquidity,” analysts at the research unit of FMDA said in its latest monthly report for November.
Traders cited by Reuters expect that the Naira will trade within a band of N1,443-N1,450 next week, buoyed by improved FX interventions by the apex bank.
Meanwhile, the crypto market was down as the US Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, core PCE, likely rose in September—moving in the wrong direction. However, volatility indices show no signs of major turbulence.
If the actual figure matches estimates, it would mark 55 straight months of inflation above the US central bank’s 2 per cent target. The sticky inflation would strengthen the hawkish policymakers, who are in favour of slower rate cuts.
Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 4.5 per cent to $2.08, Solana (SOL) went down by 3.8 per cent to $138.11, Litecoin (LTC) shrank by 3.1 per cent to $83.23, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 2.5 per cent to $0.1463, Cardano (ADA) declined by 2.1 per cent to $0.4368, Bitcoin (BTC) fell by 0.9 per cent to $91,975.45, Binance Coin (BNB) crumbled by 0.9 per cent to $899.41, and Ethereum (ETH) dropped by 0.7 per cent to $3,156.44, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 apiece.
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