General
Keep Your Business Safe This Holiday Season: 3 Security Tips
As the holiday season approaches, security becomes even more essential. The increase in customers leads to more eye-catching spaces and open doors, which leads to increased possibilities of theft and fraud. The crowds and spending add to the chances of occurrence of similar threats to your enterprise. Problems such as slip and fall, loss of important assets, or damage to the property can become common if vigilance is not maintained. To plug these loopholes, it is very important to be vigilant and to implement the right steps. A well-prepared business can save its assets and maximize performance during the festive season. This article will discuss the measures to take for improved security of your business.
Tip #1: Strengthening Your Physical Security
The first step towards business safety during holidays is to ensure that your physical security is the best it can be. Make sure that all your doors and windows are in good condition and have no soft spots. Checking the locks and changing them if they are worn out is a smart move, and one that should be done at the onset of the festive season. In addition, you should improve outdoor lighting, as brightly lit area makes your space less attractive to thieves and vandalism. Do not leave any valuable items in sight since this can raise their risk of theft. Make certain that your back entrances are safe. The last thing you want is to be ambushed from an unseen direction. Train your workers to properly shut and secure the premises at the beginning and the end of business hours. Small physical changes can prevent large-scale problems.
Tip #2: Using Smart Technology for Better Protection
Modern technology has transformed business security, making it more efficient and dependable than ever before. The employment of surveillance cameras in strategic locations on your premises gives you a clear view of all your high-traffic areas at all times. These small investments in security go a long way towards giving you the peace of mind that your property is being looked after 24/7. Alarm systems add an additional layer of protection, sending clear alarms in case of unknown movements during the hours your business is closed. Partnering with a managed IT services provider can further strengthen these systems by ensuring they are properly integrated, monitored, and regularly updated against emerging threats. If you want a customized choice, consider commercial security systems as these can meet the wide-ranging needs of your enterprise, whether small or large. The ability to monitor your systems or access video footage from your mobile is of great help in responding to incidents more effectively. What is most important, you should select tools that are appropriate to the size of your business and fit its operational structure.
Tip #3: Creating a Safety-Minded Team
Whenever safety has to do with business, a single individual cannot do the job. You need to develop an environment in which all your employees feel and act as a part of the security team. It starts with providing training, which will help your staff identify unusual behavior, and how to act in emergency situations. A good environment is to encourage them to highlight their concerns, so they know that their vigilance is appreciated. Other less complicated steps such as adhering to a disciplined attitude towards opening and closing, secure storage of personal items, and cash will actually make or break security. Thinking in advance and foreseeing possible issues will go a long way to maintaining smooth running of the operations and keeping everybody safe. Both you and your team will be safe during the holidays if you have a regular safety culture.
Conclusion
To ensure the safety of a business during the holiday season means acting before any trouble arises. Gratifying the blend of simple safety habits, good physical security, and a mobile alert system will enable you to protect your business one step at a time. This approach to safety will not only protect your employees and customers but also secure your products or services. By observing these simple yet effective regulations and pulsating safety culture, you will end the season with your security in mind and your business intact. Remember that being vigilant, capable of adapting to new technology, and training your people will become what your holiday success depends on. Do not take any chances, and begin planning today.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill has extended the deadline for the submission of memoranda and position papers on the proposed legislation to Friday, August 21, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. West Africa Time.
In a statement signed by the Chief of Staff to the President and Chairman of the Presidential Working Group, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, the group said the extension was intended to ensure that interested individuals, institutions and organisations have adequate opportunity to make substantive contributions to the proposed legislation.
“The Presidential Working Group is committed to ensuring that the process of developing the National Policing Bill benefits from broad consultation and the informed perspectives of Nigerians and relevant stakeholders,” the statement read.
The proposed legislation is intended to provide the operational, administrative, institutional and funding framework necessary for an effective policing architecture that responds to Nigeria’s evolving security needs, while providing appropriate safeguards for accountability, professionalism and the protection of citizens’ rights.
“Given the significance of the proposed reform to the future of policing and internal security in Nigeria, the Working Group considers it important that stakeholders are afforded more opportunity to make substantive and technically sound contributions to the process,” the statement said.
The former lawmaker said legal practitioners, civil society organisations, security sector professionals, state governments, professional bodies, academics, experts and interested members of the public are encouraged to take advantage of the extended window to submit their memoranda and position papers, exclusively through the official National Policing Bill portal, nationalpolicingbill.com, on or before the new deadline.
According to him, developing an effective policing framework required careful consideration of a number of critical issues, including sustainable funding, command and control structures, recruitment and training standards, operational jurisdiction, inter-agency coordination, accountability mechanisms and safeguards against political interference or abuse.
“These considerations underscore the importance of robust stakeholder engagement in developing a framework that is effective, accountable, sustainable and responsive to the peculiar security needs of communities across the federation,” he added.
He noted that at the conclusion of its assignment, the Presidential Working Group will present a final, implementation-ready draft of the National Policing Bill for onward legislative processing.
The Presidential Working Group appreciated stakeholders who had already made submissions and encouraged others intending to participate in the process to take advantage of the extension.
The National Policing Bill portal went live on August 3, 2026, when Gbajabiamila first announced the public consultation window during a press briefing on the reform, at the time indicating that submissions would close after roughly two weeks.
The Working Group is expected to present the completed Executive Bill package to President Bola Tinubu for review on September 3, 2026.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says the prevailing insecurity in parts of the country is negatively affecting its operations and revenue generation.
The Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs and Zonal Coordinator, Zone B, Mrs Nsikak Umoh, disclosed this in Minna while inspecting the Niger/Kogi Area Command Headquarters and engaging with vehicle importers on the operational challenges confronting the command.
Mrs Umoh said insecurity was not peculiar to the Niger/Kogi Area Command, but affected several Customs formations across the North-West, including Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina and Zamfara states.
“The security challenge is not peculiar to only Niger/Kogi Area Command. The whole of North-West comprising Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina and Zamfara States, which are all under my command, are facing the same security challenge,” she said.
According to her, the security situation had exposed customs personnel to increasing threats, with some officers killed or injured in the course of performing their duties, adding that the development had forced some commands to scale down their operations or adopt more cautious approaches, thereby affecting revenue collection.
Mrs Umoh explained that the service was encouraging its officers to adopt intelligence-led operations to minimise risks while ensuring that legitimate Customs duties continued.
“But we are trying our best to encourage them to use an intelligence-based operating system to do their job, and that is why in most of the commands, we have a reduction in revenue collections,” she added.
The ACG also expressed concern over the impact of insecurity on the physical and psychological wellbeing of Customs personnel, noting that some officers had developed health complications, including hypertension, due to fear and stress associated with their duties.
Despite the security challenges, Umoh said the Niger/Kogi Area Command had continued to perform strongly in revenue generation, disclosing that the command had surpassed its monthly revenue target of N17 million, generating more than N200 million as of August 12.
She commended the officers and stakeholders in the command for sustaining revenue collection despite the difficult operating environment.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has recovered more than N115 billion in statutory levies owed to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) by defaulting oil companies between 2021 and 2023.
The recovery comprises N76.883 billion and $81.076 million, according to an EFCC representative, Mr Francis Oka-Phillips Usani, who disclosed the figures before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts on Wednesday.
Mr Usani spoke while the committee was investigating the 2021–2023 Oil and Gas Sector Audit Report of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
He said the EFCC investigated 43 oil companies over outstanding three per cent statutory levies payable to the NDDC.
According to him, 24 of the companies operating in the Niger Delta were found to have outstanding liabilities of N76,883,705,907.17 and $81,076,655, while the remaining 19 companies were cleared of any outstanding liability.
“At the commencement of the investigation, EFCC invited 43 oil companies, out of which 24 operating within the Niger Delta were found to have outstanding liabilities in the sums of N76,883,705,907.17 and $81,076,655.00, while the remaining 19 other oil companies were given a clean bill of health,” Mr Usani said.
The agent explained that following the investigation and pressure mounted by the commission, some of the affected companies paid their outstanding liabilities directly to the NDDC.
He said the direct payments amounted to N6.709 billion and $16.994 million.
Mr Usani further disclosed that of the funds recovered by the EFCC on behalf of the NDDC, N73.373 billion and $67.070 million had so far been released to the commission, noting that the balance of N3.510 billion and $14.005 million remained in the EFCC’s recovery account.
He, however, stated that the commission was also mindful of other possible outstanding statutory obligations and taxes payable to the federal government.
