Unity Bank boss seeks collaborative effort against e-fraud Uoo ONYEXA he Managlnl Dlrector 01 Unity Bank PIc. AI· haJl Ado Yakubu Wanka has said for the nght against el~lc fraud to achieve the needed result banks. regula, tors and lnstltutlons with n!:sponslblllUes for fraud detection, control and Pro."JeCUtion should jointly and collabora· ttwly form • common front. Speaklna: at the Nlgerl.an Electronic fraud Forum (NeFF), rMetin.. yesterday tn Lagos. called on the Federal G<M!m ment to provide all necessary logistics on centralised nation·
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al Identity data base. whJch he noted would not only help In
fishing out e-frauds but bring banking closer to the unbanked segments d the population. Wanka u .ld the woe of Identity management Is key in the ca5hless project. addIng that Know Your CUstomen (KYC) is abo an intep-aJ part 0( klen Uty management "KYC a nd identity management are key component of cashless strateu n!:Uable identity marutgt!rMnt will allow and brinl you closer to your customers and be able to render prompt and lime.ly support on an ongoq buis." WhUe commendlna the efforts of the Federal Government In
the crtatlon of NaUonaJ lden tlty Management Commission (NIMC). which he said is an essenllal transformation tool to f06ter de\"elopment 0{ mobUe payment servl~ sector (MPSS), W anka , howewr said the Identity system is yet to record any slgnlfkant sucx::ess. He noted that havtnJ • cen tra.llsed database on Iden· tity would CU1alnly 10 • kKl& way towards ensurlnc the IJ\ICICeSS of not only eJectronk: payments SystmlS but also national securltJ .. It would enhance the security 01 the banklnl aystem and im· prove the country's Interna tlonal ralings", he said.
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ceDI mobllises local councils on disaster management
orried by the devastat lnK Oood! that NM! turned iaf'Je partS of Nigeria into disaster &reas, Commwtlty ConservaUon and [)@o\'elopment InItiatives (CCDI), In pannershJp with Helnrlch Boll Stlftung. has engaged local oowldls on "1..0cal Governments and DlYSter
W
Mana~t".
Acconllng to Envlronewa, the Idea is to prompt Joca1 govunm~ts o\w their obUptlon to form Local Ernerpncy Man-
........ Comml_ (LAMCo). .. dtreded by the National E~
Manqemeot Au-
thority (NEMA). and to ..plain
eaport Termlnal Opera· tors Association of NI lerta. umbreUa body ror all private terminal operators In Nllerla's ellht seaport5 hu said that the primary reason for the recent hike In n!:nt charges at the various terminals was 10 discourage the use of ml!rn bers' facUlties ror storage by Importers and their agenls. the freight forwarden. The private concessionaires numbering about 26 spread aU O\'er the seaports in Nlgertan had effected a 20 percent incrtase In rent charges. which took effect from October I. 2012. a deve.lopment most importen and fi"elght rorwarders vehemently oPposed, threaten In, to shut the ports If not n!:vened. Chairman or the associ. lion. Mrs. VIcky Hastroup. who spoke at a recent meetinl organised by the Nigerian Ports Authority to mo1vt the crl3i!l
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generated by the Increase, as· sured that the lerm1nal open tors "''Quld stop at nothlng In ensurinl effidency at the varl· ous termlnal5 In line with the government's objectives or the port concession. She ho\\'ever dblclosed that storace charges in NigerIa have become 10 low and so It becomes cheaper and more at traCtive for importers and thelr agents to store their imported consignments at the various terminals Instead of moving them to wareho~ which worsens the high dweU time or CArlO at the ports. Accordlng to her. the upward n!:vlew was hued on proven cases or abandonml!nt or con· slgnments at the ports ror unnecessarUy long pe:rtocb of time AOmetimes runninl into five weeks and then!:by making nonsense or government's re solve to cut down on the dweU time of containers to seven days and the attainment of 4'· hour tar'Jo clearan~
The STOAN boss. who doubles as eIecuU\'e vice chairman of ENL Consortium had insist, ed that low storage charges at the ports encourage the use of port facUlties as warehomes by importers and their alent5. "It was rat cheaper to store goocls at the port than It is In any warehouse In Nigeria so It has become necessary to reverse that trend because the ports are transit areas. The review or storage charges is not a money-making Idea but a cenulne attempt on our part to drive down cargo dwell lime at the port and ultimatl!ly reduce the cost of doing business al Nllerlan porU", she a ....ued further, One of the hllh polnts or the meetiRl was the settlnl up of a committee comprising represl!ntalives 0( National M · soc.1allon or Government Approved F'relght Forwarders. As soelaUon of NIBt'rian LIcen5ed CUstoms Agents and those of STOAN, among several others.
The engagement comH un der CCDls "MoblllslnR Local
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OOftrnmenls (or Cllma~ Mtion" prqlect and the threr
sovernments Involved. EtJ.Qsa,
LekkI and Va.,.. sent members their LEMCs to putkipate Lagos State Emergency Man· agement Alent)' (LAS&'MA) was represented by OIWJ8B\Ul Magnu..·Davies Magnus and Ganlyu W,",,'eo the Fire Brtpde was represented by George ~
Nwanorlm and the Red Cross by Ueoma N~~ Dr Olusegun Ojo. on wilen plannln& and dlsastm' risk reduction consultant and former Dtnctot cI ~Uef and RA!habllltaUon at N&MA, WIll • re9O\lr'Ce penon.
TInapa Resort to trigger Nigeria's ICT revolution ross Rtven Stale govSenator Urel hnoke, has expressed the detennlnatlon of the cur· rently admlnlstratlon in the state to 1M Tinapa Re!ort in Calabat. the state capital. to c\'OI\'c a new WIl\'t! of infor matlon and Communication
C
ernor.
'n!chnology(IC'I'}
20% port charge hike meant to cut high cargo dwell time
the roles and responslbUities ~ those committees.
OAYO AYEYDII
~\ltlon
in
thecounll'")( The govcrnormade the com mitm('nt while SjW3kin& At this year's thtft..day National Soft ware Conference and Coin peti· lion orpnLwd in the "tatE' by Ihe Institute of SoRware PracUUonen of Nigeria. ISPON. Spea.kjnc I'lt the conference with the theme: 'The Cloud and the future or Software Nigeria: lmake said hIs ad· ministration had teen an o~ portunlty to create an ewl\,· log ledmoloKY In ICT through software development A!5 part or Its effort 10 dri\"l!
<ruch revolution. the ~ dbdosed that the state had recenUy signed. Memorandum of Understandl", with Oando in order for Cross Rivtr State to hase ~suIar pov.-er supply 10 Trnapa to pewter aU ICT· related Initiatives being incu· bated at the centre. A~
W hlm.
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wUl be a)J'OUlld break1na (:er. pmooy next y,;cell by Co\'manl Untverslty, whkh 15 located 0pposite Tlnapa- noting this and other ~Uar inlUatl..... ftn! all geared towards further encour.tging massive Investment in the state. "We see Otis partnership bet~;een NlgtrLa's prtvate and public sector as opportunj~ which has helped to boost 1M development of ICT In Croa Rtw.r. And ...'" hr... tried to &ra5P that opportunit)t Our vtslon is for CR to become the hub eX lcr." be Rid.
Agric MlnistJyto Import 173,000 tonnes of fertiliser MESHACK IOEHEH
Acoordlnl to the minister; al· though 610.000 tonnes 01 rmil· *,t are expected by I>ecember.
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reconbaresbowlna: 1Mt Ifn,540
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he Federal Go\'emml!f1l. ha~ said it will import 173.000 tonne of rertilb er 10 boost agricultural production In Ih~comlngyear, and that Nigerians and rarmel'S in particular mould not be .."nied about any rood shortages follow in8 the aftermath 0( the Dood· tng that has ravased many food produelng part.! of the country. The MlnJster 0( AgrIculture and Rural Developmfnt Or Akinwuntl Adeslna In a statement made avalla.bJe to National Mi.rTor on Tuesday by his Special Asslstant to on Media.Or. Olukayude Oyeleye. sald further that the Importation of the fer tlnser by the government would add up to the 260.£0) tonn~ to be produced locally by December
tonnes are already avaUable, cotng by f~en from thoae that ha\'e responded to inquiries on availability of product. He 6Plalned that the mlnlstry wrote to about 12 rmtllser companies and six of those that performed poslUvtIy hr.", amt their .stock position to the mtn· LStry on what they can produce bet..-een now and December this Jftt; addlni: also thai tfforu are alreadJ being made to J.m. port 173,(0) tonne5 and produce 200,000 tonnes locally by Decem bor The minister explained that tbe ministry has started "18sttrack measures" to I.ncree.se I'ood production lhrvu&h dry aeason planting before the md