PT: What are the significant challenges you have faced and conquered as a Nigerian fish farmer for over two decades now?
Okeleji: My experience in the aquaculture sector is as old as my existence because I was privileged to be born by an old veterinarian father so I grew up virtually on the farm with several animals including fish. The challenges came and appeared to be seemingly insurmountable then but God who gives insight, vision and direction gave solutions to these challenges. There are three major ones I faced personally but I have been able to conquer them. The challenges are the skill gap of workers, high cost of capital and unavailability of amenities such as sufficient water, electricity and these are the basic necessities for you to be successful in Aquaculture. It was difficult accessing soft credit facilities from financial institutions to aid expansion; I believed with money we could at least sort issues of water and electricity and expand our operations. Skill gap was
Paul Obi
“A pragmatist turns away…from abstraction and insufficiency, from verbal solutions and from bad a priori reasons; from fixed principles, closed systems, and pretended absolutes and origins. He turns towards concreteness and adequacy; towards facts, towards action and towards power.”
–––William James
To assess the viability of a democracy and its survival; start by measuring the number of political elites who oppose undemocratic policies. Then, x-ray the quality of debate within the civil space, specifically in times of a national crisis. Within that scope, it’s been a dicey situation for Nigeria. Since 2015, Nigeria’s continuous slide to monumental crisis has known no bound. Like a malicious orchestra, Nigeria’s prospects have turned 360° clockwise, from vibrancy to a national ailment. Deep at what ails Nigeria the most is the increasing spate of disunity, insecurity, hunger and clear abdication of leadership at the highest level – including the oval
Latest data from the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that a total of N9.28tn was spent on the importation of manufactured goods into the country between January and September 2020.
The NBS data released on Thursday, January 7, show that manufactured goods imported into the country rose significantly in the third quarter of last year as the manufacturing sector was hard hit by the COVID-19 disruptions, border closure and the scarcity of foreign exchange.
According to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Purchasing Managers’ Index Survey Report also released on Thursday, the manufacturing sector contracted in the six months to October amid the economic fallout of the pandemic, and although it snapped out of the stagnation in November, the sector shrank again in December.
As coronavirus rages, airport business owners lament losses
Months after the major airports in Nigeria started operations, industry stakeholders are still counting their losses as a result of the airports closure which lasted for four months. 4 min read
Due to travel restrictions and standstill in economic activities, the aviation industry has been one of the sectors most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the country began to struggle with the coronavirus pandemic, Nigeria
This led to the loss of daily bread to those whose livelihood revolved around the airport, from airport taxi drivers, booksellers, food sellers, to children that roamed about the parking lot helping passengers with their luggage.
Shares
There’s a new clause in Nigeria’s Finance Bill for 2021 that will drive down import duties on foreign vehicles from 35% to 5%. Divisive opinions from investors and industry players have met the proposed policy as it could potentially limit the demand for locally produced vehicles.
At the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) conference, Chidi Ajaere, CEO of GIG Group, parent of GIG Mobility and GIG Logistics voiced his concerns on how the policy affects investors who have put billions of naira into the local production of vehicles.
“We have invested all that money. What is going to happen to us (the investors in that vehicle assembly plant) now with the policy somersault? Will the federal government come to our aid with incentives for the monies already sunk into the investment?”