NEWS
Tinubu woos investment at Nigeria-U. S. business roundtable
President Bola Tinubu has assured prospective investors of his administration’s determination to adopt necessary fiscal and regulatory measures toward the ease of doing business in Nigeria.
At the Nigeria-U.S. Executive Business Roundtable, the President said he recognised that investment capital is cowardly in nature.
He said that was the reason behind his bringing successful Nigerian industrialists and public officials to share their experiences and operational plans, respectively.
Tinubu said this was in addition to all he had done to boost the confidence of the global investment community in Nigeria, by reforming the fiscal, monetary, regulatory and tax policy environment.
“Nigeria is an opportunity that is impossible to replicate or find elsewhere in any part of the world. We have brilliant young people who both innovate and consume at a large scale.
‘’Our entrepreneurial spirit is a major part of what makes our market totally unique, aside from demography.
‘’Nigerians build businesses and Nigerian businesses partner with other businesses to conduct larger business.
‘’There is enough value to spread around. Be careful of what you hear about Nigeria. You may be dissuaded out of a major opportunity that others will take up.
‘’We are here for you. We will give you all the support you need to succeed and succeed abundantly,” the President said.
On behalf of the U.S. Government, U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, told U.S. business leaders he came back from Nigeria on an official visit that later became a fact-finding mission.
“In Lagos, I saw, first-hand, some of the major reforms you implemented as the Governor of Lagos and the transformative effect on Nigeria’s commercial capital.
‘’People have attested to the fact that the reforms you have put in place as President are quickly enhancing confidence.
‘’American business is paying attention to that and from what we have seen for ourselves, Nigeria is proving to be a new frontier for investment.
‘’We will encourage our companies from our end as those reforms continue to deepen,” Adeyemo said.
The American Business Council President, Mr Sops Ideriah, said that the extensive turnouts at the roundtable by American business chief executives was impressive.
According to him, the turnouts served as a testament to the degree to which confidence is rising in response to the actions and words of the President.
He said that this was with respect to ease of doing business, investment promotion, and his willingness to intervene to clear the historical concerns of American business people about doing business in Nigeria.
“Having all the stakeholders in the room, His Excellency, the President of Nigeria being here, from government actors at the federal and state level to ministers and tax authorities present, as well as private sector industrialists in Nigeria.
‘’We are very positive about the potential of Nigeria and we are just reinforcing to our colleagues the message about the economic opportunities that exist there,” Ideriah said.
Acting Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr Zacch Adedeji, assured the American captains of industry that the nation’s apex tax authority would not focus on taxing the seed.
He said it would focus only on the proportionate taxation of the fruit of fully formed industry, through efficient policy synergy with Nigeria’s sub-national authorities.
“The President is a business enabler, not a handicapper. Everything we do will be geared toward making your tax assessment and payment processes as digitally efficient and transparent as possible.
‘’We are not after the seed, but the fruit and we will keep to this commitment,” Adedeji said.
The Jigawa State Emergency Management Agency (JISEMA) has distributed relief materials to the affected families of Majia tanker explosion, which occurred in Taura local government area of the state.
The items distributed by the agency on Saturday in Majia town include 25kg bags of rice, 25kg bags of millet, cartons of spaghetti, Maggi cube, seasoning, detergents, soap, semolina, gallons of vegetable oil and 110 rubber mats.
Dr Mairiga Haruna Mairiga, Executive Secretary of the agency, said the materials were donated by the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, the National Emergency Management Agency, and JISEMA.
Mairiga said this after the distribution, that the items were distributed to the families of the 210 people affected by the tanker explosion.
Some of the beneficiaries who received the items, commended the Federal and State governments as well as wealthy individuals who assisted them since the incidence in October.
Mr Muhammad Habibu, father to a deceased victim, said the relief materials would assist them at a time that they lost a helper.
Another beneficiary, Mr Auwal Abdullahi, whose son is on admission at Rashid Shekoni hospital in Dutse, said the materials would reduce the hardship encountered due to the incident.
They commended JISEMA for coming to their aid and prayed to God to continue guiding the state Governor Umar Namadi, towards the right direction.(NAN)
The Veritas University, Abuja, on Saturday, graduated a total of 795 students in various disciplines from six facilities during its 13th Convocation ceremony
Report says that 716 of the graduands bagged first degrees while 79 graduated from the post graduate school.
56 if the first degree graduands came out with first class honours, 329 with second class upper division, 291 with second class lower division and 40 with third class.
The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof.
Hyacinth Ichoku, said that the impact of the institution had reflected in its standard of education.Ichoku said the students had recorded outstanding breakthroughs by winning awards for the school and country both at the national and international levels.
”Our students have continued to shine in the last years. The Software Engineering Department of the institution won the African Global Engineering Competition.
”We have also won the Commonwealth debating championship as well as an AI competition involving 150 university,” he said.
He added that the institution had inaugurated its endowment fund with the aim to generate funds to address the infrastructural need of the university.
He also said that the institution had just completed the construction of two separate hostels, each to accommodate 500 students, while also expanding its digital hub that would facilitate international teaching and learning.
He said pledged that the institution was planning the construction of its faculty of engineering and innovation.
In a goodwill message, the Acting Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), Chris Maiyaki, lauded the institution its achievements.
Maiyaki said that the milestone resulted from years of hardwork, resilience and commitment in inculcating academics and moral values for the educational advancement of the country.
The institution’s Pro-chancellor and Chairman of Governing Council, Dr Matthew Kukah, said that the country was at the crossroads as a result of numerous challenges the country is faced with.
Kukah said that with the emergence of a new terrorist group, there was need for the country to brace up to this challenge to avert future problems.
He charged the graduating students to deliver on the confidence reposed in them to help the country find a lasting solutions to some of the challenges.
Highlight of the event included award of prizes to the outstanding students in their various departments and faculties.
Prominent Nigerians also bagged the institution’s honorary doctorate degree award.
The honorees were the Asagba of Asaba Kingdom, Prof. Epiphany Azinge, and the Executive Secretary, Sahara Power Group, Kolawole Adesina.
Others are Archbishop Emeritus of Ibadan Archdiocese, Most Rev. Alaba Job and Archbishop Emeritus of Owerri Archdiocese, Most Rev. Anthony Obinna.(NAN)
The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, has hailed the outcome of investigation on the allegation of forced abortion leveled against the Nigerian military by the International Committee of the Red Cross ( ICRC) and Reuters.
Musa made this known in a statement by the Director Defence Information, Brig.
-Gen. Tukur Gusau, on Saturday in Abuja.Musa commended the Special Independent Investigative Panel on Human Rights Violations in Counter Insurgency in the North East for exonerating the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) from indictments regarding allegations on forceful abortions and other infractions in the sub-region.
He recalled that the report of the panel specifically stated that the allegations of systematic abortions, torture, rape and extra juducial killings levelled against the military were false.
The CDS commended the 7- man panel led by retired Justice Abdu Aboki for painstakingly carrying out a thorough job since its inauguration in March 2023 by the Nigerian Human Rights Commission.
He reaffirms the commitment of the armed forces to the defence of human rights and resolve to ensure that peace reigns in the country.
According to him, no amount of false accusations will distract the armed forces from exercising its constitutional mandate of protecting the territorial integrity of the nation. (NAN)
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