New firm takes over Peugeot in Nigeria

Nigeria has formally handed over a 54.87 stake it held with France in Peugeot Automobile of Nigeria (PAN) to the firm's new core investor, under a privatisation programme, an official said. . Nigeria divested 24.87 percent of its equity in the ailing PAN while the French government also conceded to shed 30 percent interest in the company, which was turned over to ASD Motors Nigeria. . Officials of the state-run Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), the nation's privatisation agency, carried out the handover Thursday in the northern city of Kaduna, BPE spokesman Joe Anichebe, who witnessed the ceremony, told AFP. . The BPE concluded the privatisation of PAN last October when ASD Motors Nigeria emerged as the core investor after a financial bid with an offer of 31.2 million dollars (24.1 million euros). . PAN, established in Nigeria in October 1969, was incorporated in December 1972 as a limited liability company. . PAN's assembly plant, located in Kaduna, was officially inaugurated in March 1975 by the then military head of state, General Yakubu Gowon. Nigeria's harsh economic climate, coupled with stiff competition from other international auto manufacturers, made the fortunes of PAN nosedive in the past years. � AFP Nigeria has formally handed over a 54.87 stake it held with France in Peugeot Automobile of Nigeria (PAN) to the firm's new core investor, under a privatisation programme, an official said. . Nigeria divested 24.87 percent of its equity in the ailing PAN while the French government also conceded to shed 30 percent interest in the company, which was turned over to ASD Motors Nigeria. . Officials of the state-run Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), the nation's privatisation agency, carried out the handover Thursday in the northern city of Kaduna, BPE spokesman Joe Anichebe, who witnessed the ceremony, told AFP. . The BPE concluded the privatisation of PAN last October when ASD Motors Nigeria emerged as the core investor after a financial bid with an offer of 31.2 million dollars (24.1 million euros). . PAN, established in Nigeria in October 1969, was incorporated in December 1972 as a limited liability company. . PAN's assembly plant, located in Kaduna, was officially inaugurated in March 1975 by the then military head of state, General Yakubu Gowon. . Nigeria's harsh economic climate, coupled with stiff competition from other international auto manufacturers, made the fortunes of PAN nosedive in the past years. � AFP

---

New Telegragh to break grounds on CNN

By Abdulmumini Adeku.

New Telegraph Newspapers owned by Daily Telegraph Press Limited which is linked to Former Governor of Abia State,Chief Orji Uzor Kalu will soon embark on a ground breaking campaign on CNN for the next six months.

In an exclusive investigation by Paedia Express Multimedia in the company’s newly opened office  in Lagos, Nigeria it was discovered that  the company’s management which is headed by tested hands in the industry were leaving no stone unturned in making sure that they take over the market leadership from The Punch Newspapers in the conventional general interest newspaper market.

This reporter saw first had a clear demonstration of the new brand’s ambition as a marathon meeting of about 12 hours took place in the corporate head office as they kept fine tuning how to take the market by storm.

Former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu of Abia  state is also the publisher of the wave making king of the Nigerian tabloid ,The Sun Newspapers which at the moment is ranked number four in terms of volume of sales  and circulation in the Nigerian newspaper market.

Champion Newspapers may be sued by workers

By Abdulmumini Adeku.

Champion Newspapers owned by Multi billionaire business mogul,Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu is at the moment under lock and key due to debt of over  27 months in a row.

An impeccable source told Paedia Express Multimedia in Lagos,Nigeria that as at the time of going to press the company’s workers were making final arrangement to use their local union to file a case on there behalf with the National Industrial court through the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity.

The source revealed that the management which is headed by the proprietors daughter  seems to have lost every ideas to revive the brand that  was once the leader of the eastern market and wondered why the chairman of the company ,Chief Iwuanyanwu refused to sell  to multi billionaire publisher, Orji Uzor Kalu when the latter wanted to by stakes in the brand to the tune of N3Billion recently.

The Publisher of the Source Magazine,Dame Comfort Obi was also said to have been interested in buying the brand over but decided to pull the plug in the deal at the eleventh hour.

Pirates invade The Guardian Newspapers in Lagos

 

Mr Debo Adeshina,Editor  in chief,The Guardian Newspapers is the leader of pirates in the global media

By Abdulmumini Adeku.

 Whenever a printing production takes place the normal thing is for  the bad copies in the press hall will be separated from the good copies and then the former is destroyed to maintain a good stream in terms of quality control but this is not the same at Guardain Press Limited owners of The Guardian Newspapers,Lagos.

In an exclusive investigation by Paedia Express Multimedia in Lagos,Nigeria it was discovered that sometimes in 2012 a mole had discovered that questions were raised by the management of News Ark Communications  Limited over a marketing mix campaign which did not go according to script due to the bad quality control systems of The Guardian tissue paper.

It was scooped by Paedia Express Multimedia that pirate normally hide behind the fence of the company in connivance with there cronies within the company to collect the bad copies before the day breaks and what should have been destroyed as bad copies will now be pushed to the unsuspecting market as good product.

The source explained that  the management of News Ark Communications were so displeased about a bad edition that the company produced for one of its clients that they had to do a thorough investigation and this was what led to the startling discovery.

The source affirmed that the bad copies will normally have flooded the market before the good copies and the profit made usually goes into personal pocket rather than the company’s purse.

The source pointed out that if a successful organization  does not treat its workers well then ultimately they will short change the company they work for.

As far back as 2004 The immediate professional future of the Editor of The Guardian Newspapers, Mr Debo  Adeshina  has been  shrouded in a lot of uncertainty.
As at press time, he has been confirmed as the Editor-in-chief of the brand by the  board of the company
Informed moles inside The Guardian Newspapers said exclusively that there were moves to show him the door by the management which is now headed by a Chief Operating officer  which represents the interests of the deceased publisher ,Mr Alex Ibru.
A mole explained that there   have been barrage of petitions leveled against Mr Adeshina even from within the organization due to several years of accumulated gross professional misconduct.
He recalled that one of the weekend editors was placed in an acting capacity for eight years due to Mr Adeshina ‘ s evil machinations.
He went down memory lane to recall how Mr Adeshina at the height of his glory slapped Mr Moses Jolayemi , now the Chief Executive officer of Newswatch magazine over an editorial matter but quickly added that the latter replied him instantly.
According to the mole , there was an air of mistrust among the senior editors of the newspaper as they jostled for who to take over from Mr Adeshina .
He pointed out that the new management had redeployed Mr Adeshina to Head the Abuja Bureau of the newspaper ,once affectionately dubbed “The flagship of the Nigerian print media industry”
He revealed that the bureau Head of the newspaper in Abuja,Mr Martins Oloja was posted to the head office as Acting Editor preparatory to full installation as substantive editor.
In his opinion, though a soft landing seems to have been given by the company’s management to save Mr Adeshina’s face,he however doubts whether he will want to bite the dust so easily without a fight.
He lamented that the one month long 2008 labor crisis which led to well over 2,000 workers been booted out of the company prompting a case being filed at the Industrial Court  was reducing productivity.
His words:”an employer can sack his staff ,there is really nothing the government or anybody can do to compel him to behave otherwise”
Once upon a time ,on January,22nd ,Mr Debo Adeshina under a demonic  influence conspired in The Guardian Newspaper newsroom to forge a reporters report which was meant to be published on the moneyline pages of the business pages of The Guardian Newspapers.
He had sacked Mr Dipo Okubanjo and Mr Peter Demeyin on the same day all in an attempt to deal with his object of hate on the business desk whom he also  fired.
Every noble effort put forward by the duo of the then Editorial Consultant  ,Dr Jide Oluwajuyitan and the Editorial Board Chairman,Dr Reuben Abati to sort out the crisis was rebuffed by Mr Adeshina for reasons best known to him despite evidence to show that he was witch haunting the hapless reporter.
Due to the forgery scam , some bankers lost their jobs in the Northern part of the country as they reacted to the report  written about them on impulse  despite not reading the entire body of the reportage.
 checks revealed that the body of the report  was different from the actual headline which is believed was the handiwork of Mr Adeshina.

The reporter was also subjected to the same bad treatment by Mr Gbenga Omotosho and Prince Femi Kusa in conjunction with others like Bayo Oguntimehin,Eleumeuno Emeka Izeze,Val Amanze as the raping spree continued unabated
It would be recalled  between 2007 and 2008,Economic News Media enterprises now defunct ,through its publications like First Voice Newspapers and Business and Economy Newspapers had written at least seven reports about the forgery scam.
The resultant effect of the reports and the burning of The Guardian Newspapers effigy in a protest by the victim led to The Guardian Newspapers  which had not promoted any of its staff for eight years  then to suddenly select some lucky few and promoting them.
Forensic checks   also showed that this was why the entire work force decided to down tools in November,2008  for a whole month in an attempt to get a share of the cake the owners of the company were distributing as at then.
Further sporadic campaigns by the victim on several locations on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter which went viral over two years ago and is still on –going has not made life easy for the company as the noose tightened around the crooks.
It would appear that the highly controversial Nigerian Press and Practice Bill which was promoted by Honourable Abike Dabiri-Erewa  about two to three years ago  before it was thrown out by the National Assembly after a public hearing was actually hatched inside Rutam House as words went round during numerous conclaves that The Guardian Newspaper had bitten more than it could chew.
It is not known how Mr Gbenga Omotosho ,Editor of The Nation Newspapers ,Prince Femi Kusa will react to the latest development but it is believed that Mr Omotosho had suddenly taken a career in writing news columns rather than lazying around in the newsroom so as to launder his battered public image due to his involvement in a similar scandal ,all proven with documented facts and figures.
Analysts  believe that the continued presence of Mr Omotosho in the saddle as editor is due to his camaraderie with the publisher  of the newspaper, Ashiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu rather than for ability or ethical reasons.
Checks also showed that erstwhile Associate Editor of the business Desk,Mr Jide Ogundele of the now rested   Comet Newspapers had to seek refuge as Personal Assistant to the Chief Executive officer of First Bank Plc from his position as Media Manager when the heat became too much for him to bear over the scam.
To the ordinary eye and the uninitiated this will have been a routine promotion exercise but it was learned that as a Special Aide to the Chief Executive officer of First Bank Plc, he has the opportunity by the dictates of his office to check letters, phone calls, emails and other messages intended for his principal.
it was gathered that what Mr Jide Ogundele does is to simply remove and destroy any form of documentation which can make him lose his job and this is how he has survived the blitz over the newsroom fraud which he equally participated in.
Insiders agree that the need to quell a possible riot at The Guardian Newspapers over attempts by editors to cover-up the forgery scam led to the management of the company to plead with the management of the Nigerian Police to grant them the need of armed police officers and armored tanks so that they can crush any form of internal or external rebellion.
It would be recalled that in the days immediately after the  death of The publisher of The Guardian Newspapers, Mr Alex Ibru, Prince Femi Kusa ,the Former Deputy Managing Director and the now rested The Comet Newspapers was attacking the deceased on an internet forum in order to give the impression to those he had offended in the past  the believe that he was innocent when in fact he allowed himself to be used to cementing a culture of fraud at The Guardian Newspapers.
It is not known as at press time,the immediate fate of other principal characters of  the scam like Mr Eluemuno Emeka Izeze ,Managing Director of The Guardian Newspapers ,Deputy Editor in Charge of Business and Economy ,Mr Ade Ogidan who were both involved in the fraud.
However,it is expected that developments at Rutam House along Oshodi-Apapa Expressway in Lagos will jolt Mr Val Amanze ,Regional Editor ,Daily Independent Newspapers and Mr Tunji Oketunbi ,the then Nigerian Union of Journalists Chapel Chairman who literarily handed Mr Adeshina the opportunity to go scot free from his dubious acts.
Mr Oketunbi is now the image maker at the Accident Investigations Bureau in Lagos,Nigeria.
The Guardian Newspapers was so great at the peak of its success  that sales and advertising in  a day according to insiders was not less than N10million.
Signs that the brand was deeply in trouble showed about two years ago when its marketing unit goofed publicly as it started begging consumers to pick up The Guardian Newspapers for free and then pay later ,not even Coca-Cola will make this mistake.
In between 2004 when one of the greatest reported newsroom hatchet operations in the newspaper world took place inside Rutam House, a lot has happened globally.
In the United Kingdom for instance ,tabloid brand News –of-the-world  newspapers had to quit business amidst paying three hundred million pounds to victims of phone hacking.

WHY LASU FEES MUST BE REVERSED BY abdulmumini Adeku

Lagos state university main campus gate in Ojo,Lagos,Nigeria

 Lagos state university  students have ordered that the state govertment under the present regime reverse the school fees regime immediately.

In a communiqué sent to that respect to paedia express multimedia in Lagos,Nigeria ,the students were in unison on the need for all stakeholders to handle the issue with utmost care.

 The students  released a ten point agenda which they believe will go along way in resolving the crisis and the future of tertiary education in the state

 The report read “Lasuites under the platform #SaveLASU Campaign movement earnestly calls on  Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola to consider calling for the reversal of the fees of Lagos State University on the basis of the following ten (10) reasons”

“ The fee hike is the root cause of the protest by LASUITES on Wednesday and Thursday 22 and 23 January 2014 as well as the inability of about 1,292 students to register. To prevent similar unpleasant occurrence in future requires that the root cause be addressed. A University can only thrive in an atmosphere of peace and tranquility devoid of disharmony’

“The fee hike is anti-poor and unaffordable by the vast majority. Especially in a State where civil servants barely receives the N18,000 National Minimum Wage, this regime of fees in the only public University in the State is unaffordable for vast majority, contradicts the vision of the founding fathers of the Lagos State Unversity and is calculated to price education out of the each of the children of poor working class people in Lagos”

“ The fee hike is responsible for the sharp decline in student enrollment in LASU over the past three years. LASU used to have over 20, 000 full-time students, today full-time students are only a little above 12, 000. Indeed at this rate especially when the current 300 and 400 level students who are still paying the old fees of N25, 000 graduate, LASU may have less than 6,000 full-time students! The wider implication of this is an increase in the illiteracy rate of the State”

“ The fee hike is an unconscionable rip-off of students and their poor parents and this is unacceptable from a government that claims to be progressive. For instance while the tuition component of the fee ranges from N50,000 to N80,000, several exploitative miscellaneous charges like registration fee, acceptance fee, matriculation fee, development levy, library, manuals and even examination charges have been added to boost the fee to outrageous levels. To make matters worse, most of the items under the miscellaneous charges that students pay for are rarely provided or the facilities are in such decrepit conditions such that students do not get value for their money. For instance, while students pay between N20,000 to N50,000 for laboratories/practical/workshop/studio, the conditions of each of these facilities are so bad that one begins to wonder what the hefty sums student pay are used for. Also the University collects N50,000 hostel charges from 100 level Medical students while there are no male hostels in LASU. In addition, for three years students have been paying a uniform Development Levy of N15,000 but today LASU is worse for it in terms of teaching facilities and infrastructures. This is also inspite of other sources from which the University receives huge sums for capital projects like the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND). The list of the rip-off is endless”

“The fee hike is a death pill which if not reversed will kill LASU. Today there are several departments at the LASU that have less than 10 students at 100 level. Some examples will suffice”

“ French department = One student in 100 level. (B) Islamic studies = 6 students in 100 level. (C) Law =15 students at 100 level, 25 students at 200 level.

(D) Department of Fishery = 60 students obtained admission into 100 level last session. A session after, only 14 out of this are left and out of this 14, only four have registered for the current session”

“ The fee hike has increased the dropout rate at the Lagos State University. Indeed for many current 100 and 200 level LASU students, the possibility that they would be able to complete their studies is almost zero. Also the development of LASU into a world class University which the State government promised in 2011 while justufying the  fee hike has become a mirage. Today LASU is not a world class University but a horrifying story of neglect, decline and decay”

“ The fee hike threatens the job of academic and non-academic staff as a result of consequential decline in enrollment. Mass retrenchment which will be the fallout of this fee hike will lead to further increase in the unemployment situation in Lagos State and the poverty rate as huge numbers of people who were hitherto dependent on the salaries of the academic and non-academic staff of LASU suddenly find themselves without such assistance as a result of retrenchment of their bread winners”

“ The fee hike is unacceptable. LASU is the only University owned by the State. The State government has no excuse at all not to be able to fully subsidise the tuition of the University in order to ensure that poor people can also go to school”

“ The fee hike is not justifiable. Lagos is the richest State in Nigeria. With N80 billion IGR, Lagos State is rich enough to fund education adequately especially if there is more judicious and democratic management of the State resources and less corruption and diversion of our collective resources to fund the profligacy of the rich few”

“ The fee hike is a breach of social contract  and a betrayal of the electorate by the Babatunde Raji Fashola Lagos State Government which campaigned as a "progressive" alternative to the neo-liberal agenda represented  by others. We believe that the Lagos State government cannot continue to lay claim to being "progressive" while it simultaneously carries out unconscionable attacks on the right of poor people to public education. For instance just recently on February 15, 2014 at the Njala University in Sierra Leone, Former Lagos State Governor Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu upon receiving an award of Honorary Doctorate Degree of Civil Law, Honoris Causa said the following "We formed the APC so Nigerians from all walks of life and social station might gather under one tent to develop the nation on the basis of equity and shared prosperity. What we seek is a fair social compact so that we may avoid social calamity. A core element of our mission is to make all levels of education, from primary to university level, accessible to all people, regardless of economic circumstance. To survive in the modern economy, education is a must. As such, responsible leadership must view education as a public right and no longer a luxury to be enjoyed only by those with the money to purchase it for themselves. Government must help financially those who can’t help themselves in this essential regard".

It is nothing but sheer hypocrisy for the leader of the ruling party in Lagos to make such statements in far away Sierra Leone while the Lagos State University is shut as a result of student protest against attempt to make education "a luxury to be enjoyed only by those with the money to purchase it for themselves". We simply urge the government of Lagos State to practise what it preaches by reversing the outrageous fees in LASU.

Okonjo Iweala’s town in darkness for two years

By abdulmumini Adeku.

Ugwashi uku the small but sleepy village where Nigeria’s famed finance Minister and Head Economic Team, Dr Mrs Ngozi Okonjo7Iweala hails from has been in pitch darkness for well up to two years now.

In an exclusive encounter with Paedia Express Multimedia In Lagos,Nigeria a female lawyer who hails from the same abode said the situation has deteriorated so much that when she went to the village for the yuletide celebration she could not really celebrate with her family because of the effect of the outage on the economic activities in the area.

Ogwashi-Uku is an Igbo town in southern Nigeria in Delta State west of the state capital, Asaba. It is the headquarters for the local government area, Aniocha South. The population of Ogwashi-Uku, Nigeria is 26,137 according to the GeoNames geographical database.^[1]