Outlook

Africoat, a Nigerian-registered pipe-coating company with United States citizen ownership, investment and management, is a bright hope for foreign investment in Nigeria. But Africoat has alleged that its staff and management have been barred from Africoat’s facility by LADOL and its free zone management company – Global Resources Management Free Zone Company (GRMFZC) by virtue…

In governments the world over, leaders have devised strategies to ensure that the divergent tendencies which affect hitch-free delivery of governance are streamlined. Recent history has shown that Presidents, Prime Ministers and Heads of Government have used the office of the Chief of Staff to achieve harmony, stability and effectiveness. The position of Chief of…

Africa, with a landmass of about 30.3Million km2 and population of over 1.3Billion people is the world’s second largest and second most populous continent, occupying 6% of the earth and yet it contributes just around 6% to the world economy. In the latest Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) – a report compiled by the World Economic Forum – African countries…

One of the key challenges of governance in Nigeria and the rest of Africa has been the failure of different agencies of government to operate with cohesion. Since the return to democracy in 1999, the Nigerian public sector has appeared to Nigerians as a visionless conglomerate with disparate units and organs working at cross purposes.…

Transparency and successful collaboration between Nigerian and international businesses is the key to unlocking Nigeria’s vast oil-wealth for the benefit of ordinary Nigerian citizens. However, local content provisions must not be a way for Nigerian businesses to appropriate foreign business assets. The spirit of the local content laws is to encourage collaboration with foreign business…

When Abiola Ajimobi first emerged as governor of Oyo State in 2011, those who knew him were not in any doubt that he had a good understanding of the many problems facing the state and their solutions. He did not disappoint as he quickly got to work with an agenda to give the state a…

May 8, 2019 marked one month since the murder of an operative of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and a Korean employee of SHI-MCI by an NSCDC personnel guarding the LADOL Free Zone in Lagos. The facts of the shooting were widely reported by the Nigerian media at the time. LADOL responded to…

Back in January, it was reported that there was a dispute between Africoat, a pipe-coating and logistics company, operating in the LADOL Free Zone in Lagos and LADOL. The dispute focused on the termination of Africoat’s operating licence and eviction from the free zone by LADOL. But Africoat has insisted that the eviction notice was…

Investors and pundits can finally breathe a sigh of relief, as Nigeria's economy finally begins to recover from one of the most painful contractions in a generation. The IMF cheerily announced last month that the Nigerian economy is in full recovery mode, with GDP growth expected to hit around 1.9% in 2019. While this is…

Can LADOL be trusted to run a private Free Zone, or should the state intervene? On April 8, 2019, an operative of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) guarding LADOL Free Zone shot and killed his Nigerian colleague, and then went on to shoot a Korean SHI-MCI employee who died on April 10, from…

Dr. Bitrus Pogu wears two caps- he is the National Chairman of the Middle Belt Forum(MBF), one of the many organizations masquerading as champions of the rights of persecuted minorities and that of the Chibok Association, twin leadership positions that have given him unlimited access to the media which he obviously enjoys, but clearly without…

On Monday, April 8, 2019, an operative of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in the LADOL Free Zone in Lagos shot and killed his colleague during an argument at the Free Zone. He then shot and has seriously injured a Korean employee of SHI-MCI FZE, who later died at the hospital as…