Month: June 2018

Listening to Muyiwa Afolabi on the topic “the real king of buisness”.

It was a personal opinion which seems true and realistically true. There are customers that could put you out of business while trying to bend some rules in satisfying them.

Good customer corrects, observe, guide and advice about the business and also understands with the nature of the business in form of promotion, commendation and appreciation.

We must keep our good customers.

Remember, the Customer that leaves you when you are down will run to your competitor. On this basis, we keep the good ones to keep the business running.

The Cash is the King and the Customer is the Kingmaker.

Retail is very huge because it transverses virtually in all sectors from manufacturing to product distribution to meet the final consumers. When retail comes to mind…..we think commerce, groceries, markets, supermarkets, food sellers, fruit sellers, bars etc

It was  estimated that between 2008 and 2020, there is a $40 billion growth opportunity in food and consumer goods in Nigeria, the highest of any African nation. Despite the fact that Nigeria’s GDP per capita is $1,443, we believe that formal retail chains have a significant opportunity to capture the growth in this market.

Nigeria’s GDP is growing

Real GDP (2005 based) is growing at an accelerated rate of 7 percent (compound annual growth rate) and is expected to hit $294 billion by 2020 , up from $178 billion in 2012. This compares to a growth rate of just 4 percent in South Africa.

Nigerian households with incomes of more than $5,000 a year will increase from a current 20 percent of the population to 27 percent by 2020, putting them within the target customer base of formal retail chains.

Much of this growth is due to a trend of migration from rural areas toward cities, where job opportunities are more plentiful. Nigeria’s rate of urbanization is one of the fastest in the world, with almost half of the population living in urban areas in 2011 and an ongoing urbanization rate of 4 percent a year. Eight Nigerian cities containing 16 percent of the nation’s population will drive 36 percent of its growth, as per capita consumption in large cities is much higher than in Nigeria as a whole. In Lagos, for instance, consumption is 134 percent greater than the country average.

Kenya, with a GDP per capita that’s only 70 percent of Nigeria’s, has three large retailers (Nakumatt, Tusky’s and Uchumi) with a combined 107 stores and almost $1 billion annual revenue between them. These stores offer not only a standard, formal retail experience, but have also started online shopping. Some are open 24 hours a day.

Intuitively, price is important to the majority of African consumers, but it’s particularly crucial for Nigerians, especially when it comes to food. When choosing a grocery store, 21 percent of Nigerians say they are willing to sacrifice store environment for low prices, compared to 16 percent of South Africans and 12 percent of Ethiopians. As a result, Nigerians are apt to spend a lot of time ensuring they get the lowest prices on groceries. Rice is the top product used as a benchmark for checking prices. Upper income Nigerians also look at red meat and beverages.

Although price is important, some Nigerians prioritize modern shopping experiences. Said one shopper: “[In these modern stores] you don’t have to sweat under the sun just because you want to buy things. This place is well air-conditioned; items are well arranged with their prices, so you don’t need to waste time haggling like in the open market.” Higher income consumers are particularly interested in stores with a wide range of products and a comfortable environment, and are willing to pay for these features. Lower income consumers primarily choose stores based on price offers, but item selection and in-store experience are still important.

Social networking leads as the top reason for internet access on mobile phones, but Nigerians are also using their smart phones for a broad range of activities, including reading news, watching music videos, and doing email and instant messaging. The primary reason Nigerians cite for not using mobile internet is that it’s too slow. Forty-four percent have this complaint. THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR A FAST INTERNET COMPANY

Residents of Lagos are more than twice as likely to try new things as their peers in Kano (45 percent of Nigerians responded positively to this question vs. 18 percent of Kano residents). Lagos residents are also more price conscious, with 55 percent favoring low prices over a large selection of products, as compared to 20 percent choosing low prices in Abuja and 17 percent in Kano.

In Abuja, only 14 percent of consumers prefer to wear traditional dress over Western clothing. This preference is higher in Lagos (30 percent) and Kano (31 percent).
Residents of Abuja are most likely to view clothes as a statement about who they are, with 64 percent agreeing with this statement, compared to just 39 percent in Lagos.

Retail is every aspect of our lives. Take a look at yourself, visualize what you are wearing and quantify it…..Did you sew the cloth, did made the shoes, did you create the wristwatch, did you create the cufflins, did you even weave your socks or stockings, did you cut your hair or braid it yourself?…..You are a confirmed retail customer. The moment you exchange it for money you become a retailer.

We all are retailers of any kind. Either Retail customer, Retailer, wholesaler, producer. Why? Because you can not own everything. We need others to promote retail. A good retailer must protect the business by managing man and resources. Good employee management is key in an established retail.

Check at https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/africas-growing-giant-nigerias-new-retail-economy

PRESS STATEMENT. June 8, 2018

Since Chief Olusegun Obasanjo declared in his State-of-the-Nation Special Statement on January 23, 2018, the desperation to frustrate, intimidate and blackmail him into abandoning his divine mandate to protect the rights of the people to better life and living continued unabated and has even taken a bizarre dimension.

Impeccable security sources have alleged Chief Obasanjo’s name is on their Watch List and that the security of his life cannot be guaranteed.

According to these informants, many of who are in the top echelon of the Nation’s security management and close to the corridors of power, the operatives are daily perfecting how to curtail the personal liberties of the former President and hang a crime on him.

Ordinarily, we would not have dignified these reports with a response but for the fact that many of these informants are not known for flippant and frivolous talks. Secondly, this Government has demonstrably exhibited apathy, and in some cases, encouraged by its conduct, daily loss of lives and property in many States of the country, the office cannot be indifferent.

We are currently in a nation where the Number Three citizen is currently being harangued and the Number Four citizen is facing similar threat within the same Government they serve. There is a groundswell of our nationals that live in fear that they could be hounded, harassed, maimed or even killed as the battle for 2019 takes this worrisome dimension.

For Chief Obasanjo, this is a joke carried too far and being someone who do not act on unofficial information, he had cautioned all informants and adopted a wait-and-see attitude to the bestial propositions allegedly being contemplated to cow, cage and embarrass him.

The content of the alleged beastly designs, it was learnt are two-fold for now. One, to seize his International Passport and clamp him into detention indefinitely, in order to prevent him from further expressing angst on the pervasive mediocrity in the quality of governance, economic management and in the protection of lives and property by the Government. But, since that could expose the Government to a swath of international condemnation, embarrassment and outrage, it is said that another plot being hatched is to cause the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to re-open investigation into the activities of Chief Obasanjo’s administration using false witnesses and documents. This will be a re-enactment of the Abacha era in which Chief Obasanjo was one of the principal victims.

The same EFCC that had conducted a clinical investigation on the activities of Obasanjo in and out of Government, it was said, would now be made to stand down the existing report that gave Chief Obasanjo a clean bill of health on the probes are now to get him indicted, fair or foul for possible prosecution and persecution like it is being done to real and perceived opponents, enemies and critics of this Government. Dissent is a fundamental principle on which liberal democracy is predicated. A true democrat must be ready to live with and accommodate dissent and opposition.

While it is regrettable how the Government has sunk in its shameless desperation to cow opposition, a resort to blackmail, despotism and Gestapo-tactics being employed by the goons of this Government would not hold water. And no government ever remains in power forever.

For the record, Chief Obasanjo reiterates his readiness to face probe again after that of the House of Representatives, the Senate, the ICPC, and the EFCC, but before an independent, objective and credible panel of enquiry to account for his stewardship in Government and beyond. Chief Obasanjo reiterates that he has taken a principled position to ensure that the ship of the Nigerian State does not capsize and he remains steadfast in his resolve to turn the tide of maladministration, poor economic management and rudderless governance model that has tore Nigerians apart on account of religion and ethnicity which is a great threat to our democracy.

We would like the Gover

nment and its supporters to understand that no amount of campaign of calumny, no matter how well contrived, orchestrated or marketed would deter Chief Obasanjo from calling a spade by its name. Chief Obasanjo is a patriot whose sole agenda is to ensure that the country’s unity, progress and democracy are not negotiated on the altar of incompetence and provincialism and mediocrity.

It is important to point out that chief Obasanjo is one former President and Head of State who has engaged the current administration privately and in a bilateral manner on several issues of direct interest to the government and other matters of national concern. That channel of private engagement remains open and continues.

However, should there be the need for public engagement, the right to free speech will always be exercised and jealously guarded, again in the best interest of Nigeria and the government.

Kehinde Akinyemi
Media Aide

Ezenwa (Bells):
We have received the following sums please:
1 800.00
2THE SONS OF PERDITION AND ANGELS OF DEATH.

Let me officially respond to the reckless comment of Lt. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari on Biafra and the civil war.

1. First let see the comment, “the Nigerian army was soft on Biafra during the civil war”. There have been many reactions and spontaneous reactions over this comment since it was made. No one has welcomed the statement or has defended it. The statement exposed the recklessness of our president, his dark mind and deep-seated hate for the Biafrans.

2. The worst thing to victims of genocide and ethnic cleansing is denial of the act. Throughout history, denial of the acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing have always provoked spontaneous reactions like street protests, riots and violent demonstrations. This is because to deny the fact of genocide is equivalent to the actual act. It reopens the pains of tragic history and recreates the animosity and hate that accompanied the act. This is exactly what Buhari did. He just denied the act of genocide against Biafrans and exonerated the actors.

3. From July 1966 to May 1967 a continuous systematic act of ethnic cleansing went on in northern Nigeria which many writers called pogrom. Biafrans were the targets. In that pogrom over 50,000 Igbos were massacred in the north under the very watchful eyes of Gen.Gowon.The war in which Buhari said Nigerian army was “soft” started with the slaughter of 50,000 Igbos. Let me tell you one horrific side of the pogrom in the north. As soon as the massacre started in the north, Igbos ran to the palaces of Emirs and to military barracks for safety. The emirs gave them shelter and protection. As the Emirs went to their Arewa General meeting in Kaduna, the emirs instructed that nobody should hurt the Igbos till they come back from the meeting. After the meeting, the emirs returned and ordered for the killing of those Igbos that ran to the palaces for protection. Do you know how they were killed? They were gathered together in a hut and were set ablaze. They watched them scream, beg and burnt to death. Those that ran to the barracks were brought out and were beaten with sticks and clubs to death. A war that began with such cruelty cannot at anytime have a “soft” touch.

4. The Asaba massacre of 1968, over 1000 innocent civilians were brutally murdered by the order of Muaritala Mohammed. Lt. I O S Omar Sanda Nwachukwu led the slaughter squad. The massacre of over 2000 innocent civilians and a complete annihilation of a village in Ogwashi-Ukwu by Nigerian soldiers was not a “soft touch.”

5. The policy of starvation which Gowon endorsed and had his men defended all over the world was not a “soft touch”. Anthony Enahoro called starvation a legitimate weapon of war. By that statement Gowon endorsed the crusome death of over 1million children, over 2million women. Yet this blood thirsty president said he had a “soft touch” with Biafra. “We do not want to see any red Cross, we do not want to hear any Pope. We will continue to shoot at everything. And when we get to the heart of Igbo land we will shoot everything including those that do not move” by Benjamin Adekunle, a marine commando of Nigerian army. This was not a statement of a soldier who was instructed to be “soft on the people”. It was statement of hate and brutality from a sadistic army of Gowon. To Buhari this meant “soft” touch.

6. After the fall of Oboloafor, under the command of General Shuwa, trailer loads of invalids, lepers and imbeciles with all forms of deformities were brought from North to defile, rape our women just to scorn us and desecrate and pollute our land. What did the Biafra women do to deserve such violations? Everywhere the Nigerian soldiers entered the uncircumcised baboons of Nigerian army will embark on free looting and raping, an act Buhari’s militia herdsmen have continued to perpetuate till date. Yet Buhari called it “soft touch”.

7. The war got bitter as the years passed by. From 1969, Nigeria government under the supervision of Awolowo, the air blockage has bee

n fully implemented. Under the watchful eyes of fathers children starve to death. Breasting feeding women starved to death. Men ate raw cassava to survive. Breastfeeding mothers died on the roadside, some with their suckling babies still sucking the breast of a dead mother. Some children died with mouth glued on the breast of their dead mothers. Nigerian soldiers saw the dying women and children and walked on in pursuit of men who dared to survive alone. Families watched one another die, starve to death. Yet Buhari said Nigerian army was “soft”. Awolowo started his journey to hell from this earth. Our religion told us anyone that commits suicide will go to hell. Awolowo did not only die with his frustrated ambition to rule Nigeria, he also was forced to commit suicide. He drank saving powder and died. I can imagine him hearing the cries of Biafran children starved to death in his last minute before death.

8. How about the bombings of markets, hospitals and churches? Were those actions from the “soft side” of Gowon’s heart? I saw uncles who did not go to war but had their arms and legs amputed. Same with some women and children. These injuries were sustained either coming from church, going to or in the market and in hospitals. Buhari, was this “soft touch’? The crusome murder of women during Ahia attack will never be forgotten. For days and weeks the Nigeria planes bombarded our markets killing in hundreds women and children. Yet Buhari said he had soft touch on Biafrans.

9. The killing of Biafran soldiers continued till 1971. I heard stories of brave men from my village who were killed by the Nigerian soldiers that camped in a primary school in our village. They shot and killed suspected young men who were Biafran soldiers. Onwuatuegwu was killed after the war. He was shot at close range on the street. No one was punished for maltreating Biafrans or for killing our men even after the war just as no fulani herdsmen has been prosecuted for killing Biafrans. Just as this president gives double promotion to police men who killed Igbos.

10. Let me say it loud and clear. We will not forget. We will not forgive. No generation that suffered what we suffered ever forgave or forgot. The Jews has never forgiven Hitler nor have they forgotten. The Chinese people have not forgotten nor forgiven Japan. The Philippines have not forgotten or forgiven. So do Biafrans. Even as some religious hypocrites try to preach forgiveness and some cowards try to ask us to forget, we will not because it is unnatural to forgive or forget a crime that is continuous. In Biafra experience in Nigeria there is no past.

11. It is deplorable that instead of Nigerian governments to show remorse for what they did to Biafrans they have continued in their pathetic denials. Gowon keeps organizing public blasphemy in the name of reconciliation when he has not shown any remorse, confession or shown contrition. Somebody needs to tell Gowon that sin is not forgiven because it has been billion years since the act was committed.

12. It is because we have castrated men, chained giants as our federal representatives that Buhari, the president of Nigeria had the temerity, the audacity to open his mouth and say such wicked thing. It is obvious that agitation for Biafra has not picked. It has not picked because our governors and legislators are feeding bottle carrying men in office. Ordinarily women should have spontaneously rushed to streets in every state of Biafra land carrying pictures of the victims of the civil war so that Buhari will see. The youths should have been on the streets rioting and burning tires. Students should have embarked on demonstrations. Our men should have been calling for Buhari to apologize by now. But woe to them that lost a war.

13. Biafra has laid the foundation of her freedom with the blood of millions of her children, there is no cover up that can wipe the history. No amount of intimidation can kill the spirit of Biafra. Nothing will bring reconciliation between biafra and Nigeria. This is because the tears of the innocent that wat

ered the streets in the north will never dry. The blood of the starved children will never be satisfied till freedom is granted to the survivors of the Biafra Holocaust.
Onyema Uche.