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The World Bank on Thursday said Nigeria has moved up by 15 places to 131 on the Ease of Doing Business ranking to become one of the top 10 countries that improved the process of doing business.

Doing Business acknowledges the 10 economies that improved the most on the ease of doing business after implementing regulatory reforms. Apart from Nigeria, others that made the list were Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Togo, Bahrain, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Kuwait, China, and India.

The ranking is based on quantitative indicators on regulation for starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.

Nigeria was previously ranked at the 146 out of the 190 countries assessed by the global financial institution.

In the report released today, the World Bank said, “Nigeria conducted reforms impacting six indicators, including making the enforcement of contracts easier, which placed the 200-million-person economy among the world’s top improvers.

“Only two Sub-Saharan African economies rank in the top 50 on the ease of doing business rankings while most of the bottom 20 economies in the global rankings are from the region.”

However, this was not the case with some other parts of the world, as the Bretton Woods Institution stated: “Sub-Saharan Africa still underperforms in several areas. In getting electricity, for example, businesses must pay more than 3,100 percent of income per capita to connect to the grid, compared to just over 400 percent in the Middle East and North Africa or 272 percent in Europe and Central Asia.

“When it comes to trading across borders and paying taxes, businesses spend about 96 hours to comply with documentary requirements to import, versus 3.4 hours in OECD high-income economies, and small and medium-sized businesses in their second year of operation need to pay taxes more than 36 times a year, compared to an average of 23 times globally.”

According to the World Bank, China and India made the top 10 list of governments that have done the most in the past year to improve the ease of doing business in their countries. As for China, this would be the second time in a row it was making such a stride as it overtook France to take the 31st spot, while India climbed to 63rd based off the multiple economic reforms put in place by the Narendra government.

SOURCE: https://businesspost.ng/economy/nigeria-climbs-to-131-on-ease-of-doing-business-ranking/amp/

QUOTE

“Investing puts money to work. The only reason to save money is to invest it.”

-- Grant Cardone

4-BEDROOM TERRACE DUPLEX FOR SALE AT SANGOTEDO, LAGOS

PROPERTY LOCATION
It is within Pearl Nuga Park Estate along Monastery Road, Sangotedo, 8 minutes drive from Lagos Business School, and within walking distance of Novare Lekki Mall. The estate is already occupied and is managed by a vibrant Residents/Owners Association. Neighbouring estates include Crown estate, Emperor estate and Diamond estate.

DESCRIPTION
The Terrace house consists of 3 bedrooms and a maid's room all ensuite, a sitting room with dining area, a kitchen and a store, a guest toilet and parking space for 2 cars. It has it's own borehole with 2 storage tanks.

PRICING
Price of the house is N28.5m (slightly negotiable).

CONTACT
Telephone: 08164502125.

Still available.

Call 08164502125 for negotiation.

QUOTE

“Wealthy people invest first and spend what’s left, and broke people spend first and invest what’s left.”

--Anonymous

The house is still available...call for inspection 08164502125.

Residents of Meridian Luxury Park Estate in the Awoyaya, Lekki area of Lagos State, are currently at loggerheads with the management of an independent real estate firm, Lekki Gardens, over what they described as its refusal to complete some projects in the estate.

City Round gathered that the residents were angry that after almost a year of residential occupancy, the firm had yet to deliver vital infrastructure such as recreation centre, partitioning of terrace units, green areas, good road link between the two roads in the estate and children’s playground as stated in its marketing brochure.

The residents also said the company forced a non-independent subsidiary firm on them to manage the facilities in the estate, accusing it of non-provision of a central sewage processing plant thereby exposing their health to environmental hazard.

One of the residents who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity said there was perpetual flooding of parts of the estate, especially some residential areas due to blocked and uncompleted drainage system.

The resident said, “Water facility is grossly inadequate. This is because the storage capacity of the water tank cannot sustain about 30 residential units up to 12 hours for an estate projected to accommodate about 500 residential units. The borehole system installed has no redundancy or backup, resulting in extended periods of water outages during breakdowns. This causes us untold hardship and we have to source water independently outside the estate.’’

Chairman, Meridian Park Estate Resident Association, Awoyaya, Mr Kunle Fagbayi, said the residents were coerced to pay a N300,000 connection fee as prerequisite before connection to electricity in the estate.

He stated, “The amount was later explained to be for acquisition of generators. However, the current generators purchased for the estate is inadequate to effectively power the current occupancy of the estate. The residents association requested an audit of the money collected by the firm which is a subsidiary of Lekki Gardens and also serves as the facility manager. But the money was not accounted for till date.

“Lekki Gardens also failed to honour contractual agreements such as delivering housing units different from what was advertised and agreed with buyers, late delivery of housing units contrary to what was in the offer letters issued to buyers and using three years to deliver homes as against the nine months promised.’’

Fagbayi noted that buyers made payments based on commitments, house prototypes based on brochures covering types of houses and expected infrastructure. He said they sent several letters to the firm concerning the issues raised and it made promises without abiding by any, adding the company had refused to honour calls for meetings on the matter.

Noting that the residents started living in the estate since November 2018, Fagbayi stated that the association had explored all options to resolve the matter. He said, “Our demand is for the firm to, within the shortest possible period, fulfill its contractual obligations by implementing the infrastructure it promised the residents when they were buying into the estate.’’

Reacting to the allegations, spokesperson for Lekki Gardens, Mr Bolaji Abimbola, said Lekki Gardens didn’t renege on the promises it made to residents of the estate. He added that the firm felt the pulse of residents and understood the issues they raised.

Abimbola said, “The last part of any project we build are the recreation facilities. We are not shying away from our responsibilities to our customers. On October 1, we were at the estate for dialogue but they were not available. We sent letter a letter notifying them of the meeting. They have even asked a lawyer to write us on the issue.’’

He also envisaged a reduction in the facility management cost being paid by the occupants once the estate was fully occupied as the cost would then be spread across other residents.

SOURCE: https://punchng.com/residents-tackle-lekki-gardens-over-alleged-abandoned-projects/

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Call 08164502125 for inspection.

Available. Telephone 08164502125.

QUOTE

Call for inspection 08164502125.

The persistent rains in the Lagos area of the ongoing construction of a new Lagos-Ibadan rail line have not stopped the contractor handling the project, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), from forging ahead with its work.

Specifically, the CCECC workers were on Friday 25 October 2019 seen on the construction site from Ebute-Meta to Iju railway corridor, excavating, relocating water and gas pipelines, constructing drains, bridges and erecting new level crossings and train stations.

The pipelines along the new rail line’s right of way were some of the encumbrances that have slowed down the pace of work on this section of the project in Lagos. The CCECC had earlier completed track laying from Iju in Lagos to km 157 in Ibadan. Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, during one his recent inspections of the construction work gave the contractor December this year to complete the project, to enable commercial operations begin on the 156km fast rail line in the first quarter of next year.

To accelerate the pace of work and avoid any form of danger, the Nigerian Railway Corporation recently suspended the operation of the intra and inter-city narrow gauge trains (Lagos-Ijoko, Lagos-Apapa and Lagos-Kano). Media consultant to the CCECC, Abdulraouf Akinwoye, who conducted some journalists round extent of ongoing work from Ebute-Meta to Iju, said, “We are committed to giving Nigerians a world-class standard gauge rail line.”

According to him, the contractor is in full control of many of the encumbrances hitherto inhibiting the construction work in the Lagos-Iju area through the application of its technical expertise and technological know-how.

Construction of drains, culverts and major earthmoving activities involving the excavation of the Lagos State Water Corporation’s water pipes were found to be ongoing at the Yaba rail area. Akinwoye said after the pipes had been located and excavated, they had to be relocated by some metres out of the right of way of the rail track.

Track is already being laid in the areas where the relocation of the water pipes have been completed along with the necessary drainage system. In the Mushin area, wall was found being constructed around track. This, it was said, was meant to protect the narrow-gauge railway corridor and prevent interference. This would also help in facilitating easy boarding for passengers.

The drainage system being constructed, Akinwoye said, was of two dimensions; one to protect the narrow-gauge, and the other for the standard-gauge rail line. For those complaining that the construction had hindered their movement and water system, the spokesman for the CCECC also said modern drains and culverts would be constructed in the affected areas with proper fortification for relocated pipes.

He said, “Today, I want to believe that you have seen so much. We have been able to criss-cross about 23 kilometres from Ebute-Meta to Iju. We have discovered that while we are doing this project, many communities have been complaining, especially some will tell you that you have damaged their roads. I’m using this opportunity to appeal to all these communities to be patient with us.

“We remain totally responsible; we know what befits our communities. You will agree with me that most of these drains on the Lagos axis are blocked. But now with this project, the CCECC remains committed to ensuring that we give what I call modern drainage system to all the communities along the line. And that is why we are building solid culverts and overhead bridges in some places that will prevent flooding and ease movement. For instance, on the Ikeja axis, you can see us constructing a mega culvert. People from the Ashade axis will now drive with a smile at the end of this project.”

Akinwoye said the CCECC remained committed to meeting the demand of the FG, adding that its workers were working day and night to deliver on its promise.

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo (then as Acting President) inaugurated the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan rail project on March 7, 2017 on the NRC compound in Lagos in line with the Federal Government’s plan to connect all state capitals and major cities by rail.

The Iju-Abeokuta section of the standard gauge new railway operated a daily free train for a few weeks as part of its trial run in February before it was discontinued.

SOURCE: https://punchng.com/lagos-ibadan-rail-ccecc-relocates-pipelines-build-drains-stations/

The remains of Professor Pius Adesanmi was scheduled for burial on Saturday 26 October 2019 (yesterday) in Ontario, Canada. The family of the late professor announced his burial on Friday.

Adesanmi was one of the passengers on the Ethiopian Airline flight which crashed on its way to Nairobi, Kenya, on Sunday, March 10, 2019. The burial was scheduled for 12:00 p.m. at Capital Funeral Home & Cemetry 3700, Prince of Wales Drive, Ottawa , Ontario, K2C 3H1, Canada.

Adesanmi is a from Isanlu, in Yagba East Local Government Area of Kogi State. He was 47 as of the time of his death and a professor of English at Carleton University, Canada. He was also a social media influencer, writer, literary critic, satirist, and columnist.

He is survived by his wife, two daughters and mother

SOURCE (updated): https://punchng.com/remains-of-pius-adesanmi-for-burial-in-canada/

The Lagos State House of Assembly has listed 5 ‘sins’ allegedly committed by former governor of the state, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode. They include alleged unauthorised discounting of promissory notes and purchase of 820 buses without due authorisation.

The Assembly, therefore, asked the former governor to appear before it by 1pm on Wednesday 30 October 2019. This made it the second time the governor was summoned. He was first summoned about two weeks ago alongside former government officials, including former commissioners for Finance, Economic Planning, Justice and Attorney General, and Permanent Secretary, Economic Planning.

The House had set up an ad hoc committee to investigate some financial misappropriation during the Ambode administration. However, according to a statement by the House, Ambode and the former government officials refused to appear before the House committee. The House has now issued another invite to the former governor, as contained in an advert in some national dailies, including Sunday PUNCH.

The invite was titled, ‘Notice of summons: Mr Akinwunmi Ambode (the former Governor of Lagos State),’ and signed by the Clerk of the House, Mr A. A. Sanni. In the new summon, the former governor was reminded of the importance of appearing before the House to shed light on a five-point infraction raised by the Assembly.

The fresh notice stated, “The Lagos State House of Assembly, pursuant to Section 129 (1)(c) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) hereby summons His Excellency, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, the former Governor of Lagos State (May, 2015 – May, 2019) to appear before the Committee of the House on Wednesday, October 30, 2019 at the Lateef Jakande Auditorium, Assembly Complex, Alausa, Ikeja by 1 pm.”

Ambode was asked to appear to clarify the following: (1) Unauthorised discounting of promissory note; (2) Purchase of 820 buses by his administration without due authorisation; (3) Misappropriation of Special Expenditure Funds; (4) Improper implementation of the Appropriation Law; and (5) Non-adherence to the Financial Regulations of the state.

The notice urged the former governor to provide the Assembly’s committee with documents to justify that the above transactions did not violate constitutional provisions. It read, “You are kindly requested to furnish the committee with 15 copies each of all relevant document(s) relating to the issues raised through the Office of the Clerk of the House on or before Tuesday, October 29, 2019.

“It is pertinent to state that your presence at the proposed meeting would give you the opportunity to shed light on issues that are material to the investigation.”

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had in August raided the Epe country home and Parkview Ikoyi residence of the former governor. He had also denied that certain accounts said to have been frozen by the EFCC were linked to him, adding that no account of his contained N9.9bn as the said accounts belonged to the state government.

The state Assembly had set up a committee to investigate the purchase of 820 buses out of the 5,000 buses proposed by the embattled former governor because the lawmakers had originally objected to the idea.

In a motion titled, ‘Lagos State House of Assembly Motion Number 2,’ the member representing Eti Osa 2, Gbolahan Yishawu, stated that the then administration proposed to spend N17bn to purchase the buses in the 2017 budget, which was not approved by the Assembly.

Meanwhile, efforts to speak with the media aide to the former governor, Mr Habib Aruna, proved abortive as he had not picked calls or responded to a text message sent to his mobile telephone number as of the time of filing this report.

SOURCE: https://punchng.com/lagos-assembly-lists-ambodes-deadly-sins/

Still available...call for inspection.

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BRAND NEW 4-BEDROOM TERRACE DUPLEX FOR SALE AT SANGOTEDO, LAGOS

PROPERTY LOCATION
It is within Pearl Nuga Park Estate along Monastery Road, Sangotedo. Just 8 minutes drive from Lagos Business School, and within walking distance of Novare Lekki Mall. The estate is already occupied and is being managed by a vibrant Residents/Owners Association. Neighbouring estates include Crown estate, Emperor estate and Diamond estate.

DESCRIPTION
The Terrace house consists of 3 bedrooms and a maid's room all ensuite, a sitting room with dining area, a kitchen and a store, a guest toilet and parking space for 2 cars. It has it's own borehole with 2 storage tanks.

PRICING
Price of the house is N28.5m (slightly negotiable).

CONTACT
Telephone: 08164502125.

Still available.

Still available. Keep the calls coming...

"Investing money is the process of committing resources in a strategic way to accomplish a specific objective.”

― Alan Gotthardt, The Eternity Portfolio

Still available:

BRAND NEW 4-BEDROOM TERRACE DUPLEX FOR SALE IN SANGOTEDO, LAGOS

PROPERTY LOCATION
It is within Pearl Nuga Park Estate along Monastery Road, Sangotedo. Just 8 minutes drive from Lagos Business School, and within walking distance of Novare Lekki Mall. The estate is already occupied and is being managed by a vibrant Residents/Owners Association. Neighbouring estates include Crown estate, Emperor estate and Diamond estate.

DESCRIPTION
The Terrace house consists of 3 bedrooms and a maid's room all ensuite, a sitting room with dining area, a kitchen and a store, a guest toilet and parking space for 2 cars. It has it's own borehole with 2 storage tanks.

PRICING
Price of the house is N28.5m (slightly negotiable).

CONTACT
Telephone: 08164502125.

The house is located within an estate along Monastery Road, Sangotedo. It is a serene neighbourhood, with other estates such as:

-- Diamond Estate
-- Emperor Estate
-- Crown Estate
-- Pearl Garden Estate
-- Westwood Park Estate
-- Fountain Springville Estate
-- KHL Gardens
-- Lagos Homes
-- Grenadines Estate
-- Temmah County Estate
-- Heritage Place Estate
-- Lexington Gardens
-- Flourish Residences

etc

QUOTE

“The most important quality for an investor is temperament, not intellect.”

- Warren Buffett

Call 08164502125 for inspection, negotiations and purchase.

Still available.

Invest for rental income and capital appreciation.

With a prevalence rate of 20% of any population being dyslexic, an expert, Dr Adrienne Tikolo, has expressed concern that up to 90- 95% of Nigerian teachers do not know about dyslexia – a neurological condition that makes it difficult for children to learn to read and spell.

As a result, she said many dyslexic children, whose condition makes them struggle to read, comprehend and follow instructions, underachieve in school and are labelled lazy, stubborn or dullards by teachers who do not know about the condition or how to manage them.

In an interview, Tikolo, who runs Dyslexia Nigeria, a firm that deals with assessment and management of dyslexia, said: “I would say about 95% of teachers are unaware of what Dyslexia is and the signs of dyslexia. If you ask them to give you one sign of Dyslexia, they say ‘I don’t know if it is a mental problem.’”

Tikolo said Dyslexic children can be creative as the condition has nothing to do with intelligence. If they are supported, she said they can become successful professionals like renowned physicist, Albert Einstein; and top rate actors like Will Smith, Harrison Ford, Steven Spielberg, Jennifer Aniston, all of whom are Dyslexic. On the other hand, if not supported, Tikolo said they may suffer mental health issues, drop out of school or get involved in crime.

She said: “The first danger is that the person cannot achieve his goal and you have different mental health issues that come with that – like depression, anxiety, frustration. There are lots of students that have dropped out of school that had Dyslexia. If you look abroad, where they have done research, in the U.S., 60% or more of those in prison are Dyslexic. I know a number of students that have fallen out of university because they have gone that far but cannot go further, and then they fall into drugs.”

Since its establishment two years ago, Tikolo said Dyslexia Nigeria has made efforts to increase awareness of the condition in Nigeria. She said the awareness level was so low – rating it a minus five on the scale of 1-10, when she started. She said with support, this class of learners can learn to overcome their challenges. However, she lamented that schools were unwilling to train teachers even when training cost is subsidized.

Underscoring the importance of early detection in Dyslexia management, Tikolo said screening should take place before the child turns six to get the most of interventions. To address the problem of low awareness and late detection, Mrs Tikolo said government should include detection of special needs as part of teacher training curriculum and make it compulsory for schools to conduct regular screening for all pupils.

“One of the things the government can say for a teacher to be promoted, for instance, you need 8 hours of training in Dyslexia intervention, awareness, and teaching programmes. You need X number of CPD hours in a term in a year, that is one. The government can insist that schools must do the universal screening for students, find out those that are struggling with dyslexia and that policy would work,” she said.

In commemoration of the Dyslexia awareness month, Tikolo said Dyslexia Nigeria was creating awareness about the condition. The organisation would follow up with a summit tagged “Unmasking Dyslexia” scheduled for November 21, this year at Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja.

SOURCE: https://thenationonlineng.net/90-of-teachers-do-not-know-about-dyslexia/

Contact 08164502125 for inspection and negotiation.

Respite may have come the way of those whose vehicles were impounded over underpayment of duty as the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) yesterday, said it has opened a platform for vehicle importers, owners and organised vehicle dealers to pay customs duty on smuggled, undervalued vehicles in the country.

The Customs Area Controller, Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone A, Compt. Muhammed Aliyu, who stated this while briefing media men stated that about 150 car marts were sealed in Victoria Island, Ikoyi and Lekki, in Lagos, adding that the unit also seized over 5000 bags of foreign rice smuggled into the country. He assured Nigerians that vehicles voluntarily brought forward by their owners for payment of duty won’t be seized.

According to him, the decision to open the platform was to allow Nigerians who own smuggled or undervalued vehicles to regularise their customs duty.

“For the category of vehicles that were detained, we have a platform now where the owners have the opportunity to pay their customs duty. At the same time, we have given a window for someone who has his or her personal car and hasn’t paid duty to come forward as the federal government has given an opportunity to pay the duty.

“But the issue is that the owner has to come forward with the vehicle because it is more advantageous. Also, the vehicles whose duty is to be paid, may have been bought in 2015 or 2016 and has been put to use but without customs duty, we have agreed and allowed owners to come and make necessary duty payment,” he stated.

Aliyu urged owners of undervalued vehicles to make use of the window before it closes as anyone arrested after expiration of the window period would not be spared. Speaking on the car marts sealed, the CAC said some of the affected car marts have been opened after due diligence was observed.

“I can say that from Victoria Island and Lekki, we sealed not less than 150 car marts but we have held meetings with them and they asked how to pay but we advised them if they can reach agreement with us, we will take inventory of the vehicles, open a small side where they sell their vehicles and they pay up within two weeks and that is how we simplified the job.”

“The reason for shutting down the car marts is to authenticate the marts that pay duty while those that didn’t pay were asked to come and pay the actual duty to the federal government. Also, when we take inventory of the vehicles, the owner will show the documents they paid duty on and we go to our system to confirm if it is genuine. If the benchmark is correct we allow it to go but for those that don’t meet our benchmark, we ask them to pay the shortfall and pick their vehicles.

SOURCE: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/smuggled-vehicles-customs-opens-window-for-payment-of-duty.html

GOVERNOR Babajide Sanwo-Olu has described the signing of agreements that will deliver the first deep sea port in Lekki in 30 months as another milestone for the state in infrastructural development and commerce. Sanwo-Olu spoke on Wednesday at the signing of four agreements with China Development Bank (CDB), including $629 million financing facility, to accelerate the completion of the Lekki Deep Seaport project, which started in 2011.

The loan was secured from the Chinese bank after China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), which owns a majority share in the project, signed a 45-year concessionary agreement with Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise Limited (LPLTZ) to complete the Phase.

He said the signing of the agreements ended uncertainty that had trailed the delivery of the project. He noted that the completion of the project would invigorate the Lagos economy and push it up in the index of largest economy in the world.

“This is a new beginning for us in Lagos. We have achieved another milestone in our efforts to transform the State and accomplish the 21st century economy ambition. As a Government, we are fully in support of the project. We will do all we can to ensure the terms of the agreements signed today are delivered within 30 months as agreed and we expect the outcome would catalyse Lagos’ fifth largest economy and take it up more in the index of largest economies in years to come.”

SOURCE: https://thenationonlineng.net/lagos-deep-sea-port-ready-in-30-months/

Still available...

Call for enquiries and negotiation 08164502125.