The crises in the aviation industry have taken a toll on activities at the domestic terminals of the Lagos airport, with airline officials lamenting low patronage in the past few days. Some airline officials told our correspondent in confidence on Monday, that the passengers seemed to have developed apathy towards air travel, stressing that they might have become scared of flying following recent developments in the industry.
Updated 7 Years ago

The Federal Government is set to provide 420 megawatts of electricity using solar energy for nine states in the northern part of the country. The Secretary, National Energy Council, Alhaji Ibrahim Njiddah, made this known at a stakeholders meeting in Abuja on Monday. Njiddah said the project would be implemented under the Nigerian-German Energy Partnership-Renewable Energy and Efficient Energy Projects (REEPS).
Updated 7 Years ago

Zinox Technologies Limited, manufacturers of Nigeria’s first globally certified branded computers has made an emphatic statement with the listing of its range of tablets set for launch in November. Targeted at the growing mobile work force, the Z-PAD range of tablets will combine two variants – Wi-Fi and 3G variants to enhance user connectivity. The flagship of the range is the Z-PAD v 7 running on 4th Generation Intel Core i3 -3217U 1.80GHz processor and Intel vPro, 4GB Memory, slim detachable keyboard, 11” display screen, and Windows 8 Pro. The Z-PAD v7 supports GSM, has an active stylus option with 10 point capacitive multi touch, and provides a 2-in-one flexibility with the convenience and power of an ultra book.
Updated 7 Years ago

The Federal Government on Monday announced that it would not longer allow any state in the country to engage anybody or an organisation other than the Board of Internal Revenue Service (BIRS) to collect approved taxes. It said these taxes are to be published soon by the Joint Tax Board (JTB), an umbrella body of all tax jurisdictions of the three tiers of government in the country. The new policy, which is with immediate effect, will henceforth attract serious penalties for any state that contravenes it.
Updated 7 Years ago

In the 1970s, Switzerland’s watchmakers were almost put out of business when they underestimated the importance of the quartz watch. Though the industry recovered and is prospering, today it faces a new technological challenge from “smartwatches” such as Samsung Electronics Co. (005930)’s $299 Galaxy Gear. As with quartz four decades ago, the devices are being met with a shrug, Bloomberg reports. According to a survey by consultants Deloitte, two-thirds of executives in the Swiss industry say smartwatches pose no threat.
Updated 7 Years ago

The federal and state governments on Monday took a step closer to ending the regime of multiple taxes in the country as the Ministerial Implementation Committee on Multiple Taxation met in Abuja to deliberate on the road map. The National Economic Council had constituted an ad hoc committee to review the presentation made by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria on multiple taxation and other challenges facing businesses in the country.
Updated 7 Years ago

Apparently as a result of the inability of the West African Gas Pipeline to supply sufficient gas to the country, Ghana is looking to develop its own gas resources to help drive thermal power generation in the country. It would be recalled that the $1 billion transnational gas pipeline, the first sub-regional natural gas project in sub-Saharan Africa, was initiated by the governments of Nigeria, Benin, Ghana and Togo to supply gas from the Escravos region of the Niger Delta to feed the gas-fired generating plants of the three participating countries.
Updated 7 Years ago

Nigeria’s apex maritime regulator, the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) said it was time to begin the development of the country’s shipping and maritime human capacity to bridge and save about N930 billion ($6bn), which the country was losing in capital flight to foreign seafarers. NIMASA’s Director-General, Mr Patrick Akpobolokemi, said the Nigerian investors must begin to take strategic position in the maritime sub-sector hinting that the business of scrapping and recycling of the one-hull ships remained lucrative and would become ripe in 2015. He said this in a speech delivered at a training programme in Oron, Akwa Ibom State organised by the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria and sponsored by NIMASA.
Updated 7 Years ago

The nation was yesterday saved from another disaster of huge magnitude with the timely and decisive control of a fire that gutted a section of Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) in Delta State. LEADERSHIP gathered that the fire started at about 11am from one of the refining plants and was on the verge of spreading but for the timely intervention of fire fighters. It was learnt that fire fighters from Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL), (Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), the state’s fire fighters as well as the standby fire fighters from the WRPC and that of PPMC battled for about two hours before the raging inferno was brought under control.
Updated 7 Years ago

Apple Inc. isn’t acting worried about competition for the iPad. Even as rivals such as Amazon.com Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. and Google Inc. introduce tablets at cheaper prices, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook went in the opposite direction yesterday. He unveiled a new iPad mini with a high-definition screen that starts at $399, $70 more expensive than last year’s model. Apple also introduced a lighter and thinner design for its larger tablet, renamed iPad Air, starting at the same price of $499.
Updated 7 Years ago