As part of ongoing activities to commemorate its 75th anniversary, Africa’s Global Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has rewarded 30 loyal customers with over N17 million in the just concluded draw for August.

The winners were announced following a transparent draw conducted on Friday, August 31, 2024, at the bank’s headquarters, which was streamed live on YouTube. Representatives from the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) were invited to oversee the proceedings, ensuring fairness and compliance with regulations.

In the top tier, ten lucky bumper account holders: Joshua Izenobor, Chigozie Victor Abel, Cornelius Peter Nwankwo, Joy Esele Asibor, Mohammed Abubakar, Marachi Jenifer Kevin, Chidinma J. Okoronkwo, Saidu Ahmadu, Philomena Ezekiel, and Peace Ogechi Idoko, emerged as winners of N1 million each.

In the second category, another group of ten lucky customers were rewarded with N500,000 each. The beneficiaries of this prize are Elizabeth Warekoromor, Deborah Ijeoma Simon, Prince Chukwuamago, Yohanna Cyrus, Aishatu Aliyu, Djachi Ben-Ikezam, Tibebi Glory Esiteh, Emmanuel C. Udekwe, Ozima Friday Asiku, and Beauty Danasabe.

The third category saw ten more lucky account holders each receiving N250,000. These winners include Olusegun Oke, Salisu Adamu, Sola Deborah Adeyeye, Chidozie Nwachukwu, Gloria Abimaje, Anyiwe Stephen Ifeanyi, Kehinde F Adefemiwa, Oluwakemi Olushola Olayande, Adamu Hajara Adamu, and Ruth Adugba.

UBA’s Group Head of Retail & Digital Banking, Shamsideen Fashola, who congratulated all 30 winners after the draw, encouraged others to keep saving for a chance to win in the next edition, adding that the bank plans to reward 75 winners in each of the three categories, with a total of 195 more customers to be selected in the coming months.

“This is just the beginning of our legacy promo draw, as there are still many more prizes to be won in subsequent monthly draws. These draws are purely transparent, and the next millionaire could just be you. We encourage our loyal customers to follow the stated guidelines to win, and they could just be the next millionaire,” Fashola said.

UBA’s Group Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications, Alero Ladipo, added that the bank is not conducting the draw for profit purposes but to ensure that its customers feel a sense of belonging.

“This initiative is part of UBA’s ongoing efforts to appreciate its customers and encourage a savings culture among our account holders. The UBA Legacy Promo is part of our CSR initiative to give back to society,” Ladipo said.

United Bank for Africa is one of the largest employers in the financial sector on the African continent, with 25,000 employees group-wide and serving over 45 million customers globally. Operating in twenty African countries and the United Kingdom, the United States of America, France and the United Arab Emirates, UBA provides retail, commercial and institutional banking services, leading financial inclusion and implementing cutting edge technology.

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) will decide whether to purchase petrol from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited or Dangote Petroleum Refinery based on pricing.

According to IPMAN’s National Publicity Secretary, Ukadike Chinedu, the association will opt for the supplier offering the best price.

In an interview (with The Punch) on Monday, Chinedu noted that NNPC’s clarification that it is not the sole off-taker of Dangote’s products grants dealers the flexibility to source supplies from the cheaper option.

“Now that NNPC has said they are not the sole off-taker of Dangote petrol, it then means that the price of the product would determine where we are going to buy it. If NNPC imports the product and its price is cheaper than that of Dangote, we will buy from NNPC,” Chinedu said.

He said the situation reflects the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and the government’s removal of petrol subsidy, with the pricing of petrol now determined by the principles of demand and supply.

Chinedu said this competition will eventually drive down prices.

On whether marketers had started making plans to import if the imported product is more affordable, he said Abubakar Maigandi, IPMAN’s national president, has initiated discussions with investors, with plans underway to secure funding based on the current market trends.

“So, we are talking with some foreign partners because you need to understand that independent marketers are the highest buyers of diesel from Dangote refinery because we control about 80 percent of the filling stations nationwide,” he added.

“So, if Dangote PMS is cheaper we will buy it, but if importation is cheaper, we will go for it.”

Similarly, Mustapha Zarma, national operations controller of IPMAN, said while the association has not yet contacted the Dangote refinery’s sales department on the price, it plans to do so soon.

Zarma said the decision to buy from Dangote or NNPC would be based on which supplier offers a better return on investment and required margins.

“We may contact the refinery’s sales department this week to find out the price,” Zarma said.

“If the price is competitive enough for one to buy and get his return on investment and the required margin, then we wouldn’t mind purchasing directly from him to complement what NNPC is bringing in or what NNPC would buy from Dangote.

“I believe that we are going to analyse the price of Dangote petrol and see the advantages of buying from Dangote viz-a-viz importation. Whichever we feel is cheaper will automatically attract everybody, especially if importation is cheaper.”

He stressed that competition would help prevent price monopoly, with the market determining local prices for refined petroleum products.

“That will bring about competition and I don’t think the government will allow price monopoly. They would want a competitive market where the laws of demand and supply would determine the local price of refined petroleum products, just like diesel is right now,” he said.

“And with that, there is going to be some kind of equilibrium in the pricing and there is going to be guaranteed sustainability of supply.”

On September 7, NNPC denied reports that it intends to become Dangote refinery’s sole distributor.

The company also said there is no guarantee domestic refining would lead to lower prices compared to global parity pricing.

NNPC said Dangote refinery and any other domestic refinery are free to sell directly to any marketer on a willing buyer, willing seller basis, which is the current practice for all fully deregulated products.

Nigeria’s telecom services are at risk of nationwide disruption as approximately 800 workers from the Private Telecommunications and Communications Senior Staff Association began a strike on Monday.

The union, primarily comprising contract staff, has warned that failure to meet its demands will result in significant disruptions to telecom operations, potentially leaving millions of subscribers without service.

The union’s key demands include:

– Reinstatement of sacked workers

– Recognition of the union

– Improved working conditions

– Remittance of membership dues

The strike has become inevitable because of the prevalent precarious working conditions our members are enduring in the sector, the refusal of the employers to recognise and respect the constitutional right of these workers to freely associate with the union, and the unjust sack of three members of the union,” it stated in its seven-day strike notice.

The union’s Secretary-General, Okonu Abdullahi, said the association’s 800 workers play a significant role in managing critical infrastructure like base stations for infrastructure companies such as IHS, Huawei, etc.

“The implications of the strike will be massive because we have told all our members not to respond to any service outage from our employers. The fact remains that there are outages every day, and if our engineers do not respond to those outages, subscribers in those areas will be affected,” he said.

He said members of the union include field maintenance engineers, transmission engineers, customer service engineers, fibre engineers, and other critical staff working for telecom service companies.

The culpable companies include among others, Huawei Technologies Nigeria Limited, Tylium Nigeria Limited, Specific Tools & Techniques, CPNL (Chinese Pacific Networks Limited) and CITCC (China International Telecommunications Construction Corporation), JUSPARTNER.

Telcos like MTN, Globacom, Airtel, 9mobile own base stations and fibre infrastructure but often outsource management to servicing companies.

These companies, in turn, sometimes subcontract the work to smaller contractors, who employ the striking workers. This complex web of outsourcing has led to concerns about worker welfare and job security.

The telecom union had in April embarked on a similar strike over a similar situation, which was resolved through a reconciliatory meeting convened by the Ministry of Labour between the union and the telecom servicing companies.

According to the PTECSSAN secretary, “The labour ministry had intervened in our previous industrial action, but unfortunately, the companies are still repeating the same issues, which have now escalated because we have more members participating in this strike.”

When asked if the Federal Government or the companies have engaged with the union on the current industrial action, he said, “We have given them ample opportunity to address our demands, but they have chosen to ignore us. If they continue to neglect our grievances, we will have no choice but to take more drastic measures.”

The officer in charge of the telecoms sector at the Ministry of Labour, Princess Powei, acknowledged the workers’ concerns and assured that the government is committed to resolving the issues promptly.

Powei who was part of the team that resolved the previous strike by the workers in April, stated, “One thing I can assure you is that the strike will not linger. I will start making calls now to see what we can do to ensure that the grievances are addressed.”

In a phone conversation with our correspondent, a top Huawei official from China, identified only as Bruce, denied that any of his team members were participating in the ongoing strike by the PTECSSAN.

Bruce stated that all employees were working in the office and had not received any notification about the strike.

“As far as I know, everyone is working, and I don’t think anyone is involved in this,” Bruce said. “However, I will verify the situation with my team.”

When questioned about field workers, the Huawei representative acknowledged that they might be impacted by the strike, but clarified that they were not directly employed by Huawei. Instead, they were part of subcontracting teams.

In April, when the union embarked on a similar strike, The Punch reached out to Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria, for comments. He stated that the union was unknown to mobile operators, saying:

“This group is not known to us in ALTON, and the companies mentioned are not members of ALTON. ALTON subscribes to freedom of association, and we are open to dialogue for the greater good,” he said in a chat.

The union was asked if it had any recognition or affiliation with the telcos; Abdullahi responded, “We’ve tried to contact ALTON, but they’ve never made themselves available to discuss issues with us.

“We wrote to them in 2020 and 2021, sent reminders, and even followed up with calls, but they always had excuses, such as their chairman being out of the country. We’re wondering why they’re ignoring us, especially since they’re aware of our existence,” he said.

According to The Punch, the President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, Tony Emoekpere, said that he was not aware of the matter regarding the potential strike by telecom workers, as the union is not affiliated with the association.

However, Emoekpere emphasized the critical importance of protecting the telecom sector, saying, “Telecom services have become a critical infrastructure that must be safeguarded at all costs.”

He further stressed that the telecom industry is a vital asset to the country, adding, “Anything that jeopardizes its functionality must be protected. We cannot afford to compromise the stability of this essential sector.”

Credit: The Punch