Economy
NEPC Urges Nigerian Manufacturers To Leverage Export Opportunities

NEPC Urges Nigerian Manufacturers To Leverage Export Opportunities
NEPC urges Nigerian manufacturers to leverage export opportunities. The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has called on Nigerian manufacturers to seek relevant information on enhancing the export potential of their products.
The Head of Product and Marketing Department, NEPC Ogun State Office, Hadiza Kashiat, made this appeal during a Strategic Focus Group meeting organized by the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Kashiat noted that one of the major challenges hindering Nigerian manufacturers from exporting their goods is their failure to seek necessary information on export procedures.
“Many manufacturers do not take the time to understand the requirements for exporting their products. Even when we provide publications on these guidelines, most people do not read them. Rather than just complaining, we need to utilize the resources available to us,” she said.
She also urged Nigerians to embrace locally made products, emphasizing that many rejected Nigerian goods are of superior quality compared to imported alternatives.
“We must change our mindset. Many made-in-Nigeria products are high-quality, yet they are overlooked. For instance, Nigerian lubricants rank among the best globally, and Malaysia still sources palm oil from Nigeria.
If we continue to reject our own products, how can we expect economic growth?” she questioned.
NASENI Pushes for Increased Patronage of Local Products
Speaking at the event, NASENI Team Leader, Mr. Babajide Soyya, stressed that the low demand for Nigerian-made products negatively impacts the economy, leading to job losses as industries in other countries benefit from Nigeria’s import dependence.
To address this, he revealed that NASENI is working with stakeholders to gather insights on boosting local production and innovation.
The agency is also collaborating with industries, empowering skilled labor, and signing Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) to promote manufacturing and technological advancements in Nigeria.
“We are engaging focus groups and stakeholders to determine the best ways to promote and encourage the use of Nigerian products. Our goal is to strengthen local manufacturing and drive technological progress,” Soyya stated.
The meeting, themed ‘Made in Nigeria for Everyone’, examined challenges facing Nigerian manufacturers and explored possible solutions. It was the fourth in a series, following previous sessions in Lagos, Kano, and Kaduna States.

NEPC Urges Nigerian
The event had in attendance key stakeholders, including representatives from the Nigeria Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Ogun State Chamber of Commerce, Mines and Agriculture (OGCCIMA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), National Association of Small-Scale Industries (NASSI), and the Faculty of Engineering, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), among others.
Economy
Adewale Adeniyi Transforming Nigeria Customs Service For Greater Efficiency

Adewale Adeniyi Transforming Nigeria Customs Service For Greater Efficiency
Adewale Adeniyi Transforming Nigeria customs service for Greater Efficiency. The appointment of Adewale Adeniyi as the 31st Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has ushered in a wave of transformative reforms, enhancing efficiency and service delivery within the agency.
Modernizing the Customs Service
Under Adeniyi’s leadership, the NCS has implemented innovative strategies that have not only streamlined trade facilitation but also significantly boosted revenue generation.
These reforms have reinforced the service’s role as a critical player in economic growth, international trade, and border security.
Legislative Overhaul: A New Legal Framework
One of the major milestones achieved during Adeniyi’s tenure is the Nigeria Customs Act 2023, signed into law on April 20, 2023. This law replaces outdated customs regulations, ensuring a modernized, autonomous, and internationally compliant customs administration under the supervision of the Minister of Finance.
Strategic Reforms for Efficiency
Adeniyi introduced several key reforms aimed at improving trade processes and customs operations:
Time Release Study (TRS): This tool, developed by the World Customs Organization (WCO), helps identify delays in the clearance of goods, allowing for more efficient trade processing.
Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) Program: Recognizing compliant businesses in international trade, this initiative strengthens the supply chain and improves security.

Adewale Adeniyi
Customs Trade Modernization Project (TMP): Launched in 2022, this project is expected to generate $250 billion in revenue and create employment opportunities as the NCS expands its workforce.
Boosting Revenue and Trade Facilitation
Adeniyi’s reforms have led to record-breaking revenue collection, with the NCS generating over N5 trillion in 2024 and setting an ambitious target of N6 trillion for 2025.
Through strategic stakeholder engagement, legal modernization, and cutting-edge trade facilitation measures, the Nigeria Customs Service is now better positioned to drive economic growth, enhance security, and improve global trade efficiency.
Economy
Oil Prices Hits $70/b As Nigeria’s Output Surpasses OPEC+ Quota For February

Oil Prices Hits $70/b As Nigeria’s Output Surpasses OPEC+ Quota For February
Oil Prices Hits $70/b as Nigeria’s output surpasses OPEC+ quota for February. Oil price steadied after the Organization of the Production Export Countries released its monthly report, with Brent crude maintaining its earlier gains, trading above $70 a barrel on Thursday.
OPEC said on Wednesday that Kazakhstan led a sizeable jump in February crude output by the wider OPEC+, highlighting a challenge for the producer group in enforcing adherence to agreed output targets.
In its monthly report for March 2025, OPEC+, which includes OPEC plus Russia and other allies, in February raised output by 363,000 barrels per day to 41.01 million bpd, led by Kazakhstan.
The hike is more than twice as much as a scheduled 138,000 bpd rise in OPEC+ output starting in April as the group phases out its most recent layer of output cuts.
The plan for higher output, as well as concern about trade tariffs, have put downward pressure on oil prices. Kazakhstan, the world’s largest landlocked country, has been producing at a record high, and well above its OPEC+ quota, as U.S. oil major Chevron.

Oil Prices
According to the OPEC data, which it compiles from secondary sources, Kazakhstan produced 1.767 million bpd of crude in February, up from 1.570 million bpd in January. Kazakhstan’s OPEC+ quota is 1.468 million bpd.
The OPEC data also showed some other OPEC+ nations such as the United Arab Emirates, Nigeria and Gabon pumping above their quotas, but by far smaller amounts.
Akwa Ibom
Umo Eno Commissions Model school In Oron, Charges Shool Heads On Maintwnance Culture

Umo Eno Commissions Model school In Oron, Charges Shool Heads On Maintwnance Culture
Umo Eno commissions model school in Oron, charges shool heads on maintwnance culture and directs head teachers to live in school
Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, has charged heads of schools and other institutions to ensure preservation of government infrastructures within their custody and to ensure that the intended benefits of government investments in the sector are delivered to the targeted beneficiaries.
He also tasked headmasters and headmistresses of model primary schools built across the State to utilize the live-in facilities to enhance their care for the pupils, and protection of the facilities in line with the aspirations of his administration’s ARISE Agenda.
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony of the Model Primary School, Uko-Oyukim in Oron Local Government Area, Governor Eno said a special education monitoring team was about to be activated to monitor the model schools, warning that any headteacher found not living on campus or whose school facilities are not well managed would be replaced.
He, therefore, tasked the Akwa Ibom State Infrastructure & Assets Management and Maintenance Agency to step up their vigilance over the educational facilities, adding that he was willing to bring to bear his private business experience as a hotelier, where he would work round the clock to ensure every guest enjoys utmost comfort, to make Akwa Ibom children receive the best from government investment in the education sector.
“Very soon, we are setting up education monitoring teams, and the team will help us ensure that all of these facilities are intact. They will monitor all these schools we are opening, from the washroom to the classrooms, all the facilities, the curriculum and of the work they are doing.
“The Headmasters or Headmistresses will also ensure that non of these facilities are destroyed. We must continue to maintain the standard. I am setting up a Governor’s Monitoring team, but they will work with the Honourable Commissioners to ensure that they give us the right information.
“If we come to your school, particularly our schools that are remodelled, and we find out that the standards are dropping, we will change the head Master or Mistress immediately.
If we come to the school and discover that you are not living on the school compound, we will send you back somewhere else.
“We can not use your money to put this edifice in place, only for it to go down in few months,” the Governor stated.
Speaking on behalf of Oron stakeholders, the Deputy Governor, Senator Akon Eyakenyi, described the emergence of Governor Umo Eno as God’s blessing to Akwa Ibom State and particularly thanked the Governor for accepting to be used to extend God’s love to Oron people.
According to Senator Eyakenyi, Governor Umo Eno’s value for education which fueled his drive to pursue and obtain a PhD has been demonstrated in his identification of primary education as being fundamentally imperative and therefore investing in giving Akwa Ibom children a good start up.

Umo Eno Commissions
The Commissioner for Education, Professor Ubong Umoh, presenting an overview of the project, commended Governor Umo Eno’s model primary school initiative, maintaining that such underscores his administration’s dedication to transforming the educational landscape thereby fostering academic excellence and social development.
He said the Uko-Oyukim Model Primary School, designed to accommodate 495 pupils in 19 fully furnished classrooms on a 25:1 pupils to teacher ratio, was fully equipped with library, early childcare development facilities, solar-powered ICT laboratory, modern sick bay, spacious auditorium, dedicated staff quarters, seperate gender-specific sanitary facilities, with comprehensive human kinetic facilities that enhances education and sports development.
Pupils of the school, little Miss Happiness Antai and Master Godwin Asuquo, conveyed the feelings of the school community through a special address and a ballad which expressed the gratitude of the pupils, teachers and their parents to the Governor for the kind gesture he has extended to them through the state-of-the-art facilities.
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