Business

Dangote urges private sector to commit 1% profit to health

Published

4 years ago

November 18, 2020

Chairman, Aliko Dangote Foundation, and Africa’s biggest philanthropist, Aliko Dangote, has urged all operators in the private sector to commit one per cent of their profits to fund the health sector in Nigeria.

This, he said, would enable the country to tackle major health crises such as the coronavirus pandemic.

Dangote noted that such an allocation, which would be a separate payment from the corporate tax usually paid to the government would improve needed funding to boost the nation’s ailing health sector, as Nigeria continues to grapple with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dangote said such an allocation, which would be separate from the corporate tax usually paid to the government, would improve the needed funding to boost the nation’s ailing health sector.

He made the suggestions while responding to questions posed to him by a moderator Francine Lacqua during the virtual Bloomberg New Economic Forum, at a session titled, ‘Cross-sector mobilisation in times of crisis: Public health perspective.”

Asked if funding was one of the main barriers to dealing with health crisis effectively, Dangote said, “Yes, I agree with you. It is more to do with funding. Like what we are doing in Nigeria as a foundation (Aliko Dangote Foundation), we are trying to sponsor a bill to our congress where we want them to impose a tax.

“This is a separate tax, not a corporate tax, of maybe about one per cent of all our profits, in the private sector, so that they will fund health.

“And I think it is the only way; we cannot just leave government alone. Government alone cannot fund health. So, we the foundations, the private sector and then the government, we have to actually work together to make sure that we fund health. You know, it is a very, very important sector and without a healthy population, there is no way you have a healthy economy.”

Dangote added, “For us here in Nigeria, mostly in Africa, the COVID-19 is really an eye-opener because when you look at it, we have two impacts. One is the human impact, the other one is the economy.

“One, I think in Africa, most of it is actually the economic impact, because what you have done at the beginning, we shut down all our activities, we shut down the airports. So, when you look at the economic impact for us, it is huge. But the human impact, we as at today we have about 65,000 cases or thereabouts in Nigeria, and we have 1,165 deaths.”

Business

NNPC rejected Dangote $750m offer to manage Nigeria’s refineries, days Obasanjo

Published

6 hours ago

January 2, 2025

Trends Admin

Former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo

NNPC rejected Dangote $750m offer to manage Nigeria’s refineries, days Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has disclosed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) rejected a $750 million offer from billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote.

In an exclusive interview with Channels TV, former President Olusegun Obasanjo revealed that in 2007, Dangote offered a staggering $750 million to manage the Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries.

Obasanjo explained that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), now rebranded as NNPCL, rejected the offer due to its inability to operate the refineries effectively.

NNPC rejected Dangote $750m offer to manage Nigeria’s refineries, days Obasanjo

Auto

Yuletide: Chisco deploys new luxury, mini buses, top quality services

Published

1 day ago

January 1, 2025

Trends Admin

Yuletide: Chisco deploys new luxury, mini buses, top quality services

…hails Tinubu for 50% fare rebate

Nigeria’s Transport Company of the Year, Chisco Transport Ltd, has deployed in various routes nationwide its newly procured new luxury and mini buses with the latest innovative features in the industry.

It assured the travelling public of safe and top quality services on all its routes this Christmas/New Year season, and beyond.

It stated this in a statement released on Tuesday, adding that the company, which had been one of the country’s front runners in long distance passenger transportation and logistics for over 45 years, recently inaugurated about four new branches in order to bring its services closer to its teeming customers.

It listed some of the new branches that had helped to boost service delivery this Yuletide season as in Awka, Enugu, and on Okota Road (near Cele Bus Stop on Oshodi-Apapa expressway), Lagos.

It stated, “This is in addition to embarking on a comprehensive maintenance of the existing fleet of buses in order to ensure they are in roadworthy shape for trips across Nigeria and the Lagos-Cotonou-Lome-Accra international route.

“Apart from advanced safety features like real-time GPS tracking and efficient safety systems, the new-look Chisco Transport fleet, featuring state-of-the-art buses, has all it takes to guarantee that passengers travel in style with their comfort and safety prioritised this season.”

It stated that the updated fleet had enhanced the popular Chisco 24 to 48-hour nationwide mail and parcel services.

All these, the leading transport solutions and logistics provider said, are part of deliberate efforts to ensure seamless and comfortable bus and logistic services to the customers during the 2024 Yuletide season and thereafter.

Chisco’s Head of Business Operations, Mr Buchi Ochuba, in the statement explained that the same commitment to ensuring safe and comfortable trips out of major cities and towns before Christmas, would also be deployed to return journeys in the new year.

He said that the management was aware that the huge investments the company had been making towards upscaling its services recently earned it the Transport Company of the Year at the recent Nigeria Auto Journalists Association (NAJA) Awards in Lagos.

Ochuba reiterated Chisco Transport’s resolve to sustain the high standards that earned the company an enviable reputation, as well as continue investments in safety and comfort of travellers that have earned it the confidence of the travelling public and the auto journalists’ award.

“We appreciate the fact that in adjudging Chisco Transport the Transport Company of the Year, NAJA must have taken into consideration the high standards of our services, the over 50 new air-conditioned buses we procured recently, the new branches we inaugurated, our customer reward scheme and other investments we made to enhance passenger transportation and logistics,” Ochuba stated.

According to him, everything is in place to make certain that the teeming Chisco Transport customers all over Nigeria and on the international route enjoy top quality services, adding “We wish them a wonderful Christmas and a highly prosperous 2025.”

Chisco Transport also applauded President Bola Tinubu for the gesture of subsidising inter-state luxury bus transport fares by 50 percent this Christmas season.

Drawing attention to the importance of infrastructure to the road transportation business, the statement further commended the President for the appreciable allocations for the sector in the 2025 budget.

“We, therefore, wish to urge members of his cabinet to put in more deliberate efforts to help the President attain his vision with speedy and prudent execution inspired by patriotism.”

On the current sharp increase in fares across the routes, the award-winning transport company blamed the situation on rising costs of maintaining the buses, as well as on the high pump prices of diesel and petrol.

The Head of Operations, however, added that at the peak of every Christmas season, long distance buses are almost empty during return trips, which leads to a situation whereby the fares for the first journeys are raised to cushion the losses incurred during reverse trips.