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Channel your energy on entrepreneurship, NCDMB boss, tells Nigerian youths
From Felix Omatsola Ogbe, Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) came a sound advice to youths across the country – channel your energy into entrepreneurship, and you cannot go wrong.
Ogbe, at the inauguration of Yikodeen Company Limited, in Lagos on Tuesday the NCDMB boss, represented by Abayomi Bamidele, Director of Capacity Building, was full of encomiums for the company, describing its journey in Nigeria as one that inspires national pride.
Pledging the agency’s full support for the company, he said NCDMB would ensure its “world-class” products would be utilised in-country, expressing delight at its expanded manufacturing plant, located in Ejigbo, Lagos State – a 120,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility capable of producing 5,000 pairs of safety boots per day.
Ogbe, who also described the inauguration as a landmark event that aligned with the Board’s core mandate to promote local content across Nigeria’s oil and gas value chain and beyond, added: “Enterprises like Yikodeen are at the heart of what we stand for at NCDMB. The ‘D’ in our name stands for Development, and the ‘M’ means Monitoring, which describes our dedicated effort to ensure Nigerian-made products are not just produced but utilized.”
Stressing NCDMB’s full and continued support the company, especially as its products met global standards and were already being adopted in the oil and gas industry, cited the Federal Government’s ‘Nigeria First’ policy, stressing its implications across all sectors.
“The President, through the Bureau of Public Procurement, has directed that all safety footwear procured with public funds must be made in Nigeria. Yikodeen stands to benefit immensely from this directive if strategically positioned.”
Showering profuse praises on the company’s owners, he said: “If indeed he started in 2016, and you take away nine years from his age, you can imagine what he looked like when he started this dream. That ‘shoemaker’ is now a billionaire shoemaker.”
Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Governor of Lagos State, represented by Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment, lauded the company’s achievement, describing it as symbolic of Lagos’ industrial vision.
His words: “From a modest workshop in 2016, Yikodeen has emerged as the largest footwear manufacturing company in West Africa. This is not just a factory; it is a movement, a demonstration that Lagos can produce, compete, and export globally.”
Sanwo-Olu, who affirmed that the factory directly aligned with the Lagos State Industrial Policy (2025–2030), which seeks to double manufacturing’s contribution to the state’s Gross Domestic Product from 7.5 per cent to at least 15 per cent by 2030, reduce dependence on imports for basic consumer goods, and foster an ecosystem where local industries can thrive through forward and backward value chain integration, added: “Yikodeen is not only producing shoes; it is producing livelihoods, opportunities, and dignity.”
Atunde Shamsideen, founder and CEO, while recounting his entrepreneurial journey, described the venture as a stubborn dream born in 2015, adding: “This vision started in a room, with just 20 pairs of shoes. Today, we produce over 2,000 pairs daily to ISO, ASTM, and Nigerian industrial standards.”
He commended the NCDMB for its pivotal role in his company’s growth, noting how the Board helped facilitate years of product testing and eventual adoption by oil and gas companies like Saipem and Daewoo.
“Their enforcement ensured our products got through. Today, those same companies are our biggest customers. Just two percent of safety boots used in Nigeria is locally manufactured. If we enforce local purchase in the oil and gas and public sectors, we can create over 35,000 jobs.”
Yikodeen’s production ecosystem already engages women in raw material recycling and trains over 1,000 people yearly, according to the CEO. “Buying Made-in-Nigeria goes far beyond commerce; it is about creating value chains, livelihoods, and national dignity,” he added.
The Director for Lagos Operations, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, Mrs Teresa Ojomo, who represented the Director General, Dr Ifeanyi Okeke, praised Yikodeen’s adherence to national and international safety standards.
“This is not just a facility; it’s a declaration that Nigerian manufacturing can lead globally. SON will continue to support companies like Yikodeen who take quality seriously,” he said.
Okeke underscored SON’s partnership with Yikodeen since 2006, culminating in the Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme certification, which assures consumers of quality and safety.
He also cited Yikodeen’s certification under critical standards such as NIS ISO 20346:2004 and ISO 20345:2022, adding, “Standards are not obstacles — they are enablers. They are the bridge between ambition and market access.”
The Ogwa-Olusan of Warri, Chief Brown Mene, representing HRM, Ogiame Atuwatse III, CFR, the Olu of Warri, described Yikodeen as a beacon of hope for Nigeria.
He likened the company to a stubborn vision that refused to be beaten by headwinds, proving that “Nigeria is on an upward trend.”
He also urged the team to remain visionary and expand globally, assuring that “the name of Yikodeen will blaze bright and proud.”
Seriake Dickson, National Leader of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), on Wednesday showcased Peter Obi, its presidential candidate in the 2027 election, but gave a proviso – his importance would not be at the expense of the party.
A guest on Prime Time, a public affairs programme on ARISE NEWS Television, the former Governor of Bayelsa State, now Senator representing West at the National Assembly, maintained that the belief in some quarters that Obi’s entrance into the party was a favour was completely misplaced.
Instead, he argued that the opposite was the case, as it was the party that was doing its candidates a favour by giving them the opportunity to contest elective positions on its platform in the 2027 elections, a gesture that ought to be returned.
Hear him: “Don’t make it look like anyone is doing NDC a favour. No one is. Rather, the NDC and I and my colleagues are doing people a favour by granting our platform. If you are genuinely supporting Peter Obi and you are disparaging me, the leader, or the platform itself. That is nonsensical.”
Stressing that NDC had demonstrated confidence in Obi by adopting Obi as its sole presidential candidate and selecting a vice-presidential candidate without internal disputes, he said it was enough to earn its leadership the gratitude it deserved.
He added: “Nobody paid shishi. So, if a presidential candidate didn’t pay shishi to be made the sole presidential candidate and sole vice-presidential candidate, that same party cannot be the one saying that small people are underprivileged.
“I could have run. There’s no one more qualified than me. There’s no one more qualified than me to run for presidential candidate. None. There is no crisis within the NDC. Peter Obi is a cherished member of our party. On our own, we have made him a presidential candidate. Sole presidential candidate. And that counts for something. We are working well together. There’s no crisis.”
Invoking its zero tolerance on issues of security breaches, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), has clamped down on aircraft and crew of the privately operated jet that landed on a roadway in the Ogwashi-Uku area near Asaba, Delta state.
Even with regulatory body for airline operations in Nigeria informed that no casualties were recorded in the incident, it still went for its sanctions in line with its sworn position of maintaining maximum safety at every point.
In a statement on Wednesday, Michael Achimugu, its spokesman said preliminary reports indicated that the aircraft conducted a missed approach while attempting to land at Asaba airport at about 7:43am.
Achimugu: Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, said: “Reports received from personnel at the scene indicate that all occupants safely exited the aircraft and were transported to Asaba by road,” Achimugu said. The aircraft had four (4) crew members on board. At this time, no injuries to passengers or crew have been reported.
“Preliminary information available to the authority indicated that the aircraft later departed the location and returned to Lagos without obtaining the required regulatory approval. Air traffic control was informed only after the aircraft had become airborne.”
Stressing that the action constitutes a violation of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs) and is currently under investigation by the authority, he said the NCAA immediately grounded the aircraft upon its arrival in Lagos pending the outcome of investigations.
He added: “The flight crew have been placed under regulatory review while the NCAA conducts further inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the occurrence and the subsequent unauthorised departure of the aircraft.
“The NCAA has formally notified the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) of the occurrence and is coordinating with relevant aviation stakeholders, including the operator and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency to establish the full circumstances surrounding the incident.”
Stating that the NCAA immediately suspended the operator’s permit for non-commercial flight (PNCF), he added that the authority would review all operational, airworthiness, maintenance and flight-related records as part of its statutory responsibilities and take further enforcement action in accordance with applicable aviation regulations.
Achimugu said the NCAA remains committed to maintaining the highest standards of aviation safety, security, and regulatory compliance within the Nigerian aviation sector.
Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), on Wednesday, swore to the integrity of the process that led to his picking the party’s ticket, saying it remained untainted and consistent with the wills of the members.
Against the backdrop of the insistence of Babachir Lawal, former Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), that he stole the ticket by corrupting the process, Atiku, Vice President between 1999 and 2007, pooh-poohed the claim.
Before the former SGF Rotimi Amaechi, former Governor of Rivers State and Minister of Transportation as well as Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, former Chairman of Nigeria Economic Summit Group, both candidates in the contest for the ADC ticket, had rejected the process as flawed, even before the outcome.
Lawal, who had earlier announced his resignation from the ADC a fortnight ago and made sundry allegations of gaming the system against Atiku, had doubled down on Monday, while appearing on Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television, claiming he personally monitored the exercise and had evidence that the primary was rigged.
Hear him: “Don’t forget I was the National Vice Chairman (North-East). I was in the field during the exercise, so I have evidence. Atiku’s people are the ones trying to deny what they did. We are all human beings. We know what they did. I knew the primary was rigged at the point it was being done and the results declared.”
Regardless that neither Amaechi nor Hayatu-Deen had recanted their original position Atiku, insisted that nothing was amiss, adding that his opponents actually won in the areas of their individual popularity and stronghold.
Conveying his position through Phrank Shaibu, his spokesman, who appeared as a guest on Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television, the former VP said: “Anybody who claims rigging or irregularity in the last election should check the places and locations they won. Where are the states that Rotimi Amaechi won? If you check the figures and the margins he got there, you will know that those are his strongholds. It was not a fraudulent process.
Maintaining that the burden of proving any fraud rested on the former SGF Shaibu, Shaibu depicted his boss as the most popular among the contestants, arguing that the outcome of the event should not be surprising to anybody.
He said of the ex-SGF: “Babachir reminds me of a baby who is yanked off her mother’s breast while suckling. It is like a deprived suckling; definitely the baby will throw tantrums. He admitted on your show that his preferred candidate was Hayatu-Deen. He worked for him.”
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