Digital entrepreneur, Leo Stan
Ekeh, has identified blackmail as the major reason why multinationals are
exiting Nigeria, warning that if nothing was done, more of such businesses and
indigenous ones may close shops in the coming months and years.
In a statement, Ekeh who is the
Chairman of Zinox Technologies Limited, an indigenous conglomerate with
international affiliations, urged President Bola Tinubu to address the critical
issues of corporate blackmail and bullying, which he said frustrate the Federal
Government’s effort at promoting ease-of-doing-business in the country.
While acknowledging that scarcity
of forex is a challenge for businesses operating in Nigeria, he said these
challenge can be surmounted especially with the new push by the Tinubu
government to inject more forex into the system.
He said the depreciation of the
naira, which dropped from N422.00/$ in June 2023 to N951.94/$ in December 2023
at the official window, following the floating of the naira by Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) is only a convenient reason cited by the exiting multinationals.
“On face value, some of the
exiting multinationals cite difficulty in procuring forex as reason for closing
shop in Nigeria but they are only being diplomatic. Many of them have had to
contend with all manner of blackmail and corporate bullying from professional
blackmailers aided by our slow judicial process.
“This has become an emerging but
very destructive business model in our country, and unfortunately, the legal
system is handicapped to protect the victims because of the long years it takes
to discharge a case,” he said.
According to Ekeh, the escalation
of corporate blackmail over the years is responsible for the low attraction of
foreign direct investments (FDI) relative to the size of Nigeria’s market and potential.
Referencing an open letter he
addressed to President Tinubu, Ekeh cited an issue of blackmail against his
Company TD Africa and himself by an Ibadan-based computer firm, Citadel Oracle
Concepts Limited owned by an Enugu State indigene, Mr. Benjamin Joseph, as a
case study of how much frustration investors suffer for doing business in
Nigeria. He said the matter had been investigated by several constituted agencies
and were found to be false.
Consequently, the Inspector
General of Police (IGP) charged him to court for giving false information in
2016, but for over eight years, Mr. Joseph has not been able to defend a one
count charge for false information instituted at the FCT High Court Abuja for a
case he reported. Mr. Joseph has been skipping court sessions or feigning
ill-health rather than appearing in court to defend himself and prove his claim
of fraud after the prosecution closed its case. He rather appeals to successive
Attorney-Generals to withdraw the case from court, knowing that his claims and allegations
are not true.
Ekeh urged the President to
prevail on the Attorney-General, Mr. Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) and any other
person/institution not to truncate the course of justice but to allow this case
and similar cases to run its full course in the interest of justice, fairness
and to convince the international community, including international investors,
that we respect and abide by the rule of law in Nigeria.
While expressing confidence in
the President to address the issue of blackmail, he suggested that Tinubu
should aggressively pursue a policy that promotes patronage of indigenous
manufacturers and service providers as a way of reflating the economy.
He said: “It is evident that the
core of the myriad challenges afflicting the nation today is our failure to
develop local capacities. We must embrace self-sufficiency by consuming what we
produce and supporting indigenous players across various sectors.”
He regretted that in spite of
several local content policies established by the Federal Government, such
policies are consistently disregarded by government employees and appointees,
wondering why “we send our children to the world's best institutions, where
they excel, yet we overlook the products they create.”
He gave the example of the
government of India which recently imposed restrictions on the importation of
laptops, tablets, all-in-one personal computers and ultra-small computers and
servers with immediate effect. This, according to him, was to boost local
productivity both by multinationals operating in India and indigenous Indian
companies to create more jobs, encourage proficiency, and discourage capital
flight.
“Mr. President, I humbly appeal
to you to be deliberate and decisive in encouraging indigenous producers and
service providers across all sectors. This way, we create a market for
indigenous products, build confidence in our economy and easily attract
international investors. The way we treat our local investors will determine
how many foreign investors we can attract,” he stressed.
Ekeh also urged the President to
activate the suspended national census because “Nigeria has already made
substantial investment in the programme with the acquisition of critical
technologies and training of personnel” explaining that allowing those systems
to lie fallow would lead to huge waste.
He said Nigeria needs a credible
national headcount now more than at any time given the flaws and logistics
challenges that attended the distribution of palliatives across the nation,
adding “a credible database is key for decision-making for planners, policy
makers and investors.”
While stressing the need to bring
the suspended census to a closure, he advised the government to release the
over 500,000 units of Tablet PCs used during the census to different educational
institutions nationwide after the headcount to enable the students acquire
relevant digital skills that will make them globally competitive.
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