Daily Watch – Unions take the advantage, Nollywood comes of age

Nigeria lost an estimated $2.8 billion in revenues between July 1, 2018 and December 31, 2018, to mainly oil-related crimes. In a new ‘Report by the Secretary-General on the activities of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS)’, released Monday, maritime crime and piracy off the coast of West Africa continued to pose a threat to peace, security and development in the region. Between January 1 and November 23, there were 82 reported incidents of maritime crime and piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, the report said, noting that compared to the situation reflected in the previous report, there was an increase in drug trafficking throughout West Africa and the Sahel.

The FG has agreed to transmit the bill for a new national minimum wage of ₦30,000 to the National Assembly on January 23 after unions threatened a nationwide strike. The FG’s decision is coming after three days of talks between union leaders and a government delegation led by the minister of labour and employment, Chris Ngige. The unions have reportedly agreed to the date, but warned that a breach will lead to action taken without reverting to the government. The NLC and other labour unions demand that the national minimum wage be increased to ₦30,000 ($83) from the current ₦18,000 ($50).

African films scoring website, Filming Africa has listed Kemi Adetiba’s blockbuster, King of Boys and Genevieve Nnaji’s directorial debut, Lion Heart as being among the top 10 Nollywood films for 2018. Other movies ranked in no particular order include God Calling directed by BB Sasore, Black Rose by Okey Oku, The Delivery Boy by Adewale Adejuyigbe and Kasala by Ema Edosio. Rounding up the top 10 are Power of One directed by Izu Ojukwu, Sylvia directed by Daniel Oriahi, Chief Daddy by Niyi Akinmolanyan and Heaven on My Mind by Uche Jombo. The Filming Africa also released a list of top ten Nollywood actors in 2018, which has Nkem Owoh, Lilian Echelon, Zainab Balogun, Jemima Osunde and Sola Sobowale. Others are Emeka Nwabaroaocha, Genevieve Nnaji, Pete Edochie, Patience Ozokwo and Jammal Ibrahim. In the last few years, Nollywood movies have increased in cost, scope and delivery, and are beginning to be seen more in economic terms.

The CBN is considering a new set of regulations that will allow more companies that are not in the financial sector to transfer money. This effort by the regulator is to facilitate the extension of financial services to the 50 million adults still without a bank account in the country, which relying on lenders alone cannot be achieved. The new regulation has attracted telecommunications firms, including the MTN Group, interested in applying for licenses that will allow them, and even supermarket chains, to create units that can collect deposits and maintain savings accounts. In November 2018, the CBN set a basic requirement of $275,000 to $14 million for payment service providers as minimum adequacy ratios before getting operating licenses.