News
CGS circulation raises dust at Customs
The interpretation of a circulation from the office of the chief of general staff is now raising dust in the department of Customs and Excise.
The bone of contention centres around whether a clearing and forward firm, Alhaji Yinusa Danjaki and Sons Limited had a monopoly of clearing rights over kolanuts imported into the country.
The firm had last March 12 applied to the CGS to be given te sole agency to clear kolanuts being imported by some Nigerians resident in some West African countries and who were repatriating their wealth into the country through the importation of kolanuts.
The firms also gave guarantee that full payment of all duties to the federal government would be ensured.
In its reply, the CGS in a letter signed on his behalf by Lt. Col. S.L. Teidi and addressed to the internal affairs minister, Col. John Shagaya, the CGS, said: “Reference A is a request by Alhaji Yinusa Danjaki to allow Nigerians resident in Ghana, Sierra-Leone, and Liberia repatriate their capital through the importation of kolanuts.”
“The chief of general staff has approved the recommendation made in reference C. Please inform the Customs and Excise department is issue a restricted circular to the Area Administrator of the ports traditionally associated with the importation of kolanuts to permit importation as recommended.”
The CGS message was accordingly passed to the Area Administrators concerned but then the problem of interpretation arose.
In a clarification circular dated July 7 and addressed to all the concerned area administrators, the retired deputy director of the Department of Customs and Excise in charge of Economic Relations, Research and Planning, Mr. O.A. Fafowora declared:
“Ambiguity arises from headquarters letter of CBCE/TECH/Importation Vol. IV of June 1987, in which one Alhaji Danjaki and Sons Limited, was granted permission to act as “Sole Clearing Agent for kolanuts to be imported by some groups of Nigerians returning home frm West Africa countries.
That letter should not be constructed as granting the Alhaji Danjaki a monopoly of agency for all Nigerians importing kolanuts from West Africa countries.”
Mr. Fafowora explained further that “Aside from being constitutionally indefensible, such a monopoly will create chaos in the importation of kolanuts which could come in from any of the ports in the country including those spelt out above.
It will also be impracticable and could ruin an otherwise perishable item if importers have to abandon their consignments at the ports in search of Alhaji Danjaki to clear for them.
Yinusa Danjaki that some of your Customs officials have failed to cooperate with him as regards the above correspondences and particularly his approved request of being the sole clearing agent for the affected Nigerians as the outlined in previous correspondences.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Fafowora was swept out of office along with the other big shots of the department in the mass purge of the department few months back.
In another interpretation contrary to Fafowora’s the new Director of Customs in a circular dated September 10, 1987 despatched to all Area Administrators and signed by one of his men said in part that Alhaji Yinusa Danjaki and Sons Limited is th appointed sole clearing agent for all importation of kolanuts.”
This circular sparked the wave of tongue wagging as most of the senior customs officials spoken to asserted that the new Director’s circular was a gross circular “was a gross misinterpretation of the CGS’s circular of August 31, 1987, according to one of the protesting officers who like Fafowora said it was wrong to give sole clearing rights a clearing agent in the midst of many.
The operating words in the circular from the office of the CGS dated August 31 is “approved request of being the sole clearing agent for the affected Nigerians” said one of the Area Administrators adding that giving sole clearing right to an individual was questionable.”
This he added “will obviously defeat the intention of the government lifting the ban administratively.”
The interpretation did not go down well with Alhaji Danjaki who repetitioned the CGS on the issue, that some custom officials were not cooperating with him.
The CGS office in a letter dated August 31, 1987 and signed by Lt. Col. S.L. Teidi for the CGS and despatched to the Internal Affairs Permanent Secretary, Alhaji Dahiru said amongst others.
A new technology transfer agreement between the Nigeria–China Strategic Partnership (NCSP) and the Presidential Implementation Committee on Technology Transfer (PICTT) is expected to open more job opportunities, improve local skills, and expand access to advanced technology for ordinary Nigerians.
In a press statement reaching Vanguard on Friday, the MoU aims to strengthen industrial development, support local content, and create clearer pathways for Nigerians to benefit from China’s growing investments in the country.
PICTT Chairman, Dr Dahiru Mohammed, said the partnership will immediately begin coordinated programmes that support local participation in infrastructure and industrial projects.
Special Adviser to the President on Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr John Uwajumogu, said the deal will help attract high value investments that can stimulate job creation and strengthen Nigeria’s economy.
NCSP Head of International Relations, Ms Judy Melifonwu, highlighted that Nigerians stand to gain from expanded STEM scholarships, technical training, access to modern technology, and collaboration across key sectors including steel, agriculture, automobile parks, and cultural industries.
The NCSP Director-General reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to measurable results, noting that the partnership with PICTT will prioritise initiatives that deliver direct national impact.
The MoU signals a new phase of Nigeria–China cooperation focused on practical delivery, local content, and opportunities that improve everyday livelihoods.
EU regulators launched an antitrust investigation into Meta Platforms on Thursday over its rollout of artificial intelligence features in its WhatsApp messenger that would block rivals, hardening Europe’s already tough stance on Big Tech. The move, reported earlier by Reuters and the Financial Times, is the latest action by European Union regulators against large technology firms such as Amazon and Alphabet’s Google as the bloc seeks to balance support for the sector with efforts to curb its expanding influence.
Europe’s tough stance – a marked contrast to more lenient U.S. regulation – has sparked an industry pushback, particularly by U.S. tech titans, and led to criticism from the administration of U. S. President Donald Trump. The European Commission said that the investigation will look into Meta’s new policy that would limit other AI providers’ access to WhatsApp, a potential boost for its own Meta AI system integrated into the platform earlier this year.
EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said the move was to prevent dominant firms from “abusing their power to crowd out innovative competitors”. She added interim measures could be imposed to block Meta’s new WhatsApp AI policy rollout. “AI markets are booming in Europe and beyond,” she said. This is why we are investigating if Meta’s new policy might be illegal under competition rules, and whether we should act quickly to prevent any possible irreparable harm to competition in the AI space.”
A WhatsApp spokesperson called the claims “baseless”, adding that the emergence of chatbots on its platforms had put a “strain on our systems that they were not designed to support”, a reference to AI systems from other providers. “Still, the AI space is highly competitive and people have access to the services of their choice in any number of ways, including app stores, search engines, email services, partnership integrations, and operating systems.” The EU was the first in the world to establish a comprehensive legal framework for AI, setting out guardrails for AI systems and rules for certain high-risk applications in the AI Act.
Meta AI, a chatbot and virtual assistant, has been built into WhatsApp’s interface across European markets since March. The Commission said a new policy fully applicable from January 15, 2026, may block competing AI providers from reaching customers via the platform. Ribera said the probe came on the back of complaints from small AI developers about the WhatsApp policy. The Interaction Company of California, which has developed AI assistant Poke.com, has taken its grievance to the EU competition enforcer. Spanish AI startup Luzia has also talked to the Commission, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
Marvin von Hagen, co-founder and CEO of The Interaction Company of California, said if Meta was allowed to roll out its new policy, “millions of European consumers will be deprived of the possibility of enjoying new and innovative AI assistants”. Meta also risks a fine of as much as 10% of its global annual turnover if found guilty of breaching EU antitrust rules.
Italy’s antitrust watchdog opened a parallel investigation in July into allegations that Meta leveraged its market power by integrating an AI tool into WhatsApp, expanding the probe in November to examine whether Meta further abused its dominance by blocking rival AI chatbots from the messaging platform. The antitrust probe is a more traditional means of investigation than the EU’s Digital Markets Act, the bloc’s landmark legislation currently used to scrutinize Amazon’s and Microsoft’s cloud services for potential curbs. Reuters
The spouses and children of billionaires inherited more wealth in 2025 than in any previous year since reporting began in 2015, according to UBS’s Billionaire Ambitions Report published on Thursday. In the 12 months to April, 91 people became billionaires through inheritance, collectively receiving $298 billion, up more than a third from 2024, the Swiss bank said. “These heirs are proof of a multi-year wealth transfer that’s intensifying,” UBS executive Benjamin Cavalli said.
The report is based on a survey of some of UBS’s super-rich clients and a database that tracks the wealth of billionaires across 47 markets in all world regions. At least $5.9 trillion will be inherited by billionaire children over the next 15 years, the bank calculates.
Most of this inheritance growth is set to take place in the United States, with India, France, Germany and Switzerland next on the list, UBS estimated. However, billionaires are highly mobile, especially younger ones, which could change that picture, it added. The search for a better quality of life, geopolitical concerns and tax considerations are driving decisions to relocate, according to the report.
In Switzerland, where $206 billion will be inherited over the next 15 years according to the bank, voters on Sunday overwhelmingly rejected 50 per cent tax on inherited fortunes of $62 million or more, after critics said it could trigger an exodus of wealthy people.
Switzerland, the UAE, the U.S. and Singapore are among billionaires’ preferred destinations, UBS’s Cavalli said. “In Switzerland, Sunday’s vote may have helped to increase the country’s appeal again,” he said. Reuters
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