Posted by From Madu Onuorah, Abuja on
PRESIDENT Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday cited the vista of opportunities the Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) would open for the nation as.....
PRESIDENT Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday cited the vista of opportunities the Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) would open for the nation as the basis of the Federal Government's support for the organisation.
The President assured that the company would rapidly develop into a key agent of economic growth in Nigeria and other African countries.
Obasanjo disclosed that one of the reasons for the establishment of Transcorp was the need for a functional platform for the projection of the nation's economic potentials.
At a meeting with members of the pioneering board of the corporation, the President said: "We need to show that in addition to making peace, Nigeria can also help in achieving economic growth in Africa."
He commended members of the board led by Dr. Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke for the briefing on the progress made by Transcorp since its establishment, saying that its progress report showed that the corporation was well on the way to fulfilling the dreams of its founders.
The corporation was established in November 2004 as a private sector's response to the economic reforms being undertaken by the Obasanjo administration. It was designed to provide the vehicle that Nigeria needs to mobilise capital on a very large scale for investment in projects that had hitherto been the exclusive preserve of foreign investors.
To underline the Federal Government's support for the corporation, Obasanjo formally launched Transcorp in July, 2005 and invited all Nigerians to invest in it.
In its first full year of operation, Transcorp has acquired the NICON Hilton Hotel in Abuja and currently being considered by the Bureau of Public Enterprises for the acquisition of Nigerian Telecommunications Plc (NITEL), the Port Harcourt Refinery and the National Clearing and Forwarding Agency.
Transcorp also designed an entry plan for participation in the development of strategic oil blocks.
Meanwhile, the board of the company has appointed Mr. Bernard Ojeifo Longe as its new Group Chief Executive Officer.
Longe takes over from Mr. Fola Adeola who has been acting in that capacity.
The board said that the new appointment was to consolidate the gains of the past one year.
Longe was chief executive of First Bank until he quit over the botched sale of NITEL to ILL.