MTI Network, the world’s leading Reputation Management/Incident Response Network dedicated to serving shipping, energy, offshore and transportation industries around the world, has announced the appointment of CFO & Associates Limited, a Public Relations company based in Lagos, as it’s Nigerian partner.

CFO & Associates is a results-oriented, independently owned Public Relations firm established by Charles Igbinidu, an award-winning reputation management connoisseur.

With its vast communications and reputation management knowledge of the specific operational challenges that occur within the Maritime and Offshore industries in Nigeria, the Leading Public Relations (PR) firm, will provide MTI clients with expert advice and quick response to incidents.

According to Patrick Adamson, Chairman and Founding partner of MTI Network, “We are delighted to announce that new representative offices are now open for business in Manila, in Douala and in Lagos”

“As ever, MTI takes great care in opening offices which provide the right combination of skills with both maritime experience and knowledge of local media, together with proven expertise in incident response”

“Having handled most of the spate of hijacks in the Gulf of Guinea this year alone, an office in Lagos will add to our intelligence base as well as providing important access to industrial development both on-shore and offshore.”

“We welcome our new partners to the role of 23 existing offices and 20 active subsidiary offices, all working 24/7 to support our clients everywhere, every time.”

Adamson expressed confidence that CFO & Associates will provide its clients in Nigeria with the quality of service that MTI is known for all over the world, judging by its experience in local crisis/reputation management.

Responding, the Managing Director of CFO & Associates, Mr. Charles Igbinidu, said, the role of the firm is to provide strategic and tactical retort to incidents and events likely to attract negative attention to MTI Clients from public and media in Nigeria.

According to him, CFO & Associates is experienced in crisis communications and reputation management having successfully developed and executed several crisis management campaigns for many companies and brands across different sectors in the country.

“We are delighted to be named representatives of MTI in Nigeria and a member of the largest reputation management institution in the maritime industry in the world” he said.

The family of the founder and pioneer Managing Director of Global West Vessel Specialist Limited (GWVSL), a maritime security company owned by late Captain Romeo Itima, has dragged their uncle and current Managing Director of GWVSL, Captain Winfred Itima to court over allegations of financial mismanagement and unprofessional conducts.

Captain Winfred Itima who was considered the closest family member to the late Captain Romeo Itima, allegedly took control of his companies shortly after his death to the surprise of all family members.

He is being sued alongside other Directors, Mr. Oluwagbenga Leke Oyewole and Mr. Olabisi Idowu Afolabi by the wife of Captain Romeo Itima, Helen and two of her children, Zion Itima and Kevin A. Itima.

The suit designated: FHC/CS/1123/2017 was filed before Justice Babs Kuemi of the Federal High Court, Lagos and preliminary hearing took place today, Wednesday May 16,2018.

In the suit, the plaintiffs averred that Late Romeo Itima established the company in Nigeria in 2009 to combat piracy and associated crimes plaguing Nigeria’s territorial waters, adding that, it was a way he intended to contribute his quota in salvaging Nigeria’s maritime security domain, ploughing his wealth of experience as a master mariner with a rich shipping experience from the United States of America.

Sadly, the late Captain met his untimely and mysterious death on the 7th of August 2012 in Escravos, Delta State, where he was reported to have fallen off a boat and drowned.

In their statement of claim, the family alleged that the elder brother of their father and present Managing Director of GWVSL, Captain Winfred Itima took-over their late father’s companies, GWVSL and Molecular Power Systems Limited shortly after his death and has refused to give account of the finances of the two companies to the family till date.

They claimed that the actions of their uncle since the demise of their father was a clear breach of filial affection, trust, care and confidence their late father reposed in him.

They further claimed that late Romeo Itima singlehandedly sponsored Captain Winfred Itima to the United States of America where he was trained in the maritime practice and brought him back to Nigeria to join him in the running of GWVSL.

According to them, Captain Winfred Itima who wasn’t a director at the time late Romeo Itima died, made himself the Managing Director of GWVSL without due consultation and approvals.

The family claimed that since Captain Winfred Itima took over the affairs of their father’s companies, he has conducted himself with utmost disregard and prejudice of the interest of their father, his late brother.

As part of his administrative and financial misconduct, the family alleged that Captain Winfred Itima unlawfully allotted to himself 6,000,000 ordinary shares of Molecular Power Systems Limited without recourse to the pioneer shareholders including their mother, Mrs. Helen Itima who is an administrator of their late husband’s estate.

He allegedly reduced late Romeo Itima’s shares of 2,000,000 to 300,000 and made himself the highest shareholder in the company. This according to the family is a deliberate attempt to deprive them of their rights, interests, and entitlements.

According to the family, since their father’s death, Captain Winfred Itima has left them in the dark over the conduct and management of the companies and terminated the employment of Mr. Zion Itima, the eldest son of late Romeo Itima’s from GWVSL.

He allegedly went ahead to appoint his ally, Mr. Olabisi Afolabi a director in the company.

The family further claimed that, Captain Winfred Itima took away loads of documents which were in possession of their late father immediately after his death and prevented the family from having access to them.

According to them, Late Romeo Itima through one of his companies, GWVSL executed many contracts running into several millions of naira with the Nigeria Maritime and Safety Administration Agency (NIMASA), most of which were not paid for before his untimely death and has remained unaccounted for till date.

They are asking the court to compel Captain Winfred Itima and GWVSL to produce all contracts entered by late Romeo Itima with NIMASA before his sudden death and payments made by NIMASA till date, including the list of vessels he acquired which now form part of the fleet owned by the company.

The family therefore pleaded with the court to order a general meeting of all pioneer stakeholders to re-allot shares and appoint legitimate directors as well as declare unlawful the restructuring and allotting of shares to late Romeo Itima after his death, void.

They asked the court to issue an order directing a complete audit of GWVSL by reputable independent auditors from 7th August 2012 till date including its dealings with Molecular Power Systems Ltd.

They further begged the court to compel Captain Winfred Itima to give a detailed account of all the assets including vessels purchased under the Private Public Partnership Agreement between their father and NIMASA as well as sale of vessels and other properties so far.

The family asked the court to order the removal of their Captain Winfred Itima from the GWVSL Board of Directors and immediate forfeiture of the shares he and his ally Olabisi Afolabi unlawfully acquired as directors.

https://ionigeria.com/captain-romeo-itimas-children-drag-uncle-to-court-over-ownership-of-global-west-vessel/

The management of Ikeja City Mall has expressed satisfaction with the efficacy of No-Slips Limited’s non-slip floor treatment and the quality of work done by its well-trained staff on their floor.
A large portion of the mall was recently treated by No-Slips Limited to increase the co-efficient of friction and thereby reduce the possibility of slip and fall accidents by visitors to the mall and members of staff.
In a letter of appreciation, Mr. Steve Idonigie, the Operations Manager of Ikeja City Mall said, “we write to thank you for the amazing difference we have experienced on our floors since they were treated with your anti-slip product”.
“We used to receive a lot of complains of slip/fall whenever it rains and we have tried different approaches but to no avail. Since you applied your product to the floors of our shopping mall, the result has been excellent!”
“There has been a remarkable turnaround, there hasn’t been a single incident of slip and fall in the areas treated”.
“The efficacy of the product is second to none, this is the first of its kind in this part of the world. The treated areas are no longer slippery especially when wet”, he said.
Reacting, the Chief Executive Officer of No-Slips Limited, Mr. Charles Igbinidu said more companies and individuals in Nigeria are beginning to take floor safety seriously.
He added that he is not surprised with the high demand for floor safety treatment, stressing that no amount of money spent on safety can be compared to the emotional and physical pain accidents bring.
“We have heard stories of people who slipped while walking on the doorway of their offices and sustained life-threatening injuries such that their companies had to spend so much in flying the victims abroad for treatment. There are also stories of people who have lost their lives after slipping and falling in their bathrooms.

“Slip and fall accident can happen anytime, anywhere; On a rainy day, the entryway of every store and office building becomes a danger zone to customers and staff. Every marble floor that has just been mopped, every kitchen in every restaurant or school cafeteria; every bathtub in every hotel and home, every washroom floor with a few drops of water, high-traffic areas where spills, drops and pools can occur are especially at risk i.e. homes (bathrooms, tubs, kitchens, stairs, seating rooms) and businesses/commercial places (Malls, hotels, restaurants, banking halls, offices, factories, swimming pools etc.). Having a secure floor to walk on gives peace of mind and confidence both at home and offices.
“No-Slips Limited is therefore into the business of giving that peace of mind, we can never seem to be too careful as slip and fall accidents happen unexpectedly. The consequences sometimes, unpleasant.” He said.
No-Slips Limited is a floor and bathtub treatment company based in Lagos, Nigeria . It is the sole distributor and partner of Sure-Step non-slip company in the country.

About No-Slips Limited
No-Slips Nigeria Limited a licensed national distributor and partner of Suresteps in Nigeria. Suresteps is a product of Interlake Chemicals International Limited based in Canada with distributors spread across more than 97 countries around the globe.
No-Slips Nigeria started operations in 2016 with the aim of carrying out the business of marketing and application of Surestep’s products as a bouquet of services to residential, commercial and industrial clients in its assigned territory of Nigeria.

Despite the tough economic situation in Nigeria, Biogaran, a subsidiary of Servier (the No. 2 French Pharmaceutical Group) that specializes in generics acquired Swiss Pharma Nigeria Limited (swipha) in March 2017, as part of its expansion plans to other African countries.


Biogaran trusts in Nigeria and Nigerian people, and wishes to provide through Swipha to all Nigerians access to quality and affordable medicines.

The decision to buy Swipha was taken despite the poor situation of the company which was at the period, short in cash and under threat of closure.

Upon inception, the new management decided to lift the company up to its Group compliance and social policies, corporate governance and benefits for the employees.

Management decided to restructure the organisation to ensure efficiency by removing superfluous staff and eventually align the firm with global best practices.

However, some of these policies appear to be unacceptable to some members of staff who preferred to slow down, then to hinder operation and embarked on strike since mid-December 2017 while all efforts to make them have a rethink about a promising future proved abortive.

To safeguard company properties and prevent any form of hostility the management decided to officially shut-down operations temporarily.

The new management of Swipha strongly believes in Nigeria and is committed to its economic development and is resilient in its quest to engage modern new ways of working, best in class practices and high-level compliance standards, notwithstanding the financial loses the company may incur during this time.

It is committed to doing all it takes to ensure that the company maintains and strengthens its position as a leader in the pharmaceutical sector.

Signed:

Gaby El Khoury

Managing Director

Swiss Pharma Nigeria Limited