Cadbury Nigeria 9-month pretax profit falls 57 pct

 

Cadbury Nigeria said on Friday its nine-month pretax profit was 2.39 billion naira ($14.54 million), down 57 percent from the same period a year ago, sending its shares tumbling.

The local unit of Mondelez International Inc, said in a filing with the Nigerian Stock Exchange that turnover declined to 23.31 billion naira in the nine months to Sept. 30, compared with 26.54 billion naira in the same period a year ago,

Shares in Cadbury, down 42.8 percent so far this year, were down 4.78 percent at 49.90 naira at 0952 GMT.

Russia seizes banned EU meat disguised as chewing gum

 

Russian customs officers are struggling to digest a new smuggling scam after some 600 tonnes of banned meat from Europe were discovered disguised as other items such as chewing gum.

Russia has imposed sweeping bans on food products from the EU.

Officials in the country's agricultural safety agency said on Friday that northwestern Russia made the finds in refrigerated containers shipped from Antwerp, Hamburg and Rotterdam.

The agency said in statement that while searching 26 refrigerated containers whose accompanying documents said they contained frozen mushrooms, juice, fruit jellies and chewing gum, they discovered meat and fatback pork produced in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Poland.

Russia this summer imposed sweeping bans on food products from the European Union in retaliation for tough sanctions imposed on Moscow over its meddling in Ukraine.

MTN bleeding subscribers in Nigeria

Africa’s largest mobile operator MTN has cut its full year forecast for Nigeria by almost a third as it loses tens of thousands of subscribers

MTN’s Nigeria business is feeling the pinch following the loss of 80 000 subscribers for the quarter ending September, in its top performing market.

Reuters reports that the SA telecommunications giant has been struggling to fight off competition in Nigeria from the likes of United Arab Emirate’s Etisalat, India’s Bharti Airtel and privately owned local firm Globacom.

The company cut its growth forecast for new customers in Nigeria from 5 million to 3,5 million users. It currently has 58,4 million subscribers in Africa’s largest economy.

MTN group CEO Sifisa Dabengwa attributes the decline to “stringent” regulatory restrictions, which prohibit the company from offering significantly lower tariffs compared to their competitors. Stiff competition and ongoing instability in Northern Nigerian regions affected by Boko Haram insurgency also contributed to the drop. The Islamist group is reportedly behind some of their radio masts being burnt down.

MTN and two other mobile operators were fined a combined $4 million (R44 million) and banned from selling SIM cards, for poor service.
“These regulatory actions are quite severe and it will be hard for MTN to resume anything close to double-digit growth again. At best, it will be single-digit positive revenue growth for the next while in Nigeria,” Mohammed was quoted saying.

 Calabar, Ilorin, Maiduguri airports record zero passengers in Q1, says NBS

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that about seven international airports in Nigeria have recorded no passengers at all in the first quarter of 2014 while Lagos and Abuja airports recorded highest.

The airports with zero patronage include International airports in Calabar, Ilorin, Kaduna, Sokoto, Maiduguri, Minna and Katsina.

However, a total of 3,416,977 passengers travelled using Nigerian airports in the first quarter of 2014. Out of this number, 2,352,224 or 68.84 per cent of them travelled locally, whereas 1,064,753 or 31.16 per cent  travelled  overseas.

Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos,  was rated the busiest airport in the country with  1,683,375 passengers or 49.27 per cent  followed by Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja,  with 907,989 passengers, or 26.57 per cent.

According to the NBS report, this was very similar to the share of 68.81 per cent  observed for domestic passenger traffic on average in 2013.

International passenger traffic is even more dominated by Lagos, with 784,479 passengers or 73.68 per cent of all overseas bound passengers passing through this airport. Abuja still ranks second, although with a lesser number of 205,740 passengers or 19.42 per cent  of the total. Only Kano and Port Harcourt international airports had portions of the total of over 1 per cent, with 37,261 passengers or 3.50 per cent of the total flying through Kano and Port Harcourt.

Alex Otti resigns as Diamond Bank MD

The board of Diamond Bank Plc has announced the voluntary resignation of Alex Otti, the group managing director/chief executive officer, from the bank. Uzoma Dozie will take over from him subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

In a statement released by the bank’s corporate communications department, Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe, chairman of the board of directors and Obi of Onitsha, announced the changes in the management team.

Speaking on the outgoing GMD/CEO, the chairman said he would be sorely missed, adding that Alex Otti achieved enviable landmarks during his time. He described his tenure as “the brightest years of Diamond Bank’s 24-year history”.

Under Alex Otti’s stewardship, Diamond Bank made a remarkable return to profitability and has continued to record impressive growth across all performance indicators year-on-year.

After writing off toxic risk assets which resulted in the loss of N16 billion in 2011, the bank posted a profit before tax of N28.36 billion in 2012 and N32.5 billion in 2013. The bank also saw its total assets rise from N564.9 billion in February 2011 to N1.18 trillion by December 31, 2012 and N1.52 trillion on December 31, 2013.

 Naira Gains First Week in Nine on Nigerian Intervention

Nigeria’s naira gained, heading for the first weekly gain in nine, after the central bank pledged to intervene to support the currency hit by lower oil prices.

The naira strengthened 0.3% to 164.68 per dollar as of 1:45 p.m. in Lagos, the commercial capital. It reached a 7-month intraday low of 166.42 yesterday before Sarah Alade, a deputy governor at the central bank, said the institution would use foreign reserves to defend the value of the currency.

Since mid-September, the Central Bank of Nigeria has sold dollars to banks outside of its regular auctions on Mondays and Wednesdays, according to Standard Chartered Plc.

CBN To Continue Naira Tightening

 

The Central Bank of Nigeria says it will continue to support the naira after the currency approached a record low amid declining oil prices and the end of United States monetary stimulus that bolstered emerging-market assets.

Deputy governor, CBN, Sarah Alade, told Reuters that the apex bank will  increase dollar supply in the market.

The CBN had since mid-September used the country’s reserves to sell dollars outside of regular auctions held Mondays and Wednesdays, according to Standard Chartered Plc.

The bank will keep using the auctions and direct dollar sales to banks to preserve the value of the currency, Alade was quoted as saying. The naira strengthened 0.2 per cent to 164.90 per dollar by 2:29pm in Lagos. It earlier weakened as much as 0.8 per cent to 166.42, a record low on a closing basis.

The naira weakened 0.9 per cent this month as Brent crude fell to the lowest level in more than four years last week.

The company said it expected the continuous intervention by the CBN to curtail the downward pressure on the value of the naira through dollar sales to be constrained by the slowdown in the rate of accretion to the nation’s stock of foreign reserves.

Jonathan Reshuffles Cabinet as FEC Approves $21.459m for Aviation

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday effected some minor changes in his cabinet following the resignation of seven ministers who left the cabinet to run for elective offices in their respective states.

Those who resigned were the Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, who is running for the governorship position in Rivers State;  Health Minister, Onyebuchi Chukwu (Ebonyi), and Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro (Lagos).

Others were Minister of State for Niger Delta, Darius Ishaku (Taraba), Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Samuel Ortom (Benue), Labour Minister, Emeka Wogu (Abia), and Information Minister, Labaran Maku (Nasarawa).

The reshuffling of the cabinet was disclosed at a press briefing by Dr. Nurudeen Mohammed, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs 1, who now oversees the Information Ministry.

Defence Minister, Lt. Gen. Aliyu Gusau (rtd), according to Nurudeen, had been detailed to take over the functions of Obanikoro who also resigned as the minister of state in the same ministry to run for the Lagos State governorship position.

Professor Viola Onwuliri, who until yesterday was the Minister of State Foreign Affairs 1, was moved to the Ministry of Education as Minister of State to replace Wike.

Minister of State for Health, Dr. Khaliru Alhassan, was mandated to serve as substantive Minister of Health, the portfolio last held by Chukwu.

Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, would oversee the functions of the former minister of state in the same ministry.

The Minister of Special Duties and Inter-governmental Affairs,  Kabiru Turaki, would now oversee the Ministry of Labour vacated by Wogu, while the substantive Niger Delta Affairs Minister, Dr. Steven Oru, will combine the office of Ishaku, who resigned to contest for the Taraba State governorship election, with his own.

Stocks surge on U.S. corporate results, bonds fall

 

Global equity markets rose on Thursday, with stocks on Wall Street surging more than 1 percent as U.S. corporate earnings continued to beat expectations, while government debt prices fell on encouraging American and German economic reports.

Results from Caterpillar Inc and 3M Co, both Dow components, reassured investors that companies with large overseas revenue streams can deliver solid profits despite concerns about global economic growth.

Shares of Caterpillar, which raised its full-year earnings outlook, rose 5.0 percent, while 3M shares jumped 5.9 percent.

The surge put the benchmark S&P 500 index up 3.6 percent for this week, reversing four straight weeks of decline, and on track for its biggest weekly gain since January 2013.

With 177 of the S&P 500 companies having posted third-quarter results, 69.5 percent have beaten expectations, better than the 67 percent beat rate over the past four quarters, and higher than the 20-year average of 63 percent, Thomson Reuters data show.

The surge on Wall Street helped turn around European stocks, which initially fell on weak results from some companies, including French tire-maker Michelin, despite support from better-than-expected euro zone business activity data.

Nigeria raises 171.3 bln Naira in T-bills, yields mixed

 

Nigeria sold 171.26 billion naira ($1.03 bln) worth of treasury bills with maturities ranging between three months and one year at an auction this week, with mixed yields.

The Debt Management Office (DMO) said on Thursday, that 59.88 billion naira worth of three-month paper was sold at 9.80 percent, 15 basis points lower than at the previous auction on Sept. 24.

A total of 45 billion naira was sold in six-month bills at 10.20 percent against 10.10 percent at the last auction, while 66.38 billion naira worth was sold in one-year notes at 11.25 percent compared with 10.35 percent previously.

Subscriptions totalled 201.92 billion naira, against 181.14 billion naira at the last auction.

Oil Price Drop, Production Losses Cut Monthly Revenue to N502bn

The slide in the price of crude oil as well as production losses occasioned by shut-ins and the shut-down of trunk lines at various oil terminals resulted in a N99.55 billion drop in Nigeria’s September revenue to N502.09 billion from the N601.64 billion generated in the previous month.

Non-mineral revenue also dropped to N127.35 billion compared to N159.73 billion in August partly because some blue chip companies had made payments and returns in September.

Nevertheless, total distributable revenue amounting to N603.59 billion was shared on Wednesday among the three tiers of government for the month of September compared to N611.70 billion in August.

Addressing journalists in Abuja  after the monthly meeting of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), the Minister of State for Finance, Alhaji Basir Yuguda, said mineral revenue for the month under review also declined to N374.74 billion compared to N441.91 billion in August.

Revenue from value added tax (VAT) also dropped to N61.51 billion compared to NN65.10 billion in the previous month.

It was unclear if there was some augmentation to shore up the shortfall, as this was neither highlighted by the minister or the Chairman, Finance Commissioners of Nigeria, Mr. Timothy Odah.

Europe Hoping for Russia-Ukraine Gas Deal Next Week

Russia and Ukraine failed to strike an interim gas deal in Brussels on Tuesday, with both sides holding out for guarantees on payment and price.

European Union negotiators, however, are hoping for an agreement next week.

After hours of talks, efforts to resolve a natural gas pricing dispute between the neighboring countries proved fruitless, but there was at least a draft accord.

Russia's state-run company Gazprom stopped gas deliveries to Ukraine earlier this year over a pricing and debt disagreement, amid an ongoing insurgency by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The fighting has also sunk European and Russian relations to lows not seen in years. Moscow denies any role in the insurgency.

After Decades of Pressure, Luxembourg Drops Bank Secrecy Rules

 

Luxembourg says it will drop its bank secrecy rules from 2017 in a move that marks a breakthrough in global efforts to reduce tax evasion.

At a meeting of EU finance ministers in Luxembourg yesterday, the country’s finance minister Pierre Gramegna said it would sign up to an international standard aimed at fighting tax dodging and money laundering.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development last year published a document that foresaw an annual exchange of bank information between governments starting in 2017.

Helped by its bank secrecy rules, the Grand Duchy nestled between Germany and France has become one of Europe's biggest financial centres, making its citizens the EU's wealthiest in terms of per-capita income.

Luxembourg's decision will leave Austria as the only EU country allowing an EU citizen to open a bank account in another EU member state without tax authorities in the person's country of origin being informed.

Nigeria imports N165bn fruit juice annually

Nigerians spend N165 billion annually on the importation of fruit juice.

Disclosing this in Kaduna, the Director General, Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC)Dr. Hussain Ibrahim,  said importation of concentrates was adversely affecting the development of local fruits cultivation for juice processing.

According to him, the industry’s continued dependence on massive importation of concentrates is not healthy for the nation’s economy.

He identified the key fruit juice concentrate pre-mixes being imported to include orange, pineapple, mixed fruits, apple, grape and mango.

According to him, suppliers of these products are South Africa, European Union and South America.

Prior to the imposition of high tariffs, 80 percent of Nigeria’s demand for fruit juice was filled by imports.

A report last year claimed that a daily production of 2000 litres could give manufacturers an annual profit margin of N15 million.

 Gas Plant Could Offer Solution to Ghana’s Power Woes

Ghanaians are struggling with crippling 12-hour power cuts across the country. Authorities are hoping a nearly-completed gas processing plant could be the key to alleviating the country’s energy woes.

Ghanaians have been dealing with persistent power outages both in the capital Accra and in the countryside for months. The Electricity Company of Ghana recently warned it may have to resort to 24-hour power cuts.

The situation has since improved, but Ghana still has a power deficit of 400 megawatts.

The government is hopeful that a long-delayed natural gas processing plant in the village of Atuabo, in Ghana’s west, will provide needed energy to the main utility Volta River Authority, or VRA, and help the cash strapped-country save money.

Ghana spends $3 million every day on crude oil imports for its plants. That’s cash it doesn’t have.

President John Dramani Mahama’s administration is seeking money from the International Monetary Fund to put the economy back on course after the cedi currency tumbled earlier this year, losing as much as 60 percent of its value against the dollar.

 Forex: BDCs appeal for higher allocation

Bureaux De Change operators in the country have appealed to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for an increase in the weekly sale of foreign exchange to each operator.

The BDCs also urged the CBN to extend its occasional intervention in the foreign exchange market to their sector to reduce demand pressure at the retail end of the market.

Speaking under the aegis of Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), the BDCs lamented that while over 2000 operators have laboured to comply with the N35 million mandatory caution deposits, the $15,000 weekly sale to each BDC by the CBN is inadequate to cover operating costs.

Nigeria set to launch Social Security package for millions of poor citizens

The Nigerian government is set to introduce a social safety net that would allow millions of poor citizens enjoy cash backups to meet their basic socio-economic needs.

The minister of Finance Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who disclosed this in Abuja during her appearance on the Ministerial Platform to brief the media on the programmes of her ministry, said arrangements towards the take-off of the scheme were being finalized.

Unlike several other countries, Nigeria presently runs no social security package for either the poor, unemployed, aged or women. Only a few states, such as Ekiti and Ogun, provide monthly support to the aged.

The outgone Fayemi government paid N5,000 monthly to the elderly.

In South Africa, for instance, social services for the citizens forms a significant part of the country’s annual budget.

Bills pushing for government support to unemployed and aged Nigerians have remained stuck in the National Assembly for years.

Details of the new plans announced by the finance minister are not clear yet.

Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala merely said the proposed Social Safety Net would be specifically targeted at the rural poor and would serve as a financial support to help beneficiaries send their children to school and access primary health care, amongst others benefits.

Nigeria Naira firms 0.39 pct on CBN dollar sales

 

Nigeria's currency closed up 0.39 percent to N164.90 kobo against the greenback after central bank intervened with an undisclosed amount of dollar sales to support it.

Dealers said the unit hovered around a 7-month intra-day low of 166 naira before central bank support, driven by strong demand for dollars amid a shortage and continued concerns over weak oil prices. It closed at 165.55 naira against the dollar on Tuesday.

Dealers said dollar demand was coming from local importers and companies worried about the risk of a devaluation that brought forward their hard currency orders.

There are concerns about the falling price of oil have led to panic selling in Nigeria, which relies on oil as its main source of foreign currency earnings. The naira has lost 3.9 percent so far this year and is trading below the central bank's target range of within 3 percent of 155 naira to the dollar.

Nigeria assumes $78 a barrel oil price benchmark for 2015 budget

Nigeria is assuming an oil price price of $78 per barrel for its 2015 budget, up from $77.5 per barrel in 2014, according to its 2015-2017 budget framework document seen by Reuters on Wednesday.

The document, which forms the basis for preparing the budget, assumed oil production of 2.27 million barrels per day in 2015, down from 2.38 million barrels in 2014. It projected oil output to reach 2.32 million barrels per day in 2016, rising to 2.40 million barrels by 2017.

A higher assumed oil price means a slightly looser budget for 2015 than for 2014, although that was to be expected given this is an election year, when demands for funds from politicians tends to surge. President Goodluck Jonathan faces what is likely to be a closely fought presidential poll in February 2015.

The document, dated to the month of September, assumed gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 6.35 percent for 2015, down from 6.56 percent estimated for 2014 -- figures which differed slightly from some given by Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in a news conference on Tuesday.

There, she projected 6.75 percent growth in 2015, with this year expected to finish at 6.2 growth.

The budget framework paper said the budget deficit rose to 2.41 percent of GDP in 2014 on higher debt servicing, up from an expected 1.85 percent.

Nigeria's external and local debt stood at $65.26 billion as at end March 2014, up from $48.50 billion end March 2013, the budget framework document said.

Nigeria Wealth Fund Chief says investment plans unaffected by weak oil

 

Nigeria's sovereign wealth fund said its investment programme over the next six months, including on infrastructure, will go ahead, even as revenues that provide its capital are hit by falling oil prices.

Chief Executive of the Nigeria Investment AuthorityUche Orji, highlighted one of the vehicle's core aims is to manage oil export windfalls to cushion the economy in harder times.

Orji conceded that weakness in the international oil market would affect the fund but he remained focused on deploying existing assets to investment in infrastructure projects in sectors such as transport, power and healthcare.

Oil prices have dropped more than 25 percent since June on strong supply, signs of weak growth in demand and indications that key oil producers, particularly Saudi Arabia, have a limited appetite to cut output to bolster prices.

Nigeria, Africa's top oil producer and most populous nation, established the Sovereign Investment Authority (SIA) in 2011 with $1 billion of seed capital in an effort to manage oil export revenues.

Nigeria finance Minister sees 2015 GDP growth at 6.75 percent

 

Nigeria's finance minister said on Tuesday she expected economic growth for 2015 to be around 6.75 percent, an improvement on the government's forecast of 6.2 percent this year.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said the country's oil savings account, the Excess Crude Account, was broadly flat since August at $4.11 billion and that the fledgling sovereign wealth fund had $1.55 billion in it, she told a media conference.

Nigeria's oil savings in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) have recovered this year, though remains way below where it was two years ago.

The ECA declined as low as $2.5 billion at the start of 2014, from around $11.5 billion at the start of January 2013, according to the central bank.

Nigeria Naira hits 8-month low as firms hedge currency risk

 The Nigeria's Naira eased to an 8-month closing low of 165.55 against the dollar on Tuesday, due to strong dollar demand from importers and companies reducing their exposure to the local currency, dealers said.

The Naira fell 0.16 percent from Monday's close of 164.28 to the dollar, a level last seen on Feb. 21, a day after the president suspended the central bank governor, sending financial markets into a tailspin.

Concerns about the falling price of oil, Nigeria's main source of foreign currency earnings, contributed to the drop. Dealers said the local subsidiary of Chevron sold $45 million to Nigerian banks, but that was not enough to support the naira.

The currency has lost 4.1 percent against the dollar so far this year and is trading above the central bank's target range of within 3 percent of 155 naira to the dollar.

Reuters reports that demand for hard currency was coming from local importers and companies worried about the risk of a devaluation

Morocco sees 2015 budget deficit at 4.3 pct, growth at 4.4 pct

 

Morocco plans to reduce its budget deficit to 4.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2015 from an estimated 4.9 percent this year, the government said.

The North African country expects its economy to grow 4.4 percent next year, after slowing to 2.5 percent in 2014, the government added in a statement late on Friday.

Reuters reports that Morocco is also planning to spend 23 billion Moroccan dirhams on subsidies in 2015, down from 35 billion in 2014 and 42 billion in 2013.

Tanzania 15-year Treasury bond yield edges up to 17.9 pct

 

The yield on Tanzania's 15-year Treasury bond inched up to 17.9 percent at this week's auction from 17.5 percent at a previous sale in August, the central bank said.

The Bank of Tanzania issued the following results for the auction held on Wednesday:FIFTEEN-YEAR,  13.5 PCT TREASURY BOND

AMOUNT OFFERED:        42 billion shillings
AMOUNT TENDERED:     31.57 billion shillings
AMOUNT ACCEPTED:     31.57 billion shillings
WEIGHTED AVERAGE PRICE:   77.2576 shillings
WEIGHTED YIELD TO MATURITY:   7.9096 pct
REDEMPTION DATE:          October 17, 2029   

Malawi September inflation at 23.7 percent year-on-year

 

Malawi's headline consumer inflation slowed to 23.7 percent year-on-year in September, from 24.5 percent in August, influenced by a decrease in the cost of cereals and in fuel prices, the statistics office said on Saturday.

Niger Delta Groups accuse Shell of unfair practices, threaten action

 

Some Niger Delta groups have raised the alarm that peace may once more become elusive in the area unless the federal government moved in to check plots to shunt their people out of oil businesses.

In an open letter to President Goodluck Jonathan, the groups said that Shell Petroleum Development Company had engineered a means of blocking their people from concessions in the oil and gas business by insisting they would only deal with those that had done business with them whereas the region had been denied such opportunities.

The petition which was signed by Chairman, South-South Youth Leaders Forum, Amb. Odiedim Amachree; Chairman, Coalition of Niger Delta Ethnic Nationalities & President, Rivers State Youth Federation Comrade Adokiye Majito; President Federation Union of Ogoni  Youths Worldwide, Amb. Kenule Nwiya; President, Edo Youth Council, Aluyah Dauda Okoduah and Spokesperson, Ijaw Lawyers Association, Mr. Kelvin Zige warned of dire consequences should the injustice not be reversed.

Contaminated beer: Customer demands N111m damages from Nigerian Breweries

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered Nigerian Breweries Plc. To, within 30 days, appear before it over an allegation of brewing a contaminated Heineken brand of beer.

The court, in a writ of summons with suit number Cv/2/14 dated 19th September 2014, filed by one Mr. Chinenye Gerald Onwuachu, is seeking an order of the court to declare that Nigerian Breweries Plc was negligent in the production of two bottles of contaminated Heineken beer.
Onwuachu claimed to have consumed  the product and consequently suffered intestinal damage and kidney dysfunction.

Counsel to Onwuachu, Daniel Ibegbu is praying the court to declare that the contaminated crocked Heineken beer contained some inedible and unwholesome brown particles which poisoned his client.

Onwuachu in the statement of claim averred that he was on June 12 rushed to the Maitama District hospital in Abuja, after drinking the said Heineken beer.

According to the court process, laboratory test diagnosed that the plaintiff suffered from Gastroenteritis, a condition wherein a person stools and vomits profusely as a result of infection of the intestine and stomach.

The process also claimed that Maitama District hospital  discovered irregularities in Onwuachu’s blood, showing malfunctioning of the Kidney.

He said Nigerian Breweries denied ever producing or distributing unwholesome Heineken beer in response to his letter of complaint.

“The plaintiff consequently wrote the Defendant venting his grievances wherein the Defendant replied the said letter, stating that they had forwarded the complaint to their insurers and denied ever producing or supplying unwholesome Heineken”, he claimed.

Ibegbu however prayed the court to direct Nigerian Breweries Plc. to tender a public apology to his client in three national dailies.

He is also seeking the sum of N10million as exemplary damage for the
negligence occasioned in the production of the beer. The sum of N100,000 000 as general damages for the pain, shock and psychological trauma suffered by his client, and N1 million as cost of litigation.