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Pinnick had boasted last Thursday in Lagos that the NFF could beat its chest anywhere that it is 60-65% self-funded, saying that corporate Nigeria’s support for Nigerian Football had improved significantly over the years.

The NFF actually celebrated its numerous sponsors in Lagos for their morale and financial support. At the occasion were big wigs and representatives of AITEO Group, Coca-Cola, Nigerian Breweries PLC, Amstel Malta, Zenith Bank PLC, Tropical and General Investments, WAPIC Insurance PLC, Cadbury Nigeria PLC, Emzor Pharmaceuticals, FrieslandCampina WAMCO and Simba Group (TVS: Official Motorycle and Tricycle Partner of the Super Eagles, among others.

However, despite the ‘financial support’ from the companies, the NFF is said to be indebted to its workers and handlers of the senior national team.The Franco-German coach is allegedly facing financial stress due to unpaid bonuses and salaries by his employer (the NFF).

The development came, just as the Secretary General of the body, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, confirmed that he is being owed five months salary.

A source also hinted that Rohr had been keeping quiet over the ‘unpaid’ salary and bonuses because he does not want any confrontation with his employers that could become a subject of debate in the media.

According to the source, Rohr is yet to get his bonuses for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification and his salary for two months. “It’s evident that Gernot Rohr is not happy that the NFF has not paid his 2018 World Cup qualification bonus over a year after qualifying the Eagles for the competition in Russia,” the source stated.

The source added that virtually everybody involved in the Super Eagles’ qualification for the World Cup (assistant coaches and backroom staff), have been paid.It was alleged that the contractual agreement signed between Rohr and the NFF is gradually being breached by the Pinnick-led NFF for ‘failing’ to pay the coach’s October and November salaries.

NFF General Secretary, Sanusi said: “Did he (Gernot Rohr) complained to anybody that he has not been paid his salary? How many media houses have paid their journalists and other staffers in their organisations since seven months ago? Gernot Rohr is paid his salary or not, should not be a public issue. Everybody, including Rohr has been paid his or her World Cup bonuses. The Super Eagles Team Secretary can confirm that no one is still being owed any bonus.

“I am being owed five months salaries, and nobody cares about my survival. Yes. I’ve not been paid my salary since five months now.”

A visit to the NFF Secretariat reveals outright rejection and poverty amongst the staff.

“We have not seen this type of treatment and administration since over 18 years some of us have been working here. The Christmas is a few hours away, and there is nothing to celebrate with our families. It has been so bad and harsh. The popular Glass House is no longer what it used to be,” one of the staff revealed to The Guardian.

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Kolade, former Chairman of Cadbury Nigeria and former chancellor of Pan Atlantic University, Lagos, spoke on “The Pursuit of Excellence” at the first annual lecture of the Cadbury Nigeria Alumni Association, a gathering of former employees of the FMCG firm.

Kolade decried the regression of professionalism across many sectors in Nigeria, citing lack of trust as one of the factors for the continued strikes across many areas.

Kola, a renowned communication professional and former Director General of the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, NBC, stated that “We should not be too embarrassed to mention the shortage of excellence in the quality of communication in governance, as we recall that, not too long ago, the nation’s President arrived back from overseas, and decided that he would work from home for a few days.

“Why did anyone have to explain that to us? The President’s home in this context is only a few metres away from his office, and he, like you and me, is eminently free to decide where he will physically sit for the successful performance of his duties.

“Someone had to offer us the explanation that rodents had displaced our head of state from his exalted office space, for the maintenance of which the nation makes generous allocations of human and financial resources in every annual budget! Would the announcer of that information proudly display that to other members of his professional constituency as an example of best practice in edifying communication?,” asks Kolade.

He attributed the strikes in the education, health and other sectors to the absence of trust and abundance of bad faith.

“Neither side has any confidence that the other will fulfil the terms of the agreement to which they append their signatures. When good faith departs, everyone looks bad! Indeed, as we can now testify, the constant practice of bad faith encourages even eminently qualified professionals to betray their commitment to best practice and professional excellence!”

Kolade decried the regression in various areas of national life in Nigeria and a departure from the pursuit of excellence in public life.

“Today we seem to be going through experiences that challenge our claim to excellence. Look wherever you like in our nation, and the pursuit of excellence seems to have lost much steam. How do we explain the prevalence of divisive, tension-generating rhetoric that some have labelled hate-speech?

“How has it become a regular occurrence for cattle rearers to drive their animals into private farmlands, and even into school classrooms, where they interrupt the education of our children and put the economy of the nation in jeopardy?

“Why are we not disturbed that, in competing with one another in the arena of good governance, one former President gleefully informs us, through the media, that corruption in the time of his successor has become far worse than it was in his time?”

He blamed “self-induced confusion” for the poor results. “We know what a performance of excellence should look like. We even make the right provision in our Constitution for people to perform excellently.

“Our National Anthem and National Pledge provide strong reminders of the fact that we need the help of Almighty God if we are to be successful. We do a great deal to frustrate the very wise provisions that we have made”, Kolade stated. 


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The company’s profit-before-tax dipped by 80 per cent to N1.47 billion from N7.42 billion achieved in the corresponding period of 2013.

The report is contained in the company’s audited result released by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday in Lagos.

Its profit after tax dropped by N4.51 billion or 74.89 per cent to N1.51 billion from N6.02 billion posted in the comparative period of 2013.

Also, revenue stood at N30.52 billion against N35.70 billion recorded in the preceding period of 2013, a decrease of 15 per cent.

The company’s total current liabilities stood at N14.04 billion compared with N14.39 billion declared in 2013.

Total current assets stood at N12.34 billion from N26.231 billion achieved in the preceding year of 2013.

The company’s net assets decreased by 52 per cent to N11.54 billion from N23.994 billion achieved in the comparable period of 2013.

The company has proposed a dividend payout of 65k to all shareholders whose name appears on the register between May 11 and May 15.

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For the first six months of the year, the company’s revenue fell by 12 percent to N15.25 billion from N17.43 billion in the same period of the corresponding year (HY) 2013.

The bottom-line level didn’t improve as profit before tax (PBT) reduced by a double digit figure of 50 percent to N1.79 billion in HY 2014, as against N3.58 billion as of HY 2013.

Although the company witnessed a 50 percent reduction in tax liability, profit after tax (PAT) in the review period still slid by 50 percent to N1.26 billion from N2.51 billion as of HY 2013.

Some analysts had envisaged lower half year performance for firms in the FMCG space as a result of the insurgency in the North, which they say have been hampering distribution network of firms in the sector, thus crimping growth potentials.

Other impediments include bad roads, which culminate in high distribution costs for firms like Cadbury, and also erratic power supply from the grid that results in companies using expensive alternate source of power, such as diesel for production.

Competition from rivals such as Nestle, a company that has been growing amid economic uncertainties, could slow the top-line performance of Cadbury.

As a result of the aforementioned, input costs were high as cost-of-sales margin jumped to 62 percent in 2014, from 60 percent in 2013.

Net margin, a measure of efficiency and profitability, shrank to 8.22 percent in HY 2014, compared with 14.41 percent as of HY 2013.

Despite the volatile operating environment, Nigeria’s growing population and its middle-class provide innumerable opportunities for Cadbury to tap into and increase its share of the market.

According to a recent report by McKinsey, it is projected that consumption could more than triple, rising from $388 billion/year to $1.4 trillion/year in 2030, an annual increase of about 8 percent.

Cadbury plans to invest as much as $30 million (N4.7bn) in processing facilities for cocoa, the major raw material used in the production of one of its market penetrating brand – Bournvita. This it said will magnify the return on shareholders’ investment.

Current ratio, which measure the ability of a firm to meet short-term obligation as at when due, decreased to 0.88x in 2014, as against 1.82x in 2014 – the figures are below the 2.1x industry average.

Total assets were down by 31.71 percent to N29.48 billion in HY 2014, compared with N43.17 billion as of HY 2013.

The company’s share price closed at N74.25 on July 28, 2014, on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, while market capitalisation was N139.45 billion.

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The shareholders, under the aegis of the Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria (PSAN),  said that the resolutions passed at the company’s extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on Dec. 19, 2013 breached corporate governance and remain an antithesis to the growth of the nation’s capital market.

Boniface Okezie, PSAN President, said that the minority shareholders would only accept capital reduction based on the prevailing market price of Cadbury shares.

According to him, he declined to vote because the offer price of N9.50, as against the N58.27 market price of Cadbury was a serious disincentive to both investors’ and the market.

He said that the planned capital reduction should be done in the right way, without shortchanging minority shareholders.

Okezie said that the minority shareholders had contributed immensely toward the rejuvenation of the company in its locust days.

“We have endured without dividend for years when the company had problems and should not be maltreated. The company should not take retail investors for a ride as the majority investors have no right to vote at the meeting.” he said.

Okezie said also that the excess funds could be used for products expansion aimed at increasing the company’s bottom line.

The company had on Dec. 19, 2013, sought shareholders approval to reduce its capital base by about N12 billion.

Under the capital reduction plan, Cadbury would return excess capital of N11.9 billion to its shareholders by cancelling two shares out of every five ordinary shares currently held by shareholders.

The exercise, when concluded, will reduce the manufacturing conglomerate’s share capital account by an amount equivalent to the par value of the cancelled shares and the share premium account to about N11.27 billion.

Under the proposed exercise, each shareholder would receive returned capital per cancelled share at N9.50 per share.

Meanwhile the audited accounts of Cadbury for the year ended Dec. 31, 2012, showed that the balances in the share capital stood at N1.6 billion, while the share premium accounts for N11.5 billion.

Cadbury had earlier in 2009 raised N17 billion from shareholders through a rights issue that saw the foreign core investor increase its controlling stake in the Nigerian company to about 75 per cent.

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