News
Coy Invests $50m in Fibre Cement Board factory in Abuja

By Iyke Obi Durumba
The Nigeria housing construction and manufacturing sector recently received a big boost as Fibre Cement Board, an innovative building material, is now manufactured in Nigeria by the New Material Nigeria Ltd, a company which is part of the Sinoma/CNBM group a fortune 500 company with headquarters in Beijing China.
Addressing journalists during a new product news briefing, Managing Director of the company, Jackie Hui said New Material Nigeria Ltd, recently opened its factory in Abuja, its first outside China and is already producing Fibre Cement Boards of global standards.
Cement Fibre Boards are composite boards made of cement, fibers and sand used in external walls and internal partitioning.
Speaking on the cost benefits of using Fibre Cement Boards, Hui said it saves material and manpower costs and reflects positively on duration of project delivery. “You save cost. For example, this building, maybe we spend one year, two years to finish this building but using our Fibre Cement Board for partition, you can complete all the building in three months. You save the human resource, you save the cement, you save the block and most importantly, you protect the environment. It’s green and better than block”
Conducting journalists around the factory, he noted that the premises had the most up to date measures for industrial safety and had passed fire safety tests by the Federal Fire Service. With industrial equipment and installed production capacity of 5 million square meters of Fibre Cement Boards per year, the factory employs 119 Nigerians at various levels.
Dai Hui said the factory also sources its raw materials locally. “Yeah, we source locally. That’s why we have confidence to grow and stay in Nigeria. For instance, last month we were able to locate a source for one of our materials, paper pulp, from Kano. For the cement, we use Lafarge, Dangote and Bua. The other is quartz sand, and stones, we source all locally.”
Nigeria’s housing sector has a deficit of at least 20m units and experts have suggested several cost effective measures aimed at bridging the gap. With superior emphasis on strength, sound and fire proofing qualities, the local demand for Fibre Cement Boards in Nigeria has spiked.
The $50m New Material Nigeria factory meets this demand. However, Dai Hui says this is just a beginning as another factory is planned for Lagos in the near future.
Also expressing a desire to be part of Nigeria’s export-oriented industrial development, Dai Hui said the future is bright as the company plans to use Nigeria as manufacturing hub for export of Fibre Cement Boards to the entire West African region. “With the support from the Nigerian people, we can expand and so Nigeria can be hub of exportation to the whole ECOWAS, he said.
News
SERAP sues Akpabio over ‘failure to reverse unlawful suspension of Natasha Akpoti’

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against Senate President Godswill Akpabio over the suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan. The group argues that the suspension is unlawful and violates her fundamental right to freedom of expression.
SERAP is seeking a court order compelling Akpabio to reverse the six-month suspension, reinstate Akpoti-Uduaghan, and restore all her legislative privileges. The organization also wants an injunction preventing the Senate from imposing further disciplinary actions against her for expressing her views.
Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended after she reportedly spoke without permission and rejected a new seat assignment in the Senate chamber. As part of her suspension, her salary and allowances have been withheld, and she has been barred from identifying as a senator.
In its suit filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, SERAP contends that the suspension deprives Akpoti-Uduaghan’s constituents of political representation. The organization also argues that penalizing a senator for exercising free speech creates a chilling effect on other lawmakers.
“No one should ever be punished for speaking without permission,” SERAP stated. “The Senate should uphold the rule of law and protect human rights, not suppress them.”
The group cites constitutional provisions and international human rights treaties, including Section 39 of the Nigerian Constitution, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
SERAP maintains that the Senate Standing Orders cannot override constitutional guarantees of free speech. The lawsuit emphasizes that restricting a senator’s expression undermines democracy and violates Nigerians’ right to receive information and participate politically.
No date has been set for the hearing of the case.
News
Market associations, women groups knock el-Rufai, rally support for Tinubu, Gov Sani

Ahead of the 2027 elections, hundreds of members of market associations and numerous women groups in Kaduna state at the weekend, occupied Kaduna metropolis in a peaceful demonstration where they reiterated their loyalty and support to the administration of
Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna state and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The protesters who alleged that they had bitter experiences during the El-Rufa’i administration, said they would remain where Governor Uba Sani stood and advised the citizens of Kaduna not to be deceived by doing the contrary.
They recounted their ordeals during the 8 years of the previous administration, alleging that hundreds of market shops belonging to individuals were either seized, demolished or confiscated, a situation that triggered ill health in many traders and business owners leading to paralysis and multiple deaths of their colleagues.
“We’ve been in the market for over 40 years and have never experienced the kind of set backs we suffered under the previous Governor.”
“A lot of lives were lost,a lot of finances were ruined by reason of his kind of policies. We are here to speak with one voice and say that anything that would kind of revive such kind of philosophy in Kaduna market, we don’t want it,” Daniel Audu Maigari, a stakeholder of the Kaduna Market associations, has said.
He explained that “this incumbent Governor began by healing the wounds, the wounds that were really severed by the former Governor. Governor Uba Sani has been doing so,so very well and that’s why we’ve been with our leader, Alhaji Abdurrahman Mohammed, who like Governor Sani,has been charting the right course, ensuring programmes and plans that will heal these wounds .”
He said there was never been a time they are having the impact of leadership in Kaduna market, like they are having now.
” Now we’ve lots of incentives, lots of policies that are driving us to progress .We are now standing with one voice to denounce anything that would reverse this,” he said.
Alhaji Daiyabu Ismail Mai Gwanjo, Chairman Stakeholders of the Kaduna State Market Traders associations, said on behalf of their leader,Alhaji Abdurrahman Mohammed, his EXCO and all trader leaders in the 23 Local Government Areas of Kaduna State, they have gathered to unilaterally declare an unalloyed support to Governor Uba Sani who had taken care of them and protected their interests.
According to him,” we have to say so,haven had the harrowing experience in the hands of the past administration. The scar still remains and many are yet to recover.”
“But when Almighty Allah sent Governor Uba Sani to us,he declared he would not do anything bad to traders because the world thrives on businesses.All the most cherished countries like China, Canada, UAE, India,are very proud of and supportive to their traders and other business persons.”
“Unfortunately, we found ourselves during the previous administration that neither showed empathy nor sympathy to traders. An approximate number of 36 markets were demolished at that time.None of these markets was completely rebuild ,till date,and we are suspicious of the collaboration between the previous administration and the market developers.”
“We are therefore calling on Governor Uba Sani, our Governor of sympathy and understanding, to look at this issue with a view to resolving it.We are with Uba Sani a hundred percent, ” he added.
Hajiya Hadiza Abdulaziz,a woman leader of the market association,said they have gathered in multitudes to reiterate their support to the APC and Governor Uba Sani who has tremendously supported the market men and women in Kaduna State.
” Most of the market women had no shops because the shops were collected. But now we give God the glory everybody has gotten their shops back and nobody will collect it again,” she said.
She expressed happiness that those making the market women not to achieve, had left the party and government.
“We’ve been crying, a lot of market women don’t have capital, they have been deceiving us.But now,I believe Governor Uba Sani is going to assist us,”she added.
The protesters later took to the streets ,displaying placards with various inscriptions denouncing the previous arrangements, and chanting slogans in support of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Governor Uba Sani and the All Progressives Congress, APC.
” Most of the market women had no shops because the shops were collected. But now we give God the glory everybody has gotten their shops back and nobody will collect it again,” she said.
She expressed happiness that those making the market women not to achieve, had left the party and government.
“We’ve been crying, a lot of market women don’t have capital, they have been deceiving us.But now,I believe Governor Uba Sani is going to assist us,”she added.
The protesters later took to the streets ,displaying placards with various inscriptions denouncing the previous arrangements, and chanting slogans in support of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Governor Uba Sani and the All Progressives Congress, APC.
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