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Sunnet Systems’ ICT Hub to Develop IT Skilled Manpower – Paul

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Olagunju Paul, managing director of Sunnet System
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Olagunju Paul is the managing director of Sunnet Systems – a Pan African ICT firm is known for deploying technology solutions and services that enable growth and development.
The company also supports growth strategies through her top-notch solutions and services. Recently, the company won Customer Focused Technology Delivery Company Award and Paul spoke to chike onwuegbuchi on issues around Sunnet Systems’ efforts to revolutionize IT industry.

Issues Around Assessing Foreign Exchange
Yes, it is a challenge, at the same time, it presents some opportunities. As an organization, we believe that every problem has at least one solution. To us, what this challenge has thrown up is that as an IT company we should be thinking inwards.
That has also helped us to filter the possibilities and otherwise. We look at the whole spectrum of ICT landscape: where are we as a country? What can we do?
What should we be doing? What services do we need from outside? So, what we have done is to ensure, internally we align our resources to some of these challenges, providing in-country solutions.
We believe that, for so long, certain skills in the industry are largely dependent on expatriates. We felt one of the good things this crisis has brought is: there is no forex to continue on that path. So, do we have capable Nigerians, who require, maybe additional trainings, to deliver such services? The answer is Yes.
Therefore, we went ahead to set up an ICT Hub in Ilorin to serve as a base to develop Nigerian IT professionals to be utilized both locally and exportable skills.
There are so many smart Nigerians out there, but a lot of concentrations are in Lagos. But, step out of Lagos you see armies of young people who are waiting to be tapped, domesticated and empowered to begin to take advantage of the technology space. So, it has opened our eyes.

Why Ilorin?
It is a layback town; very quiet and cost of living is relatively cheap. There are about five universities, colleges of education, ensuring a whole army of young people. We want to harvest and empower them.
So, some of them we engage in providing these services that we were paying dollars to achieve. We are able to export these skills, bringing in dollars into the country. So, certain things that would ordinarily require dollars, we are using the naira; helping us to have a better margin.
Thus, certain jobs out there that we would have lack the boldness to go for, won’t happen anymore. By that, Nigeria will be able to play and tap into some of those services; take up contracts from UK, US, Europe, done here and delivered out there.
So, the dollar crisis is a blessing in disguise, if we are able to convert them to opportunities. It has actually helped us to think. People say you should think out of the box, but there are no boxes any more. Now, you have to think vertically, horizontally in other to take advantages of these opportunities.

Identification as A Customer Focused Company
As an organization, and from the beginning, we believe that Sunnet Systems exist because our customers exist. We treat our customers as people who put food on our table; they are the reason why we will exist.
Thus, we cannot afford to disappoint them. Our customers will only be happy, if they will run their businesses with their eyes closed. That implies, we can take the pressure off their shoulders to focus on their core competencies.
If you look at our mission statement we have “Passion for Excellence”. We derive our satisfaction from the customer’s satisfaction. We are deeply committed to customer satisfaction; the customer in this case could be the client, shareholders, or even internally, whether our customers as staff, we render services in excellent manner.
It is something that we have been able to practice over time. I am not really surprised that our customers feel that we deserve this award. 
I want to thank Nigeria CommunicationsWeek’s publishers for putting up such a beautiful programme in place. The essence of an award is not just about the reward, but it serves as an incentive for you to strive harder in service delivery. It also gives up-comers to have something to look up to; and as well encouraging compliance to standards, ensuring that organizations step up their games to be globally compliant in terms of quality of service, innovative initiatives that can change the landscape of our country.
To us as an organization, even though we are extremely a quiet organization in terms of visibilities, we have a very large footprint in the industry particularly with the major industries- public, financial, oil and gas, telecoms, and energy. It is an encouragement to us to know that some people somewhere appreciate the good work Sunnet Systems is putting into the industry, particularly our professional dedication and commitment, as well as quality of service.
We will take this as our first step and make sure we embark on aggressive improvement in all our services. Come next year, more of our good works will be out there for exhibition for people to appreciate and others to learn from. So, we really want to appreciate Communication Week Media for the recognition given to us. We will not rest on our oars as this serves as an impetus for us to strive harder; that is our commitment.

Sunnet Systems’ Distinguishing Factors
One of the key things to us is the understanding of our customers’ pain-points and align them with the best technology provider that can best deliver the experience required. For instance, if a customer requires an enterprise solution that can run their application 24/7 and effortlessly, we align them with the appropriate provider.
Also, for every solution we project into the market, Sunnet Systems have the highest level of trained personnel. So, we don’t just push or sell boxes, we generally work directly with the OEMs to ensure we are able to deploy, support and extend the services of these OEMs to the clients. We are strategic partners to these OEMs to deliver solutions relevant to the clients; that is why some of them have Sunnet Systems key leaders as part of their advisory team. Most times, before new products are introduced into the market, we are briefed, keeping us ahead of some of the challenges the customers are facing.

Sunnet Systems Going Forward
In the next five years, Sunnet Systems will not just be recognized for service excellence, but for innovative excellence. We are looking at various challenges faced by Nigerians and working towards technological solutions to them.
For example, we are working assiduously in the areas of health, financial inclusion, crisis management (like the case of herdsmen); we believe that technology that can help us solve some of these challenges.
We are positioning ourselves as innovative solution providers and for the entire West Africa. Every investment we are making now is geared towards that. Even the resource centre in Ilorin, we are working with some universities, tapping into their resources while addressing some of the local challenges.    


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NCAA Orders Airlines to Enforce $10,000 Currency Declaration Rule

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The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority has ordered all international airlines flying into Nigeria to enforce the $10,000 currency declaration rule.

The authority said the rule is required for passengers to declare cash or negotiable instruments above the limit, as part of efforts to strengthen anti-money laundering compliance.

According to the NCAA, the directive, referenced as NCAA/CPD/ABV/298, dated 24 April 2025 seeks to address gaps in the enforcement of existing currency declaration obligations for inbound passengers.

This was announced in a statement issued by the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, via his official X account on Tuesday.

“International carriers must take two key actions, which include “Make inflight or pre-landing announcements informing passengers of their legal obligation to declare any currency or Bearer Negotiable Instruments exceeding $10,000 USD or its equivalent upon arrival in Nigeria.

“Distribute currency declaration forms onboard for passengers to complete before landing. The NCAA has received reports indicating that some airlines are yet to comply with this directive”, the statement read.

The NCAA said these requirements are consistent with international best practices and are vital to preventing the illegal movement of large sums of money across borders.

The Authority warned that full cooperation from international airlines is essential, saying, “Please note that the cooperation of all international airlines operating in Nigeria is critical to supporting the country’s efforts to align with global financial standards.”

Accordingly, the authority emphasised that full implementation of this directive, particularly as it concerns inbound passenger declarations, is of utmost importance.

“Compliance will be closely monitored, and non-compliant airlines will face appropriate sanctions,” it added.


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Appeal Court Nullifies Registration of ‘KPMG Professional Services’

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The court of appeal in Lagos has asked the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to revoke the certificate of registration of “KPMG Professional Services”.

Appeal Court Nullifies Registration of ‘KPMG Professional Services'

In a unanimous decision delivered on Thursday, the appellant court granted the reliefs sought by KPMG Nigeria against CAC and KPMG Professional Services.

The judgment was read by Abdullahi Mahmud Bayero, the judge.

The two other judges are Abimbola Obaseki-Adejumo and A.M. Talba.

In 2002, KPMG Professional Services was registered as a company with CAC despite the existence of KPMG Nigeria, comprising its audit, tax, and consulting arms.

The KPMG Nigeria has long been registered in Nigeria before 2002.

KPMG Audit was registered in 1969, KPMG Tax Consultants in 1990, and KPMG Consulting in 1969.

Displeased with the registration of KPMG Professional Services, KPMG Nigeria approached the federal high court.

The consulting firm had argued that the name “KPMG Professional Services” was deceptively similar to its long-established identity.

In 2005, the lower court dismissed KPMG Nigeria’s case, citing an alleged merger between KPMG Nigeria and Akintola Williams Deloitte as reason the company could no longer assert rights to the name.

The lower upheld the second respondent’s (KPMG Professional Services) counterclaim and ordered that KPMG Nigeria’s name be struck off the CAC register.

The lower court had premised its decision on newspaper articles stating that KPMG Nigeria reportedly merged with Akintola Williams Deloitte.

Delivering the judgment, Bayero ruled that the lower court erred by relying on newspaper articles to ascertain that KPMG Nigeria allegedly merged with another company.

The judge said the documents showing the alleged merger were not presented before the lower court, and the form of the alleged merger could not have been known.

“In any event, the only branch of KPMG, if any, that entered into a merger with Akintola Williams as stated in the newspaper articles 18, is KPMG Audit,” the judge ruled.

“The other spheres were totally unaffected. It would therefore be wrong to state that the merger (which has not been shown to this Court) of KPMG Audit with Akintola Williams means all the other areas of business, including KPMG Consulting and KPMG Tax Consultants, also ceased to exist.

“Even if the Appellants (KPMG Nigeria) had ceased to do business as the Court seemed to have held, the 2nd Respondents (KPMG Professional Services) should not have been carrying on business until the Appellant’s certificate of registration is withdrawn or set aside.

“They cannot use the name until the Appellant’s certification of registration is withdrawn or set aside. They cannot use the name until the name is removed from the 1st Respondent’s (CAC) Register of Names.

“The 1st Respondents can only assign the name to the 2nd Respondents after first taking it away from the Appellants.”

The court ruled that CAC erred by registering KPMG Professional Services despite the existence of a business name, which is already registered.

The judge reversed the earlier ruling of the lower court and reaffirmed the primacy of statutory protection for existing business names under Nigerian corporate law.

 

 

 


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Air Peace Launches Abuja–London Heathrow, Gatwick flights October 26

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Air Peace has announced the launch of direct flights from Abuja to London Heathrow and Gatwick airports, with operations scheduled to begin on October 26, 2025.

The airline said in a statement on Sunday that round-trip fares for the Abuja–London service will start from N1m, making it the first Nigerian carrier to offer direct connections from the capital to both of London’s major international airports. This was contained in a press release issued on Sunday by the airline’s spokesperson, Efe Osifo-Whiskey.

“Direct international flight services from Abuja to both London Heathrow and London Gatwick Airports, effective October 26, 2025.

“Air Peace becomes the first Nigerian carrier to offer direct services from Abuja to both of London’s major international airports, further solidifying its role as a leader in regional and intercontinental aviation.

“Travellers originating from any of Air Peace’s domestic destinations across Nigeria can now book through fares via Abuja to either Heathrow or Gatwick using a single ticket, eliminating the need for multiple bookings or baggage re-checks,” the statement read.

Similarly, the new route opens convenient access for inbound passengers from the UK to cities across Nigeria.

“Travellers from London can access multiple destinations across Nigeria using a single Air Peace ticket through Abuja every morning. These destinations are Lagos, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Benin, Warri, Owerri, Kano, Yola, Gombe and Asaba, for now. Other destinations will be added later,” Osifo-Whiskey stated.

Air Peace is also offering what it describes as unprecedented value in pricing and service.

Osifo-Whiskey said, “It provides a distinct competitive advantage, enabling passengers to travel between Nigeria and the United Kingdom with greater ease, efficiency, and value, due to the possibility of choosing multiple cities entry and exit points.

“Has the cheapest fares ever, starting from only 1 Million Naira round trip. Huge baggage allowance.”

The Abuja–London launch comes months after the airline began Lagos–London Heathrow flights, which started earlier in 2024.


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