Peugeot set to launch 307 sedan in Abuja

By Seyi Gesinde

ALL is now set for the commercial launching of Peugeot 307 Sedan, a new baby of Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN) Ltd. from its M1 segment.

PAN said its decision to unleash the ‘new lion’ is borne out of the glaring need in the Nigerian auto market for a car that will satisfy the buyers’ passion for a superior style, maximum performance, efficiency, fuel economy, additional comfort, safety, and above all availability of after sales support.

According to the Musa Bashir Usman Public Relation Officer (PRO), Peugeot Automobile Nigeria Ltd, the ceremony will hold at Nicon Luxury Hotel, Abuja on Friday, August 29, 2008, at 1600hrs.

“Peugeot 307 Sedan, the ‘lion brand’, is a name synonymous with consistency of innovation that suits and reflects different personalities of car users, be it government officials, corporate executives, military and diplomats,” Usman said.

Expected at occasion is the Speaker of the Federal House of Representative, Hon. Dimeji Bankole, as the chief launcher and the Hon. Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Dr. Aliyu Moddibo Umar as a co-chief launcher.

Usman speaking further said; “One unique advantage the brand enjoys over its competitors in the country is the availability of the after sales support in all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria.

He said, perhaps, that is the reason why the brand has continued to dominate Africa’s most populous market.

“Like the popular saying goes ‘with Peugeot you will never be stranded’; about 35 Peugeot service garages, with more under construction, are spread all over the country so as to ensure easy access to adequate service facilities.

African circle boosts govt’s pollution-reduction efforts with N2.4bn plant

Dele Aderibigbe and Folashade Alli, Lagos

Federal Government’s strategic aim of achieving a cleaner marine environment in Nigeria may have got the desired boost as a N2. 4 billion marine pollution control plant is installed on the Snake Island in Lagos, purposefully to rid the territorial waters of pollution.

Coming under the initiatives of the African Circle Pollution Control group, the plant, which is presently sited in a choice location within the newly constituted ‘Free Trade Zone’ (FTZ) where it pays $19.5 per square meter of every space occupied, the plant is expected to collect sludge and other oily wastes from ships arriving in the country, and processing same in line with the specifications of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) on safe and clean marine environment, especially to ensure compliance in respect of IMO Annexes 1 and 5.

Specifically, barges drawn by tug boats from the African Circle would pull alongside ships entering the nation’s territorial waters, and have solid and liquid wastes from such vessels discharged into the barges rather into our waters thereby eliminating possibility of harming the country’s eco or aquatic lives.

The plant managers, the Nigerian Tribune further learnt, would also collaborate with both the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to guarantee vessels in emergency situations and deserving of Search and Rescue (SAR) attentions, or similar vessels in distress, adequate coverage in case they were under the fear of spilling petroleum or other hazardous products into the country’s waters.

When the Nigerian Tribune visited the site at the weekend, it observed a few expatriates and several Nigerians working round the clock in a bid to meet what the group’s image-maker, Ahmadu Fidi Ahmadu, described as an end of the month deadline target.

“At the moment, we have four vessels built in turkey by Marfidenis; next month we are commissioning two, with officers from NIMASA and NPA, especially the surveyors. “They have fire fighting capabilities. And in the event of hazardous product spill, they also have fuel booms. We intend using our base at Tin Can for speedy response so as to begin to run a 24-hour service,” Mr. Ahmadu explained further.

There were indications that the group as a part of its social responsibility would assist the Lagos state government ssto rid some streets of solid wastes aside from also providing potable drinking water at the end of their installations.