The Board of Chemstar Group has said the deplorable road infrastructure across the country is a major crisis confronting paints industry, saying the poor situation of highways has continued to pose greater challenge and difficulty to the industry
This was as the Board called on the federal and state government to fix the major highways in the country to easy the problems facing by paints companies in transporting their products to the customers, as well as look at other areas, such as security, import tariff and electricity that have significant impacts on the real sector of the economy.
Chemstar Group is the owner of Chemstar Paints Nigeria Limited, manufacturer of Finecoat and Shield Paints, and its other subsidiaries.
According to Board, like other sectors of the economy, Nigeria paints industry had also been adversely affected by the economic condition in the country.
It added: “Construction activities in the country have been at the low ebb; property development is also at its lowest pace; while the construction sector is not growing at the pace it has been growing in the past four or five years, and the lull in the property business has also affected the paints business.”
The Board disclosed this shortly after its meeting, where a major change was announced at the top management echelon of Chemstar Group.
In the new changes as announced by the Board, Mr. Emmanuel Aderemi Awode, has been appointed as the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Chemstar Group.
Until his new appointment, Awode was the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (GMD/CEO) of Chemstar Paints Industry (Nig.) Ltd.
A graduate of Chemistry from The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Awode is a creative and talented Paint Chemist with peculiar passion for paints technology in the areas of building paints, industrial coatings, marine coatings, automotive paints, and wood finishes.
Also, the former Deputy Managing Director (DMD), Mr. Adedayo Olusesan Paseda, has been appointed as the Group Managing Director (GMD) of Chemstar Paints and its subsidiaries.
Paseda, an alumnus of Obafemi Awolowo University, holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering and a Masters in Business Administration (Marketing Specialisation) from the University of Lagos, Lagos.
He has attended several courses on Polymer, Adhesives and Sealants and Paints Technology at the Paints Research Association Institute, Teddington, and the Polytechnic of North London, both in the United Kingdom.
He started his working career in January 1989 with Premier Paints Plc, where he rose to the position of Technical Director before joining Chemstar in May 2007.
Other changes announced by the Board include Mr. Fola Laguda, former General Manager Sales & Marketing, who now becomes the Executive Director, Sales & Marketing. Laguda holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife. He is a Fellow of Institute of Marketing, Nigeria and has attended a Leadership course at the Oxford Brookes University Business School, London.
Also, Dr. Tunde Olaniya, former General Manager, Strategy & Business Development, has been appointed the Executive Director, C-PIN Industries Limited.
Olaniya holds a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree from the University of Ibadan. He had his Postgraduate programme in Business Administration at the University of Wales (Robert Kennedy College), United Kingdom and his Advanced Management Programme at the Lagos Business School, Pan Atlantic University, Lagos.
He also attended a Leadership course at the Oxford Brookes University Business School, London.
The Board, which said that the new appointments had since taken immediate effect, however, expressed optimism in the new appointees that they will deploy their wealth of experience and expertise to contribute immensely to the development of the Group and the nation’s economy at large.
