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SON: We have initiated more measures to tackle importation of substandard products into Nigeria
File Photo The Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) said it has devised more efficient measures against importation of substandard products to protect local manufacturers in the country. The Director-General of SON, Mallam Farouk Salim stated this during a visit to the organization’s office in Awka, Anambra State, on Saturday. According to Mallam Salim, the agency will continue to discourage importers of substandard products from short-changing unsuspecting consumers. He also announced plans to improve workers welfare and increase engagement with stakeholders in the country, noting that the move by the agency would help protect the interest of the business community while also safeguarding life and property. The Director-General assured that the organization would work with stakeholders ...
Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni in commanding election lead, rival alleges fraud
Uganda’s long-time leader Yoweri Museveni held a commanding lead in a presidential election according to partial results on Saturday morning, with final results expected later in the day, though his main rival Bobi Wine alleged widespread fraud. With ballots from 86% of polling stations counted, Museveni had won 5.3 million, or 58.8%, while main opposition candidate Wine had 3.1 million votes (34.6%), the electoral commission said just after 9 a.m. (0600 GMT). The government ordered the internet to be shut down the day before voting on Thursday, and the blackout was still in place. Wine, 38, had galvanised young Ugandans with his calls for political change after 35 years of Museveni, 76, ruling the country. The run-up to the election was more violent than in previous polls. Security forces...
Gunmen attack Bayelsa community
Unknown gunmen on Friday attacked the Ogila-ama community in the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. The armed men, who stormed the coastal community in three speed boats, shot sporadically before setting some buildings on fire. The incident was said to have caused panic and confusion as the residents of Ogila-ama fled into the bush. Reports quoted a native of the community, Bolouikie Ogoro, as saying that he received phone calls from his sister and some others informing him of the armed invasion. According to him, the armed arsonists operated in three speed boats and fired gunshots indiscriminately to ward off any resistance before going for the targeted houses that they razed down. It could not be immediately ascertained if any life was lost even as no group had claimed...
NHIS: Sokoto received N518 million Health Intervention Fund
Nasir Sambo, the Executive Secretary, National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) said the Buhari administration has disbursed N518 million to Sokoto State Government in 2020 as National Healthcare Intervention Fund aimed at enhancing the lives of vulnerable persons in the society. Speaking to newsmen on the sidelines of the official commencement of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF), Mr. Sambo said the federal government remained committed to attainment of mandatory Universal Health Coverage (UHC) toward ensuring improved healthcare to citizens. He stressed that the federal authorities was committed to achieving the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The executive secretary noted that the National Health Act enshrined one percent from accrued consolidated national revenue f...
Nigerian government seizes bank’s assets over Shell’s N183 billion debt
File Photo Nigerian government have moved to sequester the assets of the country’s premier lender First Bank of Nigeria Limited in an effort to recover the damages oil major Royal Dutch Shell owed the Ejama Ebubu community of Rivers State in a legal contest spanning many decades, Bloomberg reported Thursday. Police operatives and court officials arrived the bank’s main branch in Port Harcourt on Tuesday to execute an order to seize the lender’s asset, FirstBank said in a statement. The bank said the incident leading to the confiscation of its properties was “unjustified, illegal and a reckless misuse of the machinery of justice.” Lagos-headquartered FirstBank resolved to guarantee the damages awarded against Shell by a Rivers State high court judge a decade ago. According to the estimation...
Ex-President Obasanjo: Bolu Akin-Olugbade was passionate about Nigeria’s unity
Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, on Thursday, described the late billionaire businessman, Bolu Akin-Olugbade, as passionate in his defence of Nigerian unity and was devoted to his roots. Akin-Olugbade was reported to have died of COVID-19-related complications, as a passionate Nigerian. Obasanjo said this in a condolence letter addressed to his wife, Chief (Mrs.) Oladunni Akin-Olugbade. Obasanjo remarked that Bolu would be greatly missed by his community, Local Government Area, State, and the nation in general, saying that all Owu people have lost a great son. The former President is the Balogun (Prime Minister) of Owu, where the late billionaire hails from. Obasanjo in the letter issued by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, said in spite of his privileged backgrou...
Mother, two children burnt to death in Bauchi
A mother and her two children have been burnt to death in a fire disaster that occurred in Riban Garmu village, Dewu Ward in Kirfi Local Government Area of Bauchi State. Four others also sustained varying degrees of injuries. An eyewitness who refused to give his name said that the fire was suspected to be as a result of an electrical fault in the house which burnt it down. He said, “We suspect that there was a spark in the night while people were asleep and that might have caused the fire which burnt the four-bedroom house completely. “Four people sustained injuries and they were admitted at the Kirfi General Hospital where they are receiving treatment,” he said. The eyewitness said the fire started when the deceased and her two children were sleeping in the night, adding that all efforts...
Ahmadu Bello University announces date for resumption
The management of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in Kaduna State, has fixed Monday, January 25th, 2021 as the date for the reopening of the institution for academic activities. However, the Director of Public Affairs of the ABU, Mallam Auwal Umar, said in a statement that the resumption date was subject to review by the Federal Government. The statement titled, ‘Ahmadu Bello University fixes January 25 for reopening,’ said the resumption date was approved by the Senate of the University at its 501st (Special) Meeting on Tuesday The statement read, “The 2019/2020 academic session would be completed based on the adjusted calendar as approved by the Senate. “The decision to reopen the University followed the suspension of ASUU strike, and the directive by National Universities Commission...
New York judge’s son arrested over Capitol riot
The son of a New York judge was arrested on Tuesday for participating in last week’s violent rampage at the US Capitol building by supporters of President Donald Trump, prosecutors said. Aaron Mostofsky, 34, is the latest of several supporters of the president to be charged over Wednesday’s incursion which left lawmakers fearing for their lives. Mostofsky faces four charges, including theft of government property, unlawful entry to a restricted building and disorderly conduct, according to the charge sheet. Prosecutors allege that he stole a police riot shield and bulletproof police vest. They cite photographs of Mostofsky, including on his Instagram page, which show him inside the Capitol with the shield and vest. He was also wearing fur and carrying a stick. “I don’t think 75 million peo...
Normalcy returns to Kwara community after security operatives, drivers clash
Normalcy returned to Ilesha-Baruba community in the Baruten Local Government Area of Kwara on Monday after a Friday clash between security operatives and commercial vehicles drivers. The clash between the security operatives and drivers in the area left at least three persons dead and several people injured from gunshots. Newsmen report that the clash occurred on Friday during a misunderstanding over “bookings’’ between the operatives mounting roadblocks on the Ilesha-Baruba/Chikanda highway and commercial drivers plying the route. The corpses of the deceased, which had earlier been deposited at a morgue in Saki, Oyo State, were brought into Ilesha-Baruba on Sunday night for burial. Newsmen who went round the community reports that the residents have returned to their normal businesses. Ma...
Minister: Tests on NYSC members confirm coronavirus is everywhere in Nigeria
The Federal Government says it has further confirmed from results of tests conducted on prospective National Youth Service Corps members confirmed that no part of the country was free of COVID-19. The Minister of State for Health, Sen. Olorunnimbe Mamora, made the disclosure on Monday in Abuja at a briefing by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19. “We safely and comfortably drew this conclusion because corps members are mobilised from all the states of the country for each of the orientation camps,”the Minister said while warning that increasing cases of COVID-19 are imposing enormous burden on the nation’s health facilities. He said that the 18,699 active COVID-19 cases were stretching health facilities. “With the increased number of confirmed cases, the number of active cases ha...
Uganda election: Will Bobi Wine derail Yoweri Museveni’s sixth term bid?
As millions of Ugandans prepare to pick the country’s president this week, the stakes could not be higher. The run-up to Thursday’s vote has been marred by restrictions on campaigning, arrests of opposition figures and deadly violence. At least 54 people were killed in November as security forces put down protests by opposition supporters. Longtime President Yoweri Museveni, 76, is facing a strong challenge from popular musician-turned-politician Bobi Wine in his bid to secure a sixth, five-year term in office. Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, was just four years old when Museveni, a former rebel leader, came to power in 1986. In 2005, Uganda’s ruling-party-dominated parliament removed presidential term limits. And in 2017, lawmakers scrapped the age limit of 75 fo...
