December
Nigeria fines UK, South African airlines for breach of coronavirus protocol
The Nigerian government has rolled out punitive measures against foreign airline operators flying into Nigeria, particularly those from the United Kingdom and South Africa whose passengers allegedly violated the reviewed travel protocols announced by Nigeria’s regulatory body for aviation NCAA. The agency, in a circular issued on December 26 by its director-general Musa Nuhu, disclosed that airlines from the affected countries shall be fined $3,500 for each passenger that flouts the guidelines, which were reviewed to prevent an outbreak of the new variant of the coronavirus recently reported in the UK and South Africa. The circular stated that repeated non-compliance by any carrier would result in the suspension of the airline’s permit to fly into Nigeria, as defaulting passengers are boun...
CBN: Naira to fall further in January
Barely five days to the end of the year 2020, the Central Bank of Nigeria has disclosed that a survey carried out by its Statistics Department revealed that the naira is expected to depreciate further in January 2021. The report, titled, ‘December 2020 Business Expectations Survey Report’ added that there might also be a steady rise in interest rate from December till the next six months. The naira witnessed a sharp fall in recent weeks, reaching its lowest on November 30, 2020, when it exchanged for N500/$1. Since then, the dollar has been hovering between N460 and N470. As of Friday, however, one dollar exchanged for 465 in the parallel market. Also, the Nigerian economy had on November 21 slid into its second recession in five years when the economy shrank again in the third quarter. Th...
Millions of Americans risk losing jobless benefits as Donald Trump refuses to sign aid bill
Millions of Americans are about to see their jobless benefits expire on Saturday as U.S. President Donald Trump has so far refused to sign into law a $2.3 trillion pandemic aid and spending package, insisting that it did not do enough to help everyday people. Trump stunned Republicans and Democrats alike when he said this week he was unhappy with the massive bill, which provides $892 billion in badly needed coronavirus relief, including extending special unemployment benefits expiring on Dec. 26, and $1.4 trillion for normal government spending. Without Trump’s signature, about 14 million people could lose those extra benefits, according to Labor Department data. A partial government shutdown will begin on Tuesday unless Congress can agree a stop-gap government funding bill before then. Af...
Germany starts coronavirus vaccines a day early
A 101-year-old woman in an elderly care home became the first person in Germany to be inoculated against coronavirus on Saturday, a day before the official vaccination campaign was scheduled to get under way in both Germany and the EU. Edith Kwoizalla was one of around 40 residents and 10 staff in a care home in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt to receive a jab of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the home’s manager Tobias Krueger told AFP. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine became the first to get the go-ahead for use in the West, when Britain gave its approval on December 2. As other nations from the United States to Saudi Arabia to Singapore followed suit, Germany impatiently prodded the EU’s drugs regulator, the European Medicines Agency, to bring forward its decision from December 29. The EMA f...
Ever-present Boko Haram threat casts shadow in Niger
Seven years after the first Boko Haram attacks in southeastern Niger, people in the city of Diffa, dare not even speak the group’s name. Residents live in a state of siege, frightened and struggling with the economic impact of the Islamist threat. For fear of reprisals, people speak of “insecurity”, of the “problems” or the “current situation”. The fear is well-founded, according to one security source who says Boko Haram sympathisers in the city pass on information to the group. Among the poorest countries in the world, Niger, which is holding presidential elections on Sunday, faces jihadist groups from the Sahel in the west and Boko Haram in the east. “I don’t have 1,000 CFA francs (1.5 euros) in my pocket. I have been unemployed for four years,” says Abdou Maman, 46, who has two wives a...
Yuletide: FRSC decries violations of coronavirus protocols, speed by motorists
Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has decried high level of speed and COVID-19 violations by motorists across the country during the yuletide. Zonal Commanding Officer RS9, Enugu, Mr Owoimaha Odoma, disclosed this to newsmen on Friday in Owerri. He said the issue became worrisome as over speeding often led to road crashes, while violation of COVID-19 protocol by motorists could also escalate the dreaded virus in various communities. Udoma, who is the zonal inspection head on FRSC ‘Operation Zero Tolerance to Road Traffic Violation’, warned motorists against over speeding. “We embarked on road monitoring in the states under the zone and we have observed that violations of speed and COVID-19 guidelines were the major challenges on the road during this period. “We started this road inspection ...
Lagos governor recovers from coronavirus, urges precautions
The Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Thursday announced his recovery from COVID-19 infection, having tested negative, following 14 days of treatment. Addressing State House correspondents at ‘Lagos House’, Marina, Sanwo-Olu said that he experienced moderate symptoms like headache, cough, among other COVID-19 symptoms. He thanked the people of Lagos and the medical team for their care, prayers, and concern throughout his isolation. “I was fortunate to have had a relatively moderate COVID-19 experience. About one in every 10 persons who contracted the disease in Lagos State were not so lucky; they have to go into intensive care, and some of them did not make it out alive. “For this reason, my gratitude is deep and profuse. And it is also for this reason, that I am here to app...
15 people die of coronavirus in Nasarawa
The Deputy Governor of Nasarawa State, Dr Emmanuel Akabe, has disclosed that 15 persons have died from COVID-19 since the outbreak of the virus. He said in Lafia after a security meeting that, ” As at Tuesday December 22, the state has discharged 668 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 26 under home care and 3 in isolation. “85% of the cases are found in Karu, Keffi and Lafia local government areas, while the rest are found in the remaining 10 councils of the state.” He said. The Deputy Governor disclosed that Dr Rebecca Isaac Umaru, Former Provost of College of Education Akwanga died of the virus on Monday, December 21. He also said Dr Janet Angbazo, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism was tested positive of the virus and she is currently on isolation. Ac...
FIFA increases Africa’s women’s world cup slot to 6
FIFA has increased Africa’s slots at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup to be held in Australia and New Zealand from three to six. The decision was one of the major decisions the Bureau of FIFA Council took on Thursday, December 24, when it met to discuss the fate of upcoming FIFA competitions. Africa in time past had three direct slots, which were given to the top three performing teams at the Africa Women’s Championship. The new decision, which is due to the expansion of the competing teams from 24 to 32 teams, will mean that Africa will have four direct slots and two others fighting in play-offs. The two host countries, Australia and New Zealand, will automatically qualify for the 2023 World Cup and their slots have been taken directly from the quotas allocated to their confederations, nam...
Qatar to host FIFA Club World Cup 2020 across three venues
Qatar will host the FIFA Club World Cup 2020 from February 1 to 11, 2021, after it was postponed earlier this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Six continental confederations, as well as the host nation’s league champions, will compete in the tournament, which will be held across three FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 stadiums — Ahmad Bin Ali, Khalifa International and Education City. The Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, inaugurated just last week on December 18, will stage the opening match between Qatari champions Al Duhail and Auckland City of New Zealand on February 1, and the final will be played at Education City Stadium on February 11. Joining the two teams will be European champions and German side FC Bayern Munich, CONCACAF champions Tigres UANL from Mexico, Al Ahly SC, Egyptian side and winners ...
Lai Mohammed: My only regret as minister
Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has said his only regret as a minister is that some Nigerians have failed to appreciate that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is doing so much with little resources. Mr Mohammed stated this at a Special Forum of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja. He said with dwindling resources, no government in the history of Nigeria has implemented programmes alleviating poverty among women and vulnerable groups as well as created jobs for the youth as the Buhari administration had done. The minister said his regret was that some Nigerians have failed to appreciate the efforts of the government but keep celebrating negative developments. “My regret in this government is that Nigerians have failed to appreciate that the ...
Nigerian National Assembly spends billions of naira on constitution review
The perennial constitution amendment exercise by the National Assembly is characterised by proposals that keep resurfacing despite gulping billions of naira yearly, an analysis has shown. The federal parliament had from the 5th to the current 9th National Assembly made several attempts to amend some provisions of the 1999 Constitution to no avail. At every session, the parliament officially spends N1 billion shared equally between the Senate and the House of Representatives. There are reports that the lawmakers spend more than what is appropriated for the exercise. While some amendments were successful, several others suffered serial failures but kept appearing in new proposals. Considering the huge spending, lawyers and civil society groups have pointed out that no significant amendments ...