Facility
Nasarawa governor frees 36 prison inmates, donates N250,000 transport fare
The Nasarawa State Government has released 36 inmates in the state’s correctional centre to reduce overcrowding. The inmates, who are prisoners mostly awaiting trials and convicts, were released by State Governor Abdullahi Sule who visited the correctional facility in Lafia on Wednesday. The Lafia Correctional Centre is one of the six prisons in the state, located along Doma Road, Lafia City and is known to be overstretched presently with mostly awaiting trials inmates. Speaking while presiding over the release of the prisoners, Governor Sule said the move was to mark the June 12 Democracy Day. ‘I am glad to be here. By law, it is the responsibility on the part of leaders to forgive when it is time to forgive because God forgives us. When I looked at the faces of these inmates, I discovere...
AfreximBank to support Ogun infrastructural development with $200 million
The African Export-Import Bank (Afrexim) has disclosed its plans to support infrastructural development in Ogun State with an envelope of $200m. The fund, according to the bank, will be dedicated towards projects and other developmental initiatives embarked upon by the incumbent administration in the state. The President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Afrexim Bank, Benedict Oramah, who made this known when he led management of the bank on a courtesy visit to Governor Dapo Abiodun at his Oke-Mosan Office, Abeokuta, on Monday, equally said the bank would partner Ogun on ensuring that the 250-bed Specialist Hospital, Abeokuta, is completed and begin operations soon. Oramah, while noting that the bank has been investing heavily in the health sector in Africa to develop vaccines ...
Nigeria adds South Africa to its coronavirus ‘red list’ for arriving travellers
Nigeria is adding South Africa to its “red list” of countries for which there are stringent restrictions for arriving passengers, officials said during a briefing on Monday. Nigeria is introducing the restrictions due to the spread of the Delta variant in South Africa, Chikwe Ihekweazu, the head of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, said. The country joins India, Brazil and Turkey on the list. “In Nigeria, we haven’t found the Delta variant yet,” Ihekweazu said during the briefing. Non-Nigerian passport holders and non-residents who visited the countries on the list within 14 days are barred entry from Nigeria, while passport holders and residents must undergo a seven-day quarantine in a government-approved facility at cost to the passenger. They are also required to take Covid-19 tes...
Kwara to establish multi-billion naira cancer treatment centre
Kwara State Government has announced plans to establish a multi-billion naira Cancer treatment Centre to be situated at the Ilorin General Hospital. This is contained in a statement signed by Alhaji Bashir Adigun, the Special Adviser, Political Communication to Kwara Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq. According to him, the N2.5 billion recently donated to the state by the Abdul Samad Rabiu Initiative (ASR Africa) will form a huge chunk of funding for the modern facility. The governor said the centre along with the 12-bed intensive care unit, the modern dental and eye care facilities recently added to the general hospital was part of the huge investments. He said that these facilities would convert the General Hospital to a research facility (teaching hospital) for the take-off of the medica...
Private polytechnic owners set to clamp down on illegal operators
The National President of the Association of Private Polytechnic Founders/Rectors in Nigeria, Pastor Bassey James, has said that illegal school operators across the country would soon run out of business. He stated this in Uyo while briefing newsmen as part of the activities marking the maiden matriculation of Southern Atlantic Polytechnic, scheduled for Saturday, June 26, 2021. James mentioned that a total of 300 students would partake in the maiden matriculation ceremony of the Southern Atlantic Polytechnic, even as admissions were still ongoing in the institution. According to him, the association had written to both the national and state assemblies to inform them of the ugly incident even as he had met with some of the perpetrators of the illegal business and had given them a timeline...
Sultan: What Nigeria needs now is excellent leadership
The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar, says what the country needs at this time is excellent and purposeful leadership. Abubakar said this during the inauguration of an ultramodern camp for Muslim and Christians pilgrims in Bauchi state. He called on leaders to strive to ensure that they fulfill the purpose for which they were elected to their various positions. “Leaders should always strive to do what the people want, because it is the main reason they were voted into power by the people. “What the country needs now is excellent and purposeful leadership. Leadership has been bestowed on us by Allah. We should know that one day, we will all give account of our stewardship in the hereafter. “It is incumbent on us as leaders to discharge our responsibilities to the best of our ability. The fo...
FRSC: 90% of trucks in Nigeria over 30 years
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) says 90 per cent of trucks in the country are over 30 years. The FRSC Corps Marshal, Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, disclosed this in an interactive session between the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), the FRSC and Haulage operators on Monday in Lagos. Oyeyemi called for an improvement on the maintenance and standardisation schemes for vehicles as most of them lacked safety measures like lighting, reflectors and other parts. He stressed the need for an intervention from the Federal Government to ensure truckers had fleet renewal as vehicles that had been on the road for 30-years should be scrapped. Oyeyemi pointed out that “due to the age of the trucks, they frequently breakdown on the road prolonging the days goods spend on the road before getting to its destinat...
Presidency: One million Nigerians benefitting from survival fund
The Presidency yesterday said that over one million Nigerians have so far benefitted from the Survival Fund scheme under the Federal Government’s Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP). The Presidency said there are 500,000 beneficiaries from the MSMEs Payroll support track, 44,500 under the one-off General MSME Grant, and another 265,425 under the artisan support track, among others. Recall that payment to new beneficiaries of the Payroll Support track and the one-time General MSME Grant had commenced at the end of April. A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, Mr Laolu Akande, in Abuja last night explained that so far, under the ESP there are currently over one million beneficiaries nationwide from the various schemes...
Coronavirus: Nigerian government declares 90 travellers ‘persons of interest’ for violating protocol
The presidential steering committee (PSC) on COVID-19 has declared 90 travellers as ‘persons of interest’ for violating the protocol for passengers arriving Nigeria from selected countries. The federal government had mandated travellers who arrived Nigeria within 14 days of visiting Brazil, Turkey and India, to embark on isolation. The directive was given in view of increase in the spread of the virus in the affected countries. In a statement issued on Sunday and signed by Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the federation, the PSC said it will also sanction the travellers by disabling their passports for at least one year, while foreigners will have their visas cancelled. The affected travellers — who arrived Nigeria from Brazil, India and Turkey between May 8 and May 15 through...
Ex-US envoy: British museum holds over 700 pieces of Benin bronzes
The British Museum, the world’s first national public museum, currently holds 700 pieces of the Benin Bronzes collection, more than any other museum and other institutions globally, a former United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. John Campbell has said. Campbell, however, acknowledged that the authorities of the British Museum had agreed “to return the Benin Bronzes collection once the Edo Museum of West African Art, currently under construction in Benin City is completed.” He gave this figure in a blog post titled “Germany to Return Some African Art to Nigeria” published on the website of Council for Foreign Relations (CFR), a US non-profit think-tank specialising in international affairs on Wednesday. More than a century after British soldiers looted a collection of priceless artifacts...
Lagos: Police rescue another abandoned one-month-old baby
The Lagos State Police Command on Friday, rescued another one-month-old female child that was abandoned at the junction of a popular petrol station, by Orile Bus Stop, Lagos. Time was about 8am when the baby was sighted by some passers-by who alerted the Police operatives attached to Orile Division of the Command before she was rescued and handed over to the Gender Unit of the Lagos State Police Command, Ikeja. The baby was taken to the office of the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, CP Hakeem Odumosu by the Officer in charge of the Gender Unit where CP Hakeem Odumosu directed that the baby be accorded proper medical attention and taken to a government accredited shelter (facility) for custody and proper care. The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, CP Hakeem Odumosu, reassured members...
VP Osinbajo: Nigerian government democratising broadband connectivity
It’s the first in sub-Saharan Africa and one of the three such cutting-edge facilities on the continent, with top prime global certifications for smart card manufacturing and it is based in Lagos, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, relished yesterday afternoon while touring SecureID company’s premises, and affirmed Nigeria’s extremely bright economic future, which he said cannot be aborted despite current challenges. According to him, “the economic future of our nation is extremely bright. Yes, we have challenges today and they may look daunting. But let me assure you that these issues will be resolved. The march of this nation to its manifest destiny as Africa’s leading economic power will not be aborted. We are more than able to overcome.” An impressed Prof. Osinbajo said the Buhari Admi...
