Lives
Governor Fayemi mourns Harry Akande’s demise
Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has commiserated with the family of the late business mogul and former Presidential aspirant, Chief Harry Akande, who passed on Saturday, aged 77. In a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Yinka Oyebode, the Governor described Akande’s death as an unfortunate and irreparable loss not only to members of his family and the good people of Oyo State but to the nation at large. The Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum said the late Akande worked his way to the top, built a solid business empire and became influential across the globe through dint of hard work, brilliance and diligence. Fayemi said the Ibadan-born Billionaire ventured into the Nigerian politics with the intent of using politics as a tool for social and economic change, but could n...
Maritime workers to begin warning strike Monday
File Photo The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) is to embark on a three-day warning strike from Dec. 7, to protest the deplorable state of access roads to seaports in Lagos State. In a communique it issued on Saturday in Lagos, MWUN said that the situation was no longer tolerable. The communique was signed by the President-General of the union, Mr Adewale Adeyanju, and the Secretary General, Mr Felix Akingboye. It was issued after MWUN’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Lagos. According to the communique, the union had at various occasions drawn the attention of the relevant authorities to the bad roads. It said that the poor state of the access roads had made articulated vehicles to block them, putting other road users through pains of losing man-hours and facing risks ...
Nigerian governors to meet with President Buhari to address security challenges
Governors of the thirty six states under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF have resolved to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari to address the security challenges with continued cases of armed banditry, terrorism and kidnapping across the country. The governors are meeting with President Buhari especially to discuss last week’s gruesome beheading of about 43 Farmers in Zarbamari near Maiduguri, Borno State by Boko Haram Insurgents while they were working in their farmland without any form of resistance. The decision was part of the resolutions reached at the end of the 22nd NGF teleconference meeting. In a Communique signed by the NGF Chairman and Ekiti State governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, said, ” Members of the forum resolved to meet with Mr. President as soon as possible to ad...
Interpol raises the alarm over fake coronavirus vaccines
The International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) has alerted Nigeria, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, and 190 other countries of threat from organised criminal groups during the upcoming COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, including fake vaccines and the theft of supplies. The alert came as the UK yesterday became the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for widespread use. The need for a vaccine has become more urgent globally and nationally with Nigeria recording over 67,000 COVID-19 infections and over 1,000 associated fatalities, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has so far identified 49 “candidate vaccines” at the stage of clinical trials in humans. Hopes are high ...
FCTA spent N29 billion on coronavirus during lockdown – minister
The Senate has been told that the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA spent a total sum of N28.5billion on some activities within the Federal Capital Territory, FCT during the outbreak of the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, especially during the lockdown. Speaking yesterday in Abuja when he presented the revised 2020 budget before the Senator Abubakar Kyari, All Progressives Congress, APC, Borno North led Senate Committee on FCT, Minister of the FCT, Mallam Mohammed Musa Bello explained to the Committee that the fund was spent on provision of security services, provision of palliatives for indigent residents, as well as assisting neighbouring States who were distressed. According to him, the FCT health facility supported residents from States where the level of government assista...
Central bank chief to engage governors on pension funds utilization for infrastructure
Bloomberg Mr Godwin Emefiele, the Central Bank Governor, will tomorrow Wednesday, 2nd December 2020, meet with Governors of the 36 states, under the aegis of Nigerian Governors’ Forum, to discuss how to access Pension Funds for Infrastructure Development in the country. Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, Head, Media and Public Affairs of NGF, made this known in a statement made available to newsmen on Monday. According to Bello-Barkindo, the forum will be the 22nd NGF Teleconference meeting which would also seek to evolve a new national security order that will ensure safety of lives and property nationwide. “As part of the effort, beginning at the subnational level, the Forum will be receiving zonal updates on SARS and Internal security at its Wednesday meeting. “Similarly, the Forum will also ...
UN: Over 110 people killed in attack on Borno rice field
United Nations (UN) has revealed that not less than 110 civilians were killed by Boko Haram in the attack on a rice field in Borno State. Earlier reports had put the death toll of Saturday’s deadly Boko Haram attack on rice field in Borno at 43 while several others were said to be missing. A statement by the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Edward Kallon, on Sunday, while describing the attack as horrifying, said not less than 110 people were killed with many other persons injured in one the deadliest attack by the terrorist group, who have laid siege to the Northeast for over a decade. Kallon said: “I am outraged and horrified by the gruesome attack against civilians carried out by non-state armed groups in villages near Borno State capital Maiduguri. “At least 110 ...
I paid N3 million ransom before I was freed by kidnappers – doctor
Azubuike Iheanacho, the medical doctor that was kidnapped in Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State, has revealed that he had to pay a ransom before the abductors freed him. Iheanacho, who owns Peace Hospital located along old Egume Road, Ayingba, was abducted at his residence in Anyigba last week Saturday. Newsmen reported the alarm raised by the state’s chapter of Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), appealing to the security agencies to help free the doctor. Iheanacho told newsmen on Saturday evening that he regained his freedom on Monday, after paying N3 million to the kidnappers. “I was injured but not much. Because at the point of picking me, I resisted. People were around when it happened. I was released on Monday. We thank God for everything,” he added. The physician also called ...
Nigerian government seeks new Eurobond
The federal government yesterday disclosed that it would approach the Eurobond market next year in its effort to shore up the economy, amidst cocktails of measures being put in place to douse the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy. On the same day, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, while speaking at the 55th Annual Bankers Dinner organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Lagos, predicted a two per cent growth in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2021. Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed, who disclosed the Eurobond plan while speaking on Bloomberg TV, explained that the decision would depend on the prevailing interest rates. She, however, did not specify the amount to be accessed from the Eurobond. The Eurobond option is ...
Thomas Tuchel defends outburst following Champions League win
Thomas Tuchel says he “understands” criticism of Paris Saint-Germain but dismissed its credibility when coming from fans and journalists watching from a “sofa”. PSG were out of sorts in the Champions League on Tuesday, as last season’s beaten finalists scraped a narrow 1-0 win at RB Leipzig. The decisive goal, an 11th-minute Neymar penalty, was one of just three shots on target mustered by PSG over the course of the match. Tuchel said after the game that he would not apologise for winning in a somewhat ugly fashion, with Leipzig enjoying 63 per cent of possession and managing 15 shots in total. He put the underwhelming performance down to fatigue caused by the team’s packed schedule, though it was not their only unimpressive display in recent months. Before Tuesday, PSG had lost three of t...
Senate moves to make law schools beneficiaries of education tax fund
The Senate has begun moves to ensure that all the Nigerian Law Schools are beneficiaries of Education tax funds with the amendment of Tertiary Education Trust Fund Act 2007. Consequently, the Senate has come up with ” A bill for an Act to amend the Tertiary Education Trust Fund Act 2007.” The Bill Scaled second reading yesterday in the Senate. In his lead debate on the bill, Senator Micheal Opeyemi Bamidele, APC Ekiti Central, sponsor of said that the bill which was read for the first time on the floor of the Senate on Thursday, 28th May, 2020, seeks to amend sections 4, 7 and 20 of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (Establishment, Etc.) Act, 2011 (hereinafter referred to as the “principal Act”) He said that amendment also seeks to add the Nigerian Law School, as one of the benefiting tert...
Rollercoaster: Bitcoiners who missed rally feel relief and regret
Arianna O’Dell, a 30-year-old entrepreneur and songwriter based in New York City, had a tumultuous four-year journey in cryptocurrency before selling her investments in February. During her rollercoaster ride, bitcoin prices swung from less than $1,000 to nearly $20,000. O’Dell may not have made optimal decisions about when to buy or sell, and missed out on the recent rally – but said she does not regret that. Investing $2,705 worth of proceeds into her business was better than enduring the stress of daily fluctuations, even though the price has since doubled, she said. “Honestly, I’ve had more luck in Vegas than I’ve had with cryptocurrencies,” O’Dell said in an interview. She is part of a relatively new class of retail investors who joined the cryptocurrency market years ago, helping pro...
