Monday
Aviation stakeholders decry use of foreign airlines to evacuate Nigerians
Stakeholders in the aviation industry on Monday kicked against the continuous use of foreign airlines by the Federal Government for the evacuation of Nigerians in spite of domestic capacity to carry out the exercise. They expressed their displeasure in a chat with the Aviation Correspondents in Lagos, saying the situation was creating wrong impression about Nigeria and safety of its carriers. Speaking, Capt. Nogie Meggison, Executive Chairman, Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), said the continuous use of foreign airlines to evacuate Nigerians by the government was contrary to its own directive that only indigenous carriers should be used. Meggison said that the onus still lies on the government to do the right thing by protecting its own carriers, as COVID-19 fears had forced government t...
House of Reps probes utilisation of N25 billion appropriation of refugee commission
The House of Representatives on Monday expressed displeasure over the failure of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCRMIDP) to provide relevant documents on the utilisation of N25 billion appropriated between 2015 and 2019 fiscal years. Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts, Hon. Wole Oke, who presided over the investigative hearing into the 2015 to 2019 audit queries issued by the office of the Auditor General of the Federation (oAuGF), stressed the need to investigate the efficiency of Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) with a view to stopping the menace of ghost workers in all the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). According to the documents presented by the Commission to the Committee, from the tot...
Group faults community’s plan to disown former Ebonyi commissioner
Edda Professionals’ League (EPL), a body of eminent experts and professionals of Edda extraction, has vowed to resist any plan aimed at humiliating Chief Abia Onyike, former Commissioner for Information and State Orientation in Ebonyi. EPL announced its plan to scuttle such humiliation in a statement signed by its National Secretary, Mr Ikenna Emewu, on Monday in Abakaliki. The group described the former commissioner as one the community’ most illustrious sons, that had contributed immensely to the development of Edda land, describing those behind the plot as “busy bodies.” The statement noted that some government functionaries, leaders of interest groups and traditional rulers from Edda in Afikpo South Local Government Area of the state, were forced to sign a document, where they were plo...
NSE upgrades data portal to improve market access
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday announced the upgrade of its Data Portal (X-DataPortal) to revamp and improve market accessibility for subscribers. Mr Oscar Onyema, Chief Executive Officer of the exchange, said in a statement in Lagos that the portal upgrade was to explore digital technologies to provide top notch accessibility. Onyema said: “The upgrade of the X-DataPortal is in line with the desire of the NSE to continue providing an exchange that is easily accessible, leveraging digital technology. “The newly enhanced X-DataPortal has, therefore, been equipped with market-focussed features that will complement the NSE website and other NSE portals in response to stakeholders’ increased demands for easy access to data. “Given the importance of Market Data in investment decisi...
Five Red Star Belgrade players test positive for coronavirus
Five players from Serbian club Red Star Belgrade have tested positive for coronavirus after playing a match attended by 16,000 people, the club said Monday. The announcement came 12 days after Red Star faced city rivals Partizan Belgrade in front of a crowd of around 16,000 people, the largest gathering of that kind in Europe since the beginning of the pandemic. The Serbian government has been loosening lockdown rules and earlier this month it announced that open-air gatherings with an unlimited amount of people would be allowed. But coverage from television channel RTS appeared to show little sign of health guidelines in place in the match with Partizan as well as at other league matches. Following the final match of the season against Proleter on Saturday, Red Star Belgrade celebrated wi...
Flood: NESREA tasks Gombe residents on waste management
Agence France-Presse The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) has urged Gombe State residents to imbibe the culture of proper waste management to prevent environmental degradation like flooding. The NESREA Coordinator in the state, Mr Adamu Saurayi, made the call in an interview with newsmen in Gombe on Monday. He said that the call became necessary because many residents were in the habit of dumping solid waste in the drains, especially during the rainy season. According to him, the spread of COVID-19 in the state is an additional reason residents need to properly dispose waste like used face masks to avoid putting others at risk. Saurayi cautioned residents against using the rains as way of sweeping away wastes through drains, adding that such coul...
Ondo deputy governor resigns from APC
Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Hon. Agboola Ajayi, has resigned his membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Ajayi resigned from the APC on Sunday at Ward 2, Apoi in Eseodo local government. The Ondo Deputy Governor immediately picked membership card of the People’s Democratic Party immediately at his ward where he resigned. It is speculated that nine members of the Ondo State House of Assembly would joined him to officially defect to the PDP on Monday. Get more stories like this on Twitter You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back th...
Uganda grapples with refugee crisis amid coronavirus pandemic
As the world marks World Refugee Day on Saturday, thousands of Congolese are stranded at the Ugandan border seeking to enter the East African country after deadly tribal clashes back home. Uganda, according to government officials, has agreed to open its border entry point in the north western part of the country for three days starting from Monday to allow in an estimated 5,000 Congolese from the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Uganda had closed all its border entry points to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. “We have received a letter from the Minister for Disaster Preparedness and Refugees under the Office of the Prime Minister to host the refugees in our district,” Andrew Kajoingi, resident district commissioner for Zombo, told Xinhua by telephone on Friday. “We ...
Anambra should put donations for coronavirus to work – doctors
As resident doctors at Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital (COOUTH), Amaku, Awka, the Anambra State capital, embarked on a strike on Monday, they have advised the Anambra State Government to put donations made by philanthropists for COVID-19 to the purpose they were meant. The chapter President of the body Dr Obinna Aniagboso, told newsmen on Tuesday as he ran round to mobilise members for the strike that apart from the fact that his members are not paid hazard allowance as approved by the Federal Government, there were other outstanding issues the resident doctors are yet to thrash out with the State Government. Aniagboso said: “Throughout this period we work every day exposing ourselves to danger and you know the situation in Anambra state. There is increasing number...
WhatsApp launches first digital payments feature
Facebook on Monday added a digital payments feature to its WhatsApp messaging service, starting in Brazil but with an eye to expanding around the world. WhatsApp users in Brazil can use the encrypted mobile messaging service to send money or make purchases, Facebook said in a blog post. It marked the first time the payments platform used at the leading social network was woven into WhatsApp. People will be able to send money or make a purchase from a local business without leaving their chat, the company noted. “Payments on WhatsApp are beginning to roll out to people across Brazil beginning today and we look forward to bringing it to everyone as we go forward,” the service said. Sending money or making payments is a free option for WhatsApp users, but businesses will be charged a processi...
Ondo records 30 new coronavirus cases in one week
File Photo Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has disclosed that the state recorded 30 new positive cases of COVID-19 in one week. Akeredolu made the disclosure on Monday in Akure during a press briefing on the deadly pandemic in the Government House. He said that 11 of the new cases were in Okitipupa Local Government Area, while seven were health workers, who contracted the virus at a private hospital in the area. “This is a frightening and embarrassing situation which tells us that COVID-19 is at our doorstep. “We have a total of 73 confirmed positive cases, 33 treated and discharged, 31 active cases and nine deaths. “Some arrests were made yesterday, while vehicles were also impounded because they were outside after the 7 p.m. curfew,” he said. Get more stories like this on Twitte...
Kano relaxes lockdown restriction on Mondays
Kano State governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has relaxed the restriction placed on Monday as a lockdown day in the state A statement signed on Sunday by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Malan Abba Anwar, said the additional day means that Kano State has a total of four free days (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday) as opposed to three free days that were previously approved. The statement added that the policy decision was to further cushion the effect and hardship caused by lockdown in the state as a result of the outbreak of COVID-19 in the state. “People are now free to move freely on Mondays within the stipulated time of 6am-6pm” said the statement. The governor urged the people to continue to wear their face masks, to maintain social distancing, use their hand sanitize...
