Nigerians
Lagos, Abuja, Kano airports ready for operations
Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters The Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, says that Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos and Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, are ready for recommencement of domestic flights. The minister said during the daily Presidential Task Force briefing on Monday in Abuja that Lagos, Abuja and Kano airports would recommence domestic flights on Wednesday. He urged all passengers and crews to obey the COVID-19 protocols to ensure safety of the airports and airplanes against the virus. Sirika said that five countries in Africa and over one hundred countries across the globe have already started domestic air service. On the preparation on the airplanes, the minister stated that the last row of the aircraf...
Festus Keyamo to appear again in National Assembly over 774,000 jobs controversy
Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mr Festus Keyamo, SAN, will appear before the National Assembly Joint Committee on Labour on Tuesday to defend the 774,000 job recruitment across the country. The Minister is going on the invitation of the Joint Committee after the earlier meeting ended in shouting match. But Keyamo has made it clear to the lawmakers that he was sending a written submission on issues surrounding the programme ahead of his appearance to avoid a repetition of what happened during the last sitting. He also expressed reservations that he might not get a fair hearing from the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Labour, alleging that the Committee Chairman was the one at the forefront of insisting on controlling and dictating the execution of the programme...
National Assembly urges President Buhari to suspend plan to recruit 774,000 Nigerians
The Senate and the House of Representatives yesterday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to suspend the implementation of the plan to recruit 774,000 Nigerians for Special Public Works across the country. The position of both chambers of the National Assembly followed a sharp disagreement between the National Assembly Joint Committee on Labour, Employee and Productivity and the Minister for State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, SAN, over the modalities for appointing the 20-member Selection Committee for the programme. Keyamo who had appeared at an interactive session organized by the joint committee opposed a resolution of the Joint Committee to resolve into a closed door session. The Minister said he rejected the lawmakers decision to quiz him behind closed doors because of the n...
75% of Nigerians at risk for non-communicable diseases – study
Three quarters of Nigerians are at risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), a nationwide study by WellNewMe, a health technology company, has revealed. According to the study, the situation needs to be urgently addressed, especially in the present COVID-19 pandemic era, as persons with underlying conditions are most vulnerable to the deadly virus. Dr Obi Igbokwe, the Co-founder of WellNewMe and author of the pilot report, told newsmen in Lagos on Tuesday that in 2019, the company partnered Novartis to run a year-long pilot to determine Nigerians’ risks for developing chronic diseases. Igbokwe quoted the World Health Organisation (WHO) as saying that the COVID-19 pandemic might have had significant impacts on the health of people with NCDs, such as hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, di...
Nigerian government to engage 1,000 unskilled workers per local council between October, December
The Federal Government says it will recruit 1,000 itinerant, unskilled workers in each of the 774 Local Government Areas (LGA), in the country from October to December for roads rehabilitation, construction, sanitation, among others. Mr Festus Keyamo, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, said this during the inauguration of the States’ Selection Committees for the Extended Special Public Works Programme on Monday in Abuja. Keyamo said that the programme was approved by President Muhammadu Buhari and aimed principally at recruiting 774,000 itinerant and unskilled Nigerians. According to him, the 1,000 persons that the committee will recruit per LGA will be engaged by the Federal Government between October and December this year. “This is for the workers to carry out public works tha...
Nigeria evacuates 167 nationals from South Africa
The federal government has evacuated 167 Nigerians from South Africa and are now en route to Nigeria, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, said. Mr Onyeama in a series of tweets on his handle @GeoffreyOnyeama, said the Nigerians had already departed the O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. “The evacuees who are returning on board Air Peace, are to first arrive at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport before proceeding to Lagos. “Evacuation Update: @flyairpeace conveying 167 Nigerians just departed O.R. Tambo International Airport Johannesburg, South Africa for the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. “45 passengers will disembark in Abuja, and thereafter the plane will leave for Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos with 122 passengers,” he tweeted. G...
Police quiz D’banj over rape allegation
The Nigeria Police Force has quizzed Musician, Dapo Oyebanjo, aka D’Banj, over allegations of rape, according to a report. It was learnt that D’Banj was grilled by an Assistant Commissioner of Police, Adaku Anya, at the Force Criminal Investigation Department, Garki, Abuja. A statement was also taken from the Kokomaster who insisted that he never raped his accuser, Seyitan Babatayo. A top police source said, “D’Banj has been questioned twice at the FCID, Abuja. He was questioned last week and also this week. We will leave no stone unturned as we investigate the matter.” It was learnt that Seyitan was also invited to write a statement but she stated that she had no means of travelling to Abuja and opted to visit a police unit in Lagos. “Seyitan appealed with us that she had no means of trav...
UCH denies receiving N118 million coronavirus donation from Oyo
The University College Hospital has denied receiving any money from the Oyo State Government in its fight against COVID-19 in the state. The Public Relations Officer of the hospital, Toye Akinrinlola, made this known in a press statement on Wednesday. Newsmen report that Oyo had claimed that over N2.7 billion had been spent on the fight against COVID-19 in the state. While giving the breakdown, the Commissioner for Finance, Mr Akinola Ojo, said a total of N900.5 million was spent on procurement of the COVID-19 palliatives and seedlings; N370.6 million was spent on the upgrade of the Infectious Diseases Centre at Olodo; N453.7 million on securing borders, security trucks and personnel; N118 million as support to the University College Hospital, Ibadan, for COVID-19 tests. But the hospital s...
Ex-convict arrested for impersonating late Abba Kyari’s widow
A 58-year old man identified as Mallam Aminu Ado, has been arrested by men of the Nigeria Police for impersonating the widow of the late Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, in a bid to swindle unsuspecting Nigerians. Spokesperson of the Nigeria Police Force, DCP Frank Mba, who paraded him before newsmen on Monday, June 22, said after the death of the former chief of staff, Ado who is also known as Al Amin Yerima, went on to impersonate the widow and reached out to prominent Nigerians asking for donations to enable him organize special prayers for the soul of the departed. “In the course of doing that some of the prominent Nigerians became suspicious and reached out to us. He has been cooperative with the investigation and held back no facts. He is 58 years old. He had also had a s...
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...
Archbishop Kaigama: Rapists should face full wrath of law
YouTube Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, the Archbishop of Abuja Catholic Archdiocese, has said perpetrators of rape should face the full wrath of the law to serve as deterrent to others. Kaigama, who made the call in his homily on Sunday in Abuja at Charles Lwanga Parish, Apo, also urged Nigerians to pray for the victims of sexual crimes. He said while we call for prayers for victims of sexual crimes, we hope that the perpetrators of the crime would face the full wrath of the law. “We hope they will be reformed and through our prayers, they will be delivered from the bad spirit that leads them to commit such horrible sexual crime.’’ Kaigama said the increased cases of rape was frightening as a tender three months old baby was said to have been raped in May. The Archbishop said that the Inspect...
John Oyegun: APC becoming single most dangerous threat to President Buhari’s legacy
The immediate past National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has underscored an urgent need for National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ruling party to meet and institute a Caretaker Committee whose main responsibility will be to arrange for a special National Convention through the invocation of “the doctrine of necessity”. Chief Odigie-Oyegun, in a statement titled “BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE”, called on leaders of the party, particularly the Governors and President Muhammadu Buhari to bring a stop to what he called the “disgraceful and humiliating charade” occurring within the National Secretariat of the party. “The All Progressives Congress was built on the blood and sweat of Nigerians, young and old, too numerous to count, who were willing...
