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Saturday, 20 November 2021 05:55

‘I was told my brother would be dying in about an hour …,’ Dangote recounts last moments of late brother

Aliko Dangote, chairman of Dangote Group, has narrated how he watched Sani, his brother, die in a US hospital. Sani, group vice-president of Dangote Industries Limited, died on November 14. Speaking on Friday when Bola Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos state, paid him a condolence visit in his Kano home, Dangote said his brother’s death was very tough for the family, especially for him because they were close. “The most painful thing is when you are told that your brother will be passing on in about an hour and you stand by watching as the machine is going down…

Saturday, 20 November 2021 05:54

Railway workers call off warning strike

The three-day warning strike embarked upon by workers of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has been suspended. This followed a meeting held on Friday afternoon with the NRC board and another with the management and the Federal Ministry of Transportation in Abuja. A communique issued at the end of the meeting disclosed that a committee has been set up with immediate effect on the review of the standard condition of service with timeline lasting to the 31st day of January 2022. The communique was endorsed by President of the Senior Staff Association (SSA), Railway branch, Aliyu Mainasara and President of…

Friday, 19 November 2021 06:04

US Secretary of State takes up #EndSARS Lagos panel report with Buhari

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday and discussed domestic and regional security, and West Africa's democratic backsliding, including Nigeria's handling of anti-police brutality protests last year. Blinken's trip to Nigeria came days after a leaked report said the Nigerian army fired live rounds at peaceful protesters at a toll gate in Lagos in October 2020 and described the incident as a "massacre". Blinken said during a joint news conference with Nigerian Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama that depending on the conclusions of the report, authorities should "hold accountable any of those responsible for human rights…

Friday, 19 November 2021 06:02

Nigeria’s economic recovery continues as Q3 GDP grew 4 percent - NBS

Nigeria’s economy grew more slowly in the third quarter of the year than it did in the second quarter, according to data from National Bureau of Statistics. Gross Domestic Product growth rate fell to 4.03 per cent in Q3 from 5 per cent in Q2, Statistician-General of the Federation, Simon Harry, disclosed on Thursday. He said that during the quarter, aggregate GDP was 45.11tn in nominal terms, an increase of 15.41 per cent over the performance in the corresponding period of 2020. Harry explained that the base effect of the negative economic growth recorded in Q2 and Q3 2020 as…

Friday, 19 November 2021 05:59

FG grants fresh N656bn loan to states, and it’ll be shared as follows

Federal government has approved N656 billion as fresh loan for the 36 states of the country. According to details of the loan as announced during the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting on Thursday, each state is expected to receive N18.2 billion. In a statement issued by Laolu Akande, spokesperson to the vice-president, the loan is to support states and will be released in six tranches over a six-month period. “In a bid to help state governments meet financial obligations, especially the previous budget support facility due for repayment, President Muhammadu Buhari has approved a fresh N656 billion Bridge Financing Facility…

Friday, 19 November 2021 05:57

Report details number of soldiers, policemen, others killed in ambush by insurgents in the last 2 years

At least 569 people — including 337 soldiers — have been killed in various forms of ambush launched by insurgents since 2019, according to a report by SB Morgan (SBM) Intelligence. SBM intelligence, a research organisation, compiles and analyses data about happenings in the country. In the period reviewed in the report, 62 attacks perpetrated by insurgents were recorded. On Saturday, fighters of the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) killed Dzarma Zirkusu, a brigadier-general, and three soldiers of the Nigerian Army. The brigadier-general and the soldiers were ambushed while heading to Askira in Borno to provide support for…

Thursday, 18 November 2021 06:36

In the 1960s, Nigeria led the world in export of groundnuts, palm-oil, others. Now, Nigeria’s share of world exports in these crops is zero. Here’s why - and it isn’t crude oil

Kalu Aja Between 1956 and 1967, groundnut was one of Nigeria’s most valuable export crops. There were groundnut pyramids in Kano by 1960; Nigeria was the world’s largest exporter of shelled groundnuts, with a 40% global market share. Today, Nigeria has a 0% market share. Specifically, groundnut exports fell from 502,000 tons in 1961 to 291.000 tons in 1970 to zero by 1980. Why did the groundnut pyramid disappear from Nigeria? Sure there was the Aflatoxin contamination that affected the groundnut exports. Why could the Northern region not just fumigate and fix the contamination? Why did it just allow exports…

Thursday, 18 November 2021 06:35

Fresh 6m Nigerians to be forced into extreme poverty due to high food prices - World Bank

The World Bank says the increase in food prices could push additional six million Nigerians into poverty — calling on the government’s attention for short-term policies to support welfare. The Washington-based institution stated this in its latest report titled ‘Covid-19 in Nigeria: Frontline Data and Pathways for Policy’. In June, the World Bank said an estimated 7 million Nigerians were pushed into poverty in 2020 due to rising prices alone — without considering the direct impacts of Covid-19. Using the Nigeria Covid-19 National Longitudinal Phone Survey (NLPS), the report examines the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on human capital, livelihoods,…

Thursday, 18 November 2021 06:34

FAAC: Distributable revenue down N68bn as FG, states, LGs share October allocation

Federation accounts allocation committee (FAAC) shared N671.910 billion among the three tiers of government for October. This figure is down by N68 billion from the allocation distributed in September 2021. Oshundun Olajide, acting director, (information), ministry of Finance, disclosed in a statement that the allocation was distributed at the FAAC meeting in Lagos on Wednesday. According to the communique issued by FAAC at the end of the meeting, it indicated that the gross revenue available from the VAT for the month under review was N166.284 billion as against N170.850 billion distributed in September, resulting in a decrease of N4.566 billion.…

Thursday, 18 November 2021 06:33

Train services shut down nationwide as railway workers embark on strike

Train services across the country have been shut down as the three-day warning strike embarked by railway workers nationwide begins. The warning strike by workers of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) is to hold from November 18th to November 20th. The workers’ unions had declared the strike to demand increased wages and condition of service. Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, had invited the labour unions into a meeting on Saturday which ended in a deadlock. Another follow-up meeting by the Board and Management of the NRC could not change the decision of the unions on the strike. The NRC management…

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Thursday, 18 November 2021 06:32

US removes Nigeria from list of religious freedom violators ahead of Blinken visit

Washington on Wednesday removed Nigeria from its list of countries with religious freedom concerns, just a day before Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in the country as part of a tour of Africa. The omission drew a sharp rebuke from a U.S. government commission that had recommended the Biden administration keep Nigeria as a so-called country of particular concern for engaging in or tolerating violations of religious freedom. Blinken made an annual announcement on Wednesday of the countries on the list, naming Myanmar, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan as countries of particular…

Thursday, 18 November 2021 06:31

Another building collapses in Lagos, making it three within two weeks

At least three separate storey buildings have collapsed in Lagos State within two weeks, floating concerns over lack of enforcement of regulatory standards in the construction of residential buildings in Nigeria’s richest state. On November 1, 2021, a 21-storey building in the Ikoyi area of Lagos collapsed in which over 44 persons were confirmed dead. The tragedy continued on November 2, 2021, when a two-storey building caved in in Osapa London, in the Lekki area of Lagos after a midnight downpour. No casualty was recorded in the collapse as it was said to be under construction when the unimaginable happened.…

Thursday, 18 November 2021 06:26

UN calls Elon Musk's bluff, unveils plan to spend his $6.6bn on world hunger relief

Head of the United Nations (UN) World Food Programme (WFP) has released a detailed plan on how spending $6.6 billion of Tesla CEO Elon Musk's money could help alleviate world hunger. Musk engaged with WFP chief David Beasley on Twitter late last month after Beasley said that about $6 billion of Musk's wealth, equal to gains he at one point received in a single day, could help world hunger during a CNN interview. Musk shared an article on the interview and asked Beasley to show how the money would "solve world hunger," challenging him to provide a plan "in detail"…

Wednesday, 17 November 2021 06:04

#EndSARS report: US, UN, others call for sanctions on indicted individuals, entities

The United States Government as well as several human rights groups, including Amnesty International, on Tuesday called for action on the report of the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and other matters, which stated that at least nine persons were killed and 39 others injured at the Lekki toll plaza on October 20, 2020. However, the Nigerian Army and the Federal Government refused to comment on the report, which was submitted to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Monday. The panel, led by Doris Okuwobi, also recommended that all soldiers (excluding Major General…

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