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Friday, 01 September 2023 04:36

Manufacturing contribution to Nigeria’s GDP shrinks, drops by 2.2 percent - NBS

The real sector’s contribution to the Nigerian economy dipped to 2.20% (year-on-year) in the second quarter of 2023, according to the Gross Domestic Product report of the National Bureau of Statistics. According to the report, the growth rate of the sector on a quarter-on-quarter basis was 14.98 per cent. The real contribution to GDP in the second quarter of 2023 was 8.62 per cent, lower than the 8.65 per cent recorded in the second quarter of 2022 and lower than the 10.13 per cent recorded in the first quarter of 2023. The manufacturing sector comprises 13 activities: oil refining; cement;…

Friday, 01 September 2023 04:35

FG shuts Lagos airport for repairs, suspends Nigeria Air

Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace development, has directed all airlines to vacate the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos, from October 1, 2023. Keyamo gave the directive on Thursday during a tour of the airport, accompanied by Kabir Mohammed, managing director of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). Speaking to journalists, Keyamo said the relocation was necessary to give room for total maintenance work at the airport. Keyamo directed the airlines and companies operating in the airport to move to the new terminal — MMIA terminal two. “All airlines should vacate the MMIA before October 1…

Friday, 01 September 2023 04:29

Niger military govt orders police to evict French ambassador who refused to leave

Niger’s new military government said it has revoked the diplomatic immunity of France’s ambassador Sylvain Itte and has ordered police to deport him, after a 48-hour deadline for him to leave expired on Monday. In a statement addressed to Paris on Thursday, Niamey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Itte “no longer enjoys the privileges and immunities attached to his status as a member of the diplomatic staff of the French Embassy.” Last week, the military leaders who seized power from President Mohamed Bazoum in a coup on July 26, gave the French ambassador two days to depart the country. The…

Thursday, 31 August 2023 05:00

Evacuate your people now, MEMA tells 11 govs over flooding threats from Cameroon dam water release

National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has asked states along River Benue to evacuate residents in flood-prone areas due to the opening of Lagdo dam in Cameroon. Mustapha Ahmed, director-general of NEMA, spoke on Wednesday during the national emergency coordination forum meeting, in Abuja. According to Ahmed, Adamawa, Taraba, Benue, Nasarawa, Kogi, and Anambra states could be flooded due to the release of water from the dam. Other states at risk of being flooded are Enugu, Edo, Delta, Rivers and Bayelsa. He said the meeting was held following the alert received by the ministry of foreign affairs concerning the planned release…

Thursday, 31 August 2023 04:59

Nigerian doctors migrate to Gambia, Sierra Leone to earn 4 times wages obtainable at home - CMDs

Chairman of the Committee of Chief Medical Directors of Federal Tertiary Hospitals, Emem Bassey, has said other African countries are offering doctors from Nigeria $3,000 to $4,000 in salary. According to him, the amount is about four times the wages doctored get in Nigeria. Bassey, who is the CMD of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, said the health sector was going through a major crisis in terms of manpower with health professionals leaving for higher-paying countries. He also said doctors often went on strike because the government failed to meet their demands. Bassey said this when he appeared before…

Thursday, 31 August 2023 04:58

Revenue from Abuja-Kaduna train service crashes from N500m monthly to N1m – NRC

Managing Director of the Nigeria Railway Corporation, Engr. Fidet Okhiria has revealed that the monthly revenue realised from train service operations on the Abuja-Kaduna rail line has significantly dropped from N500 million to N1 million monthly. It would be recalled that bandits detonated a bomb on the rail track of Abuja-Kaduna train and successfully immobilised the train between Katari and Rijana. Subsequently, the attackers kidnapped several passengers who were later released after an unspecified amount of ransom was paid. However, speaking at an inspection of the Idu train station yesterday in Abuja, Okhiria said the essence of the tour was…

Thursday, 31 August 2023 04:57

Gabon junta names army general as transitional president

Soldiers in Gabon appointed the head of the republican guard as the OPEC member state’s new leader, hours after placing President Ali Bongo under house arrest and annulling elections in which he secured a third term. The putsch in the former French colony is the ninth in sub-Saharan Africa in the past three years, and follows a coup in Niger last month. The military takeover drew condemnation from the US, Nigeria, France and the African Union, as it sparked a slump in the nation’s dollar bonds and raised concerns of a spill over of the selloff to other African countries…

Thursday, 31 August 2023 04:56

Russia vetoes extension of UN sanctions on Mali

All UN sanctions against Mali will end on August 31 (today), after Russia vetoed the proposal by France and the UAE to have them extended. Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s ambassador to the UN, said that the draft completely disregarded the concerns of both Bamako and Moscow. The Franco-Emirati draft would have extended both the sanctions and the mandate of the UN Expert Group charged with monitoring Mali, through August and September 2024, respectively. It received 13 votes in the UN Security Council, but failed because Russia voted against it. China abstained. The council rejected Moscow’s alternative draft, which would have ended…

Wednesday, 30 August 2023 13:45

Gabon military coup: Here’s what we know so far

A dozen mutinous soldiers appeared on Gabonese national television, announcing the cancellation of recent election results and the dissolution of “all the institutions of the republic”. Wednesday’s announcement came after President Ali Bongo Ondimba, 64 was re-elected for a third term, in an election the opposition described as a ‘fraud orchestrated’ by the ruling party. The Bongo family, one of Africa’s most powerful dynasties, has been in power since 1967. The president has confirmed he is under house arrest and called for help, urging citizens to ‘make noise’. There have been scenes of celebration in the Gabonese capital, Libreville since…

Wednesday, 30 August 2023 08:03

Gabonese government overthrown in military coup

A group of senior Gabonese military officers appeared on national television in the early hours of Wednesday and said they had taken power, minutes after the state election body announced President Ali Bongo had won a third term. Appearing on television channel Gabon 24, the officers said they represented all security and defence forces in the Central African nation. They said the election results were cancelled, all borders closed until further notice and state institutions dissolved. Loud sounds of gunfire could be heard in the capital Libreville, a Reuters reporter said, after the television appearance. There was no immediate comment…

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Wednesday, 30 August 2023 04:49

Nigeria spends $50m annually to service loan used to build Abuja light rail. Here’s the story of yet another failed project

In July 2018, Muhammadu Buhari, the president of Nigeria at the time, boarded a gleaming new train linking the capital city, Abuja, with its airport. At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Buhari hailed the system as “evidence that we are a government that delivers on its promises.” Five years on, that promise looks empty. Train cars are locked away at a depot. Cavernous stations fully equipped with escalators, ticket offices, cameras and scanners stand empty, overseen by bored security guards. The faux leather couches in the VIP area are covered in bird and bat droppings. “It’s an abandoned project,” says Rowland Ataguba,…

Wednesday, 30 August 2023 04:48

Nigeria lost N1.9tn to oil theft in July – Report

Crude oil theft may have cost the country a whopping N1.9tn revenue loss in July. The estimation was arrived at following a pronouncement by the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, last week when he led a presidential delegation to inspect oil and gas facilities at Owaza in Abia and Rivers State. Ribadu said Nigeria was losing 400,000 barrels of crude oil daily due to activities of oil thieves and pipeline vandals. He added that the country had the capacity to produce 2 million barrels of crude oil per day. “It is unfortunate that few individuals would steal our common resources,…

Wednesday, 30 August 2023 04:45

Diesel prices to rise further as FG charges 7.5% VAT at ports of entry

Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it has commenced the implementation of value-added tax (VAT) on automobile gas oil (AGO), also known as diesel, imported into the country. The service made this known in a memo, dated July 28, 2023, sent to all importers and agents of diesel. The memo was titled, ‘Request for Charge of Value Added Tax (VAT) on Automobile Gas Oil (ago) or Diesel Imported into the Country’. The communication, signed by PC Chibuoke (DC admin) on behalf of the area controller, Area I, Port Harcourt; made reference to a “headquarters circular No. NCS/T&T/T/899/217/VOL.I of 27 July 2023…

Tuesday, 29 August 2023 04:54

KPMG downgrades Nigeria’s 2023 economic growth forecast

KPMG has adjusted its growth forecast for the Nigerian economy to 2.65 percent in 2023 – down from 2.85 percent earlier projected. The professional services firm, in a flashnote titled ‘Underwhelming Q2 2023 GDP Growth Recorded’, and released over the weekend, said the revision is premised on various considerations. KPMG listed the factors to include the recent contraction in oil production, muted government investment in the economy, the impact of subsidy removal and foreign exchange (FX) rates unification on households, among others. “Q2 2023 GDP results is broadly in line with our earlier downward revision of 2023 GDP to 2.85%.…

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