Business
Wazupnaija – Naija Entertainment blogs & Forums – Business
Cross River orders five truckloads of almajiris back to destination
Cross River State government on Thursday ordered five truckloads of almajiris including other passengers from the northern part of Nigeria back to its destination. Newsmen learnt that a border patrol team, comprising of Peace Corp members, civilian Vigilantes, Border COVID-19 Taskforce had intercepted the trucks yesterday night at the Gakem border town in Bekwara LGA of the state near Benue State. A source who pleaded anonymity told Vanguard that the team was led by a Commissioner who said it was the result of intensive search and blockade of interstate vehicular travels, which his team was poised to enforce. “After a thorough check on the five trucks we discovered that most of the passengers, aside goods, were almajiris who did not meet COVID19 protocols, we had to force them to return,” ...
White House staffer tests positive for coronavirus
A member of the U.S. military who works in close proximity to President Donald Trump has tested positive for the new coronavirus. However, “The president and the vice president have since tested negative for the virus and they remain in great health,” Hogan Gidley, a spokesman, said in a statement. Vice President Mike Pence was taking part in the delivery of medical gear to a rehabilitation centre as the news broke. Trump is in Washington with events scheduled for later in the day. Broadcaster CNN said the individual who is ill is a member of the Navy who works as a personal valet to Mr Trump. White House top officials are said to be tested regularly for the virus. Members of the press corps who come into close contact with officials undergo temperature checks before entering the briefing ...
PDP rejects N108 ex-depot fuel price, insist on N70 pump price
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has rejected the new ex-depot price of N108 per litre of the Premium Motor Spirit insisting on a new pricing template that must accommodate a pump price of between N60 to N70 per litre to reflect the crash in the price of crude oil and petroleum products in the international market. The party described the N108 ex-depot price as fraudulent and a far cry from the appropriate pump price template that should not exceed N70 given the prevailing situation in the international oil market. In a statement issued by the national publicity secretary of the party, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP maintained that the N108 ex-depot price with a projected additional N9 per litre Expected Open Market “completely unacceptable to Nigerians.” The statement read: “The federal gov...
Court restrains Nigerian government from extraditing Senator Kashamu
Associated Press Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Thursday, restrained the Federal Government from extraditing Buruji Kashamu, a Nigerian senator, to the U.S. to answer drug charges. Delivering judgement, Justice Abang, held that neither the federal government nor any of its agents could validly initiate extradition proceedings against Kashamu in view of subsisting judgements and orders in favour of the plaintiff, which had remained unchallenged. Abang particularly noted that the judgement delivered by the Federal High Court, Lagos on January 6, 2014 (in suit No:49/2010) and another judgement of July 1, 2016 given by the Federal High Court, Abuja (in suit No: 479/2015), which prohibited Kashamu’s extradition on account of the U.S. drug allegation, were still subsisti...
Ohanaeze writes President Buhari over erosion menace in Alex Ekwueme’s home
Ohaneze Ndigbo, has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to as a matter of urgency order the Federal Ministry of Environment to attend to the continued erosion menace ravaging the country home of former Vice President of Nigeria, late Dr Alex Ekwueme in Oko, and other neighbouring communities of Nanka and Agulu in Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State. The Igbo Social-Cultural organisation, Ohaneze Ndigbo, made the appeal for the Federal Ministry of Environment to attend to the situation before it will get out of hand, considering the huge contributions the late Icon has made to keep Nigeria as one. The Ohaneze issue the appeal on Thursday, in a letter titled “Save Us From The Ravaging Gully Erosion in Ekwueme’s home” directed to President Buhari. The social body expressed ...
Country Music Is Enjoying a Streaming Boom During the Pandemic: New Data
“It’s the soundtrack of our lives whether our lives are going great or going terribly,” explains Pandora head of country Beville Dunkerley. As Americans continue to shelter in place, they are turning to country music to keep them company in record numbers. Over the last two weeks, country music has enjoyed a streaming bonanza, with on-demand audio streams growing 10.7% to a record high 1.26 billion for the week ending April 23. The next week ending April 30, a new record was set as streams grew 14.3% to 1.3 billion. This is versus the baseline weekly audio average of 1.138 billion for the eight-week period Jan. 17 through March 12, according to MRC Data/Nielsen Music. A number of factors contribute to the rise. Among them are the release of new albums from Kelsea Ballerin...
Patton Oswalt Promises to Host Virtual Webby Awards While ‘Sitting Around in Pajamas’
This will be Oswalt’s fourth time hosting the show, which extends his record as the Webbys’ most frequent host. Patton Oswalt will host the 24th Annual Webby Awards on May 19. The show, typically held in New York City, will instead be an Internet celebration with a focus on those using the Internet to respond to the impact of COVID-19. This year’s show has been dubbed WFH: Webbys From Home. In a statement, Oswalt joked: “It’s going to be the same as every other night lately — sitting around in my pajamas, marveling at amazing stuff on the Internet — except I won’t even have to find it myself.” “No one on this planet gets the Internet and can make it funny quite like Patton Oswalt,” said Claire Graves, executive director of t...
Activists press Morroco on fate of 39 political prisoners
Associated Press The fate of 39 Saharawi Political Prisoners in Moroccan jail have become the focus of a new regional campaign from African activists who are asking King Mohammed VI of Morocco to release the men for fear of their exposure to the coronavirus disease. The Movement for the Liberation of Western Sahara, (NMLWS) issued a statement on Wednesday in Abuja through its Nigerian coordinator, Oladipo Fasina, a philosophy professor and noted advocate for academic freedom. According to the statement, the Saharawi prisoners, held for seeking independence for Africa’s last colony, “are in grave danger of contracting the coronavirus as a result of their underlying health conditions resulting from extreme torture and hunger strike they have undergone as prisoners.” Mr Fasina said, “this arb...
Ten person associated with Lagos House in Marina test positive for coronavirus
Ten person said to have been associated with Lagos State House, Marina, have tested positive for coronavirus and are currently in isolation. The state Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi, disclosed this on Thursday while giving update on the situation of the pandemic in the state. According to him, the status of the 10 people was discovered just as the third test conducted on the state governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and his wife which came out negative. The commissioner said: “I am glad to announce that #COVID19 Incident Commander, Governor of Lagos State @jidesanwoolu and the First Lady of Lagos @jokesanwoolu have consistently tested negative to #COVID19 following three consecutive tests conducted on them recently. However, 10 persons associated with Lagos State House in Mar...
Nigerian nationals in US now to be evacuated Saturday
Luc Doan/Foursquare The federal government has announced that the evacuation of the first batch of Nigerians from the United States will take place on Saturday, May 9, as against Sunday, May 10, 2020 that was earlier announced. It added that the Ethiopian Airline aircraft would depart Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey, on May 9, 2020 at the estimated time of 19:15 hours and arrive at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja on May 10, 2020, at the estimated time of 11:15 hours. The Consulate General of Nigeria in New York in a statement dated May 5, 2020, and made available to journalists on Thursday, added that only 270 passengers would be accommodated in the evacuation batch. It stated categorically that the mission would attend to applicants on a first come, first served basis a...
France using artificial intelligence to check whether people are wearing masks on public transport
France is integrating new AI tools into security cameras in the Paris metro system to check whether passengers are wearing face masks. The software, which has already been deployed elsewhere in the country, began a three-month trial in the central Chatelet-Les Halles station of Paris this week, reports Bloomberg. French startup DatakaLab, which created the program, says the goal is not to identify or punish individuals who don’t wear masks, but to generate anonymous statistical data that will help authorities anticipate future outbreaks of COVID-19. “We are just measuring this one objective,” DatakaLab CEO Xavier Fischer told The Verge. “The goal is just to publish statistics of how many people are wearing masks every day.” The pilot is one of a number of measures cities around the world a...
Will Premier League with no fans be worth the wait?
The Premier League is adamant that it can overcome huge logistical challenges to get players back on the pitch during the coronavirus crisis but has long since accepted there will be no fans in the stadiums. English Football Association chairman Greg Clarke became the latest senior figure to admit this week that social-distancing guidelines make it impossible for supporters to congregate in stadiums “any time soon”. The drive behind the Premier League’s “Project Restart” is the attempt to avoid having to pay back millions in TV revenue. Clubs could reportedly miss out on £762 million ($946 million) for failing to complete this season alone. According to UEFA’s latest European Club Footballing Landscape report, just 13 percent of the Premier League’s revenue comes from gate receipts. Englan...
