government
President Buhari mourns deceased former Malian leader
President Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday, commiserated with the government and people of Mali over the death of the country’s former President, Toumani Toure. Buhari’s condolence message was contained in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, titled ‘President Buhari condoles with Mali over passing of former leader, Amadou Toumani Toure’. The statement read, “President Muhammadu Buhari sends heartfelt condolences to government and people of the Republic of Mali over the passing of former President, Amadou Toumani Toure. “The President commiserates with family of the departed Malian leader, whose ten-year reign in the country contributed to the strengthening of political institutions, and measure of stability, starting with his presiding over a peac...
ICPC indicts 88 MDAs for procurement act violations
File Photo The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has indicted 88 Ministries, Departments and Agencies for violating the provisions of the Public Procurement Act, 2007 in the last three years. The anti-graft agency also said 53 MDAs were guilty of tax default, noting that they had been on the Federal Inland Revenue Service tax defaulters list for three years. It classified 132 MDAs that did not respond to its assessment as ‘corruption high-risk MDAs’ stressing that they “will be treated as such.” This was contained in the ICPC Ethics and Compliance Scorecard of Federal MDAs 2020 made available to newsmen on Tuesday. The commission in its assessment found that none of the MDAs attained full compliance with ethical and accountability standards for efficiency ...
Norwegian Air furloughs staff, pleads for help to survive in 2021
Norwegian Air’s cash crisis could force the debt-laden budget airline to halt operations early next year, the company warned as it issued another plea for rescue funding after reporting quarterly results on Tuesday. The rapid expansion of the pioneer in low-fare transatlantic flights has left it with heavy debts and problems that have been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is now serving domestic routes only, with just six of its 140 aircraft flying. “Norwegian is dependent on additional working capital in order to continue operating through the first quarter of 2021 and beyond,” the carrier said. The company held cash and cash equivalents of 3.4 billion kroner ($380m) at the end of September, down from 4.98 billion kroner ($550m) three months earlier. Its latest plea comes after Nor...
Official: 17 persons died of ‘strange illness’ in Benue
Seventeen persons were reported to have died of a strange illness ravaging the Okpeilo-Otukpa area in the Ogbadibo Local Government Area of Benue State. The State Government in a statement issued on Tuesday by the Commissioner for Health and Human Service, Dr Emmanuel Ikwulono, said, “At the time of the receipt of the report yesterday, 9th November, 2020, about 17 persons were already said to have died of the illness. “We currently have one case which was brought to Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi by a relative of the patient. Others are receiving treatment in different hospitals.” The commissioner, in the statement signed by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Andrew Amee, said symptoms of the illness usually include fever, abdominal pain, and general body weakness, whil...
Senator Lawan: Fresh mass protests inescapable if…
Senate President Ahmad Lawan has warned that Nigeria may not escape another mass demonstration in the mode of #EndSARS protest if the Federal Government fails to effectively address youth unemployment. Lawan gave the warning in Abuja yesterday at the 2021 budget defence of the Ministry of Agriculture. He urged the government to take practical steps in its 2021 budget to meaningfully engage the youths. “Our budget, especially for 2021, should be mindful of what we do to provide employment opportunities for these youths. “They demonstrated. They protested because they could do so. There are so many other people who may not be youthful but are also in the same need and they didn’t protest. “Let’s meet them where they are. We don’t have to wait until they also try to grumble or protest. We sho...
Nigerian government exempts Dangote from border closure – report
The Nigerian government has allowed Dangote Cement to resume exports across its land borders, Bloomberg reports. This is despite the closure of all land borders by the government for over one year. The move has, however, raised hopes that Nigeria may be opening up trade with neighbors after a year-long blockade. The administration of the President Muhammadu Buhari gave its authorisation for Africa’s biggest producer to export cement to Niger and Togo in the third quarter for the first time in ten months, Michel Puchercos, chief executive officer, said on an investor call in Lagos. The export was made possible “through authorisation given by this administration,” he said. The exemption to Dangote Cement is seen as a softening of the government’s position on a border closure that started in ...
Egypt says plans railway lines extending to Libya, Sudan
Egypt’s transport minister Sunday announced proposals to construct a railway line to reach the Sudanese city of Wadi Halfa, and to extend a line in the north to Libya’s Benghazi. The announcement came as part of Egyptian government efforts to overhaul the country’s transport system, including an ailing railway network with a poor safety record. The government decided on “a number rail transport projects that could be carried out in cooperation with investors,” Transport Minister Kamel al-Wazir told a news conference in Cairo. They include “building an Aswan-Toshka railway line that will extend to the city of Wadi Halfa in Sudan,” he said, referring to locations in Egypt’s south and a city just across the border. He also said there were plans to extend the Marsa Matrouh-Salloum line, in Egy...
Enugu: Yellow fever cause of ‘strange deaths’ in communities
The Enugu State Government has confirmed that Yellow Fever is the cause of deaths from a reported strange illness in Ette Uno and Umuopu communities of Enugu Ezike town in Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of the state. A statement by the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Emmanuel Ikechukwu Obi, stated that the disease was confirmed “through verifiable diagnostic tests”. Dr. Obi explained that “Yellow Fever is not a new disease but one of public health importance internationally and in Nigeria” adding that “It is one of the diseases controlled for in the Nigerian set of routine and mass immunizable diseases.” According to him “a suspected case is anyone with a sudden onset of fever who develops jaundice (yellowness of the eyes) within 14 days it is verifiable by diagnostic tests”. The ...
Kaduna loses 124 children to malnutrition in 9 months
No fewer than 124 children have died of malnutrition in Kaduna State between January and September with 15,329 cured of the diseases within the same period. The State Nutrition Officer, Mrs Ramatu Musa, made this known in Kaduna on Thursday, while presenting the nutrition situation in the state at a two-day meeting organised by Civil Society-Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN). The meeting was organised to strengthen advocacy skills and capacity of health and nutrition CSOs, media and government officials, to identify areas of priorities in nutrition interventions. Musa, who was represented by Mr Jibril Isah, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Kaduna State Primary Health Care Development Board (SPHCDB), said that a total of 21,265 malnourished children under five years were admitted....
AFCONQ: No fans for Super Eagles, Sierra Leone clash – ministry
The Ministry of Youth and Sports Development and the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 have advised the Edo State Government and the Nigeria Football Federation against allowing fans into the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City, during the 2021 AFCON qualifier between the Super Eagles and Sierra Leone on November 13. This is coming after the Edo State Government announced that the gates would be thrown open for fans to watch the game at the refurbished Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium. The ministry said admitting fans into the match venue would amount to a breach of the COVID-19 protocols. In a letter addressed to the Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, the ministry stated that the game “will not have any audience and no gathering”. The letter read in part, “The ministry wishes to brin...
Governor Wike: Security operatives have arrested two IPOB kingpins over Oyigbo killings
Two alleged kingpins of proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) have been arrested by security operatives in connection with recent violence that left four policemen and six soldiers killed in Oyigbo Local Government Area of Rivers State. Governor Nyesom Wike disclosed this Tuesday when Rotary District 9141 Governor, Mrs Virginia Major led a delegation of Rotarians on a visit to Wike at the Government House, Port Harcourt. The Governor told the Rotatians, “If we did not take the steps we took by imposing curfew in Oyigbo, it would have been the Hausa and Igbo that will have been fighting and nobody knows what level it would have taken today. “I will not support criminality. I won’t because the soldiers don’t like me, then you go and kill them. And then, I will come out and clap, tha...
Maternity leave now six months in Oyo – official
Oyo State Government has approved an upward review of maternity leave for pregnant women and nursing mothers in its service from four months to six months. The Commissioner for Establishment and Training, Prof. Daud Sangodoyin, made this known on Tuesday in Ibadan while briefing newmen on the outcome of the weekly State Executive Council meeting. Newsmen report that the 30th council meeting was presided over by Gov. Mr Seyi Makinde. According to Sangodoyin, the upward review by the council was to meet the World Health Organisation’s recommendation on Exclusive Breast Feeding. He, however, said that workers would be entitled to the leave four times while in the service of the state government. He said that the 2 p.m. official closing time for nursing mothers at work would no longer be effec...
