Nigeria
Coronavirus: Nigeria gets $15 million grant for safe school reopening
The Federal Ministry of Education says Nigeria has received 15 million dollars response grant from the Global Partnership on Education (GPE) for COVID-19 safe school reopening across the country. Hajia Binta Abdulkadir, Director, Basic and Secondary Education in the ministry, said this on Wednesday in Bauchi, at a Cluster Mobilisation and Sensitisation Meetings on COVID-19 Protocols, Surveillance and Safe School Reopening Readiness. Abdulkadir was represented on the occasion by Mr Achede Owoicho, Deputy Director, Basic and Secondary Education and the Focal person for the GPE. The workshop is initiated with the support of the United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF). Abdulkadir noted that through the grants, UNICEF had sent WASH and ICT materials to 16 states for preparation of digit...
AFCONQ: CAF confirms new date for Sierra Leone vs Benin clash
The Confederation of African Football has announced the postponed Africa Cup of Nations qualification encounter between Sierra Leone and Benin Republic will now take place during the June international window. The Group L fixture initially billed for Tuesday, March 30, at the National Stadium, Freetown did not take place owing to a Covid-19 controversy. However, both teams will now square up against one another in three months’ time – a game that will determine the last team to secure a place for Cameroon 2022. “The Africa Cup of Nations organizing committee has decided to postpone the above-mentioned match to the next Fifa international window scheduled for June 2021. We thank you in advance for your cooperation and understanding,” a post from Benin Football Federation Facebook page read....
CAN: Osun governor’s education policy review reduces tension
The Christian Association of Nigeria, (CAN) Osun State chapter has lauded Governor Gboyega Oyetola for the careful review of the education policy of the previous administration which has drastically reduced tension in public schools. The association also commended what it described as the ingenious and dynamic leadership with which Oyetola has handled critical sectors of the state. This was revealed by the second Vice Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria, who also doubles as the minister in charge of the Sacred Cherubim and Seraphim, Oke-Atan Ile-Ife, Pastor Elijah Fagbile, while speaking with the media at the Osun Civic Engagement Office. He emphasized that Oyetola is a man of honour whose character and personal qualities have engendered tremendous development which the state curren...
Seplat issues $650 million oil and gas bond
Seplat Petroleum Development Company, a Nigerian independent oil and gas firm, has issued $650 million in aggregate principal amount of senior notes due in 2026. It is said to be the largest ever Nigerian oil and gas bond issuance. A senior note is a type of bond that must be repaid before most other debts in the event that the issuer declares bankruptcy. It is more secure than other bonds. The dual listed company said the five-year bond was well-received in the market with orders from high quality institutional investors. “The notes priced at a yield of 7.75%, representing a significant pricing reduction from its $350 million debut issuance in 2018, which priced at a yield of 9.50% , with a coupon of 9.25%,” a statement by the company read. “The offering was well oversubscribed with deman...
Minister: 60% of dairy products consumed in Nigeria imported
Nigeria imports at least 60 per cent of dairy products the country consumes, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono, has said. Mr Nanono disclosed this when speaking at the National Dairy Policy Stakeholders Engagement in Abuja on Tuesday. He said, “Despite the potentials in the dairy industry, 60 per cent of dairy products consumed in the country is imported while the remaining 40 per cent is produced locally.” The minister said Nigeria’s per capita consumption of milk is 8 litres per year, representing very low consumption levels when compared with the global average of 44 litres of milk, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO). According to him, presently, the Nigerian dairy industry is largely subsistence and consists of lo...
House minority caucus flays $1.5 billion approval for rehabilitation of Port Harcourt refinery
The Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives Tuesday described the approval of $1.5 billion for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery as a huge scam and a ploy by unscrupulous elements to siphon public funds. The Federal Executive Council (FEC) had recently at its virtual meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari approved $1.5 billion for the rehabilitation of the refinery. But, the caucus in a statement by its Leader, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, while rejecting the amount, said the figure is outrageous and heavily inflated, demanding an immediate review of the cost. The lawmakers noted that while they are in support of any genuine effort to bridge energy deficit in Nigeria, such should not be used as a ploy by corrupt individuals to fleece the nation. The caucus called...
AFCONQ: Super Eagles beat Crocodiles to end campaign unbeaten
Nigeria ended the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers with a 3-0 victory over Lesotho at Teslim Balogun Stadium. Victor Osimhen, Oghenekaro Etebo and Paul Onuachu strikes helped the Super Eagles to end the Afcon campaign unbeaten and finished at the top of the Group L table with 14 points. Nigeria headed into the encounter, having already secured their place at the biennial tournament, scheduled for Cameroon. Coach Gernot Rohr made a few changes to the team that started their 1-0 victory over the Republic of Benin at Stade Charles de Gaulle on Friday. The German tactician started Francis Uzoho Etebo and Tyronne Ebuehi who did not feature against the Squirrels in Porto Novo. Iwobi also returned to the starting XI after missing his side’s last outing as he tested positive for Covid-19 befo...
#EndSARS: Lagos governor extends panel sittings by three months
The governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has extended the tenure of the state’s Judicial Panel on Restitution for Victims of the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) Related Abuses and Other Matters for another three months. This was disclosed on Tuesday by the panel headed by retired Justice Doris Okuwobi. With the extension the panel had been granted legal backing to six till July 19 instead of the initial deadline of April 19 in its terms of reference. The Lagos Judicial Panel was inaugurated by the Lagos State Governor on October 19 to among other things receive memoranda from concerned members of the public and inquire into cases of abuse, brutality, torture and extra judicial killings by the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, in Lagos. Its terms of reference als...
Alleged Child Witch Idongesit Okon And A Society That Has Lost Its Soul!
Alleged Child Witch Idongesit Okon And A Society That Has Lost Its Soul! To an avid follower of events happening in Nigerian, it would by now be pretty obvious that although majority of Nigerians feign deep religiosity, we are in fact an extremely spiritually and morally bankrupt people. Nothing confirms this fact better than the story of 13-year-old Idongesit Okon Iko, a boy from the town of Unyenge in Mbo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. Recall that Akwa Ibom is not far from Calabar where over 100 years ago, Scottish missionary Mary Slessor stopped the killing of twins, whose births were considered by the natives for many years at that time as an evil curse. Is this why today, cruelty to children can be easily stomached by indigenes of the State?Akwa Ibom is an oil rich yet pove...
President Buhari departs Abuja for London
President Muhammadu Buhari has departed the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja for the United Kingdom, where he will meet his doctor for a routine medical check-up. Buhari, 78, embarked on the journey after meeting the nation’s security chiefs earlier today. The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, Chief of Staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, FCT Minister Mohammed Musa Bello, media aides Femi Adesina, Garba Shehu, and other dignitaries accompanied him to the airport. He is expected to return to Nigeria in the second week of April 2021, according to Femi Adesina. Buhari had embarked on several medical trips between 2015 and 2019. During one of his trips in 2017, he spent 103 days in London with the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, acting as president. Get more stories like this on T...
Another batch of 255 Nigerians stranded in Saudi Arabia arrive Abuja
Another batch of 255 Nigerians stranded in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. This was disclosed by the Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) via its official Twitter handle @nidcom_gov, adding that the returnees arrived via Saudi Air Flight SV3405 at about 1.00pm time Monday, 29th March. According to the commission, they will proceed on quarantine at the Federal Capital Territory Hajj Camp for 14 days in line with the reversed COVID-19 protocols by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19. The Nigerian government has evacuated nearly 2,000 of its nationals from the Kingdom in the last three months even as more returnees are expected in subsequent days. In February, Nigerian government received a batch of 420 returnees from S...
Yoruba monarchs warn Nigerians to stop making inflammatory comments
Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, and the Oluwo of Iwoland, Oba Abdul-Rasheed Akanbi, yesterday, cautioned Nigerians against making inflammatory statements that could ignite ethnoreligious crisis in the country. The monarchs gave the warning during the visit of Oba Akanbi to the Alaafin’s palace, in Oyo. Asking those stoking ethno-religious crises to have a retrospective look at the past, the monarchs advised that anything that could fan the embers of discord should be avoided. They said: “Nigerians must exercise restraints; they must bear in mind Nigeria’s long history of ethno-religious conflicts, as people use this type of deep-seated animosity in their speech precisely because of the culture of impunity which reigns in the country.” “What is more, hate speech is an agent provocateur ...