Day: June 1, 2020

BREAKING: Nigeria relaxes 61-day lockdown of Churches, Mosques

Efe Wellington

  Restrictions lifted for four weeks   The Nigerian government has lifted the 61-day lockdown of Mosques and Churches as it lifted a ban on religious gatherings across the country. President Muhammadu Buhari, in a nationwide broadcast on Sunday March 29, ordered the lockdown of Lagos State, Ogun state and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) including a restriction on religious activities. This lockdown, which took effect on the midnight of Monday, March 30, was to check the spread of coronavirus. But at the briefing of the presidential task force (PTF) on…

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COVID-19: Nigeria’s biggest city, Ibadan, bans ancestral Masquerades, orders stay-at-home rituals

Damilola Olonade

  Masquerades live in heavens, only descend for annual rituals, according to African folklore   The novel Coronavirus pandemic took a new twist in Ibadan, Nigeria’s biggest city, as ancestral Masquerades, believed by the Yoruba and some Africans’ folklore to come from heavens, were banned from annual dance to the Palace of the monarch and other chiefs. Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji, who ordered the ban, declared a sit-at-home rituals for the masquarades popularly called “Ara-Orun” this year. Masquerades live in heavens, only descend for (annual) rituals, according to…

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BREAKING: Nigeria slashes petrol pump price to N121.50 per litre

Damilola Olonade

  Marketers insist on free market as PPPRA fixes N102.13 per litre ex-depot price   Nigeria, Africa’s biggest crude exporter, on Monday released a new price band for retail stations across the country in which it slashed the least pump price for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol to N121.50, about $3, per litre. The country’s agency in charge of fuel price, Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), in a memo with reference number A.4/9/017/C.2/IV/701 addressed to marketers but obtained by *Platforms Africa*, advised that the product must…

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ADESINA: GUILTY AS CHARGED by Steven Ogboko

ADEOLA YUSUF

  The African Development Bank’s helmsman, Nigerian-born and America-trained Akinwumi Adesina has been in the news recently._ Strangely, this time, there are unpleasant allegations being leveled against him. I say strangely because those who are knowledgeable about international development will readily agree that the name Akinwumi Adesina is synonymous with stellar accomplishments. So naturally, much more than an average level of curiosity will come to bear about the allegations against the AfDB President, whose first term is set to lapse in a few months. From a widely circulated Whistleblower complaint…

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