Month: November 2020

Panic in Lagos as hoodlums, Police clash again + PHOTOS

ADEOLA YUSUF

Residents of Amuwo Odofin area of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, were thrown into a state of panic and confusion on Tuesday as hoodlums and Police clashed few weeks after the #EndSARS protest was hijacked. Activities at the popular Apapa-Oshodi expressway and some parts of the Amuwo Odofin Local Government were particularly paralysed when hundreds of commercial motorcycle operators popularly called Okada riders and hoodlums reportedly attacked Nigerian Police officers and Lagos Task Force officials. The officials have earlier been accused of compounding motorcycles belonging to some of them. The riot…

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AFCON: Drama as Sierra Leone rejects Super Eagles’ COVID-19 test results

ADEOLA YUSUF

  There was a drama at the Freetown Airport on Monday as officials of Sierra Leone immigration rejected the COVID-19 test results officially presented to them for Super Eagles. The Nigeria’s National team landed in Freetown for a qualifier with the Sierra Leone National Team. The players and officials have earlier being subjected to the COVID-19 test before takeoff from Benin Airport in Edo state, southsouth Nigeria. The entire delegation to Tuesday’s 2022 AFCON qualifying match arrived in Freetown aboard a chartered flight. Then a drama ensued at the airport…

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Nigeria’s Obasanjo ‘heads to Ethiopia for mediation’ as civil war fear rises

ADEOLA YUSUF

  Nigeria’s ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday jetted to Ethiopia to mediate in the conflict between the government and the northern Tigray region, his spokesman said. “He is on his way to Addis Ababa for talks,” Kehinde Akinyemi told AFP on the visit of the former Nigerian leader to the Ethiopian capital. “He is going there for mediation,” Akinyemi said, without giving further details. Both the Ethiopian government and the African Union said they had no information on any visit by Obasanjo, who has previously acted as a United Nations…

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NYSC tests 620 Niger corps members, camp officials for COVID-19

ADEOLA YUSUF

  The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has tested all 620 corp members posted to Niger State, Nigeria northcentral, for COVID-19. The NYSC Coordinator in the state, Mrs. Funmilayo Ajayi, who confirmed this during the opening ceremony of the Batch B, Stream 1 Orientation Course, said that the 620 corps members, camp officials and camp marketers were tested by the Niger State NCDC team. The coordinator said: “In keeping with the Covid- 19 preventive guidelines, the state NCDC Team have carried out thorough Covid-19 screening for individual residents in the…

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54 African nations’ governance performances downgraded

ADEOLA YUSUF

  Overall governance performance in Africa has been downgraded, first time in a decade. The United Nations (UN) data shows there are 54 countries in the continent. The decline happened in the countries’ governance index in 2019, according to the Index of African Governance produced by the Mo Ibrahim foundation. It reported a general decline in citizens’ participation, human rights, rule of law and security on the continent – which were worsened by the impact of Covid-19. Last year’s score on governance fell by 0.2 points below that of 2018 but…

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Nigeria’s Kwara State receives fresh $5m for COVID-19, budget augmentation

ADEOLA YUSUF

Kwara State on Monday received $5m (N1.9bn) from the Federal Government for fulfilling the State Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS)‘s new disbursement-linked indicator related to budget reviews that prioritise COVID-19 economic recovery. The State had earlier this year received $5m for meeting verification protocols for SFTAS programme for results for year 2018. The state won the SFTAS grant for also publishing an approved amended  2020 COVID-19 responsive budget by July 31, 2020, thereby meeting verification protocols for the programme, according to a statement by the Commissioner for Finance and Planning Olasumbo…

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12 bag First Class as McPherson University produces 92 graduates

ADEOLA YUSUF

  McPherson University, one of the leading private Universities in Nigeria, has held its fifth convocation ceremony where a total of 92 graduates were given certificates including 12 with First Class Honours. Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Adeniyi Agunbiade, who, in an address at the Convocation held at the school’s premises, said this, maintained that the University had also secured an approval from the National Universities Commission (NUC) to run a Bachelor of Nursing Science (B.N.Sc.) Degree Programme and Part-Time Degree Programmes for McU. “I am glad to report that, by…

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NLC rejects Petrol Price hike, demands ‘reversal with immediate effect’  

ADEOLA YUSUF

  Three days after the hike in prices of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in Nigeria, the apex workers’ union, Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) on Monday rejected the hike in the prices, demanding reversal to the old price “with immediate effect.” The NLC, which said this in a statement sent to Platforms Africa and signed by its President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, declared that the hike in prices of the product has worsened the pain and anguish in the country. Though the union was silent on next line of action if the…

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Nigeria’s Inflation Rate Crosses 14%, Highest Jump In Four Years

ADEOLA YUSUF

  The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says consumer price index, which measures inflation, hit 14.23 percent in October. The inflation rate jumped by 0.52 percentage points which is the highest recorded since July 2016 when the inflation rate increased by 0.65 percentage points. Inflation measures the rate at which the prices of goods and services increase over a period of time. The October CPI/Inflation report released on Monday showed that food inflation hit 17.38 percent from 16.66 percent in September. This bureau sad the rise in the food index…

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How we arrested 720 suspected Criminals in Lagos – Police

ADEOLA YUSUF

  The Lagos State Police Command, on Sunday, carried out simultaneous raids on areas believed to be harbouring criminals and hoodlums, across the 14 area commands in the state. The command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, in a statement issued in Lagos, said that 720 suspects were arrested, with various weapons and substances suspected to be Indian hemp and cocaine. “In its bid to solidify the security architecture of the state, the Lagos Command re-launched its anti crime strategies to curb crimes and criminality across the state. “In the…

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