Author: News Room

Buhari passes the buck as Nigerians battle cash crunch

ADELANI ADEPEGBA writes on the reluctance of the Muhammadu Buhari regime to obey the Supreme Court order on the legal tender status of the old naira notes and how it finally succumbed to public pressure Ten days after the Supreme Court extended the legal tender status of the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes until December 31, the Central Bank of Nigeria reluctantly announced its compliance with the judgment in a late Monday night statement. It added that the decision was taken during a bankers’ committee meeting in compliance with ‘the established tradition of obedience to court orders and sustenance…

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Manchester United, Chelsea and Brighton through to semi-finals of Women’s FA Cup, Aston Villa dump out Man City

Manchester United progressed to the semi-finals of the Women’s FA Cup after they beat Championship side Lewes 3-1 at the Dripping Pan. The win secured United a first trip to the semi-finals following a hard-fought win against the lowest-ranked side – sitting eighth in the Championship – left in the competition. An own goal from Rhian Cleverly gave the visitors the lead inside the first 10 minutes. However, the Women’s Super League side had to wait until the 68th minute to double their advantage when Vilde Boe Risa headed home an Ona Batlle centre. The Emirates FA CupMitrovic ‘should control…

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Lagos 2023/24 standardised school calendar underway

In a bid to maintain its academic excellence, preparation for the year 2023/2024 Lagos State academic calendar has got underway. As a result, the state government, assured stakeholders of prioritising harmonised and standardised instructional days of learning for all schools, in order to ensure children have the minimum standard of learning days and hours. Director-General, Office of Education Quality Assurance, Mrs Abiola Seriki-Ayeni, disclosed this in a statement on Friday, during a stakeholders’ meeting, which held in Alausa, Ikeja. Seriki-Ayeni said, “In as much as the calendar may seem like a very minute detail, when it comes to larger issues…

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Fintech recorded 0m transactions in two years – Report

VPD Money, a fintech firm, has said its transaction volume rose to over $200m, which showed 2,548 per cent increase since it started operations in 2021. The firm stated that it had been able to onboard over 50,000 customers to date. It said it had leveraged on partnerships to introduce a unifying wallet, bank account, and AI-powered savings experience since it started. In a statement, VPD Money’s Co-founder and Senior Product and Project Manager, Mohammed Liadi, said, “We have created a soothing platform for the unbanked and underserved. “The unbanked people don’t necessarily mean they don’t have a job but…

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Why gospel artistes aren’t flexible — Mike Abdul

A gospel singer, Mike Abdul, has said gospel artistes are not flexible because there are certain expectations people have of them. In an encounter with Sunday Scoop, he said, “Gospel artistes are not as flexible as secular artistes, because they cannot talk about everything. Gospel artistes are only expected to talk on godliness and the Holy Spirit. Being a gospel artiste, one’s path has already been defined. “On the marketing side, some people don’t want to hear certain statements from gospel artistes. It is secular artistes that are expected to sing about such things.” Speaking on how he handles the…

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Low turnout in Lagos as thugs attack, suppress voters

Preliminary reports obtained from various councils across the state showed that polling units were sparsely populated or completely empty as of noon “I had to run out, they destroyed the side mirrors of my car… They brought out knives and wanted to stab me. What happened to the free and fair election they promised us? Nothing is free and fair. You are intimidating people,” Chioma Akpotha, a veteran actress, said in a live Instagram video. Another voter in the Oniru area of Lagos, told The Africa Report that thugs threatened all those who were not willing to vote for the…

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Counting underway in Nigerian vote for new governors

Counting is underway in Nigeria after millions of people went to the polls on Saturday in a delayed vote for new state governors. The election in 28 of Nigeria’s 36 states comes amid heightened tensions following last month’s disputed presidential poll. Opposition parties continue to reject the victory of President-elect Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress party. The vote for governors was postponed in a few locations, including in Lagos town, over fears of attacks on electoral officials. There have been reports of scattered violence and voter intimidation in some cities across the country. Local observer group, YIAGA…

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French nuclear giant to explore potential of uranium deposit in Niger

French nuclear giant, Orano, and the Niger government, are exploring the potential of a uranium site in Imouraren in the northern Arlit region. One of the world’s less advanced countries, Niger is also home to one of the planet’s biggest sources of uranium, the main source of nuclear fuel. The Imouraren project, some 80 kilometres south of the town of Arlit, was put on hold in 2015 after the price of uranium collapsed following the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan. Instead of open-pit mining, the team is now studying the in-situ recovery (ISR) method of extraction at the site which…

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Cyclone Freddy: Fears that Malawi’s cholera outbreak will spiral

Cyclone Freddy has moved on from Malawi, but it has left behind it a trail of destruction and the risk of an unprecedented cholera outbreak. It is usually spread through contaminated water and, left untreated, it can be fatal within hours, even in previously healthy people. Poor sanitation made worse by a lack of running water and adequate toilets in evacuation camps is exposing survivors to this and other waterborne diseases. “We draw water from the nearby river which lies below a graveyard. In the same area are pit latrines. With the rains, they are filled with water and all…

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Angolan president holds security talks with his DRC counterpart

Angolan President Joao Lourenco held a three-hour private meeting in Luanda on Saturday with his Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) counterpart, Felix Tshisekedi. The talks came a day after the Angolan parliament approved a year-long deployment of up to 500 soldiers to the troubled eastern DRC. But Luanda said the contingent would only be moved when it was certain that the right conditions existed in the cantonment areas. “Today, a delegation of the ad hoc mechanism, which includes military officers, is visiting these areas to confirm that all is in order,” said Francisco Furtado, Minister of State and head of…

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