FOUR hundred Nigerians have been deported from the United Arab Emirates and arrived in Nigeria, News Point Nigeria gathered. The deportees were received at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, by officials from the Office of the National Security Adviser, in collaboration with the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, the National Emergency Management Agency, and other relevant stakeholders. “Four hundred Nigerians, including 90 females and 310 males, have been deported from the United Arab Emirates back to Nigeria. “They were received at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International…
Author: Amina Ibrahim
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THE Central Bank of Nigeria has directed all Payment Service Providers to route all transactions from PoS terminals at merchant and agent locations — physical or electronic — through an approved CBN Payment Terminal Service Aggregator. It also issued a 30-day deadline requiring service providers to comply with enhanced routing guidelines for Point of Sale transactions. This move aims to strengthen the monitoring of electronic transactions across Nigeria and decentralise PoS transaction routing, addressing concerns about the centralisation of such transactions under a single entity. The apex bank, in a circular signed by Oladimeji Yisa Taiwo on behalf of the…
THE Federal Government has asked the private sector to partner with it for the economy to reap the benefits of the country’s limitless pool of talent. The Minister of Art, Culture, and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, made the call on Wednesday in Lagos. Speaking with corporate entities, members of the art community and other concerned individuals, Musawa, reeled out plans that will make the artistic space effectively contribute to the nation’s economy. Smart strategic partnership, growth target for GDP contribution, skill development, and job creation are just some of the areas listed. For the minister, the idea is to…
THE Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has offered free legal representation to #EndBadGovernance protesters with court cases across the country. News Point Nigeria reports that the President of the NBA, Afam Osigwe, who announced this on his X handle on Wednesday, also directed NBA branches to monitor the legal proceedings against protesters across the country. He said, “I have directed the branches of the Nigerian Bar Association to monitor the trials of the #EndBadGovernance protesters. “Additionally, I have launched a pro bono support initiative for protesters who lack legal representation. “The Nigerian Bar Association Citizens’ Liberties Committee (NBA-CLC) has been tasked…
MICROSOFT Co-founder, Bill Gates, has said that improving productivity in agriculture will help in solving the problem of malnutrition in the world, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. Gates, who is a Co-Chair of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said this on Tuesday at the Nutrivision 2024, a Pan-African Youth Dialogue on Nutrition at Nile University Abuja. He stressed that making food more available at low cost and using of better seeds will contribute in combating malnutrition which according to him has become one of the things holding back potentials the most. “If you are malnourished you are at much high risk,…
SCORES of demonstrators hit the streets of Abuja on Monday to demand the immediate dismissal of the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, Mele Kyari, over the lingering fuel scarcity bedevilling the country. The protest comes on the heels of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited’s confession that its substantial debt to suppliers is endangering the sustainable fuel supply. Among other things, the corporation highlighted that the financial strain is placing significant pressure on its operations and threatening the stability of fuel supplies. Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, also raised concerns that the rising cost of…
FORMER Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has berated the Federal Ministry of Education over its policy that pegged age limits for entry to tertiary institutions, describing it as absurd. The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, had said that individuals under 18 years would no longer be allowed to take part in National Examinations Council and West African Examinations Council exams. According to Mamman, the Federal Government has directed WAEC and NECO to enforce the 18-year age requirements for candidates seeking to take their exams. Reacting to this in a post on…
THE National Youth Service Corps has asked married female prospective corps members who have been posted to states where their husbands do not reside to request redeployment. The scheme made this known in a post on X.com on Monday. The scheme said, “ATTENTION ALL 2024 BATCH ”B” STREAM II MARRIED FEMALE PROSPECTIVE CORPS MEMBERS “All married female Prospective Corps members (PCM’s) who are deployed to States where their husbands are not domiciled should report to the nearest NYSC Orientation Camp for their State of Deployment to be changed. “They are to report during the period of registration at the Orientation…
THE Minister of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa Musawa, has disclosed plans to create $100bn investment and 2 million jobs from the creative and cultural sector to revitalise the Nigerian economy. The minister, in an interview, said the current administration is intentional about ensuring a large chunk of global market share of over $1 trillion dollar comes into Nigeria’s creative industry in line with the renewed hope agenda of the current administration. Musawa noted that this is feasible with opportunities into the creative and cultural economy value chain through policies enabling a business environment. “We are currently embarking…
THE Resource Center for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED) has decried the alarming rate of maternal mortality rate in Kano State, stating that the state is the ‘worst’ place to give birth in the world, going by the available statistics which places Nigeria as one of the countries with the highest mortality rate in the world, and Kano being the most populated state in the country. Mr. Omoniyi Adewale, the Senior Program Officer of CHRICED, made the declaration on behalf of Executive Director Dr. Ibrahim M. Zikirullahi during a visit of Association of Kano Online Journalists (ASKOJ), to the…
THE UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Monday said 2023 was the deadliest year for humanitarian workers ever recorded. In 2023, 280 aid workers were killed in 33 countries, a 137 per cent increase compared to 2022, when 118 were killed, the OCHA said. “Worse still is that 2024 may be on track to be even deadlier,” it added. “As of August 7,172 aid workers had been killed,” the OCHA said, citing the provisional count from the Aid Worker Security Database. More than half of the 2023 deaths were recorded in the first three months of…
THE National Judicial Council (NJC) has recommended Justice Kudirat Motonmori Kekere-Ekun to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for appointment as the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN). Disclosing this in a statement on Thursday, NJC spokesman, Soji Oye, said the decision was taken following the Council’s 106th Meeting presided over by the CJN Justice Olukayode Ariwoola. He said the meeting was held on August 14 and 15 in Abuja, just seven days before the retirement of Justice Ariwoola as the CJN. “This is imperative as Hon. Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, GCON, will formally bow out of office as the Hon. Chief Justice of…
THE Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) says 82.36% of the total insured depositors of the defunct Heritage Bank have been reimbursed since the revocation of the bank’s licence by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on June 3, 2024. In a statement on Sunday, a spokesman for the appointed liquidator NDIC, Bashir Nuhu, said the remaining 17.64% of the insured deposits yet to be paid were largely depositors whose accounts have post no debits (PND) instructions or have no Bank Verification Numbers (BVN). Nuhu said the NDIC began the payment of the insured deposits of N5m maximum per depositor within…
NIGERIA’s Minister of Art, Culture and the Creative Economy Barrister Hannatu Musa Musawa says the collaboration with the Dambe Warriors League (DWL) will promote Nigeria’s traditional martial art sport known as Dambe and give it international exposure. The Minister made this known when the co-founders and executives of Dambe Warriors League paid her a courtesy visit in Abuja on Thursday. According to a statement by the Special Adviser, Media to the Minister of Culture and Creative Economy, Nneka Ikem Anibeze, Friday, Musawa expressed delight with the organizers responsible for promoting the ancient martial art of Dambe, acknowledging their immense potential.…
THE Federal Government has withdrawn the circular directing civil servants to register for the purchase of N50kg bag of rice at a subsidised rate of N40,000. The withdrawal of the circular was communicated in another circular by the Director of Human Resources at the Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Aderonke Jaiyesimi. The internal circular, dated August 2, 2024 and sighted by our correspondent on Thursday, was addressed to all directors and heads of departments. Jaiyesimi said, “I am directed to refer to our internal circular in the Ministry (Federal Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs) of late…
PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu has appointed Suleiman Abdullahi Ango as Mandate Secretary for the newly established Youth Development Secretariat in the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA). The spokesman for the FCT Minister, Anthony Ogunleye, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday. He said the appointment was strategic and marked a significant milestone in the administration’s ongoing efforts to prioritise youth development and empowerment in the Federal Capital Territory. The youth development secretariat will provide the administrative structure that will coordinate youth related matters in the FCT. It is further promote training for skill acquisition, entrepreneurship, and leadership. Ogunleye said Ango…
THE Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Lanre Issa-Onilu, on Wednesday, urged Nigerians to map out survival strategies amid the economic fallout of the removal of petrol subsidy by the President Bola Tinubu administration. Issa-Onilu, a former spokesman for the President’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), said poverty will worsen if petrol subsidy is returned, as being demanded by #EndBadGovernance protesters in the last week. “Anybody who is making a demand that subsidy removal should be brought back is making an emotional demand, not an economic demand because you have to also prove that if it is brought back,…
THE Federal Government has warned Nigerian citizens planning to travel to the United Kingdom, to be wary of violence risk occasioned by the recent killing of three young girls at a concert. A statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja on Monday, and signed by its Spokesperson, Amb. Eche Abu-Obe, said the violence has assumed “dangerous proportions” as evidenced by reported attacks on law enforcement agents and damage to infrastructure. To this end, citizens are advised to be extra vigilant and take measures as follows: avoiding political processions and protests, rallies or marches, avoiding crowded areas and large…
THE Nigerian National Committee of the International Press Institute (IPI Nigeria) has condemned in strong terms the deployment of excessive force against journalists covering the nationwide protests. On Saturday, August 3rd, 2024, several journalists covering the #EndBadGovernance protests were shot at the Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja by security agents wearing hoods. The journalists narrowly escaped unhurt, but bullets damaged one of their cars. The shooting happened at the main entrance of the stadium. The firing of what is suspected to be live ammunition is unacceptable and is strongly condemned. The shooting also appeared premeditated as the journalists were particularly…
A TOTAL of 3,173 Nigerian-trained nurses and midwives were licensed to practise in the United Kingdom in one year. This is according to the latest report on the number of nursing and midwifery professionals on the Nursing and Midwifery Council register from April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024, obtained exclusively from the council. The report also showed that so far, 13,656 nurses and midwives educated in Nigeria were practising in the UK. The NMC data noted that on March 31, 2024, “there were a total of 826,418 nursing and midwifery professionals on our register. “Of this number, 13,656 were…