Author: Khadija Abubakar

SPECIAL Adviser to the President on Policy Coordination and Head of Central Delivery Coordination Unit, Hadiza Bala Usman, has said the present administration is committed to fostering a robust governance system and ensuring citizens’ trust. She stated this on Tuesday while participating in a panel discussion at the Closeout Event of the Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL) Programme in Abuja. PERL is a public-sector accountability and governance programme, funded by the United Kingdom’s (UK) Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and has worked in Nigeria for eight years. Speaking during the panel discussion Bala Usman said to achieve…

THE Dangote Group is partnering Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) to boost trade and investment in the country. Dangote Industries Limited is the major sponsor of the 19th edition of the Trade Fair which officially opens on Monday September 23,2024. Speaking to newsmen, Director General of ACCI, Sir Agabaidu Jideani said the chamber’s relationship with the Dangote Group is collaborative and focused on mutual growth. “We share a commitment to driving economic development and fostering innovation in key sectors of the economy,” he added. According to him, this year’s Trade Fair offers an excellent platform for networking and…

MORE Nigerians are beginning to embrace the rail transportation system as revenue rose to ₦1.69bn in the second quarter of 2024, reflecting a 53.14 per cent increase compared to the ₦1.10bn recorded in the same period of 2023. This data was disclosed by the National Bureau of Statistics in its report released on Thursday. In 2023, the Nigerian Railway Corporation generated ₦1.07bn as revenue from passengers. According to the report, a total of 689,263 passengers travelled by rail in Q2, representing a growth rate of 45.38 per cent compared to 474,117 passengers in the corresponding quarter of 2023. The volume…

A PROFESSOR of Educational Administration and Planning, Department of Educational Foundations, Faculty of Education of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Prof. Samuel Ogunwale Ogundiran has poisted that a number of educators and school administrators in Nigeria are still finding it difficult to transition from the traditional methods to the technology-driven solutions. According to a statement by Director,Media and Publicity, NOUN, Ibrahim Sheme, Ogundiran stated this on Thursday, September 19, 2024, while presenting the university’s 28th Inaugural Lecture, which took place at the NOUN headquarters in Abuja. With the topic: “Educational Administration and Technology: A Marriage of Inconvenience,” the…

THE Federal Government has initiated a thorough investigation into the root causes of the recent earth tremors that rattled the Mpape area in Abuja. The tremors, which began on the night of September 16, 2024, alarmed residents, with reports of six to eight seismic events being recorded. First detected at about 11:00 p.m., the tremors led to widespread concern due to loud noises and ground shaking in the vicinity. During a ministerial press briefing, the Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Mr. Uche Nnaji, assured the public that a team of experts from the Centre for Geodesy and Geodynamics (an…

NIGERIA’s inflation rate has decelerated for two consecutive months, from 34.19% in June to 33.40% in July, and now 32.15% in August, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Monday. According to the Consumer Price Index report released by the Bureau, the headline inflation rate eased to 32.15% in August 2024, while food inflation stood at 37.52% in the same month. “Looking at the movement, the August 2024 headline inflation rate showed a decrease of 1.25% points when compared to the July 2024 headline inflation rate,” the NBS stated. “However, on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.35%…

THE Federal Government has directed the exclusion of third-party research grant funds of federal universities and research institutions from the Treasury Single Account. In a letter from the National Universities Commission to Vice Chancellors, dated 6th September 2024, the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, conveyed the President’s directive to the Coordinating Minister of Finance and National Economy, Wale Edun, mandating the exemption. The directive also grants universities and research institutions the autonomy to operate their endowment fund accounts in commercial banks. This move is expected to enhance the financial autonomy of universities and research institutions, promoting research and innovation…

THE Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin, on Sunday, said President Bola Tinubu was not satisfied with the previous distribution of palliatives to the needy in the country toward easing hardship. According to him, Tinubu’s dissatisfaction informed his decision to reconstitute a committee for the distribution of palliatives to get to the needy. While flagging off the distribution of the Federal government’s palliatives to the needy in the North West geo-political zone in Kano on Sunday, Jibrin called on Nigerians to rally around the President to fix the country as this is not the time to apportion blame. He stated…

THE Dean of the Faculty of Arts, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Prof. Iyabode O.A. Nwabueze, has said that the social positioning of women has contributed to issues like female nudism and women’s own complicity in perpetuating their disempowerment. According to a statement signed by the Director, Media and Publicity, NOUN, Ibrahim Sheme, Thursday, the Prof asserted that neither gender possesses superior intellectual capabilities and stressed the need for women to have equal opportunities to excel in various fields. Nwabueze stated these during her delivery of the NOUN’s 27th inaugural lecture titled “The Woman is First Human: The Linguistic…

THE Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Education, has granted full operational licence to Maryam Abacha American University of Nigeria (MAAUN) to enable it operate as a Private University in the country. The licence dated 2nd September, 2024, was jointly signed by the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman and Acting Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), Chris J. Maiyaki respectively. The full operational licence was granted to the university after it met all the requirements laid down in the Education (National Minimum Standards and Establishment of Institutions) Act, Cap E3 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, and…

THE Joint Committee on Electoral Matters has proposed a slash in salaries of legislators and executive members by 30 and 40 per cent respectively. This was proposed on Monday during an interactive session with Judiciary and political parties led by the Chairman, the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters, Senator Sharafadeen Alli on the National Assembly Review and amendment of the Electoral Act 2022. According to them, the salaries of legislators should be reduced by 30 per cent while that of the executives be reduced by 40 per cent to cut costs. During the session, political parties also proposed that all…

THE Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) is investigating British Airways over persistent delays of departure for three consecutive days. The authority also said, as part of the investigation, it would inspect all all aircraft on the Nigerian route for regulatory compliance under its Foreign Aircraft Safety Assessment Programme. Director of Public Affairs & Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, who confirmed the development said the UK flag carrier has been delaying departure for about three consecutive days since August 27th. It said this has resulted in many inconveniences to members of the traveling public. Amidst the British Airways controversy, Qatar Airways passengers…

MINISTER of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Tunji Alausa, announced that the Federal Government has approved a 50% electricity subsidy for public hospitals across the country. According to him, this gesture aims to reduce the running costs for public hospitals and alleviate the impact on patients. The Minister, speaking at the National Neo-Psychiatric Hospital in Barnawa, Kaduna, also commissioned the Electronic Health Records and Alternative Power Supply at the Lawal Jafaru Isah Emergency Complex and the solarization project at the dialysis unit, which includes a solar-powered borehole and a 10.2 KVA inverter with a lithium battery at the…

THE Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors have declared a seven-day warning strike over the abduction of their colleague, Dr Ganiyat Popoola who was kidnapped nearly eight months ago. NARD President, Dr Dele Abdullahi, who disclosed this to our correspondent on Sunday, said the strike will begin Monday, August 26, 2024, at 12am. Abdullahi said the decision was made during the Emergency National Executive Council meeting. He said, “The strike is commencing by midnight today. It’s for seven days, it’s a warning strike, and it’s total. “During the strike, there will be no concessions, and there will be no emergency care.”…

THE Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday announced that the country has recorded a total of 40 confirmed cases of mpox out of 830 suspected cases. NCDC Director-General, Dr Jide Idris, made this announcement at the Joint NCDC/World Health Organisation National Mpox briefing with stakeholders and partners in Abuja. The WHO Nigeria Country Office disclosed that Nigeria would be receiving doses of the mpox vaccine through a donation from the United States Government. Idris noted that an Emergency Operations Centre and an Incident Management System have been established since mpox was declared a Public Health Emergency of…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu will on Friday swear in Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun as the new Chief Justice of Nigeria. The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday. He said the swearing-in ceremony will take place at the Council Chambers of the State House in Abuja, the nation’s capital. Justice Kekere-Ekun will succeed Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, who bowed out on Thursday after clocking the retirement age of 70 years. The President also congratulated Ariwoola, whose stint in the judiciary he described as a “successful public service career,” commending him for his…

OIL marketers have attributed this round of scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit also known as petrol, to lingering logistics challenges. This was disclosed by the President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association, (PETROAN), Billy Gillis-Harry who was a guest on Channels Television’s Morning Brief on Monday monitored by News Point Nigeria. According to him, oil marketers are currently supply constrained, and could “distribute only what we have”. He said, “I think until we get our supply challenges sorted out efficiently and abundantly, we will not be able to get out of this circle. “I believe you must have…

A SURGING mpox outbreak in Africa was declared an emergency by the World Health Organisation this week and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), an EU agency, on Friday said more imported cases to Europe were “highly likely”. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) declared its first-ever Public Health Emergency of Continental Security (PHECS) for the deadly disease. It is the second time the WHO has issued its public health emergency warning since the epidemic first spread around the world in 2022. Now the virus has crossed from its epicentre in the Democratic…

THE Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday said Nigeria had recorded a total of 39 confirmed cases of mpox and zero deaths across 33 states and the Federal Capital Territory from the beginning of 2024. The NCDC Director General, Dr Jide Idris, who disclosed this at a press conference in Abuja, also said the country had so far recorded a total of 5,951 suspected cholera cases and 176 deaths have been recorded across 36 states, and the FCT as of August 11, 2024. The Africa Centre for Disease Control on Tuesday declared a public health emergency over…

THE Federal Government on Monday, approved the new National Policy on Health Workforce Migration. The 56-page document approved by President Bola Tinubu will tackle the exodus of health workers from Nigeria in a phenomenon colloquially known as ‘Japa’. See Full Document Below: NATIONAL-POLICY-ON-HWF-MIGRATION_FINALCOPY_PDF