A LEAKED memo addressed to the Lagos State Ministry of Health indicating that the State Government approved N61,285,000 for the mass burial of 103 persons identified as 2020 EndSARS victims has gone viral on social media, sparking outrage. The memo dated July 19, 2023, captures steps for the processing of funds after approval by the governor. Earlier, a Ministerial Tenders’ Board Meeting reportedly sat over the recommendations of the Procurement Planning Committee, after which no objections were raised to the award of the mass burial contract to a funeral service provider. The five-paragraph leaked memo also directs that relevant taxes…
Author: Abimbola Daniels
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TWO children lost their lives when a building collapsed on Ajao Street in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State. The incident happened on Saturday morning, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said. “The children aged nine and seven were trapped when the fence from the neighbouring house fell on their building during the day’s heavy downpour,” NEMA Coordinator in the South-West, Ibrahim Farinloye, said in a statement. The Agency said distressed calls weren’t properly channeled to save the lives of the children. NEMA sympathised with the parents of the deceased and prayed God to give them the fortitude to bear…
THE National Association of Nigerian Students has condemned the planned increment of school fees by tertiary institutions in the country. In a statement signed by the National PRO, Giwa Temitope and released on Saturday, NANS declared that the government’s action is “insensitive” and “embarrassing”. The association also stressed that the government has what it takes to fund education and make it accessible, noting that the introduction of the student loan scheme is a sham and a bait to make Nigerians accept fee increments. The association stated that there is no justification for an increase in school fees across tertiary institutions…
AVANTI Communications (“Avanti”) has been named the market-leading high-throughput satellite capacity partner in sub-Saharan Africa for the second year running. The results, from the 20th edition of the NSR Satellite Capacity Supply & Demand Analysis reports that Avanti’s market share is now more than two times that of its nearest competitor. NSR’s annual report is one of the satellite industry’s most trusted and comprehensive sources for satellite capacity analysis, offering insight into key market developments and dynamics. Avanti has made a significant commitment to Africa. The company has ambitions to accelerate growth across the region through local partnerships and the…
SEVEN children were rescued from an orphanage home engulfed by a domestic fire on Sunday afternoon. The children, all male, were rescued from a one-storey building housing their orphanage located on Wole Madariola Street in the Aguda area of Lagos State. The fire reportedly started when an air conditioning unit in the house experienced power surge. The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) said the seven male children with age range between one and seven were successfully rescued. No injuries or casualties were recorded in the incident, the emergency response agency said in a statement by its spokesperson, Nosa Okunbor.…
DEPUTY Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Benjamin Kalu has disclosed that the South East region lost over N4trn to insecurity in the last two years. Mr Kalu said this in his address at the annual all markets conference in Lagos. His words: “This rising development has caused us a lot as we keep losing business investment to the constant sit-at-home. Insecurity remains a major problem in the east, the Yoruba are not our problem, we are our own problem in the east. When you build 100 houses in Lagos, build at least 50 in your home. Migration can…
UNKNOWN persons have allegedly carted away the recently reinstalled airfield lighting systems at the domestic runway 18/36L of Murtala Muhammad Airport. This newspaper gathered that the disappearance of the approach lighting systems had raised security concerns in Nigeria’s busiest airports. According to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity, those who carted away the lighting systems took advantage of the closure of the runway for over three months. The source alleged that some FAAN workers connived with outsiders to steal the airport lighting equipment. “The criminal took advantage of the closure to commit the crime. I cannot give the…
TONY O. Elumelu, CFR, Chairman of Heirs Holdings, will join King Charles III of the United Kingdom and U.S. President Biden at the Climate Finance Mobilisation Forum in London today to help attract a new generation of capital to combat climate change. Achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement requires unlocking private investment at unprecedented speed and scale. Mr. Elumelu is one of Africa’s most prominent advocates for equitable climate finance and is a leading funder of young African entrepreneurs – through the Tony Elumelu Foundation – working to create sustainable climate solutions. “Africa needs a just, fair, equal and…
IT was a Black Sunday in the Badagry area of Lagos State as an 18-seater commercial bus filled with partygoers crashed, killing all passengers onboard. The driver of the bus and his motor boy also died in the tragic accident. It was gathered that the deceased passengers had chartered the bus from the Yaba area of Lagos to attend a group party in the Republic of Benin. The accident happened about 9am at Age-Mowo close to Mowo along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, said a spokesman for the state’s traffic management body, Taofiq Adebayo. “It involved a Mazda commercial bus with passengers…
Dr SAMUEL Ibiyemi, the publisher of NewsDirect newspaper, is dead. Ibiyemi reportedly died on Tuesday afternoon at the Babcock University Teaching Hospital, Ilishan Remo, Ogun State. Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, described the death as shocking. In a condolence message to his family and media colleagues, Abiodun described Dr. Ibiyemi as a brilliant and versatile journalist, who deployed his wealth of experience in the profession to better the society. He said the late publisher was a stickler for the truth, noting that through his medium, he contributed his own quota to the economic and political development of Nigeria. “He was…
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu on Sunday left Lagos where he has been on Sallah holidays for Abuja. Before departing the presidential wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Tinubu in the company of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu took the salute Nigeria Army parade. During his five days stay in Lagos, the president paid a courtesy visit to the paramount rulers of Ijebu, Egba, and Eko. He also played host to the President of Guinea Bissau and Chairman, Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, Umaro Sissoco Embalo in his Lagos residence on Saturday.
PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Saturday paid homage to the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Aremu Akiolu, at his palace. This followed a state visit by Guinea Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embaló to Tinubu at his Ikoyi, Lagos residence. The Special Adviser to the President, Special Duties, Communications, and Strategy, Dele Alake, told State House Correspondents that though Embaló was on a private visit, he had come to pay his solidarity to the Nigerian president. Tinubu’s visit to the Oba of Lagos may not be unexpected, given both men’s long-standing close relationship.
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has received the President of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embalo in Lagos. Embalo, who is also the Chairman, ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, paid a private visit to his Nigerian counterpart on Saturday. Tinubu has been spending the Sallah holiday in Lagos since his return from London on Tuesday. Embalo is the first African President and world leader to visit Tinubu since his inauguration as the 16th President of Nigeria on May 29.
THE Federal Government has suspended construction on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway to aid the flow of traffic in light of the forthcoming Eid el-Kabir festivities this week. The Federal Ministry of Works and Housing (Works Sector), in a statement by the Federal Controller of Works, Lagos, Mrs Olukorede Kesha on Monday, noted that construction work on the busy highway would be suspended from Tuesday, June 27 to Sunday, July 2. According to her, the action was prompted by a recent heavy traffic flow on the Lagos-Shagamu route “in the last couple of days”, inclement weather conditions, the forthcoming Eid Kabir and…
THERE is tension around Ajegunle in Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Government Area of Lagos following the killing of a naval officer. Some gunmen had allegedly opened fire on the naval rating who was on his own. The killing came barely one week after a female officer was also reportedly murdered in the area. Residents reportedly got worried when colleagues of the deceased officer allegedly threatened to avenge his death. A resident, Anthony Kojo, said, “We are living in fear. We heard that his colleagues wanted to avenge his death. “The naval officer was walking around Olowojeunjeje area of Ajegunle ,when he was…
THE whereabouts of a yet-to-be-identified mother, her baby and six other persons including a man identified simply as Umar, have reportedly been unknown after flood induced by a heavy downpour washed them away in the Agege area of Lagos State. This newspaper Metro gathered that during the heavy downpour on Thursday, flood overran a canal around the Abattoir area in Agege, and it levelled up to the bridge, making it impassable for motorists and residents to navigate their destinations in the area. It was learnt that a tricycle operator while plying the axis, escaped death by a whisker when the…
AMEENU Abiola, the family secretary and one of the children of the winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, MKO Abiola, has said that the family had thought that President Bola Tinubu would pay all the presidential entitlements due to the business mogul. The family secretary said beyond payment of the entitlements, the family wished that the government implement most of the people-oriented policies which Abiola promised Nigerians while alive. Ameenu said this while speaking to newsmen during a prayer session held at the MKO Abiola family house, Gbagura, Abeokuta, the state capital. He said the Tinubu-led government has…
DETERMINED to contribute to Nigeria’s economic development by way of offering platforms that bridge the gap between business and government, and create solutions to identified public policy problems, Growth and Transformation Professionals (GTpro) is organising a Masterclass on Government Relations and Public Policy Strategy. The Masterclass programme, with the theme: “Navigating Government and Policy Challenges for Business Success and Sustainability,” scheduled to hold on Thursday, June 22, 2023 at the Oriental Hotel, Lekki Lagos will have experienced technocrats as speakers and panelists giving cognate insights. In a media release made available in Lagos, the Co-Founder of GTPro and a renowned…
THE President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina has accepted his appointment by the United Nations in the fight against malnutrition. News Point Nigeria reports that, on June 1, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres picked Adesina and 21 other leaders to spearhead the fight against malnutrition in all its forms as members of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement Lead Group. Appointed alongside the AfDB boss were two other Nigerians – Vice President of the Islamic Development Bank, Mansur Muhtar, and Executive Chair, Sahel Consulting Agriculture and Nutrition, Ndidi Nwuneli. Taking to his Twitter handle on Sunday, Adesina…
THE Lagos State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has fixed Friday to rule on whether to strike out, at this preliminary stage, an application filed by the Labour Party’s (LP) candidate in the March 18 election, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, for being incompetent. The chairman of the tribunal, Justice Arum Ashom, fixed the date after taking submissions from parties in the matter. At the pre-hearing proceedings, Dr Olumide Ayeni (SAN), counsel to Rhodes-Vivour, sought the leave of the tribunal to argue two out of nine applications which he said are ripe for hearing. One of the applications is seeking two prayers including leave…