Polio - Nigeria's status reclassified

Nigeria reported three cases of wild polio virus in the northeastern state of Borno in August of this year. Following the World Health Organization's confirmation of these cases, the country returned to the list of polio-endemic countries. The other polio-endemic countries are Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Reps to probe N500bn debt

Yakubu Dogara, Speaker of the House

The House Representatives on Thursday ordered a probe of Total, Oando and independent oil marketers over a N500bn debt owed the Pipeline Products Marketing Company.

This followed a motion which came under a matter of urgent public importance sponsored by Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe.

New plastic £5 pound note

Distinguishing features on the new polymer fivers which went into circulation last week have prompted collectors to fork out hundreds of pounds for the new notes.

One eBay seller, robbieyeo68, based in Southampton, sold a new £5 note for £227.56 on Tuesday evening, a return of more than 4,000%.

Calls on FG to investigate tremors

A site of the quake

The earth tremors that occurred in Rivers and Bayelsa states between July and August, 2016 seem to have triggered a keener sense of caution among the local communities affected. Report has it that they have asked for the Federal Government's intervention in investigating the causes of the tremors.

The people made the appeal in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yenagoa on Sunday.

Calls on FG to investigate tremors

A site of the quake

The earth tremors that occurred in Rivers and Bayelsa states between July and August, 2016 seem to have triggered a keener sense of caution among the local communities affected. Report has it that they have asked for the Federal Government's intervention in investigating the causes of the tremors.

The people made the appeal in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yenagoa on Sunday.

House of Reps to probe $17bn oil loot

Yakubu Dogara, Speaker House of Representatives

Nigeria’s lower house ordered a probe to investigate whether $17 billion of petroleum and fuel exports were stolen.

Most of the oil and liquefied natural gas ended up in the U.S. and some went to China and Norway, Johnson Agbonayinma, a lawmaker, told the House of Representatives in the capital, Abuja, on Thursday. The missing products include about 58 million barrels of oil and 727,000 tons of LNG, he said.

'Travelex to improve naira' - Bureau de Changers

Anthony Wagerman, CEO Travelex

The Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria says it foresees the naira on the path of recovery by Monday due to the introduction of Travelex, a licensed Forex dealer.

The President of ABCON, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, said on Thursday in Lagos that a licensed Forex dealer would enhance transparency in the distribution network.

Travelex, an international money transfer organisation, was officially directed by the Central Bank of Nigeria to distribute Forex to Bureaux De Change operators by Monday.

NNS Unity for Off-shore Patrol

Chief of Naval Staff is Vice Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas

In furtherance to improving on the nation's defences, government had considered the acquisition of various military hardware to make the country's armed forces better ready to defend its national integrity. One such step taken is exploiting the country's cordial relationship with China. 

Consequently, the Nigerian Navy Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV), NNS UNITY, which was under construction in China has been completed. It is on its way to join the Nigerian Navy fleet.

Adieu Doctor Nkem Ezeilo medical practitioner to Nigerians in Diaspora

By Tunde Oyedoyin, London

Nkem EzeiloNkem Ezeilo

Members of the Nigerian community in the United Kingdom continue to mourn 43-year-old Harley Street-based general medical-practitioner, Dr. Nkem Ezeilo, who died of cancer last Sunday.

Nigeria sues foreign oil firms

Nigeria has filed a lawsuit against Italian energy firm ENI , U.S. major Chevron and other international oil firms over some crude exports, ENI, Chevron and a government official said on Tuesday.

"The claim dates back to last March and refers to a request to our subsidiary in Nigeria for a payment of about $160 million," ENI said by email.

Buhari accused of protecting corrupt aides

President Buhari and his Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari

President Muhammad Buhari has received concrete evidence that his Chief of Staff (CoS), Abba Kyari, took N500m from operators of MTN to help the telecommunications giant mitigate the fine imposed on it by the federal government, according to information from Sahara reporters.

Rent-to-own accommodation debuts

One of the prototypes of a Mass Housing Scheme

A new concept to the Nigerian housing sector has been introduced by the alternative asset investment company, NatanelFlorens Limited, which unveiled a rent-to-own initiative known as Rent-Own-Earn. The company’s Executive Director, Marketing Services, Mr. Yinka Daramola, said at a meeting to announce the unveiling of the initiative and other investment opportunities offered by the firm, that owning a property in the country had been a challenge for decades.

Power Generation Falls as ...

Raji Fashola (Minister for Power)

Power generation in Nigeria fell by over 1,000 megawatts as four power plants were down on Saturday, bringing the total number of plants not generating electricity at the moment to 10. The nation recorded a total system collapse on Friday, September 16, 2016, the 17th time this year, according to industry data and reported by the Punch newspapers

The total power generation stood at 2,555.7MW as of 6 a.m. on Saturday, down from 3,596.2MW the previous day, worsening the outage being experienced by households and businesses across the country.

Rent-to-own accommodation debuts

One of the prototypes of a Mass Housing Scheme

A new concept to the Nigerian housing sector has been introduced by the alternative asset investment company, NatanelFlorens Limited, which unveiled a rent-to-own initiative known as Rent-Own-Earn. The company’s Executive Director, Marketing Services, Mr. Yinka Daramola, said at a meeting to announce the unveiling of the initiative and other investment opportunities offered by the firm, that owning a property in the country had been a challenge for decades.

Nigeria's recession is on the mend

Godwin Emefiele

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele has pronounced good tidings on the state of the nation's economy which has been hit recently by recession. 

“We have turned the bend,” he said at the weekend in Lagos.

Nigerians have been grumbling over the tough economic climate – high food prices, poor infrastructure, job cuts and low productivity, among others.

Doctors beg governor for pay

Isaac Adewole

The Association of Resident Doctors, Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso, have called on the Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, to  pay them full salary like other health workers in the state instead of the half salary they have been receiving.

Aliko proffers way out of recession

Aliko Dangote

Nigerian recession has a simple solution according to Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote.

In an interview with CNBC, he has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to embark on a wave of asset selling to boost the recession-hit economy.

“I think the real challenge for us is now for us to have the political will in terms of selling some assets,” Dangote said.

“I think it’s an easier route than the IMF (International Monetary Fund) or the World Bank to borrow money, because what you need to do is actually to beef up the reserves.” Aliko Dangote made the statement before Nigeria’s credit rating was downgraded to B from B+ by S&P Global Ratings on Friday.

“Nigeria’s economy has weakened more than we expected owing to a marked contraction in oil production, a restrictive foreign exchange regime and delayed fiscal stimulus,” S&P said in a report on the downgrade.

Nigeria’s economy is set to contract on an annual basis in 2016 for the first time in 21 years, with its all-important oil industry suffering under weak global prices. The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) dropped by 2.06 percent in the second quarter of 2016, after falling 0.36 percent in the previous three months.

Pensioners' Union grind axe with Head of Service

Winifred Ekanem Oyo-Ita

The Pensioners' Union in Nigeria appear to be prepared for a showdown with the Office of the head of Service over their funds which was kept in agreement.

Members of the Association of the Federal Public Service Retirees have asked the Head of Service of the Federation, Winifred Oyo-Ita, to order the release of their N14.6bn trapped in the accounts of the Nigerian Union Pensioners. The group, according to its Chairman, Emmanuel Omoyeni, said the money was the accumulation of the 1 per cent of the 2 percent deduction from their monthly pension since July 2008.

Buhari supports constitutional disentanglement of LGs

Muhammadu Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari says his administration will support a constitutional amendment to free local governments from the stranglehold of states and better the lot of Nigerians at the community level.

This is contained in a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity, Garba Shehu on Thursday in Abuja.

Receiving the leadership of the Association of Local Governments in Nigeria (ALGON) on Thursday in Abuja, President Buhari said a constitutional amendment was urgently required to clearly define the relationship among the three tiers of government.

Winnie Mandela celebrates her 80th birthday

Wife of former South African President, Winnie Madikizela Mandela looked amazing as she celebrated her upcoming 80th birthday(Sept 26th) with a dinner at the renowned Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town on yesterday Wednesday night September 14th. 

Nigeria posts better agric performance

Nigeria is among 12 countries in Africa that have posted higher agriculture productivity and stronger GDP growth as well as sharper declines in malnutrition due to early implementation of the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) goals. The African Union’s Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme or CAADP, was created in 2003 with key call for African governments to allocate 10 percent of national budgets to agriculture and aim for six percent annual growth in the sector.

David Oyelowo looks to infuse Nollywood

David Oyelowo in Rise of the Apes

The British-born Nigerian two-time Golden Globe-nominated British star, David Oyelowo has said he may return to Nigeria one day to join its booming movie industry, Nollywood, which is a hot topic at this year's Toronto International Film Festival.

Mr Oyelowo, who spent part of his childhood in Nigeria, gave further indication of this when he said "I can tell by the profile that they are gaining that it's not going to be long before I -- to be perfectly frank, as someone who has established their career in Western filmmaking -- am going to be desirous to go back and make a film that would be deemed a Nollywood movie," Oyelowo said in an interview at the Toronto film fest.

Fed. Govt. borrows to ease recession

The Nigerian Government is eager to steer the economy out of recession waters. Borrowing from offshore banks under the supervision of the Debt Management Office (DMO) may be the way out of the economic quagmire for the Buhari Administration.

The administration has assured Nigerians that its economic team is back at the drawing board not only to avert depression but to ease the pains of the recession on the country.

It is no longer news that the economy is not at its best following the second quarter report of National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in which it confirmed that the has sailed into recession.

Fisherman fights bear with karate

A Japanese man in his 60s fought off a wild bear using karate to save his life. Martial arts expert Atsushi Aoki was fishing in a mountain creek when the massive 6ft 3ins Asian black bear attacked him.Using only his bare hands to fend off the beast, the 63-year-old told a Japanese broadcaster: "I thought it's either 'I kill him

OPEC crude increases, Nigeria & Libya make loss

OPEC’s crude production climbed to a record last month, as increased output from members made up for persisting losses in Nigeria and Libya, according to a Bloomberg survey.

Driverless bus debuts in France

Navya in France debut

The world's first driverless buses will take to roads in France this weekend. The buses will drive around the centre of Lyon at 12mph in year-long experiment starting on Saturday. They can carry up to 15 people between five stops on a 10-minute route.

N2 billion recovered, Detainees suffer lifestyle withdrawal - Magu

Ibrahim Magu

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, yesterday explained that suspects of­ten fall sick in the agency’s detention cells.

Magu, who argued that the EFCC’s cells were well-equipped, said that it was the larger than life style of the suspects that makes them to take ill once they are held.

He disclosed that the

Boko Haram Leader, Shekau, is dead

 Major General Lucky Irabor,

The Commander,  Major General Lucky Irabor, of Operation Lafiya Dole, the military wing dealing with the Boko Haram insugency has said that the leader of the group, Abubakar Shekau, is dead. 

Speaking during a tour of Adamawa state on Thursday, September 1, Major General Irabor insisted that Shekau is dead according to the Vanguard reporter on hand. He said that the individual originally identified as Shekau has indeed been killed.