By Rahul Baitha In today’s digital age, where instant gratification is the norm, website performance plays a critical role in delivering a positive user experience. Visitors expect websites to load quickly and respond seamlessly to their interactions. If your website lags or stumbles, you risk losing valuable traffic and potential customers. As a web designer or business owner, optimizing your website’s performance should be a top priority. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore essential tips and techniques to boost your website’s speed and efficiency. Understanding Website Performance Before diving into optimization strategies, it’s essential to grasp the fundamentals of website

By Adedapo Adesanya The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a suspect wanted for attempts to ship illicit drug consignments to the United Kingdom. This was made known in a statement signed by the NDLEA spokesman, Mr Femi Babafemi, on Sunday. He further disclosed arrests made by NDLEA operatives through interdiction operations that led to the seizure of four tons of illicit substances in the past week. According to the agency, the suspect, Mr Obiorah Chigozie, had been on its wanted list since September 15. This, he said, was when a consignment of 1.500kg skunk concealed in flour

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The management of BUA Cement Plc has announced a reduction in the prices of its cement from its factory without the transportation costs to N3,500 per bag (50kg). The cement maker confirmed this development in a statement issued on Sunday, noting that it was part of efforts to make sure customers get the products at cheaper prices. In the statement, BUA Cement disclosed that the slash in cement prices is from Monday, October 2, 2023, urging its distributors not to fleet the end users. The firm said, “All pending, undelivered orders which had been paid for at

By Adedapo Adesanya The federal government through the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has opened applications for a tech startup accelerator fellowship program to empower Nigerians with innovative ideas. The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Mr Bosun Tijani, said the preparations for the training commenced in August with a meeting of stakeholders in tech to co-create innovative ways to achieve the target. He added that the meeting was the first in a series of ecosystem engagements to ensure that the government gets the best solutions from within. The new initiative from the NITDA is part of the

By Adedapo Adesanya The President of Nigeria, Mr Bola Tinubu, has promised relief amid reforms that have increased hardships among Nigerians in his first Independence Day broadcast on Sunday. Nigeria is marking her 63rd Independence anniversary. Speaking during a brief broadcast, President Tinubu said his reforms, including fuel subsidy removal and unification of exchange rates, have come with some effects, which he admitted were painful but are needed. He announced that small businesses would get much support while an additional N25,000 would be given to low-income earners for six months to cushion the hardship. Mr also promised housecleaning at the

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The salaries of employees of Mediacraft Associates Limited, a leading Nigerian full-service Public Relations and Integrated Brand Communications Consultancy firm, have been increased by 15 and 25 per cent. This was confirmed by a statement from the organisation as it celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. It was disclosed that the gesture was to reward the efforts of the workers toward the growth of the company and to cushion the current hardships in the country due to the removal of petroleum subsidy. According to the chief executive of Mediacraft Associates, Mr John Ehiguese, the salary increase had

By Mark Redguard Walk down the streets of any major city around the world and take a look at all the people you pass along the way. Chances are you’ll see more people wearing earphones and headphones, in all of their shapes and sizes, than not. Most of those people, whether they’re consuming music or podcasts, will be listening through an audio streaming platform. In fact, Spotify’s 500 million-plus users spent more than 132 billion hours streaming audio on the platform in 2022.  And that’s just Spotify. Factor in other platforms, including the likes of Mdundo and Audiomack, and the

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.38 per cent on Friday, September 30, with N4.16 billion added to the value of the bourse, closing at N1.105 trillion compared with Thursday’s value of N1.101 trillion. The market witnessed the improvement a day after the shares of VFD Group were yanked off the trading platform, with the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) closing higher by 3.06 points to settle at 815.65 basis points versus the previous day’s 812.59 basis points. There were three gainers led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which improved by N1.31 to close at

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar in the Investors and Exporters (I&E), the Peer-to-Peer (P2P), and the black market arms of the foreign exchange (forex) market on Friday, September 29, as a turbulent third quarter ended. In the official segment, the local currency improved its value against the greenback by 2.6 per cent or N20.04 to close at N755.27/$1, in contrast to the preceding day’s N775.31/$1 amid a drop in the supply of FX into the system by 11.6 per cent or $16.73 million to $127.82 million from the $144.55 million published on Thursday. In the

By Adedapo Adesanya The prices of Brent futures and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures went down by about 1 per cent on Friday, due to macroeconomic concerns and sustained profit-taking. Data showed that Brent fell by 7 cents to $95.31 per barrel and WTI depreciated by 92 cents to $90.97. Prices rose about 30 per cent in the third quarter of the year helped by the production cuts by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+). This action squeezed global crude supply. Brent was about 2.2 per cent in the week and 27 per cent