FG Ratifies Six Maritime Conventions, Protocols

By Aduragbemi Omiyale An artificial intelligence-powered feature, Dream Screen for Shorts, designed to redefine how creators use YouTube, has been unveiled by the video streaming platform. The feature was introduced by the tech giant on Thursday alongside others at the Made On YouTube event. It was created to allow YouTube creators to reach more viewers. According to the firm, Dream Screen allows creators to add AI-generated video or image backgrounds to their Shorts simply by typing an idea into a prompt. With Dream Screen, creators will be able to generate new, fantastic settings for their Shorts that are only limited

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The Vice President, Mr Kashim Shettima, has charged the National Assembly to continue to cooperate with the executive arm of government, noting that governance is a collective responsibility and not a personal endeavour. He said this at the retreat for the leadership of the 10th National Assembly last Friday at the Four Points by Sheraton, Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State. Mr Shettima said the administration of President Ahmed Tinubu was committed to safeguarding Nigeria’s democracy and maintaining the fraternal bond between the two arms of government. He described the composition of the federal government as well as

By Bliss Okperan The Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has announced the immediate closure of the popular spare parts market, Ladipo Market, over an “unhygienic environment.” In a statement on Friday, the waste management agency said it shut down the market due to the unwholesome environmental practices by traders who refused to pay for waste services alongside the poor waste management. The Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources in Lagos, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, said the market would remain closed until the mandatory conditions of redress have been met by traders and market stakeholders. “It is imperative that markets in

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 Aduragbemi Omiyale From May 23 to 25, 2022, stakeholders in the West African capital market will gather in Accra, Ghana for the biennial West Africa Capital Market Conference (WACMaC). The participants will consider ways of Deepening and Strengthening the Capital Markets across West Africa Through Effective Regulation at the event organised by the West Africa Securities Regulators Association (WASRA) headed by the Director-General of Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr Lamido Yuguda. According to him, “WACMaC provides a veritable platform for networking as over 300 participants would gather to reflect on issues affecting regional integration and proffer practical

With the growth of industrialisation, globalisation, advances in technology, and rapid communication, it is evident that the world’s energy needs will only increase. In fact, according to statistics, electricity demands alone rising twice as fast as the overall energy use, and by 2040, it is likely to increase even more. The issue surrounding who consumes the most energy depends on the type of energy. Currently, China is leading the world when it comes to electricity consumption, while the United States consumes the most oil. Canada uses an energy mix of hydroelectricity, oil, natural gas, nuclear, among others. And as things

By Dipo Olowookere The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it will go ahead with the Edo State governorship elections despite it being warned by security agencies in the country to shift the exercise. INEC said on Thursday that it has no plan to postpone the gubernatorial poll slated for Saturday, September 10, 2016. The Nigeria Police and Department of State Services (DSS) had suggested to the electoral body to postpone the exercise to a later date because of “security concerns.” The security agencies said they had intelligence reports that terrorists were planning to attack some “vulnerable communities”, including in

By Nkem Ndem There is an actual need for civil servants in Nigeria, who make the majority of the country’s labour force, to travel once in a while for vacation. Whether it is within their local government, interstate, or out of the country (going abroad) traveling offers to them essential benefits that cannot be denied. From unwinding, sightseeing to adventure, a trip or vacation does not just spice the boring office life that most of them have; it takes away the daily hustle-bustle and constant pressures that come with life in Nigeria. Even more, civil servants who tend to travel

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, has commissioned water project (borehole) for people of Sympaya community of Mpape to ease them from contaminated water from a nearby river. Mrs Buhari, who donated the borehole recently in Abuja through her NGO the ‘Future Assured’ programme, expressed hope that the water problem bedevilling the community would be alleviated. Mrs Buhari, through her representative, the former deputy governor of Plateau State, Mrs Pauline Tallen, expressed hope that the borehole would provide portable drinking water to the community, while urging the people of the community to make judicious use of

By Dipo Olowookere The restriction placed on trading of shares of RT Briscoe Plc on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has been removed by the stock market regulator. On July 5, 2018, the NSE suspended trading on shares of RT Briscoe and seven other companies for failing to adhere to best corporate governance and extant post-listing requirements that require quoted companies to submit their periodic financial statements and reports within stipulated timelines. RT Briscoe had failed to submit its full-year audited reports for the 2017 business year and interim reports for the first and second quarters of

By Dipo Olowookere The much-awaited iPhone 7 and 7Plus smartphones from Apple have finally been launched on Wednesday. They are the company’s next generation smartphones with new improvements. The iPhone 7, just like the 7Plus, is water resistant and also with two cameras. It has a similar aluminium look, new pressure-sensitive home button and no headphone socket, a major feature some iPhones users doubted will accompany the new phone. Instead, Apple replaced the 3.5mm headphone jack with a wireless headphone it called AirPods, which will cost $170 and be in the market in October 2016. The phone comes with Apple’s

By Dipo Olowookere The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is expected to sell treasury bills amounting to N49.60 billion on Wednesday via the primary market. The apex bank will auction to traders 91-day bills worth N4.96 billion, 182-day bills worth N24.80 billion and 364-day bills worth N19.84 billion. This exercise is expected to partly offset the maturing treasury bills worth 192.01 billion. According to analysts at Cowry Asset, “We expect their stop rates to rise while also expecting the CBN to aggressively mop up via OMO sales to make yields attractive to portoflio investors and to soak up excess liquidity