May & Baker Seeks Approval for N2.45b Rights Issue

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Lagos State House of Assembly has called for the immediate arrest of a doctor who performed surgery on a boy, Adebola Akin-Bright, whose intestines went missing in the process of going under the knife. At the plenary on Tuesday, the parliament urged the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to provide funds for the treatment of the boy outside the country. It was alleged that the 12-year-old Adebola underwent surgery at a private hospital, Obitoks Medical Centre, in the Alimosho area of the state. He is currently at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) receiving

By Adedapo Adesanya One of the largest private tertiary healthcare organisations in West Africa, Iwosan Lagoon Hospital, has launched a new state-of-the-art medical facility in Victoria Island, Lagos as part of its bid to reduce medical tourism in the country. The multi-speciality hospital, founded in 1986, has a team of world-class healthcare experts and advanced technology-driven medical equipment, including a Catheterization Laboratory (Cath Lab) and a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan. The 27-bed facility offers a wide range of primary, secondary, and tertiary healthcare services and is positioned to be the Centre of Excellence for Advanced Cardiology & Cardiac Surgeries.

By Adedapo Adesanya Scientists Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries enabling the development of COVID-19 vaccines, the award-giving body said on Monday. The prize, among the most prestigious in the scientific world, is selected by the Nobel Assembly of Sweden’s Karolinska Institute Medical University and also comes with 11 million Swedish crowns (about $1 million). “The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19,” the

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The medical practitioner who performed surgery on the late 12-year-old Adebola Akin-Bright at the Obitoks Hospital in the Alimosho area of Lagos State, Dr Abayomi Baiyewu, has been described as a quack surgeon. The Chairman of the Lagos State House of Assembly ad-hoc committee with the mandate to investigate the circumstances that led to the disappearance of Adebola’s small intestine, Mr Noheem Adams, said the doctor was not qualified to carry out the exercise. Adebola died on Tuesday at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, where he was receiving treatment after he underwent surgery two

By Sodeinde Temidayo David The African Union’s health watchdog, the African Centre for Disease Control (CDC), Thursday warned that the United Kingdom’s pandemic travel restrictions could make people across the continent more reluctant to get vaccinated. The UK had recently dropped a bombshell that people vaccinated in a few countries are only recognised. Under the restrictions, for most of the world and all of Africa, Britain won’t recognize locally-administered vaccines, even if the jabs came from Britain. “If you send us vaccines and you say, ‘we don’t recognize those vaccines’, it sends a very challenging message for us,” said Mr

By Adedapo Adesanya A credit rating agency, Agusto & Co, has forecast a surge in remittance inflows into Nigeria in the medium term as the payments from the diaspora have played an increasingly essential role in the country’s economic growth and development. Nigeria was the second-highest recipient in Africa, with $20.1 billion in diaspora remittances in 2021, trailing only Egypt ($28.3 billion). Although Egypt and Nigeria received over half of all remittances to Africa, the rise in inflows into Egypt remained robust, at double digits (16 per cent), while growth in Nigeria slowed to 3 per cent. In a note

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The N3.52 billion commercial paper issued to capital market investors by DLM Capital Group a few months ago has been redeemed. The funds, sourced by the organisation from various investors, including Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), asset managers, insurance companies and banks, were repaid after the commercial paper sold in three series matured recently. DLM Capital approached the Nigerian capital market earlier in 2022 to get funds for its business operations, and due to the confidence investors had in the company, they bought the notes. The firm had issued N1.24 billion Series 1, N1.01 billion Series 2 and

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil posted the biggest weekly gain since July on Friday after the U.S. and China agreed to hold trade talks in October. According to MarketWatch on Friday, the fall in rig count, along with a government report issued a day earlier also showing a third week of falling domestic crude supplies, helped calm trade war-related worries about energy demand. As at the time of report, Brent Crude oil was trading above $60 per barrel at $61.54 following a 0.97 percent increase equivalent to almost $1. For the U.S oil, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude, it gained

By Ebitonye Akpodigha Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, has assured of the Federal Government’s readiness to launch the Digital Switch Over (DSO) in broadcasting in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, by the end of 2016. The Minister gave the assurance in Abuja on Tuesday after a guided facility tour of Pinnacle Communication Limited – the licenced signal distributor of the DSO in the FCT and Trefonics, a licenced manufacturer of Set Top Boxes. He said it is imperative to ascertain the level of preparation of all the stakeholders in order to ensure a successful roll-out in

By Modupe Gbadeyanka This piece of news will definitely excite some Nigerians, who have not been able to recharge their GSM lines due to the present economic harsh in Nigeria. OneCard Nigeria has introduced N20 and N50 recharge cards into the market. The reason for this, it was learnt, is to allow very low income earners in the country have the opportunity to recharge their phones without having to dig deep into their pockets. Already, some people who have used OneCard Nigeria are glad for the initiative at this moment. The excitement even gets better as the new recharge cards

By Adedapo Adesanya The African Banker Awards 2023 Gala Ceremony, the most prestigious event in the African banking calendar, took place last night at the Rixos Hotel in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, on the sidelines of the African Development Bank Annual Meetings and saw African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) winning two awards. The ceremony was attended by over 300 of the continent’s leading bankers, regulators, and policymakers. Now in its 17th edition, the African Banker Awards celebrate the achievements of individuals and institutions that have contributed significantly to the growth and development of Africa’s banking sector over the past year. The