Ambode Sends Ashade To Ministry of Finance

By Adedapo Adesanya President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of 20 Nigerians to serve as Federal Commissioners in the National Population Commission (NPC). According to a statement signed by Mr Ajuri Ngelale, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, nine current Federal Commissioners were appointed to a second term in office, while the 11 others are serving their first term. The list includes Mr Emmanuel Trump Eke — Abia, Mr Clifford Zirra — Adamawa — Reappointed, Mr Chidi Christopher Ezeoke — Anambra — Reappointed, Mr Isa Audu Buratai — Borno — Reappointed, Mr Alex Ukam —

By Adedapo Adesanya The Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Mr Bosun Tijani, has disclosed that so far, about 550,000 applicants have indicated interest in the first phase of the government’s plan to train three million tech talents in Nigeria within two weeks of initiating the scheme. The Minister recently revealed that the training would be done in three phases, starting with the training of 30,000 persons in the next three months as dictated by the 1-10-100 model. “We are using a 1-10-100-model. We are starting with 1 per cent of our 3 million target, and that will be

By Modupe Gbadeyanka From January 1, 2024, Mr Stephen Onaivi will take charge of mediaReach OMD Nigeria as the new Managing Director following the approval of his appointment by the board of the organisation. He was chosen for the position after working as the MD of OMD Ghana, where he contributed to developing a multi-disciplinary, forward-looking media and advertising industry and serviced an array of national, multinational, and regional clients. In his new role, Mr Onaivi will drive the OMD brand across West and Central Africa to enhance client value and ensure the seamless integration of OMD values, technology, and

By Precious Olisa The federal government has threatened to stop paying salaries of unidentified workers on its payroll, saying it was determined the loopholes in the civil service. The Head of Civil Service, Mrs Folashade Yemi Esan, confirmed this development, noting that it was to tackle the prevalence of ghost workers on the government’s payroll. She said the unverified employees of the government would be fished out with the implementation of the Human Resources (HR) software designed to capture accurate data of workers. According to her, the software will be implemented by the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPS) in

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Governor of Lagos State, Mr Banajide Sanwo-Olu has said his administration may decide to fully reopen the economy in the next two or three weeks. However, he stressed that this would only be possible if the state government is satisfied with the level of compliance with the guidelines already put in place to contain the spread of coronavirus in the metropolis. A few weeks ago, the government eased the lockdown in the state and put in place some rules, including the use of face masks in public places and social distancing. Addressing the state on Sunday, Mr

By Dipo Olowookere In the coming weeks, Dangote Cement Plc will commission its factory in Okpella, Edo State, the company has confirmed. Recall that earlier, Dangote Cement had said work was underway to increase its total cement production capacity in Nigeria by 4.5Mt/year before September 2021. In a press statement issued at the weekend, the cement maker said when the new Okpella plant comes on stream, it would make the product readily available to consumers. Ahead of this, the firm has acquired more trucks to aid the distribution of cement and fertilisers across the country. “The newly acquired trucks are

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira further depreciated by 0.2 per cent or 83 kobo on Wednesday, April 27 against the United States Dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window of the foreign exchange (forex) market to close at N419.33/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N418.50/$1. The usual shortage in the supply of FX to the market contributed to the decline of the local currency against its American counterpart yesterday as traders continue to ration the hard currency to the frustration of their customers, who have to go elsewhere, including the black market to source Dollar for their

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed the 18th week of trading in the bullish territory last week as it grew by 1.13 per cent in three days. The market index closed higher by 9.25 points to 702.64 points from 693.39 points, while the market capitalisation increased by N12.15 million to N923.88 billion from N911.73 billion. Business Post reports that the outcome at the market occurred on the back of positive movement in the prices of FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc and Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc. Friesland gained 16.8 per cent to sell for N110.00

By Adedapo Adesanya The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has disclosed that 29 per cent of Nigerian children do not have access to clean water. In a statement marking World Water Day, UNICEF also said more than 1.42 billion people, including 450 million children, are living in areas of high or extremely high water vulnerability in the world. Speaking on the issue as relating to Africa’s most populous nation, the UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, Mr Peter Hawkins, stated, “The world’s water crisis is not coming – it is here, and children are its biggest victim. ‘When wells dry up, children

By Dipo Olowookere Activities of bargain hunters lifted the nation’s equity market on Tuesday by 0.30 percent as investors used the opportunity of stocks trading at low prices to increase their holdings. The stock market closed in the positive for the first time in four trading sessions yesterday as a result of buying pressure on some blue-chip stocks. At the close of transactions, the gains boasted the All-Share Index (ASI) by 72.03 points to 24,098.08 points from 24,026.05 points. It equally inflated the market capitalisation by N38 billion to N12.571 trillion from N12.533 trillion. Data from the Nigerian Stock Exchange

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, has revealed that the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) will soon commence. Speaking with newsmen in Washington DC on the outcome of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank annual meetings, Mrs Adeosun said an agreement on the DBN has already been concluded. She disclosed further that the new bank, which would bridge the gap between the Bank of Industry (BoI) and other commercial banks in Nigeria, will kick off operations with a total of $1.3 billion provided by the World Bank. The Minister also explained that DBN would serve as a

By Adedapo Adesanya The Rice Millers Association of Nigeria (RIMAN) has called on the federal government to subsidise rice millers in the country because of the return of smuggling due to the reopening of some land borders and the commencement of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) trade agreement. The National Chairman of RIMAN, Mr Peter Dama, in a statement over the weekend, disclosed that millions of tons of smuggled rice are being offloaded at the reopened borders on daily basis without any interruption or checks by customs and the security agencies for onward transportation into Nigerian markets. According