Nigerian Breweries Sponsors 3rd Lagos International Poetry Festival

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Premium users of Spotify in Nigeria will now begin to enjoy the AI-guide DJ feature on the popular streaming platform. DJ is a personalized AI guide that knows users’ music tastes so well that it can choose what to play for. This feature, first rolling out in beta, will deliver a curated line-up of music alongside commentary around the tracks and artists the users will like in a stunningly realistic voice. Spotify stated in a statement that it enabled this feature for its users because “personalization is at the heart of what we do at Spotify.” “The

By Modupe Gbadeyanka To immortalise iconic figures in the Nigerian movie industry fondly called Nollywood, a US-based entertainment outfit, Nollytainment Incorporated, is creating an NFT Collection through Nollywood Superstars NFT Collection. A statement from the organisation said three superstars in the industry have been pencilled down for this and they are Kate Henshaw, Richard Mofe Damijo (RMD), and Odulade Adekola. It was disclosed that the NFT Collection would be unveiled on Sunday, October 1, 2023, a day set aside to celebrate Nigeria’s independence. On that day, 1,000 of these exquisite Nollywood super digital NFTs will be distributed for free to

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Winner of Nigerian Idol Season 8 Winner, Victory Gbakara, and the runner-up, Precious Mac, were recently at the Lagos office of Bigi, one of the sponsors of the music talent show, which brought them to limelight. During the visit, the duo expressed gratitude to Bigi, a brand from the stables of Rite Foods, commending them also for quenching the thirsts of their consumers. “I have experienced them and tasted most of their products and they are 100 per cent,” Precious Mac said. On July 16, 2023, Victory Gbakara defeated Precious Mac to become the Season 8 winner

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The 16th edition of the prestigious Headies Awards, scheduled to take place on September 3, 2023, at Cobb Energy Performing Art Centre, Atlanta, USA, has received a significant boost with the decision of a leading telecommunications service provider, Airtel Nigeria, to sponsor the programme. “In line with Airtel’s brand values of innovation and excellence, the partnership with The Headies is a natural fit for us, as we are always delighted and do not rest on our commitment to supporting and nurturing the Nigerian creative industry and providing a platform for talent discovery,” the Chief Commercial Officer of

By Adedapo Adesanya   The Association of Pension Desk Practitioners of Nigeria (ASSOPEP) has appealed to federal and state governments to pay over N400 billion owed to pensioners under the Contributory Pensions Scheme (CPS). The pension practitioners made the call at the end of its 6th annual pensions conference held in Abuja over the weekend. Speaking at the event, Mr Chris Egbu, Registrar of ASSOPEP, said that the payment would ensure full implementation of the Pension Reform Act 2014. According to Mr Egbu, the association frowns at states’ and Federal Capital Territory’s partial compliance with the Act. He noted that

By Adedapo Adesanya The federal government is targeting a reduction in the importation of medicated drugs into the country from 60 per cent to 40 per cent as part of efforts to promote local production. The Special Adviser to the President on Health, Mra Salma Anas-Ibrahim, made this disclosure at a workshop organised to strengthen the World Health Organisation (WHO) Nigeria country cooperation strategy in Abuja. According to Mrs Anas-Ibrahim, this is part of President Bola Tinubu’s priority agenda to bridge the gap in the country’s health sector. Other priority areas include increasing and improving access to equal health care

By Adedapo Adesanya The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) says discussions are ongoing to assist Nigeria’s economy with proceeds from the $4 billion Ukraine Crisis Adjustment Trade Financing Programme for Africa (UKAFPA). According to the President of the Cairo-based lender, Mr Benedict Oramah, the move would help mitigate the impact of the food and fuel crises in Nigeria. Speaking at a virtual news conference on the $4 billion UKAFPA, which was launched on April 6, 2022, he said it is a programme of credit facilities that the bank had developed to manage the impacts of the Ukraine crisis on African economies

By Dipo Olowookere Officials of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) have been accused of subjecting Igbo travellers to hardship by seizing rice meant for household consumption at its numerous checkpoints in the region. This allegation was made by former Governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi, at the end-of-the-year meeting of Diamond Brothers Club held yesterday at Oriental Hotel, Lagos. Mr Obi noted that some people visited him at his Onitsha home to complain about the hardship on people because of countless Customs checkpoints on roads, especially in the South-East. He stated that to have first-hand information about the complaint,

By Adeniyi Ogunfowoke A car is just like our body. We do not really care about it until we have a headache or something happens. That is when we remember the doctor or hospital. This is not supposed to be the case but many of us do it. Perhaps we are scared of hospitals. It is the same with our cars. Some people just jump in their cars without checking or doing anything and zoom off. This is very risky. It is better to take precautions before you start your car so as to avoid stories that touch. Accordingly, we share the things you must

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Customers of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc have been commended for their continued patronage especially during the challenging COVID-19 period. The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the nation’s capital market infrastructure, Mr Haruna Jalo-Waziri, in a message to celebrate the 2021 Customer Service Week, emphasized that the desire and need to better serve the customers is the source of ingenuity and resilience of CSCS. “We are excited about the opportunities to serve you for decades to come, especially as we leverage our strong foundation and mutual trust in creating a new service experience for

By Dipo Olowookere The bond market in Nigeria was bearish on Thursday as investors embarked on selloff, leaving the average yields closing at 15.13 percent, the highest in more than eight months. It was observed that at the market yesterday, investors became increasingly cautious following developments in the treasury bills market. The rates at the T-bills market are increasingly becoming very attractive to market players, who are now entering the space to quickly make profit before the rates start receding. At the bond market yesterday, there were selloffs on the 2-year bond, though there was still slight interest around the

EMURGO Africa, in strategic partnership with PwC, today unveiled the “State of Web3.0 in Africa” report, a forward looking publication that provides an expansive and insightful analysis of the emergent influence of blockchain and Web3.0 technologies within Africa and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Unearthing compelling statistics, the report casts a spotlight on the pivotal rise of blockchain investment within Africa. Blockchain funding soared by a stunning 1,668% in 2022 compared to the preceding year, accumulating a total of USD 91 million in countries like Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria. This heralds Africa’s burgeoning presence within the