Victory Gbakara, Precious Mac Give Thumbs-up to Bigi

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By Modupe Gbadeyanka Eight nightclubs and event centres within Ikeja and Victoria Island have been sealed by the Lagos State government over safety violations. A statement by the Lagos State Safety Commission disclosed that the affected facilities were shut down to ensure the safety of lives and properties in the metropolis. A few facilities accused of contravening the state’s safety laws were Hot Box Night Club, Shades Night Club, Buzzbar, and CCX Lounge. The Director General of the agency, Mr Lanre Mojola, said the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has zero tolerance for violation of safety laws and will continually

By Aduragbemi Omiyale A veteran Nollywood actress, Cynthia Okereke, has been reported dead by one of her colleagues, Joseph Okechukwu. The thespian, who was kidnapped some months ago along with another actor, Clemson Cornel, reportedly breathed her last night. “Rest in peace, Nwanyi oma. I’m shattered beyond words. The fact that I was about to pay for your flight ticket to come to finish what we started only to hear you went to be with Lord just last night is one of the toughest things I’ve ever had to deal with in recent times. “I pray I’m able to recover

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 Dipo Olowookere About 50,000 jobs have been created in the country following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the supply of phosphate between the Nigerian and the Moroccan government. Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Kacalla Baru disclosed this on Thursday while receiving the National Coordinator of The New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD-Nigeria), Princess Gloria Akobundu, at the NNPC Towers. Dr Baru who noted that the MoU between the two countries was for the supply of phosphate to rejuvenate agriculture by making fertilizer available and affordable, confirmed that the

By Dipo Olowookere Operations at Emzor Pharmaceuticals Industry Limited and two other big pharmaceutical companies in Nigeria have been shut down by the management of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). The two other pharmaceutical firms closed down by NAFDAC are Peace Standard Pharmaceutical Limited and Bioraj Pharmaceutical Limited. This action by the regulatory agency followed the documentary released by BBC, highlighting the abuse of codeine cough syrups in the country by some youths with top pharmaceutical companies having hands in this scandal. Confirming the closure of the three firms, Director-General of NAFDAC, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye,

By Kester Kenn Klomegah Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has reaffirmed Russia’s strategic interest to make coordinated efforts aimed at building a logistics hub along the coastline of the Republic of Eritrea during diplomatic talks attended by Foreign Minister of the State of Eritrea Osman Saleh who, on April 27, paid a working visit to Moscow. Ahead of the diplomatic talks, there was the speculation that Russia would use Eritrea but voted against the United Nations resolution on March 2. In late February, Russia started “special military operations” directed at demilitarizing and denazifying in the post-Soviet republic of Ukraine. After the

By Modupe Gbadeyanka South Africa has slumped into recession, almost a year after its rival, Nigeria, dropped into a similar situation, which it is still battling to recover from. Nigeria lost its position as the biggest economy in Africa to South Africa after it went into recession last year. Lately, the former Apartheid nation has been struggling with its economy and this led to it being downgraded by both Fitch and Standard & Poor’s. The economy began to shake especially after President Jacob Zuma fired his Minister of Finance, Mr Pravin Gordhan, who is believed to be a key driver

By Dipo Olowookere Yield on the one-month treasury bills at the secondary market settled at 9.95 percent on Thursday after depreciating by 0.79 percent. Business Post reports that the 30-day debt instrument has lost 4.96 percent already this year. It was the only bill that suffered a yield decline yesterday. The 90-day paper appreciated by 0.11 percent on Thursday to close at 11.07 percent, the 180-day instrument gained 0.13 percent to finish at 13.92 percent, the 270-day increased by 0.24 percent to end at 14.54 percent, while the 364-day bill rose by 0.01 percent to also settle at 14.54 percent.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, has disclosed that federal government spends heavily just to feed detained leader of Shiite Muslims in Nigeria, Mr Ibrahim El-Zakzaky. In a video circulating on social media, the former spokesman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) said not less than N3.5 million is used to feed Mr El-Zakzaky. An analysis by Business Post indicated that the Nigerian government must be feeding the Shiite leader with food worth N112,903 per day. Mr El-Zakzaky has been in the custody of the Department of State Service (DSS) for over two years

By Modupe Gbadeyanka National Economic Council (NEC) has aborted the onerous cash call regime for the oil and gas industry in Nigeria. It has now approved an alternative system of funding for the industry. This decision was reached at the NEC meeting presided over by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, on Thursday in Abuja. Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr Ibe Kachikwu, who briefed State House Correspondents after the meeting, explained that the new approved funding regime will eliminate the often arduous and onerous cash call regime, which has stalled growth in the industry. According to him, “The current

By Adedapo Adesanya Despite recent developments and worries, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has announced the commencement of marginal fields bid rounds for 2020. The commencement of the 2020 oil bid round is coming 18 years after the first one was conducted in 2002. The flag-off of the 2020 marginal bid round is coming amidst the country’s poor financial situation which has made the implementation of the 2020 budget difficult due to the global pandemic which has led to revenue cuts. In an announcement made on Monday, the DPR stated that the bid round exercise is open to indigenous