The Senate has announced the release of 69 standing committees’ chairmen and their deputies.
President of the Senate Ahmad Lawan made the announcement at the plenary on Tuesday.
Sen. Jubril Barau (APC-Kano) is the Chairman, Appropriation Committee, Sen. Adeola Olamilekan (APC-Lagos); Finance Committee and Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele (APC-Ekiti); Judiciary Committee.
Details shortly…
A group under the auspices of Social Integrity Network, (SIN) has staged a peaceful protest in Kaduna, asking the Federal Government to urgently probe the Standard Organization of Nigeria, (SON) and Nigeria Customs Service over influx of smuggled and substandard goods into Nigeria.
The group which is advocating for indigenous manufacturing of steel products, said, SON should give detail accounts of how substandard roofing sheets are find their ways into the Nigerian markets despite the MANCAP and SONCAP fees imposed on importers and exporters.
It also called for investigation into the reasons behind cancellation of Customs’ Pre-shipment inspection of imported goods, saying that, the action has given room for importation of not only substandard, but dangerous items.
The protesters who carried placards and big banner, with inscriptions like; ‘Say no to illegal importation’, ‘say no to smuggling of substandard goods’, among others asked the Federal Government to safe the souls of local manufacturers.
Spokesman of the protesting group, Mr. Ibrahim Issa, said, “If Nigeria Custom Service and the Standard Organization of Nigeria cannot fish out the Smugglers, the Federal Government of Nigeria should command the Department of State Services, Nigeria Police and the
Presidential Committee on Trade Malpractices should join hands together to deploy the machineries in their arsenals to move into the matter and detect those behind the menace of smuggling in Nigeria.”
According to him, “We are all gathered here today to carry out peaceful demonstration to express our dissatisfaction against irregularities that is affecting our industries in Nigeria. Save our souls, save the souls of the masses, save the efforts of our local manufacturers.
“It is our desire to swiftly respond against the looming crises of economic sabotage which is posing serious threat to the means of livelihood of average Nigerians. It would be recalled that recently, we all woke up to a widely spread news reports by a group under the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, (MAN). i.e Galvanised Iron and Steel Manufacturers Association, (GISMA) with the alert of planning to lay off 20,000 workforces into the labour market.”
The group further stressed that, “The 30 days warning alert was given due to the collapse of some sectors of Nigeria economy precipitated by massive smuggling of substandard products into Nigeria, targeted at collapsing the local manufacturers.
“However, our investigation has revealed that smuggled substandard steel products have flooded every nooks and crannies of Nigeria thereby subjecting local manufacturers to serious economic and social investment misfortune,” he said.
English Premiership League side, Chelsea has banned a supporter for life for hurling racial abuse at players during last season’s Premier League home match against Manchester City, the club said on Tuesday.
City’s Raheem Sterling was a target of abuse from fans near the touch line during the game, in an incident widely covered in the news for highlighting lingering racism among football fans despite years of efforts to stamp it out.
Chelsea had banned four supporters from matches last year pending an investigation into alleged racial abuse.
“One individual has been permanently excluded from Stamford Bridge for the use of racially abusive language and threatening and aggressive behaviour,” Chelsea said in a statement.
Five others were handed suspensions of one to two years for “abusive language and threatening and aggressive behaviour” in City’s 2-0 defeat in December last year.
“Individuals receiving the shorter exclusion did so on the basis that they have provided undertakings about their future behaviour.”
Although the Crown Prosecution Service said they would not be initiating criminal prosecutions, Chelsea decided to ban the supporter.
“The club took into account the denial made by the individual as well as a range of other evidence, including video evidence and evidence from two lip reading experts – both of whom advised that the individual had used words that are racially abusive.”
(Reuters/NAN)
President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday met with elders and leaders of thought from Ogun State.
The meeting started around 3.04pm at the Council Chamber of the State House, Abuja.
Those at the meeting include the Governor Dapo Abiodun, former governors, Olusegun Osoba and Gbenga Daniel.
Also at the meeting are Segun Awolowo, traditional rulers and members of the National Assembly from the state and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha.
The meeting was still in progress at the time of filing this report.
Details shortly...
“The governor called all the ten doctors on call at the Hospital here but none of them answered him. I think they thought that it was an ordinary patient on emergency disturbing them,” a source at the hospital informed.
At the State Specialist Hospital, some few doctors were on duty when he walked into the hospital.
Zulum was said to be visibly dissatisfied with what he saw on ground at the hospitals he visited.
Poised to provide support for a growing community of developers in Benin City, Facebook Developer Circle has been launched at the Edo Innovation Hub, to serve as a rallying point for key actors in the state’s community of developers and strengthen the technology ecosystem.
Head, Edo State Skills Development Agency, Mrs. Ukinebo Dare, in a chat with journalists, said that the Facebook Developer Circles would serve as support system for developers in Benin City and South South geopolitical zone, adding that the growing number of developers in the state need such a platform to better respond to challenges in their immediate environment.
The Facebook Developer Circle is a community-driven program that is free and open to any developer. It is led by members of the local community who act as leads for the circle, organising events offline and managing a local online Facebook community. Developer Circles are forums to share knowledge, collaborate, build new ideas and learn about the latest technologies from Facebook and other industry leaders.
The governor’s aide said that the Benin Facebook Developer Circle provides a platform for developers to connect with other developers, engage with local experts, learn about new technology and build with others.
According to her, “It is a virtual community, but we hope to leverage the growing community of developers in the state to solve some of the problems facing our immediate environment. In the Circle, the developers have access to an exclusive local Facebook Group community where they can also attend meetups. They also learn about Bots, AI, IoT, React and other tools.
The Benin Facebook Developer Circle is to be coordinated at the Edo Innovation Hub through Edo Innovates.
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has suspended its 12 day- old strike in Cross River.
The suspension of the strike was contained in a communiqué at the end of the Annual General Meeting of the Association held on Tuesday in Calabar.
The Association in the state had embarked on an indefinite strike following the kidnap of their member, Dr Marcus Inyama on July 18 in Akpabuyo local government area of the state.
The communiqué stated that NMA resolved to suspend the strike following the release of Inyama on July 26.
“Arising from the meeting and taking into serious cognisance the health care needs of the people of Cross River, NMA in Cross River has suspended the notice of total and indefinite strike across the state.
“Accordingly, members across the state have been instructed to resume work immediately.
“The Association will without fail keep to her Jan. 8, 2018 resolution in the event of the kidnap of a doctor or their dependents.
“The resolution states that NMA will henceforth withdraw all medical services without any notice anytime a doctor or dependents are taken captive in future,” the communiqué stated.
The Association implores the state government and security agencies to do more to safeguard lives and property in the state.
“NMA is appealing to the legislature and Gov. Ben Ayade of the state to expedite passage and assent respectively to the state anti-kidnapping bill.”
The association, however, thanked security agencies in the state, the state governor, legislature and members of the press for their efforts and commitment to the safe release of their colleague.
(NAN)
Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson has appointed a Nigerian Olukemi Olufunto Badenoch as Children and Families Minister as part of his government reshuffle.
Badenoch is a British Conservative politician and Member of Parliament (MP) for Saffron Walden.
39-year old Adegoke was born in Wimbledon, London to parents of Nigerian origin.
Her childhood was spent in Lagos, Nigeria and the United States.
She moved to the United Kingdom at the age of sixteen
She once told MPs in Parliament about her own experiences of poverty and how she used to do her homework by candlelight.
A software and IT engineer, Badenoch studied systems engineering at Sussex University and also has a law degree. She has worked in the banking sector for Coutts and RBS and is a mother of two.
Tweeting about her appointment, Badenoch @KemiBadenoch posted on 29 July:
“I’m humbled to have been appointed a junior minister at the DfE. A huge privilege to be able to serve and make a positive difference on a number of issues close to my heart. I look forward to working with the ministerial team and everyone at @educationgovuk …(1/3)”
“Thank you for all good wishes and kind messages of support received. I also look forward to working not just with @Conservatives colleagues but cross-party and grateful for the warm welcome from @TracyBrabin and @SteveReedMP who no doubt will be keeping me on my toes! (2/3)”
Chairman of the Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit (Taskforce), Mr. Olayinka Egbeyemi disclosed yesterday that 10 members of the criminal cult group, known as ‘Awawa boys’ from Agege are now working in his Agency.
Egbeyemi disclosed this on Tuesday in his remarks at the Agency’s office premises at The Arena, Oshodi when Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu visited all the security and environmental Agencies housed in the large compound.
Egbeyemi said he has reduced the activities of the gang in Agege to the barest minimum after series of raids and arrest of its members.
According to him, after series of raid and arrest of the group members in Agege, “they invited me seeking for amnesty”.
Egbeyemi, who is a Chief Superintendent of Police, said he went to meet them alone dressed in mufti and they pleaded with him that it is joblessness that has pushed them into criminal activities and that if the government can secure employment for them they will be happy.
He told the governor that, “they are willing to work, what they need is to be gainfully employed and their criminal activities will come to an end”.
The chairman said that apart from Agege Awawa boys are all over the state perpetrating crime of all sorts.
He therefore appealed that the government should create a reformatory home to engaged them as they are willing to work, saying that will be a permanent solution to their criminal activities, adding that they need to be rehabilitated.
Egbeyemi said the operations of the task force is now enormous as it has to tackle cultism, kidnappers, miscreants, hoodlums and even robbers.
Thanking the governor for the visit and for inspecting a guard of honor by the task force operatives, he said the Agency has crushed 7,000 motorcycles so far while about 4,200 others are in the store.
He however told the governor that the Agency needed more operational vehicles including Black Maria to tackle the security menace in Lekki, Victoria Island and Ikoyi.