The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Botched strike: APC stalwart accuses NLC of fighting workers’ welfare

    Botched strike: APC stalwart accuses NLC of fighting workers’ welfare

    A stalwart of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and a member of the Presidential Campaign Committee Hon. Kikelomo Ikuomola has berated the national leadership of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for failing to initially consider the option of dialogue with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over the removal of the fuel subsidy before insisting on the botched strike action that raised tension nationwide.

    Ikuomola, who spoke in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital declared that NLC’s earlier insistence on strike action, was sheer disrespect to the presidency’s invitation for a dialogue.

    She said the move indicated that the leadership of the labour movement has lost focus in its avowed mission of championing the collective welfare of workers.

    The APC stalwart declared that NLC under its National President, Comrade Joe Ajaero has lost focus as an organized pressure group by its stance against the removal of the fuel subsidy, which has already earned international accolades.

    She demanded the immediate resignation of Ajaero whom she accused of conniving with enemies of progress to commit economic sabotage against the country, declaring that the much- revered labour movement is gradually seeping into a state of irrelevance by its stance against the removal of fuel subsidy.

    Read Also: Why we suspended strike plan, by NLC

    The Abuja-based politician said: “The Tinubu-led administration brings a fresh perspective and approach, and the NLC has the opportunity to collaborate with the government by offering their ideas, insights, focus, and policy direction to collectively move the country forward. This and more should be done by engaging in meaningful discussions and cooperation, in genuine synergy, both parties can work towards the betterment of Nigerians.”

    She urged the collectives of the nation’s labor movement to desist from activities capable of painting the union in a bad light as losing its relevance for the collective welfare of the Nigerian workers.

    She added: “It is important for NLC to learn from these experiences and consistently speak up on issues. Considering the people’s interest, both NLC and President Tinubu share a common goal of working for the people’s welfare, so by recognizing this shared objectives, it becomes essential to embrace dialogue and collaboration, by maintaining a posture of calmness and fostering cooperation”.

    “By working hand-in-hand with the new president and engaging in dialogue, NLC can play a significant role in shaping policies that benefit Nigerian workers, and together, they can build a prospective future for the nation and ensure that the Nigeria masses are well represented and their concerns will be addressed”.

  • Pawpaw celebrates long-standing friendship with Aki

    Pawpaw celebrates long-standing friendship with Aki

    Popular comedy star Osita Iheme has celebrated the long-standing friendship with his colleague and onscreen twin, Chinedu Ikedieze aka Aki.

    The duo took the African movie industries by storm after featuring in their debut film, “Aki na Ukwa” in 2002, which paved the way for them to become household names.

    Read Also: Aki & Pawpaw announce new TV series

    In 2021, a remake of their debut film titled ‘Aki and Paw’ co-produced by Play Network Studios and Film One Entertainment was released in December honouring the comic stars who played a major role in creating beautiful childhood memories for many even till adulthood.

    Posing with his ‘partner in crime’ who sat on a power bike, Pawpaw acknowledged their friendship which has spanned over two decades

    He tweeted: “Coming together is a beginning, staying together is Success and working together is progress. #GodistheGreatest.”

  • Chef Stone set to embark on Culinary adventure across Europe

    Chef Stone set to embark on Culinary adventure across Europe

    The esteemed culinary virtuoso, Mr. Abiola Akanbi (aka Chef Stone)  is embarking on another extraordinary culinary adventure across Europe from June 25th to July 15th, 2023.

    Chef Stone will take food enthusiasts on a captivating culinary tour through six magnificent countries: Italy, Germany, Denmark, France, Spain, and Portugal. This epicurean adventure promises to be an unparalleled celebration of Europe’s rich and diverse culinary traditions.

    Read Also: Sanwo-Olu cheers chef for global prize

    His European culinary tour is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for food lovers to experience the unique flavors, techniques, and cultural influences that define each country’s cuisine. With a relentless passion for creating extraordinary dishes, Chef Stone will immerse himself in the local ingredients, traditions, and techniques of each destination, fusing his expertise with the essence of European cuisine.

    Chef Stone’s European adventure will take him to some of the continent’s most iconic culinary destinations, where he will explore local cuisines, interact with fellow chefs, and share his passion for Culinary Arts.   The tour’s itinerary includes the following states and cities: Milan in Italy, Berlin in Germany, Copenhagen in Denmark, Lisbon in Portugal, Madrid in Spain, and Paris in France.

  • Customs arrests four, seizes rice, goods worth N1b

    Customs arrests four, seizes rice, goods worth N1b

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) yesterday said it arrested four suspects and seized rice and other prohibited goods worth N1billion in one month.

    The arrest and seizures were made by personnel of the Federal Operation Unit (FOU), ZOne ‘A’, Ikeja.

    Acting Controller of the Unit, Hussein Ejibunu, who addressed reporters, said the unit generated N38.4 million in revenue from conscious documentary checks and issuance of demand notices on goods found to have paid lesser amounts than the appropriate customs duty

    He said the Federal High Court, Abeokuta, Ogun State, also sentenced one Musa Oloyede, Godwin David and Adeniyi Alaye, to two years imprisonment each, for assaulting NCS operatives while carrying out their statutory duties.

    According to him, the unit in May, intercepted some smuggled items for contravening various sections of the law as part of its resolve to protect the well-being of citizens.

    Some of the wares, he said, were intercepted for violating the guidelines on importation/ exportation of goods, concealment, undervaluation, wrong classification and smuggling.

    Others, he said, were seized for contravening policy directives as was the case of foreign parboiled rice.

    These items, he added, were intercepted at different times and locations within border corridors of the South-West Zone of the country.

    “Detentions and seizures recorded within the period under review amounted to 79 seizures, with a total duty paid value of N1,025,905,110, are products of surveillance, intelligence gathering and regular patrols.

     “Notable among the seizures are: 6,861 X 50kg bags of foreign parboiled rice (equivalent to 12 trailer loads) 1,236 jerry cans X 25 litres (30,900 litres) of petroleum, 9,857 parcels (5,338 kg) of cannabis sativa, 2 X 20 of unprocessed wood4 units of used vehicles (Tokunbo), 40 X 5 jerry cans of vegetable oil, 54 bales of second hand clothing and four suspects were arrested in connection with some of the intercepted goods.

    Read Also: Customs eyes $200b from trade modernisation project

    “The sum of N38, 355, 362.88 was generated through conscious and thorough documentary checks, followed by the issuance of demand notices on consignments that were found to have paid lesser amounts than the appropriate customs duty. Consequent to the social effect of cannabis sativa on the youths, it becomes very worrisome that a total of 9,857 parcels were seized in a single swoop.

    Crime experts, he said, have found a direct relationship between the intake of this controlled plant and violent crimes.

    “We are conscious of this challenge and will continually cut the supply chain of illicit drugs and other prohibited substances.

    “I want to urge all patriotic Nigerians to promptly share useful information with our operatives that will assist to checkmate the menace of smuggling. Since smuggling is a crime that deals in illegal trade, such as illicit drugs and prohibited weapons, Nigerians should see insecurity and other crimes as products of smuggling.

    The perpetrators, Ejibunu said, should be considered as common enemies of the country that must be jointly fought by all citizens.

    The seized items have been deposited at the Federal Government warehouse in Ikeja.

  • ROAD TO ISTANBUL 2023: Onana predicts Inter will beat Man City

    ROAD TO ISTANBUL 2023: Onana predicts Inter will beat Man City

    Andre Onana underlined that Inter ‘will go to Istanbul to win’ in their Champions League final against Manchester City, suggesting that ‘history always remembers who won’.

    Simone Inzaghi’s side booked their spot in the final of Europe’s premier club competition after securing a 3-0 aggregate win over rivals Milan in the semi-final, whilst their opponents flew to a thrilling 5-1 victory over Real Madrid, setting up an intriguing and important final in Istanbul.

    Inter’s last appearance in the Champions League final came in 2010, when they beat Bayern Munich to lift the trophy and secure the first ever Treble in Italian football history. For Manchester City, they lost the final in 2021 and are now hungry to win their own Treble with a victory in Istanbul, having already secured the Premier League title and the FA Cup.

    Speaking to gathered reporters via TMW, Onana first discussed the upcoming Champions League final.

    “On Saturday we will play an important game against the team that is probably the best in the world, but we are Inter.”

    Read Also: BREAKING: Man City beat Man Utd to win FA Cup

    He was asked if he considered himself to be one of the top five goalkeepers in the world.

    “I don’t feel I’m in the top five in the world, the truth is I don’t look at these things. Today the final against one of the strongest teams in the world is important for me, but we want to show who we are. It will be difficult for us, but also for them.”

    The former Ajax goalkeeper touched on if he expected to be here a year ago.

    “Life is like that, you have good and not so good moments and you have to deal with them. It’s like what we went through at the beginning of the year, we started badly and now we are in the Champions League final.

    “And finals are not played, they are won. Because history always remembers who won and that’s why we will go to Istanbul to win.”

    He commented on his relationship with teammate Samir Handanovic.

    “Very good. He is a legend for this club and to train with him is an honour.”

    Finally, Onana was asked if Inter’s strength was the unity of their squad.

    “Yes, the truth is that it is. We have to suffer together, it won’t be easy, it’s probably the hardest match in five years.”

  • Nottingham retain Awoniyi, Dennis for 2023/24 season

    Nottingham retain Awoniyi, Dennis for 2023/24 season

    After his impressive display in his first season for Nottingham Forest, the management of the Premiership side has confirmed Taiwo Awoniyi among the stars expected to be part of the team’s pre-season tour ahead of the league kick off in August.

    Also listed is Awoniyi’s compatriot – Emmanuel Dennis who has not been impressive with the Steve Cooper side since joining the team from Watford and is considered for surplus by the team.

    Also, Ghana’s Black Stars captain, Andrew Ayew whose contract with the team expired has been released alongside Cafú, Jack Colback, Jesse Lingard, Jordan Smith, and Lyle Taylor.

    In a statement on Nottingham website, Awoniyi will be part of the team when Nottingham face PSV Eindhoven in a pre-season friendly ahead of the 2023/24 campaign.

    Read Also: TAIWO AWONIYI: My goals were result of hard work

    The Super Eagles has been instrumental in Nottingham survival this season netting crucial goals for the team in their battle to remain in the Premiership for next season while Awoniyi’s lone goal against Arsenal sealed their status as a premiership side next season and the Nigerian has been hailed as the second most influential African player in the Premiership behind Egyptian captain Mohamed Salah.

    Awoniyi and his teammates are expected to travel to the Netherlands to face the 24-time Dutch champions on Sunday 30 July, at Philips Stadion.

    PSV finished second behind league winners Feyenoord this season, as well as reaching the play-off round of the Europa League knockout phase.

  • Problems most artist managers face, by Worldwide Plug

    Problems most artist managers face, by Worldwide Plug

    Artist manager and show promoter, Uchenna Fidelis Nwogu aka Worldwide Plug has highlighted one of the mistakes Nigerian music artist managers make in their career.

    Worldwide Plug, who was the former manager of popular musicians Terry G and Magnito, said: “The only problem I have noticed about today’s artiste managers is that they do not have a choice or are unable to make decisions by themselves, you have to be in charge if you call yourself a manager. This I would say helped me over the years in my career as a manager.”

    Read Also: DJs deserve respect from artistes, says DJ Brightstar
    Nwogu, who hails from Imo state, is also a show promoter and has been on several country tours with top artists in the industry including Tekno, Skales, Orezi, Sean Dampte among others; he joined the entertainment industry 13 years ago and over the years maintained cordial relationships with so many artists and their managers.
    Sharing a word of advice to current and upcoming artist managers, he said “Never give up on your dreams, it might not be rosy in the beginning but trust me if you believe and do a lot of research as an artiste manager you will make it.”
    Nwogu,who is currently on a country music tour with Sean Dampte, is a Petrochemical engineering graduate from the University of Benin and a family of six.

  • Iyabo Ojo to Lagos govt: I won’t pay N18m tax arrears

    Iyabo Ojo to Lagos govt: I won’t pay N18m tax arrears

    Popular actress Iyabo Ojo has responded to the Lagos Government on the tax levy she got from the State Internal Revenue Service

    The Nation reports that Ojo was given seven- day ultimatum to pay up.

    LIRS had requested the Yoruba actress to pay N18,640,092.00 as personal income tax within seven days or face consequences of defaulting.

    According to the Lagos government, Ojo has a tax liability of N7,376,000.00 for the year 2022 and an outstanding liability of N11,264,092 for the 2021 income year.

    But Ojo fumed that she is not ready to pay.

    Sharing the pictures of the personal income tax signed on the letterhead of the LIRS on her verified Instagram handle, Ojo said she will not pay and is ready to be arrested.

    She wrote, “Jidesanwoolu @lagosstategovt, please, how do you people come up with these outrageous personal income taxes you send on a daily basis?

    Read Also: Lagos gives actress Iyabo Ojo seven days to settle tax arrears

    “After paying different types of taxes for one’s businesses, house & all…. you still come up with all this huge amount and give me 7 days to pay up, lol.”

    Ojo narrated how she went to the office of the LIRS to explain all she earns as a businesswoman which she did only for her to get the outrageous levy from the state government.

    “Make i go theif ni? I ask again, “How do you (sic) people come up with such outrageous bills,” she queried.

    “I don’t know how much you think I get paid. Hence, your team will come up with this conclusion.”

    She further questioned what the government has done to improve her life, adding, “I have single-handedly raised my kids and so many others, plus myself without a single help from the government. Yet you feel so entitled to reap over 100 per cent from where you did not sow.”

    “Nothing is working right in this country, but yet you feel the need to take from where you have not sown.”

    Ojo added that the government is free to come arrest, jail her and also close down her business because she is not ready to pay the levy.

  • NIMC captures over 100m NINs

    NIMC captures over 100m NINs

    The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) said enrolment figures for National Identity Numbers (NINs) have crossed the 100million mark.

    According to figures obtained from the Commission yesterday, as at May 27, this year, the figures stand at 100, 021, 186 unique records.

    As usual, the highest cumulative enrolment figure of over 10.9 million was recorded in Lagos State.

    Regional figures indicated an almost equal distribution across the North and South.

    According to NIMC, male had a total 56,745,090 enrolments representing 56.7 per cent while female had 43,276,096 representing 43.3 per cent of the total figure.

    Read Also: NIMC disowns fake enrolment centre in Niger Republic

    Giving a further breakdown of the figure on the strength of what it described as top 10 states for NIN enrolment, the Commission in Lagos had 4,963,312 and 5,960,907 female female and male enrollment while Kano posted 3,775,985 and 5,065,178 female and male enrolments.

    It was followed by Ogun, which had 2,012,224 and 2,180,058 female and male NIN enrolment while Oyo captured 1,859,132 and 2,028,822 female and male figures.

    Kaduna had 1,396,364 and 2,039,304; Abuja had 1,417,976 and 1,991,712; and Rivers posted 1,344,708 and 1,651,466 female and male enrolment.

    Others are Bauchi-960,485 and 1,730,933; Delta-1,244,566 and 1,412,304 female and male enrolment respectively.

    NIMC also identified the bottom 10 states to include Akwa Ibom, Kogi, Imo, Enugu and Yobe states.

    Others are Taraba, Cross River,  Ekiti, Ebonyi and Bayelsa states.

  • Tinubu will surmount Nigeria’s security challenges, says Okiro

    Tinubu will surmount Nigeria’s security challenges, says Okiro

    A former Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr. Mike Okiro, has assured Nigerians that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will surmount banditry, kidnapping and other security challenges confronting the country.

    Okiro said if President Tinubu replicates what he did in Lagos when he was governor, Nigeria will be free from all forms of insecurity in the next three years.

    The former police boss said this while speaking with The Nation yesterday in Abuja.

    He said: “People ask me if President Tinubu will be able to surmount the insecurity in the country. I am always emphatic with my response, which is yes. I shouted yes because as they say in Mathematics, you go from the known to the unknown.

    “With what he did in Lagos, he can do it again. The biggest problem facing Nigeria now is insecurity and the biggest problem Lagos faced when he came as a governor in May 1999 was insecurity. He was able to sanitise Lagos, and I am sure, by the grace of God, as human calculations can permit, he will be able to sanitise Nigeria too.”

    Recalling some of the experiences he had with President Tinubu when he was governor in Lagos, Okiro said: “There were so many things that the (then) governor and I set in motion that were copied by so many other states and commands in Nigeria.

    “In the Army, the Armed Forces are there for external aggression. Before any soldier will be deployed, you have to take permission from the Chief of Army Staff.

    “In Lagos, the police had no manpower and arms. We could not deploy soldiers. I went to Tinubu to complain that we could not be going back and forth any time there was an operation: ‘give a standing order’.

    Read Also: Ex-militant to Tinubu: end insurgency in North, others

    “So, he wrote the Chief of Army Staff and a standing order to the Brigade in Lagos was given for the soldiers to join the police for Joint Anti-Crime Patrol. That helped us to curtail crimes in Lagos.

    “At a point too, he wanted to give me money to buy fuel because he bought patrol vehicles for us. But I told him I did not want money. I told him to instead create a petrol station where policemen could go and collect fuel rather than give me or my men cash. And he accepted.

    “He opened a dump at Alausa. So, every morning, each police patrol vehicle would go and collect 40 litres. That way, if there was a crime somewhere and the police were called, they could not say they had no fuel; hence, they had no excuse not to go. If not for him, I am not sure I would have functioned well in Lagos.

    “President Tinubu is an experienced politicians and also experienced in his fight against insecurity from what he did in Lagos. He set up a trust fund in Lagos that other governors followed.

    “I can say without fear that Lagos, with all its complexity, is among the cities with the highest population and economic activities. Yet, Lagos has the lowest crime rate in Nigeria, all by the work set in place by him in Lagos.”

    “Now that he is the President, I believe he will replicate what he did in Lagos in the entire country. If he does what he did with regard to the security architecture in Lagos, give him two to three years and insecurity will be a thing of the past in Nigeria.”