The Nation Newspaper

Tag: holiday

  • Group seeks public holiday for Hijrah

    The Kosofe Muslim Community (KMC) has called on the Lagos State Government to declare Hijrah (the Islamic New Year) a public holiday.

    Speaking at a Hijrah Awareness celebration, the Chairman of Kosofe Muslim Community, Alhaji Sherifdeen Idris, said it would show that Muslims have a history behind everything they do.

    He said: “We are not waiting for the government which is why we are holding an event such as this in order to sensitise the people to it. We just want the government to give it recognition as they do the New Year by declaring it a holiday.”

    He said Hijrah symbolises a transition from bad to good. He urged all Muslims to accommodate everybody and be good ambassadors of Islam.

    The chairman on the occasion, who is also the former KMC chairman, Alhaji Shamsudeen Ashubiaro urged Muslims to practise Islam the way it was practised during the time of the Prophet Mohammed.

    “You can see that anything evil is against nature and we should move against it. Everyone knows what is good and what is bad and we should be able to move away from bad deeds to good,” he said.

    KMC Deputy Chief Missioner, Alhaji Marufdeen Olawale said: “The meaning of Hijrah is abandoning the wrongs and accepting the rights. When you are in a position where you are not performing well, you should move forward to make amends and adjust to the desired norms so that you would be able to perform well. It is a moment where one can sit back and reflect on what he or she has been contributing to the Islamic world.”

    He also urged government to recognise the day as a public holiday so that it would create more awareness to the people.

     

  • Indigenous operators fault reports on tax holiday

    Indigenous independents and marginal field operators have faulted reports, which described the five-year tax holiday for pioneer status, granted them by the Federal Government as fraudulent.

    The local oil firms said the tax holiday was a policy aimed at empowering them to boost production and curtail security issues through increased employment and investment in their corporate social responsibility projects.

    Operators of these firms condemned reports that oil and gas firms got $4.5 million tax holidays, which they were not entitled to. The reports alleged that the tax holiday given during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan to 20 local oil companies was bonanza to the firms for buying marginal fields from some International Oil Companies (IOCs).

    “The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) is investigating the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment as well as the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) for tax holidays to about 20 oil companies,” the report added.

    But the indigenous operators said the pioneer status is in the national tax policy and it entitles companies and firms to tax holidays as an incentive not only to oil and gas companies but to qualified firms in other industries anywhere in Nigeria.

    “The grant of Pioneer Status to a company in Nigeria is aimed at enabling such company operating within the pioneer industry make significant capital expenditure and a reasonable level of return of profit within its formative years without having to pay company tax,” said Azeez Alatoye, a tax and regulatory expert.

    The enabling legislation on the Pioneer Status in Nigeria is in the Industrial Development (Income Tax Relief) Act 2004. The Act provides that where the government says any sector or industry is not being undertaken on a scale suitable to the economic advancement of Nigeria or that it is in the public interest to encourage the further development or establishment or advancement of trade in such sector or industry, the President is authorised to publish in a gazette, a list of such industries who qualify for pioneer status.

    “Whoever is insinuating that the tax holiday is fraudulent is either being mischievous or not well-informed, and do not understand the policy,” Alatoye added.

    He said the Petroleum Profit Tax  of these firms meant to  pay for the first five years will not be taken out of the book and shared as dividends among the shareholders of the company but invested to meet the aspirations of the government who have targeted to boost oil output from the region of about 2.5 million barrels per day (mbpd) to 4mbpd in the nearest future.

    “The money is in the book for the five year-period and not taken out. It is like government’s investment, which when matured in near future will mean that government will collect 85 percent of 4mbpd instead of 2.5mbpd as PPT. The government is not losing any money. There is absolutely nothing like that. The money is used as investment to boost production output,” he said adding that most of the oil companies went through due process to procure their pioneer status. The processes of obtaining tax holiday cuts across different agencies of the government like the NIPC, Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment, Federal Inland Revenue Service, among others.

  • GOtv plans holiday pack for kids

    GOtv plans holiday pack for kids

    Ensuring that this holiday period is not entirely a playful time for kids, pay TV company, Gotv, has evolved educative programming over the Easter weekend and throughout the month of April, to keep children absorbed.

    GOtv’s General Manager, Elizabeth Amkpa, said the variety of children’s programmes on the channel are meant to entertain its younger audiences, while also enabling them to channel their energies to learning.

    According to Amkpa, “From the Kids’ Choice Awards on Nickelodeon which will air on the 1st of April to loads of movies at Easter, and other great shows, kids are in for an unbelievable viewing experience this month.”

    She added that “Kids will also be enchanted by the famous fairy tale princess, Cinderella on Disney Junior. Airing of the three-part movie will begin on 12 April. Cinderella 2: Dreams Come Truewill follow on 19 April and finally, Cinderella 3: A Twist in Time on 26 April,” she pointed out.

    With over 40 channels containing news, music, movies, sports, religious and children’s programming, GOtv caters to a variety of viewing tastes within the family.

  • Borno declares today holiday for Buhari

    The Borno State Government has declared today a work-free day for the visit of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari.

    In a statement in Maiduguri, the state capital, by the Secretary to Borno State Government (SSG), Ambassador Baba Ahmed Jidda, the government said the public holiday would enable the residents to give Gen. Buhari a rousing welcome for his rally.

    The statement reads: “The Borno State Government has declared Monday a work-free day. It is to enable the people of the state welcome the APC presidential candidate, General Buhari, who will arrive in Maiduguri on a campaign visit on Monday.”

    The statement urged APC supporters to troop out to welcome the important visitor.

    “Governor Kashim Shettima has urged Borno State residents to come out en masse to welcome Gen. Buhari, who is ‘the people’s general’.”

    Borno State APC has been preparing for Gen. Buhari’s visit.

    The billboards of the “people’s general” and those of his running mate, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, and Governor Shettima, have been mounted at major entry points into the state capital.

  • 5 reasons why you must take a holiday

    5 reasons why you must take a holiday

    In many developed countries, people take their annual leave holidays or schedule a certain time of the month to visit a country or place different from theirs. However in this part, many work more than 8hours yet fail to take their holidays. Adetorera Idowu speaks with a frequent traveler, Charles George to examine the top 5 reasons why people should and must take their holidays

    1. To relax: “For me and most people I know, we take holidays essentially to relax. Work life is so demanding and consistently working takes a toll on you. If you’re working for a large institution when you have to work longer than 8 hours a day, the toll it takes on you is even greater. Holidays give you the opportunity to break out that stress,” Charles says

    2. For Inspiration: when you feel stuck in a rut and your work has become a mere hum drum, A good holiday where you do what you love and are passionate about could be the boost you need for a fresh start at work and you’ll come back full of ideas.

    3. Health Benefits: “I once heard of a certain intern at a bank who died because of the stress of the job. He was only 23 years old,” Charles relays. This is one of the very few sad cases of stress in the workplace. This shows that taking some time to relax helps. Some experts say that even thinking about a planned future holiday produces happy feelings in a person.

    4. Reconnect with your family: If you and your partner are the average parents who work a 9-5 job and are constantly held down by Lagos traffic, therefore making family time and bonding with your kids almost non-existent; Holidays are the perfect time to refuel that fire and bring you and your kids closer together,

    5. Self Discovery: holidays definitely make you a better version of yourself, whether it’s by staying in a secluded cabin by the sea side in a foreign land, or spending it with farmers and going to the stream in your native village, holidays expand your horizon and make you see the world in a different hue. You discover more about the world and also yourself.

  • How to spend your holiday

    How to spend your holiday

    Holidays are seen as a time of relaxation and rejuvenation.

    During the holidays, people do things they wouldn’t usually have time for, such as: taking language classes, travelling cross-state or cross-country, leisure reading and writing, volunteer work, blogging etc.

    During the holidays, the youths are normally seen hanging out with friends and having fun, amongst many other things. Some also choose to spend their holidays working as interns or full-time, some use the holidays to sharpen their skills and hone their talents.

    Recently, some youths were asked how they spent their holidays and the comments below show their answers:

     

    Adebowale Lipede: spent his holiday as an intern at a radio station, same as every other holiday

     

    Elston Okidi: spent his holiday watching movies, reading books, travelling and browsing the internet.

     

    Chidimma Adimeke, has a holiday routine: sleep, eat, watch tv, cook and repeat!

     

    Zani Newton spent his holiday working at a holiday job and also travelling for leisure.

     

    David Rotimi: spent his holidays preparing for the new semester, right from the day he vacates from school to the day he resumes.

     

    Blessing Ajibero: spent her holidays mostly having fun, reading and sometimes, working.

     

    Favour Ali: spent her holiday building relationships with her mum, growing herself spiritually, nurturing her fashion ideas and relaxing.

     

     

  • Young at Art holiday workshop is 10

    Young at Art is 10. The holiday art workshop made its debut in 2004 as a yearly event for children and young adults between the ages of four and 19.

    Young At Art Children Creative Workshop  started on August 4, 2004 at Specifics Gallery in Ikeja, Lagos, with only three participants: two boys and a girl – the children of the founder Biodun Omolayo.

    According to the organiser, this year’s anniversary will hold in the  second week of next month because most of the people involved would have been back from summer vacation. “We do not want anyone connected with Young at Art to be left out,” it was said.

    Activities marking the anniversary include Special Creative Workshop for children from selected orphanages, homes and public schools in Lagos; presentation of photo book featuring its old and new members with all the activities from inception to date; presentation of special paper on the Role Of Children Creative Education In National Development; and anniversary dinner; awards for the initiative’s facilitators, class governors, parents, supporters, sponsors and the media.

    According to Omolayo, the art initiative has grown without losing focus of the original vision of developing the creative potential of the child for future benefits of the larger society along with engaging the best human and material resources to develop a happy creative well-motivated and culturally-sound child.

    The initiative has since added other events, such as May 27 Children Day and Free Art Workshops, especially for children from public schools, orphanages and the physically challenged. In addition, the initiative provides employment opportunities for undergraduates and graduates on permanent and part time.

    Its quarterly publications Young at Art Express is distributed free to schools, colleges, organisation and missions across Nigeria.

    The initiative, an institution operating through Biodun Omolayo Art Gallery is also consultant to the British Council Lagos  It has facilitated a one week art workshops Young at Art 100 for teachers of junior and senior secondary schools sponsored by the British Council, to celebrate Nigerian centenary. “We are looking forward to having workshops in Mathematics in other to assist those children who are weak in the subject, since some of the parents complain that a lot of the children who love art seem not  good enough in Mathematics,” Omolayo discloses the future pals of the workshop.

    Part of its plan is to have our own permanent facility where the children can camp during the workshop. This will be referred to as Young at Art Village.

  • Enyeama off to Mexico on holiday

    Enyeama off to Mexico on holiday

    • Wanted France to win the tournament

    Following the Super Eagles’ 2-0 loss to the Le Blues of France in the round of 16 of Brazil 2014, Nigeria and Lille’s goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama is off to Mexico, on holidays.

    SportingLife understands that Enyeama, who was one of Nigeria’s shinning lights at the World Cup, made this disclosure to LOSC TV when he visited his club’s training centre in Lille, France. It was after this interview that he left for the North American nation.

    Interestingly, the Nigerian said he had been hoping that France, the European country that dumped Nigeria out of Brazil 2014, would triumph at the FIFA World Cup. Unfortunately for the Eagles’ assistant captain, however, Coach Didier Deschamp’s team were last night knocked out of the tournament via a lone goal off the head of Germany’s Matt Hummels.

    “I play in France, I live in France, I had hoped they would win. Germany are a great team, but I had hoped to see ‘Les Bleus’ enjoying a victory,” Enyeama told LOSC TV.

    “I want France to win the World Cup, it is my dream. If it cannot be Nigeria, then it must be France. I wish them the best,” he added, while remaining vague on his future with the Super Eagles.

    “I am not yet sure about my future with the national team as there are many things that are not working well.

    “For many reasons, I prefer to keep my distance and let them deal with it. There are a lot of vain quarrels. But I haven’t decided yet on my future with the national team.”

     

  • Now that the holiday is over

    Now that the holiday is over

    With Easter holiday over, parents who are not technology-savvy, might pay heavy price when shopping for ‘back to school items’ for their  kids. But with some mobile phone apps, shopping could be as simple as ABC. TONIA ‘DIYAN reports.

    Easter is over. Shoppers are back from holidays. It is time for the children to return to school with new stuffs. For parents, its shopping time to prepare the children for the new term.

    But with office work piling, house chores mounting, cash problems, this is not always an easy task as the agony of traffic, among other factors often make going to the market an horrible expereince.

    Technology-savvy shoppers always have a way out of the guagmire. With their mobile phones, they can shop in the comfort of their homes without hassles.

    Secret. Smart phones and tablet owners are using mobile apps and daily deal sites to get the most out of their money as they shop school items for their wards.

    Offline Manager, Jumia Online Store, Mr Afam Anyika, said experience by shoppers on Jumia shows that parents who are smarter search for promos on e-commerce sites in order to enjoy great shopping experience at a discounted price.

    ”We stock a variety of back-to-school items and they are quite affordable. We advise shoppers to check our website for our coupons and daily deals and take advantage of these offers because; they are only available while stock last.”

    Afam confirmed to The Nation Shopping that 40 per cent of mobile shoppers who have used their device on his website, indicates that they have obtained coupons.

    He said: “Coupons are preferable, they are won mostly by regular shoppers to a particular website, followed by deal-of-the-day or daily deals, where shoppers have the opportunity to see what is on discount on a daily basis.

    “Daily, on the Jumia website, we have 70 per cent of our users looking to our daily deals offer for promotions.’’

    In addition to ‘back-to-school’ offers, daily deal apps are a helpful source for mobile users looking for discounted items this period, they can be sure of not missing out on offers as they unfold daily if they stick to the online stores.

    Online retailers are busy promoting back-to-school sales and stocking their websites with school items, such as calculators, school uniforms, sandals, lunch boxes and what have you. No doubt, it’s time for serious business for parents, guardians and sellers.

    Smartphone owners are dominating in the daily deal app usage, beating other phone users across all daily deal apps used said, Konga’s Public Relations Strategist, Ifeanyi Abraham. “When it comes to seeking out deals, consumers are going to the most convenient, reliable sources, creating an opportunity for retailers and daily deal sites to streamline the process of gathering deals and coupons for users, ultimately increasing website and app traffic to drive back to school sales.”

    The Executive Buyologist of Buyology.com, Yeye Arogundade, said coupon is the most widely used daily deal app among users of the apps.

    She said: “With 61 per cent users on my website indicating that they have used the coupon app on their smartphones and 39 per cent stating they’ve used it on their tablet, ‘back to school’ sales is amazing.”

  • Group sponsors holiday classes in Osun

    As part of its contribution to Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s efforts to boost education in Osun State, a socio-political group – Itesiwaju Movement, has organised free holiday coaching classes for students of Irepodun and Orolu Local Government areas of the state.

    The programme, tagged Itesiwaju Summer School (ISS), which started on Monday, August 5, has been described as unprecedented in the area.

    Sponsored by an alumnus of Ilobu Secondary Commercial Grammar school, Ilobu, headquarters of Irepodun Local Government, Dr Oluwole Alabi, who is now a Consultant Gynaecologist, the summer school has engaged more than 1000 pupils in the councils.

    It is not only the pupils that are enjoying the event. Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), Irepodun Local Government chapter, Mr. Taofeek Musa, who is also the Chairman of the Organising Committee, said even teachers and traders are happy about the additional earnings they are getting.

    “The allowances to be earned by the 26 of us will also contribute significantly to the economy of this environment. There are also food vendors who have since been coming to trade at the centre as part of its multiplied effects,” he said.

    The Principal of Ansar-ud-Deen Grammar School, venue of the coaching, Mr. Yekeen Ibraheem, said the turnout of the students at the centre was surprisingly massive.

    “I was transferred here from Muslim Grammar School in Osogbo and so I cannot say this initiative is new, but the way it has been endorsed by both students and teachers is highly unprecedented.

    “I doubted the students’ participation when we were informed but right from the first day the classes started I was marveled at the turnout,” Mr. Ibraheem stated.

    Addressing the pupils when he visited, Dr. Alabi said the summer school was inspired by Aregbesola’s efforts to restore the glory of education in the state. He urged them to be focused.

    “If you are focused we can have world leaders among you here. All of us that you see here never attended a private school; we were trained in public schools and our parents made huge contributions by guiding our steps. If you listen to instructions and you read very well the sky is the beginning of your limit,” he advised.