Author: Festus Adeloye

U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken met the Israeli President, Isaac Herzog on Tuesday to negotiate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The negotiation was part of the efforts by the U.S. Qatar and Egypt on Gaza, the meeting was delayed for months. Antony Blinken’s trip to the Middle East aimed to garner support for the latest proposal for a ceasefire in three phases. The UN Security Council clarified the multi-stage plan presented by U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday in New York. According to the U.S. only the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement had not agreed to the plan. However,…

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has again reassured the banking public of the safety of their deposits and the banking system’s resilience. The apex bank’s Acting Director of Corporate Communications Department, Mrs Hakama Sidi-Ali, gave the assurance in a statement on Monday in Abuja. Sidi-Ali’s statement was a response to concern in some quarters about the stability of some Nigerian banks in the wake of Heritage Bank Plc’s license revocation, She faulted claims that the CBN was considering revoking the operating licences of Fidelity, Polaris, Wema, and Unity Banks. She also clarified that a circular issued by the Bank…

In a bid to ensure a healthy livestock population, Nigeria and other countries under the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, Food and Agriculture Organisation, FAO, and World Animal Health, WOAH, yesterday, strategised to safeguard goats, sheep and other livestock against deadly diseases called Peste des Petits Ruminants, PPR, in the region. Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Sen Abdullahi Aliyu, at the opening ceremony of the ‘3rd Meeting of the Peste Des Petits Ruminants, PPR, Global Eradication Programme Regional Roadmap and Blueprint Consultation in the West Africa Region, Hybrid Conference’ in Abuja, said 12.5 million doses…

The six governors of the South-West geo-political zone met in Lagos on Monday and appointed Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State as the new Chairman of the South-West Governors’ Forum. The governors met at the Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja, Office of Governor Sanwo-Olu, and after three hours of deliberation issued a communique. Sanwo-Olu, briefing the state house correspondents after the meeting, announced that the governors appointed him as the new chairman of the South-West Governors’ Forum. He succeeded the late Ondo State Governor, Ogbeni Rotimi Akeredolu. However, he was silent on the decision taken on the issue of the ongoing…

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday presented its first witness in the N2.7 billion contract fraud trial of Hadi Sirika; his daughter, Fatima; his Son-in-law, Jalal Hamma, and Al-Buraq Investment Limited. Led in evidence by EFCC lead counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, the subpoenaed witness, a former director of Procurement, Federal Ministry of Aviation, Azubuike Okorie, informed Justice Sylvanus Oriji, of the Federal Capital Territory High Court Abuja, that the N1.4 billion Apron Extension contract at Katsina Airport was not executed as of the time he left civil service in May 23, 2023. Okorie said, “As of the time I…

The Federal Ministry of Works has fixed the vandalised railings and expansion joints used to absorb the thermal expansions at the Second Niger Bridge. Uchenna Orji, the Special Adviser on Media to the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, disclosed this to our correspondent on Monday. Orji said the vandalised sections of the bridge were fixed on Sunday. He added that the Federal Ministry of Works is working with the police and other security agencies to tighten security stop vandalism on the bridge and save the “superstructure” from further damage. He said, “Yes, the vandalised sections of the bridge have been…

The organised labour has vowed to reject any ₦62,000 or ₦100,000 minimum wage proposal for Nigerian workers by the federal government. Speaking in an interview on Channels Television on Monday, the Assistant General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Chris Onyeka, described such a proposal as a “starvation wage”. Onyeka insisted that labour won’t accept the latest government’s offer of ₦62,000, saying that its latest demand as the living wage for an average Nigerian worker remains ₦250,000. He said, “Our position is very clear. We have never considered accepting ₦62,000 or any other wage that we know is below…

As the standoff between the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Federal Government over the proposed minimum wage continues, Nigerian citizens have taken to social media to implore the labour union not to disrupt the national grid during any potential strike action. On Monday, the NLC rejected the government’s offers of either ₦62,000 or ₦100,000 as the new minimum wage, with Assistant General Secretary Chris Onyeka describing these figures as a “starvation wage.” “Our position is very clear. We have never considered accepting ₦62,000 or any other wage that we know is below what we know can take Nigerian workers home.…

Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, on Sunday visited the family of Cpl. Lucky Ikechukwu Ikpeama, one of the soldiers killed by yet-to-be-identified gunmen at Obikabia Junction, Obingwa Local Government Area. Late Cpl. Ikpeama hailed from the same village, Nvosi, in Isialangwa South Local Government Area, as Governor Otti. The deceased, one of the five soldiers ambushed and killed by the gunmen, on Thursday, May 30, 2024 at his duty post, left behind a young wife with about four-month-old baby, and an aged mother. Governor Otti commiserated with the family and reiterated his promise that the State Government will take…

The Organised Labour has said it will not accept any N62,000 or N100,000 “starvation wage” as the minimum wage for workers. The union insisted on N250,000, being its latest demand at the last meeting of the Tripartite Committee on Minimum Wage on Friday, as the living wage for an average Nigerian worker. This was made known by Chris Onyeka, Assistant General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, while fielding questions on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief show on Monday. Onyeka said the one week to the Federal Government last Tuesday would expire by the midnight of Tuesday, June 11,…