Author: Festus Adeloye

President Bola Tinubu, on Monday, signed the new Minimum Wage Act into law. Tinubu signed the new law at 2 pm at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The brief ceremony was witnessed by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, and Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, among others.

Actor Williams Uchemba, has spoken out against men who intentionally impregnate women without intending to marry them. He condemned the behavior, calling it “madness” and “stupidity,” and warned it can have devastating consequences for both the men and their children. Uchemba emphasised that such actions stem from a fear of commitment and a dislike for marriage, which he believes is a sacred institution established by God. He argued that this behavior not only destroys the lives of the individuals involved but also contributes to the problems faced by society, citing the fact that many issues stem from broken homes. The…

Aggrieved MTN subscribers have flooded the company’s offices across Nigeria to voice their frustration over the blocking of phone numbers. The telecom company restricted access to several users’ mobile lines on Sunday, reportedly due to non-compliance with the National Identification Number (NIN) linkage requirement. The action follows a directive from the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), mandating disconnection of SIM cards not linked to NINs by July 31, 2024. As of now, MTN has not released an official statement addressing the issue, and the exact number of affected lines remains unclear. Subscribers began gathering at MTN offices early on July 29,…

Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) has refuted claims of being in discussions to supply crude oil to any refinery in Nigeria, including the Dangote refinery. In a statement released on its social media, the NOC asserted that it has not engaged in any talks regarding crude oil supply to Nigerian refineries. The corporation emphasised its adherence to existing contracts with international partners and the official procedures for selling Libyan oil. The Dangote refinery, which began operations in January with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, has encountered difficulties in securing local crude supply. As a result, the refinery has…

Ndinne pair of the Big Brother Naija Season Nine show has emerged winner of the first custodian challenge. The duo won the challenge held on Sunday night when 14 pairs of 28 housemates got into the house. With this, the pair are automatically exempted from possible eviction in the first week of the “No Loose Guard” edition. The Ndinne pair has also been empowered to influence nominations for possible eviction in the first week as well. The duo was decorated with the custodian badge and given the custodian box, while they await further instruction from Biggie. The challenge involved the…

Olympic organisers cancelled a second day of triathlon training in the River Seine planned for Monday after weekend downpours in Paris polluted the waterway but said they were “confident” the medal events would be held this week. In a joint statement, Paris 2024 organisers and World Triathlon said they had taken the decision to cancel Monday’s swimming training session because “water quality levels… do not present sufficient guarantees” to allow it to take place. The triathlon is the first Olympic event due to be held in the Seine, before marathon swimming in the second week of the Games. A swimming…

French energy giant TotalEnergies said on Monday it was withdrawing from two offshore gas fields in South Africa as they did not appear economically viable. A subsidiary of TotalEnergies owns a 45 per cent stake in a block off the country’s southern coast where the fields, Brulpadda and Luiperd, were discovered. TotalEnergies said they could “not be turned into a commercial development as it appeared to be too challenging to economically develop and monetise these gas discoveries for the South African market.” The block, spanning 19,000 square kilometres (7,335 square miles), is located 175km (109 miles) off the South African…

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will do battle once more when they meet at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Monday while Australia’s Ariarne Titmus is hotly tipped to win her second swimming gold of the games. Also on the third day of action, Britain’s Tom Daley will try to prevent an anticipated Chinese clean sweep in diving, while China and Japan will duel for gold in the men’s team final of the gymnastics. Gold medals are also up for grabs in archery, canoeing, mountain biking, equestrian, fencing, judo, shooting and skateboarding. The hottest ticket in town will be at Roland…

Covid-19 is still driving Australia’s above-average mortality rate, research showed on Monday, with experts predicting the disease’s impact will continue to be felt for years to come. The Australian Actuaries Institute found that five per cent more people died than would be expected in 2023, amounting to 8,400 excess deaths. Experts measured the number of people who had died as a direct or indirect result of Covid and found the excess mortality rate was still higher than pre-pandemic levels. About 4,600 deaths were directly attributed to Covid-19, the ninth leading cause of death last year. Non-COVID-19 excess deaths, meanwhile, were…

In a recent development, Peter Obi, the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate for the 2023 election, has reiterated his support for party spokesperson Kenneth Okonkwo, despite the latter’s criticism of his leadership. Okonkwo, who transitioned from filmmaking to politics and joined the LP in 2022, openly criticized Obi’s handling of party affairs, accusing him of neglecting the internal crisis and failing to strengthen the party’s foundation. In a letter posted on X, Okonkwo expressed frustration over Obi’s lack of leadership, stating, “Every member of the Labour Party is confused today as to the future of the Labour Party because of…