Cost of living: FG, NLC meeting deadlocked, bakers threaten shutdown (Punch)
A meeting between the Federal Government and organised Labour to stave off the planned strike by the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress deadlocked on Monday night.
The Minister of State Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, who hosted the parley in Abuja, could not convince the unions to suspend the strike slated for February 23.
This was as the Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria threatened to down tools by February 27, 2024, if the Federal Government failed to implement the agreement it entered into with the association in 2020. Read more
Hardship: FG tackles PDP govs, others (Vanguard)
The Federal Government disagreed with governors elected on the platform of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Board of Trustees, BoT, yesterday, who blamed the Federal Government over economic hardship in the country, which they said is causing a lot of hunger and anger in the land.
The PDP governors’ views were echoed by their forum chairman and governor of Bauchi State, Senator Bala Mohammed, who at a meeting of the party’s Board of Trustees, BoT, said Nigeria is bleeding, there is a lot of hunger and anger, and there appears to be no good governance in the country. He assured that the PDP would give a vibrant opposition to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Also, the PDP BoT said that biting economic hardship, high cost of essential life-enhancing commodities and alarming food scarcity in the country “occasioned by the ill-implemented policies of the APC administration are already causing restiveness and agitations in various parts of the country.” Read more
How ex-airman supplying military camouflage to Turji was nabbed (DailyTrust)
The Police High Command, on Tuesday revealed how its operatives arrested a dismissed officer of the Nigerian Air Force who has been supplying military camouflage and other accoutrements that belong to security operatives to bandits terrorising Zamfara State.
The police explained that the former NAF personnel, Ahmed Mohammed, attached to the Air Force Base, Kaduna, only served in the air force for just five years before he was court-martialled by the military for a yet-to-be-revealed offence.
Spokesman of the police, Muyiwa Adejobi, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, also disclosed that the dismissed personnel introduced sales of military camouflage and other accoutrements to Mushiri Abubakar who had supplied different camps of criminal gangs. Read more
3 forgery suspects declared wanted (Nation)
As part of the ongoing probe of the looting of $6, 230,000 from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Special Investigator, Jim Obazee, has asked the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) to place three suspects on Red Notice.
The suspects – Adamu Abubakar, Imam Abubakar and Odoh Eric Ocheme – have been placed under watch-list for arrest anywhere in the world.
The Federal Government had on January 18 charged them to court for offences relating to money laundering, fraud, forgery and conspiracy, among others Read more
IMF advice… don’t remove electricity subsidy, Labour tells Tinubu (Leadership)
The organised labour, manufacturers and economic, financial and legal experts have warned the federal government not to remove electricity subsidy as canvassed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
This is coming at a time when the country is battling with a cost of living crisis brought on by the removal of fuel subsidy, on the advice of the IMF and the World Bank.
Nevertheless, the Fund, in its recent report, advised the government to completely phase out fuel and electricity subsidies as part of measures to address its economic challenges. Read more
Tinubu speaks with grieving Herbert Wigwe’s parents, comforts couple (ThisDay)
President Bola Tinubu and President Nana Akufo-Ado of Ghana yesterday called Pastor and Mrs. Shyngle Wigwe, the grieving parents of late Group Managing Director of Access Holdings Plc, Herbert Wigwe, to offer them words of comfort. He died in a helicopter crash in California, the United States of America, last Friday, at the age of 57.
Wigwe, a top banker and entrepreneur, was killed in the crash alongside his wife, Chizoba, son, and former Group Chairman of the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, Mr. Abimbola Ogunbanjo.
Tinubu, it was gathered, spoke to Wigwe’s parents through Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede’s phone to commiserate with them and provided them very comforting words. The president made the call at 12.02pm, while Akufo-Ado called Aig-Imoukhuede at 3.17pm and both offered condolences on the passing of the great African Banker. Read more
WAEC releases Nov/Dec 2023 examination results, records 44.29% pass (Tribune)
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has released the results of the 2023 November/December West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE), for private candidates (second series).
A total of 80,904 candidates sat the examination, out of which 35,830 candidates representing 44.29% obtained credits and above in at least five mandatory subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.
30,954 candidates, representing 42.16%, of the total candidates, who sat the same exam in 2022 had a similar result, indicating a slight improvement of 2.13% performance over that of 2022. Read more
Naira gains at official market, weakens to N1500/$ parallel market (Punch)
The naira gained marginally against the United States dollar on Tuesday, appreciating to N1,499/ from an all-time low of N1,534/$ on the official Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market.
This means the naira gained by 2.3 per cent or N35, according to FMDQ Exchange, a platform that publishes official foreign exchange trading in the country.
The naira has depreciated following the removal of fuel subsidy and the unification of the exchange rate market by President Bola Tinubu. The local unit weakened from N464.67/$ in May 2023 to N1,490 at the official market in February, 2024. During the same period, the local currency fell from N763/$ to N1470/$ at the parallel market.
On Monday, the naira hit a new low of N1,534/$, a few weeks after hitting N1,099.05/$ on December 8. It also fell to an all-time low of N1,348.63/$ on January 30, 2024. Read more
TikTok duo replaces Lin-Manuel Miranda on Moana 2 (BBC)
The trailer for Moana 2 was released on 9 February 2024. The sequel, a feature film hitting US theatres this November, was at first set to come back as an animated series. But the shift to the big screen is not the only twist in the announcement: While Moana is back, composer Lin-Manuel Miranda won’t return as the film’s songwriter. Instead, the sequel’s songs have been written by two newcomers who first emerged on TikTok.
Abigail Barlow, 25, and Emily Bear, 22, are the impressive young women who, in 2021, broke the internet with their Bridgerton-inspired ballads. The videos were so popular, the women wrote an entire musical, then won the 2022 Grammy Award for Best Musical Album for it. In addition to the award, they were also handed a lawsuit from Netflix over copyright infringement after the composers held a for-profit concert that included Bridgerton trademarks. The suit has since been settled – and clearly, it didn’t dim the songwriters’ enthusiasm. Read more
Michael Jackson’s nephew leaves everyone speechless in first look at biopic (Metro)
The first official look at Michael Jackson’s nephew embodying the King of Pop in the biopic of the chart-topper has been released – and the similarity is staggering.
The Thriller singer is being played as an adult in the film, currently called Michael, by Jackson’s brother Jermaine’s son Jaafar Jackson, in his film debut.
Seen in a picture released on Tuesday to Instagram, 27-year-old Jaafar stunned fans as he recreated a moment from his uncle’s Dangerous Tour, which ran between 1992 and 1993. Read more
Liberia defence minister resigns 10 days after appointment (Channels)
Liberia’s new defence minister on Monday resigned from his post just 10 days after being appointed, following a protest by soldiers’ wives, the presidency said.
The resignation marks the first political crisis facing Liberia’s new president Joseph Boakai since his inauguration at the end of January.
Boakai “has received and accepted a letter of resignation from the recently confirmed Minister of National Defence Mr. Prince C. Johnson,” the presidency said in a statement. Read more
US Senate approves aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan (VOA)
US President Joe Biden called on U.S. lawmakers Tuesday to swiftly pass a $95 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, despite opposition in the Republican-led House of Representatives.
“I call on the speaker to let the full House speak its mind and not allow a minority of most extreme voices in the house to block this bill even from being voted on,” Biden told reporters.
Earlier Tuesday, the U.S. Senate passed the aid package by a 70-29 vote, with more than a dozen Republicans joining the majority Democrats in support. Read more
Sophie Ellis-Bextor performs Saltburn hit on Tonight Show (UPI)
Sophie Ellis-Bextor took to the stage on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon.
The 44-year-old singer-songwriter performed her song “Murder on the Dancefloor” during Monday’s episode of the NBC late-night talk show.
“Murder on the Dancefloor” originally appeared on Ellis-Bextor’s 2001 album Read My Lips. The song recently went viral after being featured in the 2023 film Saltburn, written and directed by Emerald Fennell. Read more
Chrissy Teigen reveals she burned her arm cooking during 2024 Super Bowl (People)
Chrissy Teigen is sharing the dangers of creating the perfect 2024 Super Bowl spread.
The Cravings cookbook author, 38, revealed on her Instagram Story on Monday that she had gotten burned while grilling some food for her family during the big game the day before.
In a short video she posted, Teigen could be seen wearing a white towel as she zoomed in on the inside of her upper right arm above the elbow. The skin there had several large and small red marks that wrapped around her arm. Read more
Coalition government deal in Pakistan leaves Imran Khan’s party out of power (CNN)
Two of Pakistan’s major political parties – the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) – say they will form a coalition government after last week’s inconclusive elections.
The move means the party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan will not be in power, despite independent candidates affiliated with it gaining the most votes.
At a press conference in Lahore Tuesday, former Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif from the PMLN and former President Asif Ali Zardari from the PPP, along with representatives from four other parties, announced they would be forming a government together. Read more
Stop cyberbullying Iwobi, Musa begs fans (Punch)
Super Eagles captain, Ahmed Musa, has pleaded with fans to stop the cyber attacks on teammate Alex Iwobi following Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations final loss to Ivory Coast on Sunday, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The Eagles suffered a 2-1 defeat to Ivory Coast at the Stade Alassane Ouattara, ending the team’s dreams of a fourth continental crown.
The Fulham midfielder, who started all of Nigeria’s AFCON games, was in action for 79 minutes before he was taken off for Alhassan Yusuf. Read more
Nigeria’s Aruna hits 12th spot in latest ITTF ranking (Vanguard)
Nigeria’s Aruna hits 12th spot in latest ITTF ranking
Nigeria’s veteran table tennis player, Quadri Aruna, has gained one step up the ladder of the new International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) ranking to become the world’s 12th-best player.
The ITTF, quoting from the Week 7 ranking of 2024, released on Tuesday, stated that the African champion displaced former European champion Dimitrij Ovtcharov of Germany, who dropped to 13th place.
According to the statement, Aruna’s performance at the World Table Tennis Star Contender Goa in India aided him in his quest to rise above the 16th spot where he began this year. Read more
Charles Leclerc reveals talks with Lewis Hamilton as he breaks silence on Ferrari switch (Metro)
Charles Leclerc has revealed he has held talks with Sir Lewis Hamilton ahead of the Formula One legend’s move to Ferrari in 2025.
Hamilton and Leclerc will become teammates next year when the seven-time world champion will complete his shock switch from Mercedes to Ferrari.
The move came as a surprise to nearly all within the motorsport community, including the driver Hamilton will replace at the Scuderia, Carlos Sainz. Read more
Ayo Dosunmu scores 29, Bulls post season-high in points to beat Hawks (CBS)
Ayo Dosunmu had a career-high 29 points and added seven assists to help the Chicago Bulls post a season-high score and beat the Atlanta Hawks 136-126 on Monday night.
DeMar DeRozan also had 29 points and Nikola Vucevic finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Coby White added 20 points and seven assists.
Bogdan Bogdanovic and De’Andre Hunter led the Hawks off the bench. Bogdanovic had 28 points and Hunter scored 23. Trae Young had 19 points, but was 2 for 10 from 3-point range.Read more
Ferrari reveal striking new 2024 Formula 1 car, the SF-24, as they aim to improve fortunes (Sky)
Ferrari have revealed the “completely new” car they hope will return them to regular race-winning ways in F1 2024.
Twelve days after stunning the world of sport by signing Lewis Hamilton to the team from next year, underlining their ambitions to get back to the summit of the sport in future seasons, the Scuderia’s focus returned to the upcoming campaign and the launch of their latest challenger, the SF-24.
Featuring a tweaked livery with striking yellow and white stripes added to the Italian team’s world-famous red, Ferrari say the car itself “breaks with the tradition” of the past two seasons of F1’s current era of technical rules as they aim to improve driveability and overall performance for drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. Read more
Man City claim first-leg win at FC Copenhagen (BBC)
Kevin de Bruyne has now been involved in eight goals (two goals and six assists) since returning from injury on 7 January
Manchester City resumed their Champions League title defence with a comfortable victory at FC Copenhagen in the first leg of their last-16 tie.
After Kevin de Bruyne gave Pep Guardiola’s side an early lead it looked like they would go on to claim a big win as the hosts barely laid a glove on them.
But Ederson gifted the ball straight to Copenhagen with a poor clearance and Magnus Mattsson took full advantage with a fantastic strike. Read more