Lagos car radio licence policy: To be or not to be?
When Lagos State introduced the car radio licence policy in 2017, conservative estimates put the revenue at 170 million naira. The annual car radio license policy introduced by the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode administration is an add on levy of 500 naira added to the annual vehicle license fee. Some residents, it would seem, have a bone to grind with the Lagos State Motor Vehicle Administration Agency (MVAA), which administers the policy. But there are yet others who feel that it is the best thing that has ever happened to the state. Hear them out in the video. Read more
Firm to build Lagos-Abuja 45 minutes rail (Vanguard)
Skyway String Transport Technology, a private firm, says its fast light rail service can move passengers from Lagos to Abuja in about 45 minutes. It will be moving at an average speed of 150km per hour and has capacity for 500km per hour. The Regional Head, Skyway String Transport Technology, Mr. Arogundade Samson, said that the fast transport system had been carefully designed to assist the Nigerian government in alleviating the sufferings of the people in moving from one point to another. Read more
Airport search: Atiku’s wife fumes, says ‘My husband’s not a thief’ (Sun)
Wife of former vice president and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, Mrs. Titi Abubakar, on Wednesday, reacted to the search of her husband by security agents at the airport when he returned from Dubai, last Sunday. The PDP candidate, who had been on holiday after clinching the party’s presidential primary, had alleged that he was unusually searched by security agents, saying his recent search was with the aim of intimidating him. Reacting to the search when she received members of Atiku Critical Economic Sector Organisations (ACESO), at the WOTCLEF centre, in Abuja, Mrs. Abubakar questioned why her husband was being accused of corruption or being a thief without any substantial evidence against him. Reacting to the search when she received members of Atiku Critical Economic Sector Organisations (ACESO), at the WOTCLEF centre, in Abuja, Mrs. Abubakar questioned why her husband was being accused of corruption or being a thief without any substantial evidence against him. Read more
Anambra House of Assembly in turmoil as policemen teargas lawmaker, others (Punch)
The resumed sitting of the Anambra State House of Assembly on Thursday assumed violent dimension as policemen blocked the entrance to the premises, while they also sprayed teargas into the atmosphere. The sitting was the first after the Speaker of the House, Rita Maduagwu, was impeached on Tuesday, but she claimed that “They need two-thirds of our members to impeach the Speaker or the governor,” and that since they did not achieve that, “So, I’m still the Speaker.” Sequel to her purported impeachment on Tuesday, a member of the House, Ikem Uzoezie of AgutaIi Constituency was nominated as the new Speaker. Read more
NBA, Lagos CJ on a collision course over new rules (Punch)
The Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Opeyemi Oke, has been described as a reformer. She is passionate about creating an efficient judiciary where delayed justice is a thing of the past. Days into assuming office in 2017, Justice Oke demonstrated her intolerance for corruption by handing over to the police two officials in the court’s registry who allegedly collected revenue without issuing a receipt to the court user. Afterward, she ordered to be mounted in all the courtrooms in the state a mission statement, declaring that the judiciary was committed to efficiency and would not condone acts of corruption. Read more
ASUU Strike: Nigerian govt., University teachers begin to talk (PremiumTimes)
Nigerian government officials are about to begin a meeting with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in Abuja . The meeting is part of the steps by the government to resolve issues involved in the ongoing nationwide strike by the lecturers. An ASUU delegation led by the national president of the union, Biodun Ogunyemi, arrived the Ministry of Labour and Employment at 2:10 p.m. on Thursday. Read more
Court remands five suspects for alleged attempt to rob Gov Dickson (Punch)
A Sagbama High Court in Yenagoa, Bayelsa, on Thursday remanded five suspects who allegedly attempted to rob Governor Seriake Dickson in his country home at Toru Orua. The accused, Esther Engbeke, Tamnatony Jacob, Wodu Ebikebomu (an engineer), Emmanuel Dorgu and Sinclair Thursday are being tried for alleged conspiracy to commit armed robbery. Justice E.T. Okara ordered their remand in prison after they had denied the charges, and adjourned the case till December 6 for hearing. Read more
Dasuki, Diezani, Shema, Fayose houses top list of seized assets (Nation)
Owners of the mansions seized by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have been unveiled. They are former governors, ex-ministers, top military officers and businessmen. Leading the pack is a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, who has forfeited some prized assets. Lost to the Federal Government by the ex-Minister are a multi-storey building in Banana Island Foreshore Estate in Ikoyi, Lagos; a real estate comprising six flats in Ikoyi and an estate of 21 mixed housing in Yaba, Lagos. Read more
FG decries high interest rate on bank credit to farmers (Sun)
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, on Wednesday, decried the high interest rate on bank credit for farmers , which he described as not conducive for agriculture and agribusiness in the country. The Minister said this during the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Nigerian Agricultural Mechanization and Equipment Leasing Company (NAMEL) , Tractor Owners and Operators Association of Nigeria (TOOAN) and Tractor Owners and Hiring Facilities Association of Nigeria (TOHFAN) under the Private Sector Driven Mechanization Programme (PSDMP) in Abuja. Read more
White House aide Mira Ricardel removed from post after Melania Trump said she should be (Independence)
A senior White House aide who very publicly fell out with Melania Trump has now been removed from her post, administration officials said. Mira Ricardel, Donald Trump’s deputy national security adviser, is said to have clashed with the First Lady over arrangements for the latter’s tour of Africa. Political observers were stunned when Ms Trump responded by issuing a public statement saying Ms Ricardel “no longer deserves the honour of serving in this White House”. First Ladies have been known to wield influence on personnel decisions in the past, but not to issue press releases about it. Read more
Brexit: EU’s Barnier warns of ‘long road ahead’ (BBC)
The EU says much work still needs to be done on Brexit, despite agreeing a draft withdrawal document with the UK. “We still have a long road ahead of us on both sides,” chief negotiator Michel Barnier said. The EU has set out a series of meetings leading to one on 25 November where it plans to approve the Brexit agreement. UK Prime Minister Theresa May has won the backing of her cabinet but faces a tough task getting the agreement approved by Parliament. Read more
Stella McCartney launches bridal collection including Meghan Markle’s wedding reception dress (Metro)
You would have had to be far away if you missed out on all the royal wedding chat earlier on in the year. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s holy matrimony had us all awwing as we watched the royal couple tie the knot on live television. Meghan’s dresses were certainly talk of the town, with Givenchy – her main dressmaker – seeing search results spike, as well as her halter neck Stella McCartney piece that she wore to the wedding reception. And now the latter designer has launched her own bridal collection which includes Meghan’s famous evening gown. Read more
As the death toll rises to 56, hope fades for those missing in Paradise fire (LATimes)
John Digby was on the phone with his son when there was a knock at his door in Paradise. The 78-year-old was in bed sick, unaware of the raging inferno outside, so he didn’t get up to answer it. Hours later, Roman Digby called again to see if his father’s health had improved. Static met him on the other end. He tried the police, to no avail. The younger Digby then searched “Paradise” on Google and learned that a wildfire had taken the town. He realized the knock on his father’s door must have been a neighbor urging him to evacuate. Read more
I have only N75k left of the N25m I won, Efe BBNaija claims (Punch)
Efe Ejeba, the winner of the 2017 Big Brother Naija television show has revealed that he has only N75,000 left out of the N25 million that he won last year. He made this revelation, while he was a guest on a radio show on Hot FM. When the radio host asked him, how much he had left of his prize money. He said, “Yo man, I basically have like 75k in my account. It used to be 100k, but yesterday night, we went to the least expensive bar to chill with the 25k.” Read more
Spice Girls hail fans after selling out nine stadium shows (Metro)
Hysteria set in last week as the Spice Girls unveiled dates for their highly-anticipated 2019 reunion tour. The four piece – pressing on without Victoria Beckham – prompted Ticketmaster to have their ‘busiest sale ever’ after releasing dates for the upcoming trek last Saturday. Due to unprecedented demand and complaints from disgruntled fans who couldn’t get tickets, the Wannabe singers added a string of extra dates to the roster, including two extra nights to the Wembley Arena leg. But it still wasn’t enough to satiate the seemingly unending thirst of the Spice Girls superfan. Read more
NBA: LeBron James rules over Chamberlain, set to conquer Jordan next (Punch)
LeBron James took another milestone in his stride, as he passed Wilt Chamberlain to become the fifth most prolific scorer in National Basketball Association history. James blew past Chamberlain by scoring 44 points for the Los Angeles Lakers in a 126-117 home victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, in the early hours of Thursday Nigerian time. Next in James’s sights is boyhood idol Michael Jordan, a player he worshiped so much that he wears the same number 23 jersey made famous by the retired Chicago Bulls legend. Read more
Flutterwave processes $2.5 billion transactions in two years (Guardian)
African payments technology company, Flutterwave, said it has processed about $2.5 billion for clients through its flagship innovative platform ‘Rave’ across the globe. The firm, which said the transactions were done within its first two years of operation, explained that Rave is a flashy product aimed at processing all kinds of payments with support disbursements to bank accounts and mobile money wallets. The Chief Executive Officer, Flutterwave, Olugbenga Agboola, said the vision of the firm is to bring seamless online financial transactions to the doorstep of every merchant and customer. Read more
Oyo government rebuilds Ayefele’s Fresh FM (Guardian)
The Oyo State government has begun the arrangements for the reconstruction of Yinka Ayefele’s Music House, which was demolished in the early hours of Sunday, August 19, 2018. Fresh FM’s head of news, Samson Akindele, in an interview with Bounce News said the state government is fulfilling its promise to rebuild the property. “Just about two weeks ago, after all the meetings and agreements, the ministry of works in Oyo state through the office of the permanent secretary and the commissioner came in to start fulfilling the promise the governor made that indeed the partial demolition was an activity done in error,” Akindele said. Read more
Japan’s cyber-security minister has ‘never used a computer’ (BBC)
Japan’s new cyber-security minister has dumbfounded his country by saying he has never used a computer. Yoshitaka Sakurada made the admission to a committee of lawmakers. “Since I was 25 years old and independent I have instructed my staff and secretaries. I have never used a computer in my life,” he said, according to a translation by the Kyodo news agency. The 68-year-old was appointed to his post last month. His duties include overseeing cyber-defence preparations for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Read more
19-year-old man arrested for possession of human parts in Awka (Punch)
A 19-year-old man, Sunday Owo, was on Thursday apprehended with fresh human parts at a healing home in Awka, Anambra State. Owo was caught with genital organs, fingers and blood-filled bottle of a child suspected to have been killed by the man. The suspect, who was apprehended at the instance of the Proprietor of the healing home, Mrs Ifeanyichukwu Ilonzo, told newsmen that he hailed from Ohaukwu in Ebonyi. He said he was asked by one Blessing to get the human parts and bring them to a natural healing home in Awka for money ritual. Read more
Facebook accused of dark PR tactics (BBC)
Facebook faces a new controversy over alleged tactics it used to discredit its critics, embarrass rival firms and downplay problems at the company. The New York Times has published a wide-ranging account of the methods Facebook and a public relations firm used to “deny and deflect” criticism. The report has led US lawmakers to call for tighter regulation of social networks. Facebook has denied several of the claims. Read more
