THISISLAGOS MIDDAY NEWS UPDATE APRIL 6, 2018
Lagos pays N1bn to retirees (Punch)
The Lagos State Government says it has released N1.024bn for the payment of pension entitlements of 183 public service retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme for the month of March. A statement obtained on Thursday noted that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, during the 49th retirement benefit bond certificate presentation ceremony in Ikeja, reiterated his commitment to ensuring the payment of terminal benefits of retired workers. The governor, who was represented by the Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions, Dr. Akintola Oke, stated that 8,731 retirees had accrued pension rights of over N35bn paid into their Retirement Savings Accounts from inception of his administration to date. Read more
LUC: NBA sets up 7-man c’ttee to tackle govt (Vanguard)
The Ikeja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, has constituted a 7-man committee to fashion out proposed amendments on the Lagos Land Use Charge, LUC to achieve its objectives in bringing down the rates imposed by the state government. Constituting the committee at the Bar centre, the branch chairman, Mr Adesina Ogunlana noted that it has become imperative for them to formulate a proposed amendments to the law to be recommended to the state government. Read more
UTME centre official arrested for examination malpractice (Punch)
An official of one of the centres used for the Unified Tertiary and Matriculation Examination in Lagos has been arrested by the police for allegedly engaging in examination malpractice in the just concluded exam. The suspect was identified as Divine Nwamueze, who worked at the UTME centre, Digital Bridge Institute in Oshodi. Our correspondent learnt that the woman was caught on camera assisting a candidate sitting the exam at the centre and handed over to the police. A police source confided in PUNCH Metro that the suspect reportedly confessed to helping the candidate because he was ill during the exam. Read more
Cadbury Nigeria targets healthy living with new programme (Guardian)
Cadbury Nigeria Plc, yesterday announced the launch of a healthy lifestyle programme aimed at bringing nutrition education, active play and fresh foods to at-risk children and their families in the country. Cadbury Nigeria joins nine other countries in the Mondelez International family in this initiative, which will involve a $50 million multi-year commitment to promote healthy lifestyles and address obesity. In a statement, the Managing Director of Cadbury West Africa, Amir Shamsi, said “this is the first-ever Mondelez International Foundation-funded effort in Nigeria. The programme, which will run over a three-year period, is targeted at nearly 6,000 children and families in nine schools. It will operate in Cadbury Nigeria (Ikeja and Ondo) and focus on nutrition and healthy lifestyle.” Read more
Former UNILAG student acquitted, faults police arraignment (Punch)
A former student of the Department of Architecture, University of Lagos, Olumayowa Aje, has been absolved of rape charges by the Directorate of Public Prosecutions, Lagos State. Aje and two others, Babajide Bashorun and Babajide Ademuyiwa, had been accused of raping a fellow student and posting her nude pictures on the Internet sometime in June 2013. They were subsequently arraigned before a Tinubu Magistrate’s Court on counts of kidnapping, rape, causing bodily injury and posting of nudes on the Internet. However, upon a petition by Aje’s counsel, the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, through the DPP, reviewed and cleared Olumayowa of wrongdoing, saying there was nothing to show that he had a hand in the incident. Read more
I’m honoured, says Banky W (Vanguard)
Uber has officially announced Bankole Wellington, popularly known as Banky W as its new Uber brand ambassador in Nigeria for 2018, making him the first musician to be the face of the leading ride hailing technology in Nigeria. The musician, artist and entrepreneur was unveiled to select members of the public and media on Wednesday, at an upscale, invite-only cocktail event in Lagos. “A lot of deliberation and careful thought went into choosing and selecting the Uber brand ambassador” said Margaret Banasko, Country Marketing Lead for Uber in West Africa. We decided to go into partnership with Banky W because we recognize the fact that he’s a well respected artiste and has his hand across multiple industries including music, film, Read more
Italian arrested in Lagos for killing Nigerian wife, daughter (Punch)
A Nigerian artiste, Zainab Ali-Nielsen, popularly known as Alizee, and her four-year-old daughter, Petra, have been reportedly murdered by her Italian husband, Peter Nielsen. They were allegedly murdered in the family’s residence at Ocean Parade, Banana Island in the early hours of Thursday. Although details of the circumstances surrounding the incident were still sketchy, our correspondent learnt that Peter had been picked up by the police. The corpses were said to have been deposited in a mortuary for autopsy. Report said the native of Kogi State had signed a two-year record deal with an Asian record label, Petra Entertainment in 2017, which reportedly earned her a brand new Ford explorer, a house on Banana Island and international distribution with affiliates of her record company in Asia. Read more
Lagos gunmen attack, kill police escort, flee with N3m (Punch)
The Lagos State Police Command is on the trail of some gunmen who attacked a vehicle in the Amuwo Odofin area of the state and killed a police escort, identified only as Sergeant Musa. The robbers were also said to have injured the driver of the vehicle and escaped with N3m. Punch Metro learnt that the cop had escorted two officials of a plastic raw materials company in a Nissan Almera to a Zenith Bank branch at Amuwo Odofin around 2pm to withdraw the cash. They were returning from the bank when the gunmen ambushed them on Babangida Road, Amuwo Odofin, and opened fire on the car. Read more
OSIWA’s Head of Nigeria Office, Jude Ilo, detained in Abuja (PremiumTimes)
The Country Officer and Head of the Nigeria Office of the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), Udo Jude Ilo, is currently being detained in Abuja, a security source has told Premium Times. Our source said Mr. Ilo is being held by the Federal Capital Territory Command of the State Security Service (SSS). It is not exactly clear how the OSIWA official arrived the SSS facility in the Asokoro District of Abuja. Our security source said he responded to a summon. But another source claimed he was arrested and taken there. But when contacted, Mr. Ilo’s driver said he dropped Mr. Ilo off at the facility at about 9:30 am. He said his boss told him he was responding to a summon by the SSS to attend a meeting over an urgent security matter concerning OSIWA. Read more
Obanikoro, at Real Madrid Clinic, calls for coordinated grassroots football development (Vanguard)
Former Nigeria’s High Commissioner in Ghana, Musiliu Obanikoro, says a well-coordinated grassroots football programme will engender the development of the sport in the country. He spoke at the flag off of the Real Madrid Football Coaching Clinic for boys and girls at Campos Square Mini-Stadium on Lagos Island. No fewer than 200 young footballers of ages 11 and 17 are attending the clinic which will run from April 4 to April 14. The clinic will afford those that excel an opportunity to be part of Real Madrid training development. “The football clinic started from a drawing board and it took a lot of efforts to get to this point. This type of project is for the good of the country. Read more
Lagos marathon gets N500m sponsorship boost (BusinessDay)
Foremost Real Estate company, Revolution Plus Property Development Company has joined the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon train as the official Real Estate Partner. Project Consultant Access Bank Lagos City Marathon Bukola Olopade recently disclosed that the company has signed a five-year deal which will run from the 2019 edition to 2023 edition worth N100 million per annum. “We at Access Bank Lagos City Marathon are delighted to welcome RevolutionPlus into the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon family. The company shares our vision and goal, which is to be a global leader in marathon and road races. RevolutionPlus, already a leader in Nigeria, dream of being a global brand in the real estate and property development business so associating with Access Bank Lagos City Marathon is apt” Read more
Visionscape partners Nigerian Cricket Federation (ThisDay)
The Board of the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) has announced yet another corporate sponsorship deal as it prepares to host West Africa in the ICC World T20 Africa ‘A’ Qualifier. Lagos-based environmental services company, Visionscape Sanitation Solutions, has been named a major sponsor of the NCF especially for the ICC Qualifier. Vice-President of NCF, Uyi Akpata, spoke glowingly of the partnership with Visionscape. “In our search for sponsor/partners, we deliberately approached companies whose values and posture are similar and complementary to the sport of cricket and the NCF. Read more
‘I’d pay €100m for Balotelli’ (Football-italia)
Mario Balotelli’s Nice teammate has claimed that he ‘would pay €100m’ for the Italy outcast. Balotelli was once more overlooked by Italy for their friendlies last month, despite his haul of 22 goals for Nice this season, and Alassane Plea made it clear just how much he valued his strike partner. “He’s a really effective attacker, training with him is super and I always learn new things from him,” he told Marca. “Mario talks to me a lot and it’s for this that I owe him a lot. I’d also pay €100m for him. He scores a lot, at least 20 goals per season. Read more
Stoger expecting strong Dortmund reaction against Stuttgart (Sportskeeda)
Borussia Dortmund can put their humiliating defeat against Bayern Munich behind them against Stuttgart, according to coach Peter Stoger. Peter Stoger is expecting a response when Borussia Dortmund welcome Stuttgart to the Signal Iduna Park for Sunday’s Bundesliga clash. Stoger’s side were thrashed 6-0 by champions-elect Bayern Munich, who can win the title at Augsburg this weekend, last time out, leaving them third in the table. The Dortmund boss said his side have reacted well to defeats this season and he anticipates a similar story against Stuttgart, who have not tasted defeat since January. Read more
Black Panther will be the First Film shown in Saudi Arabian Cinemas in 35 Years (Time)
Black Panther will break Saudi Arabia’s 35-year long cinema ban, becoming the first film publicly shown in theaters in the conservative gulf kingdom since they were shuttered in the 1980s. The Marvel superhero film will receive a gala opening on April 18 in Saudi Arabia’s brand new AMC theater in Riyadh, the country’s capital, Variety reports. The opulent cinema house, which boasts 600 leather seats and marble bathrooms, is a showpiece of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman‘s drive to reinvent and reform the ultra-conservative Muslim country. The 32-year-old prince, who rose to prominence last year after purging dozens of rivals in what was termed an anti-corruption drive, has met with numerous foreign leaders and introduced high-profile liberalizations, including permitting Saudi Arabian women to drive. Read more
Qatar allows women to do military service for first time (Independent)
Women in Qatar will be allowed to volunteer for national service for the first time, according to state media in the middle eastern country. Under the new law, which comes into effect immediately, females aged over 18 will be able to volunteer, while all men between the ages of 18 and 35 will now have serve a year instead of three months. It will be the first time women have been allowed to undertake national service, although some already have administrative roles in the military. Read more
Spy attack: Salisbury recovery effort will take until summer 2019 (Skynews)
The official leading the recovery effort in Salisbury following the nerve agent attack has warned that the city will not be back to normal until next summer. Alistair Cunningham, the chair of the recovery coordination group, said experts were currently designing plans to decontaminate areas affected in the attack on the Skripals. He added that in the immediate aftermath the city had welcomed 2,000 fewer visitors each day. Despite many tourists being put off the cathedral city since the incident on 4 March, he said it would eventually come to be regarded as another chapter in the city’s 1,000-year history. Read more
Russia implies UK destroyed poisoned spy Sergei Skripal’s cat and guinea pigs to ‘remove important witnesses’ (Independent)
Russia is demanding an explanation for the death of Sergei Skripal’s cat and two guinea pigs after they were left in his sealed-off house. The animals were “important evidence” said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, adding that they had been destroyed by British authorities, The government confirmed the cat had been found alive but “in a distressed state” at the house in Salisbury. Found extremely malnourished, officials said the long-haired black Persian was taken to the Porton Down chemical weapons laboratory for testing but that it was in so much pain that a vet decided to put it down. The guinea pigs reportedly died from dehydration. Read more