Wednesday, February 15, 2017

BBC Launches 2017 Komla Dumor Award

Komla Dumor died suddenly aged 41 in 2014. BBC
The BBC is seeking a future star of African journalism for the BBC World News Komla Dumor Award, now in its third year.

Knowing Real Owners Of Oil, Gas Firms Crucial To Curb Corruption — NEITI

Knowing the real owners of companies in the oil and gas sector is critical to checking corruption, money laundering, drug and terrorism financing, tax avoidance and evasion, the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, Waziri Adio, has said.

Sub-Saharan Africa Lags In Sustainable Energy Policies: Report

In a survey of 111 countries the World Bank found nearly 80 percent had begun to adopt policies to expand electrical grids, connecting to solar and wind generation
Sub-Saharan Africa, where more than a half billion people live without electricity, trails the world in government policies that promote sustainable energy, according to a new World Bank report Wednesday.

TSA: 20,000 Bank Accounts Closed, Accruals Hit ₦5.244trn

Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun and Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo
 ... Systemspecs, FG yet to agree on commission
About ₦5.244 trillion has accrued to the Treasury Single Account (TSA) of the Federal Government so far, the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr. Ahmed Idris, disclosed yesterday in Abuja at a 2-day retreat to review the TSA implementation in the country.

Fake Currency In Circulation Less Than 1%, CBN Says

Central Bank of Nigeria Headquarters, Abuja FCT
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has refuted claim that about 20% of currency in circulation are fake.

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Ex-CBN Staff Forfeits Property To EFCC For Operating Fake Polytechnic

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibadan zonal office, on Monday‎ executed the interim order granted by a Federal High Court, Ado-Ekiti, in respect of the property of Teedek Polytechnic, Ilogbo- Ekiti.
Property Seized By EFCC from EX-CBN Staff

Nowhere To Go: Nigeria's Crowded Camps Fuel Disease Fears From Open Defecation

NOT REGULAR: NEMA truck supplying water to IDPs. Image source: naij.com
Every time she needs to go to the toilet, Shadima Irima recalls the moment Boko Haram militants stormed her home in northeast Nigeria and killed her cousin before her eyes.
Access to clean water is a problem for IDPs

FOR THE RECORD: 20 Percent Of The Currency In Circulation Is Fake, Says Ex-CBN Dep Gov

Obadiah Mailafia, Ex-CBN Dep Gov
Obadiah Mailafia, former deputy governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), says 20 percent of the currency circulating in the country is fake.

Monday, February 13, 2017

32 Dead In Taiwan's Worst Highway Accident For Decades

A bus that crashed along a highway is lifted by cranes in Taipei on February 14, 2017 ©Sam Yeh (AFP)
A Taiwan bus taking elderly local tourists home from visiting seasonal cherry blossoms careered off a highway Monday night leaving 32 dead, in the island's worst road accident in decades.

Trump And Buhari In 'Cordial' Conversation

Mr Trump told Mr Buhari to "keep up the good work". Reuters
The phone call between Donald Trump and Muhammadu Buhari has taken place, the Nigerian government says.

Nigeria's Boko Haram 'Forces Girls To Blow Themselves Up'

Dr Fatima Akilu
Dr Fatima Akilu is the director of the Neem Foundation and formerly head of the Nigerian government's Countering Violent Extremism Programme.

Brutal Domestic Violence Shocks Mozambique

Gruesome crimes of violence at home over the past week have shocked Mozambicans.

Kenya Jails Union Reps Over Doctors Strike

Kenyan doctors are calling for better pay and working conditions. Reuters
A Kenyan court has jailed seven union officials for a month over a doctors’ strike that has crippled public hospitals for 10 weeks.

487 Federal Agencies To Guzzle ₦2 Trillion — Daily Trust Investigation

Steven Oronsaye-Led Presidential Committee in 2011 recommended the merger of agencies and commissions with overlapping roles.
Hundreds of federal agencies, many of them with duplicated roles, will consume nearly two trillion naira in running their bureaucracies this year.

Why Nigerian Airlines Are Failing — Operators

Arik Airline
The Airline Operators of Nigeria, AON, on Sunday attributed the poor ‎performance of domestic airlines to multiple taxation by various agencies in the aviation sector.

FOR THE RECORD: Western Nations Can’t Solve Nigeria’s Problems — Oyedepo, Ambali, VCs

The Presiding Bishop of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, a.k.a. Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo; the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof Abdulganiyu Ambali; the Vice-Chancellor of Summit University, Offa, Kwara State, Prof Hussein Oloyede; and the National President, Obafemi Awolowo University Muslim Graduates’ Association, Mr. Abdulwaheed Odeyinka, on Sunday said the nation’s problems could not be solved by Western nations.

Sunday, February 12, 2017

FOR THE RECORD: ECOWAS Parliament’s Decision Now Binding On Sub-region — Speaker

ECOWAS Parliament Complex
Speaker of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament, Moustapha Cisse Lo, has said the views of the parliament was now binding, compulsory and will be taken into consideration by the sub-region.

Algeria Buckles Up For Homegrown Auto Drive

Facing up to a sharp drop in oil prices, its main revenue source, Algeria has launched a "new economic model" to reduce reliance on crude by developing its domestic car industry
Once one of Africa's biggest car buyers, Algeria is embarking on an ambitious programme aimed at replacing hundreds of thousands of foreign imports with domestically produced models to keep drivers on the road.

National Reserves 8,000 Tonnes Can’t Solve Food Crisis — Officials

Igbariam Grain Storage Silo facility, Anambra State. The Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO recommends that every country should have reserves of 20kg per person for 3 months at any point in time.
The quantity of food items stored in the 23 national reserves across the country are extremely low and cannot effectively address the rising prices of food in Nigeria, various officials at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and operators in the sector have said.

Rivers Toxic Emission: Govt. Seals Off Chinese Company, Two Others

Rivers State Toxic Smog (Twitter photo)
The Rivers State government on Saturday announced the sealing off of Chinese Govt Company, CGC, in Aluu, over “aggravated air pollution, and breach of environmental laws” in the state.