Author: Opalim Lifted

It was one story of agony or another across the country yesterday as millions of Nigerians queued endlessly at automated teller machine (ATM) points to collect the new naira notes. Some moved from one bank to the other in search of scarce notes. Their situation was not helped by traders and petrol attendants who started to reject the old notes, leaving buyers and motorists seething with anger. And they now have only 72 hours to change their old notes to new ones or lose the opportunity forever. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said repeatedly that there is no…

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) says it is ready to enhance awareness toward tackling climate change in Africa. Dr. Agnes Kijazi, WMO Regional Director for Africa, made the assertion on Friday in a telephone interview with media reporters. According to her, WMO will continue to enhance its advocacy and awareness to the communities in the region of extreme weather events through early warning and anticipatory actions. “You may know that Africa is vulnerable to extreme weather events with attendant socio-economic impacts. We will continue to enhance our advocacy and awareness of our communities of extreme weather events through early warning…

The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) says its renewed commitment to support entrepreneurship is aimed at boosting the national economy. Mr. Olawale Fasanya, the Director-General of SMEDAN, made this known at the closing ceremony of training for 80 Women on Self Employment Programme (WISE-P) in Lokoja on Friday. “The training is aimed at boosting food production to enhance food security,” he said. Malam Shuaibu Haruna, the Deputy Director of Planning in the agency, who represented the director-general, assured that SMEDAN would continue to support all entrepreneurs nationwide. “We want to assure Nigerians that we would achieve…

The Green Sahara farms in partnership with the Unity Schools Old Students Association (USOSA) and Sterling One Foundation Agro-forestry for Climate Action Project (SACAP) have engaged in the planting of 10,000 trees across 24 unity colleges. This is in a bid to mitigate the impact of climate change such as flooding and desertification across the country. The President General of USOSA, Mr. Mike Magaji, at the inauguration of the tree planting at the Federal Government Girls College, Bwari, on Friday, said there was a need to inculcate the culture of environmental participation through young children. Magaji said that doing this…

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), says the average price of 5kg of cooking gas increased from N3,594.81 in December 2021 to N4,565.56 in December 2022. This is contained in the Bureau’s “Cooking Gas Price Watch’’ for December 2022 released on Friday in Abuja. The report said the December 2022 price represented a 27 percent increase compared to what was obtained in December 2021. The report said on a month-on-month basis, the price rose by 0.36 percent from N4,549.14 recorded in November 2022 to N4,565.56 in December 2022. On state profile analysis, the report showed that Kwara recorded the highest…

Seven persons have lost their lives in an accident that occurred at Gwachip village in Gurara Local Government Area of Niger State. According to the Federal Road Safety Corps sector commander, Kumar Tsukwan, the accident which claimed seven lives was a lone crash that resulted from a burst tyre. 11 killed, eight injured in Bauchi auto crash Tsukwan, who described the accident as fatal, said the white Toyota Hiace was heading to Lagos from Katsina when the accident occurred. He further stated that corpses have been deposited at the Suleja General Hospital while those injured are receiving treatment at the…

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said on Friday that it was ready to conduct a mock accreditation of voters ahead of the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections. National Chairman of the Commission Prof Mahmood Yakubu disclosed this at a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners from the 36 States of the Federation and the FCT He said the mock accreditation exercise, which will take place in about 436 polling units across the country, is aimed at testing the readiness of the Biomodial Voter Accreditations System(BIVAS). 2023 election is the election of the young people – INEC chairman He…

The Rivers State High Court has sentenced one Bestman Lekia to death by hanging for killing four people and using one of his victims’ intestines to prepare plantain porridge. Lekia was also said to have burnt buildings in a community in Khana Local Government Area. The convict and others said to be at large murdered Gbodu Nobale, Etim Ekpe, Nenalebarri Mmeabe, and Loveday Mmeabe. Lekia and his gang first kidnapped Loveday Mmeabe, took him to a place where they removed his intestines, and used them to prepare a plantain meal in the Okwalie community in the Khana area in 2019.…

Actress Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde has lamented most Nigerians are subjected to suffering which she termed needless and evil. The thespian, who relocated to the United States of America with her family almost two years ago, explained she’s now privy to many things taken for granted in her home country by virtue of her stay in the US. She said as a country with intelligent people, it feels extremely frustrating to see the acute suffering overwhelming Nigerians. She wondered if suffering was embedded in the fabric of the country as she queried why people must agonize for things to happen. “After living…

The International Monetary Fund projects that Rwanda’s economy will grow by 6.2% this year, accelerating to 7.5% next year, Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said during a visit to Kigali on Thursday. “We are projecting that the east African nation to grow by 6.2% in 2023 and for the growth to accelerate in 2024 to 7.5%. We need to recognize that the east African nation like the rest of the world has been affected by COVID-19 and war in Ukraine that has taken away 1.7% from our pre-COVID projections,” she told reporters. Travel and tourism Known as the land of a thousand…