The Cross River State Government has begun the distribution of subsidised Arabica and Robusta coffee seedlings to farmers across the state as part of efforts to boost coffee production and improve rural livelihoods. This was disclosed in a statement on Saturday by the Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Johnson Ebokpo. Ebokpo said the initiative is aimed at enhancing coffee cultivation, particularly in areas suited for its production. He directed profiled farmers who have made the required payments to visit their respective local government council offices with proof of payment to collect their seedlings. According to the commissioner, Arabica seedlings for farmers…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, has flagged off the sale of fertilizers at 50% subsidized rates to farmers across the state for the 2025 wet farming season. The exercise, which took place in Maiduguri on Saturday, is part of the state government’s broader agricultural support program aimed at boosting food production, enhancing livelihoods, and improving food security in the region. Governor Zulum stated that the fertilizers would be sold to farmers at N15,000 per bag, compared to the market price of N30,000, thereby cutting the cost of agricultural inputs in half. He added that a total of 100 trucks…
By Abdallah el-Kurebe I August 3, 2025 | The global landscape of large language models (LLMs) is undergoing rapid transformation, with Enterprise adoption accelerating and market leadership shifting. According to Menlo Ventures’ 2025 Mid-Year LLM Market Update, enterprise spending on LLM APIs has more than doubled in just six months, jumping from $3.5 billion to $8.4 billion. This significant increase reflects a major shift from experimentation and training to real-world deployment and inference workloads across organizations. Anthropic emerges as Enterprise leader One of the most notable developments in the report is the rise of Anthropic, which has overtaken OpenAI as…
Earlier last week, Nigeria came together in unified celebration as President Bola Tinubu honoured the Super Falcons, the indomitable women’s football team whose exceptional performance at the African Women’s Cup of Nations rekindled national pride. Each player was awarded a three-bedroom apartment and a generous cash reward—a historic gesture highlighting excellence, resilience, and the unifying power of sport. The applause rang out across the nation, inspiring young girls and reminding all Nigerians that extraordinary effort and achievement are seen, valued, and championed. Yet, as the echoes of that well-deserved recognition reverberate, a stark question remains: Where is the honour for…
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals has announced the appointment of David Bird, a seasoned global energy executive and former Shell veteran, as its new Chief Executive Officer. The appointment takes effect from July 2025. David Bird brings over 25 years of experience in the global oil and gas industry, having held leadership roles across refining, petrochemicals, upstream operations, LNG, and logistics. Notably, he served as CEO of Oman’s Duqm Refinery and held senior positions at international energy giants including Shell, Santos, and OQ8. The move signals a new chapter for Dangote Refinery, Africa’s largest single-train refinery, which currently processes…
A Miami federal jury has ordered Tesla to pay $329 million in damages for a deadly 2019 crash involving its Autopilot driver-assistance system, marking the first time the electric vehicle maker has been found liable for its semi-autonomous technology in federal court. The tragic incident took place on April 25, 2019, in Key Largo, Florida. Tesla driver George McGee ran a stop sign and a flashing red light at over 60 miles per hour, striking a parked Chevrolet Tahoe and killing 22-year-old Naibel Benavides Leon while severely injuring her boyfriend Dillon Angulo. McGee testified that he bent down to retrieve…
A total of 732 oil spills were recorded in Nigeria between January and July 2024, with sabotage emerging as the leading cause, accounting for 67.29% of the cases, according to data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC). The data, analysed by Statisense, reveals that sabotage alone was responsible for 485 incidents of oil spills. Another 175 incidents (24.28%) were yet to be attributed to any specific cause, falling under the “Not Yet Determined” category. Other causes included equipment failure (29 incidents or 4.02%), corrosion (19 incidents or 2.64%), operational or maintenance errors (18 incidents or 2.50%), and a…
Microsoft has shattered another historic barrier, becoming the second company ever to reach a staggering $4 trillion market capitalization. While the tech giant built its reputation on Windows, it’s the company’s aggressive push into cloud computing and artificial intelligence that’s now driving its record-smashing valuation. Azure: The engine behind Microsoft’s meteoric rise The heart of Microsoft’s growth story is Azure, its cloud platform meticulously developed over the last decade. Azure now stands as the world’s number two cloud provider, trailing only Amazon Web Services (AWS) and consistently outpacing Google Cloud when it comes to revenue. What’s more, Azure has become…
US President Donald Trump has officially imposed a new 15% import tariff on Nigeria, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Algeria, Angola, Uganda, Libya, Botswana, DRC, Cote d’IVoire, Mozambique, Mauritius, Ghana, Malawi, Cameroun, Chad, Lesotho, Equatorial Guinea, Namibia and Madagascar. This development was announced in an Executive Order issued by the White House on Thursday, titled “Further modifying the reciprocal import tariff rates.” According to the order: “These modifications shall be effective with respect to goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m.” The Executive Order also included varied tariff rates for other countries. South…
Design software company Figma has officially filed to go public, targeting a $1.2 billion initial public offering (IPO), marking one of the most anticipated tech listings in recent years. According to its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Figma plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “FIGA.” The offering comes amid a generally tepid IPO market but signals renewed confidence in the tech sector’s growth prospects. Founded in 2012, Figma revolutionized the design world by enabling collaborative, cloud-based interface design. Its popularity soared, particularly among UX/UI professionals and tech companies, due…