A bill for an act to establish Solid Minerals Producing Areas Development Commission has passed second reading at the Senate. The passage followed the presentation of the lead debate by the sponsor of the bill, Sen. Yakubu Oseni (APC-Kogi) during plenary on Tuesday. The bill is titled: “A Bill for an Act to establish the solid minerals producing areas development commission in the Federal Republic of Nigeria to address environmental devastation and for other connected matters thereto, 2021”. Leading the debate on the general principles of the bill, Oseni said it was read for the first time at the hallowed…
Author: Editor
President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday assured Nigerians that his administration would continue to give priority to their security and welfare. Speaking at the passing out ceremony of the third regular cadet course, Nigeria Police Academy, Wudil, Kano, the president said security was paramount for the nation to move forward. Buhari, represented by the Minister of Police Affairs, Maigari Dingyadi said government required an efficient Police Force, being the lead agency in internal security. “To enhance internal security, we embarked on a well thought-out reform programme to modernise and reposition the Nigeria Police,” he said. Buhari said that government assented to…
Google on Monday said it has renewed its commitment to support startups in Africa with a combined $6 million funding to startups founders and female entrepreneurs in Africa. Nitin Gajria, Managing Director of Google Sub-Saharan Africa, said on Monday in statement that It was part of the ongoing plans to double down on supporting Black startup founders. Gajra said that the programme, in collaboration with the Tony Elumelu foundation, would provide seed capital to 500 women entrepreneurs in Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and selected Francophone countries. He said it would prepare them to navigate their businesses through the start-up and…
World Health Organisation (WHO) is supporting a South African consortium in establishing the first COVID-19 mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub, the UN health agency announced on Monday. The South African consortium comprises Biovac, Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines, a network of universities and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The facility will allow manufacturers from developing countries to receive training on how to produce vaccines, and the relevant licenses to do so, as part of global efforts to scale-up access to lifesaving treatments. The development follows WHO’s call in April for public and private companies to express their…
U.S. President Joe Biden, on Monday announced plans to allocate 55 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the world, nothing that 10 million doses would be shared to Africa countries. Biden, in a statement from the White House in Washington, DC, said the doses were the remaining part of the 80 million he pledged to allocate by the end of June. “Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing the distribution list for 55 million of the 80 million doses of America’s own vaccine supply Biden has pledged to allocate by the end of June in service of ending the pandemic globally.…
Access Bank Plc has unveiled the third edition of its Womenpreneur Pitch-a-ton Africa programme to empower female entrepreneurs with financial and business skills. Mrs Ayona Trimnell, the bank’s Group Head W Initiative, said this in a statement made available to newsmen on Tuesday in Lagos. The Womenpreneur Pitch-a-ton Africa programme is designed to provide female owned businesses across Africa an opportunity to access finance, world-class business trainings as well as mentoring opportunities. Trimnell said the programme had been designed to create an enabling environment for female entrepreneurs to grow their businesses. She noted that the bank had been a leading…
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has delisted additional six Computer Based Centres (CBT) over poor performance on the second day of the 2021 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). Dr Fabian Benjamin, Head, Protocol and Public Affairs of JAMB, disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday. The board had earlier delisted 24 CBT centres across the country over poor performance at the commencement of the 2021 UTME. This figure brings the total number of delisted centres across the country to 30. Benjamin said candidates who were unable to register during the allowable time…
FRSC says a number of vehicles were destroyed in a tanker explosion at Ogere on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway on Tuesday. FRSC Sector Commander in Ogun, Mr Ahmed Umar, who confirmed the incident said that it occurred at about 6.20 a.m. Umar explained that the explosion occurred in front of Romona trailer park at Ogere. “The fire is serious; the number of vehicles involved cannot be ascertained yet. “Ogun State Fire Service has arrived the scene, while FRSC operatives are on ground managing the traffic situation,’’ he said. It was the fifth of such tragedies involving fuel tankers in the Lagos…
The Sokoto zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Monday, secured the conviction of Murtala Abdullateef before Justice Malami Dogondaji of the Sokoto State High Court on one count charge, for attempting to defraud foreigners through Facebook while presenting himself as a United States Army General serving in war-torn Syria. This is contained in a statement by the spokesperson of the Commission, Mr Wilson Uwujaren made available to ASHENEWS on Monday. The charge reads, “that you Murtala Abdullateef sometime in May, 2021 in Sokoto, within the Judicial Division of the High Court of Justice of Sokoto…
President Muhammadu Buhari of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has appointed George Ekpungu as the Secretary of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The appointment is for a fresh tenure of five years. Also appointed as Board Members of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission are Luqman Muhammad (South South), Anumba Adaeze (South East), Kole Adesina (North Central) and Yahya Muhammad (North East). This appointment was in line with Section 2 (1) and Section 4 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Act, 2004. According to the statement EFCC has been operating without Board Members since 2015. President Buhari…