Author: Chief Editor

•First report to be out April next year •To assess business climate in 54 countries The World Bank Group has begun work to assess the business and investment climate in up to 180 economies under its flagship Business Ready project. The Washington-based institution disclosed this in a statement yesterday. The Business Ready project is a key instrument of its new strategy to facilitate private investment, generate employment, and improve productivity to help countries accelerate development in inclusive and sustainable ways. It disclosed that Business Ready improves upon and replaces the World Bank Group’s earlier Doing Business project. “It reflects a…

The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, on Monday, said the Federal Government might not be able to pay workers’ salaries beyond June 2023 without resorting to massively printing money or removing fuel subsidy. Obaseki disclosed this while delivering his address during the 2023 May Day celebration with the theme, “Workers’ rights and socio-economic justice,” held at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, in Benin City. The governor, who reassured the workers that his government would sustain reforms and projects to improve the welfare of workers and ensure better livelihoods for the Edo people, urged the workers in the country to shift…

The Benue State Nigeria Labour Congress Chairman, Terungwa Igbe, has asked the state government to settle all unpaid salaries arrears and pensions of workers. Igbe, who decried the plight of workers in the state, made the call at the state secretariat along Otukpo road instead of IBB square, the usual venue where workers celebrate May Day. He said the workers opted for a low-key commemoration of the event due to huge salary arrears being owed by the state government. The NLC boss also demanded the harmonisation of all workers’ retirement age from 35 years of service to 40 years and…

The Arewa Community in Southern Nigeria has faulted the call for the unconditional release of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.). The leader of the community, Musa Saidu, stated this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja. President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, had on Sunday urged Buhari to release Kanu before the end of his tenure. But Saidu said that the call was wrong. “Where were they when Kanu was leading IPOB militants to kill innocent people in the South East? “Not only in the South East, so…

Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State has insisted that the creation of additional first-class emirates in the state has come to stay, as the split of the traditional emirate enjoys overwhelming support of indigenes. According to Ganduje, regardless of perceived moves by the incoming administration to review the traditional institution, nothing will happen to the new emirates. Ganduje was addressing workers during the May Day celebration, yesterday, ostensibly in response to the recent comment by New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, on the dethronement of the 14th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II. In a viral video…

• Be wary of assenting to controversial bills before exit Telecommunications operators have kicked against their inclusion in the regulation by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) under the planned NITDA Bill currently being debated at the National Assembly. Telcos under the aegis of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), stated this in their submission to the Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on ICT and Cyber Security, during a public hearing on the bill. In the document made available to journalists, yesterday, they submitted that including telecoms operators as entities to be…

Former Minister of Niger Delta, Godswill Akpabio, yesterday, expressed readiness to team up with the incoming administration to churn out legislation aimed at infrastructural, social and educational reforms to tackle the menace of youth restiveness in the country. Akpabio fielded questions from State House Correspondents after he met with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The former governor, who is vying for the office of the Senate President in the 10th National Assembly, said he would work with the new government to, particularly, facilitate legislations that would bring about policies aimed at empowering the youths. He said: “The…

Swipha recalls all batches of Polyfort Suspension in stock Following global safety concerns, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), yesterday, said it had started investigating and responding to news on recall of Indomie noodles by Taiwanese and Malaysian authorities. Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, in a statement, said: “Tomorrow (today), May 2, 2023, NAFDAC’s Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Directorate will randomly sample Indomie noodles (including the seasoning). The compound of interest is ethylene oxide. The Director, Food Lab Services Directorate, has been engaged. He is working on methodology for the analysis. “It should…

A new document tagged ‘Situation at a glance’ on Meningitis in Nigeria, released yesterday, by World Health Organisation (WHO), showed that from October 1, 2022 to April 16, 2023, a total of 1,686 suspected cases, 532 confirmed cases and 124 deaths, with a Case Fatality Ratio (CFR) of seven per cent were reported from 81 councils (LGAs) in 22 out of the 36 states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT. CFR measures severity of disease by defining the total number of deaths as a proportion of reported cases at a specific time. According to the report, males account for 57…

Members of the All Progressives Congress, South West Coalition, on Wednesday, endorsed Senator Sani Musa as its preferred candidate for the 10th Senate Presidency. Musa is the senator representing Niger East Senatorial District and one of the top contenders for the Senate President of the 10th Senate that will be inaugurated in June. Stating the reasons for the group’s endorsement, the group Coordinator, Ade Ifeshile, stated that Musa was loyal to the party’s ideals and philosophies, and had “paid his dues in party politics.” He added that Musa showed his loyalty to the party by stepping down from his ambition…