The Federal Government is poised to receive fresh loan funding from the World Bank, with approval expected for loans totalling $2.25bn on June 13, 2024. The first project is the Nigeria Reforms for Economic Stabilization to Enable Transformation Development Policy Financing, which is set to receive $1.5bn. The Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, at the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank last month, had announced that the nation had qualified for processing a loan, described as ‘virtually a grant’ of $2.25bn from the World Bank at one per cent interest rate. The package, approved by the Board of Directors of the World Bank, offers a 40-year term with a 10-year moratorium and a nominal one per cent interest rate. “The principal programme development objective is to raise non-oil revenues and safeguard oil and gas revenues.
Source:Punch
May 12, 2024 14:49 UTC
The Federal Government is set to review the nation’s visa policy to attract foreign investments and boost visits to the country. The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this at the Transcorp Hotel, Abuja during a stakeholders consultative meeting on Nigeria visa on Saturday. So, once we get the visa policy right and we get the implementation framework perfect, then definitely the economic prosperity will come.”He stressed that a visa policy that attracts investments and encourages visitors to visit Nigeria from across the world without putting the country’s security in jeopardy. He said, “You see, seamless access to any country is key for investment promotion, job creation, foreign direct investment. He noted that the Tinubu-led administration’s resolve is to make Nigeria’s visa policy the best in the world and that it would not rest on its oasis until it is achieved.
Source:Punch
May 12, 2024 08:31 UTC
Bruins captain Brad Marchand was absent from the Saturday, May 11, practice. On top of that, Montgomery expanded on his thoughts about what happened to Marchand in Game 3. Initially, not many were aware of what had happened on the ice in the action between Marchand and Bennett. Both collided in a heavy hit that made the Bruins captain fall to the ice. Further analysis of the hit footage has revealed the probable truth of what happened on the ice between Marchand and Bennett.
Source:Punch
May 12, 2024 07:25 UTC
The National Orientation Agency (NOA) says the Federal Government will soon introduce Citizenship Studies as core subjects at all levels of education in Nigeria. He said the introduction of citizenship study into the country’s school education system was necessary to help inculcate the right values and characters into every Nigeria’s child. “The Federal Government will soon introduce Citizenship Studies in all levels of education in Nigeria–primary, secondary and tertiary education–where our children will undertake them as compulsory subjects and courses. “This will enable them to learn the right values and characters and how to be a good Nigerian and make the country proud anywhere they go. The director-general commended the stakeholders for always being ever-supportive and dependable in working with NOA to move Nigeria forward.
Source:The Guardian
May 12, 2024 01:46 UTC
To mark the start of the 2024 Hajj season, a 43-man advance team of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) will today (Sunday) depart Abuja for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They are the reason you are there, so at every point in time, make sure you attend or treat them with courtesy and respect,” the chairman told the team. While telling them that the bar has been raised and expectations is high, Arabi emphatically told them to take the admonition seriously. “I urge you to be patient with the pilgrims, minimize their complaints and focus on the task at hand,” Elegushi told the team. He enjoined the team to represent the Commission well while in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, submitting that, “you are our eyes and ears of the management.
Source:Nigerian Tribune
May 12, 2024 00:58 UTC
After 362 years of frankly horrendous treatment at the hands of her husband, Mr Punch, Judy has had enough. The man in the booth – or “professor”, as Punch and Judy puppeteers are known – is Spike Lidington. Aged 20, he is part of an emerging scene of younger people who are getting interested in the art of puppetry in general, and Punch and Judy in particular. Dr Tony Lidington, lecturer in drama at Exeter and a 40-year veteran of the seaside entertainment business (and Spike’s father), shrugged off the attack. after newsletter promotion“But people think of Punch and Judy as this very traditional form of entertainment that’s never really changed, which isn’t really true.
Source:Punch
May 11, 2024 16:34 UTC
The Army Headquarters has announced investigation into a viral footage showing soldiers protesting at the 8 Division Garrison detention facility in Sokoto. The footage, circulating on social media, depicts personnel held in custody expressing grievances. In a statement signed Saturday by Onyema Nwachukwu, Major General Director Army Public Relations, the Army regretted the incident adding that it would not condone the soldiers’ behaviour, which constitutes mutiny and misconduct. According to the report, the Chief of Army Staff has ordered a probe to determine if the incident is isolated or widespread in similar facilities. “While the Service is mindful of its subjective oversight engagements by statutory bodies, it remains primarily a responsible, self-regulating professional body.
Source:Nigerian Tribune
May 11, 2024 14:18 UTC
“I had to leave Ekpan and my business because of the incessant crisis in the community. My husband is very old and he has retired, so this business is what we are using to sustain ourselves. But the business is tiring with the increase of prices of things in the market,” she lamented. I put money into this business every month, but it seems the more I am putting money, the more unprofitable it is becoming because of the increase in prices of every commodity in the market. “As a trader, what I spend is more than what I make from my business.
Source:Nigerian Tribune
May 11, 2024 13:55 UTC
I met my wife, Glory, in 2007 while I was working with the Edo State Universal Basic Education (Board). She greeted us before going in and she later came outside and told me she came to apply for a job. What event was the most memorable to you on your wedding day? The most memorable thing for me was when she said, “I do.” Every other aspect of our wedding was memorable to me as well. You have to be patient and learn how to control your anger in marriage.
Source:Punch
May 11, 2024 13:34 UTC
13 Yaron Ilovich, 28 aka DJ Artifex survived the Nova Festival. “Music is truly a universal language.”13 Nova Music Festival Exhibition recreates the fateful festival where over 360 were murdered by Hamas and 44 taken hostage. 13 A buned out car recovered from the Nova Music Festival is displayed in the exhibtion – just one of the many grim artifacts there. Emmy Park for NY Post“On that day, random decisions meant the difference between life and death,” one sign reads. And the light will always win.”“The Nova Music Festival Exhibition: October 7th 06:29am — The Moment Music Stood Still,” is open Saturday through Thursday 11a.m.
Source:Punch
May 11, 2024 13:17 UTC
The Governor of Abia State, Alex Otti, has said he is not worried about the mass defection of members of the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressive Congress in the state. He also said that political parties are like churches and anyone is free to join, adding that it was the Abia PDP that should worried that their members were leaving them. The governor spoke on Thursday in Umuahia the state capital during his monthly media briefing tagged “Governor Alex Otti Speaks to Abians”. He said he was more concerned with delivering governance to the state residents than the movement of the PDP members to APC. Otti said his administration is paying huge attention to the area of agriculture and healthcare.
Source:Punch
May 10, 2024 16:25 UTC
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has called on the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to immediately commence an independent investigation into the alleged assault on a human rights activist and lawyer, Maxwell Opara, at the premises of the Federal High Court, Abuja on May 7, 2024. The Commission urged everyone, including the aggrieved lawyer to refrain from any action that is at variance with what the legal profession stands for while awaiting the outcome of the investigation, to avoid further escalation of the issue. ALSO READ: We’re committed to upholding protection of press freedom in Nigeria — NHRCThe NHRC boss, who disapproved of the said act while reacting to media reports on the incident, wondered why aggrieved individuals and groups take laws into their own hands attacking and assaulting Citizens. The learned Silk cited national, regional and international Laws and Articles prohibiting any form of assaults, torture or attacks. The Executive Secretary cited Section 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 which provides that “Every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference.
Source:Nigerian Tribune
May 10, 2024 16:22 UTC
Take note: this is not a play about the eponymous magazine specialising in scathing political satire, although such fare might more readily be expected from playwright James Graham. This is about the ripple effects of a single punch, thrown by a teenager on a night out, with fatal consequences. Fabulously directed by Adam Penford, it is based on a memoir by Jacob Dunne who killed 28-year-old trainee paramedic James Hodgkinson in this way. It is a powerful study of problematic young masculinity that defines itself through swagger, reputation and recreational violence. But it is also a way of giving a terribly sad story as gentle an ending as it can have.
Source:Punch
May 10, 2024 16:21 UTC
Governor Alex Otti of Abia State says it is not on the front burner of his administration to employ new people into the state’s civil service. He said that the issue of employment would arise when the government finished dealing with what it met in the civil service. Otti decried the huge wage bill of about four billion naira for both local government and state on a monthly basis. “But you know with the civil service rules, it is not going to be very easy to exit people. “What we are trying to do with the establishment of the Civil Service Commission and resumption of the new Head of Service and new Permanent Secretaries is to ensure that our people are adequately trained.
Source:Nigerian Tribune
May 10, 2024 13:47 UTC