NIGERIAN NEWS BLOGGERS

The Minister of State for Education, Mr Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, says the discussion is still ongoing on school resumption. Nwajiuba said this during the Presidential Task Force on the Coronavirus (COVID-19) briefing on Monday in Abuja. While answering a question on possible reopening of schools, the minister said that discussion on it was still going on.   He said, “On resumption of schools, the discussion is still ongoing. “We have received feedback from all universities on their states of preparedness.  “These are being tabled before the PTF.”

THE Northern Elders Forum, NEF, has faulted the Senate’s move to review and alter some provisions of the 1999 constitution (as amended).   According to the elders, federal lawmakers, since 1999, have spent huge amounts of money to fund the constitution review process without any meaningful impact on the lives of the people.   So, the Forum advised the National Assembly to direct its energy and mandate towards convincing President Muhammadu Buhari to bring an end to the insurgency in the North East and killings in most parts of the country.   The Northern Elders spoke at a briefing by NEF’s Director of Publicity, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, in Abuja yesterday. It would be recalled, that the Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) had invited the public to submit memorandum to assist the “further alteration of the provisions of the Constitution (as amended)”.   The invitation said all Nigerians had only two weeks to submit their memoranda...

To ensure synergy and effective ministry supervision, President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the transfer of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy. A statement by the Spokesperson of the Minister, Mrs. Uwa Suleiman said the approval for the transfer was based on Mr President’s consideration for the critical role of NIMC towards the realisation of the objectives of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for a Digital Nigeria (NDEPS). It said also said that the President directives for NIMC to be under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy is an illustration of Mr President’s vote of confidence on Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), the Minister, based on an unprecedented achievement he has recorded within a short time in office. It will be recalled that Dr. Pantami has, within his first year in office, amongst others, resolved the ICT sector’s decade-long dilemma of Ri...

UNN VC, Prof. Charles Igwe (3rd right); his deputy, Prof. Pat Okpoko (3rd left); and other management and staff of Faculty of Engineering, UNN, during the unveiling of the anti-COVID-19 digital machine at UNN, August 27th, 2020. The University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN, has launched a contactless digital hand-cleaning machine that uses sensor to monitor body temperature, dispenses hand sanitizer, detergent and water.   Inspecting the equipment produced by the institution’s faculty of Engineering, the Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof Charles Igwe, said that the machine was an improvement over the manual hand cleaning machine that dispenses detergent and water.   “This machine is different from what we have seen before, it performs four functions at a time without the user making any physical contact,”  the Vice-Chancellor, who was visibly elated said after using the machine to clean his hand and measure his temperature.   He challenged the Faculty of Engineering...

The junta that seized power in Mali wants a military-led transitional body to rule for three years and has agreed to release the ousted President, a source in a visiting West African delegation and the rebel soldiers, has said.   Last week’s coup, Mali’s second in eight years, followed months of protests calling for Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to resign as public discontent with the government grew over the collapsing economy and a brutal Islamist insurgency.   “The junta has affirmed that it wants a three-year transition to review the foundations of the Malian state. This transition will be directed by a body led by a soldier, who will also be head of state,” a source in the ECOWAS delegation told AFP after talks with the junta. “The government will also be predominantly composed of soldiers” under the proposal, the source said on condition of anonymity.   A junta official confirmed to AFP that “the three-year transition would have a military president and a government mostly...

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN,  has moved against unscrupulous Nigerians and corporate, who abuse the Form M system through over-pricing as it introduces Product Price Verification Mechanism (PPVM).   It has, therefore, directed authorised dealers to use the PPVM to verify quoted prices of goods and services before approving Form M for their customers.   In a circular referenced: TED/FEM/FP/GEN/01/005, dated August 24, 2020 and signed by the Director of Trade and Exchange, Dr Ozoemena Nnaji, the apex bank also directed authorised dealers to stop opening Form M which payment are routed through a buying company/agent or any third party.   It said: “As part of continued efforts by the CBN to ensure prudent use of our foreign exchange resource and eliminate over-invoicing, transfer pricing, double handling charges, and avoidable cots that are ultimately passed to the average Nigerian consumers, authorised dealers are hereby directed to desist from opening Form M which...

West African envoys held talks with Mali's military junta on Saturday to try to push for a speedy return to civilian rule after a coup in the troubled nation. The delegation, headed by former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan, held talks for half an hour with soldiers who seized power on Tuesday, including new strongman colonel Assimi Goita, an AFP journalist said. The envoys from the regional ECOWAS bloc also hope to meet ousted president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who is being detained by the junta at a military camp outside Bamako. Rebel soldiers seized Keita and other leaders after a mutiny on Tuesday, dealing another deep blow to a country already struggling with a brutal extremist insurgency and widespread public discontent over its government. Mali's neighbors have called for Keita to be reinstated, saying the purpose of the delegation's visit was to help "ensure the immediate return of constitutional order". "ECOWAS appreciates what is happening in Ma...