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A train from Kaduna heading for Abuja has derailed at Jere, Kaduna, an hour after commencing its journey on Sunday.

The train which had dozens of passengers on board departed Kaduna around 8:05 am.

Three carriages were reported to have skidded off the tracks.

Security personnel, including the Nigeria Police and Army, were present at the site to provide support.

https://www.channelstv.com/2024/05/26/abuja-bound-train-derails-in-kaduna/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR28bvcxJmMev8x95hdoNyuZkzgg8EshmlRo1CD-_7Ot6ItGj32uSv11j68_aem_Ad-OkvBO2gsjNgHczQu3AxyCB5p5M7LQS28K0HlCsXzbBT8VVyPkHBll_NWqd5su3kLzl65CS3Ms5KzIkd9ibKL6

NSIB is aware of the derailment of an Abuja-bound train from Kaduna, which occurred halfway into the journey at Jere. A go-team has been deployed to the site of the incident.

Mrs Bimbo Olawumi Oladeji
Director, Public Affairs and Consumer Protection,
Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau
+234 915 234 2156

Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau

[quote author=nlfpmod post=130113849][/quote]One step forward, na 10 backwards be BAT admin.

Ebikpawa oo.

wengerjay:
https://leadership.ng/excluvise-sanusi-ii-reinstated-as-kano-emir/

Dem dey change Emira like dross.

In an assessment of President Bola Tinubu’s first year in office, a one-time member of the House of Representatives and elder statesman, Dr Usman Bugaje, accused the administration of lack of progress in addressing the nation’s pressing issues.

During an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Wednesday, Bugaje was asked about the government’s decision to mark Tinubu’s first year in office with a low-key approach, without any fanfare.

In his response, Bugaje said, “Well, as Citizens and as people who have been in government, clearly the last one year has been a tragedy, simple. There is not one problem they have been able to solve, so I cannot see any other than low-key.”

Bugaje attributed the low-key approach to the administration’s recognition of the public’s frustration and anger.


“I mean, I give them the sense that they are feeling the pressure, they can see the faces of Nigerians and so perhaps they trying to see how can they assuage this anger because the people are angry,” he said.

Expressing concern over the government’s inability to address the country’s challenges, Bugaje stated, “Since this Administration came one year ago, I’ve not seen one problem that they have solved. If anything, the policies they started with have created far more problems than they found, and in this one year, they are clearly groping in the dark without very clear [direction].”

Bugaje emphasised the need for the administration to seek help from experienced individuals, regardless of their political affiliations.

“This is the time really to admit and to then seek help from those who know, and Nigeria is full of people with the experience with the expertise, they may not be in your party, they may not even be in politics, but this is the way many countries have been able to get out of the problem they have found themselves,” he said.


Tinubu inaugurates 15-man governing board for NEITI
Highlighting the importance of measurable metrics in evaluating governance, Bugaje expressed disappointment and accused the government of a lack of a baseline established.

“We as a nation should have by now developed metrics for evaluating governance. In the academic cycle, there are, and there are statistics. Every government should have come up with a baseline. After one year, they will be able to say scientifically this is the production in terms of Agriculture, what we found in 2023, and this last season we have improved by a number of metric tons. In the field of security, these are the figures we would have improved.”

Bugaje cited the recent kidnapping of 20 people in Dawaki, an estate in Abuja, as a reminder of the deteriorating security situation in the country’s capital, questioning the government’s ability to ensure the safety of its citizens.

“So my point is really what I’ve had so far are empty rhetorics that have not spoken to the problems on the ground,” Bugaje noted.

He further called for tangible solutions and a willingness from the government to seek assistance from experienced individuals outside the government’s circles.

On Tuesday, about 20 residents of Dawaki, a community near Kubwa in the Federal Capital Territory, were kidnapped.


The attackers were said to have raided houses on Frank Opara Street before security operatives responded to distress calls.


https://punchng.com/tinubus-first-year-in-office-tragedy-elder-statesman-bugaje/

YouCantSeeMee:
Alonso and all the boys them don try…

Them try make we no lie.

No be small.

Bayern Leverkuson unbeaten run ends with a loss to Atalanta in Europa Cup final.

Nlfpmod, gofarment still dey wonder why food scarcity.

Dis pipu neva kpai finish.

Residents of New Marte are now under curfew after a Superintendent of Police was killed by suspected Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists in the Marte LGA, Borno State, on Monday night.

It was gathered that the ISWAP fighters sneaked into New Marte and ambushed the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) and his team, resulting in the officer’s death.

Thung Khe Pass, White Stone Slope, Hoa Binh, Flycam - Nếm TV

A security source revealed that the attackers initially targeted one Dr Adamu Fatai in New Marte.

“Upon noticing suspicious movement, Dr Fatai ran to the police station to alert the DPO. The police mobilised to counter the threat, but the ISWAP fighters shot the DPO and injured others around 2am while residents were asleep.

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“They trekked into the town without any vehicles or motorcycles,” the source said.

The injured policemen were taken to Maiduguri General Hospital along with the body of the DPO, SP Pius Sunday Swanta.

ISWAP terrorists had also attacked New Marte a week earlier, killing the head of the civilian Joint Task Force in the area.

Following the DPO’s death, residents said troops ordered them to remain indoors, accusing them of collaborating with ISWAP.


“The soldiers accused us of being collaborators with ISWAP. They imposed a curfew and warned that anyone who ventured outside would be killed. They intend to conduct house-to-house searches,” a resident, who does not want to be named, said.

The residents expressed their distress, saying that the DPO had defended them for the past two years and appealed to Governor Babagana Zulum for help.

The Borno Police command spokesman, ASP Nahum Kenneth Daso, confirmed the incident and stated that the authorities are working to determine the circumstances of the attack.

https://dailytrust.com/curfew-in-borno-village-as-iswap-terrorists-kill-dpo/

seunmsg:
To undemocratic elements who see politics strictly from tribal lens, anyone not supporting a lying and dishonest cretin Peter Obi must be doing it for tribal reason. Dude, we are not all like you?

Dis one dey here.

The Naira gained N28.34 at the official market, trading at N1,468.99 to the dollar.

Data from the official trading platform of the FMDQ Exchange, on Monday,, revealed that the gain represented a 1.89 per cent appreciation for the Naira.


The percentage increase is impressive when compared to the previous trading date on Friday, May 17, 2024 when the local currency traded at N1,497.33 to the dollar.

People Talk: On sale of new Naira notes at Nigerian parties0:00 / 0:00
Also, the volume of currency traded appreciated as the total daily turnover increased to 161.41 million dollars on Monday up from 83.50 million dollars recorded on Friday.


Meanwhile, at the Investor’s and Exporter’s (I&E) window, the Naira traded between N1,550 and N1,400 against the dollar.

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2024/05/naira-gains-n28-34-against-dollar-at-official-market/

Nlfpmod, if we fit collect tenament or land use charge, UK get right too

The UK Transport for London (TfL) has asked the Nigerian government —included in a list of “stubborn minority” debtors— to pay up its embassy congestion charge, which now stands at £8.4 million and has been unpaid for about 20 years.


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Nigeria, owing £8,395,055, ranked fourth among the UK’s 48 foreign debtors who have shirked embassy rent since 2003.

The American embassy ranked first in the list of debtors owing nearly £15 million, followed by Japan (£10 million) and the High Commission for India (£8.5 million).

“The majority of embassies in London do pay the charge, but there remains a stubborn minority who refuse to do so, despite our representations through diplomatic channels,” the UK government said.

TfL clarified that the embassy congestion charge was payment for service, not tax, which makes it applicable to diplomats.

The congestion charge, according to TfL, “is a charge for a service and not a tax,” adding that “diplomats are not exempted from paying it.”

The UK government said it was pushing to escalate the matter to the International Court of Justice to ensure offending nations get penalised should they refuse to pay.
“We will continue to pursue all unpaid Congestion Charge fees and related penalty charge notices and are pushing for the matter to be taken up at the International Court of Justice,” TfL stated.

The callout was reminiscent of Nigerian FCT minister Nyesom Wike’s appeal, who in February, asked the British High Commission and other foreign embassies to pay up their ground rent or risk revocation of licence.

According to Mr Wike, the British High Commission owed the Nigerian government $1,000.

https://gazettengr.com/uk-calls-out-nigerian-government-over-unpaid-8-4-million-embassy-ground-rent-since-2003/

Nlfpmod, gofament no de think oo. Dem just dey do nonsense palliatives.

How much pipu get for hand, to feed na wahala now.

Administration1:
Source:https://www.thecable.ng/patients-at-ogun-psychiatric-hospital-protest-poor-treatment/amp/

Roundabout pipu don join matter.

Manufacturers of fast-moving consumer goods, FMCG are in dire agony over the continued rise in unsold goods in their warehouses, a development which would lead to a further significant decline in output level in the sector.
The continued rise in unsold goods is caused by two factors namely the rising cost of living and the declining purchasing power of the citizens.



Financial Vanguard’s findings show that due to the downturn in the consumers’ disposable income, the stock of unsold goods for manufacturers in the fast-moving consumer good, FMCG, sector of the economy rose Year-on-Year (YoY) by 27 per cent during the financial year ended December 31, 2023. The sector operators also indicated that the situation is worsening in 2024 as they expect to report over a 30 per cent rise in unsold goods in the first quarter of the year, Q1’24.


Consequently, they hinted that the output levels have been going down steadily since mid-last year, when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the report showed that capacity utilisation in the food and beverages sector fell to 49 per cent from 61 per cent in the corresponding period in 2022, indicating a 20 percentage point decline.

Nigerians have been battling with inflationary pressures with its curtailing effect on consumers’ purchasing power in the last eighteen months.

The headline inflation rate has been on a constant increase, rising to 28.82 percent in December 2023 from 21.34 per cent in December 2022, triggered by various factors including high energy cost, and insecurity, especially in the farming communities in Nigeria, among others.

Within the same period also, food inflation surged to 33.93 percent from 23.75 percent a year ago.
The trend has continued unabated in 2024 with headline and food inflation moving further up to 33.69 per cent and 40.53 percent in April from 29.90 percent and 35.41 percent at the beginning of the year respectively.

A combination of the massive increase in inflation coupled with naira devaluation had resulted in price mark up by manufacturers to cover high input costs.

But this cost coverage measure has also alienated many of their consumers, thereby slowing down sales.
Financial Vanguard’s findings from the operations of 15 major FMCGs clearly show a burdensome price index escalating the stock of unsold goods amounting to N104.45 billion despite the huge cut in production quantity.


The companies are BUA Foods Plc, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Nestle Nigeria Plc, Presco Plc, Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Okomu Oil Nigeria Plc, NASCON Allied Industries Plc, May & Baker Nigeria Plc, Fidson Healthcare Plc, and Neimeth Pharmaceuticals Plc.

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Others are Guinness Nigeria Plc, Champion Breweries Plc, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, Nigerian Breweries Plc and Honeywell Flour Mills Plc.

Companies’ records
The breakdown shows that while a number of the companies recorded a reduction in the level of their stock of unsold goods, palm oil producers – Okomu Oil Palm Plc and Presco – took the biggest hit. Industry observers believe the oil palm industry should not be recording such poor performance given how essential the product is to the average Nigerian family.

Presco, the leading palm oil producer, recorded the highest stockpile of unsold goods as the inventory of finished unsold goods rose by 249.4 per cent to N1.45 billion, followed by May & Baker Plc and Okomu Oil Palm, the second largest palm oil producer, with 160.2 per cent and 124 percent increase in their inventory of unsold goods respectively.

Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc and Cadbury Nigeria Plc also ranked among the worst with record increases of 92.9 percent to N9.76 billion, 74.1 percent to N30.75 billion and 71.5 per cent to N3.55 billion in their stock of unsold goods respectively.


Strangely, all brewers in the report recorded reduction in their unsold goods.

Until economic indices stabilise, situation may persist —NACCIMA
Reacting, Director General of the Nigerian Association of Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Sola Obadimu, said the findings are not surprising, adding that until economic indices are stable, the situation may persist.

His words: “As I always say, we’re in a ‘stagflation’ situation, meaning – persistent rising inflation and high unemployment rates in a static wage situation. The wages are not just static, they’re declining in value in real terms as a result of inflation. Consumers (and industries as well) are also vulnerable/defenceless victims of rising energy costs, unstable forex rates and debilitating infrastructure generally, etc. So, it’s no surprise that inventories are growing.

“We’re all aware of the fact that some major multinationals declared losses for 2023 as a result of the unfavourable economic climate and some chose to leave while others are contemplating. It’s easier for local industries and businesses whose owners can quickly take decisions in the face of constantly changing critical economic indices. These multinationals sometimes have to seek aporovals for some major situations from their global Head Offices which may take a while to come due to lack of adequate understanding of the local environment.

“So, unless we get some sort of stability in critical economic indices and consumer purchasing power increases in value terms, the story may not agreeably be too different in 2024.”


Consumers preference has shifted — Muda Yusuf
Muda Yusuf, Director General, Center for the Promotion of Public Enterprise (CCPE), who blamed the mounting inventory of unsold goods on depreciation in the value of the naira, and high energy cost among others, said that consumers are now reviewing their preferences and are shifting to cheaper substitutes where available.

He said there’s a need to bring down the exchange rate and energy cost to effect a reduction in companies’ cost of production.

He said: “The high level of inventory of finished goods, particularly the unsold inventory, are the consequences of high production cost and the high operating cost that the manufacturers in the FMCG sector have been grappling with over the last one to two years.

“There have been challenges of escalation of cost arising from exchange rate depreciation, high energy cost, high cost of logistics and challenges around the high cost of funds.

“These are the key issues and, naturally, when the production and operating costs increase, the natural thing is for the increase in cost to be passed on to the consumers in the form of high prices.


“So, what we are seeing is that the prices of some of these products have gone up significantly and some by as high as 50% and in some cases, even 100% in the last year.

“And in an environment where the purchasing power is also weak, where the level of poverty is also high, naturally, these inventories will be very slow in terms of outflow from the warehouses because of the weak purchasing power of the consumers.

“There’s also an element of consumer resistance due to this high cost of production. There is also an element of substitution. For some of those products that have substitutes, consumers may decide to go for cheaper substitutes because of the high prices.

“So, basically, these are the factors that are responsible for the high level of inventory of finished goods that we have seen in recent times.”

Speaking on the way out, Yusuf said there’s a need to put strategies in place to ensure a reduction in operating cost, a reduction in logistics costs and a strengthening of the purchasing power of the citizens.



Need to stabilize FX market

He expressed the need to stabilize and boost supply in the foreign exchange (FX) market in order to moderate the depreciation of the currency.

According to him, this will result in a reduction in operating and production cost.

“Once the currency strengthens, the cost of production will, naturally, be less; the cost of logistics, if the energy crisis goes down, will also begin to decelerate.

“Then, of course, there’s also the element of the cost of clearance of cargo.


“These cargoes could be raw materials, it could be intermediate products, and it could be machinery that is used by any of these manufacturers.

“The current methodology of determining the exchange rate for the computation of import duty has made the cost of cargo clearance very prohibitive.

“So, if the government through the fiscal and monetary authorities could do an adjustment to this by fixing the exchange rate for the computation of import duty to between N800 – N1,000/$ and this is fixed for may be three months, that will also help to bring down some of this cost and make the products a lot more affordable because the key issue here is the affordability of these products.

The more affordable they are, the lesser the level of unsold goods,” Yusuf added.

According to him, “The danger in the level of this unsold inventory is that some of these products have expiry dates, which is another risk to these businesses.


It is a good thing that the government is talking about minimum wage. If the workers are empowered, we are likely to see an improvement in demand for some of these products.

“So, there’s a supply side issue to bring down the costs of production, operation and logistics and cost of funds.

“There’s also the demand side issue of empowering the consumer to have the purchasing power to buy these products.”

Rise in unsold goods weakens profitability — FSL Securities
Commenting also, Victor Chiazor, Head, Research at FSL Securities, said: “The 27% rise in inventory for players in the fast-moving consumer goods sector could be attributed to two factors.
“The first could be that the rise is a result of the company’s inability to drive sales due to the rising cost of goods which may have slowed down the volume of goods sold during the period, leading to a rise in inventory.

“Also the second reason for the increase in inventory could be deliberate and the company may decide to increase its inventory position to enable it to plan around the significant volatility in the cost of goods which has remained unpredictable in recent times.


“This helps the company manage the risk around a possible increase in production cost.
“However, whatever the case may be, it has a terrible effect on the course of operation for the business as a slowdown in sales will weaken profitability and a deliberate strategy to increase inventory also ties down capital which could have been raised via borrowing at a high-interest rate given the interest rate environment.

“The government will have to deal with issues around FX volatility, rising energy cost, rising cost of borrowing, bad infrastructure amongst other issues, all of which increase input cost for the manufacturer.”


https://www.vanguardngr.com/2024/05/manufacturers-wail-as-unsold-goods-pile-up-in-warehouses/

Sodeeq Atanda



Risikat Omoluyi, 67, a resident of Magbon in the Ibeju-Lekki area of Lagos State, was living peacefully in her first son’s home until about three months ago.

To her, the building, which belongs to Shina, her first son, was her sanctuary after working all her life raising her children and empowering them to be responsible adults.

But Omoluyi’s life trajectory would be permanently altered. Government officials went to her community and marked some buildings for demolition, including Shina’s buildings, and that was the beginning of her end.

READ ALSO: Gov’t Starts Sanding Landmark Beach

Accepting the finality of the demolition order to pave way for the Lagos-Calabar coastal road, Omoluyi, according to her son, said, “This will not happen in my lifetime.”


An affected building
Photo Credit: Sodeeq Atanda/FIJ.
Even before the commencement of demolitions in these communities, Shina’s mother had died. She died on the third day the buildings were marked for demolition. FIJ learned that another person also died in Magbon because of the order.

“I’ve been mourning many things since my two-room self-contained and one-room self-contained buildings were marked for demolition: I have been mourning the sudden death of my mother, the imminent loss of my buildings and the fear of where and how to forge ahead when they finally bulldoze the buildings, which are all I have in my life,” Shina told FIJ.

While Shina’s building has not yet been bulldozed, many houses have been demolished in Magbon, Iberekodo and Museyo communities.

On February 3, Fatai Moshood Ekundayo, a medical doctor and founder of Mosfat Combination Health Centre in Iberekodo, was caught by surprise and shock when some government officials arrived with a bulldozer to demolish his health facility. At this time, some patients were still on admission in the hospital.


Mosfat Combination Health Centre being rebuilt
Photo Credit: Sodeeq Atanda/FIJ
According to Ekundayo, the metres of land initially marked didn’t affect his hospital. Therefore, he had no reason to panic or make preparations to relocate. But on the day the government personnel wanted to commence operations, they insisted they had to go beyond the marked area. This would then claim a part of the medical house.

“They came and said they would extend beyond the pegged point. I began battling for words to appeal to them to stay within the marked area. But that fell on deaf ears. We told them patients were inside. They said we should discharge them immediately so that they could do their work,” Ekundayo told FIJ on May 15.

Some patients were abruptly discharged, while others were moved to a temporary location for them to continue receiving the necessary attention. But this came at a cost that the doctor and his team never prepared for.

READ ALSO: To Lekki Free Zone Residents, Dangote Refinery Has Brought ‘More Pain Than Joy’

After the frantic effort to make the officials stick to the initial metres of land marked fell through, Ekundayo took it upon himself to engage some people to carefully demolish the affected part rather than leave it to the whims of the state officials.


A site signpost
Photo Credit: Sodeeq Atanda/FIJ
Such are the stories of grief and panic residents and families whose properties in these typically low-income, agrarian communities have been subjected to over the ongoing construction of the N15 trillion coastal super highway being built by the current federal government.

Awarded to HiTech Construction Company Ltd., owned by Gilbert Chagoury, President Bola Tinubu’s long-time ally, the 700-kilometre road will run through nine states, including Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, Bayelsa, Delta, Port Harcourt, Cross River and Akwa Ibom.

VAGUE COMPENSATION PROMISES
While many residents of Iberekodo and Magbon communities have lost their homes, there have been troubling uncertainties as to whether the government will give them any compensation.

Not only have the living residents lost their homes and personal effects, the dead ones have also lost their resting homes to the road construction. Many families buried their dead ones in or beside their houses in these communities.

On both sides of the existing road that leads to the Lagos Free Trade Zone, where the Dangote Refinery is situated, there are hundreds of houses located within the 42 metres of land the government has mapped out to use for the coastal road. But the demolition started with the houses on the left side, leaving people on the other side in anxiety about when the reality of losing their homes would dawn on them.

Houses belonging to Hassan Sainat Alaba’s family have been demolished. These included her grandfather’s building of eight rooms and her mother’s house comprising six rooms and one shop.


A section of some affected houses
Photo Credit: Sodeeq Atanda/FIJ
Beyond that, the body of Alaba’s grandfather, who died 18 years ago, had to be exhumed because of the development. The family has now reburied him somewhere else. This happened to many families who had dead ones within the length of land marked for the road construction.

“I am more than 50 years old now. My grandfather built this house long before I was born, and I was brought up in the same house. But the government has demolished it. My mother’s house was not spared, too,” Alaba told FIJ last Wednesday.

“Losing a house in which you were brought up can be a difficult experience. It is even more painful when you have to disturb your long-buried, dead loved ones. It brings back tearful memories. It’s like a stab in the heart.

“They paid us N30,000 per grave, which was too low compared to the expenses we incurred. To exhume his body alone, we paid N24,000 to those we engaged. We incurred other expenses from our personal purse.”

Several residents interviewed by FIJ mentioned that they had not been paid compensations.

On May 1, David Umahi, the Minister of Works, presided over the well-televised payment of N2.75 billion monetary compensations to some property owners affected by the construction. “Today, we are paying over N2 billion in compensation just from channel 0 to channel 3,” Umahi said.

FIJ could not determine whether Iberekodo and Magbon are within these channels 0 to 3 mentioned by the minister. However, it is a fact they are within the first 47.47 kilometers that run through Ahmadu Bello in Lagos down to Lekki Deep Seaport being funded by the federal government.

A resident, who identified as Balogun Olamide and whose grandfather’s single storeyed building of 15 rooms and mother’s building were brought to the ground, said her family was unsure the government would pay compensation.


A surveyor at work
Photo Credit: Sodeeq Atanda/FIJ
“We heard the government has even paid some people in Lekki. That’s how it has been; it has been a story from a far distance. They are not even saying anything about us here,” Olamide said.

Yet, the rubbles of the houses have been transported to a land owned by a developer for the demolition official’s personal financial gains, according to some of the residents.


On May 14, the Federal Ministry of Works convened a meeting called “Focused Group Stakeholders’ Continuous Engagement/Workshop” to interact with affected communities. A community representative at the meeting told FIJ that the ministry failed to provide any assuring statement as to when property owners would be compensated.

READ ALSO: After FIJ’s Story, Indian Construction Company at Dangote Refinery Pays Workers Owed for 2 Months

“They only told us that it would be paid before the end of the year,” said the representative.

He described the statement as vague and unassuring.

A site engineer, who said he had no authority to speak with the media and asked not be to named, told FIJ that compensation payment would be in phases. “If anyone is saying that the government isn’t talking about compensations, that person is lying. We have marked 42 metres on both sides. We have perfected plans for payment, and I am saying it categorically that they would be paid soon. The process is in three stages: identification of affected properties, evaluation of those properties and payment proper.”

He said that the first two stages had been completed, leaving the last phase unresolved yet. Furthermore, the engineer stated that the demolition carried out so far was “a partial demolition”. “Because it was partial, they were allowed to salvage some building reinforcements, such as roofing sheets, windows and others,” he said.

WATER SCARCITY COMES IN

Ever since the destruction of well-water sources in Ikerekodo, some residents have found is difficult to fetch water for their household needs. And for each of the well destroyed, residents have only received N30,000 as compensation.

When asked for comments, the official earlier quoted claimed that money paid as compensation was not officially from the government but from their “site runnings”.

“We have agreed with the residents that compensations will be paid for their buildings. The government has not paid for demolitions. When they want to pay, it will be in full. What we have paid them was from our site runnings, not from the government purse. It was we, the field supervisors, who decided to pay them from our site runnings,” the official said.

“The amount we paid varied. There were those we gave N25,000, and some got N30,000. There are documents that backed this up. We have been transparent as much as we can.”


Notice of the meeting convened by the works ministry
The residents are now saying that the money was too small, saying a concrete ring was N24,000. According to them, unverified reports indicated that what the government had allocated for such a facility was N150,000.

They are questioning the field workers’ claim that they paid compensation for graves and well-water sources from the money meant for their field operations.

READ ALSO: ‘I’ll Smoke and Go Mad’ — How a Frustrated Chef Wants to Handle Landmark Beach Resort Demolition

“We only succeeded in mounting a lot of pressure, coupled with a threat to stop them from doing their work if they would not leave one well-water source for us until their main road construction is approaching the spot,” a resident, whose name is withheld, told FIJ.

The residents argued that it would be unsafe for them, particularly children who usually fetch water every morning before going to school, to be crossing the busy road.

Many households now have to rely on the only remaining water well to get water for their domestic needs.

https://fij.ng/article/tinubus-n15trn-coastal-road-killing-the-living-and-leaving-the-dead-homeless-in-ibeju-lekki/

Former Katsina State Governor, Aminu Masari, has tackled the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) over its regrets for supporting President Bola Tinubu, saying the Northern elders endorsed Tinubu on expectations, and not principle.

Masari stated this in an interview with Daily Trust.




According to Masari, for anyone who supported President Tinubu to turn back in less than a year to express regret only meant the support was based on expectations and not principles.

The former governor said it was too early in the administration’s year for most of the criticisms it has suffered.

He added that the fuel subsidy removal that has plunged the country into untold hardship was equally promised during the campaign by the other leading contestants in the 2023 presidential election.

Masari said, “Those who say they are regretting supporting him (Tinubu) are saying it because they did not support on principles. They supported him on expectations, and when those expectations were not met for them, then they could say they regretted it,” he said.

“The problem is that some of us stood for principles (in supporting Tinubu), and a government that has come to serve for four years has served for six months, nine months, and you are passing judgments on it; that is absolutely wrong,” he said.

Masari said the economic crises in the country are not peculiar to Nigeria alone.

Reacting to the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and his Labour Party (LP) counterpart, Peter Obi, who have been very critical of the APC-led government’s policies, Masari said there was no magic the opposition could have performed to ameliorate the pains Nigerians are going through within the period Tinubu has been in power.

He said, “Some of the people who are talking now, their own would have been worse. Since during the campaign, all the political parties, including those who are talking now, didn’t they promise that they would remove subsidy?


“Is there any political party that did not campaign on subsidy removal? Let us not go there. Because we are Nigerians, we are bad losers. And sometimes, the winners are supposed to be more accommodating and patient. That’s the price of leadership,” he added.

Calling on Nigerians to trust the process, Masari said, “the president has promised that he is aware of our pains. If he had said there was no pain, even we in the same party would have challenged him.”

Recall that the NEF said last month that the “North made a mistake in voting Bola Tinubu to the presidency in 2023.

The NEF spokesman, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, in a statement, said it is unlikely that they will repeat the same error in the future.”

The statement generated varying reactions, with Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle berating the forum.


https://www.vanguardngr.com/2024/05/northern-elders-endorsed-tinubu-on-expectations-not-principle-ex-gov-masari/

Make we de watch.

The U.S.-Nigeria Air Transport Agreement, which has been provisionally applied since 2000, entered into force on May 13, 2024. This bilateral agreement establishes a modern civil aviation relationship with Nigeria consistent with U.S. Open Skies international aviation policy and with commitments to high standards of aviation safety and security. The agreement includes provisions that allow for unrestricted capacity and frequency of services, open route rights, a liberal charter regime, and open code-sharing opportunities.

This agreement with Nigeria is a step forward in liberalizing the international civil aviation sector in Africa and further expands our strong economic and commercial partnership, promotes people-to-people ties, and creates new opportunities for airlines, travel companies, and customers. With this agreement, air carriers can provide more affordable, convenient, and efficient air services to travelers and shippers, which in turn promotes tourism and commerce.

Information on U.S. aviation policy and our Open Skies Air Transport agreements is available on the Department of State’s website here: https://www.state.gov/civil-air-transport-agreements/ .

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Liverpool vs Wolves 19/05/2024 4pm

NasirudeenOla:
https://www.channelstv.com/2024/05/16/court-upholds-cbns-regulation-on-collection-of-customers-social-media-handles/amp/

Na nairaland.com handle remain.