Former Nigeria’s finance minister Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has finally emerged the winner of the highly competitive position of the Director General of the World Trade Organisation.

Information reaching us has it that she polled 104 votes out of the 164 member nations to defeat her closest rival, who is currently the South Korean minister of trade at the final stage.

She has now set the records to become the first black woman of African descent to become the head of the World Trade Organisation.

https://dambela.com/2020/10/28/okonjo-iweala-wins-wto-dg/

Amidst mild protest coming from the Democrats in the congress and senate, the Republicans in the Senate have finally succeeded in ratifying and confirming the judge Amy Barret Coney as the new justice to the US supreme court.
This is coming barely some few weeks to the US presidential general elections which many see as a political calculation by the Donald Trump administration to tilt the voting pattern in favour of the Republican party against their main rival opposition party the Democrats.

Judge Amy Barret Coney has now been sworn in as the newest justice of the supreme court and said to be a staunch catholic and a very strict and disciplined judge and also someone who is anti gay and anti abortion movement in the US.
This might be a game changer to President Trump’s political tactics to garner more votes from the religious perspective especially from catholic fatefuls in the United States.

https://dambela.com/2020/10/27/breaking-us-senate-confirms-amy-barrett-coney-as-supreme-court-justice/

There seems to be no end in sight to the youth restiveness in the country on the issue of an end to police brutality , government oppression of the citizens which was tagged as #EndSARS in Nigeria.
It initially started as a peaceful protest by angry youths against police brutality and later snowballed into into chaos as other youths perceived to have been hired by politicians as thugs hijacked the process by attacking the peaceful protesters, burning cars and other valuables properties culminating into further aggravation of the entire process and when the military eventually attacked and opened fire against peaceful protesters at the Lekki toll gate , the whole exercise was erupted with tears and blood coupled with both national and international widespread condemnation of the shootings and killings that took place in Lekki.

Things later took another event and went out of control as youths vented their anger against the state as government properties being burnt down including private owned businesses and properties. Then followed the discovery of Covid-19 palliatives kept in warehouses across the country beginning from Lagos.
The looting of the warehouses has taken place in Lagos,Osun, Jos, Edo, Taraba, Adamawa, Yobe, Kaduna, Anambra, Enugu, Kwara, etc and now, the latest now is Gwagwalada, Abuja warehouse including burning and looting of some of the senators residence in calabar and Oyo.

We are hoping the state governors will learn a serious lesson from this and start the equitable distribution of these resources donated by the organised private sectors called CACOVID palliatives donated to all state governments in order to alleviate the sufferings of the poor masses in the country.

https://dambela.com/2020/10/27/endsars-youths-on-rampage-continuous-looting-of-palliatives-in-warehouses-across-the-nation/

It was indeed a sad tale at the Lagos Lekki toll gate, the usual venue for the youth protesters zone #ENDSARS as the Police and Military personnel (soldiers) opened live fire against the peaceful youth protesters, and shooting sporadically with so many of them left dead on the ground and many sustained injury, as the protesters were seen running for safety.

Lekki toll gate as been attack by military men, we need help #EndSARS pic.twitter.com/DSppEe7JWg
Reports reaching us had it that the lights within and around the axis and CCT cameras were turned off so that recording of events would not be captured during the sporadic shooting.
The shooting which lasted for some hours saw about 11 young able Nigerians body lying dead and lifeless on the ground, soaked in blood, one of which the brain popped out in gory sights as many were wounded and rushed to the various hospitals within the Lekki axis for treatment and as emergency case.

Meanwhile the Lagos state government has ordered the closure of all state owned and private schools in Lagos and also placed a curfew in Lagos in order to forestall any escalation but the youths seem not to be deterred by such order as they are determined to continue to fight for their rights and demands for good governance and an end to police brutality.

https://dambela.com/2020/10/21/endsars-peaceful-protest-turns-bloody-as-11-shot-dead-in-lekki/

Inspite of the Inspector General of Police acceding to the Nigerian youths demand on #ENDSARS protests across the country and globally, by issuing a directive from the force command to dissolve the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad across the federation, the Nigerian youths have continued to protest against SARS brutality.

It was learnt that the youths have presented 5 demands to the government on the anti SARS protest key among which is scrapping out SARS but even though the government has acceded to the demand, the youths are still not happy as the Inspector General of Police, Adamu Mohammed has introduced a new unit called SWAT as a replacement to SARS.

This is obviously being seen as an ordinary change of name or nomenclature with same group of people controlling the operations of SARS, without no extra or new training or recruitment process, techniques, tactics, and mode of operations.
Read more via:

https://dambela.com/2020/10/17/negative-economic-growth-as-nigerian-youths-continue-protest-against-sars/

The die is cast , as today mark's the D-day for the long awaited Ondo state governorship election which is an off-season election.

The major gubernatorial candidates gearing up for today’s election are the APC candidate who is the incumbent governor of the state and also the ruling party with much popularity in the state, the governor will be thriving based on his achievements at the helm of affairs in the state and projects carried out.

His major rival in today’s election is the People’s Democratic Party candidate Eyitayo Jegede who is a popular candidate in the state having served as former attorney general and Commissioner of justice in the state.

Many feel the Edo victory for PDP might be replicated in Ondo state based on the fast and growing popularity of the PDP in the state and country at large.

The last but obviously not the least is Agboola Ajayi who is the deputy governor of the state. He decamped from the APC to join the PDP and contested the primaries but was defeated by Eyitayo Jegede and immediately left for the Zenith Labour Party, ZLP. He is also adjudged to be a grassroots politician and aims to clinch the governorship seat in the state.

https://dambela.com/2020/10/10/ondo-state-election-akeredolu-vs-jegede-vs-ajayi/

Fear , anxiety and uncertainty have gripped the entire workers of the big oil giant multinational company as it plans a massive job cut of about 25% of its entire workforce. This is said to be massive and will impact negatively on the lives of those that will be affected including a spiral effect on there immediate families and relations especially in this difficult economic situation we have found ourselves in Nigeria where inflation is on the high side about 12.5% and unemployment rate is very high and the Federal govt recently increased the price of fuel and electricity tariffs.

The 25 per cent job cut according to the oil giant firm will take place across all levels of the downstream sector. The oil firm said the development followed the evolving negative operational environment in the energy sector.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that workers of the oil firm under the auspices of the PENGASSAN on Friday in Lagos protested the looming sack of 600 employees.
More via;
https://dambela.com/2020/10/03/chevron-to-sack-25-of-its-workers/

Fear , anxiety and uncertainty have gripped the entire workers of the big oil giant multinational company as it plans a massive job cut of about 25% of its entire workforce. This is said to be massive and will impact negatively on the lives of those that will be affected including a spiral effect on there immediate families and relations especially in this difficult economic situation we have found ourselves in Nigeria where inflation is on the high side about 12.5% and unemployment rate is very high and the Federal govt recently increased the price of fuel and electricity tariffs.

The 25 per cent job cut according to the oil giant firm will take place across all levels of the downstream sector. The oil firm said the development followed the evolving negative operational environment in the energy sector.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that workers of the oil firm under the auspices of the PENGASSAN on Friday in Lagos protested the looming sack of 600 employees.
More via;
https://dambela.com/2020/10/03/chevron-to-sack-25-of-its-workers/

After 71 days in the big brother naija lockdown season 4, a winner has finally emerged in the person of Laycon.

Laycon who was underrated and considered the underdog by many rose to limelight after a fellow house mate Erica whom he has fallen in love with verbally attacked him in the open. Though he kept his cool and won alot of sympathy from viewers who later determined to make him a somebody.

He is now the winner of grand prize of a whooping 85 million naira followed by runners up Dorathy and Nengi respectively.

https://dambela.com/2020/09/27/bbnaija-grand-finalelaycon-emerges-winner/

Nigeria's Israel Adesanya has done us proud once again and lifted the Nigerian spirit as he wins with a big blow, kick and jab, against his opponent Paulo Costa

Costa went down with down with a boom on the left eye in the second round.

He said he will make it look easy to win and he finally did it, looks so easy winning his opponent.

By defeating his opponent Paulo Costa, Israel Adesanya will retain the Middleweight Championship UFC253

https://dambela.com/2020/09/27/ufc-253-israel-adesanya-defeats-costa/

The President of the United States of America, Donald Trump has this evening finally nominated Amy Coney Barrett as to the supreme court of America.

In a speech delivered by president Donald Trump, he advised her to discharge her job with the highest standard , humility and also be nice.

Whike delivering her acceptance speech, she thanked the president for nominating her and briefly spoke about her family of nine, stating that she never expected to attain this height in her career and promised to discharge her duty with humility and diligent in her duty.

https://dambela.com/2020/09/26/breakingtrump-nominates-amy-coney-barret-to-supreme-court/

Politics the say is a dirty game, but not so many will agree to this popular saying.
The politics and elections in Edo state is a food for thought to all well meaning Nigerians and true Democrats including Progressives.

Today is Sunday, many of us Christians must have gone to church, but the question is , what do we learn from the preachers who stand at the pulpit? The underlying factor of this article is all about forgiveness. It’s all about fighting with bitterness , anger and an unforgiving spirit. If we as Christians would learn and imbibe this attitude of letting go and forgiving our adversaries, many unnecessary battles would be jettisoned.
Some months ago, Adams Oshiomhole was the National chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Nigeria, the chairman of the ruling party of the most populous country in Africa, what a lofty height to attain after becoming the president of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and two term governor of Edo state, and single handedly sponsored his now estranged political godson Godwin Obaseki to become the governor of Edo state as a result of his popularity in his state.

Over time, one thing led to the other , misunderstanding crept in, disagreement erupted between Oshiomhole and his political godson Godwin Obaseki and the battle line was drawn. Adams Oshiomhole was later suspended from his ward in his party while he was still the party National Chairman , at this point wisdom and understanding would have played a major role here and Adams would have seen the handwriting on the wall.
Read more via:
https://dambela.com/2020/09/26/politics-of-bitterness-how-oshiomhole-lost-both-party-chairman-and-edo-state/

Reports reaching us tonight have it that there is a heavy explosion in Lokoja Kogi State caused by a full loaded tanker in motion killing about 33 people including children and also burning down no less than five vehicles close to the tanker with its occupants burnt to death.

Although reports are still sketchy but residents around that area have complained of similar incidents of accidents happening around that area and causing alot of death.

Meanwhile, the first lady of Kogi State has visited the site to access the situation and also sympathise with the victims of the accidents.

https://dambela.com/2020/09/23/breaking-tanker-explosion-in-kogi/

Shocking: Crystal Palace defeats Man.United 3-1

In a surprised move in today's match between Crystal Palace and Manchester United, which many believed the odds would have favoured the Red Devils, Crystal Palace seemed to have turned the table against Manchester United as it came out victorious in the match defeating Manchester United 3 goals to .

Crystal Palace striker Zaha sealed the deal for his club with a second goal penalty and a hard shot from the penalty box to finish up the game for his club.

While Van De Beek gave Manchester United the only goal for his club.

https://dambela.com/2020/09/19/shocking-crystal-palace-defeats-man-united-3-1/

a. An easy cash flow:

Ordinarily, what we prefer on issues concerning our finance is an easy way out of it, where the charges will be eroded, low interest rate for loans, increased interest rate on savings like the banks have brainwashed us over the years to enable us save our money. The fear of the banks now is low or no charges on transfer of money anywhere in the world free movement of money without restrictions, no government and bank regulation controlling any form of transaction but over the years these expectations have not really become a reality while the banks keeps your money the intention is to make all transaction a way of milking the little reserve in the account while few of the executives are parasitic on these accounts the masses are left with almost an empty account and noting to show for it for years of depositing money in the account, these are the challenges that the world is facing and some countries like Japan, China, US have endorsed the crypto-currency as part of their exchange for the purchase of goods and services.

b. One world one currency:

A legal tender is an official currency or medium by which payment is made, a fiat currency is also a forced way of making people use a particular mode or payment system for transacting business. Crypto has to do with secret code analysis where money can be transferred without deciphering or disclosing the source, the world’s known and used currency are backed by also strong economy like the pounds, US dollars, euro, yen are all competing for dominance based on their advancement.
Being in your bedroom and within seconds emails are sent to a box the recipient acknowledges it that is the level of transaction that cypto and the bitcoin are heading. The world is getting global everyday this also will definitely affect how business is executed, within seconds you move money into another account similar to email movement but the world will agree or by nature accept what and how we are to define a new legal tender, which may be a particular coin, cowries, currency, chip on a coin or legal tender devoid of government and bank control including the mode and means of transfer.

c. The robots taking over banking:

The current state of affairs in the world enable us to know that the status quo will always be change, as mini machine banks are being created everyday using automated services to transfer cash and receive cash within our borders this will definitely affect how international financial transactions are executed across borders.

The peer to peer transaction using crypto-currency will have its way making our transactions a door step away and we would likely take advice from an automated machine Based on its decentralization, there is a substantial level of security, access to fund and the fear of devaluation and inflation will be eroded. It is a cheap mode of transferring money since there are no intermediaries.
It is natural that hackers would find it difficult to break codes and access funds unlike the traditional fiat currency. The fake currency payment will be a thing of the past.

Read more via
http://ominigooo.com.ng/?p=69

US President Donald Trump has come after the Democratic Vice President nominee, Kamala Harris stating clearly to his supporters in Winston Salem, North Carolina campaign that having her as president would be an insult to the country.

It was not too clear to Trump’s supporters (who booed Kamala Harris in support of Trump’s assertion) what he actually meant by that and what evidence does he have to have reached that conclusion if it is based on her gender or colour as a black American emphasising racial discrimination.

“Remember Kamala, she started at 15, trump mocked. She was supposed to win , problem was she went from 15 to 14 to 12 to 10 to 7 to 4, it’s like a freefall. You know what? People don’t like her,nobody likes her. She could never be the first woman President. She could never be. That would be an insult to our country .”

https://dambela.com/2020/09/09/trump-goes-after-kamala-harris-chides-democratic-vp-nominee/

As the event of the big brother gets thicker and the game becomes even more competitive, the unbelievable happened today as big brother announced the immediate disqualification of one of the most popular house mates Erica.

After getting two strikes previously , Erica was made head of the house, and according to the big brother’s rules and regulations, she was not meant to use abusive and insulting words against fellow house mates which she did and also left her room as the head of the big brother house to stay with Kiddwaya.

This was considered as a breach of the house rules and as such attracted another strike making it the 3rd strike amounting to a disqualification.

So as it stands now, Erica is gone for good.

https://dambela.com/2020/09/06/bbnaija-update-erica-disqualified-from-show/

As speculators continue to await CBN intervention in the Forex market as promised last week to begin the sale of dollars to BDC @ official rate of $1/#386 which actually caused alot of panic buy within the week and saw the dollar dropping drastically from $1/#480 to $1/#435 as at Wednesday 2nd of September, 2020 the dollar seems to be regaining its strength against the naira moving up to $1/#440 against the naira as at today.

Fears around the FX market is that, if the CBN fails to keep up to its promise, the dollar might continue to rise even as petroleum prices and electricity tariffs are going up.
The exchange rate between the naira and the British pound sterling stands at ₦580/₤1 on Friday, 4th September, same as recorded on Thursday, 3rd September 2020.

https://dambela.com/2020/09/04/dollar-regains-strength-against-naira-moves-up-to-1-440/

It is yet another harsh conditions for the poor masses in Nigeria as they have been hit by the sad news of an increase in pump price of petrol and electricity tariffs bill at almost the same time which is coming at a time the average Nigerian least expected it.

The Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC), issued a memo on Wednesday stating that effective immediately, the price of fuel would increase from N148 to N151.56k. No sooner had this memo was made known to the public than the retailers had hijacked the prices to various alarming rates to the detriment of the masses.
This is coming at a time when many jobs have been lost due to the economic situation as caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and most schools are shut down with teachers out of jobs without salaries.

Not too long the data for unemployment was released with high inflation rate , many Nigerians have condemned this increase and are calling for a nation wide mass protest against the APC led government.
ice from April 1, 2020, to take full effect on September 1, 2020. This, according to the government, is in the best interest of all.

We would recall that in some few months back the government had increased the pump price from N121.50 to N138.60, N143.80 and N145 per litre at different times, on the advice of the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), after reviewing market fundamentals and operating costs.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government had come out openly to assure Nigerians that the increase is for the best interest of Nigeria.

https://dambela.com/2020/09/03/nigerians-groan-under-the-pains-of-increase-fuel-price-electricity-tariffs/

Chaiiii....this is not a good one for the poor masses.

The nation's Apex bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria has officially announced the resumption of sales of forex to Bureau De Change starting from August 31, 2020.
This decision to commence forex sales according to the Central Bank of Nigeria was at the instance of the resumption of international flights to the country.

According to the circular seen by dambela.com, forex sales will resume on Mondays and Wednesdays.

https://dambela.com/2020/08/27/apex-bank-cbn-to-resume-sales-of-forex-to-bdc/

Reports reaching us have it that a good number of Nigerian medical doctors are warming up for a mass exodus out of the country as the lift of the ban on international travels draws closer.

From the data from the United Kingdom shows that Kingdom’s Medical Council that the number of Nigerian doctors migrating to the UK increased by almost 100 between July and August despite the restriction on international flights.

It was observed that even during the lockdown period, some doctors were still applying for visas and travelling out of the country for greener country even as the Covid-19 pandemic hits hard.
It was, however, learnt that following the re-opening of the British High Commission a month ago, many of these doctors had obtained visas and had left even though the restriction on international flights had not been lifted.
International flights will resume in the country on Saturday. The UK recently introduced a ‘Health and Care Visa’ policy, which aims to make it cheaper, quicker and easier for healthcare professionals to migrate to the UK.
A doctor in Abuja who spoke in anonymity said some Nigerian doctors have been offered jobs in Saudi Arabia and the offer is worth about $10,000 and they will be leaving immediately after the lockdown.
Read more via:

https://dambela.com/2020/08/27/busted-nigerian-doctors-plan-mass-exit-as-international-flight-resumes/

It's yet another sad situation for the Nigerian economy with recent report released on Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that GDP took a deep turn as it declined in real terms by 6.10% in real terms year-on- year in Q2 2020.

According to the numbers contained in the GDP report, the performance recorded in Q2 2020 represents a drop of 8.22% points when compared to Q2 2019 (2.12%), and 7.97% points decline when compared to Q1 2020 (1.87%). Apparently, the significant drop reflects the negative impacts of the disruption caused by COVID-19 pandemic and crash in oil price on the Nigerian economy.

https://dambela.com/2020/08/24/nigerias-economy-worsens-gdp-plunges-deep-by-6-0/

Ethereum is among the new age digital currency popular known as a cryptocurrency designed for decentralized applications and deployment of smart contracts, which are created and operated without any fraud, interruption, control or interference from a third party.

Check more here;
https://dambela.com/2020/08/23/things-you-need-to-know-about-ethereum/

Following President Trump's ban against the Chinese tech giant Tiktok some couple of weeks back, the firm has threatened it would take legal action against President Trump's executive order that ban transactions with the fast-growing video app and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance in a report credited to Reuters.
The Chinese firm lamented that it had tried to engage in dialogue with the Trump administration but such move had suffered a set back and faced "a lack of due process" and to ensure that the rule of law is not discarded and that our company and customers are fairly treated, we have no choice but to challenge the executive order through the judicial system, says the company spokesman.

Recall that dambela reported the news of Trump's executive order against Tiktok some weeks ago and also stated Chinese retaliatory measures against such action.

The Tiktok App is becoming more popular among the youths for short trending videos for singing, talking and dancing. Meanwhile the Trump administration has accused the Chinese firm data compromise and capable of allowing the Chinese government access to American's personal and proprietary information.

https://dambela.com/2020/08/23/tiktok-vs-trump-tiktok-fights-back-threatens-legal-action-against-trump/

There is wide fears in Bamako, the capital city of Mali, as residents are in panic mood as reports seems to indicate that President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has been allegedly arrested and detained after several gunshots were heard at an army base in Kati, which is 15 kilometres from the capital.
This was disclosed by some security sources ,according to Reuters today.

Earlier today, Ex President Goodluck Jonathan met with President Buhari at the state house in the villa for briefing on the current situation. It would be recalled that Ex President Jonathan led a team of ECOWAS Envoy to Mali to resolve the crisis brewing up.

Meanwhile, the United States, France and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have all condemned the mutiny.

https://dambela.com/2020/08/18/mutiny-fear-grips-mali-as-soldiers-allegedly-seize-president-keita/

In line with the gradual but continuous easing of the lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic which has brought a total shutdown of the entire economy, the federal government has announced the resumption of international flights operations from August 29, 2020.

This was revealed through a post by the the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika via his Twitter handle today.

Hadi Sirika, in his tweet post, stated, ‘’Glad to announce the resumption of international flights from the 29th of August 2020. Beginning with Lagos and Abuja as we did with the domestic flight resumption. Protocols and procedures will be announced in due course. We thank you for your patience.’’
So flights are expected to begin in Lagos and Abuja airports for now.

https://dambela.com/2020/08/17/breaking-fg-announces-resumption-of-international-flight/

The tribunal has dismissed the election that ushered in governor Diri Douye of Bayelsa state and ordered INEC to conduct a fresh election within 90 days.

In a divided judgement of two -one , the three -man panel ruled that INEC does not have the powers to disqualify any candidate in any election.

This judgement is coming after the Advanced Nigeria Democratic Party filed a petition challenging the victory of Governor Diri in the November 19 governorship election after the party claimed INEC unlawfully excluded it from the election.

But INEC in its argument had challenged that the party’s Deputy Governorship candidate was 34 years old as at the time of nomination and therefore did not qualify to contest the election.

https://dambela.com/2020/08/17/breaking-court-nullifies-bayelsa-state-governorship-election/

As the surge for Covid-19 case continues, more prominent people are still contracting the infection, latest on the list is popular actress Omotola Ekeinde.

The actress in her tweet @Realomosexy stated that she has contracted covid. According to her ” I have been I’ll and now getting better.” And has been in isolation receiving treatment.

Hello All, I know Mist if you Have been Wondering where I’ve been.
Well, i Contracted Covid. I have been ill and Now getting better. More on this details of this soon.
However, I have been Reading on the… https:///mre9hv5N9z

https://dambela.com/2020/08/16/omotola-ekeinde-tests-positive-for-covid-19/