₦airaland Forum

A criminal court in Bangkok, Thailand has sentenced two restaurant owners to 1,446 years in prison over fraud. According to reports, this unusual punishment was given to Apichart Bowornbancharak and Prapassorn Bowornbancha who ran Laemgate Infinite Seafood Restaurant.

Last year, they started a promo in which customers could buy food vouchers by paying in advance online. For example one of the offers was a 10-person seafood meal for 880 baht (about N11,000). Around 20,000 people bought vouchers worth 50 million Thai baht (N626m).

A report by Thai PBS said that while the restaurant was able to deliver the meal initially, the long waiting list meant customers had to wait several months to claim their vouchers. By March, the restaurant announced it was closing because it was unable to get enough seafood to fulfill demand. The restaurant offered to refund customers who had purchased the vouchers, and paid 375 out of 818 customers who had complained.

After over 100 people complained about the scam, the owners were arrested, and the court found them guilty on 723 counts and sentenced them each to 1,446 years in jail. But after they pleaded guilty, their sentences were cut to 723 years each. The company has also been slapped with a fine of 1.8 million baht (N22.5m) and they also have to refund 2.5 million baht (N35.3m) in damages to the victims.

Although the court has given a sentence for such an extended number of years, the perpetrators will serve only a maximum of 20 years. In 2017 a court sentenced a Ponzi scammer to 13,000 years in prison after he was found guilty of illicit lending and fraud.

SOURCE: https://news.abplive.com/news/1446-years-jail-time-to-restaurant-owners-for-online-food-voucher-fraud-in-thailand-1257658

While COVID-19 patients in Nigeria are treated free of charge, in the USA a 70-year-old survivor has been billed a heart-stopping $1.1 million (N434m) by the hospital that treated him. According to Seattle Times, the survivor, Michael Flor was admitted to a hospital in capital of State of Washington, on 4 March 2020.

He stayed for 62 days — at one point coming so close to death that nurses held up the phone so his wife and children could say goodbye.

But he recovered.

He was discharged on May 5 to the cheers of nursing staff — only to receive a 181-page bill totalling $1,122,501.04. The bill includes: $9,736 per day for the intensive care room, nearly $409,000 for its transformation into a sterile room for 42 days, $82,000 for the use of a ventilator for 29 days, and nearly $100,000 for two days when his prognosis was life-threatening.

Flor is lucky. He is covered by Medicare, a government insurance program for the elderly, and should not have to take out his wallet, according to the Times. But in a country where health care is the most expensive in the world — and the idea of socialising it remains hugely controversial — he said he feels “guilty” knowing that taxpayers will bear much of the cost.

“It was a million bucks to save my life, and of course I’d say that’s money well-spent … But I also know I might be the only one saying that,” the Times quoted him as saying.

SOURCE: https://www.theelitesng.com/american-covid-19-survivor-slammed-with-n434m-hospital-bill/

7. LIGHTHOUSE OF ALEXANDRIA
The Lighthouse of Alexandria was located on a small island called Pharos near the city of Alexandria. Designed by the Greek architect Sostratos and completed around 270 B.C. during the reign of Ptolemy II, the lighthouse helped to guide Nile River ships in and out of the city’s busy harbor.

Archeologists have found ancient coins on which the lighthouse was depicted, and from them deduced that the structure had three tiers: a square level at the bottom, an octagonal level in the middle and a cylindrical top. Above that stood a 16-foot statue, most likely of Ptolemy II or Alexander the Great, for whom the city was named.

Although estimates of the lighthouse’s height have ranged from 200 to 600 feet, most modern scholars believe it was about 380 feet tall. The lighthouse was gradually destroyed during a series of earthquakes from 956 to 1323. Some of its remains have since been discovered at the bottom of the Nile.

SOURCE: www.history.com

6. COLOSSUS OF RHODES
The Colossus of Rhodes was an enormous bronze sculpture of the sun god Helios built by the Rhodians over 12 years in the third century B.C. The city was the target of a Macedonian siege early in the 4th century B.C. and, according to legend, the Rhodians sold the tools and equipment left behind by the Macedonians to pay for the Colossus.

Designed by the sculptor Chares, the statue was, at 100 feet, the tallest of the ancient world. It was completed around 280 B.C. and stood for 60 years until it was toppled in an earthquake. It was never rebuilt. Hundreds of years later, Arabs invaded Rhodes and sold the remains of the statue as scrap metal. Because of this, archeologists do not know much about the exact location of the statue or what it looked like.

Most believe that it depicted the sun god standing naked while he lifted a torch with one hand and held a spear in the other. It was once believed that the statue stood with one leg on each side of a harbor, but most scholars now agree that the statue’s legs were most likely built close together to support its immense weight.

5. MAUSOLEUM AT HALICARNASSUS
Located in what is now southeastern Turkey, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was a tomb built by Artemisia for her husband, Mausolus, the king of Carnia in Asia Minor, after his death in 353 B.C.

Mausolus was also Artemisia’s brother, and, according to legend, she was so grief-stricken at his passing that she mixed his ashes with water and drank them in addition to ordering the mausoleum’s construction. The massive mausoleum was made entirely of white marble and is thought to have been about 135 feet high.

The building’s complicated design, consisting of three rectangular layers, may have been an attempt to reconcile Lycian, Greek and Egyptian architectural styles. The first layer was a 60-foot base of steps, followed by a middle layer of 36 Ionic columns and a stepped, pyramid-shaped roof. At the very top of the roof lay the tomb, decorated by the work of four sculptors, and a 20-foot marble rendition of a four-horse chariot.

The mausoleum was largely destroyed in an earthquake in the 13th century and its remains were later used in the fortification of a castle. In 1846, pieces of one of the mausoleum’s friezes were extracted from the castle and now reside, along with other relics from the Halicarnassus site, in London’s British Museum.

4. TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS AT EPHESUS
There was actually more than one Temple of Artemis: A series of several altars and temples was destroyed and then restored on the same site in Ephesus, a Greek port city on the west coast of modern-day Turkey.

The most fabulous of these structures were two marble temples built around 550 B.C. and 350 B.C., respectively. “Apart from Olympus, the Sun never looked on anything so grand,” the writer Antipater of Sidon wrote of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.

The original Temple of Artemis was designed by the Cretan architect Chersiphron and his son Metagenes and decorated by some of the most celebrated artists of the ancient world. The building burned on July 21, 356 B.C., according to legend the same night that Alexander the Great was born.

It was torched by a Greek citizen named Herostratus, who claimed he burned the marvel so that his name would be known to history. He was put to death and the government declared it illegal to utter his name.

About six years later, the building of the new Temple of Artemis was begun. The new building was surrounded by marble steps that led to a more than 400-foot-long terrace. Inside stood 127 60-foot marble columns and a statue of Artemis, the Greek Goddess of the hunt.

Archeologists disagree as to whether the building had an open-air ceiling or was topped with wood tiles. The temple was largely destroyed by Ostrogoths in A.D. 262, and it was not until the 1860s that archeologists dug up the first of the ruins of the temple’s columns at the bottom of the Cayster River.

3. STATUE OF ZEUS AT OLYMPIA
The famed statue of Zeus, the king of the gods in Greek Mythology, was crafted by the Athenian sculptor Phidias and completed and placed in the temple of Zeus at Olympia, site of the ancient Olympics, around the mid-fifth century B.C.

The statue depicted the god of thunder seated bare-chested at a wooden throne. Holding up the thrones’ armrests were two carved sphinxes, mythical creatures with the head and chest of a woman, the body of lion and the wings of a bird. The statue of Zeus was richly decorated with gold and ivory. At 40 feet, it was so tall that its head nearly touched the top of the temple.

According to legend, the sculptor Phidias asked Zeus for a sign of his approval after finishing the statue; soon after, the temple was struck by lightning. The Zeus statue graced the temple at Olympia for more than 8 centuries before Christian priests persuaded the Roman emperor to close the temple in the 4th century A.D. At that time, the statue was moved to a temple in Constantinople, where it is believed to have been destroyed in a fire in the year 462 AD.

2. HANGING GARDENS OF BABYLON
According to ancient Greek poets, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built near the Euphrates River in modern-day Iraq by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II around 600 B.C. The gardens were said to have been planted as high as 75 feet in the air on a huge square brick terrace that was laid out in steps like a theater.

The king allegedly built the towering gardens to ease his lover Amytis’ homesickness for the natural beauty of her home in Media (the northwestern part of modern-day Iran). Later writers described how people could walk underneath the beautiful gardens, which rested on tall stone columns. Modern scientists have deduced that for the gardens to survive they would have had to be irrigated using a system consisting of a pump, waterwheel and cisterns to carry water from the Euphrates many feet into the air.

Though there are multiple accounts of the gardens in both Greek and Roman literature, none of them are firsthand, and no mention of the gardens has been found in Babylonian cuneiform inscriptions. As a result, most modern scholars believe that the existence of the gardens was part of an inspired and widely believed but still fictional tale.

1. GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA, EGYPT
The Great Pyramid, located at Giza on the west bank of the Nile River north of Cairo in Egypt, is the only wonder of the ancient world that has survived to the present day. It is part of a group of three pyramids–Khufu (Cheops), Khafra (Chephren) and Menkaura (Mycerimus)–that were built between 2700 B.C. and 2500 B.C. as royal tombs.

The largest and most impressive is Khufu, known as “The Great Pyramid,” which covers 13 acres and is believed to contain more than 2 million stone blocks that weigh from two to 30 tons each. For more than 4,000 years, Khufu reigned as the tallest building in the world. In fact, it took modern man until the 19th century to build a taller structure.

Amazingly, the nearly symmetrical Egyptian pyramids were built without the aid of modern tools or surveying equipment. So, how did Egyptians build the pyramids? Scientists believe that the Egyptians used log rollers and sledges to move the stones into place. The sloped walls, which were intended to mimic the rays of Ra, the sun god, were originally built as steps, and then filled in with limestone.

The interior of the pyramids included narrow corridors and hidden chambers in an unsuccessful attempt to foil grave robbers. Although modern archeologists have found some great treasures among the ruins, they believe most of what the pyramids once contained was looted within 250 years of their completion.

The amazing works of art and architecture known as the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World serve as a testament to the ingenuity, imagination and sheer hard work of which human beings are capable. They are also, however, reminders of the human capacity for disagreement, destruction and, possibly, embellishment.

As soon as ancient writers compiled a list of “seven wonders,” it became fodder for debate over which achievements deserved inclusion. The original list comes from a work by Philo of Byzantium written in 225 B.C. called "On The Seven Wonders".

Ultimately, human hands joined with natural forces to destroy all but one of the wonders. Furthermore, it is possible that at least one of the wonders might not have existed at all. Still, all seven continue to inspire and be celebrated as the remarkable products of the creativity and skill of Earth’s early civilizations.

SOURCE: www.history.com

You might have heard of the greatly renowned 7 wonders of the ancient world.

Well, here they are:

1. Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt
2. Hanging Gardens of Babylon
3. Statue of Zeus at Olympia
4. Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
5. Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
6. Colossus of Rhodes
7. Lighthouse of Alexandria

British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair on Friday said they have launched legal action against the UK government over its “flawed” mandatory 14-day quarantine for international travellers. The policy was introduced earlier this week as part of measures to curtail the spread of the coronavirus disease with UK being one of the most hit by the virus.

British residents and overseas visitors must comply with the 14-day self-isolation rules or face a £1,000 ($1,250, 1,125-euro) fine or prosecution. The 2-week quarantine measure has, however, sparked condemnation from the ailing aviation sector which has been paralysed by the pandemic since March.

The 3 airlines said the policy will “have a devastating effect on British tourism and the wider economy and destroy thousands of jobs” and they have asked for their judicial review “to be heard as soon as possible”.

“There was no consultation and no scientific evidence provided for such a severe policy,” they added as among the reasons for instituting the legal action. Critics continue to question why the British government was bent on inflicting more pain on hotels and airlines by reducing travel from countries with fewer virus cases.

The airlines disagreed with the move, insisting that the government reinstate measures introduced on March 10 which saw only passengers from “high risk” countries quarantined.

“This would be the most practical and effective solution and enables civil servants to focus on other, more significant, issues arising from the pandemic while bringing the UK in line with much of Europe which is opening its borders mid-June,” they added.

According to the World Health Organisation’s COVID-19 Situation Dashboard as of Friday morning, Britain has reported 290,147 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 41,128 associated deaths.

SOURCE: https://punchng.com/british-airways-others-sue-uk-govt-over-14-day-quarantine/

Michael Phelps won 22 Olympic medals (18 gold). How did he do it? Well, he trained and trained and trained, then he ate and ate and ate every day. He was also blessed with natural attributes i.e., he was tall. So, wait, if I am tall and eat, and train, I can also win 18 gold medals? No! but stay with me.

Warren Buffet likes to invest. He reads research reports, likes numbers and is always looking a discount deal on great stocks. Ok. So, if I am good with numbers, research, buy great stocks I will become as rich as Warren Buffet? Well, maybe not as rich but you will earn more from your investments. The distinctiveness among Phelps, Bolt, Buffet, Musk, Dangote, and Ovia, is not what they do, but how they do it and how often they do it.

Let’s look at an Olympic swimmer like Michael Phelps. When Michael was 8, he wrote out his goals; he wrote, “I would like to make the Olympics,” then listed his time goals for the various races i.e. breaststroke, freestyle etc. At the age of 8, this future Olympian had visualized his goals, written them down, and put a date for accomplishing them.

1. VISUALIZE YOUR GOAL/WRITE IT DOWN
When seeking to create a financial plan, it is impossible to achieve success without visualizing a goal on paper. Imagine creating an investment plan without any idea of a retirement date or income or rates of return. It’s impossible without a clear road map to determine how much to save and invest, say for 5 years. During Phelps' teenage years, he trained “every single day, 365 days a year, Sundays, Christmas and Thanksgiving days included… and twice on his birthdays,” says his coach, Bob Bowman.

If an investor saved N1.00 every day for 5 years at 0%, that saver would have N1,826.00 What if those savings increased to N5.00 and were invested at just 5% annually? Then the savings pot will become N10,373.04. Yes, inflation will erode the value after 5 years, but applying a 13% inflation rate, the saver still has a real saving of N5,170.14.

2. START EARLY / SAVE & INVEST
So, the second lesson we take from Olympic champions is to start early, save, and then invest constantly. Micheal Phelps is a swimmer, a sport for endurance and speed. What do endurance athletes like swimmers and marathon runners eat? Foods rich in carbohydrates; they need the carbs to fuel the massive amounts of energy they expend during their races. Phelps, for instance, for breakfast eats as many as 12,000 calories prior to his races. His breakfast consists of “3 fried-egg sandwiches, 3 chocolate chip pancakes, a 5-egg omelette, 3 sugar-coated slices of French toast, and a bowl of grits.”

What does a sprinter like Bolt eat? Not calories but lean protein, eggs, meat, fish, dairy. Protein allows muscles to recover and develop after sprinting, which causes minute damages to muscle fibres that can be easily converted to energy. So, two different Olympic champions, each multiple gold medal winners, but because of their different sports, they eat very differently to achieve a different objective.

Similarly, in investing, each investor is different; bond investors have instruments with 30-year durations as opposed to stock traders who may be looking to buy and flip a stock in hours. What is key is to invest according to a stated objective and risk profile.

Where the investor has a longer endurance factor to risk, meaning the investor can accommodate volatility in his earning, that investor will be comfortable investing on equities. Equities are higher-risk investments and can lose all invested capital but can also gain 100%.

However, where the investor has a lower risk endurance, then the investor will fill his plate with lean risk asset classes like sovereign bonds which offer lower volatility to stock and deliver a fixed return, but suffer if interest rates rise.

3. ADAPT YOUR INVESTMENT PLAN TO YOUR PROFILE / OBJECTIVES
Thus, our third lesson from the Olympians, the food each investor eats, is a function of his individual sport. Where the investors have lower risk, his asset allocation diet is different. Each investor must tailor his asset allocation to his objectives and investment goals.

SOURCE: https://nairametrics.com/2020/05/31/want-to-be-like-warren-buffet-here-are-the-secrets/

The economic lockdown and movement restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic has had an impact on job opportunities. Some of them could be in the form of job losses, getting new jobs, or even changing the way we work. Given the unemployment numbers especially in these challenging times, it might be hard not to be apprehensive.

According to a report from Bloomberg, Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst for personal finance website Bankrate.com, “It’s important to remember that there is hiring happening. There’s always attrition and individuals leaving for other jobs.” Robin Ryan, a career counsellor, said that just a few unemployed people are job hunting at the moment. Most believe there are no jobs, they can’t be hired, or that only lower-level jobs are available.

Here are some tips for landing jobs during this lockdown:

1. BEAT THE SYSTEM: 
Make a list of your recent jobs and your top accomplishments at each of them. Those are the items that should be on your résumé. To get past automated applicant vetting systems, enter your work tasks—budgeting, project management, graphic design, team leadership, etc.—in the first bullet point under each job. Don’t include extraneous formatting, such as text boxes, tables, footers, or headers, because application software can’t recognize it.

2. ASSESS YOUR PROSPECTS:
 You have to find out if opportunities in your industry are shrinking. According to Hamrick, “many people fail to see that their skills might apply to a variety of settings.” Consider some of the sectors that have stayed open in the lockdown—finance, real estate, food and other consumer goods, technology, and retail; plus suppliers and distributors for each. If that exercise doesn’t yield much, think about how your skills might help companies sharpen their online business. “There’s a need for people to help facilitate digital transformation,” Hamrick says.

3. HIT UP RECRUITERS (Recruiting agency firms): 
Let them help you with your resume and offer suggestions about things you might do to stand out.

4. USE YOUR RESOURCES: 
Companies are filling positions needed to support virtual workers as part of their pandemic strategies. Many company websites might not yet reflect these changes, so try popular online job search websites, type in a company and your city, and you’ll get a better sense of what kind of hiring is going on.

5. NETWORK: 
That friend-of-a-friend who previously ignored you. He’s home now and might be up for a quick Zoom coffee date. Connect with everyone you know in your field. (LinkedIn is good for this.). Those connections build on each other. You can ask mutual acquaintances to introduce you to people who can help and once that happens, you can fix a virtual coffee date. If that goes well, ask for an introduction to a hiring manager or supervisor. You’ve got nothing to lose.

SOURCE: https://nairametrics.com/2020/06/08/great-tips-for-landing-a-job-during-this-lockdown/

Governments around the world have spent $10 trillion in fiscal actions to respond to the novel coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout, but significant further efforts are needed, the head of the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday.

New estimates suggest up to 100 million people could fall into extreme poverty as a result of the crisis, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said, noting this would erase the past 3 years of gains made in poverty reduction.

The disease has infected nearly 7.4 million people around the world, and 415,545 have died. The World Bank this week forecast the coronavirus would shrink global output by 5.2% in 2020, the deepest contraction since World War II. The IMF is due to update its forecasts on June 24. Georgieva said further cuts are "very likely" to the Fund's April forecast for a 3% contraction in global output.

To promote a more inclusive recovery, "substantial fiscal stimulus" should focus on minimizing job losses and preventing a rise in inequality, she wrote in a blog on the IMF's website. Investments should focus on improving access to healthcare and education, strengthening climate protections and broadening the access of low-income households and small business to financial products and technology, she wrote.

"The COVID-19 crisis is inflicting the most pain on those who are already most vulnerable. This calamity could lead to a significant rise in income inequality," she said. Policymakers should act quickly and deliberately to promote a more inclusive recovery, she said, noting that new research by the IMF and World Bank showed that more equitable access was associated with stronger and more sustainable growth.

Moving cash payments by governments into bank accounts using fintech and mobile phones could reduce the number of "unbanked" adults by 100 million globally from approximately 1.1 billion. And financially inclusive countries had a 2- to 3-percentage point edge in gross domestic product growth, she said.

SOURCE: https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/imf-10-trillion-spent-combat-pandemic-needed-200611185817216.html

More than 100 countries, the WHO and various pharmaceutical companies are all working on testing and developing a COVID-19 vaccine. Despite countries around the world taking differing approaches to manage the coronavirus, all of them agree on one thing: The only way out of this pandemic is to develop an effective vaccine.

HOW DO VACCINES WORK?
Vaccines generally work by injecting parts of a pathogen into the human body; these parts are called antigens as they are recognised as foreign by the body. Antigens are usually dead or weakened versions of the bacteria or virus itself, which then stimulate an immune response.

Antigens are not enough to make you unwell with the disease itself, but are sufficient for your body to recognise the pathogen as foreign and start producing immune cells that can destroy it.

Once they have destroyed the dead or weakened pathogen, some of these immune cells serve as memory cells or proteins that, if the real version of the illness is encountered, mount a much quicker immune response, destroying the pathogen before you feel unwell from it.

DEVELOPING A COVID-19 VACCINE
Vaccines normally take years to develop. They go through rigorous testing procedures and large scale trials. But the world is in desperate need of a vaccine for the coronavirus and more than 100 countries are now involved in fast-tracking research and trials in a race to produce an effective vaccine.

US & EUROPE
In mid-March, the first human trial of a vaccine to protect against the novel coronavirus pandemic started in the US. It was funded by the National Institutes of Health and is taking place in Seattle.

The trial aims to enrol 45 volunteers and inject them with a stable piece of genetic material from the SARS-CoV-2 virus (coronavirus) in varying doses, and will be carefully monitored over the coming months. The trial has sidestepped what is usually a vital part of developing a vaccine: animal trials. But the scientists have built the vaccine on previous knowledge of coronaviruses, such as the one that causes the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).

In April, the first European human trial of a potential coronavirus vaccine got under way. The vaccine was developed in less than 3 months by a team at Oxford University. More than 1,000 people will be recruited, half of whom will receive the SARS-CoV-2 virus vaccine while half will receive a widely available meningitis vaccine. Only the research team will know which vaccine has been given to each individual.

Again, part of the virus' genetic code has been used to make the vaccine rather than the whole virus, and participants will be given varying doses and more than one vaccine; they will then be monitored for side effects and, more crucially, immunity.

PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES
Also in April, pharmaceutical giants Sanofi and GSK joined forces to develop a vaccine, something that they have described as "unprecedented". Sanofi will contribute its S-protein COVID-19 antigen, which they have stated is an exact genetic match for a protein found in the SARS-CoV-2 virus. GSK will contribute its "adjuvant" technology. Adjuvants are particularly important in vaccines as they accelerate, prolong, or enhance a person's immune response when injected with a vaccine.

In this case, Sanofi has the genetic material from the coronavirus that will form the basis of their vaccine and GSK have the means to make that genetic material more effective, which is vital in a global pandemic. Combinations of protein-based antigens and adjuvants are used widely in vaccines. Trials have already started and they are aiming to have an effective vaccine available by mid-2021.

They are not the only pharmaceutical companies throwing their hats into the ring in order to develop a coronavirus vaccine. Pfizer is collaborating with German-based company BioNTech, to use genetic material from the SARS-CoV-2 virus and develop a vaccine. Clinical trials are beginning in Germany and are hoped to extend to include the US in the future.

ASIA-PACIFIC
April was also the month that the World Health Organization (WHO) approved animal trials in Australia of a vaccine developed by Oxford University. Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) says its tests will be the first comprehensive pre-clinical trials of the vaccines to use an animal model. They are using ferrets, one of the few animals known to contract the coronavirus in a similar way to humans.

China is also in the race to develop an effective vaccine. The company, CanSino Biologics, is building on its previous knowledge of virus proteins and vaccines to develop something it calls Ad5-nCoV. This is a harmless protein that will help carry a spike belonging to the coronavirus into cells, and cause an immune response that will mean immune cells develop to combat the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

It is now moving onto human trials, after apparent success in animal trials. This puts it ahead of its competitors. There are a number of other companies and organisations within China that are also developing their own vaccines.

AT LEAST A YEAR AWAY
Although the support that the development of these vaccines is getting from the WHO is unprecedented, it is important to know that most experts believe it will be mid-2021 before a vaccine becomes available, about 12-18 months after the new virus, known officially as SARS-CoV-2, first emerged.

This may seem far away, but it would be much quicker than any vaccine has been developed before. However, there is still no guarantee it will work.

SOURCE: https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/doctor-note-developing-coronavirus-vaccine-200603060930044.html

Billed to be the world’s biggest single-train refinery at 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) capacity, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery could meet Nigeria’s, if not Africa’s refining need but would slug it out for market share with a new $20bn Chinese refinery eyeing the African market.

The Chinese government is shutting almost 500,000 bpd refining capacity by independent refiners commonly called ‘teapots’ in Shandong Province, to make way for a huge $20-billion refinery and petrochemical complex according to a Reuters report.

These teapot refiners have previously sold their refined products in China but last year the government announced plans to give them export quotas, a move that pit them against state-held giant refiners in direct competition for oversees market. Now it is putting them out of business altogether to take on the overseas market in an organised fashion.

Since 2018, China has had its sights trained on African and Latin American refined product markets as massive oil production amidst a saturated local market, suffering an economic slump began making overseas market very attractive.

China exported 51,000 Metric Tonnes of gasoline to Nigeria in January last year, the second destination after Togo’s 50,000MT order in April 2018. It found the market sufficiently attractive for its largest petrol exporter, PetroChina to set up shop in Nigeria.

According to a report by energy intelligence firm, SP Platts, China’s petrol exports to African countries is growing with Mozambique and South Africa climbing to the top 10 destinations in January last year, receiving 147,000 mt and 82,000 mt of petrol, respectively.

The powers that be in China have for years been planning a large scale refinery that will process all that crude after emerging world’s largest buyer of the commodity. It now looks set to back the ambition with cash to reinvigorate its ailing economy which took a beating from COVID-19. The refinery will have a capacity to process 400,000 bpd and would have an ethylene plant producing 3 million tons per year which will serve the country’s growing overseas market especially in Africa when it is completed in 2024.

This development signals the competition coming for a piece of the African refined petroleum market. A recent PwC Nigeria report puts Africa’s oil production at 8.1 million bbl/d, 8.7% of global production, but exports exports 6.8 million bbl/d, or the equivalent of 10.1% of global exports. Since Africa exports the bulk of its crude, the market for refined products is huge in Africa.

Nigeria alone requires over 47million litres for road fuel daily according to S&P Global Platts assessment of Nigerian imports and its rickety refineries, burgeoning population and a government unsure if it wants to get out of subsidising petrol, makes it a premium market for refiners.

But China’s effort to build this massive refinery could put the Dangote Refinery in a precarious position unless it benefits from state protection. Nigeria has invested too much political capital not to see the refinery succeed, and its founder’s massive record of philanthropy and investments in the country which suggests he is in this thing with both feet is the type of commitment most governments get behind.

Dangote Refinery is a planned 650,000 bpd refinery with 838 KTPA Polypropylene Plant and is billed to be the world’s second largest Urea Plant at 3M Tons per annum. It would have the largest sub-sea pipeline Infrastructure in any country in the world at 1,100 Kms to handle 3 Billion SCF of gas per day. In addition it would have world scale gas treatment stations, world class petrochemical complex, 480 MW Power Plant in Refinery & Fertilizer Complex and 500 KTPA Polyethylene Plant. The frequent use of the description ‘World’ mirrors the outsize ambition of its Kano-born billionaire founder.

Though Nigeria’s true petroleum products demand is the difference when adjusted for smuggling outside its porous borders against unaudited data from the Petroleum Products Price Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), a government agency that maintains a choke-hold on pricing, Dangote Refinery plans to meet 100% of Nigeria’s petroleum import requirement.

Dangote and his partners would be separated from a whopping $12billion to realise this dream but would create a market for millions of barrels of Nigeria’s crude currently stranded atop vessels searching for elusive buyers. However, if the Nigerian government legendary cavalier attitude towards private investment becomes a threat, the strategic location of the refinery in a Free Trade Zone offers it the option of selling across the African market.

And that’s when the gloves will come off.

SOURCE: https://businessday.ng/energy/oilandgas/article/dangote-refinery-has-new-rival-in-20bn-chinese-plant/

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo will select its candidate for the September election through direct primary. In a statement issued on Tuesday, INEC said the APC leadership has indicated that direct primary will hold on June 22.

But this is against the wish of Godwin Obaseki, the governor who is seeking reelection. His faction of the party has insisted on indirect primary. The other faction on the side of Adams Oshiomhole, the party’s national chairman, had earlier chosen direct primary election which is believed will be in favour of Osagie Ize-Iyamu, its consensus aspirant.

Unlike indirect primary where party members elect delegates who in turn choose the party’s candidates on their behalf, direct primary involves no delegate as registered members of the party vote for who they want to be their flag-bearer.

In the statement, Festus Okoye, INEC spokesman, said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) opted for indirect primary which will be from June 19 to June 20. INEC said only 15 of the 18 political parties participating in the September 19 election have indicated interest in conducting primaries. It urged the parties to conduct the primaries in line with provisions of the 1999 constitution and its policy on conducting elections amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, the federal high court in Edo fixed June 11 to hear a suit seeking to stop the direct primary election planned in Edo.

SOURCE: https://www.thecable.ng/setback-for-obaseki-as-inec-confirms-direct-primary-for-edo-apc

More than 100 schools and daycare centers have been closed again in Israel (about 3 weeks after they reopened) due to a spike in COVID-19 cases in the country. According to the Times of Isreal, about 330 teachers and students have also tested positive for the novel coronavirus since schools reopened, with thousands more in quarantine.

The Gymnasia Rehavia high school in Jerusalem is said to have been the worst hit by the pandemic with 160 of its students and staff reported to have contracted the virus. Israel had reopened schools on May 17 — after two months of lockdown — as part of efforts to ease the severe measures earlier introduced to combat spread of the killer virus.

But the development seemed to have brought a setback to the country’s success against the virus with surge in new confirmed cases. As of Sunday, the country has recorded 17,863 cases of the virus and 298 deaths, according to worldometers.

The development had made the country’s government to rethink the earlier decision to open schools. The country’s education ministry has also reportedly informed school administrators that upcoming graduation ceremonies will have to take place in a more limited fashion.

TheCable Lifestyle had earlier reported how South Korean government was forced to shut down schools — a few days after they re-opened — due to a dramatic spike in the COVID-19 cases.

SOURCE: https://lifestyle.thecable.ng/israel-shuts-schools-again-after-over-300-pupils-teachers-contract-covid-19/

There is a simple but crucial number at the heart of understanding the threat posed by the coronavirus. It is guiding governments around the world on the actions needed to save lives and to lift lockdown. It is called the reproduction number, or simply the R value.

WHAT IS R VALUE?
The reproduction number is a way of rating a disease's ability to spread. It's the number of people that one infected person will pass the virus on to, on average

Measles has one of the highest, with a reproduction number of 15 in populations without immunity. It can cause explosive outbreaks. The new coronavirus, known officially as Sars-CoV-2, has a reproduction number of about 3, but estimates vary.

HOW IS R CALCULATED?
You cannot capture the moment people are infected; instead scientists work backwards. Using data (such as the number of people dying, admitted to hospital or testing positive for the virus) allows you to estimate how easily the virus is spreading.

Generally this gives a picture of what the R number was 2 to 3 weeks ago. Regular testing of households should soon give a more timely estimate.

WHY IS A NUMBER ABOVE 1 DANGEROUS?
If the reproduction number is higher than 1, the number of cases increases exponentially. But if the number is lower, the disease will eventually peter out, as not enough new people are being infected to sustain the outbreak. The further below 1, the faster that happens.

Governments everywhere want to force the R number down from about 3 (the R number if we took no action) to below 1. This is the reason you've not seen family, have had to work from home and the children have been off school - stopping people coming into contact with each other to cut the virus's ability to spread. As any country thinks about how to lift lockdown, the aim will be to keep the reproduction number below 1.

Dr Adam Kucharski, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told the BBC: "It's a big challenge making sure you're not loosening too much and increasing transmission. It doesn't give you a lot of room to play with [to keep the number below 1]".

WHICH MEASURES COULD BE LIFTED?
Unfortunately, there is no confirmation of how much each intervention affects the virus's spread, although there are estimates. "Opening schools versus workplaces versus other gatherings - understanding how much they increase the reproduction number, is going to be the challenge," said Dr Kucharski. Another issue is that people's behaviour changes over time, so the number can creep up even if lockdown policies remain unchanged.

What is likely to be needed are new ways of controlling the virus, such as more extensive testing and tracing or location-tracking apps. These can suppress the reproduction number in a more targeted way, allowing some of the other measures to be lifted.

IS IT THE MOST IMPORTANT NUMBER?
The reproduction number is one of the "big three". Another is severity - if you have a very mild disease that does not cause many problems, then you can relax a bit. Coronavirus, and the disease it causes, Covid-19, can be severe and deadly, unfortunately. The last is the total number of cases, which is important for deciding when to act. If you have a high number, but still ease restrictions so the reproduction number is about one, then you will continue to have a high number of cases.

WHAT ABOUT A VACCINE?
Having a vaccine is another way to bring down the reproduction number. A coronavirus patient would naturally infect three others on average, but if a vaccine could protect two of them from infection, then the reproduction number would fall from three to one.

SOURCE (abridged): https://www.bbc.com/news/health-52473523

An atheist, Mubarak Bala, has remained in the custody of the Kano State Police command for 40 days without trial for allegedly insulting Prophet Muhammad, The PUNCH reports. Bala was arrested on April 28, 2020, in Kaduna State following a petition by a lawyer, Salisu Umar, accusing him of posting “inciting comments” on his Facebook wall.

He was subsequently transferred to the custody of the Kano State Police command where he has remained till date. The Police Public Relations Officer in Kano State, Haruna Abdullahi, refused to comment on the matter when The PUNCH contacted him for comment on Sunday.

However, Mr. Umar, who wrote the petition against Bala, said the suspect had remained in custody because courts in Kano were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Umar said the police could not release the suspect because of security reasons.

The lawyer said, “All the courts in Kano are not operating because of COVID-19. He was arrested during the lockdown and at that time, all the courts were not sitting until now. Also, the police cannot grant him bail for his own protection. Many people are threatening to kill him. So, for his personal protection, the police feel if he is released, his life may be in danger. It is not my intention to get him killed.”

When asked if the suspect would be arraigned before a Shariah court, Umar said, “Why should he be arraigned before a Shariah court? He is not even a Muslim.”

The petition which led to Bala’s arrest reads, “We are submitting this complaint against one Mubarak Bala of Layin Masallacin Bilai, Karkasara Quarters, Kano. Mubarak was born and raised as a Muslim but for his own personal reason decided to leave Islam for atheism sometime in 2014 and has since then been writing stuff on his Facebook page that are provocative and annoying to the Muslims.”

Prior to his arrest, Bala had posted on his Facebook wall, “Fact is, you have no life after this one. You have been dead before, long before you were born, billions of years on death.” A search through Bala’s Facebook page also shows him mocking Christian clerics, including the founder of The Synagogue, Church of All Nations, TB Joshua.

In 2014, then 29-year-old Bala was said to have been forcefully committed by his family to a psychiatric hospital in Kano when he renounced Islam. Though Bala’s family believed he was insane, he was later discharged from the psychiatric hospital after he was declared sane.

Rights group, Humanists International, which champions equality and secularity, has condemned the prolonged detention of Bala. A statement from the group read in part, “While we know that Bala was initially held in detention in Gbabasawa police station, Kaduna state. Attempts, made by his legal team to locate Bala following his transfer into the custody of Kano State Police Command have been unsuccessful.

“His prolonged detention without charge violates Bala’s rights to liberty, fair trial, freedom of thought and expression, and freedom of movement as enshrined in the Nigerian constitution and international human rights law.”

SOURCE: https://punchng.com/police-detain-atheist-40-days-for-allegedly-insulting-prophet-muhammad/

Mr Emeka Abugu is a blind mechanic who specialises in fixing motorcycles and generators. He tells RAPHAEL EDE in his workshop in Aji, Umu-Ida in the Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State, how he lost his sight and learnt to fix motorcycles and other things

HOW DID YOU BECOME VISUALLY IMPAIRED?
I was not born blind; it was when I was 5 years old that I had measles. And because of that, I could not go to primary school.

IS YOUR VISUAL IMPAIRMENT PARTIAL?
No, I don’t see anything. I am completely blind. At some point, it was partial and like I told you, I wasn’t born blind. It started getting worse gradually and it was around 1992 that I went completely blind.

YOU REPAIR MOTORCYCLES, GENERATORS AND BICYCLES, HOW DID YOU LEARN TO DO THAT?
I didn’t learn it; I started by repairing bicycles in 1993. Three years after, I started repairing motorcycles. I started by fixing tyres and gradually, I started repairing engines and doing wheel balancing. I also work on electrical parts. My father bought the tools I use for me.

IT IS DIFFICULT TO BELIEVE YOU DIDN'T LEARN HOW TO FIX MOTORCYCLES AND BICYCLES …
I cannot explain it because nobody taught me. My father had a similar gift; he repaired his bicycle. He would go to market, buy the needed spare parts and fix his bicycle. But he never repaired for any other person. He had tools that he used and sometimes, I used the tools to fix his bicycle when I was a kid. I used to also make a kind of local basket popularly called ‘Abor’ or ‘Nkata’. Apart from motorcycles and bicycles, I also fix generators.

COULD YOU IDENTIFY THE KINDS OF MOTORCYCLES YOU CAN FIX?
I repair different kinds of motorcycles like CI-80, CG, V-10, RX, C-75, CY-10 and the one called ‘Ladies’ motorcycle’ (scooters). I service them as well. I also repair or service small generators and other similar ones. Any generator or motorcycle engine that has difficulty working, I service it. I also replace parts that are not good or useful to get the engines to work.

HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO FIX YOUR FATHER'S BICYCLE DESPITE YOUR VISUAL IMPAIRMENT?
I just kept trying till I knew how to do it. I think God made me understand it. I had to help him because I wouldn’t have rest of mind if I did not help him. Once he knew I could fix it better than he could, anytime his bicycle developed a fault, he would ask me to fix it. It is God’s gift.

SINCE YOU STARTED REPAIRING MOTORCYCLES AND OTHERS, WAS THERE ANY TIME YOU HAD DIFFICULTY ON THE JOB BECAUSE OF YOUR VISUAL IMPAIRMENT?
Yes, when I started, I found certain things difficult to fix. But on such occasions, I would become very restless. At times while sleeping, God would show me how to fix it and when I woke up, I would go back to it and do it. From there, I became good at it. I could dismantle the engine of a motorcycle and reassemble them.

HOW ARE YOU ABLE TO IDENTIFY THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE ENGINES YOU WORK ON?
I’m able to identify the parts by touching them. Once I touch any part that is worn out, I know.

HOW DO YOU BUY SPARE PARTS AND REPLACE BAD ONES IF YOU CAN'T SEE WHAT YOU ARE BUYING AND REPLACING?
I always take a motorcyclist along to the market when I need to buy spare parts. I buy the things I need, he brings me back to my workshop and I pay him.

WHAT IF THE TRADER SELLS A BAD SPARE PART TO YOU?
I will find out because I started doing this work a long time ago. I touch and feel the spare parts before taking them away. And if it is sealed, I always tell the trader that if there is any defect, I will bring it back.

DOES THE MOTORCYCLIST WHO TAKES YOU THERE ASSIST IN BUYING THE SPARE PARTS THAT ARE GENUINE?
No, he doesn’t know genuine ones. He only takes me to where those parts are sold and he waits for me. Once I finish my transactions, he brings me back to my workshop.

IN WHAT WAYS HAVE PEOPLE TRIED TO CHEAT YOU BECAUSE OF YOUR VISUAL IMPAIRMENT?
Some people will give me N100 and say it is N200 or N500 or N1,000. That is how people try to cheat me.

MANY PEOPLE COMPLAIN THAT THERE IS NO JOB OUT THERE FOR THEM, WHAT MESSAGE DO YOU HAVE FOR THEM?
I will advise them to humble themselves, learn a skill and be productive. That way, they can become engaged and fulfil God’s plan for their lives. With the situation of things in Nigeria, one needs to have one skill or the other.

SINCE YOU DIDN’T GO TO SCHOOL, HOW DID YOU LEARN TO SPEAK ENGLISH?
I learnt from the people around and in church. When people speak English, I listen and try to remember the words later. And if there is any word I don’t understand, I ask educated people around me to tell what it means and how to use it. Then, I start speaking it. In church, they speak English and translate into Igbo; I also learn that way.

WILL YOU BE ABLE TO TEACH AN APPRENTICE TO DO THE the JOB?
If anybody comes, I will teach them. However, no one has come to learn. Many mechanics around here bring motorcycles they are unable to fix to me. It is either I tell them how to repair it or I fix it for them. Then they pay me and take it back to the owner.

WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN THE FUTURE?
With God’s continued support, I hope to become famous. I also want to make money to give all my children good education and build a house of my own. Although I have started building a house, I have not been able to complete it. This is also because of family problems. I have roofed the house but it hasn’t been plastered.

ARE YOUR PARENTS STILL ALIVE?
No, both of them are dead. In fact, all my siblings from the same mother are dead. I am the only surviving child of my late mother. We were three but two have died. My mother was ill before she died. My father fell from a palm tree and died. My father was a palm wine tapper. My mother died in 2019 and my father died in 2013.

ARE YOU MARRIED?
Yes. I’m married with seven children – three boys and four girls. I didn’t want to have up to seven children but God in his wisdom gave us a set of twins twice. I give God all the glory. I got married in 2000. I am 44 years old now. So, I was about 24 years old when I married.

HOW DID YOU FIND YOUR WIFE?
My mother helped to get a wife.

WHERE ARE YOUR CHILDREN?
Some of them live with me while the older ones live with other people so they can go to school. It is not that if all of them are with me, they cannot go to school but my job is all I have and it does not pay well enough. However, I thank God.

IS ANY OF YOUR CHILDREN VISUAL IMPAIRED?
No, none of them has visual impairment.

WHAT DOES YOUR WIFE DO?
My wife is not working. I am making arrangement for her to start trading but I don’t have the money required for that yet.

WHAT KIND OF DISCRIMINATION DID YOU FACE AS A CHILD?
When I was young, other children tried to tell me that I could not do anything. Sometimes they would hit me because they knew I could not chase them. Even my peers insulted me; some flogged me because they knew I could not fight them. They would snatch things from me and run away. And I would not know the person except they spoke and I heard their voice. But if they didn’t talk, I would not know who it was. But I thank God nobody does such things to me now.

WERE YOU ABLE TO PLAY WITH YOUR PEERS AS KIDS?
I participated in some games like the one where everyone involved would be required to close their eyes except for one person who would run around them.

WHAT KIND OF DISCRIMINATION DO YOU FACE NOW?
Now, I cannot join my peers to do anything.

DID YOU HAVE ANY CHALLENGE WITH HAVING RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX?
I didn’t have friendship with someone of the opposite sex while growing up. I promised God that I would not have sex or have carnal knowledge of a woman until I got married and that was what I did. So I didn’t have any girlfriend while I was growing up.

DID YOU HAVE ANY CHALLENGE GETTING A WIFE?
It is not every girl or woman you propose to that will accept your proposal of marriage and it wasn’t different during my time. However, I didn’t approach many women for marriage. I tried only two women; for the first person, her family initially rejected me though the girl accepted me. Her family later accepted me. When I wanted to know her house, her father asked me to see him and to come with drinks and other things if I felt I was ready to marry his daughter. When I saw him, I told him I was only there to know their house. Then a date was fixed for me to commence the rites required for marriage there but unfortunately, I didn’t show up that day.

WHY?
I didn’t go because I felt insulted during my visit to their house. I didn’t like the way I was addressed during my first visit.

WHAT KIND OF RECEPTION DID YOU GET FROM THE SECOND FAMILY FROM WHICH YOU FOUND YOUR WIFE?
God followed me to the second family. That was where my mother married from because my mother at some point divorced my father and married another man. So, that was where she found the woman I married.

WHAT KIND OF ASSISTANCE DO YOU WANT FROM THE GOVERNMENT AND SOCIETY?
I want help; I am getting old and don’t have the kind of energy I used to have when I was young. The Federal Government should extend the Conditional Cash Transfer to people like me and others suffering from deprivation. Are we not citizens of this country? The state government should also help us.

SOURCE: https://punchng.com/mechanics-with-good-eyesight-bring-motorcycles-for-me-to-fix-abagu-blind-mechanic/

The Facebook CEO jumped ahead on Friday with a net worth of $81.6 billion, according to calculations by Bloomberg. That put him about $373 million in front of Buffett, the legendary investor and Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) CEO. Zuckerberg claimed the No. 3 spot on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index because Facebook (FB) shares rose 2.4%. The stock has spiked about 15% this year.

For the first time, the 3 richest people alive are all tech titans. Amazon's Jeff Bezos, worth about $141 billion, is first, followed by Microsoft (MSFT) founder Bill Gates, according to the Bloomberg index. Tech stocks have been a bright spot in a sometimes volatile market this year. Netflix (NFLX) has more than doubled, Amazon (AMZN) has surged 46%, Apple (AAPL) is up about 11%, and Google (GOOG) has gained 9%.

Lindsey Bell, an investment strategist with CFRA Research, said last month that she expects tech stocks to help lead the market higher over the next year. Buffett is betting on tech, too. Berkshire Hathaway bought about 75 million shares of Apple stock during the first 3 months of the year, adding to the 165 million shares it already had.

He was relatively late to tech. Buffett didn't report his first purchase of Apple shares until two years ago. Now Apple is one of Berkshire's largest holdings. Buffett gives billions of dollars to charity every year. Zuckerberg has pledged to give away 99% of his Facebook shares.

SOURCE: https://money.cnn.com/2018/07/06/technology/business/mark-zuckerberg-warren-buffett/index.html

Another set of 63 northern youths heading to mining sites in Ilesha and Ile-Ife have been intercepted in Ikire, Osun State. 53 of the youths, aged between 16 and 23 years hidden in a truck, were intercepted by men of Amotekun Corps on enforcement of border closure in Ikire town.

Director-General of Amotekun Corps in the state, Mr Amitolu Shittu, while speaking to Saturday PUNCH, on Friday, explained that another 10 youths were stopped after they disembarked from the vehicle that conveyed them to the state. Shittu said the youths identified themselves as labourers who worked in mining sites in Zamfara State.

He added that the youths were heading to mining sites in Ilesha and Ile-Ife. “Our men at a roadblock in Ikire intercepted the truck where 53 youths from Zamfara were hiding, and while they were being checked, another 10 youths from the same state who were about to walk past the roadblock were also stopped.

SOURCE: https://punchng.com/another-set-of-63-zamfara-miners-intercepted-in-osun/

Brent crude is trading above $40 per barrel on Friday, with hopes OPEC would extend its oil production curb next week and with forecast for decline in US crude stocks while WTI traded at $37.63 a barrel, as pressure eases for Naira devaluation in oil dependent Nigeria.

The international benchmark climbed above $40 a barrel in Asian trading for the first time since March 6, 2020, when OPEC and its allies failed at the meeting in the Austrian capital Vienna to agree on a deeper production cut against weak global oil demand.

Brent fell to as low as $15.98 per barrel on April 22 with low global oil consumption from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and with OPEC’s failure to provide deeper cuts, which led to a rise in oversupply, piling fiscal and currency pressures on Nigeria.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday forecast that crude oil inventories would show a surprise decline of 483,000 barrels for the week ending May 29, which helped push crude prices higher overnight. Asian stocks also climbed on Friday, poised to cap a second straight week of gains, as U.S. and European equity-index futures advanced. The dollar extended its slide for a third week and crude oil reversed losses.

Shares in Japan and South Korea advanced, while indexes in Hong Kong and Australia saw modest gains. Contracts on the S&P 500 rose as the index snapped a four-day winning streak Thursday. Ten-year Treasury yields held near the highest level since March. The euro earlier surged after the European Central Bank announced a bigger-than-expected boost to its emergency bond-buying program.

SOURCE: https://businessday.ng/lead-story/article/oil-inches-above-40-for-first-time-since-march-in-respite-for-nigerias-naira/

Police personnel attached to the Intelligence Response Unit have arrested three siblings for the gruesome murder of a mother of 5, Mrs Janet Ogbonnaya. The deceased, a widow, was lured from Facebook by the suspects, who allegedly poisoned her and buried her corpse in a septic tank in a house in the Wumba District, Lokogoma, Abuja, on May 14, 2020.

The suspects, Johnson, 38; Gideon, 31; and Success Emmanuel, 27, were tracked down to their home town, Isiekenesi, in the Ideato Local Government Area of Imo State, where they were hiding after killing Ogbonnaya in Abuja.

The arrest of the suspects was sequel to the complaint received from one Chinedu Ogbonnaya, who alleged that his 55-year-old mother, a native of Ozuitem in the Bende Local Government Area of Abia State, had been kidnapped and N5m ransom was being demanded by her captors.

According to the Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Frank Mba, painstaking investigation by the police resulted in the arrest of the suspects, who in the course of interrogation, revealed that the victim had been murdered and buried. It was gathered that the victim was a Facebook friend of the principal suspect, Johnson, who lured her from her home in Gwagwalada to visit him.

Mba said in a statement on Thursday, “The suspects, thereafter, took advantage of the visit, served her yoghurt laced with drugs and subsequently had her murdered. The suspects buried her remains in a septic tank, then went ahead to reach out to the family of the victim, using her phone, and demanded N5m ransom as pre-condition for her release.

“The suspects led a team of investigators and pathologists to a residence in the Wumba District, Lokogoma, Abuja, where the victim’s decomposing body was exhumed from the septic tank. The body has been taken to the University Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, for forensic examination.”

The police added that a Toyota Highlander SUV belonging to the deceased had been recovered at a mechanic workshop in Apo, where it had been repainted into a different colour. The force noted that the vehicle documents had also been fraudulently changed and the ownership criminally transferred to Johnson.

Investigation further revealed that the house, where the deceased was killed and buried, originally belonged to one of the suspects, but it was hurriedly sold off to a third party, apparently to conceal the evidence of their evil action.

While commending the operatives for a job well done, the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, stated that “the perpetrators of any form of crime in the country will not go undetected and unpunished.”

SOURCE: https://punchng.com/siblings-nabbed-for-murdering-widow-lured-from-facebook/

The Lagos state government says it will revert to the pre-2018 land use charge rate to reduce the financial pressure on citizens. Rabiu Olowo, the state commissioner for finance, announced the development at the 2020 ministerial briefing to mark the first year anniversary of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu led administration.

“As we are aware, in 2018, there was an increase in LUC rate and at the same time, a revaluation of property; this twin-shock had a sporadic increase in LUC assessment. The soon to be revealed reform will among other things, reverse the rate to pre-2018 rate,” he said. The reform also considered a flexible land use charge payments and efficient customer service management in other to ensure prompt issue resolution.”

Akinwumi Ambode, immediate past governor of the state, announced a review of land use charge in 2018; increasing the charge on a property solely occupied by the owner for a residential purpose to 0.076% per annum from 0.0394%. The rate for an investment property fully occupied by tenants or 3rd party(ies) was increased from 0.394% per annum to 0.76%. After opposition from various quarters, the rate for commercial properties was reduced by 50%, and by 25% for owner-occupiers.

Olowo said the government hopes to keep economic activities going in the state without causing problems that will complicate the financial hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Listing other initiatives that have been put in place in the last one year in the area of revenue optimization, the commissioner said an e-tax platform has been deployed for tax operations and administration matters, automation of operations of Lagos Lottery Board and F.O.R.C.E (Focus On Revenue Creation Everywhere), to monitor, review and drive innovative revenue performance whilst providing revenue assurance.

He explained that the state has been able to restructure all its existing internal loan facilities previously at the rate of 18%-20% to 14% thus increasing cash flows adding that the state achieved 106% performance in the first-quarter revenue as against budget.

SOURCE: https://www.thecable.ng/lagos-reverses-land-use-charge-to-pre-2018-level

Everyone wants to be successful, and knowing the right career path to take is very important. While some Nigerians earn just a little above minimum wage, there are some jobs that pay far above that on a monthly basis if one has the required skills and certifications.

Based on research from online platforms like mysalaryscale.com, and insiders in these fields, we have come up with a list of top ten careers that pay the most in Nigeria, in no particular order.

1. IT SECURITY ANALYSTS/PROGRAMMERS/ETHICAL HACKERS/ENGINEERS
Generally, the world is advancing technologically as computers and technological gadgets are being produced on daily basis. As production and supply of technological gadgets increase every day, so does the need for Information and technology security analyst/programmers, hackers, and engineers. As long as IT remains a revolutionary tool in the business world, the roles of these experts will always be needed. Thei roles include maintaining online security, writing and developing computer soft wares, testing and evaluating computer parts and soft wares among others. Salary range for these positions in Nigeria is between ₦134,000 – ₦400,000 monthly.

2. SURGEONS
The role of surgeons cannot be overemphasized in any community. They earn very high in Nigeria because of the delicacy of their jobs. Surgeons are medical doctors that are trained specifically to perform general or specialized types of surgeries. While surgeons spend time preparing for procedures, reviewing files and meeting with patients, their most critical role is to perform accurately and efficiently in the operating room. Surgeons’ need to be paid well since the lives of people are laid on their tables. Average salary of surgeons in Nigeria ranges from ₦200,000 – ₦568,000 monthly, depending on the sector they work with (private or public).

3. AIRLINE PILOTS
Airline pilots in Nigeria get good pay, as they are responsible for operation of aircraft and safety of passengers and goods. Pilots earn relatively well because of the delicacy and risk involved in the job. However, to determine the average salary of a commercial pilot in Nigeria, some factors have to be considered, like years of experience, type, rating, the airline, flying hours and rank of the pilot. Average salary for a First Officer ranges from ₦200,000 – ₦500,000 monthly, and captains earn about ₦500,000 – ₦3,000,000 monthly.

4. PROJECT MANAGERS
Project managers are charged with the planning, execution, and monitoring various projects within their organizations. Project managers’ salary varies, depending on the company. Project managers in start-ups and small companies may not earn as much as others in big companies. Project managers in big manufacturing firms, telecommunication companies, big oil and gas industries and FCMG’s earn big pay annually. Average salary of a Project Manager in Nigeria ranges from ₦269,000 – ₦803,000 per month.

5. BUSINESS MANAGERS/DIRECTORS
The role of a business manager is very important in any industry. It is one of the most demanding jobs these days, because the overall success and failure of the business rests on the shoulder of the business manager. Being a business manager or director can be a very challenging career path because of responsibilities that come with the role; from achieving business goals to increasing productivity. The duties of a business manager/director vary from company to company. All business managers are charged with responsibility to drive the work of others in order to run a business. Average salary for a business manager/director in Nigeria ranges from ₦200,000 – ₦700,000 monthly.

6. INVESTMENT BANKERS
Theys are charged with the responsibility of helping companies, government, and their agencies, to raise money by selling securities in the primary market. They assist public and private companies in raising funds in the capital market. Investment bankers mostly work in Hedge funds, banks, consulting firms, investment advisory and asset management companies. Average salary for an investment banker ranges from ₦300,000 – ₦500,000 monthly

7. ENTERTAINMENT
Most people want to relax after a hard days’ work, and entertainment provides some form of relaxation. As a result of increased demand, entertainers’ such as musicians, actors, and actress actually earn a lot. It is not uncommon for you to find people idolizing celebrities. Musicians/Actors earn up to ₦600,000 – ₦1,200,000 for their appearance in a concert or movie.

8. AEROSPACE ENGINEERS
They perform a very critical role in safeguarding lives and property of air passengers. Ordinarily, we might think that pilots are the only ones charged with this responsibility, but the aerospace engineer makes sure that all parts of the plane function properly. Duties of aerospace engineer involve designing and building machines that fly. Most aerospace engineers in Nigeria have to study abroad, making them more important. Average salary of a Nigerian aerospace engineer starts from ₦13,000,000 per year.

9. PETROLEUM ENGINEERS
Engineering is one of the highest paying careers in Nigeria; however, some engineers earn more than others depending on the field. Petroleum engineers earn well in Nigeria because most petroleum engineers are often employed by multi million-oil companies in Nigeria. Even at the entry-level stage, the petroleum engineer still earns well. Most of the petroleum engineers that work in the oil companies in Nigeria averagely earns about ₦12,000,000 annually. Starting salary of a petroleum engineer ranges from ₦300,000 – ₦900,000 monthly. These salaries tend to increase based on experience, level and time on the job.

10. TELECOM ENGINEERS
Telecoms is one of the fast-growing industries in Nigeria, so the need for telecommunication engineers are like a part of our day-to-day lives. The duties of a telecommunications engineer involve; designing and installing equipment used for transmitting wired phone, cellular, cable and broadband data. Their daily responsibilities can include working with copper or fiber optic cabling, complex networks, and switching systems. Average salary of a telecom engineer in Nigeria ranges from about ₦200,000 – ₦950,000 monthly.

Most of the salaries of professional given above are averages, meaning that the salaries are not precise rather they fall within a given range. It is, however, important to note that salaries of professionals in different fields are affected by a number of factors like the kind of company they work for, the industry, years of experience and degree of expertise. Also knowing the salary expectation of a particular career before going into it is very necessary.

SOURCE (abridged): https://www.mysalaryscale.com/blog/top-ten-well-paid-careers-in-nigeria/

The Nigerian Air Force has made history with the conduct of an operational Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance mission by an all-female crew. NAF made this known in a statement by its Director of Public Relations and Information, Ibikunle Daramola, on Wednesday.

The statement noted that “the mission, which was conducted on 28 May 2020 using the NAF Beechcraft KingAir ISR aircraft, had Flying Officers Oluwabunmi Ijelu and Genevieve Nwaogwugwu as Captain and Co-Pilot, respectively, with Sergeant Njoku Patience as the Airborne Tactical Observation System mission operator and Lance Corporal Shawulu Godiya as the on-board technician. It is noteworthy that Flying Officer Ijelu is the first female officer to become a Captain on a NAF aircraft.

“The aircraft was also marshaled by a female Marshaller, Aircraftwoman David Precious. The mission, which was preceded by the customary pre-flight briefing, originated from the 307 Executive Airlift Group (307 EAG), at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport and covered selected areas of interest in Niger State and its environs, where the intelligence that would support NAF air interdiction missions, as well as the operations of ground forces, was gathered.”

The Commander 307 EAG, Air Commodore Francis Edosa, was quoted as commending the all-female crew for displaying “a high level of professionalism”. The statement added that within the past four and a half years, there has been a surge in the involvement of female personnel in areas that were previously the preserve of men.

It added, “Five female pilots have been winged within the period, bringing the total number of female pilots in the NAF to seven. Many other female officers and airwomen are excelling in their various fields of specialization including Regiment and Special Forces, Aircraft/Armament Engineers and Technicians as well as Air Traffic Controllers, amongst others.

“The NAF’s objective in this regard is to maximise all of the potentials of Nigeria’s vast human resource pool, male and female, to ensure the effective, efficient, and timely employment of Air Power in response to Nigeria’s national security imperatives.”

SOURCE: https://punchng.com/naf-records-first-all-female-crew-on-surveillance-mission/