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25Dec By Sharpedge NewsNo Comments

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Over 1.5m Citizens Have Received N25,000 Stipend, Says NSIPA 

The National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA) says over 1.5 million citizens have received a N25,000 stipend under the conditional cash transfer (CCT) programme. Addressing a press conference in Abuja, Halima Shehu, NSIPA CEO, said the agency’s target is to reach 15 million citizens. The beneficiaries, she said, would receive the stipend for three months. Shehu said the programmes of Trader Moni, Farmers Moni and Market Moni under the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) have been relaunched, and disbursement will begin in January 2024. Under my watch, we have successfully kick-started the conditional cash transfer programme founded by the World Bank with a twenty thousand naira (N25,000) monthly stipend for three months. We are targeting 15 million ...

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25Dec By Sharpedge NewsNo Comments

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FULANI HERDSMEN ATTACK CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY IN OBADA OKO, ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE, SOUTH-WEST NIGERIA.

Fulani herdsmen (militia) attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria are a serious and ongoing issue in Nigeria resulting in numerous deaths, displacement and the destruction of properties and churches. In one of their numerous attacks, they attacked one Christian community of Obada Oko, Abeokuta, Ogun state, south-west Nigeria which led to protest in this community. The violence stems from a complex mix issues, including competition for land and perceived religious intolerance. This made protestors took to the streets of a Christian  community in Obada Oko, Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun state, south-west Nigeria. One protester said, "we are tired, please stop Fulani herdsmen from destroying our farm, killing our people and rapping our women." About 6 people have been ki...

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24Dec By Gami TadanyigbeNo Comments

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Christmas: Aigbefoh tasks Nigerians on Unity

By Gami Tadanyigbe Chief Dr. Amb Ebosetale David, Esq, has called on all Nigerians, especially Christians to imbibe the culture of Unity as they celebrate the Christmas for the development of the country. Aigbefoh, who made the call in his Christmas message to newsmen in Abuja on Sunday, said there was need to Love one another and be United to enable the country furge ahead. According to him, "We need to come together to celebrate this joyous season, let us reflect on the values that bind us as a community and as a nation. Christmas is a time of peace, a time to nurture unity, and a time to embrace hope for a brighter future. "In Tungan Maje Town, let us extend a hand of friendship to our neighbors and work together to build a community where every individual is valued and resp...

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23Dec By Gami TadanyigbeNo Comments

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Comprehensive plan to protect power facilities underway –

MinisterMinister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu says comprehensive plan to protect power facilities would soon be put in place to stop vandalism. Mrs Ndidi Mbah, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN'S) General Manager Public Affairs said in Abuja on Friday that the minister was reacting to the incident of vandalisation of the company's tower in Yobe State. Mbah said that TCN tower T372 around Katsaita Village in Yobe State were affected, bringing down the 330 Kilo Volt (KV) transmission tower which pulled down tower T373 along the same transmission line route on Thursday. She said the incident, which took place at about 9.18pm caused the failure of power supply to parts of the Yobe and Borno States. According to him, a comprehensive plan to protect power facilities would soon be ...

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23Dec By Gami TadanyigbeNo Comments

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NDE blames rise of unemploument on ignorance of skills acquisition

By Joan Nwagwu The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has blamed rise of unemployment on the ignorance of youths to acquire skills development. Malam Abubakar Fikpo, Director General of NDE said this in a statement on Saturday in Abuja. According to him, unemployment crisis in Nigeria is a function of the geometric rise in population and ignorance of available opportunities for skills acquisition and self employment by diverse unemployment groups in Nigeria. "This simply means that the mentality that if it is not a formal office work, one is not employed, has been a big challenge, although  in recent time, there has been a serious positive change. "As year 2023 winds down, it is worthy of note that NDE has done tremendously well in its job creation programmes. "In s...

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23Dec By Gami TadanyigbeNo Comments

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Housing ministry partner consortium to build 100,000 houses nationwide

By Perpetua Onuegbu The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Mr Ahmed Dangiwa has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Continental Civil and General Construction Company Limited and Ceezali Limited to build 100,000 housing units nationwide. Dangiwa while signing the the MoU in Abuja on Thursday said the housing units were to be delivered under a Strategic Public Private Partnership (PPP) as part of the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates Program. According to him the terms of this partnership dictates that the Consortium will provide construction finance and build the housing units to completion based on agreed housing designs and prices. "The Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development will facilitate provision of affordable mortgage loans to offtakers through...

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23Dec By Sharpedge NewsNo Comments

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CBN Lifts Ban On Cryptocurrency Transactions, Issues Guidelines

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued operational guidelines on virtual assets service providers (VASPs) to all banks and other financial institutions (OFIs). Released on Friday, the guidelines are contained in a circular dated December 22, 2023, and signed by Haruna Mustapha, CBN’s director of the financial policy and regulation department. According to the CBN, VASPs means any entity that conducts exchange between virtual assets (cryptocurrencies) and fiat currencies, and transfers of virtual assets. The development signals a shift from CBN’s initial position which restricts crypto transactions. In February 2021, CBN issued a circular to deposit money banks (DMBs), non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs), and OFIs to close accounts of persons or entities involved in cr...

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23Dec By Gami TadanyigbeNo Comments

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Christmas : Nasarawa lawmaker, Hon Zhekaba spends over N8m to constituents

Member representing Obi Two constituency at the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Hon Luka Iliya Zhekaba, says he has earmarked N8 million to be disbursed to the people of his constituency in the spirit of Christmas festivity. Zhekaba, the Minority Leader and Chairman , House Committee on Housing and Environment disclosed this while disbursing N5000 each to 200 women of his constituency in Duduguru, Obi Local Government Area of the State. The minority leader of the House said that the gesture was to put smile on the faces of his constituents thereby improving on their standard of living during and after the festive period. According to him, I feel it necessary based on the support my electorates have been giving to me to extend and reach out to them in this festive period. "Tod...

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23Dec By Gami TadanyigbeNo Comments

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Good roads will reduce inflation of goods, services -Umahi

By Perpetua Onuegbu The Minister of Works, Sen. David Umahi says that good roads in the country will reduce inflation of goods and services. Umahi said this at the inauguration of the Board of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) on Thursday in Abuja. According to Umahi road infrastructure is critical to the socio-economic development of our nation noting that the critical sectors that drive economic growth rely greatly on road infrastructure development. "We have a very critical situation with our roads all over the country and for me, the number one thing Nigerians needed like yesterday is road. "If we fix our roads today, we will bring down inflation in this country, because bad road is affecting every aspect of our economic activities. "Is it transportation of petrol...

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22Dec By Sharpedge NewsNo Comments

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Ondo: APC Chieftain Warns Aiyedatiwa Against Reshuffling Cabinet

A legal practitioner and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Ondo State, Mr Sola Ajisafe, has warned the state acting governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, against reshuffling the cabinet of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu. Aiyedatiwa became the acting governor of the state after Governor Akeredolu returned to Germany for another medical vacation and transmitted power to him in an acting capacity last week. Ajisafe, who spoke on a radio programme in Akure, the state capital, on Wednesday, said there was an indication that Aiyedatiwa was planning to reshuffle the State Executive Council to favour his supporters in the government but warned him against such planned action. According to the APC chieftain, such action would be contrary to the agreement reached with President Bola Ahmed Tinu...

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21Dec By Sharpedge NewsNo Comments

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Senate Confirms 11 Supreme Court Justices

The Senate has confirmed the appointment of 11 Supreme Court justices nominated by President Bola Tinubu to fill the vacancies on the apex court bench. This followed the adoption of the report of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters at the Committee of the Whole on Thursday. Presenting the report, Mohammed Monguno, the Chairman of the Committee, said the request for confirmation of the nominees was in pursuant to section 231(2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended). He said the committee at the screening received their curriculum vitae and other documents on their suitability for appointment as Supreme Court justices. “The nominees individually demonstrated knowledge and grasp on questions asked by members of the c...

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21Dec By Sharpedge NewsNo Comments

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Kebbi, Jigawa, Akwa Ibom Paid Highest Petrol Retail Price In November-NBS

The National Bureau of Statistics says the average retail price of a litre of petrol increased from N202.48 in November 2022 to N648.93 in November 2023. NBS said this in its Petrol Price Watch for November 2023 released in Abuja on Thursday. It stated that the November 2023 price of N648.93 represented a 220.49 per cent increase over the price of N202.48 recorded in November 2022. It stated, “Comparing the average price value with the previous month of October 2023, the average retail price increased by 2.90 per cent from N630.63. “On state profiles analysis, Kebbi paid the highest average retail price of N691.00 per litre, followed by Jigawa and Akwa Ibom at N677.67 and N675.00, respectively. “Conversely, Taraba, Kaduna and Lagos paid the lowest average retail price at N61...

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21Dec By Gami TadanyigbeNo Comments

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Nigeria: NGOs, CSOs call for adoption of strategies to address road crashes

By Ibironke Ariyo The Non-Governmental Organisations and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on Road Safety and Injury Prevention have called for the adoption of sector-based strategies to address the hydra-headed challenges of road crashes, injuries, and deaths in Nigeria. The Coordinator and leader of the representatives of NGOs/CSOs, Dr. Yusuf Suberu, expressed serious concerns about how to tackle pre-crash, crash, and post-crash issues in Nigeria and outlined the way forward. Dr Yusuf Suberu is also the Representative of the United Nations Decade of Action on Road Safety and Injury Prevention(I (UNDARSIP) in Nigeria. Speaking, during a roundtable and dinner organised for critical stakeholders in transportation and road safety matters in Abuja, Suberu said that relevant stake...

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21Dec By Gami TadanyigbeNo Comments

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Foundation trains over 1,500 teachers on standard practice

By Diana Omueza Teachers Aid Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), has trained not less than 1,500 teachers across the country on international best practices in education. Mr Stephen Osadebay, the President of the foundation said this in Abuja at an Induction and Investiture of Honorary Award ceremony. The NGO, in partnership with the British American Open University of California, organised the event to honour teachers and professional educationists with the honorary doctorate award for making impacts in the education sector. Osadebay said the foundation had successfully trained over 1,500 teachers from 2022 to 2023 on international best practices and would not relent in ensuring that teachers and teaching profession was specialised and enviable. According to ...

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20Dec By Sharpedge NewsNo Comments

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Donald Trump Banned From Colorado Ballot In Historic Ruling By State’s Supreme Court

A divided Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday declared former President Donald Trump ineligible for the White House under the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause and removed him from the state’s presidential primary ballot, setting up a likely showdown in the nation’s highest court to decide whether the front-runner for the GOP nomination can remain in the race. The decision from a court whose justices were all appointed by Democratic governors marks the first time in history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has been used to disqualify a presidential candidate. “A majority of the court holds that Trump is disqualified from holding the office of president under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment,” the court wrote in its 4-3 decision. Colorado’s highest court overturned a ruling ...

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20Dec By Sharpedge NewsNo Comments

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Fagbemi: Plea Bargaining Good For Nigeria’s Anti-Corruption War

The Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, says plea bargain enhances the quick recovery of stolen assets and proceeds of crime. Mr Fagbemi said this at the unveiling of the ‘Plea Bargaining Guidelines for Federal Prosecutors’ and the maiden sensitisation workshop on the guidelines on Tuesday in Abuja. The attorney general states, “Under section 494(1) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015, Plea Bargain is well described as “the process in criminal proceedings whereby the defendant and the prosecution work out a mutually acceptable disposition of the case. This includes the plea of the defendant to a lesser offence than that charged in the complaint or information and in conformity with other conditions imposed by the prosecution, in return for a lighter sentenc...

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19Dec By Sharpedge NewsNo Comments

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Makinde’s Arrogance Led To Freezing Of Oyo’s Bank Accounts- Ex-ALGON

Ayodeji Abass-Aleshinloye, former chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) in Oyo, says freezing the state account over the unpaid N3.5 billion entitlements of sacked council chairpersons was caused by Governor Seyi Makinde and other state officials’ arrogance. The lesson from this judgment is that the government must always allow the rule of law to thrive,” Mr Abass-Aleshinloye stated. “There should be less arrogance on the part of the executives, especially when it comes to legal issues.” Justice A.O. Ebong of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court had, on December 15, issued an order freezing the accounts of the Oyo government in 10 commercial banks in the country. Mr Ebong gave the order while ruling on a garnishee proceeding initiated by the l...

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19Dec By Gami TadanyigbeNo Comments

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NERDC explains reasons for secondary education curriculum review

The Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) has underscored the need for the review of the secondary education curriculum to create opportunities for students to acquire relevant trade and entrepreneurship skills. The Executive Secretary, NERDC, Prof. Ismail Junaidu, stated this at a high-level policy committee meeting on the “New Secondary Education Curriculum Structure and Benchmark’’ on Tuesday in Abuja. Junaidu said the review became necessary considering that it had been 12 years since the introduction of the current Senior Secondary Education Curriculum (SSEC). According to him, the old SSEC is no longer relevant to the overall objectives of education in terms of human capital development, job creation, value reorientation, and poverty eradication. “...

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19Dec By Gami TadanyigbeNo Comments

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Migrants Day: Stakeholders list reasons for safe migration

Some migration stakeholders have advised Nigerians on the need for right, dignity, and safe migration. They gave the advice during a road walk on Monday in commemoration of the 2023 International Migrants Day. International Migrants Day is celebrated every year on Dec. 18 to reflect on the contributions of millions of migrants worldwide. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme for the 2023 International Migrants Day is “Act Today”. The Project Director of the Mediterranean Foundation for African Migrants, Kenechi Okpalaji, said there was nothing wrong with people moving from one country to another but they should do it rightly. Kenechi explained that people on the move were powerful drivers for development in both their origin and destination countries, as wo...

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19Dec By Gami TadanyigbeNo Comments

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SSANU commends FG on exemption of tertiary institutions:from IPPIS

By Joan Nwagwu The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has commended the Federal Government for the exemption of all tertiary institutions from the the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). Mr Mohammed Ibrahim, National President of SSANU, said this in a communique issued on Monday in Abuja. The communique was issued at the end of the 46th National Executive Council (NEC) of the association held in Federal University of Technology, Mina, Niger state. According to Ibrahim, NEC in session commended the Federal Government on the removal of universities and other tertiary institutions from IPPIS. “NEC, however, encourages government to critically consult Management of Universities and labour unions on workable, reliable, seamless and ...

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