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Nigeria enters second recession in five years

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Nigeria enters second recession in five years

The Nigerian economy has slipped into its second recession in five years as the gross domestic product contracted for the second consecutive quarter.

Read also: FG to borrow $750 million from World Bank to stimulate local

Nigeria’s gross domestic product shrank 3.6% in the three months through September from a year earlier, compared with a 6.1% contraction in the previous quarter, Statistician-General Yemi Kale said Saturday in a report released on Twitter.

The country had earlier recorded a 6.10 per cent contraction in the second quarter.

It is the nation’s second recession since 2016, and the worst economic decline in almost four decades.

The Nigerian economy has been battered by the coronavirus pandemic, which caused a significant decline in oil revenues as global economic activities stalled for months.

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Crude oil accounts for nearly 90 per cent of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings although it contributes less than 10 per cent to the GDP. It contributed just 8.73 per cent to the economy in the latest report.

Oil production fell to 1.67 million barrels a day from 1.81 million barrels in the previous quarter, according to Bloomberg figures, the lowest since the third quarter in 2016 when the economy last experienced a recession.

The World Bank forecast the Nigerian economy will contract by 3.2 per cent in 2020, assuming the spread of COVID-19 is contained by the third quarter. The International Monetary Fund forecast a contraction of 4.3 per cent.

Read also: General Buratai and his devotion to fatherland

Before the pandemic and its attendant disruption, the Nigerian economy was expected to grow by 2.1% in 2020.

The pandemic as well as border closure have seen the country record sustained inflation for more than two years, with the October figure of 14.25 per cent the highest in the last 30 months.

The Central Bank of Nigeria in September cut interest rates to 11.5 per cent to help boost borrowing and support the economy. It was the second reduction in months.

The latest development is likely to trigger a further cut of the policy rate. The monetary policy committee, which sets the rate, is to beging its two-day meeting on Monday.

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Fela Kuti’s plaque unveiled in London

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Fela Kuti’s plaque unveiled in London

 

A plaque to commemorate the life of musician and Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti was unveiled on Friday 20 November 2020 in Greenwich, London where he studied at Trinity College of Music.

African and Caribbean support organisation Nubian Jak Community Trust and Havas London have created The Black Plaque Project, an initiative to commemorate the contributions of black people throughout history.

Timed to launch at the end of Black History Month, the project is a twist on London’s blue plaques, the signs hung around the capital to pay tribute to notable British figures of the past and the buildings in which they lived and worked.

However, only 1.6% of those honoured in that scheme are of African or Caribbean descent.

Nubian Jak and Havas have secured permissions for 30 black plaques and also created an interactive map that will allow people to find the signs and learn about their recipients.

Dr Jak Beula, founder and chief executive of Nubian Jak, helped select the names of the 30 people to be honoured in the scheme.

For the past 16 years, the trust has erected a number of plaques and statues honouring black achievements.

The Black Plaque Project also aims to raise money for Nubian Jak, turn the black plaques blue and make them permanent.

Read also: FG needs $656m to complete Lagos-Ibadan railway – Amaechi

In addition, there will be a series of podcasts hosted by Beula, featuring luminaries from London’s black community, such as Young Vic artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah, Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy and influencer and blogger Kelechi Okafor.

Beula said: “There are nowhere near enough blue plaques celebrating black achievement and history in Britain, so it is vital this project has a lasting legacy. Partnering with Havas on The Black Plaque Project helps us to raise awareness of this institutional discrimination and puts the pressure on those institutions – it shouldn’t just be us doing this.

“We must ensure these plaques commemorating our common cultural heritage keep going up and stay up – there are so many more stories that need to be told to celebrate our rich, diverse past and to inspire future generations.”

Fela, who died in 1997, found success by blending West African sounds with jazz and funk.

His grandson Made Kuti, who returned to the Trinity College of Unity in recent years to study composition, said Fela originally told his family he was coming to the UK to study medicine but instead took up a place at Trinity Laban.

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Made said that when he arrived at the college he found it “strange that there was nothing to actually commemorate his time there”.

“This feels fulfilling and I’m happy about it,” he added.

Made said his grandfather’s music “touched those beyond what even I expected before I came to London”.

Made said it is a “beautiful initiative”.

“Black art and black culture has been influential for centuries and will continue to be and it is always nice when it is put at the forefront of appreciation in some way,” he said.

“I personally was very excited when I heard about it and I wish I was there in Trinity while it was happening so I could take it in first hand.”

Read also: Lagos security: Police raids black spots, arrest 720

Haaland wins Golden Boy award, Saka in top 10

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Haaland wins Golden Boy award, Saka in top 10
Borussia Dortmund youngster Erling Haaland has won the 2020 Golden Boy award.
The award is given by Italian newspaper Tuttosport to the best U-21 player in the top leagues in Europe in a calendar year, voted for by journalists from across the continent.
Halaand beat a tough line-up of top young Europe-based talents to win this year’s award to succeed Joao Felix.
The 20-year-old Norwegian has been in brilliant form since joining Dortmund in January.
He scored 16 goals in 18 appearances for Dortmund in his first half-season and has been scoring for fun this term too.
The scoring phenomenon has already bagged 11 goals in 11 games in all competitions this season, including six goals in six Bundesliga matches.
He got 302 points in Golden Boy votes, beating Barcelona’s Ansu Fati to second place (239 points).
Bayern Munich’s flying left-back Alphonso Davies is third with 226 points, with Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho fourth on 80 points.
French teenager Edouard Camavinga of Rennes rounds up the top five with 50 points.
Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka, the Nigerian youngster playing international football for England, is one of only two Premier League players in the top 10, coming in ninth with 13 points.
The other Premier League player in the top 10 is Manchester City’s Phil Foden who is seventh with 36 points.

DSS detains Gbajabiamila’s security aide for killing newspaper vendor

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DSS detains Gbajabiamila’s security aide for killing newspaper vendor

The Department of State Service (SSS) has detained its officer who shot dead a newspaper vendor, Ifeanyi Okereke, in Abuja.

In a statement by its Public Relations Officer, Peter Afunnaya, the service said it has also withdrawn the officer, who is a security detail to Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila from the beat.

“The attention of the Department of State Services (DSS) has been drawn to the allegation of shooting and killing of one Ifeanyi Okereke by a security aide of the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

“The Service hereby confirms that the suspect is one of its personnel deployed to the Speaker’s Convoy as a security detail. And as already stated by the Speaker that he has been suspended from his Convoy, the Service has further withdrawn him from the assignment.” the statement read in part.

The Service also noted that it has launched an investigation into the matter and promised to be transparent in handling it.

“As part of its disciplinary procedures in the instance, he has been taken into detention. In addition, the Service has opened a detailed investigation into the matter.

“While it pledges to be transparent and accountable in handling this, it is liaising with appropriate authorities to achieve this objective.”

“The Service condoles with the family of the deceased and his loved ones. It has promised a thorough investigation into the circumstances that led to the unfortunate incident and will surely keep to this,” Afunnaya said in the statement.

FG bows to lecturers’ demands over ASUU strike, suspends IPPIS

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FG bows to lecturers’ demands over ASUU strike, suspends IPPIS

The Federal Government has agreed to pay a cumulative sum of N65 billion to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to offset backlog of earned allowances and revitalisation of the institutions.

The government also agreed to pay the lecturers their outstanding salaries using an older payment platform, GIFMIS, different from the controversial IPPIS.

According to a statement from the government, the decision was taken in a bid to fast-track return of academic activities to universities.

The government added that it decided to shift grounds on the lingering issues that have kept students out of the classroom for several months.

Briefing newsmen at the end of the meeting held on Friday, Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, who made the proposal on behalf of the government to the striking lecturers, described the negotiation as fruitful.

While noting that the fund was offered to resolve the impasse with ASUU, Ngige explained that the sum of N15 billion from the amount offered by the government would be for more funds to revitalise the universities.

He added that the fund was in addition to the N20 billion paid earlier, making it a total of N35 billion committed as revitalisation fund by the government and disclosed that the visitation panel to the universities would be inaugurated next week.

On the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), Ngige noted that representatives of the government and ASUU met over the University Transparency Account System (UTAS) proposed by the union, but it was a work in progress.

He stated that the Ministry of Labour and Employment, as well as the Ministry of Education, would use the previous payment platform of the government before it introduced IPPIS to pay the withheld salaries of the lecturers under strict monitoring.

ASUU president, Biodun Ogunyemi, who also addressed reporters, acknowledged that the government has made some new offers to the union and some progress have been made.

He, however, said the union leaders would report to their organs and get back to the government on the position of their members.

Police rescue 9 kidnapped officers

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Police rescue 9 kidnapped officers

All nine police officers reportedly abducted about two weeks ago between Kankara town and Scheme in Katsina have been rescued, according to a statement issued by DCP Frank Mba, Force Public Relations Officer on Friday.

The officers, all Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASPs), who were dressed in mufti and unarmed, came under attack by armed men wearing military fatigues but suspected to be bandits.

DCP Mba, in the statement, said preliminary investigation has “shown that the attack on the vehicle was an opportunistic crime as the officers were all traveling in mufti, unarmed and alongside other private citizens in the commercial vehicle.”

DCP Mba said “follow-up investigation” into the incident is still ongoing.

“The officers, all Assistant Superintendents of Police (ASPs), were on their way to Gusau in Zamfara State from Maiduguri at the time of the incident”, stated Mba.

He continued, “Two of the officers are currently receiving medical attention in a hospital, while the remaining seven are being debriefed.

“Covert operation to locate and rescue the officers commenced immediately they were discovered missing en-route to their destination.

“Thus, the apparent delay in commenting on the unfortunate incident was a deliberate decision aimed at protecting the integrity and confidentiality of the rescue operation and the concomitant safety of the officers.

“The total number of officers involved in the incident is nine (9) and not twelve (12) as previously, wrongly reported in some sections of the media.”

 

Donald Trump Jr. tests positive for COVID-19

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Donald Trump Jr. tests positive for COVID-19

Donald Trump Jr., the son of U.S. President Donald Trump, tested positive for COVID-19 this week, although he is experiencing no symptoms, according to his spokesman.

Trump Jr. tested positive at the start of the week and has been “quarantining at his cabin since the result,” the spokesman said.

“He’s been completely asymptomatic so far and is following all medically recommended COVID-19 guidelines,” he said.

Andrew Giuliani, the son of the president’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, also said he tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday.

Vietnam threatens to shut down Facebook over censorship requests

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Vietnam threatens to shut down Facebook over censorship requests

Vietnam has threatened to shut down Facebook in the country if it does not bow to government pressure to censor more local political content on its platform, a senior official at the U.S. social media giant told Reuters.

Facebook complied with a government request in April to significantly increase its censorship of “anti-state” posts for local users, but Vietnam asked the company again in August to step up its restrictions of critical posts, the official said.

“We made an agreement in April. Facebook has upheld our end of the agreement, and we expected the government of Vietnam to do the same,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity citing the sensitivity of the subject.

“They have come back to us and sought to get us to increase the volume of content that we’re restricting in Vietnam. We’ve told them no. That request came with some threats about what might happen if we didn’t.”

The official said the threats included shutting down Facebook altogether in Vietnam, a major market for the social media company where it earns revenue of nearly $1 billion, according to two sources familiar with the numbers.

Facebook has faced mounting pressure from governments over its content policies, including threats of new regulations and fines. But it has avoided a ban in all but the few places where it has never been allowed to operate, such as China.

In Vietnam, despite sweeping economic reform and increasing openness to social change, the ruling Communist Party retains tight control of media and tolerates little opposition. The country ranks fifth from bottom in a global ranking of press freedom compiled by Reporters Without Borders.

Vietnam’s foreign ministry said in response to questions from Reuters that Facebook should abide by local laws and cease ”spreading information that violates traditional Vietnamese customs and infringes upon state interests”.

A spokeswoman for Facebook said it had faced additional pressure from Vietnam to censor more content in recent months.

In its biannual transparency report released on Friday, Facebook said it had restricted access to 834 items in Vietnam in the first six months of this year, following requests from the government of Vietnam to remove anti-state content.

Serbian Orthodox Church leader dies from COVID-19, aged 90

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Serbian Orthodox Church leader dies from COVID-19, aged 90

The leader of the Serbian Orthodox Church has died from COVID-19 aged 90.

Patriarch Irinej was taken to hospital earlier in November after going to the funeral of the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, Bishop Amfilohije.

Bishop Amfilohije died from complications linked to COVID-19.

Thousands of mourners, most of them without masks, gathered at the funeral in the Montenegrin capital, Podgorica, on November 1, in violation of coronavirus-fighting measures proclaimed by the small Adriatic state’s authorities. The burial turned out to be a major coronavirus-spreading event, with several high ranking church officials and others who were there later testing positive.

Patriarch Irinej died shortly after 7 am on Friday at a Belgrade military hospital, according to a brief church statement.

The government announced three days of national mourning as bells on churches across the country tolled.

Patriarch Irinej often criticised Western policies toward Serbia and urged close relations with Slavic ally Russia.

Like the rest of the Balkans, both Serbia and Montenegro are seeing daily record numbers of coronavirus cases and deaths, and hospitals are running out of beds.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic also attended the burial in Montenegro. Following the news of Irinej’s death, Vucic posted on Instagram Friday: “It was an honour to have known you,” alongside a black and white photo of the patriarch. “People like you are never gone.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a message of condolence to Vucic, praising the late patriarch for “strengthening the unity of the whole Orthodox world”, according to Serbia’s state TV.

Irinej, who wielded considerable political influence in Serbia, took over the church’s helm in January 2010 after the death of his predecessor, Patriarch Pavle, who was a highly popular and respected church leader in the Balkan country.

At the time, Irinej was seen as a relative moderate and a compromise choice among the factions within the church.

But throughout his church reign, he maintained the hardline nationalist stance the church developed during the wars that cleaved the Balkans in the 1990s. That included beliefs that the Serbs were historic victims of injustice and played on alleged anti-Serb policies in rival Balkan nations as well as the international community.

He often criticised Western policies toward Serbia over its breakaway Kosovo province, which unilaterally declared independence in 2008, and he kept close relations with the Russian Orthodox Church and the populist Serbian president.

Irinej’s traditional enthronement was held in Kosovo in October 2010 to underscore his dedication to Serbian historic claims that the majority ethnic Albanian-populated former province is the cradle of its statehood.

“We can’t and must not give away what has been ours for centuries and which has never in history belonged to the Albanian state, even if it has been taken from us and put under foreign occupation,” Irinej said in an interview posted on the church’s website.

Irinej added that “our biggest problem is not our centuries-old neighbours, the Albanians, but ‘developed’ Europe and the West in general.”

Irinej, however, was among the rare Serbian church dignitaries who openly called for improved ties with the Roman Catholic Church. He said the two churches should overcome historic differences.

The Serbian church is one of a group of autocephalous, or independent, churches that make up the Orthodox Christian faith. The Orthodox Churches split from the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church in the 11th century in an event called the Great Schism.

FG launches grant for rural women in south east

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FG launches grant for rural women in south east
The Federal Government’s cash grant for Rural Women has commenced in the South East. The programme was launched by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq  on Thursday at the Old Government House, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State. Speaking about the significance of the programme,  Farooq said the Buhari-led administration established the scheme with the purpose of lifting 100m Nigerians out of poverty in the next ten years. The Minister advised the women to make judicious use of the one-off N20,000 cash grant by starting up petty businesses or adding the seed money to already established small businesses. “Our message to them is for them to utilize this money judiciously by starting up small businesses so that by God’s grace, this money will multiply and they will be able to take care of themselves and their families, ” she said.. “We expect the Ebonyi state government to assist these women with advise, support and expertise and follow up on them in order to guide them with the business they decide to embark upon”. The Minister makes a presentation to a beneficiary In his response, the Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi praised President Muhammadu Buhari for the initiative which he said will go a long way in assuaging the sufferings of rural women in the state. Umahi, who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Eric Kelechi Igwe described the visit of the minister as timely, promising that the women will turn over the seed money given to them very soon. “This is an auspicious day because it also marks the day that Ebonyi people moved from the leftist side to the right. No government has ever done this for the people of Ebonyi. I thank President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister, Sadiya Umar Farouq for churning out these Development policies. “Women are very hard working. If men were the ones who got this money, they would have taken wives the next morning. Women don’t dictate to their husbands but they determine that food is in the house. For this gesture, we are appreciative and we will continue to ask for more”. The Deputy Governor also appealed to the minister to fashion out ways of appraising the program to assess their performance in the business or whatsoever they have chosen to do with the seed money. It is expected that over 200 women from the 13 local government councils of Ebonyi state will benefit from the Federal government’s Cash Grant for Rural Women.
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