Four people narrowly escaped death on Tuesday after a helicopter crashed in the Oba Akran area of Ikeja, Lagos State.
The incident happened on Tuesday afternoon, close to a branch of the United Bank for Africa in the area. The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Services confirmed the incident.
The spokesperson for the agency, Amodu Shakiru, said the occupants sustained varying degrees of injuries.
Nigerians have begun a “warm up” protest in Kano State over the hike of petrol price from N195 to N617, naira devaluation, school fees increment and other anti-poor policies of the President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government.
Photographs of the protest obtained on Tuesday confirmed that the Joint Action Front (JAF) coordinated the demonstration.
JAF had alongside the Alliance for Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond (ASCAB) and Coalition for Revolution (CORE) declared their total support for the August 2 Nigeria Labour Congress nationwide action.
The civic organisations in a joint declaration, signed by Femi Falana (ASCAB), Baba Ayelabola (CORE), and Achike Chude (JAF) after a meeting on Sunday, which was made available to newsmen on Monday, had said they would join in the protest until victory was achieved.
Titled: “August 2nd, 2023 as the beginning of nationwide resistance against fuel price hike and anti-poor policies is sacrosanct,” the civic organisations had said that the minimum aim of the forthcoming struggle is the reversal of the “criminal hike of petrol from N617 to N195, reversal of other criminal policies like fee hike in public tertiary institutions, devaluation of the naira” which they noted had made life unbearable on Nigerian masses.
“We support the decision of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to call Nigerian workers and poor masses out on protest starting from Wednesday, August 2, 2023, against the wicked and neoliberal policies of the President Tinubu government, including, the severe hike in the price of petrol and devaluation of the naira.”
The organisations tasked the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) with unity in their engagement with the Federal Government and encourage them to jointly mobilise for mass action.
In a public notice released on July 31st, 2023, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) announced that it has initiated the striking off process for a list of companies that did not meet the requirements specified in the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020.
The list includes a total of 94,581 companies, with the majority being Limited Liability Companies registered between 1976 and 1991. These companies have failed to fulfill their statutory obligation of filing annual returns in the last decade.
The CAC emphasized that companies failing to comply with the provisions of CAMA 2020, particularly those neglecting to file their annual returns within 90 days of publication on the Commission’s website, will be struck off the Register of Companies.
Click to download the full list of the companies
The affected companies have been listed on the Commission’s website, and the CAC urges both the companies in question and the general public to check the website to identify the names of the entities facing the striking off process.
Once struck off the Register, companies will be legally prohibited from conducting business activities until they obtain a formal restoration order from the Federal High Court.
Compliance with the restoration process is crucial for any struck-off company seeking to resume its business operations.
This notice serves as a reminder to all companies to fulfill their obligations as outlined in CAMA 2020 and adhere to the regulatory framework to maintain their active status with the Commission.
The CAC’s issuance of this notice is in accordance with section 692 (3) and (4) of CAMA 2020.
Companies listed for striking off are strongly advised to take prompt action to rectify their compliance status to avoid adverse consequences.
The Acting Comptroller-General of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Caroline Adepoju, has disclosed that the Service is planning to introduce a new visa regime, named: “Economic Trust Visa”.
She disclosed this while speaking in a press conference organized to commence the 60th-anniversary celebration of the NIS at the Service headquarters on Monday.
The Ag CG said: “We are looking at using our visa regime to support the vision of the Nigerian government in improving our economy.
“We have proposed the issuance of an Economic Trust Visa whereby we will assist interested investors in checking the profiles of their would-be partners.
“We will work hand in hand with security agencies in Nigeria to ensure that foreign direct investors are not swindled of their hard-earned money.”
She also said the Service will invest more in border management in the years ahead, adding that more logistics would be made available for personnel to do their job.
“We are deploying technology, we are deploying well-trained personnel in all the borders,” the Ag CG said.
She said the standardisation of the services of NIS would continue by exposing personnel to training to conform with internationally accepted standards.
According to her, more passport offices would be opened across the country while all passport processes would be automated to avoid human contact.
“Our technical partners are working hard to ensure that we have enough passport booklets because when there are booklets, sharp practices will also be reduced, she added.
Nigerian comedian and actor, Bright Okpocha, better known by his stage name Basketmouth, has enrolled his son, Okpocha Jason, in Liverpool Football Academy, England.
Basketmouth announced this in a post via Instagram.
He shared a video of his son arriving at the academy.
In the video, Jason could be seen signing paperwork at the academy.
According to the comedian, his son had been accepted into the Project Mbappe track, which is a special program for talented young players.
“Go make daddy proud boy,” Basketmouth captioned the video.
Jason’s enrollment in the Liverpool Academy is a major coup for the young player.
Liverpool is one of the most prestigious football clubs in the world, and its academy has produced some of the biggest names in the game, including Steven Gerrard, Raheem Sterling, and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Jason is Basketmouth’s only son with his estranged wife, Elsie Uzoma. The couple had three children together before parting ways in 2022.
The presidential Election Petitions Tribunal has reserved judgment on the petition which Peter Obi, Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP), filed to challenge the victory of President Bola Tinubu in the February 25 election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Tinubu winner of the election but Obi rejected the outcome and headed for the tribunal.
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In their final written address dated July 20, Obi and Datti Baba Ahmed, his running mate, said Tinubu was not qualified to contest the election.
But a five-member of justices led by Justice Haruna Tsammani said the date for the ruling would be communicated.
Obi and Datti were in court accompanied by renowned Novelist and scholar, Chimamanda Adichie.
Earlier, the court had adjourned ruling in the petition of Atiku Abubakar, Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, yesterday raised the alarm that the removal of fuel subsidy without cushioning the effects has put the country on the brink of collapse.
The bishops’ alarm came as Nigeria Employers Consultative Association, NECA, pleaded with the Federal Government to urgently address the pains of the people arising from the removal of subsidy on petrol.
However, efforts made to get the reaction of the Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communication and Strategy, Mr Dele Alake, did not yield any results, as he neither responded to a text message sent to his phone nor picked up his calls.
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But the President of CBCN, Most Rev. Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, raised the alarm in a homily delivered at the Maria Assumpta Cathedral, during the reception of the Supreme Subordinate President of the Knights of St. John International, Prof. Remy Uche, in Owerri, weekend, said Nigeria might be heading for the precipice if nothing urgent is done to effectively check the current economic crisis facing the nation and its citizens
He said: “The suffering in the land has over the years been galloping uncontrollably. Our growing economic crisis became exacerbated with the recent withdrawal of petrol subsidy by the Federal Government. Indeed, Nigeria is on the brink of collapse.
“Government has not ceased to inundate citizens with it’s fabled palliative measures to cushion the effects of the subsidy removal. I am sure those running the nation’s affairs at all levels know that palliative measures can never be a cure for any economic or health challenge.
“If Nigerians are given food items as palliatives, we will definitely go hungry again, after consuming the food. So, I ask: Why waste resources on palliative measures, instead of attacking the problems frontally?
“Provision of a constant source of energy remains the driving force in all developing and developed economies. Why is ours different? Why should we not subsidize fuel?
“We have severally been told that some people have been enriching themselves from our commonwealth through petrol subsidy. For many patriotic citizens, this argument does not hold water.
“Why has the government failed, is unwilling or incapable of identifying the supposed culprits and bringing them to account for their sordid act?
“There is a lot of deceit and corruption in the land. How can anybody explain why and how the former administration hurriedly commissioned the Dangote refinery, which is yet to start production? So, why the haste in commissioning an unfinished project?
“There is also the fabled story of the supposed Nigerian airline and how an aeroplane was hired or borrowed to flag off its operation. Where is the airline today? Has anyone been asked to account for the act? This is not a good national testimonial.
“The root of Nigeria’s problem is massive corruption. For Nigeria to survive, we must collectively fight corruption, whichever way it rears its ugly head.
“Government must be told that we cannot afford the luxury of punishing the entire populace, because of the corrupt tendencies of a few. This is not fair to all concerned.”
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, NECA, has warned that any strike or mass protest in the face of the hardship and suffering in the country could potentially cause a breakdown of law and order with attendant risks for businesses and the nation as a whole.
The umbrella body for employers and voice of businesses in the country urged the government to urgently take immediate steps to ameliorate the economic trauma being faced by workers, Nigerians and organized businesses.
In a statement by its Director-General, Wale-Smatt Oyerinde, NECA argued that any disruption of businesses in the form of a strike or mass protest will exacerbate the current unemployment rate and drag many further down the poverty line.
Oyerinde recalled that businesses in the formal and informal sectors lost over N5 trillion due to the crass vandalism by unscrupulous elements who hijacked the purposeful #EndSARS protest in 2020.
“Any strike, the threat of mass action or civil disobedience that could potentially disrupt economic activities or businesses, especially those in the formal and informal sectors which could compromise sustainability and job creation, based on economic policies of the government which are non-employment related, will be counter-productive.
While organized labour is at liberty to engage with government on behalf of its members on issues of welfare as they relate to the impacts of any economic policy, sometimes deadlock may hold sway. When that happens, the consequential action by organized labour should not, in any way, hinder anyone from going about their businesses peacefully or cause anyone to be intimidated or harassed.
‘Importance of dialogue’
“We re-emphasise the importance of social dialogue, a potent instrument of the International Labour Organization, ILO, and a globally accepted mechanism for dispute resolution.
‘’While it should be noted that various ILO Conventions, recommendations, international treaties and local legislations guarantee certain rights and privileges to social partners, a call for mass action or civil disobedience is certainly not one of them.
“We urge the government to, as a matter of urgency, take immediate steps to ameliorate the economic trauma being faced by workers, Nigerians and organized businesses. It is no gainsaying that many businesses are shut down and many others are on the verge of closing down, which will exacerbate the current unemployment rate and drag many further down the poverty line.
“We strongly request that a coordinated implementation of the various pro-growth and other palliative schemes should commence, without further delay, at the federal level to complement the efforts of some state governments and organized businesses.
“The need for transparent communication and the building of national consensus at this difficult time cannot be over-emphasized.
“Recent events that portend serious danger for the survival of sustainable enterprises, decent work, national development and our industrial relations system as a whole necessitated this urgent call.
‘’The parlous state of the economy and the recent mobilization for strike and civil action by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, is not only worrisome but also calls for urgent action by government and other stakeholders.
“Freedom of association is a fundamental and structural characteristic of the International Labour Organisation, ILO. In fact, without employers and workers, organizations that are autonomous, representative and endowed with the necessary rights that guarantee the defence of the rights of their members, and the advancement of their common welfare, the principle of tripartism would be impaired and chances for greater social justice would be seriously prejudiced.
“However, the rights enjoyed by social partners are premised on the basic understanding and respect for the social and economic rights of others.
“The complex employment inter-relationship between successive Nigerian governments, organized labour (NLC/TUC), and the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association, NECA, has been challenging, especially between government and organized labour.
“The goal of the interrelations to facilitate sustainable enterprise, decent work and economic growth and assist all parties to achieve their objectives, is menaced by incessant conflicts and numerous threats of strikes.
“While industrial conflict is inherently built into these inter-relationships, there are credible institutions, legislations, regulations and guidelines in place to arrest it and ensure sanity within the context of the labour and employment ecosystem.
“In view of the recent call by the NLC for strike and mass action, and the urgent need to protect the objectives of sustainable enterprise, decent work and national development, it is our candid view that social partners must respect the established institutions created to adjudicate and arbitrate labour matters in the country.
‘These institutions include but are not limited to the National Industrial Court, NIC; the Industrial Arbitration Panel, IAP, etc. Neglecting these institutions could potentially compromise our labour and industrial relations system and framework, with grave consequences for the economy.
“It is important for social partners to deference their jurisdictional and operational limits. A call for ‘strike and mass action’ by any social partner at this difficult time, in furtherance of the achievement of its objectives, could potentially cause a breakdown of law and order, with attendant risk for organized businesses and the nation as a whole.”
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said he is aware Nigerians are being hurt by the effects of fuel subsidy removal on cost of living.
The president said he wished there were other paths to toe to turn around the country’s economy without removing fuel subsidy, but there was none.
Tinubu, who made these remarks during a nationwide broadcast on Monday, however said he did not mean to hurt the masses, adding steps were being take to ease the pain.
He said, “Our economy is going through a tough patch and you are being hurt by it. The cost of fuel has gone up. Food and other prices have followed it. Households and businesses struggle. Things seem anxious and uncertain.
“I understand the hardship you face. I wish there were other ways. But there is not. If there were, I would have taken that route as I came here to help not hurt the people and nation that I love.
“What I can offer in the immediate is to reduce the burden our current economic situation has imposed on all of us, most especially on businesses, the working class and the most vulnerable among us.
“Already, the Federal Government is working closely with states and local governments to implement interventions that will cushion the pains of our people across socio-economic brackets.”
The President said he signed four Executive Orders in keeping earlier this month in line with his electoral promise to address unfriendly fiscal policies and multiple taxes stifling the business environment.
He noted that the Executive Orders on suspension of some taxes would provide the necessary buffers and headroom to businesses in the manufacturing sector to continue to thrive and expand.
“To further ensure that prices of food items remain affordable, we have had a multi-stakeholder engagement with various farmers’ associations and operators within the agricultural value chain.
“In the short and immediate terms, we will ensure staple foods are available and affordable.
To this end, I have ordered the release of 200,000 Metric Tonnes of grains from strategic reserves to households across the 36 states and FCT to moderate prices. We are also providing 225,000 metric tonnes of fertilizer, seedlings and other inputs to farmers who are committed to our food security agenda.
“Our plan to support cultivation of 500,000 hectares of farmland and all-year-round farming practice remains on course,” the President added.
The Federal Government has so far saved over N1trillion following the removal of payment of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popularly called petrol.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced this in his nationwide broadcast on the state of the economy.
“In a little over two months, we have saved over a trillion Naira that would have been squandered on the unproductive fuel subsidy which only benefitted smugglers and fraudsters. That money will now be used more directly and more beneficially for you and your families,” he said
During his inaugural speech on May 29, President Tinubu had announced the removal of fuel subsidy, leading to increase in the price of petrol from N195 to N540 per litre.
Earlier this month, the price was increased to N617 per litre.
The increase in petrol prices has already led to a hike in the prices of goods. Worst affected are foodstuff and transportation.
Nigerians have been lamenting the effect of subsidy removal on their lives, but the Tinubu administration has repeatedly promised relief.
Earlier this month when he hosted class of 1999 Governors, the President appealed for more patience from Nigerians.
He assured Nigerians that the framework for palliatives to remedy the effects of fuel subsidy removal was being worked out.
“I understand that our people are suffering yet there can be no childbirth without pain. The joy of childbirth is the relief that comes after the pain. Nigeria is reborn already with fuel subsidy removal. It is a rebirth of the country for the largest number over a few smugglers. Please tell the people to be a little patient.
“The palliative is coming. I don’t want cash-transfer to fall into wrong hands. I know it pinches and it is difficult. In the end, we will rejoice in the prosperity of our country,’’ he had told the governors, who were led by former Governor of Edo State, Lucky Igbinedion.
Tinubu had earlier written to the House of Representatives to seek an amendment to the 2023 supplementary appropriation act to accommodate N500 billion for provision of palliatives for Nigerians.
The parliament subsequently approved the request.
The organized labour on Monday maintained the stand to proceed with its planned protest over the removal of petroleum subsidy.
The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, spoke with State House reporters after another round of meeting of the Presidential Steering Committee on Palliatives at the presidential villa, Abuja.
He said the plan for workers to proceed on a peaceful protest from Wednesday has not changed.
Ajaero, who dismissed fears that the peaceful protest could be hijacked by hoodlums, said such had never happened in the history of workers’ protest.
He, however, said it was the responsibility of security agencies to provide security for the protest to protect the workers.
The NLC boss also expressed doubts about President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s ability to control inflation and gasoline prices due to the unification of the exchange rate.
He said the meeting of the Steering Committee adjourned till 12noon on Tuesday to enable the labour leaders to listen to the president’s national broadcast on Monday.
Reacting to Tinubu’s plan to intervene on exchange rate over inflation and high cost of gasoline prices, Ajaero said:
“By the time you have a single market and you are not having anything that has a comparative advantage, your energy is import driven, then how are you going to control it? How are you going to control somebody that exchanged dollar at about 900 (naira)? Are you going to tell him to sell below the price?
“How are you going to tell even NEPA today, with the cost of production not to increase tariff? Even corn in the villages that was sold at N18,000 by February, now it’s about 56,000. How are you going to control it?”
On his side, the Chief of Staff to the President said that issues were trashed at the closed door meeting and that they adjourned to listen to the President broadcast.
He also said the government was dealing with the oil cabals that have brought the economy to its knees.
“We have been locked behind for a couple of hours, we had a good meeting, issues were thrashed out on the situation in Nigeria today in terms of issues centred around on government intervention on the situation in the country.
“We agreed to adjourn till tomorrow as you know Mr. President is making a national broadcast today. Based on what we anticipate that Mr. President will be telling Nigerians we decided to adjourn meeting till 12pm tomorrow before labour can decide whether or not they want to continue with the protest on Wednesday.
“But we believe that after tonight broadcast, President will speak to all the issues, he will roll out his interventions and needles to say we believe any reasonable person will tell you that at that point there will be no need for any protest.”
On why government did not roll out palliatives before announcing the stoppage of petrol subsidy, he said the previous government did not budget for subsidy and that President Tinubu was rolling out palliatives to cushion its effect on the people.
Asked whether the oil cabals were more powerful than the security and government, he said, “Yes they are and that’s what government is dealing with. First of all remove the subsidy, that’s the first step.”
Also speaking, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Malam Nuhu Ribadu, pleaded with the organised labour to give the administration little chance to fix the battered economy.
He said President Tinubu inherited a bad economy that he is working hard to fix.
“The meeting was an opportunity for us to appeal to the labour leaders by extension Nigerians that we are facing difficulties and challenges that are not our making. We inherited a very bad situation. Most of the problems people are talking about are not a creation of this government. This government is barely two months old and since we have been facing these difficulties and challenges, we have a listening and engaging President, a president who will want to have a conversation and react.
“He is truly, genuinely, honestly doing it. Our appeal is please Nigerians give us the support that is needed and required, we are working, we are trying to change things. We inherited a very bad situation, we are trying to stop all those things we witnessed in the past, we are trying to stop the killings, stop the attacks on trains, stop attacks on prisons, stop IPOB what they are doing, stop bandits, stop Boko Haran,” he said.
The organised labour had walked out of the meeting on Friday last week, claiming that there was no top government officials to negotiate with them.
Monday’s meeting was attended by were Ajaero, his counterpart from TUC, Festus Osifo; the General Secretary of NLC, Comrade Emma Ugbaja; the TUC Secretary, Nuhu Toro and other members of the organised labour delegation including Prof. Sam Amadi.
From the side of government were the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Kachollom Daju; the Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari and the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen among others.
