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Thousands of Mali’s ancient transcripts go digital

By
Henry Williams
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Google has partnered with Mali’s traditional leaders to digitise tens of thousands of ancient manuscripts from the city of Timbuktu.

The manuscripts have been endangered by political unrest in the country’s north, which in 2013 saw Islamist rebels set fire to two libraries in Timbuktu.

The digitisation project will be unveiled on Thursday and will showcase work done over the last seven years to preserve the documents.The manuscripts contain centuries of scholarly works on topics ranging from mathematics, medicine, astronomy and science. Up to 40,000 pages of the documents will be available online.

Roman Abramovich one of seven oligarchs sanctioned by UK government

By
Henry Williams
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File photo dated 27-02-2010 of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich. Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich says he is ?"giving trustees of Chelsea's charitable Foundation the stewardship and care" of the club, in a statement. Issue date: Saturday February 26, 2022. PA Photo. See PA story SOCCER Chelsea. Photo credit should read Rebecca Naden/PA Wire.

Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich has been sanctioned by the UK government as part of its response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

He is one of seven oligarchs to be hit with fresh sanctions, including asset freezes and travel bans.

The list also includes billionaires Igor Sechin and Oleg Deripaska, both seen as allies of Vladimir Putin.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said “there can be no safe havens” for those who have supported the invasion.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

Strike: FG blames ASUU for not meeting demands on UTAS

By
Henry Williams
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The Federal Government on Wednesday blamed the inability of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), to upgrade and return Universities Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS), to it, as part of the reasons stalling progress in the ongoing negotiations with ASUU.

This followed the Federal Government’s insistence that UTAS failed the integrity test which should have qualified it to be used as a payment platform.

The director-general of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa disclosed this while fielding questions from State House journalists at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, debunked claims by ASUU that the government was not ready to accept the UTAS, as an alternative platform to IPPIS.

The university teachers had hinged the alleged government refusal to recognise UTAS as part of the reasons for embarking on the one-month warning strike on February 14, 2022.

Economy, Isa Pantami, minister of communications and digital while briefing journalists, said when he received a letter from the minister of labour and employment, Chris Ngige requesting a review of the submission and the technical ability of the software of the system, he forwarded the request to the National Information Technology Development Agency.

$2bn lost to oil theft in one year – NEITI

By
Henry Williams
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Nigeria lost over $2bn to crude oil theft and vandalism in 2020, prompting the federal government’s revenue from the oil and gas industry to plunge by 40 per cent, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has said.

NEITI disclosed this in its latest oil and gas industry report made public by its executive secretary, Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, in Abuja on Monday.

The report revealed that Nigeria earned $20.43 billion from the oil and gas sector in 2020, representing a decline of 40 percent compared to the 34.22 billion realised from the sector in 2019.

On remittances to the federation account from the sector, NEITI disclosed that $14.65 billion, representing 71.17 percent of the total earnings in 2020, was remitted to the account, while total aggregate financial flows from the sector to government in 10 years (2011-2020) was $394.029 billion.

Nigerian airlines make instant payments for fuel amid scarcity

By
Henry Williams
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Airlines operating in Nigeria are now forced to make immediate payments for aviation fuel as the lingering scarcity of the commodity has triggered a rash of flight delays and cancellations in recent days.

Correspondents gathered that before the scarcity of the fuel, airlines usually paid marketers two or three days after the supply of the commodity.

Findings show that despite the high cost of aviation fuel, airlines had since Tuesday adopted what was described as a ‘pay as you go’ strategy as marketers were unwilling to sell to them on credit.

Airlines have, however, described the new measure as sustainable.

Kingsley Ezenwa, spokesperson for Dana Air, told BusinessDay that marketers insisted that amid the high cost of the product, cash must be paid before supply of the product would be made.

According to him, airlines that have been able to meet this demand are getting a steady fuel supply.

Pension assets hit N13.6trn, govt securities remain dominant

By
Henry Williams
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Nigeria’s pension assets under management (AUM) grew by 30 percent year-on-year to N13.6 trillion at the end of January 2022.

The assets increased by one percent month-on-month, according to the National Pension Commission (PenCom) portfolio report.

PenCom said the number of registered savings accounts (RSA) holders grew by 625,000 to 9.6 million at the end of January.

Analysts at FBNQuest said FGN debt securities accounted for 61.3 percent of the pension assets, down from 71 percent as at January 2020.

However, when added with corporate and state government issuance, fixed-income exposure was equivalent to 70 percent of the industry’s AUM, down from almost 79 percent in the year-earlier period.

Airlines Cancel More Flights As Fuel Scarcity Continues

By
Zoe Maven
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Flight delays and cancellations among airlines in Nigeria continues unabated as scarcity of aviation fuel bites harder and the cost of purchase increases.

At Nigeria’s busiest airports in Lagos and Abuja, aircraft scheduled to fly on Tuesday were parked for hours waiting for fuel.

Local media reports, that airlines like Ibom Air could not fly most of their aircraft on Tuesday, March 8, due to fuel scarcity. The airline admitted to the situation and predicted the situation may extend to Wednesday.

They stated they had encountered a situation where aviation fuel is scarce and therefore unavailable at almost all flight destinations. This has significantly impacted flight schedules.

The Airline said at this time, there is no indication when the issue will be resolved, however, they are working with fellow airlines and fuel suppliers to find a solution.

Dana Air also found itself in the same situation last week where most of their flights were cancelled due to scarcity of fuel.

Late last month, one of Nigerians airlines, Air Peace informed passengers that some of their flights were delayed due to scarcity. The airline said their Lagos to Port Harcourt flight for 14:30 on February 15 was delayed due to lack of fuel and the Port Harcourt to Abuja flight for 16:25 and Abuja to Lagos for 16:25 were also affected.

Despite being Africa’s largest oil producer, Nigeria imports almost all its jet fuel.Motorists have also been suffering from severe fuel shortages at the pumps for weeks.

Global oil prices have hit a 14-year peak after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Senegal’s President Holds Negotiation Talks With Putin

By
Zoe Maven
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The Senegalese President Macky Sall, who is also the current chairman of the African Union (AU), has had a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to “seek a lasting ceasefire” in Ukraine.

The African Union had, in a statement issued on 24 February, called on Russia and any other regional or international actor to imperatively respect international law, territorial integrity and national sovereignty of Ukraine.

He had urged Russia and Ukraine for an immediate ceasefire and the opening of negotiations with the help of the UN.

Senegal, which has strong relations with Western countries, surprised the international community on 2 March by abstaining in a UN General Assembly vote in favor of a resolution that “demands that Russia immediately ceases the use of force against Ukraine”.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has told the UN it will repatriate its 250 peacekeepers deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The withdrawal will include all its military contingent, including personnel, helicopters and equipment from the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Ukraine also has a military presence in other UN peace missions around the world: 16 personnel in South Sudan, 12 in Mali, 5 in Cyprus, 4 in Abyei in Sudan and 3 in Kosovo, according to the UN.

Uhuru Kenyatta Calls For The Lifting Of Sanctions On Zimbabwe

By
Zoe Maven
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Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta has called on the international community to lift sanctions against Zimbabwe stating the restrictions are hurting the southern African Nation.

Kenyatta termed the sanctions as illegal and assured Zimbabwe of Kenya’s continued advocacy to ensure that the restrictions are lifted.

The Kenyan leader was speaking at the State House during a joint press briefing with the visiting Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa, shortly after the two Heads of State led their respective delegations in bilateral talks.

President Uhuru said they consider these being unfair for these hardships were artificially created and they continue to call on the international community to remove these illegal sanctions.

The two countries signed bilateral agreements, which include Memoranda of Understanding on political and diplomatic consultations, tourism and wildlife conservation, and civil aircraft accidents and serious incidents investigations.

Other MoU signed were on women empowerment and community development, youth affairs, cooperatives and sports, and recreation activities.

President Kenyatta said the agreements will enable Kenya and Zimbabwe to cooperate in addressing challenges, particularly youth unemployment.

He pointed out that the signing of the agreement on women empowerment was particular since it was entered into on Monday, a day after the International Women’s Day celebrations during which Kenya re-dedicated herself to the attainment of her ambitions gender goals.

FG Redeems 28-Year Pledge, Allocates Houses To 1994 Super Eagles

By
Emenike Agu
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The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the allocation of houses to 22 members of the 1994 Super Eagles in their various states, thereby fulfilling a pledge made to them 28 years ago by the then Federal Government.

President Buhari stated this in Lafia, Nasarawa State, Monday, March 7, 2022, during the commissioning of the completed homes under the administration’s National Housing Programme initiative.

The commissioning was the first in the series of formal commissioning lined up to take place in 34 States of the federation where Phase I of the houses has been completed.

Represented by the Minister of State for Science, Technology, and Innovation, Muhammed Abdullahi, President Buhari described the completion of the housing projects as a fulfillment of the promise of change that was made to the people by his administration.

The president also praised the Nasarawa State Government for providing the land for the project, describing it as one of the developmental possibilities that intergovernmental collaboration can produce.

Accordingly, he said that the provision of the housing estates across the country was informed by the government’s desire to achieve one of its primary objectives which are to improve the human condition.

The president said that the housing projects provided contracts for the Micro, Small, and Medium businessmen and women who provided employment for people through the engagement of skilled and unskilled workers thereby unleashing a value chain of economic activities that have made a positive impact on the lives of ordinary Nigerians.

“These are some of the people our country remains committed to move towards prosperity and away from poverty and we are already reaching them by providing opportunities for employment for those who were hitherto unemployed,” he said.

In his address, the Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, who was represented by the state’s Commissioner of Works, Muhammed Idris, described the construction of the housing estate as a landmark achievement of the Federal Government in its effort to provide affordable and conducive accommodation for Nigerians.

The governor expressed gratitude to the Federal Government for the numerous federal projects undertaken through the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing.

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