As prices of food items continue to go through the roof, bread, a key staple in the Nigerian diet, has become a luxury for most households.
BusinessDay survey across markets in Benin city shows that the price of a small loaf of bread now sells for N150, while the medium size sells for N400 while the big size goes for N800 as against N120, N300 and N500 sold last year respectively.
Speaking with BusinessDay on Tuesday in Benin City, Benjamin Agbonze, Edo State Chairman, Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria, pointed out that the rising prices is connected to the increase in raw materials for processing bread which he said are mainly imported.
The Federal Government has constituted a panel to investigate nine contracts signed by previous administrations capable of undermining the nation’s economy.
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, made the disclosure when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, chaired by Senator Opeyemi Bamidele.
He pointed out that the P&ID contract signed without due process and procedure has the capacity to rip off $10 billion from Nigeria.
In 2017, a tribunal awarded P&ID $6.6 billion as damages. But the amount grew to $8.9 billion, with an additional $2.3 billion in accumulated interest at seven per cent rate per annum, following Nigerian government’s refusal to appeal the matter for over five years.
Malami, while responding to questions from members of the committee, explained that the contract was never allowed to pass through the Office of the Attorney General and that its clauses were inimical to Nigeria’s interest.
He said the taskforce set up for the probe will spend N1.1 billion in 2022 to carry out holistic investigation on nine other contracts signed against the interest of the country by previous administrations.
The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) Kaduna State Students Wing has reacted to Monday’s abduction of 18 Zaria Local Government staff, saying most of them are parents of their fellow students in higher institutions.
It was gathered that the victims, who are majorly women, were abducted between Zaria and Giwa town on Monday.
In a statement signed by the Kaduna State Coordinator, Jamilu Musa, the students warned that they would embark on a mass action to shut down Zaria if a visible action is not taken to secure the release of the captives in seven days.
CNG said “It is unfortunate that so far, our Governments, both federal and state have glaringly failed in the vital area of providing public safety and security of lives and properties of Nigerians.”
They blamed the audacity with which these criminals carry out their atrocities with ease on what they called a huge vacuum in the political will and capacity of the authorities to challenge them.
Iran said Monday that it will continue its actions in breach of a 2015 nuclear deal until it is assured that the United States will lift its crippling sanctions in a verifiable manner.
During his weekly briefing to reporters, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said Iran’s top negotiator in nuclear talks, Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri, will travel this week to Britain, Germany, and France for meetings ahead of the restarting of negotiations to save the unraveling nuclear pact.
“They must lift the oppressive sanctions completely and effectively,” Khatibzadeh said, according to a report from Iran’s Mehr news agency. “They must guarantee that no administration in the United States mocks the world and international law” and again unilaterally pulls out of the agreement.
A date has been set for November 29 for restarting talks in Vienna to save the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action deal after a five-month gap in negotiations that began when Iran elected hardline President Ebrahim Raisi.
Iran will explain its position about the JCPOA talks in detail in the forthcoming trips,” Khatibzadeh said of Bagheri’s European tour. “Iran will not stop its compensatory actions until it is confident that US sanctions will be lifted in an effective and verifiable manner with the necessary and objective guarantees.”
The Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) says the Olusosun Landfill at Ojota will be closed for a period of 48 hours from November 10, 2021 for maintenance.
Managing Director, LAWMA, Ibrahim Odumbomi, said in a statement on Monday, November 8 that the closure was to carry out palliative works on the dumpsite for seamless waste management operations.
Odumbomi said the closure was necessary for adequate maintenance of landfills in the state towards efficient service delivery, with particular emphasis on Olusosun.
“In a bid to ensure that waste management operations at Olusosun dumpsite are effectively delivered, we will shut down the landfill for a period of 48 hours, starting from Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021, for maintenance,” he said.
The managing director said the authority had made provision for the use of alternative dumpsites, where waste collection trucks could dispose their refuse during the temporary closure of Olusosun.
He said PSP operators servicing Lagos Mainland had been diverted to Solous dumpsite, Igando, while those operating in the East District and Ikorodu, had been directed to dispose their wastes at Epe dumpsite.
Odumbomi implored residents and road users in Igando and other affected areas to bear with the authority over the expected increase in vehicular traffic necessitated by the 48-hour closure of Olusosun.
According to him, the outcome of the maintenance exercise will help the agency sustain a cleaner and livable environment in all parts of the state.
He also appealed to residents to give priority attention to maintaining cleanliness in their neighbourhoods, urging them to patronise only assigned PSP operators.
Odumbomi urged residents to call LAWMA’s toll-free numbers 07080601020 and 617, for inquiries and complaints on all waste and PSP related issues in their respective areas.
A librarian in Indonesia’s Java Island is lending books to children in exchange for trash they collect in a novel way to clean up the environment and get the kids to read more.
Each weekday Raden Roro Hendarti rides her three wheeler with books stacked up at the back for children in Muntang village to exchange for plastic cups, bags and other waste that she carries back.
Raden says she is helping to inculcate reading in the kids as well make them aware of the environment. As soon as she shows up, little children, many accompanied by their mothers, surround her “Trash Library” and clamour for the books.
They are all carrying trash bags and Raden’s three-wheeler quickly fills up with them as the books fly out. She’s happy the kids are going to spend less time on online games as a result.
“Let us build a culture of literacy from young age to mitigate the harm of the online world,” Raden said.
She collects about 100 kg (220 lbs) of waste each week, which is then sorted out by her colleagues and sent for recycling or sold. She has a stock of 6,000 books to lend and wants to take the mobile service to neighbouring areas as well.
Members of the National Association of Government General Medical and Dental Practitioners in Kwara State have suspended its seven days warning strike with immediate effect.
The chairman of the Association, Doctor Saka Ismail Agboola announced this during an interview with newsmen.
To this end, the chairman has directed all members of the association to return to their duty posts by 6pm on Saturday.
Doctor Agboola explained that the strike which began last week Monday was embarked upon to call the attention of the Kwara State Government to issues bothering on the Health Sector in the state and the Doctors.
According to him, remuneration and insufficient number of doctors are some of the issues which had become worrisome to them over the years.
He said the doctors in Kwara state were not demanding from the state government a salary increment but rather, for appropriate remuneration as applied in other states and the federal government.
Doctor Agboola noted that patronage in Kwara state owned hospitals had increased but with no sufficient doctors to attend to the patients.
The chairman explained that doctors under the services of the state government are stakeholders in the state health development and had therefore been sacrificing a lot to improve the health sector.
He commended the state government and other stakeholders in the health sector for their commitment and positive response to their requests and pledged that they would continue to remain honorable in the discharge of their official duties.
South African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius, in prison for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, may soon meet her parents as part of the process leading to parole being considered, officials say.
He is eligible for possible release after having served half his sentence.
But he first has to take part in what is called “restorative justice”.
Pistorius shot Steenkamp dead in 2013 saying he mistook her for a burglar at his home in the capital, Pretoria.
The 34-year-old fired four times through a locked toilet door.
In 2014, at the conclusion of a trial that was followed around the world, he was given a five-year term for manslaughter. But Pistorius was found guilty of murder on appeal in 2015 and the sentence was later increased to 13 years and five months.
In a statement, South Africa’s department of correctional services said it was talking to the Steenkamp family about a possible meeting.
Outlining what needs to happen before parole is considered, the statement says that offenders must “acknowledge and take responsibility for their actions”.
As part of the restorative justice process there has to be “an opportunity for parties to reconcile or an apology”.
Image caption, Oscar Pistorius shot Reeva Steenkamp dead on 14 February 2013
The Steenkamps’ lawyerTania Keon, said, that they “would like to participate in the victim-offender dialogue”.
“June [Steenkamp, Reeva’s mother] has always said that she has forgiven Oscar, however that doesn’t mean that he mustn’t pay for what he has done… Barry [Steenkamp, Reeva’s father] battles with that a bit, but that is something he will have to voice at the appropriate time,” Ms Koen added.
“The wound, even though so much time has passed, is still very raw.”
Being eligible for parole is not the same as being entitled to it and so it is not a forgone conclusion that he will be released, the lawyer said. The authorities will also have to consider a number of reports written by prison officials as well as other professionals.
There had also been some confusion over when the parole process could begin.
It was widely believed that it would not be until March 2023, but the Steenkamps were “very shocked and quite taken aback” that he was already eligible, Ms Koen said.
The BBC’s Pumza Fihlani in Johannesburg says that if granted parole, Pistorius would serve the remainder of his sentence at home and need to report to prison officials regularly.
Prior to the murder, Pistorius had become well known as a Paralympic gold medallist. In 2012, he made history by becoming the first amputee sprinter to compete at the Olympics running on prosthetic “blades”.
His legs were amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old because he was born without fibula bones.
Rise and fall of Oscar Pistorius
August 2012: Competes in London Olympics and Paralympics, where he won a gold medal
February 2013: Shoots dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp
March 2014: Trial begins
September 2014: Judge finds Pistorius guilty of culpable homicide
October 2014: Begins five-year sentence
October 2015: Transferred to house arrest
December 2015: Appeal court changes verdict to murder
July 2016: Sentenced to six years in jail for murder
November 2017: Sentence more than doubled to 13 years, five months
The Moroccan government is preparing port infrastructure for imports of liquefied natural gas to boost reserves after Algeria ended gas supplies through a pipeline on Oct. 31, the country’s energy minister said on Monday. The infrastructure will help lower the cost of LNG imports for private operators.
The Energy Department is also examining financial and gas supply details for a future floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) that would guarantee all of Morocco’s gas needs. A source told Reuters last month that Tangier was added as a possible location for the FSRU, where it could plug into the now-discontinued Algeria-Spain pipeline.
Following a year of worsening relations between Algiers and Rabat before a pipeline deal expired on Oct. 31, Algeria said it would supply Spain through a different pipeline and would no longer send gas to Morocco. Morocco’s local gas production is expected to reach 110 million cubic metres in 2021, while its annual consumption stands at 1 billion cubic metres. Most of it was once supplied by the halted pipeline.
Morocco’s natural gas needs would triple to 3 billion cubic metres by 2040 as the country looks to LNG to boost its low carbon transition and address the irregular supply of renewables, Benali said. The minister also confirmed reports that Morocco plans to increase its renewable energy target to over 52% of the energy mix by 2025.
The current share of renewables in the energy mix is 37% or 3950 megawatts, according to official figures
Rangers boss Steven Gerrard remains high on Aston Villa’s list of potential targets to replace Dean Smith – but other contenders are under discussion.
Villa’s hierarchy are impressed by Gerrard’s work in revitalising Rangers in what is his first managerial job.
He has long been seen as a future Liverpool boss, but Villa may be ready to try to tempt him to Villa Park.
The 41-year-old is also well known to Villa chief executive and ex-Reds managing director Christian Purslow.
Gerrard, however, is not the only name being considered and Villa are determined to conduct a proper recruitment process during the international break to identify their new manager, with the hope of having him in charge for their next game at home to Brighton on 20 November.
Belgium coach Roberto Martinez and his Denmark counterpart Kasper Hjulmand, who led his country to the Euro 2020 semi-finals, are also of interest to the Villa board.
Southampton’s Ralph Hasenhuttl is another admired by Villa but has strong loyalty to Southampton, while Brighton’s Graham Potter would be another prime contender for any vacant post, but it is highly doubted he would currently be tempted away from the Amex Stadium.
‘Gerrard may have come to end of Rangers shelf life’
“Eventually Gerrard will come down south and of course the talk is he is going to end up at Liverpool. I don’t want to call Aston Villa a stepping stone – they are an enormous club – but he needs to maybe learn his trade at a club like Villa, not at a club who are going to compete at the very top of the table.
“I think it will suit him – Gary McAllister, his assistant, spent time there with Gerard Houllier, so there’s a link there.
“In truth you manage Rangers, you manage Celtic, it has a shelf life and I just wonder if Gerrard has come to the end of his shelf life. If he’s offered the job I’m pretty sure he’ll take it.”
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