Players and staff of Morocco’s national football team have given blood after a deadly earthquake hit their country.
More than 2,000 people have been killed by the 6.8-magnitude earthquake.
The team was due to play an African Cup of Nations qualifier against Liberia on Saturday in Agadir, 205km (127 miles) south-west of Marrakesh, but the game has been cancelled.
Aid workers from the West Midlands are among those making their way to Morocco after a huge earthquake killed more than 2,000 people.
More than 300,000 people in Marrakesh and its outskirts have been affected by the quake, with rescue workers struggling to reach more remote areas.
More than 1,400 have serious injuries.
Birmingham-based Syed Muhammad Faisal Sami, head of Faizan Global Relief Foundation (FGRF) UK, said he was set to arrive in Morocco on Monday.
Colleagues in north Africa had told him many people at the disaster site were still buried under buildings.
“Lots of people are in need and many people are waiting for us,” he said.
“Because we have experience of this in Turkey and Syria and other places, we have an idea what they need.
“Hopefully tomorrow when we arrive, all the things will be set up and we will start our distribution.”
The powerful earthquake in Morocco damaged buildings
Volunteer for the charity, Mohammed Sameer Hussain, who is also travelling on Monday, said aid workers would be coordinated with local teams and volunteers.
“They’ve told us that at the moment it’s just about saving lives, and getting people out of the rubble in areas which have been badly affected,” he said.
People were suffering from lack of food and water, he added.
“Our main focus, when we get there [on Monday], is to find out what the immediate need is, and go and distribute and give that aid to the people.”
Of the pair’s previous trip to Turkey to offer earthquake relief efforts, Mr Hussain said: “In other worldwide disasters we’ve both always been at the forefront, so this is the sort of operation we are very used to and we know how to be responsive.”
Moroccan rescue workers in the town of Moulay Brahim have rescued a man from the ruins of a flattened building.
More than two thousand people have been killed, with many more injured, following a 6.8-magnitude earthquake southwest of Marrakesh.
The Lagos State government just handed over new staff quarters to staff of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, after demolishing their former staff buildings in order to build the Red Line train station in Ikeja.
The SSA to Governor Sanwoolu posted this in social media:
The Lagos State Govt had to demolish the Nigeria Railway Corporation Staff Quarters @info_NRC in Ikeja to get more space for the iconic Ikeja Train Station, The Staff quarters was rebuilt to a finer taste in another Location (Agege Station) and handed over to the Nigeria Railway Corporation.
The Brand New Staff Quarters made up of three blocks containing 16 units of two-bedroom flats and four units of one-bedroom flats are located on Shiaba Street around the Babatunde Raji Fashola Train station at Agege.
On Thursday, 15th April 2021, Governor of Lagos State, Mr Jide Sanwoolu performed the Groundbreaking Ceremony and commencement of Civil Works for the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) Red Line Project.
The Governor has assured Lagosians that this Project will be ready by the end of the year 2023.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu met with the Heads of State of three nations which have been identified as key partners in his economic development diplomacy drive for local investment and wealth creation.
For the Leader of Africa’s largest economy, a meeting with the Chief Executive Officer of Europe’s largest economy, Germany, presented a unique opportunity to expand ties of prosperity for the people of Nigeria, but with a pragmatic approach toward ensuring the effective execution of agreements struck.
G-20 Summit: Tinubu In India to Bolster Economic Ties
“It is not, for us, only a matter of designing the financial architecture for an expanded economic partnership. It is also about the practicality of aligning the perspectives of your large-scale manufacturers, such as Volkswagen and others, with the reality of the new incentives my government is putting in place for them to come and prosper across multiple value chains and sectors inside of our country,” the President implored.
Apparently intrigued by the specific economic focus of the President’s proposal, German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, responded by acknowledging the mutually-beneficial nature of an escalation in the scale of economic ties with Africa’s largest economy.
“Thank you for this important discussion, Mr. President. I can appreciate this opportunity to advance our economic relations. Your market is unique and our companies have history in Nigeria. We acknowledge the business friendly reforms you have put in place. I am happy to inform you of my desire to visit you in Nigeria in October, which will allow us to carry forward these initiatives,” the German leader confided.
Following President Tinubu’s acceptance of the German Chancellor’s request to visit, the President proceeded to sit down with the Leader of Asia’s fourth largest economy, South Korea, during which, South Korean President, Yoon Suk Yeol, commended the President’s regional leadership in upholding democratic tenets and norms.
“I wish to commend your strong leadership, following the peaceful transfer of power to you from your predecessor and we see a stable country in West Africa that is growing in stature,” he said.
President Tinubu responded by swiftly steering the discussion toward his economic focus as he immediately advanced proposals for an enhanced South Korean presence in Nigeria’s local manufacturing sector.
“We will leave nothing hanging. We will finalise what we agree to and we will execute. We will work point by point with you to secure rapidly implementable MoUs across sectors of partnership that will involve the active presence of your biggest firms, not just in terms of Nigerian consumption, but in local Nigerian production, from telecommunications to technology, and oil & gas,” the Nigerian leader affirmed.
The South Korean President responded in agreement, noting specifically that Nigeria’s education, technology and energy sectors are of utmost interest to South Korean investors and that he will mobilize his business community to take advantage of new Nigerian incentives for local industry.
Offering an invitation to visit Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu would conclude formal discussions at the G-20 with the Asian giant and host nation, which had invited Nigeria to the G-20 Summit, as he met with Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.
“There are many lessons our nation can learn from the rapid progress that India has made under your leadership. We see fantastic opportunity between our nations across sectors, such as agricultural development, but specifically, there is more we can do to advance ICT innovation and the emergence of Blue-Chip FinTech growth in Africa. Nigeria has the local players who can drive it from the front,” the Nigerian leader confidently asserted.
The hosting Head of State responded in the affirmative to the economic partnership proposal, even as he expressed gratitude for the Nigerian leader’s invitation to visit.
“Our teams must now stay close in touch to detail our priority areas of upscaled cooperation with respect to agriculture, defense industries capacity building, and even FinTech growth. I see your commitment. We believe there are immense prospects for Nigeria in the UPI (Unified Payments Interface) and we will ensure that we come together and make progress on these fronts very rapidly,” the Indian leader concluded.
During the G-20 sideline meetings, President Tinubu also had substantive, informal exchanges of views with U.S. President Joe R. Biden; European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen; and World Bank President, Ajay Banga, amongst many others.
Chief Ajuri Ngelale
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
September 10, 2023
A Marrakech-based hotel owned by Cristiano Ronaldo has opened its doors to victims of the earthquake in Morocco.
On Friday a huge 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck the mountainous High Atlas region in Morocco, around 45 miles from the city of Marrakech.
As of Saturday evening, at least 1,305 people have died as a result of the earthquake and many more are injured or missing.
Amid the chaos and the tragedy, a number of Marrakech-based organisations and businesses have offered assistance to those affected by the quake.
One of them is Pestana CR7 Marrakech, a hotel owned by Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo.
Reports suggest that the luxury hotel is providing shelter to those who have lost their homes.
Marrakech, sometimes spelt Marrakesh, if the fourth-largest city in Morocco and a popular tourist destination for travellers from all over the world. Ronaldo’s hotel is located in the M Avenue district in the city’s old town area.
The 174-room hotel is billed as a luxury, Moroccan-inspired getaway spot but the building has been transformed to offer shelter to victims of the earthquake.
The old town area of Marrakech, a UNESCO World Heritage site, has suffered some of the worst effects of the earthquake.
Buildings and city walls have collapsed and the narrow alleyways have made it difficult for the injured to be located and transported to safety.
Across the city public buildings, town squares and even roundabouts have been hastily converted into emergency shelters, with beds set up for those who have lost their homes.
Ronaldo’s gesture is not the only from the world of soccer to help those affected.
On Saturday the Moroccan national team donated blood to help support the victims.
Moroccan defender Achraf Hakimi wrote on social media: “We are going through a difficult time for all our fellow citizens. It’s time to help each other save as many lives as possible. My condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one.”
Tinubu Approves Construction Of Houses In Sokoto, Zamfara, Kaduna, Kebbi, Katsina, Niger and Benue States
Vice President Kashim Shettima disclosed on Friday that President Bola Tinubu has approved the construction of 1,000 houses in Sokoto, Zamfara, Kaduna, Kebbi, Katsina, Niger and Benue States.
This was made known in a statement issued by Mr Olusola Abiola, the Director of Information, Office of the Vice President.
According to the statement, Shettima gave the hint at the commissioning of projects executed by the Borno State Government in the last 100 days.
The Vice President explained that the housing projects were part of a broad plan by the Federal Government to address conflicts in the north.
Shettima further stated that Tinubu approved N50 billion to the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, to kick-start the Pulaku initiative which was a non-kinetic solution to the crisis confronting the people of the northwest.
“President Tinubu has approved the construction of 1,000 houses in Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna, Niger and Benue States with all the ancillary facilities of schools, clinics, veterinary clinics and ranches for the Fulani community in Kaduna and Benue states.
“President Tinubu insisted that all the victims must be carried along,” the Vice President said.
He added that all parts of the country would benefit from the developmental strides of the President.
Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) was created by an Act signed into law on January 13, 2002 by the then Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.According to LAMATA, the urban transport implementation agency of the state, the six rail systems that are differentiated by colours are: Green line, Purple line, Yellow line, Orange line, Blue line and Red line.BLUE LINE: The 27-kilometre rail line from Okokomaiko to Marina. The first phase, already commissioned, Governor
@jidesanwoolu
has kickstarted commercial operations, it runs from Mile 2 to Marina with stop-overs at National Theatre, Iganmu, Alaba, Mile 2.RED LINE: A 37km rail line that will move from Ebute Metta (Oyingbo) to Agbado, cutting across so many major passenger routes like Agege, Mushin, Yaba, Oshodi, Jibowu and othersGREEN LINE: A 68km rail designed to run through Marina, Victoria Island, Lekki Phase 1, Ajah, Lekki 2, Ogombo, Elepetu, Eluju, Lekki Airport and Lekki Free Trade Zone and projected to carry over 500,000 passengers per day at starting, rising to over a million in 2031.PURPLE LINE: 60km rail designed to run through Redemption Camp, Mowe, Long Bridge, Isheri, Toll Gate, Omole, Ogba, Agege, Iyana Ipaja, Isheri Osun, Igando, Iba, Estate, LASU, Okokomaiko and Ojo.YELLOW LINE: A 34km rail system designed to traverse Otta, Meran, Alimosho, Ipaja, Isheri Osun, Ejigbo, Mafoluku, Isolo, Surulere and the National Theatre, with a projected daily capacity of 238,000 passengers, rising to 486,000 in few years.ORANGE LINE: This 48km line is designed to run through Ikeja, Alausa, Magodo, Mile 12, Irawo, Itolowo, MajidunAwori, Majidun Ogolonto, Agric Ikorodu, Alapadi, Maya, Eligana, Isiwu, Ibere, Imota and Agbowa in Ikorodu.NOTE: OTHER RAIL LINES YET TO BE DONE IS SUBJECT TO REVIEW AND UPDATED FIGURES.#LagosRail
#GreaterLagosRising
I extend my heartfelt condolences to King Mohammed VI of #Morocco following Saturday’s devastating earthquake in his homeland, which claimed many lives.
I commiserate with all families who lost loved ones and all those otherwise affected by this tragedy, while wishing a full and swift recovery to those who were injured.
I assure the government and people of Morocco that the heartfelt prayers and thoughts of Nigerians are with them during this difficult moment of tragedy.
In the face of this adversity, Nigeria will continue to stand in solidarity with Morocco as they recover, rebuild, and come out stronger than ever from this unfortunate event.
The Federal Government has ordered power distribution companies to deploy customer engagement platforms within the next three months, beginning from September 1, 2023.
The directive meant the Discos must install the facilities before January 2024.
It gave the order through the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, and explained that the directive became vital due to the failure of Discos in resolving the complaints of power users.
The directive was contained in a document from NERC, with order number: NERC/2023/006 in Abuja on Thursday, and titled, ‘Order on deployment of customer engagement platforms’.
In the document, the government said, “This order shall take effect from September 1, 2023 and shall remain in force until amended or revoked by subsequent orders issued by the NERC.”
Providing a background on the order, the commission stated that it had conducted town hall meetings, public consultations and reviewed reports of complaints from electricity distribution licensees or Discos.
It said the meetings and consultations “reveal that customers are dissatisfied with the rate of resolution of complaints filed with Discos.”
To address this, the NERC said it “resolved to deploy a call centre to improve the rate of resolution of complaints filed with Discos by providing near real-time visibility of customer complaints filed with Discos.
“The call centre will also provide an additional avenue for monitoring Discos’ service quality and delivery to their customers. ”The power sector regulator noted that a consultant was engaged by the commission for the deployment of the call centre.
NERC stated, “The findings of preliminary investigations conducted revealed that some Discos were yet to deploy call centres and those that had deployed call centres had done so with infrastructure/specifications that failed to meet the requirements of the commission.
“All Discos are expected to have full-featured customer engagement platforms that integrate seamlessly with the system deployed by the commission.”
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