Talker

Lack of reliable data and paucity of funds may scuttle the dream of getting supplying electricity to rural communities across the country, the Rural Electrification Nigeria Agency (REA Target) Chief Executive Officer, Mrs Damilola Ogunbiyi, has said. She spoke during the week at the 2018 edition of the Nigeria Off-Grid Innovations and Summit in Lagos. She said Nigeria needed to provide adequate information on people living in rural and semi-urban areas, before it could effectively utilise the $200 million loan expected from African Development Bank (AfDB). According to her, the bane of the power industry is poor funding and access to reliable data on the people who need electricity. Ogunbiyi said government should not think that power programmes or policies would materialise without the involvement of the private sector, noting that such has never worked in the past. Source: The Nation

The Emir of Kano, HRH Muhammadu Sanusi II, has said he is deeply worried whenever the topic of restructuring Nigeria is being debated among the elite. According to him, it was uncertain that restructuring would end the problems of the country. He spoke on Thursday at the third edition of Justice Anthony Aniagolu Memorial Lecture held at the Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu. Emir Sanusi said Nigerians, especially the educated ones, should stop avoiding the more relevant issues that should be critically looked at when talking about restructuring. He said: “In this country, we have developed a habit of running away from problems by creating diversions. If you look across the world, you will find every kind of structure. “Here in Nigeria, we glorify the First Republic. We glorify the 1963 Constitution; if it was so good, why did we have a coup? It’s easy to romanticize the past. I have issues with this system. “My issues have nothing to do w...

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Lagos State University (LASU) Chapter, has accused the university management of engaging in admission racketeering for the 2018/2019 academic year. The union in a memo to the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun, sighted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Thursday, alleged that the admission process was being done in “secrecy and arbitrariness’’. The memo with reference No. ASUU/LASU/GS/16/342, signed by the union’s Secretary, Dr Tony Dansu and the Assistant Secretary, Dr Adeolu Oyekan, alleged that the admission process under the current vice-chancellor was “becoming increasingly opaque’’. The union said the admission process had little or no set criteria that qualified candidates for admission. “The union got reliable information that when the first batch of the applicants was selected, Head of Departments (HODs) were invited to ratify a list of admitted students and permitted to ad...

Everyone wants a financial freedom as well as time freedom…to Get the things they want at the right time, Eat what they actually want (not what they see) and be at the places they wish to be at the time they wish. This is not so to many Nigerians. Apart from the fact that most do not have financial freedom, time freedom is another serious thing people battle with. Most work their time out for peanut, they work extra hour for an amount that should be considered as a chicken change. IF YOU REALLY WANT FINANCIAL AND TIME FREEDOM, YOU WANT YOUR TIME TO GET YOU THE BEST VALUE, THEN YOU NEED TO READ THIS STORY TO THE END. WHY? This is because when you finish reading my story, you will not only discover how you can independently get access to financial freedom, you will also become a ‘Time Boss’ meaning that you will now start using your time on what matters and I can assure you that…this story will change your life within the next 90days. I LOST MY 7Y...

The notch screen is no doubt the rave of the moment within the smartphone ecosystem. The notch screen is essentially a cut-out, at the top, of a part of the screen display that retains the display space on either side of it, for information such as date, battery statistics and more, and for apps. The notch screen has several benefits but the most important one is the fact that it gives the user the opportunity to view more details compared to other smartphones. Elite smartphone makers, Infinix Mobility joined the notch screen smartphone club with the unveiling of the Hot S3X in August 2018. Well what do you know? Some unnamed persons have disclosed to us exclusively that Infinix is planning to add a new member to its notch screen family real soon and this next smartphone is poised to be from the Hot series, a subset of Infinix smartphones that is primarily aimed at bringing the most fun and optimum functionality to its consumers This Infinix smartphone (...

Lagos, Nigeria: Friday 26th  October, 2018 – Guinness Nigeria today unveiled More Than A Job, a unique opportunity for extraordinary young Nigerians to intern at Guinness.  To join, apply to  morethanajob@diageo.com Guinness, the extraordinary beer like no other, launches this initiative in furtherance of the brand objective to shine the light on bold and passionate young Nigerians. With More Than A Job, 4 young graduates who are demonstrably bold, with rich and distinct personal traits and characteristics, and who possess an abiding desire to be more, will join a multifaceted project team as interns. The extraordinary 4 will experience what it means to be Made of More. Baker Magunda, Managing Director Guinness Nigeria, explained further: “Working at Guinness is more than a job, it is an opportunity to make an impact in today’s world with brands that contribute significantly to Nigeria’...

The President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, Ayuba Wabba, has said that the proposed upward review of workers’ minimum wage will boost the country’s economy rather than trigger inflation. He stated this in Delta State while addressing newsmen on Thursday. He was in the state as a Special Guest at the 6th Quadrennial National Delegates Conference of the National Union of Hotels and Personal Services Workers. He said that the assertion that an increase in workers’ salary would lead to inflation was not true. “It is not true and has no empirical bases that an upward review of minimum wage would trigger inflation in the country. “This is because when the minimum wage was increased in 2011, in fact, the inflation rates went down. “Go and look at the records and the data, it would rather boost the economy because it would increase the people’s disposable income. “You remember that in the midst of recession in the U.S., one of the strategies Preside...

Femi Adesina, spokesman to President Muhammadu Buhari, has said N30,000 as minimum wage for civil servants is not feasible. The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has been at loggerheads with the federal government, over a demand for an increase in the minimum wage. Labour has rejected the proposal of the federal government to raise the minimum wage from N18,000 to N24,000. Speaking on Channels TV programme on Thursday, Adesina admitted that some Governors were unable to pay the N18,000, not to talk of N30,000. “So if they can’t pay N18,000 and labour is asking for N30,000 and they refuse to come lower, there may be a stalemate which will not be good for the country. “I think in the spirit of negotiation, labour should not insist on N30,000,” he said. Asked if the political class “especially members of the All Progressives Congress (APC)” agreeing to reduce their salaries will not make the new minimum wage demand possible, the presidential spokesman replied: “...

The federal government plans to borrow $2.8 billion offshore to finance its 2018 budget and would explore all options to lower costs, the Director General, Debt Management Office (DMO), Ms Patience Oniha, disclosed in an interview with Reuters Wednesday in Abuja. The government, according to her, has laid out plans to borrow abroad even as interest rates are rising in the United States, raising fears that the country could pay a higher premium than its most recent debt sale in February. The country, which left recession last year, approved a three-year plan in 2016 to borrow more from abroad so that 40 per cent of its loans would come from offshore to lower borrowing costs. It now has around 23 per cent of its debt from abroad, up from 16 per cent when it approved the plan. The debt office has sent a request for a proposal to banks for an international bond offering, Reuters disclosed. “We will explore all options, keeping in mind our twin objectives of extending the tenor o...