World champion,Tobi Amusan,Wesnesday qualified for the final of the 100-meter Hurdle at the ongoing World Athletics Championship in Budapest .
She won the second semifinal with a time of 12.56 seconds to qualify for the final billed for Thursday evening.
Despite a slow start, the world hurdles record holder recovered in time, clocking 12.56s to finish ahead of Jamaican Achkara Nungent’s 12.60 seconds and Dutch Nadine Visser’s 12.62 seconds.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner mercenary group, which led an unsuccessful coup against Russian president Vladimir Putin has been reportedly killed in a plane crash, Reuters reported citing Tass news agency.
The Russian Civil Aviation Authority have said that Yevgeny Prigozhin was on the list of passengers on the plane, the report claimed.
The warlord had launched a failed coup against president Vladimir Putin in June.
The plane crashed on a flight from Moscow to St Petersburg, reports claimed. All 10 people on the plane, including three crew members, died in the crash, Russia’s emergency ministry said, according to state newswire RIA Novosti. Russian officials said a man with Yevgeny Prigozhin’s name was among the passengers, without sharing further details.
Media reports also claimed that the jet belonged to Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner private military company.
Russia’s civilian aviation regulator, Rosaviatsia, said Prigozhin was on the passenger list but it was not immediately clear if he had boarded the flight, Reuters reported.
“An investigation has been launched into the Embraer plane crash that occurred tonight in the Tver region. According to the passenger list, among them is the name and surname of Yevgeny Prigozhin,” Rosaviatsia said.
Earlier, a Wagner-linked Telegram channel Grey Zone reported that the jet was shot down by air defences in Tver region, north of Moscow, BBC reported.
Yevgeny Prigozhin’s private military force Wagner has also fought alongside Russia’s regular army in Ukraine. After the short lived coup, the Kremlin said that he would be exiled to Belarus, and his fighters would either retire, follow him there, or join the Russian military.
Mohammed Shosanya
President Bola Tinubu has commended Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited for its steadfast commitment to excellence and immense contributions to the Gross Domestic Product,GDP.
Tinubu,who said this while receiving the board of directors and management of Nigeria LNG Limited,at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, acknowledged the critical role the company plays in Nigeria’s economy.
He affirmed the importance of Gas not just as a transition fuel but also as the fuel for the future, assuring that the Gas Sector would get priority attention in this administration. He assured the Board that all encumbrances to the progress and development of Nigeria’s industrial citizens as well as any further impediment to the business practice in the oil and gas sector would be swiftly removed.
He emphasised that for the oil and gas industry to thrive, all stakeholders in the value chain, especially the host communities, need to be engaged and carried along to enable the government to build confidence and trust.
He urged the management of NLNG to continue to collaborate with the government to ensure that issues can be resolved quickly and efficiently while reiterating his administration’s commitment to ensuring that businesses thrive to generate economic prosperity and sustainable development.
During the visit, Chairman, NLNG Board, HRM King Edmund Daukoru, CON, expressed profound gratitude to President Tinubu for his unwavering support in bolstering Nigeria’s position in the global energy landscape. He acknowledged the crucial role NLNG has played in Nigeria’s economy, noting the need for government support in resolving some challenges the Company is presently facing.
Speaking at the visit, the MD/CEO of Nigeria LNG Limited, Dr. Philip Mshelbila, stated that since inception, NLNG has contributed enormous revenue to the government through dividends and taxes, noting that the FIRS declared the Company as the largest tax-paying Company in 2022.
Mshelbila also emphasised that NLNG’s Domestic LPG (DLPG) Scheme has guaranteed LPG supply, availability, and affordability and has also stimulated the development of different parts of the DLPG value chain in Nigeria, with 100% of produced LPG volumes from NLNG dedicated to the domestic market, supplying about 40% of Nigeria’s domestic LPG demand.
He emphasized that challenges around pipeline vandalisation have constrained NLNG’s production with consequent loss of revenue to the government.
Besides, multiple taxation from various government agencies and the Finance Act, which is being amended yearly, distorts corporate planning and puts business on the back foot, stifling investor confidence and investment opportunities in the sector
Mohammed Shosanya
The Rural Electrification Agency has announced the deployment of 103 mini-grids in the country,representing new milestone on the Solar Hybrid Mini-grid component of its Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP).
The feat coincides with the hosting of the 10th Mini Grid Roundtable discussion,held virtually on Wednesday,in conjunction with developers.
“The REA has successfully deployed 103 mini-grids across Nigeria under the Performance Based Grant (PBG) subcomponent of the NEP, signaling a crucial advancement in enhancing electricity access for households, micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), as well as public facilities in rural an d underserved regions of Nigeria”,according to a statement by the agency.
At the 10th mini-grid roundtable discussion, the Managing Director/Chief Executive of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), expressed the agency’s dedication to bridging the energy access gap in Nigeria.
“The REA was established with the mandate to increase access to electricity by bridging the energy access deficit in Nigeria. Since inception, we have made significant progress in achieving this goal.
“The agency is implementing various electrification programmes – like the Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP) — targeted at creating lasting impacts by fostering economic growth, improving education, and enhancing the overall quality of life of Nigerians,” he stated.
Mohammed Shosanya
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry,LCCI,has lamented that the operating environment of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited is opaque and counterproductive to competition.
The chamber disclosed this in its 2023 mid-year economic review and outlook made available to newsmen by its Director-General,Dr. Chinyere Almona.
The review said the oil sector will attract the desired investment if the government liberalizes fuel import licenses and other vital activities in the midstream and downstream.
It advised that Institutional reorganization is urgently needed in the Central Bank of Nigeria and the NNPC to improve transparency and accountability.
According to the review,government should unlock revenue from assets by complementing tax with rent, fees, dividends, and capital gains.
It added:”Economies that optimize revenue through equities have recently offset the loss from declining commodity prices.The new administration is advised to borrow better to reduce debt costs by issuing a more asset-linked debt than to but everything more Oh look here you IOUs.
“The non-interest-bearing debt opportunities should be explored as emerging markets tilt towards project equity financing.BDCs should not be referred to as parallel or unofficial markets, because they are officially licensed to trade”
Mohammed Shosanya
Three suspected electricity cable thieves were on Tuesday paraded at the Oyo State Command Headquaters of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Agodi Ibadan.
The suspected cable thieves,Aliu Musa, 29, a Togolese,Joseph Godwin Lakur, from Anambra state and Joseph Micheal, 25 year old Taraba indigene,were arrested on July 28th around 0200hrs along Nihort Ile-Titun area of Ibadan over vandalization of street light cable belonging to Oyo state government
The state publicity officer of the Corps, Oyindamola Okuneye,disclosed this while briefing journalists on behalf of the state Commandant of the NSCDC, Dr Micheal Adaralewa.
The Commandant also said that the suspects also confirmed to have done operation in the month of July when they have vandalized and sold the cable in the same area for N40,000.
Besides,the command also paraded one Opeyemi Aanuoluwa, aged 24 for allegedly stole a tricycle around Ita-Akinloye area of Oje Ibadan.
Commandant Adaralewa,said:”On 15th, August 2023 around 0600hrs at It’s Akinloye Area of Oje Ibadan, a suspect Opeyemi stoled a tricycle, by destroyed some part of the tricycle before he could drive it away at Oje in Ibadan.”
“Due to the tracker positioned on the tricycle it was later tracked down by officer of Oyo who was at Iseyin on the same day.”
In their separate interviews,the suspects confessed to the crime leveled against them.
Opeyemi said: “It was the handiwork of the devil that led me into stealing the tricycle and I can say, I did it because I don’t really have job at hand to do, so when I saw the tricycle I decided to steal it, so I can be using it to hustle, I’m so sorry for my actions.
One of the suspected cable thieves, Joseph Godwin said: “This is my first time of doing this, It was my friends here that asked me to take them and the cable to the buyer and we sold it at the rate of forty two thousand naira, (N42,000) I was given just three thousand naira, but it was when we got here that I heard them saying they’ve done it once.
Mohammed Shosanya
The Lagos State House of Assembly,Tuesday implored Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to convene a security council meeting in the State in order to stop killings of residents by men in uniform.
They lamented that the killings have so far taken the same pattern with men in uniform being allegedly mentioned.
Speaking under ‘Matter of Urgent Public Importance’, Hon. Kehinde Joseph (Alimosho 2) called the attention of his colleagues to the recent killings saying the incidents called for concern.
At the plenary,Hon. Joseph recalled that earlier in August, 2023, a resident, Adeniyi Sanni, was murdered. He said there were two other incidents on August 17 and August 19.
“The funny thing is that the series of killings took the same pattern. Adeniyi Sanni’s wife told me that her husband was stopped at a checkpoint by men in military uniforms. They requested for documents which the wife sent through WhatsApp to him. His corpse was later found somewhere.
“Same was the case of Mr. Lawal who was stopped and asked for his documents. They later dropped his corpse in Iyana-Ipaja area,” he said.
He said that the police be called upon to step up security of the State while the military should fish out the men who perpetrate such crimes with Army uniforms. He added that the governor should act to stem such killings.
Contributing,Hon. Bonu Solomon Saanu (Badagry 1), observed that it was becoming increasingly difficult to know a fake security personnel.
Speaker of the House of Assembly,Mudashiru Obasa,in his contributions, emphasized that the security of lives and property is one essence of government, adding that: “Where we begin to have one, two, three killings in the state,it definitely calls for concern.
“I quite agree with the prime mover of the motion to call on Mr. Governor to quickly hold a meeting with all heads of security agencies in Lagos State to nip this in the bud.
“At least three people have been declared dead, said to be killed by men in either Police or Army uniforms and we cannot conclude if they are security men or otherwise.
Mohammed Shosanya
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has implored users of prepaid meter to update their meters before November,this year.
NERC disclosed this in a tweet on its X account on Wednesday,adding that the update will be seamless and without any associated cost.
The regulatory commission noted that prepaid meter users might face difficulties in recharging their meters after November 2024 if the required updates are not done before the deadline.
“If you have a prepaid meter, it may be time for an update. From November 2024, you may not be able to recharge your meter. However, updating is easy and free,” NERC stated.
It said that the Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) shall commence the issuance of two free Key Change Tokens (KCTs), which will update meters.
“The update will not affect the units in your meter nor will it make your meter run faster than usual. Contact your DisCo for more information.” it added.
