Nelly's SmartBriefs

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has provided buses for student union governments to enable students move around their campuses without difficulty. This is contained in a statement issued by his spokesman, Mr Dele Alake, on Monday, July 31. Alake said that the development was in furtherance of the President’s desire to ease the burden of students as a result of the fuel subsidy removal and enable them to access their campuses with ease According to him, “The provision of the buses will also remove the burden of additional cost of daily commuting on parents and guardians. “In line with his promise to ensure no Nigerian student abandons his or her educational pursuits as a result of lack of money and economic circumstances of their parents, President Tinubu has also approved the removal of all restrictions on the students’ loan to make it available to any student or household that may desire it,” the statement read. The spokesman said that the president also warned against arbitrary increase

The organised labour on Monday, July 31, maintained the stand to proceed with its planned protest over the removal of petroleum subsidy. The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero, spoke with State House reporters after another round of meeting of the Presidential Steering Committee on Palliatives at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. He said the plan for workers to proceed on a peaceful protest from Wednesday has not changed. Ajaero, who dismissed fears that the peaceful protest could be hijacked by hoodlums, said such had never happened in the history of workers’ protest. He, however, said it was the responsibility of security agencies to provide security for the protest to protect the workers. The NLC boss also expressed doubts about President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s ability to control inflation and gasoline prices due to the unification of the exchange rate. He said the meeting of the Steering Committee adjourned till 12noon on Tuesday to enable the labour leade

President Bola Tinubu has said that the Federal Government was working with the labour unions to introduce a new minimum wage for workers in the country, following the removal of fuel subsidy. Tinubu said his administration would implement the new minimum wage once the Federal Government and the labour unions agree on the new wage and general upward review. He made the declaration in his national broadcast on Monday, July 31, 2023. The president said: “We are also working in collaboration with the Labour unions to introduce a new national minimum wage for workers. I want to tell our workers this: your salary review is coming. “Once we agree on the new minimum wage and general upward review, we will make budget provision for it for immediate implementation. “I want to use this opportunity to salute many private employers in the Organised Private Sector (OPS) who have already implemented general salary review for employees. “Fellow Nigerians, this period may be hard on us and there is no

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said that his administration, in the last two months, has saved over N1 trillion that would have been used for the payment of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol. Tinubu made the disclosure in his national broadcast on Monday, July 31, 2023. The president further vowed to make education more affordable to Nigerians and provide loans to all students in tertiary institutions who may need them, adding that no Nigerian student will have to abandon his or her education because of lack of money. He stressed that the removal of fuel subsidy is for the development of the country. Tinubu said: “In a little over two months, we have saved over a trillion Naira that would have been squandered on the unproductive fuel subsidy which only benefitted smugglers and fraudsters. That money will now be used more directly and more beneficially for you and your families. “For example, we shall fulfill our promise to make education more affordable

President Bola Tinubu has appointed Chief Ajuri Ngelale as Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity. The appointment takes effect from 31st July, 2023 and would terminate at the end of this administration unless otherwise decided by the President. “The President urges him to bring his wealth of experience to bear on the new assignment,” Willie Bassey, Director of Information, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, stated in a statement made available to The Star on Monday. Ngelale is replacing Mr Dele Alake who has been nominated as a minister. Alake, special adviser on strategy and special duties, was stand in official until the appointment.  The new special adviser served Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Public Affairs. He was the assistant principal spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress (APC)  Presidential Campaign Council for the 2023 elections.  Ngelale is a Broadcast journalist. He also served in media director

Full Text Of The National Broadcast By President Bola Tinubu To Nigerians On Current Economic Challenges on Monday, July 31, 2023, titled, 'AFTER DARKNESS COMES THE GLORIOUS DAWN' My fellow citizens, I want to talk to you about our economy. It is important that you understand the reasons for the policy measures I have taken to combat the serious economic challenges this nation has long faced. 2. I am not going to talk in difficult terms by dwelling on economic jargon and concepts. I will speak in plain, clear language so that you know where I stand. More importantly, so that you see and hopefully will share my vision regarding the journey to a better, more productive economy for our beloved country. 3. For several years, I have consistently maintained the position that the fuel subsidy had to go. This once beneficial measure had outlived its usefulness. The subsidy cost us trillions of Naira yearly. Such a vast sum of money would have been better spent on public transportation,

President Bola Tinubu has directed the management of all universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education across the country to avoid arbitrary increase in tuition fees of the students. Tinubu also approved provision of buses to the students’ bodies of all universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education nationwide, to ease the burden of the fuel subsidy removal on students of higher institutions of learning. The president equally approved the removal of all restrictions on the students’ loan to make it available to any student. This was made known via a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy, Dele Alake, on Monday, July 31, 2023. Alake noted that the development followed the desire of President Tinubu to see that students access their campuses without much difficulty as a result of higher transportation cost. The presidential spokesman stated that the provision of the buses will also remove the burden of additi

The Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has approved the appointment of 16 special assistants to help in the implementation of thd policies and programmes of his continuity and consolidation administration in the state. This was contained in a statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant on Media to the Rivers State Governor, Boniface Onyedi in Government House, Port Harcourt on Monday, July 31, 2023. The statement read in full: "This is to bring to the notice of Rivers people and the general public that His Excellency, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, GSSRS, Governor of Rivers State, has approved the following appointments with immediate effect: 1. Owolabi Ofori - Special Assistant, Logistics 2. Ogbonda Okocha - Special Assistant, Project Monitoring 3. Princewill Dike - Special Assistant, Strategy 4. Chima Aguma - Special Assistant, Aviation Matters 5. Joseph Awuse - Special Assistant, Finance 6. Igwe Anyanwu - Special Assistant, Foreign Investment 7. Jerry A. Omotsegunwa - S

Former Governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike, has said that President Bola Tinubu won’t regret nominating him to serve as a minister in his cabinet. Wike stated this when he appeared before the red chamber for screening on Monday afternoon. Wike is the only chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the ministerial list of the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration sent by the President to the Senate, last Thursday. Wike told the Senators that during his time as governor of the oil-rich Niger Delta state from May 2015 to May 2023, he started and completed many projects to improve the infrastructure of the state, adding that he invited politicians across party lines to commission them. “These things can be achieved if you are committed, if you have passion for the job,” Wike told the lawmakers. He said there are many former governors who desire to be a minister but who don’t have the passion to serve Nigerians. “There are so many people who want to be ministers for

Nigeria's Super Falcons sealed a spot in the round of 16 of the 2023 Women’s World Cup after a goalless draw with their European contingents, Ireland. Randy Waldrum’s team needed a draw to be sure of the next round passage and made history by avoiding defeat in three consecutive World Cup matches for the first time. The Falcons had to endure an early minute of pressure from the Irish captain, Katie McCabe almost gave her side the lead when she attempted a low driving show which fizzled past the post. However, in the 14th minute, Asisat Oshoala had the chance to put Nigeria in the lead after Kanu picked up a misplaced pass, which found the Barcelona forward, whose misplaced effort whistled past the left post. The Nigerians failed to maintain any form of dominance in possession as Angela Platt’s team continued to make their intentions known but were guilty of being lethargic at goal. Super Falcons came out with some change in pace and urgency in attack.  It didn’t take them too long

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Monday, July 31, decorated the Chief of Defense Staff, Maj.-Gen. Christopher Musa, and the service chiefs with their new ranks. It could be recalled that Tinubu appointed the new set of military security chiefs on June 19, 2023, ending the time of those appointed by his predecessor, former President Muhammadu Buhari. Among others decorated are Maj.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, Chief of Army Staff; Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, Chief of Naval Staff; and Air Vice Marshall Hassan Abubakar, Chief of Air Staff. Their profiles Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa: Born on December 25, 1967, Musa joined the military in 1991 and belongs to the Infantry Corps. He obtained a B.Sc Hons in Chemistry from the Nigerian Defence Academy and holds an Advanced Diploma in Security Management from the University of Lagos and an MSc (Military Science) from the International College of Defence Studies in China. Musa had attended various military courses and held sev

The operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have seized a consignment of 5.70kg codeine syrup going to the United Kingdom from a 51-year-old widow, Adewunmi Taiwo Atinuke, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos State. The NDLEA officers seized the consignment from the widow at the SAHCO export shed of the Lagos airport on Thursday, July 27, 2023. The NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, made the disclosure in a statement issued on Sunday, July 30. Babafemi stated that a consignment of 8.5kg skunk concealed in a vehicle engine block going to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), was also intercepted by the NDLEA officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) attached to courier companies in Lagos on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. He noted that another container load of Nitrous Oxide, popularly known as laughing gas, linked to a 30-year-old businessman, Stephen Eze, was seized on Tuesday, July 25, at the Apap

Popular Nigerian disc jockey, Florence Otedola, well known as DJ Cuppy, has confirmed her separation from her British boxer fiancé, Ryan Taylor. There were reports earlier in July that Cuppy and her fiancé broke up after unfollowing each other on Instagram. Taylor made a suggestive post after he unfollowed Cuppy on Instagram. “If it’s blocking your spiritual growth, let it go. Have a blessed Friday. #Alhamdulillah for everything,” the British boxer wrote. Cuppy, the daughter of billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola, later unfollowed Taylor on Instagram. However, the famous singer, in a recent tweet, confirmed she and her fiancé had gone their separate ways as she shared a picture with her pet dogs, referring to herself as a single mum of two. “It’s giving single mum of two. LMAO,” she wrote. Cuppy, in December 2022, announced her engagement to the British boxer. The Star had reported that Cuppy got engaged to Ryan Taylor at Gumball award night in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UA

The Nigerian Judiciary and particularly the apex court, the Supreme Court, has been thrown into deep mourning following the death of a judge in the Supreme Court, Justice Chima Centus Nweze. It was gathered that Justice Nweze died on Sunday, July 30, 2023, at the age of 64. The Supreme Court has yet to speak on Nweze’s death as of the time of filing this report. Justice Nweze, a native of Obollo in Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State, was born on September 25, 1958. He delivered the controversial judgement of the Supreme Court which declared the immediate past Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, as the authentic candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Yobe North Senatorial District in the February 25, 2023, general election.

A 13-year-old Nigerian programmer, Joshua Agboola, has emerged as the youngest Certified Amazon Web Services (AWS) Developer Associate in Africa. Agboola achieved the feat after a grueling two-hour examination that tested his skills and knowledge in deploying, troubleshooting, and development on the AWS cloud platform. Cloud services are infrastructure, platforms, or software that are hosted by third-party providers and made available to users through the Internet. Agboola, in an interview with NAN in Lagos on Sunday, said he was inspired to achieve the feat because of his outstanding performance in his AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner examination earlier in the year. He said as a result, he was encouraged by his father to take his pursuit of a cloud career further by sitting for the next level certification. Agboola said though he had developed an interest in DevOps, the popular progression was to go for the Solutions Architect Associate certification, and this was what he did. The 13

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, has established the Schools Protection Squad (SPS) to enhance security and safety in educational institutions across Nigeria. In furtherance of the safety drives, the IGP has also concluded plans to launch a comprehensive Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) handbook for the Safe Schools Programme. This was contained in a statement issued on Monday, July 31, 2023, by the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi in Abuja. Adejobi noted that the official launch and training event would hold on August 9, 2023, with the participation of 250 individuals drawn from various sectors, including the presidency, executive, judiciary, legislature, security agencies, civil society organisations, media, school administrators, unions, and other stakeholders. The police spokesperson added: “The Schools Protection Squad (SPS) is a specialized unit within the Nigeria Police Force tasked with drawing up policies and engaging relevant sta

President Bola Tinubu will address Nigerians today (Monday) at 7pm, his spokesman, Dele Alake, has said. “Television, radio stations and other electronic media outlets are enjoined to hook up to the network services of the Nigerian Television Authority and Radio Nigeria for the broadcast,” Alake said. The agenda for the broadcast is not yet known as of press time but it might not be unconnected to the economic pain experienced by Nigerians amid the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) known as petrol. There seemed to be no respite for Nigerians after President Bola Tinubu, in his inaugural speech on May 29, 2023, announced the removal of petrol subsidy. The president has repeatedly appealed for calm, saying his government is working hard to ensure that Nigerians live comfortably. Tinubu attributed the current state to labour room pain, saying the gains are on the way. But with the announcement, the pump price of a litre of petrol rose from N184 to N500. About two months lat

Multi-award winning Nigerian Afrobeat singer and producer, David Adedeji Adeleke, popularly called Davido, has welcomed another son with his wife Chioma. This was disclosed on Sunday, July 30, in an Instagram post by the singer himself. Chioma was delivered of the baby in a yet to be disclosed London hospital. The couple, who were thrown into mourning following the tragic loss of their first son, Ifeanyi in the last quarter of 2022, can now heave a sigh of relief with the arrival of their new bundle of joy. Lately the singer has been in the news for his alleged involvement with women who at various times claim to have conceived for him.  One of the latest being a US musician.

In a sustained effort to deny oil thieves freedom of action in South-South and protect the oil sector from economic sabotage, troops of 181 Amphibious Battalion of the Nigerian Army (NA) operating in 6 Division Area of Responsibility, in conjunction with operatives of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), as well as operatives of Tantita Security Services, have uncovered a major illegal oil refining site at Owahwa community in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State. A statement by the Director, Army Public Relations, Brig-Gen Onyema Nwachukwu, revealed that the combined team of anti-oil theft troops made the discovery on Saturday, July 29, 2023 in a sting operation following a surveillance report on the illicit activities of illegal oil refiners in the area. “The vigilant troops on storming the illegal refining site, discovered 35 modular ovens used for illegal refining of crude oil, three fabricated reservoirs, 30 dug out reservoirs and 75 galvanised pipes