The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, on Monday, directed its Petroleum Tankers Drivers, PTD, to suspend its ongoing strike in Lagos State after the union reached an agreement with Lagos State government and other stakeholders.
Recall that the tanker drivers had began an indefinite strike, Monday, following Friday’s directive by NUPENG for members of the PTD, Lagos zone, to shut fuel distribution in Lagos and its environs over take-over of access roads to tank farms and fuel depots by containerised trucks, among other grievances.
Other grievances of the union are deplorable state of the roads and extortion of tanker drivers by security operatives in Lagos and its environs, NUPENG, in a statement by its President and General Secretary, Prince Williams Akporeha, and Olawale Afolabi, respectively, lamented perceived failure of various authorities in the state to address three major issues that have caused pains and harrowing experiences on the hapless petroleum drivers in the state for several months.
More than 10,000 British Airways staff are being made redundant as the airline scrambles to cut costs to survive the
In a sign of the brutal cuts workers were facing at Britain's flag carrier, more than 6,000 employees across the business applied for voluntary redundancy.
A further 4,000 were due to be told yesterday that they were being laid off.
Many of the remaining staff will suffer steep pay cuts and will see significant changes to their contracts.
Long-serving cabin crew claim they could lose up to 50 per cent or 60 per cent of their income from the shake-up – which caps the amount cut from their basic pay at 20 per cent but will strip out a number of take-home allowances.
Unions branded the day 'Black Friday' and accused BA of 'industrial thuggery'. BA has been at loggerheads with cabin crew unions Unite and GMB over the job-cutting plans, which it insists are crucial to its long-term survival.
BA's owner IAG plunged to a £3.8billion loss during the first six months of the year after the number of passengers on its flights fell by 98 per cent in the second quarter.
The company is planning to raise £2.5billion of emergency funding, backed by its largest shareholder Qatar Airways, to shore up its finances as it fears it could take until at least 2023 for business to recover.
Rivals including Virgin, Ryanair and Easyjet are all planning to cull jobs and slash spending to survive the crisis as they face months of lower passenger numbers.
IAG boss Willie Walsh has said Covid-19 is the biggest crisis the airline has ever faced.
A British Airways spokesman said: 'We are having to make difficult decisions and take every possible action now to protect as many jobs as possible.'
Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo, has sacked Raphael Afonja, the state commissioner of works, infrastructure and transport.
In a statement on Monday, Taiwo Adisa, chief press secretary to the governor, said the termination of Afonja’s appointment was contained in a letter dated August 10 and signed by Olubamiwo Adeosun, secretary to the state government (SSG).
The reason for the commissioner’s sack was not officially stated, but Afonja had announced at a radio programme earlier on Monday that he spent 55 days treating COVID-19.
The sack letter as reproduced by Adisa, read: “I wish to convey the approval of His Excellency, Governor Seyi Makinde, on the termination of your appointment as Honourable Commissioner, with immediate effect.
“Consequent upon the above development, you are hereby directed to hand over all the government items in your possession to the permanent secretary (ministry of works, infrastructure and transport).
“I am to add that, your contribution within the time of your sojourn is appreciated and commendable, and therefore, wish you successes in your future endeavours. I thank you.”
The governor also swapped the portfolios of two of his commissioners.
Bayo Lawal who was commissioner of special duties was moved to the state’s ministry of local government and chieftaincy affairs, while Funmilayo Orisadeyi who held sway in the latter ministry was given the former role of Lawal.
A court in Kano, Northern Nigeria, has sentenced a musician to death for blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad.
The Kano Upper Shari’a Court sitting at Hausawa Filin Hockey sentenced 22-year-old Yahaya Sharif to death by hanging.
The judge, Aliyu Kani, gave the verdict on Monday after finding Mr Sharif guilty as charged.
He was convicted based on Section 382 (b) of Kano penal code of 2000.
Mr Sharif, a resident of Sharifai in Kano metropolis, was accused of committing blasphemy against the prophet of Islam in a song he circulated via WhatsApp in March 2020.
Following the incident, protesters burnt down the singer’s family home and led a procession to the Kano Hisbah command’s headquarters.
The Hisbah is a Kano State-owned security outfit that enforces the Shariah law in the highly conservative state.
Mr Sharif’s father, Aminu Sharif, had disowned him, saying he was not living at his house when he committed the crime.
He also said that he did not share his son’s religious views.
“I want to categorically inform the general public that blasphemy is not my ideology, and I promise to arrest him (my son) and hand him over to security agents whenever he is found.
“If I had the authority to punish him by law, I will do that right away,” Aminu Sharif had said of his son.
On Monday, the court also sentenced one Umar Farouq of Sharada quarters of Kano metropolis to 10 years imprisonment with hard labour for making derogatory statements concerning the Almighty Allah in a public argument.
The judge said the convict committed the offence at a younger age, and his trial was delayed to enable him to attain adulthood as proscribed by Maliki Islamic jurisprudence and the administration of criminal justice law.
Both convicts have 30 days to appeal the judgment.
The Federal Government has directed civil servants on Grade Levels 12 and 13 as well as those on essential duties to resume full duties.
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folashade Yemi-Esan, gave the directive in a circular dated August 10, 2020.
The circular was titled “Resumption of officers on Grade Levels 12 and !3 and those on essential duties”.
Before now, as part efforts to curtail further spread of COVID-19, only workers on Grade Level 14 and above are resuming at their duty posts, and they only work three days in a week.
But Yemi-Esan, in the circular, added that all workers resuming for work will henceforth work from Monday to Friday and from 8 am to 4 pm.
She wrote, “Following Mr President’s approval of the recommendation of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, officers on Grade Levels 12 and 13, and those on essential services are hereby directed to be in the office every working day (Monday to Friday) with effect from Monday, August 10, 2020.
“Also, the officers and those affected by earlier circulars on resumption of duty are now to resume by 8 am and close by 4 pm daily.
“Permanent Secretaries/Chief Executive Officers are to define the officers performing essential services in their MDAs.
“However, in doing so, consideration must be given to the health implication of the number to recall for duties in the light of the extant guidelines on the measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.”
As they resume work daily, Yemi-Esan asked the officers to ensure full compliance with the directives and advice on the COVID-19 pandemic preventive measures, including maintenance of physical distancing, regular washing and/or sanitising of hands and wearing of face masks.
She added that efforts should be made to avoid overcrowding in individual offices.
Nigeria’s former President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has said he does not care what people say about him when he die.
Obasanjo had on Saturday released a sarcastic statement on the death of Senator Buruji Kashamu, saying that the former lawmaker used politics and legal means to escape justice but could not use the same to stop death.
In his words: “The life and history of the departed have lessons for those of all us on this side of the veil. Senator Esho Jinadu (Buruji Kashamu) in his lifetime used the maneuver of law and politics to escape from facing justice on alleged criminal offence in Nigeria and outside Nigeria.
“But no legal, political, cultural, social or even medical maneuver could stop the cold hand of death when the Creator of all of us decides that the time is up.
“May Allah forgive his sin and accept his soul into Aljanah, and may God grant his family and friends fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.”
Obasanjo’s statement generated lots of controversies, with former Governor of Ekiti State and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu attacking him for his reckless statement.
But Obasanjo is undaunted, he told Premium Times in an interview on Sunday that it was okay for people to mourn every death but that the living, including himself, must draw the right lessons from the lives of those who have died.
He said it was only in doing this that the society can make progress.
“When I was growing up, in our community, when anyone known with bad character died, we usually only mourn him and bury him. No eulogy. No praise-singing.
“There is an English saying that urges us never to talk ill of the dead. But in this case, we are not talking ill of the dead. We are only drawing lessons from the life and history of the dead. I am not gloating over his death. It is sad for anyone to die and we must mourn him.
“But we must learn from such a passage. There will be bad lessons. There will be good lessons. But we should not just be praise-singing or eulogising the dead, especially when there is no need to do so.
“We should not cover up bad histories and conducts so that the right lessons can be learnt,” Obasanjo states.
The former President said he did not care what people would say about him when he died because he had said the right thing about Kashamu.
“As you know, I say my mind as truthfully as I know them and in line with my convictions. People are free to say whatever they want about my comment. I don’t begrudge people for holding opinions on whatever I say or do.
“Let people say whatever they like when I transit. Now that I am alive, am I not being abused? Whenever I transit, let people say whatever they know or think about me. Let them say it as it is. What my maker thinks of me is what matters most,” he added.
Nigeria’s COVID-19 new infection rate has continued to drop as the country, on Monday, reported 290 new cases of coronavirus.
Nigeria Disease Control Centre, NCDC, also recorded five additional deaths, bringing the total number of deaths from the virus to 950.
Out of the 290 new cases reported in 16 states of the federation, Lagos and Plateau had 82 each. The others are Oyo-19, FCT-18, Edo-16, Kaduna-15, Enugu-9, Ogun-9, Kano-8, Kwara-8, Cross River-5, Ondo-5, Rivers-5, Ekiti-4, Imo-3 and Borno-2.
According to NCDC, Nigeria now has 46,867 confirmed cases; 33,346 discharged and 950 deaths.
The World Health Organization (WHO) disclosed that the novel Coronavirus is proving exceptionally difficult to stop, as the number of cases crosses 20 million.
Dr Mike Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization’s Health Emergencies Programme, speaking during a news conference in Geneva on Monday, said in order to completely stop the virus it is important to identify where the human-animal barrier was breached.
“This virus is proving exceptionally difficult to stop,” Ryan said, saying that it was important to reflect on what is known about the virus, in terms of the ease of spread, the multiple transmission modes and the existence of asymptomatic and presymptomatic transmission.
“This is not an easy virus and not an easy virus, either, to detect. It’s not an easy virus to stop,” he said.
Ryan explained that an epidemiologic investigation will start in Wuhan, China because that’s where the first clusters of cases were picked up, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that is where Case Zero (the very first case) was.
According to Dr Ryan, finding ‘Case Zero’ helps to distinguish this crossing of the barrier between species.
“If you follow the data and the science, you will find, hopefully, the point at which the disease crossed the species barrier,” he said.
Lebanon’s government resigned on Monday as the prime minister blamed “political corruption” for a massive explosion at Beirut’s port that killed more than 160 people and devastated the capital.
“I discovered that the system of corruption is bigger than the state,” Hassan Diab, prime minister, said in an address, blaming resistance by entrenched political elites for his lack of reforms.
His resignation came amid intensifying anger among Lebanese people towards their leaders, whom many blamed for last week’s blast.
The explosion was caused by more than 2,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, which can be used as a fertiliser but also for explosives. It had been stored at the port for six years.
Public fury spilled on to the streets over the weekend as thousands of people, some erecting scaffolds to hang effigies of their leaders, called for regime change.
But many Lebanese are likely to question whether the resignations will bring genuine change to what they perceive to be a rotten political system.
Fly Boi Inc label front-liner Oluwatobiloba Daniel Anidugbe, better known as Kizz Daniel, is the latest entertainer to have a street named after him.
The 26 year old Nigerian singer and songwriter who recently released his third studio album ‘King of Love On the 25th of June 2020, announced the good news.
The Ogun State, native shared a photo of himself and penned a caption thus :take a left at Kizz Daniel STR @thehavenhomes
A toddler died from her injuries three days after the horrific Beirut explosion that ripped her from her mother's arms.
Alexandra Naggear, three, has been revealed as the latest victim of last Tuesday's blast that left parts of the Lebanese city buried in rubble and strewn with bodies.
The little tot and her parents, Tracy and Paul, watched from the balcony of their high-rise flat after a fire broke out in the capital's dock area.
Within minutes an initial blast hit and Alexandra's mum picked up her daughter as they moved inside and she started to scream.
Then seconds later another blast ripped the girl from Mrs Naggear's grip and it took her parents several minutes to find her buried in the rubble of their home.
Grandfather Michel Awwad, 60, told the Daily Mail his daughter saw a "huge grey object falling from the sky" after the blast and told her family to get inside.
"She was trying to cover Alexandra, she was holding her daughter and trying to cover her.
"But the pressure of the explosion was so intense and she couldn't keep hold of her and they flew inside the house."
Mr Awwad said he believes the toddler banged her head against a piano or a door, with her parents rushing her to hospital.
He added that, after the incident, Mrs Naggear, 33, was "screaming on the phone" to him that she believed her daughter was dead.
Alexandra had sustained broken ribs and required a dozen stitches in her face.
At least 158 were killed by the explosion after a fire broke out in a warehouse containing 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate - a chemical used in bombs.
Officials say it had been stored unsafely since 2013, with an investigation launched.
Heartbroken dad Paul, 36, said his little girl was "not a martyr, she is a victim" in a TV interview.
The digital marketing business owner told the government: "You killed us inside our homes. Renounce your parties and unite to overthrow the system."
Nigerians on Monday attacked the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, over her statement that online fraudsters, also known as ‘Yahoo boys’ are now role models in the country due to drop in moral values.
The former minister who stole a whopping sum of $2.5 billion fled the country after leaving office to escape been prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over money laundering charges.
Twitter users launched attacks on the former minister, who is being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC for alleged fraud running into billions of dollars, saying she does not have the right to criticize them.
Alison-Madueke made the statement while delivering a lecture at a virtual event organised by the Ijaw National Development Group, which was also attended by her former boss, ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.
Diezani stressed the need for mentorship of young people, saying only hard work could guarantee success, but her statement did not settle well with many Nigerians on social media.
See some reactions from Twitter;
Wait a minute, Diezani is bashing Yahoo boys?
A whole Hushmummy.
Definitely some #MondayMotivaton
Hushmummy, another fugitive, criticised Yahoo Yahoo Boys. The audacity, boldness and temerity. Because there are no serious consequences for looting the Nigerian treasury.
Goias had their opening game of the Campeonato Brasileiro season against Sao Paulo postponed after 10 of the club's players tested positive for COVID-19.
In the hours leading up to kick-off on Sunday, Goias announced they had only that day been informed 10 of their 26-man squad had returned a positive result and eight of those were set to feature in the starting line-up.
Tests carried out on Thursday were deemed invalid by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) due to being "improperly packaged", the club said.
After receiving the results from a new round of testing undertaken on Friday less than 24 hours before kick-off, Goias sought to have the game suspended.
Players took to the field to warm-up as it remained unclear whether the match would go ahead, but a decision was taken just before the scheduled kick-off at 16:00 local time (19:00 GMT).
The president of the CBF's medical commission Jorge Pagura told SporTV: "As soon as it was clear that the results came out, that Goias had 10 players with a positive test, we started to contact the Goias medical department.
"Goias requested, as is its right, to do a counter-test. We awaited the results.
"In order not to lose the game we waited the maximum amount of time. Near the time to make the decision came the result of the 10 positives. At that time, health comes first."
Results of the counter-tests carried out by Goias were only received 10 minutes before kick-off and nine of the initial group of 10 were positive again, club president Marcelo Almeida told a news conference.
Sao Paulo approved of the decision not to go ahead with the game.
Players took to the field to warm-up as it remained unclear whether the match would go ahead, but a decision was taken just before the scheduled kick-off at 16:00 local time (19:00 GMT).
The president of the CBF's medical commission Jorge Pagura told SporTV: "As soon as it was clear that the results came out, that Goias had 10 players with a positive test, we started to contact the Goias medical department.
"Goias requested, as is its right, to do a counter-test. We awaited the results.
"In order not to lose the game we waited the maximum amount of time. Near the time to make the decision came the result of the 10 positives. At that time, health comes first."
TeeBillz has moved on from Tiwa Savage and has juts unveiled his new lover.
Only yesterday, a shared photos of himself a a mystery lady vacating on an island without revealing her face. But this morning, he revealed her face in new photos he shared from the same island!!!
Sharing a photo of them together, TeeBillz who has been with a couple of women wrote;
''Thanks for loving me for free my charger 😘''
And ofcourse, we can;t overlook the MAJOR similarities between his new woman and Tiwa Savage. Too major!
Ninety-seven thousand US children tested positive for coronavirus in the second half of July - weeks before schools and universities reopen.
The figures, taken from the American Academy of Pediatrics from July 16 to 30, come as the country tops five million cases - 338,000 of which are children - and over 162,000 deaths.
As some schools re-open for face-to-face classes this month, Dr Tina Hartert, of Vanderbilt University, said increased testing of kids is key to understanding their role in transmitting the killer bug.
The doctor is leading a government-funded study which has seen 2,000 families receive DIY testing kits.
"The kits are shipped to the families, they are taught how to collect these samples, and then the samples are sent back by the families to a central repository," she told CBS News.
It was initially believed children were less susceptible to the virus - however, at least 25 kids have died in the US in July from Covid-19.
It's left teachers and school bosses desperately looking for solutions on how to follow restrictions while educating pupils.
Some universities are also grappling with safely reopening campuses, with new restrictions including banning parties, road trips and outside visitors.
The Osun State Coordinator of the #RevolutionNow protest, Olawale Bakare, popularly known as Mandate, who was arrested last Wednesday, has been released.
Bakare’s lawyer, Mr Alfred Adegoke, who shared news of his release on Sunday, also said the three others detained for participating in the protest had also been allowed to go home.
Bakare and six other protesters were arrested on Wednesday in Osogbo by operatives of the Department of State Services during a protest organised by the movement.
Three out of the protesters were, however, released last Thursday to their parents, while Bakare and the others were held over their alleged inability to bring parents or guardians to stand for them.
The owner of the property housing the secretariat of the Bayelsa State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr Chubby Ben-Walson, has implored the party’s leadership to pay him outstanding rent totalling N105m before vacating the building.
He said on Sunday that the PDP had not paid him rent for the past six years, adding that instead of paying, the party wrote to him that it was quitting the property.
The landlord stated that he rented out the six-winged storey building to the state PDP to in 2008.
On June 18, 2020, a Bayelsa State High Court sitting in Yenagoa delivered a judgment in a case filed by the landlord, ordering the state PDP to pay N105m, being the rent arrears owed by the party for six years.
Ben-Walson said, “After the judgment, the party, through one of the executives, approached my lawyer on how to settle the debt.
“The party’s state chairman, Solomon Agwana, and the secretary, Gesiye Isowo, however, have written to me, stating that they are officially vacating my property after destroying same.
“The PDP refusing to pay me my due rent is simply the story of callousness and wickedness; that is the property they have been occupying to record several electoral victories in Bayelsa State.”
When contacted, the Chairman of the PDP in the state, Solomon Agwana, said the purpose of the letter to Ben-Walson was to terminate the old tenancy and stop the rent from accumulating further in view of the subsisting judgment.
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) legend James Harris popularly known as Kamala has died after complications from coronavirus.
The 70-year-old former powerhouse starred for Vince McMahon’s wrestling company during the late 1980s and early 90s.
His autobiography’s co-author, Kenny Casanova, wrote on Facebook: “Just got off the phone.
“Unfortunately, the rumors were correct. To make matters worse, it was Corona that took him; he was one of the good ones.
“Kamala was one of the most believable monsters in wrestling.
“He played the role perfectly, but was also one of the nicest guys you could meet.
“In helping him get his book out there, we became pretty close over the years and I am happy to have been his friend…”
WWE issued a statement late Sunday night saying: “WWE is saddened to learn that James Harris, known to WWE fans as Kamala, has passed away at age 70.
“Under the frightening face paint of Kamala, the 6-foot-7, 380-pound Harris battled the greatest Superstars in sports-entertainment history, including Hulk Hogan, The Undertaker and Andre the Giant.
“He terrorized opponents and thrilled audiences in Mid-South, World Class Championship Wrestling, WCW and WWE until 2006.
“WWE extends its condolences to Harris’ family, friends and fans.”
Kamala began his career as the Mississippi Mauler and Sugar Bear Harris.
He later transformed into his Kamala character and enjoyed great success.
But in recent years he has suffered with diabetes and needed to have both legs amputated during a series of health battles.
Please ignore the photo, there's almost a no better one, lol.
Dr Lucy Glancey says there has been a surge in couples signing up for the genital matching service.
In fact, it's grown in popularity during the coronavirus pandemic, says the UK doctor.
Consultations are given to measure and match up the couple, before offering the necessary procedure to make them a "perfect fit".
The friction introduced by "well fitting" genitals is proven to improve s3xual pleasure for both partners.
It can even strengthen orgasms by "ultimately depending on the degree of friction produced during intercourse", explains Dr Lucy.
She told FEMAIL: "This is one of the reasons why men who frequently masturbate find it difficult to climax during s3x with a woman because they are used to producing a 'perfect fit' of their hand, which fits like a glove over their p3nis compared to being with a female partner.
"Therefore a couple's s3xual enjoyment and ability to climax does in part rely on their genitals matching up in size.
"Over the years the p3nis does not change significantly in terms of thickness. However the vagina does and that could be due to two main reasons."
She said that pregnancy and a man's age could be some of the reasons for couples considering the genital matchmaking procedure.
According to Dr Lucy, many women might even opt for vaginal tightening after childbirth.
And another reason is because women are embarrassed by the noise they sometimes produce during sex – when the air gets in between the vagina and p3nis.
She continued: "Or their husband prefers to have anal s3x with them because there is no better fit there which upsets them. Also during pregnancy and childbirth the labia can stretch and protrude and get in the way which produces discomfort for the woman."
The doctor believes the treatments have saved many people's marriages as couple's who have good sex "will stay together despite their differences in other areas".
Dr Lucy explained: "Even if the woman is not so happy about their appearance if she knows that she is making her husband happy in bed she is more confident.
"The things we can do for the female patient is a combination of a nonsurgical vaginal tightening and surgical labiaplasty. This gives a 'tidy' look on the outside plus stops the protruding labia getting in the way.
"It also improves vaginal laxity so they can experience more enjoyment from intercourse as well as their partner too.
"On top of that enhancement of the p3nis girth can bring even better fit. Each couple is assessed individually."
