Power has been restored at the international terminal of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, after a power surge caused an outage for two days.
The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reported that the outage on Saturday and Sunday affected international operations of airlines flying in and out of the airport.
Yakubu Dati, General Manager, Public Affairs of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, confirmed the development to the media.
“There was a power outage from the PHCN and the airport has continued to rely on our independent power supply,” he said.
“However, when power was restored, the surge adversely affected the K16 transformer that serves the Air-bridges and rendered them unserviceable.
“This has adversely affected operations of departing flights.
“The heavy rainfall has further delayed attempts by our electrical engineers to effect repairs immediately,” Dati added.
He apologised to passengers, airlines and the general public for the inconvenience caused by the development.
He said efforts are on to find a lasting solution to it
NAN also reported that passengers that were either boarding or disembarking aircraft now use the ramps rather than the tarmac fingers, as a result of the power failure.
A source close to one of the airlines told NAN that passengers on international flights operated by Arik Air, Virgin Atlantic Airways and Air Maroc also used the ramp.
President Buhari met with the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, and his entourage on the sidelines of the TICAD VI conference in Nairobi.
President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed his willingness to swap Boko Haram prisoners for the Chibok girls as demanded by the insurgents, stressing he would do all he could to rescue the Chibok school girls abducted by the Boko Haram terrorist group two years ago.
The president however said the detained insurgents would only be released on the condition that Boko Haram lists their members they want released and also come out to discuss with the Federal Government.
He says the Federal Government will want the girls out safe without any harm done to them.
President Buhari made this known during an interview on the sidelines of the sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development, TICAD VI, in Nairobi, Kenya.
“I have made a couple of comments on the Chibok girls and it seems to me that much of it has been politicised.
“What we said is that the government which I preside over is prepared to talk to bonafide leaders of Boko Haram.
“If they do not want to talk to us directly, let them pick an internationally recognised Non-Governmental Organisation, NGO, convince them that they are holding the girls and that they want Nigeria to release a number of Boko Haram leaders in detention, which they are supposed to know.
“If they do it through the ‘modified leadership’ of Boko Haram and they talk with an internationally recognised NGO, then Nigeria will be prepared to discuss for their release,” he said.
President Buhari added that “We want those girls out and safe. The faster we can recover them and hand them over to their parents, the better for us.”
“Some of the information about the division in Boko Haram is already in the press and I have read in the papers about the conflict in their leadership.
“The person known in Nigeria as their leader, we understand was edged out and the Nigerian members of Boko Haram started turning themselves to the Nigerian military.
“We learnt that in an air strike by the Nigeria Air Force he was wounded.
“Indeed, their top hierarchy and lower cadre have a problem and we know this because when we came into power, they were holding 14 out of the 774 local governments in Nigeria.”
The President later took to one of his social media platforms to commend the Nigerian military for their efforts and sacrifice in the war against terror in the country.
“Our gallant troops in the Northeast have already rescued thousands of people. We will never give up on the Chibok girls,” he tweeted.
Recall that the Bring Back Our Girls campaigners had continued their demands that federal government did more to rescue the Chibok girls kidnapped from their boarding school in Borno State over two years ago, even if it means swapping them for detained insurgents.
To further enhance its civil-military relations, soldiers from 27 Brigade, under 7 Division Nigerian Army in Borno State, have built a temporary school in Bama for Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs.
The school, according to the Nigerian Army, has two sections, one for children and the other for adult women.
Army spokesperson, Sani Usman, a Colonel, said 3,000 children are currently being taught by soldiers who are not on military duty and school teachers among the IDPs.
“The school comprised 6 military tents in which soldiers not on essential duty served as teachers. In addition, some of the IDPs who were teachers before the their displacement, also teach in the school.
“Presently, the school has a population of over 3,000 children. The Brigade has also establish a section of adult education for women,” Usman said.
The statement added that impressed with the army’s effort, the United Nations Children Education Fund, UNICEF, donated two additional tents and school bags while the Borno State Urban Education appointed a principal to help run the school.
Usman said the Army has received commendations from the United Nations Secretary General and others.
“The United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and the Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel, Mr Toby Lanzer, and Borno State Government celebrated the recently held World Humanitarian Day with the IDPs in the school and commended the efforts of the Nigerian Army for establishing the school,” Usman said.
“Similarly, an American Non-Government Organization (NGO), Empower54, equally impressed with the fact that ‘despite the heavy responsibility of fighting off the terrorists daily, the soldiers are making time to teach the children’, appreciates the soldiers of 21 Brigade for their selfless effort by establishing the school in a blog and hashtag,” he pointed out.
The Nigerian military training exercise codenamed “exercise Crocodile Smlie” has kicked off in earnest.
The exercise was embarked upon by the Nigerian Army to train its Special Forces, formations and units located in the South-South geo-political zone of the country.
It is also to check criminal activities like kidnapping, militancy, piracy and other forms of criminal activities.’’
The Army had, on its website on Thursday, released pictures showing the troops getting ready for the kick-off of the exercise.
The exercise also includes a medical outreach by the Army Medical Corps in various communities in Sapele, Delta State.
Pictures posted on the army website showed villagers being attended to by soldiers.
Army Spokesman, Sani Usman pointed out that the outreach was free of charge.
He also urged the general public not to panic on the sight of unusual movement of large number of troops, heavy military weapons and equipment in these areas.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has charged political leaders in the country to build a relationship based on trust and integrity with the citizenry.
He said for true development to be achieved, “leaders must be trusted and if we want to run the country right, our first priority must be merit.”
“Truth on the part of a leader plays a critical role in the development and prosperity of Nigeria,” he stated.
Osinbajo made the remarks on Friday at a two-day economic and investment summit in Asaba, the capital of Delta State Nigeria.
The summit was organised by the Delta State government, as part of the activities to mark the 25th anniversary of the creation of the state.
The Vice president stated: “I can tell you there is a dedication and honesty in developing this country by the leadership today.
“Because of that leadership, we can make this country great again. We have the best opportunity to ensure that.”
He added that the “Times we’re in require capacity to perform. Public officers must be held accountable for performance and this requires hiring best qualified.”
Osinbajo also said that there is need to ensure that the economy of the nation is built to adapt to the physical, social and technological trends of the present generation.
Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, Speaking to delegates at the event, emphasised the need to build a strong, robust and resilient economy.
Dignitaries that attended the summit include the Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun and former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Chukwuma Soludo among others.
The Ethiopian government has assured its Olympic marathon silver medalist, Feyisa Lilesa, of his safety and said he is free to return to the country.
Lilesa had crossed the finish line with his arms raised above his head showing an “X”, a sign depicting the oppression his Oromo people are going through in Ethiopia.
After the Olympics, Lilesa refused to return home, fearing he would be in danger for publicly going against the government.
However, the government has moved to allay his fears, calling him a hero and saying he would forever be welcome back.
The country’s Minister of Communications, Getachew Reda, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that Lilesa does not need any assurances before coming home because the government sees him as a national hero.
“He was selected among many in the field not because he held one political opinion or another, but because he was a great, if not one of the greatest athletes in the field. As you would agree with me, he delivered and delivered big.
“He is our hero. That’s good enough a reason for him to want to come home.
“I don’t think he needs my assurance or that of the prime minister or any such.
Lilesa, however, said he does not trust the government’s assurance, as no one from the government has got in touch with him.
“They kill and they don’t tell the world they kill, they jail and they don’t tell anybody, so how can I believe that?
“I knew I would be jailed or killed if not, I would [never be allowed] out of that country and allowed to participate in any international competition or race at all.
“I am quite sure those things would happen to me,” the 26 years old Olympian said in an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, adding that he has not made up his mind where to seek asylum, even though the Brazilian government has given him a temporary leave to stay in the country.
The Ethiopian government has been faced by protest from the Oromiya region, home to more than 25 million Oromos, following plans to appropriate farmlands from the region to the capital Addis Ababa.
Human rights groups have accused the government of using excessive force to quell the protests and said 500 people have been killed in nine months.
The monthly allocation to the three tiers of government dropped to N443.663 billion in July from N559.032 billion the previous month.
This was the outcome of the Federation Account Allocation Committee, FAAC, meeting held in Abuja.
Last month’s allocation had triggered jubilation and predictions from some quarters that the July disbursements will be higher.
But the Permanent Secretary of the Finance Ministry, Mahmoud Isa-Dutse, attributed the fall to the 2.8 million barrels drop in the volume of crude oil sold in April.
Isa-Dutse also noted that Lagos state will not start benefiting from the 13 per cent derivation until revenue from the sale of crude oil from the Lagos wells start accruing into the federation account.
“The money has not started coming in yet. It’s only when revenue is realised that Lagos will start benefiting from the 13 per cent derivation,” he said.
It was also revealed that part of the amount shared for July was the N1.373 billion recovered from banks as excess charges from 2008 to 2012.
Isa-Dutse stated that the FAAC engaged the services of a consortium to determine “the true status of the bank charges collected on government funds saved with commercial banks.”
“At the end of their assignment, it was discovered that some banks over charged the government and they were told to refund the money,” he said.
Another extra accrual into the federation account was the N36.494 billion exchange gain arrears for May 2016.
In the month of July, N268.772 billion was shared as statutory fund; N66.987 as Value Added Tax; N70.037 billion as exchange gain; N36.494 billion as exchange gain arrears and N1.373 as excess bank charges recovered.
From Statutory revenue, Federal Government received N129.212 billion or 52.68%; States received N65.538 billion or 26.72%; Local Government Councils received N50.527 billion or 20.60%; while the Oil Producing States received N12.874 billion as 13% derivation revenue.
The amount in the excess crude account (ECA) now stands at $3.03 billion.
President Muhammadu Buhari, on Thursday, left for Nairobi, Kenya, to attend the 6th Tokyo International Conference on African Development, TICAD VI.
This was disclosed in a message on the president’s official twitter handle @NGRPresident.
TICAD is a conference held regularly with the objective “to promote high-level policy dialogue between African leaders and development partners.”
This will be the first time TICAD is being held in Africa since its inception in 1993; all previous 5 editions were held in Japan.
The decision to host TICAD VI Summit in Africa was reached during the TICAD V Summit in 2013 when it was agreed that the venue of subsequent TICAD Summits should be alternated between Japan and Africa.
The interval of summit Meetings was also shortened from 5 years to 3 years.
Various side events such as seminars/symposiums, exhibitions and business forum have been scheduled to run immediately before and during the Summit.
US Secretary of State, John Kerry, Sulan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar and Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal
The Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, has expressed dissatisfaction with the visit of the United States’ Secretary of State, John Kerry, to Nigeria, describing it as “discriminatory and divisive.”
Secretary Kerry, on arrival to Nigeria, headed straight to Sokoto State where he met with the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar.
He also held a meeting with some northern leaders and students before heading to Abuja to meet President Muhammadu Buhari.
However in an interview on Thursday, CAN President, Supo Ayokunle, said Kerry’s visit excluded the Christians and the Southern people of Nigeria.
He said the visit portrayed “lack of respect for the heterogeneous nature of Nigeria, amounted to favouring northern Nigeria and Muslims to the detriment of the Christian community.
“Why did he meet with 19 states governors, without southern governors, is Nigeria the north alone, why did you go to the north alone?” he asked.
“We have 36 States in Nigeria; he only selected northern governors to meet with them.
“It was a visit to the north, not to Nigeria. It was surely a very divisive visit,” Ayokunle added.
He said Kerry’s visit has supported the claims that the Obama administration openly supported the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the 2016 general elections, which produced the current leadership of the country.
The CAN President said: “There’s a siege on Christians. Kerry, his actions speak volume, his actions, body language were very divisive.
“If US Secretary of States is coming for official visit, it’s understandable, but we demand explanation why he was selective.
“Has the sultan palace become another state house? Was Kerry invited by the Sultan?
“Kerry’s visit has heightened fear and tension among Christians in Nigeria, if they cannot bring us together, they should not interfere in our affairs,” he said.
Ayokunle also condemned the killing of Christians in northern Nigeria.
He said that “government’s selective persecution of Christians mostly by the Department of State Service (DSS) and the Nigerian Police,” makes it “obvious the administration was anti-Christians”.
Ayokunle asked: “Have the DSS arrested the Muslim youths who burnt down a Catholic Church in Niger State because they were worshiping on Friday?
“What happened to the ECWA Pastor who was killed in his farm in Obi Local Government Area of Nasarawa State?
“What have happened with Redeemed Preacher who was murdered in Kubwa, Abuja?
“Look at the recent case in Zamfara State, Christians where burnt alive. What has happened?
“They will tell you, they are still investigating. Have they been arrested and charged them to court?
“If the government cannot sit up and protect Christians, tolerance is going to break down, they should do the right thing, they should not provoke Christians.
“Have we ever seen this government bring anybody to book?” he queried.
The CAN President also called on the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, to intervene in the case of the man who was arrested for naming his dog “Buhari”.
He insisted that there is no criminal offence in someone giving a dog whatever he wishes.
“The NBA should take up that case and ascertain whether the man has the right to give any name to a dog.
“They should come and protect the man’s human rights and set the record why the case is not a criminal offence,” Ayokunle said.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has demanded that the federal government honour the agreement it reached with the union seven years ago.
It is also insisting on the full release of 495 billion Naira, being the funds needed to revamp Nigeria’s universities, as contained in the agreement.
This was made known by ASUU’s Zonal Coordinator, Beke Sese, in a press conference in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State Capital, on Thursday.
Sese said ASUU had presented a Technical Committee set up by government with an estimate of N1.5 trillion needed to revamp the country’s tertiary institutions.
The amount was reviewed downwards by the committee, to N800 million.
But according to Sese, aside the initial tranche that was eventually released in 2013, the government had refused to credit a dedicated account with the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, set up for that purpose.
ASUU also bemoaned the non-payment of the university lecturers’ Earned Academic Allowances, staff salaries, the arbitrary removal and appointment of vice chancellors in federal institutions and the introduction of the Treasury Single Account into the university system.
Sese also said there was need to renegotiate the 2009 agreement, amend the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, National Universities Commission, NUC, and National Minimum Standards and Establishment of Institutions Act 2004.
ASUU also demanded audience with President Muhammadu Buhari, whom, Sese said had been difficult to see one-on-one.
