durables

  FCTA PRESS STATEMENT STOP THE MISCHIEF, MISINFORMATION: SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT ON FALSE PUBLICATIONS AND BROADCASTS ON PURPORTED ABUJA DEMOLITIONS AND THE USE OF A N300M BULLETPROOF CAR BY THE FCT MINISTER 1. We are compelled to address recent news articles in the media, that claimed that the new FCT Minister, Barr. Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, is embarking on a demolition spree targeting 6000 houses across 30 settlements in Abuja as well as the Wadata Plaza. 2. We would like to categorically state that these stories are entirely false and without any basis in reality. 3. The story on demolition of 6000 houses was reported by a national daily newspaper on the 22nd of August 2023 with the caption “Abuja land: FG may revoke land allocations, demolish 6000 buildings, slums” while another mainstream newspaper also published this highly irritating story: “Wadata Plaza will go down, Reactions trail Wike’s demolition threat”. 4. For the avoidance of doubt, the Minister did no...

  Sadio Mane will earn more than £34m (€40m) per year tax-free playing for Al Nassr with a wage equivalent to more than £650,000 per week; the 31-year-old is set to have a medical on Monday in Dubai and will play alongside Cristiano Ronaldo in the Saudi Pro League Sadio Mane is expected to undergo a medical with Al Nassr on Monday after they agreed a £24m deal to sign him from Bayern Munich, according to  Sky Germany . The former Liverpool winger will earn more than £34m (€40m) per year tax-free playing for the Saudi Arabian club with a wage equivalent to more than £650,000 per week. Mane is set to sign a contract until 2027 which means he stands to earn around £136m in total if he sees out the deal. The 31-year-old is set to have a medical on Monday in Dubai and will play alongside Cristiano Ronaldo in the Saudi Pro League. Mane only joined Bayern last summer on a three-year deal following a £35m move from Liverpool, but he fell out of favour after  punching team-mate Le...

  The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has issued a seven-day ultimatum to the President Bola Tinubu administration to reverse “all anti-poor” people policies including the hike in the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) known as petrol. In a communique at the end of its Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting held on Tuesday, the labour union threatened to embark on a total and indefinite strike from Wednesday, August 2, 2023 should the Federal Government fail to do the needful. The communique was co-signed by NLC President, Joe Ajaero; and the union’s General Secretary, Emmanuel Ugboaja. The NLC said the Federal Government has shown enormous disdain and contempt for the Nigerian people and have declared a war of attrition on Nigerian workers and masses. The labour union said since the President’s “ subsidy is gone forever ” speech on inauguration day on May 29, 2023, “the peace of mind of Nigerians has gone”. It said the “government has continued to treat Nigerians as slaves and a c...

  Lawyers to suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, have raised the alarm that the Department of State Service (DSS) is planning to re-arrest their client despite the bail granted him by a Federal High Court in Lagos. The lead counsel for the embattled and suspended CBN chief, Joseph Daudu, made this known after the court’s ruling on Tuesday. Earlier on Tuesday, Justice Nicholas Oweibo admitted Emefiele to bail in the sum of the N20m and ordered that he be remanded at the correctional center pending the fulfillment of the bail conditions. Shortly after the ruling, DSS operatives strategically positioned their Hilux Pick Up van used in bring Emefiele to court, in a manner suggesting that they wanted to take him back to their detention centre. This prompted Daudu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and other lawyers of Emefiele to raise an alarm about their client’s planned re-arrest by the secret police. As of the the time of filing this report, the susp...

A personal chef to former US president Barack Obama has died during an accident on a paddle boarding trip near the Obamas' Massachusetts home. Tafari Campbell, 45, worked in the White House before staying on with the Obama family after Mr Obama left office in 2016. On Sunday, he went missing in the waters of Edgartown Great Pond on Martha's Vineyard. The Obamas released a statement hailing his talent inside the kitchen and out. "Tafari was a beloved part of our family. When we first met him, he was a talented sous chef at the White House - creative and passionate about food, and its ability to bring people together," Mr Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama said on Monday. "In the years that followed, we got to know him as a warm, fun, extraordinarily kind person who made all of our lives a little brighter." Mr Campbell had been visiting the Massachusetts island from his home in Virginia at the time of his death. Police say the Obama family was not home...

  When Jean-Pierre Dube saw the news that billionaire Elon Musk was scrapping Twitter's blue bird logo in favour of an Art Deco-style black and white X, the marketing professor thought it was a joke. "Why take a recognised brand, with a lot of brand capital around it and then completely throw it away and start from scratch?" said Prof Dube, who teaches at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. "In the short-term, it seems weird." But in the long term, could it work? Mr Musk's takeover of Twitter last year has been punishing for the social media platform. Advertising revenue has dropped by half, Mr Musk said this month, as big brands pulled back, wary of changes he has made, including how the firm handles verified accounts and moderates content. Abrupt layoffs and unpaid bills have also led to bad press and lawsuits. Estimates by Fidelity, which has a stake in the company, suggest it is now worth just a third of the $44bn ($34.3bn) that Mr Musk p...

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin listens to Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko during their meeting at the Constantine (Konstantinovsky) Palace in Strelna, outside Saint Petersburg, on July 23, 2023. (Photo by Alexey DANICHEV / SPUTNIK / AFP)   Russia hosts African leaders this week for a summit aimed at boosting ties despite concerns in Africa over the conflict in Ukraine and the suspension of a deal on Ukrainian grain exports. Isolated on the international scene since launching the military campaign in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin still has support in several African countries. “Today the partnership is constructive, confident and turned towards the future,” Putin wrote on the Kremlin website. At the summit in Saint Petersburg, Putin’s native city, several African leaders are expected including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. The summit is the second of its kind after an inaugural one that was held in 2019 in Sochi in southern Russia. The end of a deal that ha...