Nigerian Traviation

The flight conveying 315 Nigerians stranded in London has finally arrived after about six- hour delay.

The Air Peace flight P47801 from Heathrow Airport arrived the Nnamdi Azikiwe Int’l Airport, Abuja at about 9:50pm.

Details Shortly…

Mr Kamil Owolemi tijani popularly known as Dj Hanold has been named the Most Popular Deejay in the London area of United Kingdom.

Kamil, who was awarded such by the Nigerian Traviation Awards for Outstanding Professionals, is a dual citizen of both Nigeria and United Kingdom.

In a statement issued by the management of the awards, Kamil was chosen based on his recent mix of the songs of the popular Fuji maestro, Wasiu Ayinde tagged DJ Hanold Best of De K1 ultimate.

It also stated that the awardee is a very hardworking Dj who grinds on turn table hours upon hours as a result of an observation exercise carried out by the Award Team. 

On receiving this award, the awarded lauded the management of the award for finding him worthy of it despite his non-expectation of it.

He assured the management of not relenting on the reason for his award, praying the Almighty Allah renews his strength daily.

The Federal Government has disclosed that over one million applications received from the online portal for recruitment of third batch of N-Power enrolees barely 48 hours after it was opened.

The Federal Government said that 400,000 applicants would be absorbed into the third batch of its N-Power National Social Investment Scheme (NSIP).

The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development commenced the enrolment process of the third batch of the N-Power beneficiaries on June 26.

The ministry explained the enrolment will provide opportunities for more Nigerian youths to access the programme in furtherance of President Muhammadu Buhari’s vision of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty.

An update on the enrollment exercise is contained in  a statement in Abuja on Sunday night by the Deputy Director Information of the Ministry, Rhoda Iliya.

It reads: “In line with the ongoing N-POWER Batch C online application which commenced Friday  June 26, 2020, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs Disaster Management and Social Development, hereby announces that over 1,000,000 applications have been received from across the Federation in less than 48 hours after the Honourable Minister, Sadiya Umar Farouq, declared open the new N-Power Portal on the Ministry’s website.

“The Ministry wishes to reiterate that all young Nigerians between the ages of 18-35 with or without formal education can apply for a slot in the new programme which would be very focused on agriculture.

“The number of applications so far received is an indication of the number of our youths who need jobs and the confidence in the programme.

“The Ministry will continue to collaborate with its technical partners to provide timely support to all applicants.”

The Ministry promised that the selection process would be fair and transparent, adding that the public would be carried along at every stage.

It also assured Nigerians the N-Power portal is secured and no data has been compromised.

It further stated the portal is open for all Nigerians who meet the application criteria.

The Minister of Power, Sale Mamman has insisted that Nigerians are expected to pay higher electricity tariff from July 2020.

Mamman disclosed this in his presentation at an investigative public hearing on: “Power Sector Recovery Plan and the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic” organized by the Senate Committee on Power, in Abuja.

The Minister noted that the controversial increase would have taken effect in April 2020 but was postponed till July 2020 due to the present COVID-19 pandemic and widespread “apathy” towards the increase by Nigerians.

Mamman said: “The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has also affected our laid out plan for the repositioning of the electricity market towards financial sustainability under the Power Sector Recovery Programme (PSRP).

“Initially, the regulator, following the completion of public consultation on tariff review, planned on conducting a tariff review in April 2020.

“However, due to COVID-19 and customer apathy, the proposed tariff review was delayed by 3 months.

“The impact of this means the subsidy being incurred in maintaining the current tariff level had to be maintained till July 2020 when the proposed tariff review will be implemented.”

He noted that the challenge the nation’s power sector is currently facing in the development and expansion of the nation’s transmission line is to “budget and release FG’s commitment of an estimated sum of N32billion, primarily for Right of Way acquisition and environmental impact mitigation.

“The fund should be provided for in the 2020, 2021, and 2022 Appropriation of the Ministry of Power.”

He added that the power sector is also grappling with the challenge of infrastructural misalignment, market inefficiency/transparency, sector governance/policy coordination, increase energy access and completion of legacy projects.

He said: “Note that the teething issues as well as the legacy issues affecting the power sector is primarily an issue of infrastructural deficit and lack of coordination in the sector.

“We believe solving two challenges alone, would not only redress these challenges, but will also unlock the Sector for investment, efficiency and service delivery, bringing affordable and stable power to the nation.

“It is thus fortuitous that President Muhammadu Buhari has championed the Siemens Electrification Plan under the Presidential Power Initiative, as the central theme of the Government’s strategy in the Sector.

“I believe that all efforts rendered by the many relevant stakeholders within the stakeholders should be aligned with the PPI for maximum effectiveness in implementation.

“It is really our only choice to once and for all resolve the longstanding issue of the Power Sector.”

He lamented further that the COVID-19 pandemic, has had a great economic impact – not just on the health sector, but the overall economy of the country.

He added:”Indeed, the prevalence of the pandemic has already reduced productivity due to the strategy adopted globally to contain it.

“This by default affects the purchasing power of consumers and the demand for electricity in general.

“The current situation in the Nigerian Power Sector is that in which a lot of capital investment is being made, most of which is dependent on donor funding, loans and budgetary allocation.

“For projects that we have already secured their funding, we do not expect any adverse effect.

“However, for those that require our counterpart funding in the face of dwindling national revenue, we are proactively seeking strategies that will enable us anticipate the impact and plan for it so as to enable us deliver within the projected timelines.

“This explains our prayer for the Distinguished Senators to consider and approve additional funding for the execution of the various projects we are undertaking.”

Access Bank has offered to pay stamp duty charge for February to April on behalf of its customers.

It also said deductions made between Saturday and Sunday would be reversed to customers.

In a statement on Sunday, the bank said it recognised that it is a tough period for customers.

The bank’s customers had complained on various social media platforms on Saturday and Sunday over stamp duty deductions.

“We have considered your feedback and have decided to pay the stamp duty on our customers behalf for the affected period only,” the bank said in a statement.

“This means that individuals and SMEs who were debited for the accumulated stamp duty charge for February to April 2020 will be refunded.”

The minister of Works, Power and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola explains in this interview how he first met his mentor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

Q: When and how did you meet Senator Bola Tinubu? What was your first impression of him?

A: That is an invitation to walk down memory lane. I think it must have been 1990 or 1991. He was treasurer in Mobil, then. His office was at the Bookshop House at CMS on Odunlami Street. I didn’t directly meet him. I had seen him at parties, but we never met. At that time, I was a senior associate at the law firm of Sofunde, Osakwe, Ogundipe and Belgore, where I was practising. Wale Tinubu, his nephew, came to join the law firm, then. He was always mentioning “Uncle Bola”, and one day, he said: ‘’let’s go and see my uncle.” We got there and went out to lunch with him. That was then I could say we formally met.

From then on, he would consult us on legal issues and we would help and give him advice. Sometimes, he would just come and say. “Se we have this issue, what do you lawyers think?” We ran around and he would always give us pocket money. I think one thing that left some impressions on me was his commitment to his staff and that was symbolised by what I witnessed on a particular day after the Sallah celebration.

He brought Sallah meat to the office and supervised its sharing from floor to floor. As exalted as his office was, he was concerned to ensure that those who could not come to his house, even to the lowest driver, got part of the Sallah meat. I recalled that after the sharing of the meat, he sent someone to aggregate how much it would cost to buy soft drink for everybody and equally distributed money to them.
The incident left an impression on me and what became a practice when I started observing the killing of rams for Sallah. For me, it speaks of his concern about those working for him.

Q: For former governor described you as one of his greatest achievements. What does this mean to you?

A:Well, there are many ways to look at it. For me, that kind of statement coming from him puts more pressure on me. I thought that I had seen all the pressure that could come from this experience to be governor of Lagos State. That adds pressure on me in no small measure.

I think how I became governor is public knowledge. Nothing could put pressure on me than the commitment in pursuit of his decision in 2006 that I was the candidate he was endorsing for governor and the cost in terms of stress, disagreement, fights and long-draw emotional arguments. Of course, immediately I won the election, the biggest pressure was to ensure that I didn’t regret the decision.

One, the people of Lagos State could have said: “We didn’t know the man you have brought and he has turned the state upside down.” There are other sides to it that I would want to keep to myself. As I have said time and time again, he should sit down and write his memoirs so that people may know the story of that election. This is what he should use to explain to Lagosians the offers, the counter offers and choices he made and why he, as it were, went for broke.

The question to ask is: What was his abiding commitment after eight years as well as questions on who became governor, and who did not? But, in terms of a next step from there, it is to say that it is an enriching experience for our democracy, and not simply about me. It is also about institution building in the sense that I have continued to compare our 13-year journey in spite of its twists and turns with those that we seek to benchmark ourselves against.

The University of Lagos (UNILAG) has been ranked 101–150 in the 2020 Times Higher Education Golden Age University Rankings across the world.

In the Golden Age category, UNILAG also ranked 3rd in Africa and 2nd in Nigeria.

The “Golden Age” category of the Times Higher Education ranking was uniquely crafted for universities which were established between 1945 and 1967.

It highlights best universities established for more than 50 years, but less than 80 years.

The ranking was carried out following the Times Higher Education World University Rankings methodology which entails judging research-intensive universities across all their core missions such as: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

The Golden Age University Rankings for 2020 was published on Wednesday, June 24, 2020.

The Vice Chancellor, Professor Oluwatoyin T. Ogundipe, FAS, appreciates members of staff, students, alumni and friends of the University for their various contributions to the achievement of this feat and charges everyone to continue contributing their quota to make the University of Lagos great.

The Lagos Inland Revenue Service (LIRS) has said it generated N25 billion through taxation in April when there was total lockdown.

Head, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) of LIRS, Mr Rasheed Olu-Ajayi, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) via an exclusive virtual conference on Zoom on Saturday.

Olu-Ajayi said the service was able to achieve the fit by leveraging on technology.

He said that though the revenue invoked was not good enough but it was better than starting from ground zero taking to cognisance the total lockdown.

According to him, business was very good due to automating processes.

“What we did was to have a business continuity plan by documenting product, events with which we continue to work.

“So, we invoked technology tools, with lots of our staff, working from home but chasing taxpayers.

“We were able to invoke a good amount of money, not a case of ground zero.

“Nobody envisages that there would be a time that the whole globe would be lockdown and people would not be able to do anything.

“We were able to collect N25 billion in April when there was total lockdown,’’ he said.

According to him, this is a good achievement.

Olu-Ajayi said LIRS, as an agency of Lagos State Government, has the responsibility of collecting taxes and in some cases, business development taxes.

He said that tax collection is primarily the agency assignment.

He said that without tax collection, the development projects in education, road and easing of traffic congestion among others being executed by the state government would not have been possible.

He said that was why the LIRS thought outside the box by exploring ICT to achieve the fit in revenue generation during the total lockdown. (NAN)

The Popular singer and dancer, Peter Okoye has revealed that his wife, daughter and himself tested positive to Coronavirus. 

Peter made this known via a video posted on all his social media platforms on Saturday. 

The ace dancer said that he had been on self-isolation for the past three weeks; hence not been regular on the social media. 

He, therefore, admonished Nigerians to observe the precautionary measures of face mask and usage of sanitizers in order to contain the spread of the virus. 

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria is set to deploy robots in its airports all over the country in preparedness of flight resumption.

Nigerian Traviation gathered that the robots would be used for passenger facilitation processes including profiling, check-ins, temperature checks as well as detection of security threats including dangerous goods and arms.

General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Henrietta Yakubu made this known to newsmen over the phone that the test run of the robots was done at the Lagos Airport on Saturday.

“It’s a demo that is going on in Lagos. It’s been demonstrated. If it works fine, it will be adopted,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority today conducted a simulation flight ahead of the reopening of the country’s airspace to commercial operations.

The flight was operated by Aero Contractors beginning from the Abuja Airport to the Lagos Airport and vice-versa.

The regulator is expected to announce the resumption date for scheduled domestic operations anytime soon.

The country’s airports and airspace were shut in March by President Muhammadu Buhari as part of measures to curb the spread of the lethal coronavirus.

The President’s order, however, permitted the operations of essential flights such as for medical supplies, evacuation, others.