The Nigerian Senate has passed a Bill seeking to amend the Finance Act, of 2023 to impose and charge a windfall levy on banks’ foreign exchange gains, but with an amendment from 50% to 70% as the levy charge.

The Bill was read for a third time after the Upper chamber considered the report of the Committee on Finance during plenary on Tuesday.

The additional N6.2 trillion contained in the Appropriation Amendment Bill will be financed by the one-time windfall tax on banks’ foreign exchange profits as approved by the National Assembly, and other independent sources of revenue.

The Senate approved further amendments to the Finance Amendment Bill presented by President Tinubu.

The Bill initially proposed a 50% sharing formula on the realized profits on the exchange transactions of the banks, but the Senate amended it to reflect an upward review to 70%, stressing that the windfall was not a result of any effort of the banks or value addition, but as a result of government policy which must be redistributed.

The Senate also amended the Bill approving the payment of the levy to take effect from the new foreign exchange regime to 2025, and not from January 2024. Lawmakers noted that the initial proposal would mean creating a retrospective law.

The Upper Chamber also removed the proposed jail term of up to three years for Principal officers of defaulting banks. The Bill now prescribes that any bank that fails to pay the windfall levy to the federal Inland RRevenueService and has not executed the deferred payment agreement shall be liable to pay a windfall levy not remitted in addition to a fine of 10% of the levy withheld or not remitted er annum and interest at the prevailing Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Minimum Rediscount Rate (MMR).

Video streaming platform, Netflix, has once again increased its subscription prices in Nigeria with its Premium Plan going up by 40% to 7,000 from N5,000 per month.

The latest price increment makes it the second price adjustment by the platform within the space of 3 months, having implemented a price increment earlier in April this year.

According to the price update on the company’s website, the Standard plan subscription, which is popular among Nigerian subscribers for its HD quality and multi-screen viewing options, has been increased from N4,000 to N5,500. This represents a 37.5% increment.

Netflix’s Basic plan, which was N2,900 has been jerked up by 21% to N3,500, while the lowest subscription plan, Mobile, has gone up by 83% from N1,200 to N2,200.

April increment

Earlier in April, the streaming giant announced an increment that saw its Premium Plan price moved to N5,000 from N4,400. At the same time, the Standard Plan was increased from N3,600 to N4,000, while the Basic Plan remained unchanged at N2,900.

At the time, Netflix said the price adjustment was part of a broader strategy to revise its subscription fees across various regions. The changes, according to the company, were aimed at accelerating its revenue and earnings growth, following a pattern of periodic price hikes to support the expansion of content offerings.

What you should know

The Netflix price increment comes amid high inflation in Nigeria that has pushed up prices of every product and service being offered in the country. While Nigerians grapple with skyrocketing food prices, home entertainment is becoming out of reach for many households as a result of price increases.

Meanwhile, Netflix has been adjusting prices in key markets globally, including the United States, United Kingdom, and France, with the Basic and Premium plans experiencing increases in October 2023.

Atlantis585:


I hope you know that this is a criminal act that can send you to prison.

This whole issue on Dangote is shocking and creating bad waves for Nigeria globally. - Akinwunmi Adesina

Monopoly often exists where there are high barriers to entry or high capital costs.

How many individuals or companies can do railways? How many can do refineries of the scale of Dangote Refineries?

In a nation that has been importing refined petroleum products for several decades, the abnormal simply became very normal.

No smart investor would make a $19.5 billion investment and want it to be undermined by importers.

To manufacture is extremely expensive and risky. This is even more so in Nigeria, given the very challenging business and economic environment, fraught with policy uncertainties and policy reversals, and where the self-defeating default mode of “simply import it” is always so easily rationalized and chorused to solve any problem.

Competition is good for everyone. But is Dangote refineries anti-competitive? What is the evidence?

Has Dangote refineries prevented any other company from setting up refineries? Why have others not done so? How come they have not done so for several decades? Was it Dangote that held them back?

But Dangote refineries surely cannot be asked to ‘compete’ with importers of petroleum products.

That is not competition. Let the importers set up local refineries and compete by refining in Nigeria. That is fair and justified competition.

We cannot and must not undermine, disparage or kill local industries, talk less of one that is of this scale — a jewel of industrialisation in Nigeria.

It is more than simply delivering the cheapest product to the market. It is about domestic supply security, driving (and yes, protecting) globally competitive industries, maximizing forward and backward linkages in the local economy, job creation, reducing forex expenses and shoring up the Naira.

We must not be myopic.

This whole disparaging of Dangote is uncalled for. It is self-defeating. And it is very bad for Nigeria. Who will want to come and invest in a country that disparages and undermines its own largest investor?

Investing is tough. Pettiness is easy.

It sadly sends a signal that the price for sacrificing for Nigeria is to get sacrificed.

Akinwunmi Adesina

The Lagos State Government has served contravention notice on over 200 property owners and occupiers in Òkun Ajah Waterfront scheme by in Eti Osa LGA, over encroachment on government land.

A seven-day ultimatum was also issued to all the affected property owners and occupiers in this area encroaching on government land.

They are required to come with relevant documents and approvals that back their occupation of the land.

The Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Yacoob Ekundayo Alebiosu during an inspection of the area at the weekend, said many properties and buildings in the area contravened the law by illegally taking possession of the land not allocated to them by the government.

He said four contravention notices had earlier been served on the illegal occupants in the Okun Ajah scheme, saying the government cannot continue to watch and see the state’s commonwealth turned to private investments.

Alebiosu, therefore, urged owners of such buildings to voluntarily remove their encroaching properties before the expiration of the ultimatum.

He also said, if they allow the government to use its funds to enforce the directive, the cost of such operation shall be recovered from the property owners.”

The commissioner also said that the ministry has gone through all the processes required in Okun Ajah and that this is the last one.

“We have served over 200 houses today alone, based on several contraventions. We’ll be coming back with the Ministry of physical planning to take possession.”

While speaking to journalists after the exercise, Alebiosu said, “there are several properties in Okun Ajah without waterfront clearance, a lot of encroachments have been identified with people building without approval because they would not have got the Ministry of physical planning approvals without getting clearance from the ministry of waterfront infrastructure development.

“We’re always guided by the law, we have issued notices, stop work orders have also been served, despite that, they kept at it, continued with their work, and we are left with no option.

“We have been meticulous, we had followed through all the processes before we got to this stage, we are now at the final stage of enforcement, we have been here severally, we even met with resistance from some of them, but the law has to take its course.

“I want to allay the fears of the people on whether government will abandon the land after taking possession. Again, I need to inform the public that a lot of people have been allotted these plots of land, and they are already waiting to take possession, but because some unknown people have gone ahead to sell the plots to people; illegally, that is why they have not taken possession.

“There are people with proper government allocation, but they’re always threatened by these illegal operators when they come to take possession, there have been a lot of cases, that is why we had to come here with our full enforcement team so that everything will be in order. We have taken the final step required of us.”

Alebiosu, thereafter, advised all other illegal occupants on other waterfront schemes in Lagos that they should approach the ministry for waterfront clearance.

He said that Physical Planning will not give anyone approval without getting clearance from the Ministry of Waterfront Infrastructure Development.

Kelvin Emmanuel has criticised NMDPRA’s stance on Dangote Refinery, arguing its diesel’s superior quality could eliminate the need for imports.

A Nigerian economist Kelvin Emmanuel has defended the quality of the Dangote refinery’s diesel, noting that its output is significantly superior to that of imported diesel.

Emmanuel said this in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Sunday, while expressing disappointment in the NMDPRA’s stance on the Dangote’s refinery, particularly the claim that Dangote aims to stop the importation of petrol and diesel.

“I would say that the Dangote refinery is going to wipe off the importation business. The test that has been done at the Dangote refinery produces diesel at 87.6 parts per million. The test that was done for total energies downstream and metrics energy, total produced about 1824 parts per million diesel for imported diesel into Nigeria and metrics energy produced about 2,254 parts per million for imported diesel into Nigeria.

“So, his diesel is way better than what is imported into Nigeria and if the national assembly wants to go a step further, they can recruit SGS which is one of the reputable gasoline testing firms in the world and also recruit PWC or KPMG to come and do an audit of the third-party rubbing roundtable certifications process for AGO and gasoline.”

“The question is Nigeria has been importing petroleum products for 52 years. In the last 20 something years, the government has spent 12 trillion in turn around maintenance and the refineries are still dead. In my opinion, I don’t think those refineries should be relied on anyways. So, if an entrepreneur takes up the challenge of investing 20 billion dollars to build a refinery, the government should support him.”

“I am actually surprised that the NMDPRA boss still has a job. Isn’t it the goal to reduce or eliminate the need for imports? Nigeria spends $2.4 billion monthly on energy imports. With a fully operational Dangote refinery, we could produce 49.4 million liters of PMS, 26 million liters of diesel, and 12 million liters of Jet A1 daily.”

He also attributed the blame for the Dangote feedstock shortage to Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPCL) and Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), rather than to the International Oil Companies (IOCs),

“I do not agree that the IOCs are to blame for the situation with the lack of feedstock. I think the blame points directly to the NUPRC and the NNPCL and the fact that a lot of the Nigerian crude oil has been negotiated on crude oil swap agreements or fossil agreements for reserved back loans that has been taken and then domestic crude oil supply obligations to refineries that, in my opinion, are not existent. The IOCs have what they call cost oil. They have 40%.

“So, if the IOCs pay their royalties and tax oil to NNPC and they fulfil their domestic crude oil supply obligations in line with section 109 of the PIA. The IOCs do not owe the Dangote refinery a right of first refusal for its feedstock because every crude oil they get in Nigeria actually is exported in fossil agreements that they already have with clients years ahead. So, I think we need to situate the blame where it belongs and it belongs on the shoulders of NNPCL.”

He urged the National Assembly and the President to question NNPCL’s inability to provide Dangote refinery with the $1.7 billion feedstock required to finalise the acquisition of 20% of the Dangote Refinery.

“So, these are the questions the national assembly and the president should ask the NNPCL; why were you not able to pay the 1.7bn dollars in feedstock to complete the acquisition of 20% that will make you own 5th of the largest refinery in Africa and arguably the world, that has the potential to produce 28bn dollars in revenue on a yearly basis.”

Dangote counters NMDPRA on substandard products claim, tests diesel before lawmakers

Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, has refuted claims that petroleum products from his refinery are substandard.

Dangote rejected the allegations on Saturday when members of the house of representatives visited the refinery in Lagos.

Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of the house of representative and Benjamin Kalu, the deputy, led the delegation.

On July 18, Farouk Ahmed, chief executive officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), said local refineries, including the Dangote refinery, were producing inferior products compared to imports.

In his defense during the visit on Saturday, Dangote said diesel bought from two filling stations and that from his refinery were tested at the refinery’s laboratories.

Dangote said the test was carried out using an Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (ED-XRF) Spectro Photometer, using the ASTM D4294 method.

ASTM D4294 test method provides rapid and precise measurement of total sulfur in petroleum and petroleum products with a minimum of sample preparation. A typical analysis time is 1 min to 5 min per sample.

He said the diesel was bought in the presence of the lawmakers.

“Our quality is about 600 to 650 ppm and is one of the best in terms of quality at that time when we started. But as at today, we’re at 87 ppm,” he said

“I want to plead with the regulator to come at any time, whether Sunday or Monday, or take the sample and I guarantee you before he gets here, our PPM will be even below 10.

“When we’re coming here, his excellency, the speaker said, can we please wait to pick up samples from two filling stations? And also when we get into our plant, they will pick a sample to check the results.

“The results are actually out and I’m going to share the same results with you.

“The sample from TotalEnergies’s diesel showed 1,829ppm sulphur concentration. The sample from Matrix Retail showed 2,653ppm. Matrix was 61 below 66 and Total is 26 flash point

“Our flash point showed 96. If you want to do the rest, we can run it at any given time.

“Today I want to announce to Nigerians that our parameters today are extremely, very good parameters.

“By the end of next week, we should be on 50ppm and by August, it should be down to 10ppm.”

The flash point of any liquid is the lowest temperature at which it will produce sufficient vapour to produce a flammable mixture in the air.

Dangote also said the best way to determine the quality of products being imported and sold to Nigerians is by going to the filling stations and buying and testing them.

“The most important thing, your excellency, is to note that the imported one they are encouraging, is the spec in the test, but in certain cases when you check (independently), different results will show,” Dangote added.

‘INVESTIGATION MUST BE DONE’

He further said the result does not only prove the reality of products from his refinery, but it also shows that substandard petroleum products are being imported into the country and sold to unsuspecting Nigerians.

“Speaker Abbas said going by the presentation and the contradictory claims, there was a need for an investigation,” Dangote added.

“I don’t know how we have this contradiction of two players representing the public and private sector.

“I think it is something we need to investigate further to find out if there are ulterior motives.”

On June 4, Dangote said some international oil companies (IOCs) were struggling to supply crude to his refinery.

Speaking on Arise TV on July 15, Gbenga Komolafe, chief executive officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) described the claim as “erroneous” as the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) has provisions that guide willing buyer-willing seller transactions.

A few days later, the management of DIL insisted that IOCs were frustrating its request to purchase crude feedstock for the Dangote refinery.

The Dangote refinery intends to commence the supply of petrol in August.

Release: In the Matter of Meta Platforms, Inc. and WhatsApp LLC: Investigation into Alleged Violations of Antitrust Laws, Data Protection Regulations, and Consumer Protection Acts

Friday, July 19, 2024: On May 2021, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (Commission) based on available evidence and sufficient probable cause issued an Order and Notice to Show Cause (ONSC) to WhatsApp LLC and Meta Platforms, Inc. (formerly called Facebook Inc.) jointly referred to as 'Meta Parties' in respect to this investigation.

The subject of the ONSC was to relay the Commission's investigative report in respect of its findings that the Meta Parties by their conduct have violated the above stated provisions of the FCCPA and NDPR (which was in force prior to the enactment and operationalisation of the NDPA (Nigeria Data Protection Act), 2023) and for the Meta Parties to show reasonable cause why the Commission should not proceed to enter its orders as final and enforceable pursuant to the FCCPA, particularly sections 17, 18, 155, and 159.

Between May 2021 and December 2023, and over this period of 38 months, a joint investigation by the Commission, and the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) into Meta Parties conduct, privacy policies, the operation thereof, and Meta Parties practices has evolved. Meta Parties have provided some information/evidence that are in part responsive to document requests and summons under the joint investigation. Meta Parties by themselves, and retained counsels have also repeatedly engaged with, and met with investigators and analysts from the Commission, and the NDPC, including as recently as April 4, 2024.

The totality of the investigation has concluded that Meta Parties over a protracted period of time have engaged in conduct that constitute multiple and repeated, as well as continuing infringements of the FCCPA and NDPR, particularly, but not limited to abusive, and invasive practices against data subjects/consumers in Nigeria, such as appropriating personal data or information without consent, discriminatory practices against Nigerian data subjects/consumers or disparate treatment of consumers/data subjects compared with other jurisdictions with similar regulatory frameworks, abuse of dominant market position by forcing unscrupulous, exploitative, and non-compliant privacy policies which appropriated consumer personal information without the option or opportunity to self-determine or otherwise withhold or provide consent to the gathering, use, and/or sharing of such personal data.

Being satisfied with the significant evidence on the record, and that Meta Parties have been provided every opportunity to articulate any position, representations, refutations, explanations or defences of their conduct and practices under law, the Commission have now entered a Final Order, and issued a penalty against Meta Parties. The Final Order more elaborately describes the specific conduct or practices of the Meta Parties, relationship between Meta Parties with respect to the infringements, particularly with regard to:

(1) Denying Nigerian data subjects the right to self-determine;

(2) Unauthorized transfer and sharing of Nigerian data-subjects personal data, including cross- border storage in violation of then, and now prevailing law;

(3) Discrimination and disparate treatment;

(4) Abuse of Dominance; and

(5) Tying and bundling.

The Final Order of the Commission mandates steps and actions Meta Parties must take to comply with prevailing law and cease the exploitation of Nigerian consumers and their market abuse, as well as desist from future similar or other conduct/practices that do not meet nationally applicable standards and undermine the rights of consumers.

The Final order also imposes a monetary penalty of Two Hundred and Twenty Million U.S. Dollars only ($220,000,000.00) (at prevailing exchange rate where applicable) which penalty is in accordance with the FCCPA 2018, and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection (Administrative Penalties) Regulations 2020 (APR). The Commission remains committed to its respective mandates to protect the privacy of Nigerians under the Constitution and all data protection.

A widespread technology outage grounded flights, knocked banks offline and media outlets off air on Friday in a massive disruption that affected companies and services around the world and highlighted dependence on software from a handful of providers.

Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said that the issue believed to be behind the outage was not a security incident or cyberattack.


Maryland courts, offices and facilities will be closed to the public

Maryland’s Judiciary has announced that all Maryland courts, offices and facilities will be closed to the public on Friday because of the Microsoft outage, but will remain open for emergency matters.

“Due to the worldwide Microsoft outage, all Maryland courts, offices, and facilities will be closed to the public today but will remain open for emergency matters,” the judiciary said in a news release. “All clerks’ offices are closed.”

The Maryland Department of Emergency Management announced Friday that it was increasing the state activation level from “normal” to “partial,” meaning there’s an event that requires significant monitoring or resources. The agency is also activating its emergency operations center.


Brazilian bank says digital services are unstable

Bradesco, one of the main banks in Brazil, notified its users via its app that digital services were unstable because of a global cyber outage, but its ATMs were working normally. Bradesco has more than 100 million clients.

Azul Airlines, a Brazilian low-cost airline, said that its check-in systems were affected, causing occasional flight delays. The company recommended that customers arrive at the airport earlier.

The National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil said that it’s monitoring the impacts on airports, but so far there haven’t been major delays.

Mass General Brigham canceling all nonurgent care visits

The Boston-based health system Mass General Brigham said on its website that it was canceling all nonurgent care visits because of the outage, but its emergency rooms remain open.

The company said on its website that it can’t gain access to its clinical systems, including patient health records and scheduling.

It asked patients not to call to reschedule and said a care team member would reach out to them instead.

About 1,500 US flights canceled by late morning, FlightAware says

By late morning on the East Coast, about 1,500 U.S. flights had been canceled and nearly 4,000 delayed — numbers that were sure to grow throughout the day — according to FlightAware.

Delta canceled nearly 500 flights, American canceled 300 and United more than 200, and those numbers don’t include flights on their regional affiliates.

CrowdStrike CEO says sorry for impact of outage

“We’re deeply sorry for the impact that we’ve caused to customers, to travelers, to anyone affected by this, including our companies,” CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said on NBC’s “Today Show” Friday. “We know what the issue is” and are working to remediate it.

He said the system was sent an update and the update had a bug in it causing a problem to Microsoft’s Windows operating system.

“It was only the Microsoft operating system” that was affected, though it didn’t happen on every Microsoft Windows system, he said.


Capital Economics says outage likely to have little impact on world economy

The global computer outage likely will have little impact on the world economy, according to forecasting firm Capital Economics, particularly because it hasn’t disrupted financial markets.

“While things are still very uncertain, we do not anticipate a major macroeconomic or financial market impact at this stage,” Jennifer McKeown, chief global economist at Capital Economics, said in a written comment. “It is encouraging from an economic standpoint that there has been little financial disturbance so far.”

The firm estimated in late 2022 that even a cyberattack that lasted several days would only shave global economic growth by about 0.2%.

“Given that this is not a cyberattack and has not affected all software by any stretch, the implications should be significantly smaller,” McKeown said.

Cybersecurity analyst calls outage historic mistake by CrowdStrike

Richard Stiennon, a cybersecurity industry analyst, said that this was a historic mistake by CrowdStrike.

“This is easily the worst faux pas, technical faux pas or glitch of any security software provider ever,” said Stiennon, who has tracked the cybersecurity industry for 24 years.

He said while the problem is an easy technical fix, it’s impact could be long lasting.

“It’s really, really difficult to touch millions of machines. And people are on vacation right now, so, you know, the CEO will be coming back from his trip to the Bahamas in a couple of weeks and he won’t be able to use his computers.”

A county in Michigan closes nonessential operations for the day

In Michigan, Genesee County, which includes Flint, closed nonessential county government operations for the day.


Panama airline advises passengers to arrive to airport 3 hours ahead of time

In Panama, Copa Airlines was recommending that travelers arrive to the capital’s Tocumen International Airport at least three hours before their scheduled flights because some procedures were being carried out manually, delaying check-in.

The airline, however, said that it didn’t expect cancellations.


South African airports unaffected by global outage

The company that runs South Africa’s airports, which include some of the busiest on the African continent, says they have been unaffected by the global network outage.

Airports Company South Africa says it doesn’t use CrowdStrike services and operations are running as normal.


Some US TV stations couldn’t air local news

The global outage has prevented several TV stations in the U.S. from airing local news early Friday.

KSHB-TV in Kansas City, Missouri, aired national news network Scripps News instead of local news until about 5:35 a.m., the stations said on its website. IT teams and engineers worked through the night to resolve the glitch, the station said.

Other local stations owned by Scripps and other companies reported similar problems.

Scripps spokesman Michael Perry said in an email that as of 8 a.m. EDT, 90% of stations were able to air local news.


Universal Studios Japan says ticket sales are affected

Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, western Japan, has said that the global system outage will continue to affect ticket sales at the attraction over the weekend.

The park said its ticket booth sales will not be available Saturday and Sunday, and asked visitors to purchase their tickets on its official website or via a designated ticket sales site.

Park attractions are not affected.


Microsoft confirms Crowdstrike update was responsible for issues

Microsoft spokesperson Frank X. Shaw has confirmed that “a Crowdstrike update was responsible for bringing down a number of Windows systems globally.”

“We are actively supporting customers to assist in their recovery,” he said in an emailed statement Friday.

President Biden’s team is in touch with Crowdstrike

President Joe Biden has been briefed on the CrowdStrike outage and his team has been in touch with CrowdStrike and impacted entities, according to the White House.

Biden is getting continued updates throughout the day and the administration is “standing by to provide assistance as needed,” the White House said.

Japan’s Jetstar cancels mostly domestic flights

At the Narita International Airport near Tokyo, passengers of low-cost carrier Jetstar Japan formed long lines waiting at the airline’s departure counter, where boarding had to be processed manually due to a system failure.

Jetstar Japan said it has canceled 28 flights, most of them domestic, due to a software problem that stalled the airline’s boarding procedures at airports across the country including Narita.

The airline apologized for the inconveniences and said it was doing utmost to restore the system as soon as possible.

Border crossings and healthcare affected in Canada

In Canada, the tech outage grounded some flights, disrupted hospitals and backed up border crossings on Friday.

Porter Airlines said it is cancelling its flights until 12 p.m. ET due to the outage. Air Canada, Canada’s largest airline, said there is no major impact to its operations.

University Health Network, one of Canada’s largest hospital networks, said some of its systems had been impacted and some patients may experience delays.

Windsor Police reported long delays at both the Canada-United States border crossings at the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor tunnel.


What is Crowdstrike?

Crowdstrike, the cybersecurity company at the heart of the global outage, was founded in 2012 by George Kurtz, Dmitri Alerovitch and Gregg Marston, according to its website. It says it is the most advanced cloud-based security technology provider.

Kurtz, its CEO, said in a note on the site that “Our team of visionaries are the rebels who believe the current state of security is fundamentally broken and want to do something about it.”

CrowdStrike listed on the Nasdaq exchange five years ago. It reported last month that its revenue rose 33% in the last quarter from the previous quarter and that logged a net profit of $42.8 million, up from $491,000 in the first quarter of this year.

The company has a partnership with Amazon Web Services and its Falcon for Defender is designed to supplement Microsoft Defender to prevent attacks.

The firm said Friday’s global disruptions occurred when it deployed a faulty update to computers running Microsoft Windows. The issue was not a security incident or cyberattack, and a fix was on the way, it said.

henrico247:
Like no husband, no child. Chaiii, what a life? God bless your new age

To the One who wrote my script...
To the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords🙌✨️🙏🏻
To Jehovah Rohi...
I give you all the glory, honour, and adoration.
All of you and none of me each and every blessed day I am loaned .
Thank you, Jesus, for another year...
I am beyond grateful for all that you have blessed me with.
I am healthy, content, and filled with immense gratitude 🙏🏻

🎂🎊💃🏻✨️🥳❤️❤️

Christopher Musa, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) has pledged to end oil theft within three-month, in a decisive stance against the illicit activities plaguing the nation.

This was as the federal government has ordered the security agents to crackdown on oil theft, in a move aimed at curbing illicit oil activities in the Nigeria’s Niger Delta region.

This directive came amidst escalating concerns over the economic and environmental impacts of oil theft.

Nigeria’s security agencies declared an all-out war on oil theft, in a bid to stamp out the criminal activity that has long plagued the country’s oil sector.

The concerted effort involved the Armed Forces of Nigeria, the Nigerian Police Force, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, and other security agencies.

These bodies announced their unified stance against oil theft in the Niger Delta region, a critical area for Nigeria’s crude oil production.

The CDS conveyed the President Bola Tinubu’s directive following a high-level meeting with NNPC leadership and security agency heads.

“The President has given us a mandate to secure the entire South-South, enabling NNPC and others to boost oil production,” Musa stated.

He expressed confidence that tangible results would emerge within three months.

Musa emphasized the longstanding nature of the issues in the South-South and the urgent need to eradicate them.

He assured the public that the region would soon be free of vandalism and criminality, urging local communities to trust the government’s renewed efforts.

“Nigeria relies heavily on crude oil production and we need the communities to understand the importance of this mission. Everyone will be involved”, he noted.

Highlighting the importance of community cooperation, the CDS reiterated that the battle against oil theft isn’t solely the responsibility of security agencies.

“Pipeline vandalism affects everyone directly. We need to work together, and today’s meeting is about harmonizing our efforts based on the President’s directives”, he said.

Kayode Egbetokun, Inspector General of Police, echoed these sentiments, pledging visible progress in the coming days.

“We accept our challenges, but solving them requires collective effort from all agencies and citizens. Expect results soon,” he assured.

Mele Kyari, NNPC’s Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), underscored the significance of the security meeting, driven by the President’s urgent directive to the CDS.

Kyari highlighted the national crisis posed by oil theft and pipeline vandalism, stressing the need for a coordinated response involving the armed forces, police, and other security bodies.

Kyari expressed optimism, noting early signs of progress. “We are already seeing substantial value from our coordinated efforts, and we are confident a solution is in sight.

“This initiative marks a significant step towards restoring Nigeria’s oil production and economic stability, reflecting the government’s commitment to tackling one of the nation’s most pressing challenges”, he mentioned.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed the military to convert their vast lands into agricultural hubs to address food shortage and insecurity.

According to the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Defence, Hon. Babajimi Benson, Mr President has mandated the Armed Forces to put farming on the front burner to ensure that their vast expense of land across the country is cultivated for farming because of his belief that if there is food security, insecurity will go down.

This incredible move aims to:

- Utilize unused lands for food production and security.

- Ensure no land is left ungoverned across the country.

Benefits for 🇳🇬:

- Increase in food production and security.

- local economies will witness growth through agricultural development.

- ⁠Provision of job opportunities for indigenes of such areas.

In the manifesto of the President, he stated that his administration targets to increase the cultivated land in Nigeria from 35% of arable land to 65% in four years.

This directive is a game changer for Nigeria, ensuring more productivity of food and employment opportunities.
#BelieveInPBAT

FBI arrests, charges Nigerian tech entrepreneur Inegbedion for $1.5 million Internet fraud, money laundering

Banks used for the fraud include HSBC, Citi Bank, Synovus Bank, Navy Federal Credit Union Truist Bank, Associated Credit Union and Georgia’s Own Credit Union.

The Federal Bureau of Investigations has filed a 16-count criminal indictment against Kingsley Inegbedion and Efemena Igbe over Internet fraud and money-laundering allegations of $1.5 million.

According to the FBI in the indictment filed on May 14 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, Messrs Inegbedion and Igbe perpetrated romance scams and business email compromise posing as legit businesses to defraud innocent American citizens between April 2020 and May 2023.

Mr Inegbedion, a network engineer who ran training programmes for aspiring tech workers in Atlanta, was known previously to law enforcement, documents said.

Some of the banks include HSBC, Citi Bank, Synovus Bank, Navy Federal Credit Union Truist Bank, Associated Credit Union and Georgia’s Own Credit Union.

“The sham corporate entities did not have physical premises, earn legitimate income, or pay wages to employees,” the FBI said in the indictment.

They asked victims to wire money to these accounts which appeared legit and quickly distributed the fraudulent funds into other accounts within and outside the U.S. in an attempt to conceal the fraud.

In February 2021, $50,120 was withdrawn from Camtech’s Navy Federal account number ending with 4893. Another $60,000 was withdrawn in June 2021 from the same bank, but a different account number ended with 4854, registered under Kingtech Global Auto.

The FBI also found a purchase of $160,000 cashier’s cheque #4817 from Kingtech’s Truist account ending with 0619 in September 2022, among other fraudulent transactions

At other times, the duo conspired with unknown persons who directed victims through emails and other means to pay into the fraudulent accounts.

Mr Igbe already fled to Nigeria after security agents invited him for questioning before the indictment was filed leaving Mr Inegbedion to answer and defend the charges preferred by the FBI.

The FBI is seeking a restitution of funds and forfeiture of property obtained through the fraud scheme to the U.S. government.

“Upon conviction of the offences alleged in counts one through sixteen of this indictment, the defendants, Efemena Igbe and Kingsley Inegbedion, shall forfeit to the United States of America, pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, Section 982(a)(1), any property, real or personal, involved in such offence, and any property traceable to such property including, but not limited to, a money judgement, that is, a sum of money in United States currency representing the amount of property involved in the offence,” said the FBI statement.

Shortly after the grand jury returned the indictment, Mr Inegbedion was picked up and remanded in custody.

A large clinical trial in South Africa and Uganda has shown that a twice-yearly injection of a new pre-exposure prophylaxis drug gives young women total protection from HIV infection.

The trial tested whether the six-month injection of lenacapavir would provide better protection against HIV infection than two other drugs, both daily pills. All three medications are pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP) drugs.

Physician-scientist Linda-Gail Bekker, principal investigator for the South African part of the study, tells Nadine Dreyer what makes this breakthrough so significant and what to expect next.

Tell us about the trial and what it set out to achieve

The Purpose 1 trial with 5,000 participants took place at three sites in Uganda and 25 sites in South Africa to test the efficacy of lenacapavir and two other drugs.

Lenacapavir (Len LA) is a fusion capside inhibitor. It interferes with the HIV capsid, a protein shell that protects HIV's genetic material and enzymes needed for replication. It is administered just under the skin, once every six months.

The randomised controlled trial, sponsored by the drug developers Gilead Sciences, tested several things.

The first was whether a six-monthly injection of lenacapavir was safe and would provide better protection against HIV infection as PrEP for women between the ages of 16 and 25 years than Truvada F/TDF, a daily PrEP pill in wide use that has been available for more than a decade.

Secondly, the trial also tested whether Descovy F/TAF, a newer daily pill, was as effective as F/TDF. The newer F/TAF has superior pharmacokinetic properties to F/TDF. Pharmacokinetic refers to the movement of a drug into, through, and out of the body. F/TAF is a smaller pill and is in use among men and transgender women in high-income countries.

The trial had three arms. Young women were randomly assigned to one of the arms in a 2:2:1 ratio (Len LA: F/TAF oral: F/TDF oral) in a double blinded fashion. This means neither the participants nor the researchers knew which treatment participants were receiving until the clinical trial was over.

In eastern and southern Africa, young women are the population who bear the brunt of new HIV infections. They also find a daily PrEP regimen challenging to maintain, for a number of social and structural reasons.

During the randomised phase of the trial none of the 2,134 women who received lenacapavir contracted HIV. There was 100 percent efficiency.

By comparison, 16 of the 1,068 women (or 1.5%) who took Truvada (F/TDF) and 39 of 2,136 (1.8%) who received Descovy (F/TAF) contracted the HIV virus.

The results at a recent independent data safety monitoring board review led to the recommendation that the trial's "blinded" phase should be stopped and all participants should be offered a choice of PrEP.

This board is an independent committee of experts who are put in place at the start of a clinical trial. They see the unblinded data at stipulated times during the trial to monitor progress and safety. They ensure that a trial does not continue if there is harm or a clear benefit in one arm over others.

What is the significance of these trials?
This breakthrough gives great hope that we have a proven, highly effective
prevention tool to protect people from HIV.

There were 1.3 million new HIV infections globally in the past year. Although that's fewer than the 2 million infections seen in 2010, it is clear that at this rate we are not going to meet the HIV new infection target that UNAIDS set for 2025 (fewer than 500,000 globally) or potentially even the goal to end Aids by 2030.

PrEP is not the only prevention tool.

PrEP should be provided alongside HIV self-testing, access to condoms, screening and treatment for sexually transmitted infections and access to contraception for women of childbearing potential.

Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun (born 16 July 1990), who is known professionally as Wizkid, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter.

Born in the Ojuelegba suburb of Surulere, Lagos, Wizkid is a voice in the emerging Afrobeats movement. His music is a blend of Afrobeats, afropop, R&B, afrobeat, reggae, dancehall, and pop. He began recording music at the age of 11 and released a collaborative album with the Glorious Five, a group he and a couple of his church friends formed.

In 2009, Wizkid signed a record deal with Banky W's Empire Mates Entertainment (E.M.E). He rose to the limelight after releasing "Holla at Your Boy", the lead single from his debut studio album, Superstar (2011), which also spawned the singles "Tease Me/Bad Guys" and "Don't Dull".

Trump picks JD Vance of Ohio as his running mate

The former president named JD Vance, the senator of Ohio, to be his running mate and vice-president if he returns to the White House

Born James David Bowman in Middletown, Ohio in 1984, Vance comes from a white, working class family mostly of Scottish-Irish decent. He was raised by his maternal grandparents in the once-booming Appalachian coal country that is now one of the country's poorest areas.

Vance joined the Marines for four years and served in Iraq before going to Ohio State University, where he received degrees in political science and philosophy.

From there, he attended Yale Law School, and then wrote a successful memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, that some reviewers described as offering a window into a conservative white working class that is often overlooked.

In 2017, Vance moved back to Ohio from California, where he had been working in biotech, and set up his own venture capital operation with support from PayPal founder Peter Thiel, a sometime libertarian and rare Republican in Silicon Valley.

In early 2021, Thiel gave $10m (£8m) to a committee seeking to recruit Vance as a Senate candidate.

Once Vance joined the race, he abruptly changed his tone regarding Trump, apologising for previously calling him "reprehensible" and even repeating the president's false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election.

With an endorsement from Trump, he clinched the Senate seat and has since become an influential voice in Washington.

The Adamawa/Taraba Area Command of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has seized 85 200-litre drums of petrol being illegally conveyed to the Republic of Cameroon.

The command also seized 795 25-litre jerry cans of the same product found concealed on a bush path at the Sahuda section of the Nigeria-Cameroon border.

The Customs Area controller of the Adamawa/Taraba Area Command, Comptroller Garba Bashir who called a news briefing Friday at the area command headquarters of the NCS in Yola, disclosed that a Carina E with a hidden compartment loaded with petrol was intercepted along the Girei-Wuro Boki axis of Adamawa State.

According to him, the foregoing seizures were made from the 29th of last month to date.

He added that within the past six weeks in all, the Area Command has recorded 17 cases of seizure of various items with an aggregate duty value of N36.9 million.

The customs area controller explained that smuggling of petrol out of Nigeria thrives because of high demand in the neighbouring countries.

“In spite of the PMS subsidy repeal, smuggling from Nigeria into the neighbouring countries flourishes. This is due to strong fuel demand and steeper prices in adjacent countries such as Cameroon, Nigeria, and the Benin Republic,” he said.

He vowed however that his command has been strengthening its capabilities and carrying out operations to counter every move of smugglers, adding, “We will continue until we bring smuggling down completely.”

Flood overtakes GT Bank Lekki banking hall after heavy rain fall.

Kemi Badenoch has twice as much support among Conservative members to be the next party leader as the next candidate, new polling suggest.

A survey from the Party Members Project run out of Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and Sussex University, carried out by YouGov, asked 725 members for their views.

Once the "none" and "don't know" responses were removed, Ms Badenoch had the support of 31% of those questioned.

She was followed by Suella Braverman on 16% and Tom Tugendhat on 15%.

Reports have suggested support for Ms Braverman among Tory MPs is waning, while Ms Badenoch is said to have dressed down Rishi Sunak and his general election strategy in the first Conservative shadow cabinet meeting.

The full list of results is as follows:

• Kemi Badenoch: 31%;
• Suella Braverman: 16%;
• Tom Tugendat: 15%;
• Jeremy Hunt: 12%;
• James Cleverly: 10%;
• Robert Jenrick: 7%;
• Priti Patel: 6%;
• Victoria Atkins: 2%.

It is worth noting Jeremy Hunt has already ruled himself out of the race.

The exact rules for how the next party leader will be chosen are yet to be established - and it is not clear what role the membership will have.

However, with Bob Blackman becoming chair of the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs, the wheels are now in motion for the process to begin in earnest.