Author: Citynews

The federal government is considering shifting the January 18th resumption date for schools over rising COVID cases. In December, the presidential task force on COVID-19 had asked schools in the country to remain closed until January 18, 2021. But at a briefing on Monday, Adamu Adamu, minister of education, said there are concerns about the scheduled date. “It (January 18th date of school reopening) is not sacrosanct. When we decided on that date it was just a target towards what we were working on,” he said. “Of course, we are keeping it in view and looking at what is happening…

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has created 35 additional Tax Audit Units across the country to address illicit financial flow. Mr Abdullahi Ahmad, Director, Communications and Liaison Department of the service, made this known in a statement in Abuja on Monday. Ahmed explained that the decision was in a bid to stem illicit financial flow and improve tax compliance rate in the country. The director quoted the Executive Chairman, FIRS, Mr. Muhammad Nami, as saying this at a workshop in Abuja on Monday on Effective Audit of Multinational Corporations for Domestic Revenue Mobilisation in Nigeria. Nami observed that some…

Nigeria’s leading financial institution, Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, has highlighted its array of solutions to support businesses in the country to make the most of 2021. The solutions on offer are geared towards providing access to flexible funding for small, medium and large-scale enterprises thereby addressing inadequate access to capital, exposure to international markets and inherent challenges plaguing local and international trade. The solutions also allow organisations to take advantage of joint partnerships without the risk of losing capital and benefit from medium to long term investment solutions that help businesses in maximising their resources. Commenting on the offerings, Wole…

First Bank of Nigeria Limited says it has launched a virtual payment card, a naira-denominated debit card and digital representation of the plastic debit card. A statement from the bank on Sunday, titled ‘FirstBank begins the year with an innovative, convenient virtual payment card’, said the card was designed to be linked to either a customer’s operative account or wallet account. It said, “The FirstBank virtual payment card is a suitable alternative to the use of cash and cheques, with its wide-range features, which include the ability of cardholders to protect his/her card using the block and unblock capabilities; PIN…

The Oil Palm Growers Association of Nigeria (OPGAN) says the oil palm industry deserves more attention for increased productivity. The National President of the association, Mr Joe Onyiuke, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja. Onyiuke said that equipping farmers with the necessary tools and knowledge was critical in boosting the production of the commodity in the country. While commending the Federal Government for its support to the industry, he condemned the continued illegal importation of palm oil into the country. Onyiuke, who blamed the poor production of oil palm on…

Ogun State Government has detected and ordered an immediate destruction of an unlawful flyover bridge undergoing construction across Oluwa River, a boundary between Omo forest, Area J4 in Ijebu East and Ondo State. The Commissioner for Forestry, Hon. Tunji Akinosi, who led a monitoring team to Laagan Village, where the unauthorised construction of about 50 meters long bridge was located, commanded the settlers to pull it down within two weeks before the next monitoring exercise that would come up on the 21, this month. Akinosi said aims and objectives behind the heinous act, was for easy transportation of the State’s…

LAGOS – The stage is set for the first ever Kwara State Marathon, billed for Sat­urday, January 23, 2021. According to the Vice Chairman of the Organ­ising Committee for the Marathon, Mallam Bello Mubaraq, the race is the first in the North Central and was initiated to en­gage youth positively. He also said that it was introduced to discover new talents in long dis­tance race, encourage the youth to develop a career in sporting activities and curb restiveness to guar­antee development in the state. Mallam Mubaraq, who stressed that the 18 Kilometers Marathon is purely a private partner­ship programme, added that…

Ikoyi Club based category-1 amateur golfer, Ajayi Tajudeen has emerge winner of the 59th edition of the FirstBank sponsored Lagos Open Golf Championship. Ajayi closed with 1-under par 70 for a total of 7-over the course par to win the Championship by two-shots after 56-holes. Happy at the recently held golf tourney, Ajayi adduced his success to hard work, saying “I practiced a lot”. “There is no short cut to success which is why I take the sport very seriously. I was well prepared for this tournament because I practiced a lot”, he said in a chat with newsmen shortly after…

The governors of Nigeria’s 36 states have agreed to take the COVID-19 vaccine on live television to help drive acceptance among the populace.The Chairman of the Nigeria’s Governors’ Forum, Dr Kayode Fayemi, made this known on Friday in Abuja when he fielded questions from State House Correspondents at the end of a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.“We too will like to demonstrate to our citizens that we believe that vaccines will work. “The Governors’ Forum managed the polio vaccines administration in the country and we have garnered a lot of experience. “We have worked with the Primary Healthcare Development…

An epidemiologist and director center for infectious disease research Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital Kano, Professor Isah Abubakar says human and environmental factors in addition to the new varient of the covid19 are responsible for the spike of coronavirus pandemic during the second wave of the deadly disease. Professor Abubakar told ait.live that his center runs nearly 200 tests per day from samples received from the kano state tasks force on covid19, hospitals and individuals. Between 20th december 2020 and 7th january 2021,kano state recorded 356 new positive cases of covid19 out of 58979 samples tested. Even when community testing was…