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Letâs read the news! đ€
In this weekâs issue
NNPC shares update on fuel scarcity
Abba Kiyari, other law enforcement in drug cartel circle
Nigeria finds new funding
Update on Nigeriaâs fuel problem
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says theyâre working on restocking petrol stations with fuel.
On Tuesday, the corporation released a statement saying they were committed to restoring petrol supply to business as usual by Wednesday.
They promised that all petrol stations would have âcleanâ petrol and the scarcity would be over by the end of the week.
They also admitted to halting the supply of fuel to control distribution and ensure the compromised petrol spread.
While we wait, the fire service reminds us not to store kegs of petrol in your homeâ petrol is highly flammable. Please be careful
Sidebar: Remember when President Buhari appointed himself as the petroleum minister because no one else was good enough? Lol.
Money matters
Nigeriaâs minister of transportation, Rotimi Amechi, says the Federal Executive Council (FEC) permitted him to spend approved $2.8 million on equipment for the Ibadan to Kano standard gauge and Port Harcourt to Maiduguri narrow gauge railway projects.
Amechi says the plan is to replace all the rolling stock equipment (trucks, trailers, tractors, forklifts, etc.) needed to maintain the railways.
Recall: Amechi shared concerns about project funding last month after the Chinese loan suppliers cut them off. It doesnât seem to be an issue anymore. New loan alert
On Wednesday, the European Union announced that they are launching a 7-year funding scheme for Nigeria.
In a press statement, the EU said it will give Nigeria 508 million euros between 2021 to 2024. And after a review, they will decide how to allocate the remaining period of 2025 to 2027.
The program, dubbed The Multiannual Indicative Programme (MIP), focuses on three broad priority areas: green and digital economy; governance, peace and migration and human development.
Loans for N-power beneficiaries
Nigeriaâs minister of humanitarian affairs, Sadiya Farouq, says the FG has created an exit plan for beneficiaries of the N-power scheme.
N-power: a program introduced in 2016, where unemployed graduates are trained and given temporary jobsâmainly in education, health, agriculture, construction for two yearsâ to make them âemployableâ. Beneficiaries get a stipend of N30,000.
The N-power beneficiaries complained that there is no real benefit as after they complete the program, they are just tossed back into the overcrowded unemployment market.
The Farouq says the ministry now has a solution: at the end of the program, those who complete it in each cohort will be given a loan (amount undisclosed) from the CBN to start a business. Theyâre still working out the kinks.
Drugs, police and brutality
Narcos: Nigeria
Hushpuppiâs âallegedâ police henchman Abba Kyari is also a drug dealer?
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arrested suspended Deputy Police Commissioner Abba Kyari wanted for aiding and abetting drug pushing.
NDLEA claims that they uncovered evidence revealing Mr Kyari as a member of a drug cartel that operates the Brazil-Ethiopia-Nigeria drug pipeline. More details here.
The drama continues.
Soon after, the Deputy Force Public Relations Officer (DFPRO), Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said they had uncovered drug smugglers within the NDLEA.
TW: Bullying, infant death and Insecurity
The Lagos state government has shut down Unic Vilos Montessori school after a teacher allegedly beat a two-year-old
Last week, a relative to the child said the teacher âbrutally floggedâ the little girl âbecause she could not recite the English alphabet.â
Days before, Emeka Nwogbo, a teacher at Arise and Shine Nursery and Primary School in Asaba, Delta state, beat a 19-month old child who later died at the hospital. The police have arrested Nwogbo.
Terrorism
Zamfara
Premium Times reports that residents of Mutumji communities in Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State have been paying a safety tax to terrorists who have tyrannised the area.
A traditional ruler said the terrorists asked the villagers to pay N40.7 million. They paid the last instalment of N9.7 million on the 4th of February
47 villagers have been paying. Those who chose not to pay relocated to Kebbi, Niger and other nearby states.
Multiple sources told Premium Times the leader of the bandits terrorising the area is Lawalli Damina, who they said leads criminal activities in Dansadau Emirate.
Premium Timesâ source said the terrorists periodically kidnap community residents and ask their families to pay a ransom for their safe return.
Abia
The Abia State Government confirmed that armed terrorists killed eight people and 51 cows at the new Cattle Market in Omuma-Uzo in the Ukwa West Local Government Area on Tuesday. The government is working on identifying the shooters.
France pulls out as Maliâs war support.
France and its allies announced that due to the coup in Mali, theyâre taking their anti-jihadist fight elsewhere.
Backstory: France, some EU nations and Canada promised to help West Africa in our fight against religious terrorism. Their troops have been working in Mali for some time, but on Thursday, they announced a âcoordinated withdrawalâ of their forces due to âmultiple obstructionsâ from Maliâs ruling military junta (Recall In August 2021, the Malian military seized power from Maliâs elected officials)
As the decade-long relationship ends, President Emmanuel Macron said Niger had agreed to host European forces fighting Islamist militants. He also said Franceâs Sabre special forces would remain posted in Burkina Faso.
Infrastructural mess
Electricity woes
Nigeriaâs federal government announced that we now have15 brand new power transformers delivered through the Apapa seaport in Lagos.
The World Bank-funded transformers will be distributed to various Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) projects.
The General Manager Public Affairs for TCN, Ndidi Mbah, said the new grids will make power more stable and ensure fewer power outage
In August 2021, the World Bank-sponsored 10 transformers. Acting MD of TCN Sule Abdulaziz says two were installed in Nasarawa and Gombe, and another two are currently being installed in Kano and Lagos.
Many Nigerians have been living with both fuel and electricity issues as the fuel scarcity and the recent power outage seem to have happened at the same time. NNPC is dealing with petrol, hopefully, thisâll solve the power problem.
Another building collapse
Three bodies have been recovered after a building under construction collapsed on Saturday in Yaba, Lagos
This is the second such incident in Lagos in three months with another one in November 2021 leading to the death of at least 40 people.
NEMA acting zonal coordinator Ibrahim Farinloye said that the building had been showing signs of imbalance days before, but people who called the buildersâ attention to it were dismissed
Ikoyi building collapse
Recall that the Lagos state government put together a panel to investigate and recommend adequate solutions. They came up with 28 recommendations, three of which are to demolish the rest of the building; persecute the developer of the collapsed property, Fourscore Heights Limited; ****and to compensate the victims of the collapse.
The government agreed to demolish the remaining, but they will not be compensating anybody. The argument is that no one has come out to claim they lost money due to the tragedy.
The commissioner for information and strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, says the government-assisted people who asked for funeral or transportation support, but the law does not support compensation for matters of this nature.
Other news
Efcc secrets forfeiture of 24 properties worth N10.9bn linked to a âmilitary officerâ (The Cable)