Top Breaking News Today Friday 26th of June, 2020

1. HDMI implementation to attract N160bn investments – Babatunde Raji Fashola






The Federal Government, Thursday, disclosed that the implementation of first phase of the Highway Development and Management Initiative, HDMI, would attract N160 billion investments


Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, who made the disclosure while featuring at webinar convened by LBS in collaboration with ICRC in Abuja, said over about 46,694 direct jobs are expected to created under the scheme.

The webinar was convened at the instance of the Ministry of Works and Housing as part of the stakeholders’ consultation towards implementing a Highway Development and Management Initiative, HDMI.

Fashola said, “But our research and studies suggest that on this journey, the first phase of 10 routes of 2,225 km can elicit an investment of over N160 billion, approximating to about N16bn per route and unleash opportunities for prosperity.

“With this, we anticipate about 46,694 direct jobs spanning construction, Installation, fabrication, security, and waste management to mention a few. “

According to him, “President Muhammadu Buhari has left no one in doubt about his commitment to infrastructure, and the HDMI only seeks to give effect to the President’s commitment and the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).

“Let me express my delight in the fact that what will be presented to you today is totally home grown, developed within the Ministry, by our staff, young and old, and in collaboration with ICRC.

“This is a totally made in Nigeria initiative in conception and execution thus far; although it is already exciting and eliciting interest beyond the shores of Nigeria.

“In a nutshell, what the HDMI seeks to achieve is to bring multi-dimensional resources of skills, manpower, finance, technology and much more into the National Highway governance within Nigeria’s 35,000 km of federal highway.

“Currently, many of what we seek to harness already exists; Tow trucks, advertising, rest places like Ore and Umunede which remain legendary in the minds of frequent road users. So too weigh bridges, toll plazas, eateries, road repair and maintenance to mention but a few. “

The minister added that, “What this initiative seeks to achieve is to bring order, accountability and profitable entrepreneurship to the operation, management and maintenance of our federal highways.

“What we have done now is to identify 10 highways representing about 2,225 km and 6.4% of our 35,000km Federal Highway Network as a pilot first phase of the HDMI.

On each road, we see opportunities for: Erection of gantries and directional signage all of which our ministry has designed, standardized and coasted; Toll plazas (already designed and standardized); Weighbridges partly constructed, needing completion and a warehouse to operate it.

“Street lighting and advertising opportunities, Rest areas, sites already identified, concept designs developed with facilities for catering, lodging, fueling, car repairs, spare parts sales opportunities; Road repairs, maintenance, vegetation clearing and labour opportunities.

“Towing vehicle operation for recovery of broken-down vehicles; Lane marking with thermoplastic paints; Waste management Right of way management for telecommunication assets.

“Ambulance services with first Responders during emergencies. These are some of the possibilities we foresee as we intend to optimize the operations of what currently exists.”

He stressed further that, “We are currently also strengthening our internal processes to ensure that every highway is identifiable with one officer of our ministry under the Know Your Road and Own Your Networks, where the name of the officer will be published on our COHIMS software, which will be the updated real time database for the entire national road network.

“This is not an event, it is a vision of the tomorrow that we see, and this stakeholders’ consultation, like the one held last week with the Joint Committees of the Senate and House of Representatives on Works, are the first few steps on that journey.

“The indirect job opportunities and spin-offs remain a matter of excitable and mouth-watering expectation. Distinguished participants, since the consultation meeting with the National Assembly last week which was widely reported in the news, I have received several inquiries which is positive. I have also started receiving written proposals in the office, which is not the way to go.

“The way to go is for interested persons to form their consortium of construction/road maintenance companies, financiers, toll operators, rest house operators, advertising companies, lane marking experts, refuse managers and 5 other partners and begin to tour, visit or inspect the route that interest them.

“Very soon, in collaboration with ICRC, we will announce the bidding process in a transparent manner that allows the most effective bids to compete vigorously in a process that delivers service to Nigerians.

“This is the way to go now. Start preparing, so that you will be ready to compete when the process opens. We will not countenance any bid or proposal sent to us that does not conform with the rules prescribed by ICRC.”

2. Northern Governors mourn former Oyo Governor Abiola Ajimobi






Plateau State Governor and Chairman, Northern Governors Forum, Simon Lalong has expressed “deep shock” over the demise of former Governor of Oyo State, Abiola Ajimobi describing the decease as “a man of integrity who served Oyo State and Nigeria with excellence.”

Lalong in a condolence message on behalf of the Forum recalled the contributions of late Senator Ajimobi to the oil and gas industry in Nigeria during his career where he made significant impact on its growth and development.

The message issued in Jos by Lalong’s Director of Press and Public Affairs. Makut Macham notes, “The late Ajimobi was a man of integrity who served the people of Oyo State and Nigeria with excellence. The sterling leadership qualities of late Ajimobi and his role in the formation of the All Progressives Congress endeared him to many party members which led to his appointment as Deputy National Chairman, South.”

He consoled with the wife of the late Senator, Florence, children and entire family, asking them to take solace in his rich legacies and accept the sad development as the will of God.

3. Contractor apologizes to Governor Sanwo-Olu over sweepers’ protest






One of the former Lagos State Waste Management (LAWMA) Contractors, Mrs Ola Williams has apologized to the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu over the protests carried out by street sweepers at Marina Lagos last Sunday.

Williams who spoke from her sickbed in a hospital in Lagos, said she meant no evil with the protest, adding that her presence during the protest was majorly to persuade the protesters who were demanding for salary payment.

She added that she holds the National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu and other great leaders of the APC in high esteem.

“I want to plead with the governor to please forgive me over the last protest by the sweepers in Marina. He should please ignore those carrying false rumour about me. I will never desecrate the office of His Excellency, the governor of Lagos State. The rumour mongers are aiming at destabilizing our great party. Governor Sanwo- Olu is doing a good job in Lagos State and his achievements in just one year are a thing of joy to all of us that are praying for his success.

“ Our great leaders should also shun rumour going around that I am no more loyal to our great party. I don’t have any other party than APC and my joy is that our leaders are recording successes both at the states and at the national level.

“I will continue to pray for the progress of Lagos State. God Almighty will continue to guide Governor Sanwo-Olu in his determination to improve the lots of Lagosians. The Governor as a father should forgive me and the protesters and let’s unite in our resolve to ensure progress in the state”.

4. Drug Abuse Day: ‘Drugs can steal your future’ – Kwara State Government warns youths






The Kwara Government on Thursday warned youths against indulging in illicit drug use, saying “drug abuse can steal your future”.

Dr Raji Razaq, the state Commissioner for Health, gave the warning in Ilorin while receiving the state’s Drug Control Committee, which paid him an advocacy Visit.

The visit was part of the 2020 sensitisation activities to mark the United Nations’s International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Drug Trafficking.

The International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, also known as ‘World Drug Day’, is celebrated annually on June 26, and the theme for 2020 is: “Better Knowledge for Better Care”.

Razaq said: “Drug abuse is a menace that can steal the future of our generation, therefore we have to join hands to discourage drug abuse and abusers.

“The sales and consumption of drugs in our community must be prevented to save innocent people from being introduced to it.”

The commissioner who decried the indulgence of youths in drugs and the rate of menace of drug abuse in the community, said that this year’s theme aims at improving the understanding of the world drug problem.

According to him, it is also aimed at fostering greater international cooperation for countering the impact of drugs on health, governance and security.

He commended the wife of Kwara governor, Mrs Folake AbdulRazaq, for her huge support and donations to curbing drug abuse in the state and also her support to the state Drug Control Committee’s activities.

Razaq also commended Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq over his effort to strengthen the healthcare sector in the state.

The commissioner encouraged the committee to be relentless in their efforts to stem drug abuse, especially among the youths, adding that the overall interest of the society and the family was paramount.

Earlier, Mrs Barakat Olarewaju, the Chairperson of Kwara State Drug Control Committee, pledged the committee’s commitment to stemming drug abuse by youths in the state.

Olarewaju, who is also the Director, Pharmaceutical Services, at the state Ministry of Health, commended the state government and all stakeholders in the fight against drug abuse.

Also speaking, Mr Friday Oluwi, the Secretary of the committee and the representative of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), commended the state government for the commitment shown toward sensitising youths on the dangers of drug abuse.

He also commended the government on the necessary actions being taken to stop availability of illicit drugs in the state.





5. We’re under pressure to reopen schools —Nigerian Govt




The Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, said Thursday the Federal Government was under pressure to authorise the reopening of schools across the country.


He, however, said the government would resist the pressure to reopen schools in the face of rising COVID-19 infections in the country.

Nwajiuba, who disclosed this during the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 daily briefing in Abuja, admitted that the ministry was under intense pressure to reopen schools across the country.

He, however, added that the ministry would not succumb to such pressure until the COVID-19 infection curve begins to flatten.

The federal government had in March ordered the closure of schools nationwide following the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country.

6. PTF: Nigeria will return to lockdown if I have power




Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 Boss Mustapha on Thursday said he would return Nigeria to lockdown if he had the powers to do so.

Mustapha said that although a return to lockdown might not be popular, it was the right thing to do considering the attitude of some Nigerians to the virus.

The PTF is expected to submit its assessment of the first three months of waging war against coronavirus pandemic to President Muhammadu Buhari next week.

The Task Force had continued to lament the flagrant disregard for the protocols developed by the PTF to contain the spread of the virus.

Speaking during the briefing of the task force on Thursday, the SGF lamented some persons are “already romancing with Covid -19” in the manner of Tom and Jerry.

Latest figures from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control showed that Nigeria has 22, 020 confirmed cases of COVID -19 with 542 deaths from the deadly virus.




Mustapha said: “You want to hear the truth? If it were within my powers this is the time to lockdown. Lockdown might not be a popular thing but this is the time to lockdown because I can see the attitude of Tom and Jerry, we are already romancing with Covid -19 and it is not good.”

The SGF said Nigerians must continue to take responsibility to reduce community transmission of the virus.

He urged Nigerians to take the virus serious and continue to observe the guidelines developed by the task force.

Mustapha added: “I saw a real romance with Covid -19 today. Romance of people behaving as if the matter (virus) is over. It is a very serious issue and my appeal to Nigerians listening is that; let us take this thing (virus) serious.

By now, with 500 plus fatalities you can’t be ignorant, you can’t say you don’t know of any body that has fallen victim either by way of name or pictures but today they are no more.”

7. IBEDC to implement tariff review July 1




The Management of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) Plc, says as part of efforts to deliver excellent services to its esteemed customers, it will be implementing a tariff review beginning from July 1.

He said the new tariff design was based on quantity of power supplied as customers would only pay based on availability of supply.

“For example, the tariff design is based on the service delivery, such that those receiving 20 hours supply daily will pay more than those getting 10 hours,” he said.

According to him, with this tariff, the company amongst other things will be in a better position to roll out more meters, upgrade ageing infrastructure and be more responsive to the complaints of its customers.

8. Important Information As N-Power Portal Opens For 2020 Recruitment




The recruitment portal for the federal government social intervention scheme, N-Power is set to officially open on Friday, 26th June 2020.

As previously disclosed by the federal government, 400,000 candidates will be picked from the pool of applicants after successfully passing through all the screening processes.

All applications will be done online.

applicants are also advised to follow N-Power social media pages for authentic updates and information.

It wrote: “Dear 2020 N-Power Applicants, Very IMPORTANT information. 1. DO NOT input your details on any platform that we have NOT put up on our verified N-Power platform. 2. ALL intending applicants MUST follow N-Power on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for authentic updates and info.”.

The beneficiaries enjoy N30, 000 monthly stipend, and devices during the duration of their stay in the scheme in exchange for services offered including teaching, agric extension services, health, etc.

9. PTF coordinator: There are thousands of undetected COVID-19 cases in Nigeria




Sani Aliyu, the national coordinator, presidential task force (PTF) on COVID-19, says for every COVID-19 case, there are a handful of missing cases because the health authorities are unable to test everybody.

Aliyu, who disclosed this during the PTF briefing on Thursday, expressed concern that some Nigerians do not believe that COVID-19 is real.

He said such attitude will only fuel the spread of the virus, and called on people to take more precautions in order to contain the spread of the virus.

“Many countries in the world are fighting this pandemic. Over nine million people have tested positive, not suspicion, but tested positive for the disease and at least 22,000 of them are in Nigeria,” he said.

“There are thousands more in our country. For everyone case, there are a handful of cases that we are missing because we are not able to test everybody.

“The containment measures that were put in place to protect the public, are there to protect the public, they’re not there to swindle them.

“No sane country on earth will destroy its own economy willingly. No sane country on earth will take major decisions that they know would be detrimental to their economy.

“So we’re living in really challenging times and we couldn’t have taken these decisions just on the basis of maybe suspicion that a disease exists.

“This disease does exist. Whether we like it or not, it exists. If we want to survive it, we have to start believing in it.”

According to Aliyu, if people believed Ebola and Lassa fever without experiencing it first-hand, then there was no reason to doubt the existence of COVID-19 in the country.

“We do not need to know someone personally who has died from COVID-19 to believe it is real. In fact, I think it is a disservice and it is insensitive to those families that have lost loved ones for people to continue to claim that COVID-19 does not exist,” he said.

“Let us not wait for the virus to reach disastrous proportions before we begin to believe and act. We have already seen this happen in many other countries. We must learn from their experiences to mitigate preventable fatalities.”

The PTF coordinator also added that the relaxation of restrictions put in place to contain the spread of the infection does not mean that Nigeria is at a lower risk of catching the infection.

He, therefore, urged citizens to continue to adhere strictly to the COVID-19 safety protocols

10. FG on track with concessioning of 4 International airports




The Federal Government’s plan to concession four of the country’s international airports has received a boost as Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika receives the Outline Business Case Certificates of Compliance for the concession of Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano International Airports from the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, ICRC

Receiving the certificates from the Director-General of the Commission, Chidi Izuwah in Abuja, Sirika said the Ministry is set to approach the Federal Executive Council for the approval of the full business of concession to proceed towards turning the airport terminals to their full potentials in private hands as millions of dollars would be pumped into the airports .

The Minister commended the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission which through its mandate, has guided the Ministry throughout to ensure compliance and value for money, transparency, equity, and fairness and expressed satisfaction with the quality of work done by the Transaction Advisers that culminated into the release of the certificates by the ICRC.

11. Obaseki emerges official PDP candidate for Edo election




Governor Godwin Obaseki has emerged the official candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the September governorship election in Edo State.

He ran unopposed in the governorship primary which held in Benin on Thursday night.

Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi, who is the chairman of the Edo primary election committee, formally declared Obaseki the winner of the primary.

The primary was a walk in the park for Obaseki after two aspirants bowed out of the contest.

12. And Liverpool are Premier League champions at last




Whether the red half of Merseyside wants to admit it or not, the name ‘Chelsea’ will always be engraved in their history.

Of course we know about a certain ‘Slippy G’ moment in the 2013/2014 season, which surprisingly came against Chelsea. It was the last time Liverpool were just 90 minutes of football action away from breaking a Premier League curse. It didn’t happen.

But here we are. This is 2020. Again, Chelsea are the ultimate characters in the plot, with the victim this time being Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

Chelsea, once again the catalyst, sending Merseyside into an electric atmosphere with laughter and tears and cheers as Liverpool finally defied every odd to become Premier League champions.

It is a moment that will never be forgotten in Liverpool’s rich history. And one Jurgen Klopp will not forget as well.