1.Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola says Lagos State has the capacity to combat any infectious disease, including the Ebola Virus Disease, should it rear its ugly head again.
The governor therefore told foreigners willing to visit or invest in the country that Lagos State, having successfully curbed the EVD was now safe and free from all infectious diseases.
2. Bidders interested in acquiring the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited NITEL through the process of guided liquidation have until Friday to submit their financial and technical proposals,
the Director-General, Bureau of Public Enterprises, Mr. Benjamin Dikki, has said.
3. At its weekly meeting yesterday in Abuja, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved three
foreign loans totalling $945 million (about N146.5 billion) aimed at improving irrigation, preventing flooding in Ibadan, Oyo State and providing water for Bauchi, Ekiti and Rivers states.
4.
The Nigerian and Chinese governments are putting finishing touches to a Memorandum of Understanding that will help in their fight against product counterfeiting. According to the Director of Enforcement, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Mr. Kingsley Ejiofor, both countries have been holding talks on the MOU, which is now at the signature stage.
5.The Nigerian
stock market has finally entered the bear zone after yesterday’s recorded negative Year-to-Date (YtD) return of 13 percent.
The stock market, which has been at the mercy of continuing sell-off by foreign and local investors, declined by 2.14 percent as evidenced in the decline of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All Share Index (ASI) and the market capitalisation.
6. The Independent National Electoral Commission says its gender policy, aimed at making the commission’s work more gender sensitive, would soon be made available to the public.
INEC Director of Publicity and Voter Education, Mr Oluwole Osaze-Uzi, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Thursday that the policy was in line with global best practice.
7.
Teachers in Osun have given the state government a 14-day ultimatum to pay their outstanding allowances, release running grants and provide instructional materials in schools. This was contained in a letter sent to Gov. Rauf Aregbesola by the state chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers. The union warned that failure by the government to meet the demands would lead to indefinite strike in primary and secondary schools.
8.
The Federal Government has said that through its Growth Enhancement Support (GES) scheme, it supported 18,580 fishermen and 14,800 fish farmers between 2013 and 2014 across the country. This was contained in a report of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, made available to the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Thursday.
9.The Federal Government has said the abysmal performance of the power sector is due to its large number of incapacitated workers.
It noted that prior to the privatisation of the sector, no engineer was employed for over 16 years, while its technical arms were manned by workers who were not equipped technologically to run the industry.
10. Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote thinks he can resolve the rice problem.
He plans to do this by investing in farmland and mechanising farming practices in a country where many farmers still depend on pre-industrial tilling techniques. Given his records of successes in other areas, this is a project to watch out for.
