Fubara, Daniel, Bode George, Olubolade, Gani Adams, others for Freedom Online’s 6th Yearly Lecture Thursday - ITREALMS

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The Executive Governor of Rivers State, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, would this Thursday, deliver the 6th yearly lecture of Freedom Online newspaper in Lagos, reports ITREALMS.

A statement by the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of the online newspaper, Gabriel Akinadewo, informed ITREALMS that while Fubara is the Special Guest Speaker, former Governor of Ogun State and Chairman, Senate Committee on Navy, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, is the Keynote Speaker of the lecture with the theme: 'Nigeria’s Socio-Political Challenges: Whose Fault, Leaders or the Led?'

PAFON1.0: Payments Forum Nigeria holds Thursday - ITREALMS

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All is now set for the maiden edition of Payments Forum Nigeria (PAFON 1.0) to be held tomorrow, Thursday, March 21, 2024 at Oriental Hotel, Lekki, Lagos State, at 9am.

The Payments Forum Nigeria is a cross-industry platform focused on addressing issues that require broad cooperation and coordination across many constituents in the payments industry.

Finally, Prof Ben Nwabueze begins homeward journey Thursday - ITREALMS

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The Prof Ben Nwabueze National Burial Committee co-chaired by Chief Emeka Anyaoku, former Commonwealth Secretary-General, and Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, on Monday, announced activities for the burial of the foremost Constitutional Lawyer, reports ITREALMS.

Late Prof Nwabueze, was extraordinary scholar, teacher, lawyer, winner of the Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM), Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and one-time Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, who passed away on October 29, 2023 at the age of 92.

Osoba to preside Folu Olamiti's book launch on Thursday - ITREALMS

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Veteran journalist and consummate newsman, Sir Folu Olamiti, will, on Thursday, November 30, 2023, launch his new book at the University of Ibadan International Conference Centre by 11 am.

The launching of the book will be chaired by former Governor of Ogun State, His Excellency, Aremo Olusegun Osoba, himself a doyen of journalism in Nigeria. He will be supported by the former Managing Director of Daily Times of Nigeria Chief Tola Adeniyi who incidentally wrote the forward to the book. The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris Malagi, as standing in as the Special Guest of Honour.

Honours list: Danbatta, Kyari lead awardees @Ugbechie’s book presentation, Thursday - ITREALMS

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The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Mr Mele Kyari, the Group Managing Director of Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) are among Nigerians to be honoured with merit awards on Thursday, in Lagos.

The event is the public presentation of Nigeria Heroes and Sheroes: Diary of a Journalist of Courage, a book authored by Mr. Ken Ugbechie, Publisher of Political Economist NG.

Innovation fund by GSMA closes application, Thursday 19 - ITREALMS

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The Innovation Fund call for application by the Global System for Mobile Association (GSMA) is set to close by tomorrow, January 19, 2023, reports ITREALMS.

The fund which was opened on Thursday 24 November, 2022 was set up in anticipation to improve responses to humanitarian crises.

Final rites for late Mrs Bel-Molokwu begins Thursday - ITREALMS

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The final funeral rites for Mrs Regina Chinwe Bel-Molokwu, departed wife of a former Registrar of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) would commence, tomorrow, Thursday, 28 July with a Service of Songs at Saint Agnes Catholic Church, Maryland, Lagos at 6 pm.

Onitsha's Molokwu and Umunna families said their daughter, wife, mother and grandmother, Onyeomadiuko Mrs Regina Chniwe Bel-Molokwu died on Wednesday, 29 June 2022, at age 67.

Konga Mid-Year Shopping Festival to end Thursday - ITREALMS

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The maiden edition of the Konga Mid-Year Shopping Festival, a month-long mega discount sale, is set to witness an all-action finale this week as shoppers rush for last minute deals.

The promotion, which commenced on Wednesday, June 1 is set to come to a fitting climax on Thursday, June 30, 2022 – the final day of the shopping festival – after an exciting, rollercoaster month marked by price slashes, heavy discounts, unmatched deals and a rain of special offers and incentives from various arms of the Konga business.

Twitter accessible 12am Thursday says FG - ITREALMS

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Some seven months after the unceremonious ban of Twitter in Nigeria, the Federal Government has unbanned the microblogging site, with effect from 12am, Thursday, January 13, 2022, reports ITREALMS.

ITREALMS gathered was contained in a press statement by the Chairman, Technical Committee Nigeria-Twitter Engagement who doubles as the Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi in Abuja.

INEC lifts ban on electoral campaigns till Thursday - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has changed its mind by lifting the ban on electoral campaigns for the 2019 general elections, reports ITREALMS.

INEC on Monday after a prolonged meeting, said it reviewed earlier position and lifted the ban, following the postponement of the presidential elections last Saturday morning.

A press statement endorsed by National Commissioner Information and Voter Education, Mr. Festus Okoye, and made available to ITREALMS, INEC said campaigns should resume immediately and end by midnight on Thursday.

The statement read in part:

“The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) met on Monday 18th February 2019 and reviewed its preparations for the 2019 General Elections rc-scheduled for Saturday. 23rd February 2019 for the Presidential and National Assembly Elections and Saturday. 9th March 2019 for Governorship, State Assembly and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council Elections.

“It would be recalled that at the briefing held on Saturday. 16th February 2019 at the Abuja International Conference Centre (AICC). the Commission gave reasons for re-scheduling the polls and released a new Schedule of Activities leading up to the elections.

“The Commission has also worked out in detail. concrete steps to be taken to ensure that election materials arrive at the polling units in good time for prompt commencement of the polls on Saturday. 23rd February 2019. An update will be provided by the Commission at a press conference on Tuesday. 19th February at the Abuja International Conference Centre by 3pm.

“1n the meantime. after consultations with political parties. the Commission has approved that campaigns by parties and candidates can resume forthwith to end by midnight of Thursday, 21st February 2019.

“Media organisations are at liberty to accept, publish. broadcast and circulate campaign materials up till midnight of Thursday. 21st February 2019. Political Parties and their candidates are enjoined to abide by the extant laws governing campaigns.

“The Commission wishes to thank all Nigerians for their understanding regarding the rescheduling of the elections. We appeal to stakeholders to be dispassionate and circumspect in their comments. The Commission is focusing on the elections to be held on 23rd February and 9th March to ensure that they are free. fair and credible. We urge all Nigerians to participate fully in the elections. notwithstanding the disappointment." 

Uboshe Uboshe/Editor

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Lagos declares Thursday work free day, diverts traffic for PMB

ITREALMS:

The Lagos State Government has declared Thursday, March 29 as a work free day in the State and diverted traffic across the city, urging Lagosians to seek out alternative route, reports ITRealms.

According to the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan, who disclosed this in a press statement made available to ITRealms, said this would enable Lagosians come out enmasse to welcome President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) who is on a historic two-day visit to Lagos State.

He also urged residents to adhere to the security guidance earlier announced to make the visit as peaceful and orderly.

Meanwhile, on the traffic diversions and alternative routes ahead of a two-day visit by Buhari to the State between March 29 and 30, the State’s Commissioner of Police, CP Imohimi Edgal, said at the Lagos House in Alausa, Ikeja, that adequate preparations have been made to mitigate the impact of the road diversions on residents, while access would be given to any emergency situation.

Edgal, accompanied by heads of security and emergency agencies in the State, said while in Lagos, the President would commission the new Ikeja Bus Terminal, attend a colloquium in honour of national leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and as well as embark on tour of the Eko Atlantic City, among others.

“To ensure smooth, security-free visit of the President, we would need to do some diversions. Some certain roads will be closed at certain times; some diversions will be made but I want to use this opportunity to appeal for the support and understanding of Lagosians that this temporary road closures and diversions might cause a little inconvenience.

“We want the people to bear with us to ensure that we all join hands together to make the visit of Mr. President not only hitch-free but also very memorable. The road closures and diversions will be very temporary and immediately the President leaves a certain location, that area will be opened very quickly for the general public. We have also made adequate arrangements to mitigate the impact of the closures on residents,” Edgal said.

He listed the areas to be affected to include Bank Anthony Way in Ikeja, Agege Motor Road, a section of Eko Hotel Road in Victoria Island and Old Marina in Ikoyi axis.

Besides, Edgal said security arrangement was already in top gear and that people would see a lot of deployment of personal of both military and civil logistics adding that it is nothing to worry about.

“We have done the necessary threat assessments; we have reached out to all stakeholders in areas that we believe we should reach out to them to ensure their full cooperation. We are using this opportunity to call again on the Okada Unions and the National Union of Road Transport Workers that they must abide with the terms of agreement we reached during meetings with them regarding the visit.

“We will not want to see commercial motorcycles plying the prohibited routes of Agege Motor Road, Bank Anthony Way and anywhere on the Island. Should that order be disobeyed, we would be constrained to ensure that you are arrested with your motorcycles impounded. Whoever is also found as a passenger will also be arrested and prosecuted so do not patronize these Okadas on these prohibited routes not only for the purpose of the visit but also to ensure that Lagos State Laws on the regulation of commercial motorbikes are obeyed at all times,” Edgal said.  

Further, he said three locations have been designated for all first emergency responders to station their equipment and officials including the Police, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), LASAMBUS, Civil Defence, Fire Brigade, among others at Ikeja, Victoria Island and Free Trade Zone at Lekki-Akodo axis.

On the Apapa gridlock which has spilled over to other parts of the State, Edgal said while the Joint Task Force set up by the State Government was already working to ensure free-flow of traffic, the government nonetheless has commenced the construction of a new Trailer Park in Ijora axis that could conveniently accommodate 2,800 trucks and tanker at a time.

 As noted by the Chief Press Secretary to Gov. Ambode, Mr. Habib Aruna noted that the state in collaboration with stakeholders, have identified a location known as the White Sand in Ijora axis and an assessment of the place have been conducted leading to all shanties there to have been destroyed.

“Now, the State Government has given out the contract to a firm and they are now smoothening up the place. It has the capacity to take well over 2,800 trucks and tankers at the same time. Work is ongoing there at a very fast pace and I can assure Lagosians that very soon, the place will be completed and we intend to move all trucks, tankers to that location and as soon as that is done, we would have permanently take care of this trucks and tankers,” Edgal said. 

Ayo Midele/GEE

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FG extends Eid-il-Fitri holidays till Thursday

ITRealms:

The Federal Government has extended the Eid-il-Fitri holiday earlier declared for Tuesday 5th to Wednesday 6th and Thursday 7th July, 2016, ITRealms can authoritatively report.

This follows a directive by the President General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, the Sultan of Sokoto, giving non-sighting of moon.

To this effect, the Ramadan fast continues Tuesday as a result of the non-sighting of the moon.


A statement by Bassey Okon Akpanyung, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, and made available to ITRealms, showed that in making the declaration on behalf of the Federal Government, the Minister of Interior, Lt Gen. (Rtd) Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau, called for unity.

He also enjoined Nigerians to use this period of sober reflections to ensure harmony, unity and peaceful co-existence, whereas giving full support to the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in his sustained effort to pursue socio-economic and political growth of the nation.

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Microsoft’s intelligence vision debuts for Windows 10

ITRealms:

Microsoft Incorporate, Thursday, announced the debut of its intelligence vision for the Windows 10, reports ITRealms.

The Chief executive officer at Microsoft, Satya Nadella in the company of executive vice president of Windows and Devices Group, Terry Myerson, while disclosing this told thousands of developers about the work Microsoft Corporation is doing to aid the embrace of the new era of conversational intelligence and to create more personal computing for every customer, industry and business.

Nadella showcased improvements in Cortana and announced previews of new cloud services and toolkits designed to understand the world around us and create intelligent bots. Myerson announced the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, which will deliver significant new innovations for consumers and developers for the Universal Windows Platform.

“As an industry, we are on the cusp of a new frontier that pairs the power of natural human language with advanced machine intelligence,” said Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft. “At Microsoft, we call this Conversations as a Platform, and it builds on and extends the power of the Microsoft Azure, Office 365 and Windows platforms to empower developers everywhere.”

“With Windows 10 now running on over 270 million active devices, we’re celebrating with our fans by delivering the Windows 10 Anniversary Update. This significant update will help you interact with your Windows 10 devices as naturally as you interact with the world around you — using your pen, presence and voice,” Myerson said. “We are dedicated to making Windows the most productive development environment for all developers, with all-new capabilities for the Universal Windows Platform and all-new tools for bringing apps to Windows 10 from any platform.”

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Supreme Court stops CCT over Saraki

ITRealms:

The Supreme Court, Thursday, ordered the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) to suspend without delay the ongoing trial of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, ITRealms reports.

The trial next sitting was billed for next week. However the ruling by the Supreme Court has in a way restored sanity in the judiciary after the drama at the CCT last week in which counsels to Saraki had to stage a walkout from the Tribunal after the Chairman had insisted on going ahead with the case in spite of the pendency of the appeal by Saraki at the apex court, a move Saraki’s lawyers described as ‘judicial rascality’.

At the commencement of the hearing on the appeal brought before the Court, ITRealms gathered, counsel to the federal government through, Mr. Rotimi Jacob, SAN, gave an undertaken that the Tribunal will stay action on the trial of Saraki pending the determination of his appeal by the Supreme Court. Saraki is facing a 13-count charge before theTribunal bordering on corruption and false declaration of assets when he was Kwara State Governor between 2003 and 2011.

He however approached the Court of Appeal to challenge the jurisdiction of the tribunal to try him, arguing that it was not properly constituted. But in its ruling, two of the three-man panel of Justices of the Appellate Court threw away all the five issues raised by Saraki and ruled that the Tribunal has jurisdiction to precede with the trial.

ITRealms also recalls that not satisfied with the ruling of the Appeal Court, Saraki approached the Supreme Court, praying it to grant stay of execution of the Appellate Court’s ruling as well as determine whether the Tribunal has jurisdiction.

The implication of the Supreme Court ruling is that the Tribunal would stay off Saraki’s case before it pending the determination of the appeal of Saraki by the apex court.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

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Igbinedion leads ‘class of 99’ to honour Alamieyeseigha

ITRealms:

The former governor of Edo State, Chief Lucky Igbinedion and other past governors under the aegis of 'Class of '99' on Thursday condoled the government and people of Bayelsa State on the death of their former leader, Chief Diepreye S.P. Alamieyeseigha, ITRealms reports.

Igbinedion, who led the delegation, conveyed the condolences of the group, which comprises former governors who served the country from the inception of the present democratic dispensation in 1999.

Igbinedion expressed sadness over the passage of the Governor-General of the Ijaw nation, describing him as a fearless fighter who vehemently championed the struggle of true democracy and resource control in the country alongside other Niger Delta governors, which culminated in the emergence of a South-Southerner, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, as a President of Nigeria, ITRealms learnt.

He said, “This democracy we are enjoying today is as a result of the solid foundation that the Class of 99 laid. No matter what anybody says without a solid foundation no building can stand for this long. DSP Alamieyeseigha was in the forefront of that struggle for true democracy, true federalism and fiscal responsibility, and above all, the struggle for the Niger Delta”.

Specifically they commended Governor Henry Seriake Dickson for following the footsteps of Alamieyeseigha in strengthening the dominant position of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and sustaining the Niger Delta struggle in the state.

Other members of the delegation, ITRealms gathered, include ex-governors Achike Udenwa (Imo State), Boni Haruna (Adamawa) and Obong Victor Attah (Akwa Ibom).

Responding, Governor Dickson expressed appreciation to the delegation and all Nigerians for their show of love and concern over the sad incident, noting that the visit would further strengthen the government, the bereaved family and people of the state.

 
Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE 

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Pix: Chief Lucky Igbinedion

Buhari appoints Lawal SGF, five others, sidelines South East

ITRealms

The Nigerian President, General Muhammadu Buhari (Rted) Thursday, appointed Babachir David Lawal, from Adamawa State, as Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Abba Kyari, from Borno, as his Chief of Staff, reports ITRealms.

Other appointments include Hameed Ali, a retired colonel, as the Comptroller-General of Nigerian Customs Service, interestingly overlooking competent career customs official as not suitable enough for the post.

He also named Kure Martin Abeshi as the Comptroller-General of Nigerian Immigration Service, Messrs. Ali and Abeshi are from Kano and Nasarawa states respectively.

ITRealms gathered that a former Senator, Ita Enang, from Akwa Ibom was appointed senior special assistant to the president on Senate affairs, while Suleiman Kawu of Kano, who is a former House of Representatives member, was named the president’s senior special assistant on House of Representatives.

In all, the six officials brought to 29 the total number of key staffers who will man the economy from energy, defense to other important sectors of governance for an administration that is already 100-day old.

The appointments made by the president so far have been adjudged lopsided as no single person from the South East of Igbo extraction has been found worthy to be part of Buhari’s administration, reports
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John Momoh leads Osinbajo, Dickson, Alemika to NGE confab’15

ITRealms:

The veteran broadcaster and Chief Executive Officer of Channels Television, Mr John Momoh would as from Thursday, lead dignitaries including Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Governor Seriake Dickson and Prof. Etannibi Alemika among others to the 2015 annual national conference of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), reports ITRealms.

The All Nigeria Editors Conference (ANEC) 2015, under the chairmanship of Momoh, ITRealms gathered, would hold at the Banquet Hall, Government House, Yenagoa, with the theme, ‘Nigeria: The Change We Need and the Role of the Editor’ would take place  on August 27, 2015.

                                      

While Vice President Osinbajo has been invited as special guest, the state governor, Seriake Dickson would be the chief host, even as Prof. Alemika of University of Jos would give special lecture on the theme.

 

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Lagos helicopter crash: two missing passengers found dead

ITRealms

 

The two remaining persons in the helicopter crash which occurred on Wednesday in the Lagos lagoon were on Thursday found dead, ITRealms reports.

Out of a total of twelve passengers, six were rescued alive and four dead until Thursday, when the remaining two people were found dead by a combined team of National Emergency Management Agency, its Lagos State counterpart, marine police, naval officers and local divers.

The two bodies recovered from the crash site, ITRealms gathered, were identified as that of the pilot and co-pilot.

Twelve passengers were on board the Bristow Helicopter which was said to have taken off from South-South and billed to arrive in Lagos about 3.35 p.m but plunged into Lagos lagoon in Owonroshoki before its arrival time

The National Emergency Management Agency said the wreckage is yet to be recovered and cause of the accident will be made known as soon as the plane recorder is recovered and played just as the  chopper’s manifest is also still being expected.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

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Air Controllers strike may continue Friday, full strike expected Monday

ITRealms:

Despite the inconveniences the six hours strike by the Air Traffic Controllers at the nation’s airports caused Thursday, April 16, 2015, ITRealms reports that this may continue Friday.

Sources close the airport operations and a captain of one of the leading private airlines confided this to ITRealms midnight on Thursday, while a full blown strike expected on Monday, April 20, 2015.

According to our source, the Thursday exercise was a mild one as Friday’s own will be intense.

ITRealms recalls that the strike by Air Traffic Controllers paralyzed airport activities Thursday owing to unresolved operational welfare matters, which sources claimed have been communicated to the Federal Government but was not attended to due to the just concluded electioneering. 

As at Thursday evening when skeletal services commenced at the airports, most airlines were struggling to evacuate passengers who were stranded at the airports.

It was also gathered that airlines struggled to reschedule flights outside Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt for Friday morning, till early Friday morning, which left the airlines flying throughout all the night.

However, a statement by the National Association of Air Traffic Controllers (NATCA) Thursday, stated tat the strike was to draw the attention of the management of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), to epileptic air navigation equipment, as well as the failure to address welfare issues raised by the association last year.

NATCA also claimed that the warning strike, was a prelude to total industrial action scheduled to begin on Monday April 20, 2015.

Although, ITRealms further gathered that the management of NAMA has concluded plans to mitigate the effects by collaborating with the Nigerian Air Force officials and deploying them as interim traffic controllers at airports nationwide.

Unconfirmed sources told ITRealms that NAMA has commenced talks with NATCA, even as its Managing Director, Mr. Ibrahim Abdulsalam, was reportedly sighted at Abuja Thursday evening in effort to consult with relevant officials of Ministry of Aviation in order to resolve issues associated with claims of NATCA as soon as possible. 

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