The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Friday staged a peaceful protest, demanding the reversal of over 300 per cent increment in school fees at the Edo State-owned Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma.
Recall that the state government increased AAU fees to between 741,000 and N638,00 as against 185,000 and N216,000 being paid previously.
The protesting student also demanded the sack of the Special Intervention Team (SIT), set up by the state government to oversee the affairs of the institution, as well as the acting vice chancellor of the university, Prof Sonnie Adagbonyin.
Addressing journalists, NANS vice president, Intercampus Affairs, Comrade Vanessa Egheahie, said NANS would storm the institution if the state government failed to revert to the old fees, saying students from poor parents cannot afford to go to school with the new fees.
According to him, with the new fees, AAU has become the most expensive public university in Nigeria.
“Law students are expected to pay 741,000 as against 185,000 while medical science students are to pay 638,000 as against 216,000 for new students.
“We are angry because the Edo State Government and the AAU Special Intervention Team (SIT) have increased the school fees for AAU students by over 360 per cent,” he said.
He said the state government was making it impossible for poor people to go to school.
“It is not possible. Remember that Edo is 78 per cent civil service state. How can children of traders, civil servants and other low income earners pay this kind of school fees? The Edo State Government has told us that they have a low education policy and they don’t care if we end up on the street,” he said.
Also speaking, the secretary-general, NANS, Zone B, Comrade Isaac Ogieva, said when the fee was increased, they went to the school management and pleaded that they should consider the poor ones in school, who are the ones sponsoring their education.
The sum of N115bn was spent on the importation of arms and ammunition into the country in the first quarter of the year.
This was revealed in the National Bureau of Statistics report on trade statistics obtained by our correspondent.
The data for the report is from the Nigerian Customs Service through the Integrated Customs Information System, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, various companies in the upstream and downstream sectors of the oil industry, the Central Bank of Nigeria, Angila International Limited, Neroli Technologies Limited, Gojopal Nigeria Limited, Carmine Assayer Limited, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority and the Nigerian Ports Authority, among others.
The report covers importation between January and March 2023.
However, the report did not state which agency or security outfits brought the arms and ammunition into the country.
Findings by our correspondent showed that the amount spent on the importation of arms and ammunition was higher in 2023 compared with the last two years.
Within the same period in 2022, arms and ammunition worth N4.9bn were imported into the country while in 2021, the amount spent was N37bn.
A security expert, Chidi Omeje, said the increase in the amount spent on imported weapons reflected the scale of security challenges bedevilling the country.
He said, “The multiplicity of internal security challenges is responsible for the increased importation of weapons in 2023. You have terrorists in the North-East, bandits in the North-West and the North Central. You have a violent separatist agitation in the South-East; there are oil thefts and attacks on our maritime assets in the South-South and kidnapping and armed robbery in the South-West. All these require arms and ammunition; electoral violence could also form part of it.’’
He said the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria should be revamped to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign countries for arms and ammunition.
Omeje said, “The under-performance of DICON is responsible. The organisation was established the same period as its counterpart in India and other countries; but today, other countries are far ahead of ours. They are producing high calibre weapons but here we are, our DICON is still stuck with the production of furniture and what have you.
“You cannot rely on DICON for the production of these weapons needed by the security operatives to combat all manner of insecurity bedevilling the country. You have a country that is practically at war, you cannot wait for DICON. It is worrisome that we are still heavily dependent on foreign countries for all our weapons. The new government must make sure that DICON lives up to its responsibilities.”
Electricity Distribution Companies have stated that tariff will increase from July 1, 2023.
In statements sent to respective consumers on Sunday night, the DisCos stated that the review was due to the fluctuation of the maira in the exchange rate market.
This statements which were worded in similar fashion included that of Abuja DisCo, Eko DisCo and Ikeja Disco.
“Effective July 1st 2023, please be informed that there will be an upward review to the electricity tariff influenced by the fluctuating exchange rate.”
“Under the MYTO 2022 guidelines, the previously set exchange rate of N441/$1 may now be revised to approximately N750/$1 which will have an impact on the tariffs associated with your electricity consumption.”
“For customers within band B and C, with supply hours ranging from 12 to 16 per day, the new base tariff is expected to be N100 per kWh while Bands A with (20 hours and above) and B (16 to 20 hours) will experience comparatively higher tariffs.
“For customers, with a prepaid meter, we encourage you to consider purchasing bulk energy units before the end of this month as this will allow you take advantage of the current rates and potentially make savings before the new tariffs come into effect.
“For those on post-paid (estimated) billing, a significant increment is imminent in your monthly billing, starting from August,” read a statement from Abuja Electricity Distribution Company.
On its part, Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) said, “Dear Customers, electricity tariffs are set to go higher on July 1st due to the floating exchange rate. MYTO 2022 set the exchange rate at N441/$1, which may now be adjusted to about N750/$1. We may be looking at a base tariff of N100 per kWh for Band C (12 – 16 supply hours per day).
“Bands A (20 hours and above) & B (16 – 20 hours) will be much higher. If you have a prepaid meter, buying bulk energy units for your home or office before the end of the month may help you make some savings before you have to buy at the new rate.
“For those on post-paid (estimated) billing, a significant increment is imminent in your monthly billing, starting from August. Please take note. Electricity units are set to jump by 30-40% in just over a week. You are best advised to buy as many units as you can before July 1.”
While ??? ??????????? ???????????? ??????? (????) said, “Dear Customers, electricity tariffs are set to go higher on July 1st due to the floating exchange rate. MYTO 2022 set the exchange rate at N441/$1, which may now be adjusted to about N750/$1.
“We may be looking at a base tariff of N100 per kWh for Band C (12 – 16 supply hours per day). Bands A (20 hours and above) & B (16 – 20 hours) will be much higher.
“If you have a prepaid meter, buying bulk energy units for your home or office before the end of the month may help you make some savings before you have to buy at the new rate.
“For those on post-paid (estimated) billing, a significant increment is imminent in your monthly billing, starting from August.”
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, on Sunday, confirmed the arrest of two Ghanaians, Monday Saba and Hakeem Kwana, and 11 other suspects for drug-related offences in different parts of the country.
The agency’s Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, confirmed the development, said officials of the agency intercepted two imported consignments of a strong strain of cannabis known as loud, with a combined weight of 5,344.1 kilograms along the in the Lekki area of Lagos State.
He also revealed that based on credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives ambushed a white truck conveying 50 jumbo bags of the illicit substance weighing 2, 434.1kg along the Epe-Lekki Expressway in the early hours of Monday, June 19.
Babafemi said the driver jumped out of the vehicle and escaped in a security van escorting the truck conveying the drug exhibits, adding that the anti-narcotics officers demobilised the truck.
The NDLEA spokesman explained further that the following day, officers of the marine command of the agency, while acting on intelligence, intercepted a boat loaded with the same imported substance weighing 2,910kg around Alfa Beach upon arrival from Ghana.
Babafemi said, “Two Ghanaians, Monday Saba, 30, and Hakeem Kwana, 27, found with the consignments, were promptly arrested. In Niger State, two suspects, Abubakar Mohammed, 32, and Nuhu Sale, 43, were arrested on Sunday, June 18, along Abuja Expressway, Suleja, with 31 jumbo bags of skunk weighing 517kg, while 30-year-old Amina Alilu was arrested with 171kg of the substance on Wednesday, June 21, at Ogbogodo village, Dekina LGA, Kogi State.
“A suspected fake female security agent, Ogedegbe Dorcas, 34, was also nabbed at Ajegunle, in the Asa Dam Area of Ilorin, Kwara State, with 30kg of cannabis on Thursday, June 22, while in Oyo State, NDLEA operatives intercepted 42-year-old Segun Olajide with 49.2kg of same substance on Saturday, June 24, in Oyo town.
“Operatives in Edo State stormed Ekudo Forest, Uhunmwode LGA, where they destroyed a cannabis farm measuring 2.494863 hectares, recovered processed weeds weighing 67kg and arrested six suspects including Onyeka Onyedinma, Monday Onyedi, Alex Eboh, Edosa Imariagbe, Godbless Tunde and Godstime Osarobo in the early hours of Monday, June 19.”
The Sokoto State Police Command has launched an investigation into the killing of a butcher, Usman Buda, by extremist Muslims over an alleged blasphemous comment against an Islamic prophet.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the butcher made the comment during an argument with another trader around 8am on Sunday at the Sokoto Main Abattoir.
Angered by his comment, an angry mob descended on him, beat him till he became unconscious and fled the scene.
The police, who stormed the scene, in a bid to rescue the victim, rushed him to the Usmanu Danfodiyo Teaching Hospital Sokoto where he died during treatment.
Reacting to the development, the state Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Ahmad Rufa’i, said efforts were on to arrest the fleeing suspects.
He said, “A distress call was received around 09.20am that one Usman Buda of the Gwandu Local Government Area, a butcher at the Sokoto Abattoir, allegedly blasphemed the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW). As a result, he was mobbed and attacked.
“Upon receiving the information, the Commissioner of Police, Area Commander Metro and Divisional Police Officer, Kwanni, led a team of policemen and all other operational commanders to the scene.
“On arrival, the mob escaped the scene and left the victim unconscious where he was rescued and taken to the Usmanu Danfodiyo Teaching Hospital Sokoto for treatment and was later confirmed dead. Meanwhile, an investigation is on to arrest the perpetrators.”
No fewer than 50 people have been killed and over 170 houses burnt in renewed onslaught on residents of Izombe in Oguta, Imo State, in the last two weeks.
National President Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC), Igboayaka O Igboayaka, disclosed this at a press briefing in Owerri, the state capital, this weekend.
He said Izombe and other neighbouring communities such as Agwa, Ejemkwuru, Awa, Akabuo, Mgbele and Ogbaku have been recording incessant security challenges due to the nefarious activities of criminal elements with a code name ‘Umuoma’ (Good children)”
A video had gone viral where charred remains of bodies and houses allegedly burnt in Izombe communities were seen.
In the text of the briefing he jointly signed with the Secretary General, Ifeanyi Nweke, the national president expressed regret that both the state government and security agencies in the state “kept quiet” while innocent blood were being shed and property with millions of naira destroyed.
The statement said, “Ohanaeze Youth Council noticed, with utmost dismay, the debilitating inability of Gov. Hope Uzodinma’s administration to checkmate the activities of the bandits coupled with military personnel, police and Imo State owned untrained security network called “Ebube-Agu” which has resulted to more casualties and deaths.
“But rather than help to engender peace and tranquility, the security operatives and Ebube-Agu have turned hostile to the residents of the areas particularly, Izombe.
“Unfortunately, the situation has affected socio-economic and other activities as markets, schools and churches have been closed down in Izombe for almost 8 months now.
An indigene of Amakpurudere Izombe village said over 50 natives of his village were killed by these security operatives between June 7 and Monday June 19, 2023.
“Some of the identified people killed at Amakpurudere Village alone included Benjamin Nwadirigbo, Nwabu Onuigbo (aka Danvata), Obieze Ajaere, Izuka Izuaghanwa and Chike Izuaghanwa”
“Witnesses in the community narrated that others were equally killed in other villages of Izombe like Ndiawa, Ndioko, Orsu and Ugbele and Agwa, a neighbouring Community to Izombe.
“The combined team of police, untrained and illegal Ebube-Agu and the military had equally destroyed more than 170 buildings in various villages including over 45 houses in Amakpurudere Village alone”.
“To add more Injuries into the agony of Izumbe people, a community source reported that security forces like Ebube-Agu looted people’s property. Lo and behold more than 90% of the residents had fled to safety from their the community.
“Since Wednesday June 7, and Monday June 12, 2023, thousands of people fled from Izumbe that the careless security operatives killed Benjamin and four others.”
According to community report to Ohanaeze Youth Council, the houses burnt down in Amakpurudere Village alone belong to the following: Emmanuel Chukwudoruo, Romanus Obiagwu, Philip Okoronkwo, Ifeanyi Umezuruike, Canice Ogbonna, Herbert Nwoke, late Lucky Nwoke, Lambart Ekejiuba, Simeon Ekejiuba, Sabastine Okereke, Emeka Awaeze and Dominic Iwuanyanwu.
“Others whose houses were affected are: Benjamin Ohanyirim, Jerome Ohanyirim, Late Marcelinus Ogbonna, Lawrence Ogbonna, Calistus Ononiwu, Chief Alex Madubuko, Chief Oliver Ihejirika, Anthony Ihejirika, Alphonsius Ogbonna among others.
Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Henry Okoye, could not be reached for comments.
Power distribution companies failed to remit a total of N208.8bn to the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry in 2022, the Federal Government has said.
Figures obtained on Sunday from the latest Fourth Quarter 2022 Report of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, a Federal Government agency, as well as those from the First, Second and Third quarters showed that the Discos never made complete remittances all through the period.
There are about 11 power distribution companies in Nigeria responsible for distributing electricity to consumers in their respective franchise areas of operation. They include Abuja, Benin, Eko, Enugu, Ibadan, Ikeja, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, Port Harcourt, and Yola Discos.
The Discos were created in 2013 as part of Nigeria’s power sector reforms aimed at improving the efficiency and reliability of electricity supply across the country.
The firms collect electricity bills from consumers on behalf of power market. They make remittances to the power market through the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc and the Market Operator, an arm of the Federal Government-owned Transmission Company of Nigeria.
But figures obtained from the power sector regulator showed that the Discos did not remit N49.23bn, N31.3bn, N58.3bn and N69.94bn in the fourth, third, second and first quarters of 2022, respectively, making a total of N208.8bn.
Commenting on market remittance, in its fourth quarter report, the NERC said, “The combined invoices issued to the Discos in 2022/Q4 was N231.01bn consisting of: i) generation costs from the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading company: N188.74bn; ii) transmission and administrative services from the Market Operator: N42.27bn.”
“From this amount, the Discos collectively remitted a total sum of ₦181.78bn (₦145.91bn for NBET and ₦35.87bn for MO) with an outstanding balance of ₦49.23bn.”
The commission stated that poor remittance by the Discos was a direct consequence of the power firms recording higher than allowed Average Technical Commercial and Collection losses.
The NERC also stated that the combined invoices issued to the Discos in the third quarter of last year was ₦204.84bn, adding that this was split into generation costs from the NBET, ₦164.34bn; and transmission and administrative services from the MO, ₦40.50bn.
“Out of this amount, the Discos collectively remitted a total sum of ₦173.55bn (₦140.67bn for NBET and ₦32.88bn for MO) with an outstanding balance of ₦31.29bn.”
On the power market remittance in the second quarter, the NERC stated that the combined invoices from the NBET and MO to the Discos in Q2 2022 was N185.01bn, split into generation costs – N149.89bn, while transmission and administrative services was put at N35.12bn.
“Out of this amount, the Discos collectively remitted a total sum of N126.69bn (N102.35bn for NBET and N24.34bn for MO) with an outstanding balance of N58.32bn,” the report stated.
Similarly, data sourced by our correspondent from the Q1, 2022 report of the NERC on market remittance indicated that the combined invoices from NBET and MO to Discos in the first quarter of last year was N205.63bn, split into generation costs – N164.86bn; while transmission and administrative services was N40.77bn.
“Out of this amount, the Discos collectively remitted a total sum of N135.69bn (N109.96bn for NBET and N25.73bn for MO) with an outstanding balance of N69.94bn,” the commission stated.
Nigeria’s power sector is faced with liquidity crisis and one of the reasons for this is the poor remittances by power distribution companies to the electricity market since the privatisation of the industry in November 2013.
The President, Nigeria Consumer Protection Network, and coordinator, Power Sector Perspectives, Kunle Olubiyo, urged the new government led by President Bola Tinubu to take a holistic look at the power sector.
He told our correspondent in a recent interview that the privatisation of the successor distribution and generation companies of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria in November 2013, should be reviewed.
This, he said, was particularly due to the dysfunctional outputs of the power distributors since they were privatised, adding that the 10-year moratorium on power sector privatisation would end this year.
Olubiyo said, “When this moratorium expires by October, naturally it will be without litigation because they’ve given the privatised companies 10 years. And so if in between the lines we try to shift the goal post, then litigation can arise.
“If not for the activities of the banks that are now involved in the day-to-day running of some Discos, there is no way we would have been able push out this height of impunity in the sector. People make as much as N15bn in a month and they will still have a licence for zero remittance.
“As consumers, are we not paying our power bills? For the generation companies, don’t they pay for gas? And somebody will collect money on our behalf and will not remit. So this system of privatisation cannot work and has not worked since the sector was privatised 10 years ago.”
The Abuja-based power sector expert and former member of the Presidential Adhoc Committee on Review of Electricity Tariff in Nigeria, further called on the government ro pull out its 40 per cent stake in the Discos and break the 11 distribution companies’ franchises into smaller units so as to break the present market monopoly and promote the ideals of a competitive electricity market.
Four men were on Friday arraigned at the Yaba Magistrates’ Court for allegedly defrauding their employer, Think Finance Microfinance Bank of N150m in the FESTAC Town area of Lagos State.
The defendants include the company’s Head of Risk Management, Ojimi Ayodeji, the Loan Officer, Isaac Eddy, Joseph Setonji and Juwon Irinyemi, and were arraigned before Magistrate Patrick Nwaka on three counts of theft.
The prosecutor, Thomas Nurudeen told the court that the defendants employed by the firm were put in charge of giving loans to people for business purposes, but they conspired and used fake names to borrow money from the firm to the tune of N150m which they shared among themselves without interest and never paid back.
The defendants presented individuals and represented them with bank verification numbers, account names and passport photographs which were not real to borrow the money.
Nurudeen stated that the defendants committed the offences between 2019 and December 2022 at the Think Finance Microfinance bank located at FESTAC Town.
According to Nurudeen, the offences contravened and are punishable under Sections 314, 325 (1) and 287 (a) (b) (e) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
The charges read in part, “That you, Ojimi Ayodeji, head of risk management, Isaac Eddy, loan officer, Joseph Setonji, Juwon Irinyemi and others now at large, between the year 2019 and December 2022, at the Think Finance Microfinance Bank, FESTAC Town, Lagos, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did conspire among yourselves to commit felony to wit fraud and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 325 (1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
“That you, Ojimi Ayodeji, head of risk management, Isaac Eddy, loan officer, Joseph Setonji, Juwon Irinyemi, and others now at large, between 2019 and December 2022, at the Think Finance Microfinance Bank, FESTAC Town, Lagos, in the Lagos Magisterial District, fraudulently allocated loans of N150m to the individual representing them with BVN and account name and passport photographs which were not real, the representation which you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 314 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.”
The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The defence counsel, one barrister Ola, prayed the court to grant them bail in the most liberal terms.
Without opposition from the prosecution, Nwaka admitted them to bail in the sum of N2m each with four responsible sureties in like sum.
He said each surety would present a tax clearance receipt of three years that would be verifiable by the court and adjourned the case till August 16, 2023.
The National Coordinator of Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, Emmanuel Onwubiko, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to appoint the next Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission from the southern part of the country.
Onwubiko while addressing newsmen in Abuja, said appointing the next EFCC Chairman from the region would be sending a powerful message of unity and demonstrating commitment to fostering a harmonious and balanced Nigeria.
HURIWA’s call is coming after the suspension of Abdulrasheed Bawa on 14th June, 2023 by president Tinubu, while Abdulkarim Chukkol was asked to step in as Acting Chairman of the Commission.
Onwubiko’s words: “Nigeria is a diverse nation, with over 250 ethnic groups and a multitude of languages and cultures. It is imperative that our national institutions, such as the EFCC, reflect this diversity and promote a sense of inclusivity.
“We firmly believe that there are highly capable individuals from the South who possess these qualities and are more than qualified to take on the position of EFCC Chairman. It is essential to prioritize competence over regional considerations to ensure the effectiveness and credibility of the commission.
“The appointment of the next EFCC Chairman should be based on merit, competence, and relevant experience in the field of combating economic and financial crimes. The individual chosen should possess the necessary skills and expertise to lead the institution effectively.
“HURIWA strongly urges President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to seize the opportunity to promote equity and competence by appointing a candidate from the South as the next EFCC Chairman. This step will not only address regional imbalances and promote national unity but also enhance the effectiveness and credibility of the commission. By prioritizing merit-based appointments, we can foster a stronger, more inclusive Nigeria in the fight against corruption.”
Visa Restriction: Nigerian Students Carried 52,000 Dependants To UK In 2022 – British High Commissioner
Admin– Says UK Issued 325,000 Visas To Nigerians In One Year
British High Commissioner to Nigeria Richard Montgomery says the UK government’s new policy on the restriction of foreign student visas is aimed at managing the pressure on social services for scholars.
Montgomery, who said this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, explained that the policy was not aimed at discouraging Nigerian students studying in the UK.
According to him, at the moment in the UK, Nigerians desiring to study in the UK have 97 per cent visa approval rate.
He urged Nigerians to see the new visa regime in the UK in a bigger context, a thing which he said is “really a positive for Nigeria and the United Kingdom”.
“Three years ago, there were 20,000 Nigerian students in British higher education institutions, and last year, the number increased to 127,000.
“So, we had a five-fold increase in the number of students from Nigeria coming to UK universities.
“We are delighted that UK universities continue to attract the best and brightest from Nigeria.
“And in the wider context, last year, the UK granted three million new UK visas of various types including students and other visitors.
“Nigerians alone received 325,000 of those 3 million visas.
“So more than 10 per cent of the visas from the UK are to Nigerian citizens which is fantastic.
“It goes back to the fact that the UK and Nigeria have strong people-to-people links.
“The policy change is about people who are doing non-research degrees coming to the UK as undergraduates, or for a one-year master’s degree programme, and who decide to bring their dependents.
“We have had a very significant rise in the number of people coming from all around the world, not just from Nigeria.
“This has caused some strain on the UK.
“Sometimes it is difficult to find good accommodation as a student and there is real pressure on housing and social services for students.
“If you looked at it three years ago, only 1,500 dependants of students were coming to the UK from Nigeria, but now it was 52,000 last year.
“I am just trying to put it in proper context, that this is an adjustment.
“The words that are being used in the media to describe the situation are misrepresenting. We are making an adjustment that enables us to manage the demands on services in university towns and elsewhere.
“Nigerians are very successful in acquiring visas. We have a 97 per cent approval rate and so that is the big context,” Montgomery said.
He expressed the UK’s pride in its research institutes and higher education which, he said, were listed among the top hundred universities in the world.
The higher institutions, he said, are very open to students going to study in the UK.
He expressed the belief that Nigerians stand to gain massively from the international exposure and international networks offered by studying in the UK.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the UK Home Office in May announced that from Jan. 2024, undergraduate and master’s students would no longer be allowed to take their dependents along with them to the UK.
The restriction does not apply to students in research programmes.
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Vast crowds of robed pilgrims made solemn circles around the Kaaba, the black cube at Mecca’s Grand Mosque, on Sunday as the biggest hajj pilgrimage in years began in the heat of the Saudi summer.
Islam’s holiest site is expected to host more than two million worshippers from 160 countries during the annual rites that could break attendance records, with 1.6 million foreigners already arriving by Friday evening.
The hajj began early on Sunday with the “tawaf” – the circumambulation of the Kaaba, the large cubic structure draped in black cloth with gold trimmings that millions of Muslims pray towards every day.
“I am living the most beautiful days of my life,” said Abdel-Azim, a 65-year-old Egyptian as he performed the ritual.
“The dream has come true,” said the retiree, who saved up for 20 years to pay the $6,000 fee to take part.
The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and must be undertaken by all Muslims with the means at least once.
A series of rites are completed over four days in Mecca and its surroundings in the west of oil-rich Saudi Arabia.
On Sunday night, pilgrims will start moving to Mina, about five kilometres (three miles) from the Grand Mosque, ahead of the hajj’s climax at Mount Arafat, where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have delivered his final sermon.
‘Great blessing’
Outside the Grand Mosque, thousands prayed on colourful carpets that adorned the pavement, with male pilgrims wearing a simple white robe. The area was dotted with ambulances, mobile clinics and fire trucks.
The hajj poses a considerable security challenge and has seen several disasters over the years, including a 2015 stampede that killed up to 2,300 people.
There have been no major incidents since, and catastrophe was the last thing on pilgrims’ minds.
“I cannot describe my feelings,” said 25-year-old Indonesian student Yusuf Burhan.
“This is a great blessing. I never imagined that I would perform the hajj this year.”
This year’s summer timing for the hajj, which follows the lunar calendar, will test the endurance of worshippers during the mostly outdoor ritual.
Carrying white umbrellas to protect themselves from the scorching sun, policemen in the mountainous city have conducted foot patrols and set up checkpoints to inspect hajj permits.
Others splashed water on pilgrims as temperatures climbed towards 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit).
Inside the Grand Mosque, thousands of paramedics stood on standby. Saudi authorities said more than 32,000 health workers will be on hand to help fend off heatstroke, dehydration and exhaustion.
‘Not a single vacant bed’
The hajj, with its hefty fees, makes billions of dollars a year for the world’s biggest oil exporter, which is trying to diversify its economy beyond fossil fuels.
This year’s will be the biggest since 2019, when about 2.5 million people took part. Only 10,000 were allowed in 2020, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, rising to nearly 59,000 in 2021. Last year’s cap of one million has been removed.
Saudi businessman Samir Al-Zafni said all his hotels in Mecca and Madinah are at full capacity until the first week of July.
“This year there is not a single vacant bed in our group of 67 hotels,” he told AFP from his office.
The hajj also demonstrates social reforms in the deeply conservative country. This year’s pilgrimage will be the biggest since Saudi Arabia scrapped rules in 2021 that banned women who weren’t accompanied by a male relative.
Leaving the Grand Mosque after evening prayers on Friday, Ramot Ali from Niger struggled to describe the feeling of performing hajj for the first time.
“I am very happy,” she said.
Emefiele: ‘Two persons can’t answer the crimes’, probe Buhari, ex-ministers, others – Sani tells Tinubu
AdminFormer federal lawmaker, Senator Shehu Sani has asked President Bola Tinubu to courageously allow a full-scale probe of the “plunder” that occurred under the former President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
The former lawmaker demanded that the investigation should begin with former President Buhari, his ex-ministers, his service chiefs and the cabal wing of his Government.
Following Tinubu’s assumption of office, he removed Godwin Emefiele as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and Abdulrasheed Bawa as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Sani in a tweet on Sunday said redesigning the Naira is not the only economic Crime perpetrated under the Buhari administration and urged Tinubu to “courageously allow a full-scale investigation of the plunder that occurred under the Buhari administration, beginning with Buhari, his ex-ministers, his service chiefs and the cabal wing of his Government.”
“The President should not also shield former Governors who are now at liberty, even waiting for political appointment as entitled men. One or two persons in the cage can’t answer for the crime perpetrated by others in the last eight years. The current investigation can easily be stained as selective if the probe net is restricted.
“The simple question is; what about others who also contributed to ruining the economy? Or maybe some of us are just too impatient because of lack of knowledge of what is ahead.”
President Bola Tinubu says a naval officer once slapped him for overcharging him unintentionally when he was a taxi driver in the United States.
The president made this known as his shared stories of humble beginning in a biography published on the back page of a national daily.
The biography titled, ‘Tinubu: My life as gypsy cab driver in the US’, was authored by Nigeria’s seasoned journalist, Mike Awoyinfa.
According to Tinubu, in the story, he worked as an unlicensed taxi driver in Chicago, the US picking passengers from the airport to their destinations.
The president said the driving job was embarked on in order to sustain him financially before he went to school.
He narrated, “We got an unregistered used car commonly called Gypsy, which we ran as a taxi. We operated at the airport where we picked passengers, and not anywhere else, like the hotel because it was forbidden for unlicensed cab drivers to do so.
“We did that for a while to raise some money. Bolaji went to Tennessee, while I headed for Chicago.
“I was supposed to have started schooling in April. I deferred it till September in order to have more money. Immediately I got to Chicago, I went straight to Richard Daley College. It was very interesting.
“I was able to pay for my apartment and tuition fees at Chicago State University. I supplemented that by doing different menial jobs like door guard and security man.”
Speaking further about the incident, he said the naval officer he picked at the airport slapped him because he overcharged him, as his destination was nearby.
“As a cab driver, one experience I will never forget was when I over-charged a naval officer who was returning to the country. It was not intentional,” Tinubu said.
“Apparently, I didn’t know the direction. There was no GPRS in those days to locate directions. So, he gave me the direction to his house in a Virginia suburb.
“I gave him the price and the man responded with a slap to my face. He said I should know the correct price to charge to the location he mentioned. He slapped me and gave me the money.”
British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Richard Montgomery, has stated that the UK government’s new policy on the restriction of foreign student visas is aimed at managing the pressure on social services for scholars.
Montgomery, who said this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, explained that the policy was not targeted at discouraging Nigerian students studying in the UK.
According to him, at the moment in the UK, Nigerians desiring to study in the UK have a 97 per cent visa approval rate.
He urged Nigerians to see the new visa regime in the UK in a bigger context, a thing which he said is “really a positive for Nigeria and the United Kingdom”.
Montgomery said, “Three years ago, there were 20,000 Nigerian students in British higher education institutions, and last year, the number increased to 127,000. So, we had a five-fold increase in the number of students from Nigeria coming to UK universities.
“We are delighted that UK universities continue to attract the best and brightest from Nigeria. And in the wider context, last year, the UK granted three million new UK visas of various types including students and other visitors.
“Nigerians alone received 325,000 of those 3 million visas. So more than 10 per cent of the visas from the UK are to Nigerian citizens which is fantastic. It goes back to the fact that the UK and Nigeria have strong people-to-people links.
“The policy change is about people who are doing non-research degrees coming to the UK as undergraduates, or for a one-year master’s degree programme, and who decide to bring their dependents.
He continued, “We have had a very significant rise in the number of people coming from all around the world, not just from Nigeria. This has caused some strain on the UK. Sometimes it is difficult to find good accommodation as a student and there is real pressure on housing and social services for students.
“If you looked at it three years ago, only 1,500 dependants of students were coming to the UK from Nigeria, but now it was 52,000 last year.
I am just trying to put it in proper context, that this is an adjustment. The words that are being used in the media to describe the situation are misrepresenting. We are making an adjustment that enables us to manage the demands on services in university towns and elsewhere.
“Nigerians are very successful in acquiring visas. We have a 97 per cent approval rate and so that is the big context,” Montgomery said.
He expressed the UK’s pride in its research institutes and higher education which, he said, were listed among the top hundred universities in the world.