Nigeria’s sensation Favour Ofili has taken a significant step toward her Olympic dream by qualifying for the women’s 200m final at Paris 2024. Ofili finished second in her heat with a season’s best of 22.05s, just behind Julien Alfred, who won the race with a time of 21.98s.

The 21-year-old athlete, who hails from Delta State, was determined to showcase her talents at the Games despite not being registered for the women’s 100m by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) and Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) officials.

With her qualification, Ofili becomes the first Nigerian woman to reach the 200m final in 28 years. The last time a Nigerian made it to the final in this event was in Atlanta 1996, when Mary Onyali won a bronze medal—a year before Ofili was even born.

In other news, wrestler Blessing Oborududu lost her semi-final match against Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan in the women’s freestyle 68kg category with a score of 3-1. The 35-year-old Nigerian had a challenging start to the Games, conceding two points in the first three minutes against Canada’s Linda Morais. However, she made a remarkable comeback, scoring six unanswered points to secure an 8-2 victory and advance to the competition’s penultimate round. Oborududu then defeated France’s Koumba Larroque 6-2 in a fiercely contested quarterfinal bout, overcoming an early deficit to secure her spot in the semi-finals.

Nigerian magnate and industrial powerhouse, Aliko Dangote, has stormed back to the pinnacle of Africa’s rich list, reclaiming his title as the continent’s wealthiest man on the Bloomberg billionaire index, mere days after ceding it to South African tycoon, Johann Rupert.

In a dramatic turn of fortunes, Bloomberg reports that Dangote’s immense wealth surged by a staggering $144 million in just 24 hours, bringing his total fortune to a colossal $13.7 billion as of Monday, August 5, 2024.

This phenomenal rise enabled Dangote to overthrow Rupert, who had briefly snatched the crown over the weekend.

Johann Rupert, who enjoyed a fleeting moment of glory, saw his net worth shrink by a whopping $334 million in the same 24-hour period, reducing his riches to $13.3 billion.

Tunde Ednut, others react as protesters hijack police tank, cruise around with it -VIDEO
This financial bloodbath has demoted Johann Rupert to the position of the 155th richest individual globally, marking a significant tumble from his short-lived reign.

Aliko Dangote’s triumphant return to supremacy has not only reestablished him as Africa’s undisputed financial juggernaut but also catapulted him up the global rankings, leapfrogging from 156th to 149th on Bloomberg’s index of the world’s wealthiest.

This meteoric rise means Dangote has surged ahead of seven influential billionaires, reasserting his dominance on the global stage.

For Johann Rupert, the fall is both swift and stinging, as he now finds himself edged out by his Nigerian rival, slipping to the 155th spot among the planet’s wealth elite.

The Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Mustapha, on Monday, said those flying Russian flags in Nigeria have committed a treasonable offence.

Mustapha while speaking with newsmen after an emergency security session with President Bola Tinubu at Aso Rock, vowed that the law would catch up with such people.

He warned those calling for a coup, adding that the military has accepted democracy and regime change would never be allowed.

Mustapha said, “We wanted to brief Mr President on the situation on ground and we know that since the riot has started all the security agencies you can see all of us together. Initially, when the riot started they said it was a peaceful one but we have realised that there are individuals that are willing to take advantage of it to cause mayhem. And we can see clearly what has happened since it has commenced. Criminals have taken over, a lot of looting taking place, stealing and all sorts happening.

“And besides, all of us have seen it where foreign flags have been flown within the sovereignty of Nigeria, and that is totally unacceptable. We are warning in clear terms and the President has also said we should convey this, that we will not accept anybody, any individual flying any foreign flag in Nigeria. That is treasonable offence, and it will be viewed and treated as such. So nobody shall allow himself to be used by any individual.

“Also the issue of coups, Nigeria is a sovereign nation, Nigeria is a democratic nation all security agencies are here to defend democracy and ensure that democracy continues to strive. We will not accept anyone pushing or taking any action, seemingly or for whatever reason to want to push for any change of government. Democracy is what we stand for democracy is what will continue to defend.

“For those of them flying flags and if you’ll see a lot of them are kids being pushed to do that. We’re following up with those ones are sponsoring them. Those are pushing them because you know, the flies were also made. We have identified those areas and we are going to take serious action against that.

“The President is clear on his instructions for us not to accept anyone that wants to disrupt the peace and tranquility of Nigeria. And we are all standing here together to show Nigerians that we’re working closely, we are working together with synergy to ensure that there’s still peace and tranquility in Nigeria that we have assured Mr. President.

“We’ve said that clearly that the military is going to step in when it is out of hand and you can see that for people supervising elements to push individuals to carry Russian flags in Nigeria, Nigeria sovereignty, that is crossing the red line and we will not accept that. And those ones who have done that will go in for the books and they want to be prosecuted.”

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that those benefiting from the lucrative business of fuel importation will make every effort to frustrate Dangote Petroleum Refinery.

Obasanjo described Dangote Refinery as something that should encourage both Nigerians and non-Nigerians.

He stated this in the wake of allegations by the President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, that some ‘mafias’ were making efforts to frustrate the $20bn refinery.

It was gathered on Monday that the multi-billion dollar refinery and other domestic refineries had yet to purchase crude oil in naira based on the directive of President Bola Tinubu to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

Speaking during an interview with Financial Times, Obasanjo opined that the cabals benefitting from oil importation do not want to let go of their source of living.

He said, “Aliko’s investment in a refinery, if it goes well, should encourage both Nigerians and non-Nigerians to invest in Nigeria.

“If those who are selling or supplying refined products for Nigeria feel that they will lose the lucrative opportunity, they will also make every effort to get him frustrated.”

Speaking further, the former nation’s leader disclosed that Nigeria made a deadly mistake by putting all its eggs in what he called one basket of oil, ignoring gas and agriculture.

“I believe we made a very, very deadly mistake. We put all our eggs in one basket of oil. We even ignored gas. We were flaring gas, which is a very important commodity

“We ignored agriculture, which should have been the centrepiece of our economic development,” he said.

He recalled how he persuaded Shell to run the country’s refineries but the International Oil Company refused, saying there was too much corruption in the sector.

“When I was President, I invited Shell and I said, look, come and take equity participation and run our refineries for us. They refused. They said our refineries have not been well maintained.

“We have brought amateurs rather than bringing professionals. They said there’s too much corruption with the way our refinery is run and maintained. And they didn’t want to get involved in such a mess,” he explained.

Amit Mehta, a United States (US) judge, has ruled that Google acted illegally to maintain monopoly on online searches and related advertising.

On Oct 20, 2020, the US department of justice filed a civil antitrust lawsuit to stop Google from unlawfully maintaining monopolies through anticompetitive and exclusionary practices in the search and search advertising markets and to remedy the competitive harms.

The department of justice alleged that Google is the monopoly gatekeeper to the internet for billions of users and countless advertisers worldwide.

It said for years, Google has accounted for almost 90 percent of all search queries in the US and has used anticompetitive tactics to maintain and extend its monopolies in search and search advertising.  

The department also alleged that Google’s anticompetitive practices have had harmful effects on competition and consumers.

In a blog post responding to the lawsuit, Kent Walker, Google’s chief legal officer, presented the company’s defence against the department’s allegations.

Walker said users choose Google willingly, not because they are compelled to or unable to find other options.

“Today’s lawsuit by the Department of Justice is deeply flawed,” Walker wrote.

“People use Google because they choose to, not because they’re forced to, or because they can’t find alternatives.

“This lawsuit would do nothing to help consumers. To the contrary, it would artificially prop up lower-quality search alternatives, raise phone prices, and make it harder for people to get the search services they want to use.”

According to BBC News, in his ruling on Monday, Mehta said Google paid billions to secure its position as the default search engine on smartphones and browsers.

“Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” Mehta said.

The ruling comes after a 10-week trial in Washington DC, in which prosecutors accused Google of spending billions of dollars annually to Apple, Samsung, Mozilla and others to be pre-installed as the default search engine across platforms.

The US said Google pays more than $10 billion a year for that privilege, securing its access to a steady stream of user data that helped maintain its hold on the market.

Prosecutors said doing so meant other companies did not have the opportunity or resources to meaningfully compete.

The judge concluded that being the default search engine is “extremely valuable real estate” for Google.

“Even if a new entrant were positioned from a quality standpoint to bid for the default when an agreement expires, such a firm could compete only if it were prepared to pay partners upwards of billions of dollars in revenue share,” the judge said.

While the judge has not decided on penalties for Google, the publication said the US government has asked for “structural relief” — which in theory, could mean the break-up of the company.

Also, Reuters reported Alphabet, the parent company of Google, plans to appeal against the ruling.

Another case against Google over its advertising technology is scheduled for trial in September.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has introduced the Utapate crude oil blend, a new crude oil grade, into the international market.

According to a statement on Monday by Femi Soneye, NNPC’s spokesperson, the Utapate crude oil blend commenced operations in July, as its first cargo headed for Spain.

The crude oil grade, Soneye said, is from an oil mining lease (OML) 13, fully operated by NNPC Exploration and Production Limited (NEPL), the company’s upstream subsidiary.

“Located offshore Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria, Utapate’s current crude oil production is at 28,000 barrels per day, with potentials to increase it to 50,000 barrels per day. Also, the sulphur content of the new crude is 0.0655%,” NNPC said.

“Spanish oil giant Repsol, won the tender for the initial cargo of 950,000 barrels of the new crude blend which is comparable to the much sought after Amenam crude.”

According to the statement, Gulf Transport and Trading, another leading crude oil dealer, have also secured the cargo’s tenders for August and September.

“During the Argus European Crude Conference in London last year, NNPC Ltd announced the launch of Nembe crude oil, produced by the NNPC/Aiteo operated Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29 Joint Venture (JV),” the NNPC spokesperson said.

“Similar to the Nembe crude oil grade, the Utapate crude oil blend has a low sulphur content and low carbon footprint due to flare gas elimination, fitting perfectly into the required spec of major buyers in Europe.”

Soneye said the remarkable achievement signifies the commitment of NNPC to increase Nigeria’s crude oil production and grow reserves through the development of new assets.

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) says it has disbursed July stipends to student loan applicants across six tertiary institutions.

In a statement on Monday, Ibom Uche, NELFUND’s director of finance and accounts, said a stipend of N20,000 has been paid to the students.

He said a total of 20,371 students across Bayero University Kano (BUK), Federal University, Dutsin-Ma (FUDMA), University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), University of Benin (UNIBEN), University of Ibadan (UI), and University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) were paid.

NELFUND had earlier stated that it had paid the tuition fees for the students in these six tertiary institutions.

Uche said the payment process for students from 55 additional tertiary institutions will soon commence.

“This initiative further underscores H.E. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s promised unwavering commitment to supporting Nigerian students by ensuring financial stability throughout their academic pursuit, the statement reads in part,” he said.

“It is anticipated that this will be concluded within the next two weeks as the fund is committed to ensuring that all eligible students receive their stipends promptly.

“NELFUND remains steadfast in its mission to support the educational aspirations of Nigerian students by providing financial assistance for studies at qualifying institutions and ensuring the timely disbursement of stipends for day-to-day expenses.

“It is noteworthy that the President only Sunday committed a further 50 billion Naira from recovered proceeds of crime.

“NELFUND appreciates the patience and cooperation of students and institutions as the organisation works assiduously to fulfil its previously made commitments to Nigerian students.”

Last week, NELFUND said it had disbursed over N2.5 billion in the student loan scheme.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has issued an order transferring regulatory oversight of the electricity market in Oyo to the state’s electricity regulatory commission.

In an order dated August 5 and signed by Sanusi Garba, its chairman, the NERC said the directive would take effect immediately.

According to the commission, the order is to commence the process of the transfer of regulatory oversight for the intrastate electricity market in the state from NERC to Oyo State Electricity Regulatory Commission (OSERC), in accordance with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFRN) and the Electricity of Act 2023 (amended).

“Ibadan Electricity Distribution PLC (“IBEDC”) is hereby directed to incorporate a subsidiary (“IBEDC SubCo”) under the Companies and Allied Matters Act for the assumption of responsibilities for intrastate supply and distribution of electricity in Oyo State fron IBEDC,” the order reads.

 

“IBEDC shall complete the incorporation of IBEDC SubCo within 60 days from the effective date of this Order and, IBEDC SubCo shall apply for and obtain a licence for the intrastate supply and distribution of electricity from OSERC.

“IBEDC shall identify the actual geographic boundaries of Oyo State and carve out its network in Oyo State as a standalone network with the installation of boundary meters at all border points where the network crosses from Oyo State into another state.” 

According to the order, as part of the transition process, IBEDC is mandated to create an asset register of all its power infrastructure located within Oyo state. 

The commission also said the DisCo would evaluate and apportion “contractual obligations and liabilities attributable to IBEDC’s operations of its subsidiary in Oyo State”.

IBEDC, according to NERC, would identify all the applicable trading points for energy offtake for the operations of IBEDC SubCo in Oyo. 

NERC asked IBEDC to “confirm the number of employees that are required to provide service to Oyo State as a standalone public utility and transfer the identified assets for operations in Oyo State, contractual obligations, liabilities and employees to IBEDC SubCo”. 

NERC said all transfers contained in the order would be completed by February 5, 2025.

On April 22, Enugu and Ekiti states received approval from NERC to regulate their electricity markets.

The regulator, on April 23, transferred oversight of the electricity market in Ondo to the state’s electricity regulatory bureau (OSERB).

On July 1, the commission transferred regulatory oversight of the power market in Imo to the state’s electricity regulatory commission (ISERC).

The Kaduna police command says its operatives have arrested 39 suspects with Russian and Chinese flags during Monday’s #EendBadGovernance protest in the state.

Mansir Hassan, the police spokesperson, said in a statement that those arrested included a tailor sewing the flags.

Hassan added that the suspects were seen displaying Russian and Chinese flags during the protest, adding that they also engaged in the vandalisation of private and public properties.

“Among the damaged properties were a Hilux vehicle belonging to Kaduna State Vigilante Service (KADVS), a Toyota Yaris owned by a journalist, and the Zaria offices of the Kaduna State Traffic Law Enforcement Agency (KASTLEA), which was set on fire,” the statement reads.

“The police, in collaboration with other security agencies, intervened to restore order.

“During the confrontation, the suspects became hostile and resorted to using stones, catapults, and other weapons. The police managed to calm the situation with the minimal use of tear gas.

“In total, 39 suspects were arrested at the scene, including a tailor who was sewing the foreign flags for the group.”

The police spokesperson said 38 Russian flags, one Chinese flag, two catapults with a bag of stones, and various vandalised items were recovered from the suspects.

He added that Audu Ali Dabigi, the commissioner of police in Kaduna, commended the operatives for their efforts and urged the residents to obey the 24-hour curfew.

He warned that violators will be arrested and prosecuted under the law while appealing to citizens to cooperate with the police and other security agencies during this critical period.

“The curfew is in place to protect lives and property and ensure the swift restoration of peace in Kaduna state,” Hassan quoted the commissioner as saying.

Christopher Musa, chief of defence staff (CDS), says it is a treasonable offence for #EndBadGovernance protesters to fly foreign flags in the country.

Musa spoke shortly after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the State House in Abuja on Monday.

The trend was first observed in Kano on the first day of the protest.

Protesters waved Russian flags, calling on President Vladimir Putin to intervene in the country.

On Sunday, a faction of protesters arrived in Jos, the Plateau capital, with Russian and Japanese flags, forcing local protest organisers to conclude the march early.

The latest batch of flags were seen on Monday in Kaduna, Kano, and Abuja.

Musa said people caught with the foreign flags will be tried for treason.

“A lot of us have seen it where foreign flags have been flown within the sovereignty of Nigeria, and that is totally unacceptable,” the army chief said on Monday after a briefing with President Bola Tinubu.

“We are warning in clear terms, and the president has also said we should convey this: that we will not accept anybody, any individual flying any foreign flag in Nigeria.

“That is a treasonable offense, and it will be viewed and treated as such. So, nobody shall allow himself to be used by any individual.”

In neighbouring Sahelian countries, citizens waved Russian flags and marched on the streets in anti-government protests, triggering a coup.

Musa dismissed the fears, reiterating that security agencies would defend democracy.

“We will not accept anyone pushing or taking any action, seemingly or for whatever reason to want to push for any change of government,” he said.

“Democracy is what we stand for; democracy is what we will continue to defend.

“For those of them flying flags, and if you see, a lot of them are kids being pushed to do that. We’re following up with those ones that are sponsoring them.

“Those that are pushing them because, you know, the flies were also made. We have identified those areas, and we are going to take serious action against them.

“The president is clear on his instructions for us not to accept anyone that wants to disrupt the peace and tranquility of Nigeria.

“And we are all standing here together to show Nigerians that we’re working closely; we are working together with synergy to ensure that there’s still peace and tranquility in Nigeria, we have assured Mr. President.”

Much of the protests have been characterised by vandalisation, looting, and deaths.

Musa had warned that the military would step in if the situation escalated.