The dollar index fell 0.3 per cent to its lowest level since mid-December, after Trump said he would “rather not” hit China with tariffs. He also said he knew rates “much better” than the Federal Reserve and would like to see them fall “a lot”. The euro, which has fallen sharply in recent months, jumped 0.6 per cent to $1.047, putting it on course for its largest weekly gain since November 2023. Sterling gained 0.5 per cent at $1.241, on course for its strongest week since August last year. “The main driver of the reversal of US dollar strength this…
Author: Alade Adisa
The 2023 governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Lagos State, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, has accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of fostering corruption in Lagos, emphasizing that it is time to remove the party from power. Rhodes-Vivour, who spoke in a post on his verified X (formerly Twitter) account, lamented that the level of corruption within the party reflects their utter disregard for the citizens of Lagos. His comments follow allegations that the Lagos State House of Assembly, under the leadership of the impeached former Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, spent N17 billion to construct a gate. Weeks ago, the…
President Bola Tinubu has appointed National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje as Chairman of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). This was disclosed in a statement released on Friday by Bayo Onanuga, the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy. In addition to Ganduje’s appointment, the President named chairpersons for 41 federal organizations, alongside new leadership roles, including a Managing Director for the Nigerian Railway Corporation and a Director-General for the National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI). President Tinubu disclosed that board chairpersons are non-executive roles and urged appointees to avoid interfering in the management…
The Federal Government has announced the addition of plumbing, makeup, hairstyling and 12 other new trades (new subjects) to the Basic Education curriculum. This was contained in a short statement issued on Thursday by the National Orientation Agency (NOA). According to NOA, the new trades were added to the Basic Education curriculum to boost students’ practical skills and employability. The statement noted that the new subjects will take effect from January 2025 for primary and junior secondary students across the country. The new subjects include plumbing; tiling and floor works; POP installation; event decoration and management; bakery and confectioneries; hairstyling;…
The Federal Government has approved N4 billion for conditional cash transfers to no fewer than 10 million vulnerable households in the country. The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Professor Nentawe Yilwada announced this on Thursday while speaking at the launch of the 2025 Nigeria Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) at the United Nations House in Abuja. According to him, the initiative aimed at addressing the nation’s growing humanitarian challenges. The minister said the programme will assist at least 10 million displaced households, focusing on the most vulnerable members of society. The cash transfers are scheduled to begin…
Government ‘must do more on deportations’ as new estimate suggests more than 1m people are illegally living in UK London is home to as many as 585,000 illegal migrants, equivalent to one in 12 of the city’s population, according to a previously confidential report. There is mounting concern over the failure to control Britain’s borders and the pressure that places on public services such as schools and the NHS. The use of illegal migrants in the black economy, working in roles such as food delivery drivers, is also a concern. Despite this, no official figures on the scale of the problem are provided by…
A United States federal district court has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship. John C. Coughenour, US district judge, gave the ruling on Thursday, January 23, 2025. The order to end birthright citizenship had originally been slated to take effect on February 19 but 18 states’ attorneys general filed lawsuits on Tuesday challenging it. The Democratic officials also filed a request asking the court to put the case on a fast track and rule on whether to block enforcement before it takes effect. On Wednesday, the president ordered the deployment of t 1,500 US troops…
The World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said on Thursday that any tit-for-tat trade wars would have catastrophic consequences for global growth in a debate where US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats were discussed. “If we have tit-for-tat retaliation, whether it’s 25 percent tariff (or) 60 percent and we go to where we were in the 1930s we’re going to see double-digit global GDP losses. That’s catastrophic. Everyone will pay,” said Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The WTO director-general urged cooler heads to prevail, quipping: “Please let’s not hyperventilate. I know we are here to…
By Alade Adisa A total of 114 are graduating in the first class category, as Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago Iwoye, Ogun State holds its 34th convocation ceremony. Disclosing this on Thursday at a press briefing held as part of the events for the ceremony in Ago Iwoye, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ayodeji Agboola, said a total of 6,066 would be bagging degrees and diplomas in various programmes during the ceremony. This is just as the Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Mr Sonny Echono would deliver the convocation lecture titled, “TETFund and Educational Development in Nigeria:…
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to once again designate Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels a “foreign terrorist organisation,” the White House announced Wednesday. When former president Joe Biden took over from Trump in 2021, he removed the designation that Trump had signed near the end of his first term. Biden’s move came in response to concern from aid groups that they would need to pull out of Yemen as they are obliged to deal with the rebels, who are effectively the government in vast areas including the capital Sanaa. But weeks after the war in the Gaza Strip…
