Nigeria's state-owned Port Harcourt refinery is finally back up and running. It is hoped that, along with recent launch of the privately-owned Dangote refinery, Nigeria will soon be able to supply the petrol products needed domestically while positioning Nigeria as a petroleum product exporter.
Related story: Nigeria's richest man Aliko Dangote takes on the 'oil mafia'
Advocates for equal rights in Nigeria want President Bola Tinubu to ensure a five percent employment quota in government jobs for persons with disabilities is implemented. They also want the government to embark on skill acquisition programmes for people with disabilities to allow them to become self-reliant.
Related story: Deaf students in Nigeria boost their coding skills – and their self-esteem
Swiss building materials manufacturer Holcim will sell its stake in Nigerian cement company Lafarge Africa to Huaxin, a Chinese company, it said.
Holcim said the $1 billion deal is expected to be completed in 2025.
It holds an 84% stake in Lafarge Africa but is divesting as part of a broader move to focus on core growth markets. It sold businesses in Tanzania and Uganda last year.
Lafarge Africa is one of Nigeria’s largest cement companies with four plants that have a combined output of 10.5 million tonnes per year. The company’s profit after taxes fell 4.7% last year despite a 9% increase in net sales. Its sale is the latest instance of a Nigerian company whose foreign parent has divested from it, following Diageo’s sale of Guinness Nigeria in June to Singaporean group Tolaram.
By Alexander Onukwue, Semafor
At least 54 bodies have now been recovered from Nigeria’s River Niger after a boat, that may have been carrying more than 200 passengers, capsized in the early hours of Friday, the authorities say.
Twenty-four of those on board were rescued, some of whom are still in hospital, but dozens of others may be missing.
Divers are still searching the waters but hope is fading on the possibility of finding more survivors.
This is just the latest in a long series of boat accidents on the country’s inland waterways. Despite safety recommendations being made, rules are rarely followed and few are held accountable.
The boat was travelling from Kogi state, central Nigeria, to a weekly market in neighbouring Niger state when it went down.
Market traders and farm labourers were thought to have been among the passengers.
The cause of the accident is not yet known but there are indications that many of the travellers may not have been wearing life jackets as required.
Getting accurate details about who exactly had boarded the boat is difficult because there was no record keeping, the local official in charge told the BBC.
“The problem is that there’s no passenger manifest and because of the time the accident occurred, giving an accurate account of persons, survivors and those missing, is very difficult,” Justin Uche, who is head of the Kogi state office of the National Emergency Management Agency said.
Meanwhile Kogi state’s governor Usman Ododo ordered all hospitals where survivors are receiving treatment to ensure that they get adequate care including food.
He also urged stricter enforcement of safety regulations to ensure that such incidents are avoided in future.
This is the third time a passenger boat has gone down in Nigeria in the last 60 days.
Last month, a wooden dugout canoe, packed with nearly 300 passengers, overturned and sank in the middle of the River Niger killing nearly 200 people.
Just last week, five people died when two boats collided in southern Nigeria’s Delta state.
By Chris Ewokor, BBC
Related story: Video - Nigerian government to phase out wooden boats to reduce waterway deaths
Nigeria's anti-graft agency has said it has made its biggest ever seizure of assets, alleged to have been purchased with the proceeds of corruption.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) announced that it has taken possession of a large housing estate comprising of more than 750 properties in the capital, Abuja.
The agency did not reveal exactly who had owned the land and luxurious homes but its statement said they belonged to a former high-ranking member of government.
The EFCC was set up in 2003 to fight corruption in a country where it is seen as endemic, existing through all government structures.
“The forfeiture of the property... was [in line with the] EFCC’s mandate and policy directive of ensuring that the corrupt and fraudulent do not enjoy the proceeds of their unlawful activities,” the agency said.
Situated on the outskirts of Abuja, passers by have for years wondered who owned the estate covering some 150,000 square metres.
A property expert based in Abuja estimated that the seized assets would be worth tens of millions of dollars on the market.
Corruption remains one of the biggest problems in Nigeria despite succesive governments promising to stop it.
The country is one of the Africa's largest oil producers, but few of its more than 225 million inhabitants have benefited from this wealth.
At the moment there are several graft cases in court involving past or present government officials.
In May this year, a former minister of aviation, Hadi Sirika, appeared in court on corruption charges, along with his daughter and son-in-law.
Sirika was regarded as one of the most powerful ministers in former President Muhammadu Buhari's government.
The EFCC accused him of using his position to give undue advantage to a company linked to his daughter and son-in-law.
The three pleaded not guilty and were released on bail.
By Mansur Abubakar, BBC
