Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Lagos among one of the world's cheapest cities

Nigeria’s commercial city, Lagos is one of the 10 cheapest cities in the world, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s bi-annual survey.

Lagos was ranked 127 in the survey that compares the cost of more than 150 items such as cars, food, rent, transport and clothing in 133 cities.

The results are a far cry from two years when Lagos was named by estate agent, Savills as the most expensive African city to stay and work in.

The survey is aimed at helping companies calculate compensation packages and allowances for expatriate staff and business travellers.

It also tracks whether prices have gone up or down by comparing them with the cost of living in New York, which is used as a benchmark.

World’s 10 cheapest cities

1. Caracas (Venezuela)

2. Damascus (Syria)

3. Tashkent (Uzbekistan)

4. Almaty (Kazakhstan)

5. Bangalore (India)

6. Karachi (Pakistan)

7. Lagos (Nigeria)

8. Buenos Aires (Argentina)

9. Chennai (India)

10. New Delhi (India)

On the other end of the spectrum, Paris and Hong Kong were tied with Singapore as the world’s most expensive cities to live in.

It was the first time in more than 30 years that three cities shared the top spot, a sign that pricey global cities are growing more alike, said the report’s author, Roxana Slavcheva.

“Converging costs in traditionally more expensive cities … is a testament to globalization and the similarity of tastes and shopping patterns,” she said in a statement.

“Even in locations where shopping for groceries may be relatively cheaper, utilities or transportation prices drive up overall cost of living,” she said.

The top ten list was dominated by Asian and European cities, with Osaka and Seoul in joint fifth and joint seventh places respectively. Zurich (4th), Geneva (joint 5th) and Copenhagen (joint 7th) also in the elite club.

Africa News

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Atiku Abubakar challenges Nigeria election result

The defeated main opposition candidate in Nigeria’s presidential elections filed a legal challenge on Monday to last month’s vote.

Atiku Abubakar’s petition said that he, the candidate for the People’s Democratic Party, had beaten the All Progressives Congress’s Muhammadu Buhari, who was elected to a second term on Feb. 23.

“We asked that our candidate who won the election massively across the country be declared the winner,” said Emmanuel Enoidem, a legal advisor to Atiku.

The petition asks that the electoral commission overturns the result “on the grounds of irregularities,” Enoidem said.

Buhari’s campaign has rejected Atiku’s allegations, saying the vote was free and fair.

Buhari, the 76-year-old former military ruler, took 56 percent of the vote against 41 percent for Atiku, a businessman and former vice president.

Reuters

Monday, March 18, 2019

Video - Nine killed in attack in Kaduna, Nigeria



At least nine people have been killed in Nigeria's Northeastern state of Southern Kaduna. The attack happened on Saturday in a small farming community. No group has claimed responsibility for this latest attack in the area; and neither has any arrest been made yet. Southern Kaduna State has seen a resurgence of violence in recent months, leading to the death of over 150 people.

Friday, March 15, 2019

Search called off in school collapse in Nigeria

Search efforts were called off at the site of a school building that collapsed in the Nigerian city of Lagos, as rescuers were trying to find a register of children to work out how many have died.

Workers have reached the foundation of the collapsed three-storey building and don't expect to see any more bodies, IbrahimFarinloye, a National Emergency Management Agency official, told The Associated Press on Thursday.

He declined to give an updated toll of the dead and the rescued.

Officials said late Wednesday that eight people had died and 37 had been pulled out alive. An unknown number remain missing.

Residents said some 100 children had attended the nursery and primary school, and people were searching through the tangle of rubble and metal on Thursday to find any belongings of their loved ones.

A few hundred people watched from nearby as an excavator dug through the remains of the debris.

At the site of the collapse, people searched through the tangle of rubble and metal Thursday to find any belongings of their loved ones. By the afternoon, most of the debris had been cleared away.

"We have been able to pull down the remaining part of the building," said Adebayo Kayende, spokesperson for the Lagos state emergency agency.

"We have moved the debris from the ground to have a clear picture to make sure there are no people under the building."

Kayende said the Lagos state ministry of health was checking with hospitals, and once they had finished counting those dead the details would be made public.

Full investigation

Adesina Tiamiyu, general manager of the Lagos state emergency agency, said the number of children involved was still in question and authorities were trying to find a register of the pupils.

Lagos Gov. Akinwuni Ambode, who visited the site hours after the building collapsed, said the building, which had been marked for demolition, was classified as residential and the school was operating illegally on the top two floors. There will be a full investigation into the incident, he said.

Officials moved through the neighbourhood on Thursday, marking other derelict buildings for demolition.

Obiora Manafa with the Standards Organization of Nigeria told reporters that they would analyze samples of the collapsed building's concrete and steel bars "to ascertain the quality ... and know whether they complied with the national building code."

"It touches one to lose precious lives in any kind of mishap, particularly those so young and tender," Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said.


CBC

Thursday, March 14, 2019

Video - At least 8 killed in Nigeria school building collapse



Rescue and recovery efforts are going on through the night in the Nigerian city of Lagos, where a three-storey building collapsed on Wednesday. It contained apartments, shops, and a primary school.

Related story: Building collapse in Lagos, Nigeria kills 30

Prophet T.B. Joshua under fire for building collapse in Lagos, Nigeria