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WHAT’S NEWS? October 2, 2023
By Ezinwanne Onwuka
● Oluremi Tinubu rallies support for husband
The First Lady of Nigeria, Oluremi Tinubu has said her husband, President Bola Tinubu is working day in, and day out to solve the challenges in the country. “My husband is not a magician”, she said, urging Nigerians to be patient with the four-month-old government and not expect any quick fixes.
Tinubu has come under intense criticism for initiating reforms that have sent gas price and inflation soaring. But the First Lady said on Sunday that “all we inherited are things that had happened many years ago.” She hoped that Nigerians would “look beyond their current realities and embrace hope anew.” Tinubu ran for the last presidential election with the theme, “Renewed Hope ’23”. He offered succour to Nigerians after the troubling eight-year rule of his partyman, Muhammadu Buhari.
● Ilebaye wins BBNaija All-Stars season
After an exhilarating ten-week journey, the “All Stars” edition of the annual reality TV show Big Brother Naija (BBNaija) came to an end on Sunday with housemate Ilebaye winning the N120 million grand prize.
The All-Stars season commenced on July 23 with 20 housemates, all of whom were ex-participants who had left their mark on previous seasons of the show. Ilebaye beat other top five finalists, Cee-C, Mercy Eke, Adekunle, Pere and Cross with 30.08 per cent of the votes to be crowned the season’s champion.
Mercy Eke, the winner of the 2019 “Pepper Dem” edition of the show, was announced as the runner-up while Cee-C, who was the runner-up of the “Double Wahala” season in 2018, came in at number three behind Ilebaye and Mercy Eke.
● Nigerian workers, government reach an agreement to avert looming strike
The Nigerian government is hopeful of the labour unions suspending their planned indefinite strike after a meeting between top government officials and executives of Nigerian workers’ unions on Sunday ended on a positive note.
The labour unions, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) had directed their members and affiliates to begin mobilization for an indefinite devastating strike that would commence on October 3. The work strike is in protest to President Bola Tinubu’s decision to halt the payment of petrol subsidy without a backup plan. The reform has caused severe economic hardship for Nigerians, especially workers whose minimum monthly wage is N30,000 [US$38.46].
At Sunday’s meeting, the Nigerian government pledged a short-term pay raise of N35,000 (US$44.8) per month for federal workers. President Tinubu had earlier announced a N25,000 [US$32.05] wage award raising their monthly salary to $71 for junior civil servants during his Independence Day broadcast. The provisional incentives will run from October 2023 to March 2024. Other agreements reached at the meeting include the waiving of value-added tax (VAT) on diesel for six months and the provision of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses to transport workers to and for workplaces.
● Court okays Atiku’s request for access to Tinubu’s CSU records
A U.S. District Judge Nancy Maldonado has endorsed the ruling of Magistrate Jeffrey Gilbert which ordered Chicago State University to release the records of Nigerian President Bola Tinubu to Atiku Abubakar.
Atiku, Tinubu’s major rival during Nigeria’s February presidential election, is contesting Tinubu’s election and his affirmation by an election petition tribunal in Nigeria. He is requesting CSU to release Tinubu’s admission records, attendance dates, degrees, awards, and honors received to support his claims that Tinubu forged the diploma certificate he presented in his election bid at the Supreme Court in Nigeria.
Judge Maldonado gave CSU an ultimatum of 48 hours which expires at noon on Monday (today) to release the documents to Atiku. She said CSU must complete all necessary filings concerning the release by 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday (Oct. 3).
