UK becomes first country to initiate Covid-19 Vaccination
A landmark moment was celebrated in the Coronavirus pandemic when the United Kingdom became the world’s first nation to begin vaccinating its citizens with the fully vetted and authorized Covid-19 shot. The first Briton to get the Pfizer shot was the 90-year-old Magaret Keenan who said the vaccine came as an early birthday gift as she turns 91 next week. It was the first of 800,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine that will be dispensed in the coming weeks. Up to four million more are expected by the end of the month
Dangote oil refinery named among 20 most influential global projects by PMI
Dangote Oil Refinery has been listed among the world’s top 20 influential projects surveyed in the last 18 months by the Project Management Institute (PMI). The project highlights compelling projects around the world and across industries that achieved significant milestones and impacted society. Dangote oil refinery was selected for its potential to fuel Nigeria’s economic transformation from importer to a self-sustaining powerhouse in petroleum refinery.
FG reduces petrol prices to N162.4 per litre
The Federal Government has reduced the pump price of premium motor spirit, otherwise known as petrol, from N168 to N162.44 per litre with effect from December 14, 2020. This is a N5 reduction, following the decision of the Petroleum Products Marketing Company, a subsidiary of the Federal Government-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to increase the ex-depot price of petrol from N147.67 per litre to N155.17 per litre in November.
Read also:COVID-19: Sanwo-Olu charges world leaders on vaccine equity
Nigeria’s foreign trade deficit widens, highest since 2017
In the third quarter of 2020, Nigeria saw its trade deficit surge by 32.45 percent to N2.38 trillion from N1.8 trillion in the second quarter, and down from a surplus of N1.38 trillion in Q3’2019. The trade deficit is the widest the country has had since 2017 as import outpaced export. Import hit N5.38 trillion in Q3’20, up from N3.89 trillion in Q3’19. Also, export declined to N2.9 trillion in the third quarter, down from N5.38 trillion in Q3’19.
Nigeria’s population hits 206 million
The population of Nigerians has increased by 6 million since the last population census conducted in 2006 during the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo bringing the total population to 206 million according to the National Population Commission (NPC). Nigeria will need to do more to cater for the rising population even has the World Bank has predicted that another fresh 11 million will slip into poverty by 2022.
Breakdancing to become an Olympic sport for the first time in 2024
Breaking dancing has been officially called an Olympic sport for the first time. The International Olympic Committee has added the now-wildly popular acrobatic dance battles to the 2024 Paris Games in hopes of appealing to a younger audience. The break dancing competition at the 2024 Olympics will be aptly called “breaking”, as it was in the 1970s by hip-hop pioneers in the United States. Surfing, skateboarding, and sport climbing were also approved for Paris 2024, but all three events will also be a part of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Nigeria commences Lagos-Ibadan railway operations
Nigeria has begun conducting trial operations for the Lagos-Ibadan railway ahead of a January launch. The experimental operations were conducted with passengers on board. The train covered the 156km journey between Ibadan and Lagos in 2 hours and 40 minutes. The is the first of its kind in West Africa as it is a double-track standard gauge rail. The trial operation was conducted by a China-made Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU), which runs two times a day and opens three stations at the early stage.
South Africa declares second COVID wave as cases spike
South Africa is one of the hardest hit by the pandemic and it has now declared a second wave as cases continue to surge. The country registered a record 6,709 infections on Wednesday, bringing the total number to 828,598, with 22,574 deaths. The latest surge comes as millions prepare to travel to their home towns during the Christmas period. This is a signal that other countries need to continue to observe Covid rules during the festive season.
Ghana’s Akufo-Addo re-elected as opposition rejects results
Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo narrowly beat his long-time rival John Mahama to win a second term presidential elections. However, Ghana’s main opposition party has rejected the results of the presidential and legislative vote, citing alleged irregularities. In the presidential race, Akufo-Addo received 51.59 percent of the vote, beating opposition leader and former president Mahama’s 47.36 percent.
Nigerian pop artiste, Mr Eazi, is offering fans shares in his yet to be released music
Nigerian pop artiste, Mr Eazi is undertaking an audacious project which will enable fans to buy shared of the next music. This implies that the more his music is streamed and becomes a hit, gets more streaming revenue and his fans get a return on investment. Better put, a 1% purchase of a Mr Eazi song gets you 1% of the royalties the song generates. This concept is similar to buying stock in a company but the difference is that collective users can greatly influence the performance of the said stock.
Singapore becomes global first to approve lab-grown meat
Singapore continues to be a pacesetter as it becomes the first country to approve lab-grown meat for sale. Singapore has given US start-up ‘Eat Just’ the permission to sell its lab-grown chicken meat. It has also become the world’s first government to give such approval. This lab grown meat is also termed as clean meat and is not procured by killing animals. “The first-in-the-world regulatory allowance of real, high-quality meat created directly from animal cells for safe human consumption paves the way for a forthcoming small-scale commercial launch in Singapore,” Eat Just said in a statement.
