71 percent of Nigerians lack trust in Judiciary – Report
71 percent of people in Nigeria lack trust in the country’s judiciary, a new report has revealed. The report titled ‘The State of Freedom in Nigeria Report’, was released by Anvarie Tech and ResearcherNG and Bincika Insights and funded by the Washington DC-based National Endowment for Democracy. According to Farida Adamu, Senior Programme Manager, Anvarie Tech, citizens’ views on Freedom of Expression, Political Participation, Rule of Law and Corruption between November 15 and December 10, 2021, were assessed. 65.2 percent lack trust in the government institutions established to tackle corruption, and 40 percent do not believe elections are free and fair. On Freedom of Expression, 50.4 percent of respondents agree that citizens are free to criticize the government without fear, while 49.6 percent disagree with this statement, 69.3 percent agree that Nigerian citizens are free to organize political groups, while about 30.7 percent of respondents disagree.
Dangote moves 20 places up, as Musk tops 100 billionaires ranking
Aliko Dangote has moved up 20 places to become the 63rd richest billionaire in the world, with a worth of $20.2 billion as at Wednesday, July 13, 2022, according to the latest ranking by Bloomberg. In the ranking, Elon Musk, the chief executive officer of Tesla is listed as the richest billionaire. “Details about the calculations are provided in the net worth analysis on each billionaire’s profile page. The figures are updated at the close of every trading day in New York,” Bloomberg said. Among the top ten richest billionaires on the list are Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bernard Arnault, Bill Gates, Gautam Adani, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Warren Buffett, Steve Ballmer, and Larry Ellison. Dangote, Africa’s richest man, controls Dangote Industries, a closely held conglomerate. He owns 85 percent of publicly-traded Dangote Cement through a holding company.
UN delivers food assistance to Northeast Nigeria
The UN humanitarian partners have delivered food and nutrition assistance to about 26,000 people in the past week in the town of Rann, Northeast Nigeria. The UN correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Farhan Haq, the Deputy Spokesman for the UN disclosed this at a news conference at UN headquarters, New York on Wednesday. According to Haq, Rann is one of the most challenging environments for aid workers in the region, stating that it was the site of repeated attacks by non-state armed groups during which hundreds of civilians, internally displaced people as well as aid workers were killed. “Humanitarian agencies have been forced to reduce their footprint there in recent years. For example, a major international health partner suspended its work in Rann in June following the heightened risk of attacks targeting civilians and aid assets. With the lean season now underway, some 4.1 million people urgently need food assistance across Borno, Adamawa and Yobe in northeast Nigeria,” Haq said.
Read also: INEC suspends CVR in Enugu LG as gunmen attack officials
Nigerian businesses turn to solar as diesel costs surge
Nigeria’s solar companies are seeing a surge in demand for mini-grids and equipment as businesses in Africa’s biggest oil producer look for alternative power sources, according to a Reuters report. The increased demand became even stronger after the cost of diesel soared locally due to rising global oil prices, it noted. However, it added that supply constraints could hamper their ability to capitalise on the trend, with some saying they had begun to turn away customers because they had been unable to meet demand. Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy with a population of more than 200 million people, has an installed electricity capacity of 12,500 megawatts (MW) but the national grid only provides 4,000 MW at peak, leaving businesses and citizens heavily reliant on diesel-powered generators.
Nigerians buy tickets from Ghana as fares rise 400 percent
Passengers travelling from Nigeria to other parts of the world are currently bypassing travel agents in Nigeria to purchase tickets from agents in Ghana and other African countries. Summer airfares in the country have skyrocketed as foreign airlines’ funds, running into $500m, remain trapped. This situation has forced travellers to contact agents in Ghana, London and the United States to help them buy tickets. Airfares have risen by almost 400 percent to some destinations as foreign airlines operating in Nigeria have blocked all low-ticket inventories on their websites and are selling the highest inventories, making it difficult for passengers to buy affordable tickets. The airlines also stopped travel agents in Nigeria from issuing tickets emanating from other countries into Nigeria in a bid to reduce the amount of money that would be trapped in the country. This has caused travel agents in Nigeria to devise means to stay afloat by now partnering with agents in other countries to help them in the purchase of tickets for their clients.
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