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Lagos puts U.S., Canada, 12 others on surveillance over COVID-19

 The Lagos State Government has placed the United States, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Togo, South Africa, Canada, France, Germany, Uganda, the Netherland, Cameroun, Angola and Rwanda on its watch list as it works to prevent a third wave of the pandemic.

Read Also: Nigeria at huge risk of third wave with less than 1% vaccinated

The Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, made the disclosure yesterday at a briefing on the state’s COVID-19 update and preparation against the third wave, insisting that preventing the importation of the mutants was the best way to adopt.

“We are preparing and building resistance, but if the third wave enters, the state would prevent it from going into the community,” he promised.

Besides India, Brazil and Turkey that already have federal attention, Lagos State said it would closely monitor passengers from the 13 countries listed above.

Nigeria Diaspora remittances declined by 27.7% to $16.8bn – World Bank

Remittances by Nigerians in the Diaspora declined by 27.7 per cent in 2020, the World Bank has said.

A report by the World Bank titled ‘Defying predictions, remittance flows remain strong during COVID-19 crisis’ said Nigeria contributed 40 per cent of the remittances into Sub-Saharan Africa.

It put remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa at $42billion. Forty per cent contribution of Nigeria to this means that remittances to Nigeria were $16.8billion in 2020.

A decline of 27.7 per cent also put remittances into the country in 2019 at $21.45billion.

The report said remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa declined by an estimated 12.5 per cent due to a decline in the remittances to Nigeria that contributes the largest amount in the region.

FG Generates N392.77bn from Company Income Tax in Q1 2021

The federal government generated a total of N392.77 billion as Company Income Tax (CIT) in the first quarter of the year (Q1 2021), representing a 32.82 percent increase compared to N295.72 billion recorded in the preceding quarter, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

This also represented an increase of 32.84 per increase year-on-year, it noted.
This improved performance in companies’ profits was not unconnected with the gradual recovery of the economy following the recent lockdowns implemented by the government across the country to curtail the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Airlines Blame Dollar Scarcity, Pandemic for Rising Airfares

Airlines have attributed the skyrocketing airfares, which have elicited disaffection from travellers to the scarcity of dollars and the COVID-19 pandemic.

From N28, 000 for a one-hour flight after the high season in December 2020, the average cost of a one-hour ticket has now risen to N60, 000 for a one-way ticket and could rise as high as N120, 000 if a passenger buys a ticket on the day he is travelling.

The airlines attributed the soaring airfares to dollar scarcity, which has forced them to resort to the parallel market for the greenback.

They appealed for the intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to create a special forex window for aviation.

They also attributed the hike in fare to the fact that many aircraft that were taken out of the country for maintenance were yet to be brought back because of the pandemic, which has hindered activities in some countries.

Owing to this, Nigerian carriers have a limited fleet but high demand for air travel, as insecurity continues to discourage many people from travelling by road.

Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus face Uefa ban over European Super League plot

Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus are facing two years Champions League ban after Uefa launched a formal disciplinary probe into the failed European Super League plot.

Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin is determined to make the three club leaders pay heavy wages unless they dissolve the breakaway competition.

That means two-season bans from playing in any European competitions is on the Uefa agenda.

In a statement, Euro chiefs in Nyon announced: “In accordance with Article 31(4) of the Uefa Disciplinary Regulations, Uefa Ethics and Disciplinary Inspectors have today been appointed to conduct a disciplinary investigation regarding a potential violation of Uefa’s legal framework by Real Madrid CF, FC Barcelona and Juventus FC in connection with the European Super League project.