World waves goodbye to Queen Elizabeth as she goes home
The death of Queen Elizabeth II shocked the world. The longest-serving monarch who occupied the position as queen of Great Britain, Northern Ireland, and the head of the Commonwealth passed away on Thursday at the age of 96.
The world couldn’t but stand still for a woman who not only revolutionised constitutional monarchy around the world but perhaps played a prominent role in transitioning to modernization in the way politics and monarchy interact.
After world leaders paid their tribute to the Queen, it was the turn of the ordinary people in Britain and around the globe to pay their own respects to a woman who had been the face of Britain, Northern Ireland, and the Commonwealth for more than seven decades.
According to Reuters, the tribute started in the Queens’ home city—London, as thousands gathered outside Buckingham Palace, in central London, some laying floral tributes outside the black iron gates. There were similar scenes outside the queen’s Windsor Castle home. Black cabs lined up outside the palace to pay homage to the Queen.
Portraits of Elizabeth were posted on billboard screens in central London’s Piccadilly Circus and the city’s Canary Wharf financial district, and also across the Atlantic in New York’s Times Square. Flowers were laid outside the British Consulate General in New York.
In New York City, a popular restaurant, Tea & Sympathy, which sells custom British meals to New Yorkers, served a large number of customers who came to pay their last respects to a monarch many call “the mother of the world”.
“It’s like your mom died, because we’ve grown up with her and her family,” said Tea & Sympathy owner Nicky Perry. “I’ve had so many people turn up here today in floods of tears. Men. Americans. ”
In Washington, the love was not lost as the U.S. flag was lowered to half-staff to mark the passing of a monarch.
In Wilhelmstraße 70/71, 10117 Berlin, mourners laid flowers and candles outside the British Embassy, while in Venice, “God Save the Queen,” the British national anthem, was played outside the Italian city’s Festival Buildings.
The French capital was not left out in the show of love as the Eiffel Tower went dark at the stroke of midnight in a tribute to the Queen.
Sporting events such as the U.S. Open in New York weren’t left out as tennis fans and players held a moment of silence before the start of the women’s semi-final between Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur and France’s Caroline Garcia.
Read also: In Memoriam: Times Queen Elizabeth II spent with Nigeria (photos)
Iyorchia Ayu, escapes as he gets vote-of-confidence from PDP NEC
It seems the plot to get Iyorchia Ayu out of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chairmanship position won’t see the light of day. This follows the vote-of-confidence endorsement he got from the National Executive Council of the party.
His endorsement came on Thursday following a National Working Committee (NWC) meeting held at the Akwa Ibom State Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja. Apparently, the vote of confidence motion was moved by the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Ndudi Elumelu.
The vote was supported by an NEC member from Kwara State and presided over by the new chairman of the PDP BoT, Adolphus Wabara.
It seems calls by the southern caucus spearheaded by the River State Governor, Nyesom Wike, and Bode George for Ayu to step down for a southerner have failed.
Political watchers will be watching out for what the next moves of Wike’s camp will be like in the coming days.
Atiku Abubakar, speaking after the meeting, promised that the party was going to resolve its internal conflict ahead of the 2023 general election.
Court extends order stopping NBC from shutting operations of 53 media houses
The Federal High Court in Lagos has extended the order preventing the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and other related Federal Government agencies from shutting down the operations of 53 broadcast stations in the country.
NBC had decided some weeks ago to revoke the licences of these 53 broadcast stations over their inability to renew their licence fees.
According to Channels TV, the Honourable Justice Akintayo Aluko (Court 8) had on August 29, 2022, granted an order of interim injunction following the hearing of an argument on motion exparte by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE).
The order was granted pending the hearing of the motion on notice for an interlocutory injunction.
When the case came up before the Court for hearing today, Honourable Justice Daniel Emeka Osiagor extended the order of interim injunction pending the hearing of the Motion on Notice and adjourned the case to October 26, 2022 for the hearing of the originating summons.
The suit followed NBC’s decision to revoke the licences of the 53 broadcast stations and shut them down within 24 hours due to an alleged N2.6 billion debt. This is according to Channels TV.
Average daily PMS release stands at 66.89m litres – NMDPRA
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) says the actual daily truck-out of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) from January to July 31 stands at 66.89 million litres.
The NMDPRA disclosed this on Thursday in its statement clarifying the 2022 average daily truck-out figure. This is according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
NMDPRA revealed this during its interactive session with the House of Representatives Committee on Finance. The agency wanted to correct the figure erroneously presented as the daily baseline truck out projection to be 62.9 million litres instead of 66.89 million litres.
NAN said that the agency used the figure in the 2021 calendar solely to forecast the expected revenue for 2022 and did not in any way translate it to the actual truck out volume for this year.
“In line with the NMDPA mandate as provided in the Petroleum Industry Act to ensure transparency in the oil and gas industry, the authority publishes on its website (www.nmdpra.gov.ng/daily-truckout) the actual daily truck-out.”
“As can be verified from the website, the actual daily truck-out from January to July, 2022 stands at 66.89 million litres,” it said.
NMDPRA assured the general public that it was committed to providing credible and transparent data on the supply and distribution of petroleum products.
Tobi Amusan wins Diamond League trophy
Tobi Amusan, Nigeria’s queen of the tracks, blazed home to win the women’s 100m hurdles at the Diamond League in Zurich on Thursday.
Tobi finished at a record time of 12.29 seconds, breaking her previous record of 12.42 seconds.
Following closely behind were Tia Jones from the US with 12.40 seconds and Britany Anderson of Jamaica.
Her feat on Thursday follows her achievement in the Commonwealth Games, where she set another record-breaking gold medal performance for Team Nigeria by finishing at 12.30 seconds to retain the 100m hurdles she won four years ago in the Gold Coast, Australia.
She also became the first Nigerian to win a World Athletics Championship gold. In July, she was victorious in the women’s 100m hurdles in Eugene, Oregon, ending in an incredible 12.06 seconds.
