Lawan celebrates ex-President Jonathan at 65
Ahmed Lawan, President of the Senate, has felicitated former President Goodluck Jonathan on the occasion of his 65th birthday.
Lawan, in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media, Ola Awoniyi, in Abuja on Sunday, joined other Nigerians in celebrating with the former president, whom some regard as the beacon of Nigeria’s democracy.
He noted that Jonathan had devoted his life to service as a teacher, political leader, and international statesman.
According to the senate president, Nigerians will continue to appreciate the former president’s contributions to the development of the country and his passion for the Nigerian project. This is according to the News Agency of Nigeria.
Read also: Jonathan denies working with five aggrieved governors to destabilise PDP
2023: PDP Rep candidate says sponsored online polls inconsequential
Ibrahim Ajia, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Asa/Ilorin West Federal Constituency, has regarded as inconsequential sponsored online polls being used to assess the chances of candidates ahead of the 2023 general election.
Ajia also said that these polls were not capable of determining the direction of the results of election.
He made his position known to newsmen on Sunday in Ilorin at the maiden political debate of the Kwara Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He believes that the fate of representatives of any political party will be determined by electorates who vote at the polls rather than polls that he believes are rigged. He argued that some of these polls were sponsored by politicians who had failed in their attempts to mislead the people.
GNI records N8.3bn premium, N2.1bn claims in 2021
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc said on Sunday it recorded a gross premium written (GPW) of N8.3 billion in 2021, representing a 16.9 percent increase over the N7.1 billion it recorded in 2020.
NAN reported that Oyinkansola Sobande, Manager, Corporate Communications, Brand Management, and Customer Service of GNI, said in a statement in Lagos that the insurer declared the result at its 51st Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on Nov. 14.
Sobande stated that the insurance company’s claims expenses increased from N1.4 billion in 2020 to N2.1 billion in 2021, while its underwriting expenses declined drastically during the period under review.
She noted that the underwriting firm, in the same vein, recorded a profit before tax of N1 billion as against a loss of N718 million it recorded in 2020.
Over 4,000 Zimbabwean doctors and nurses left the country in 2021
A senior official at the Health Services Board (HSB) revealed Sunday that over 4,000 health workers left Zimbabwe over the past year.
Dr. Paulinus Sikosana, the HSB chairperson, told Reuters that more than 4,000 health workers have left since 2021. This includes more than 1,700 registered nurses who resigned last year and more than 900 who left this year.
Health workers went on strike in June, demanding to be paid in U.S. dollars as inflation further weakened the local currency.
Doctors and nurses in Zimbabwe have found work mainly in Britain, leaving the country’s health sector in dire straits and local hospitals understaffed.
Oil extends fall on Covid-19 scare in China, others
The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell to $79 per barrel on Monday as a result of the recent COVID-19 scare in China and the prospect of additional rate hikes by most central banks around the world.
The COVID-19-related deaths, over the weekend in China, which are the first in six months, forced the authorities to localise lockdowns in some areas on Monday. A situation that has reduced demand from one of the world’s top crude oil importers as it struggles to handle the COVID-19 scare.
Trading Economics reported that investors were also worried that tightening financial conditions could tip the global economy into a recession, hurting energy demand.
