Lekki Port berths first commercial vessel ahead of Presidential commissioning
The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) said on Sunday that it has successfully berthed the first commercial vessel with laden containers in the newly built $1.5 billion Lekki Deep Seaport.
Nigeria’s biggest and deepest seaport, which is billed to be commissioned on Monday January 24, 2023 by President Muhammadu Buhari, received one of the largest container vessels owned by the CMA-CGM, the French container carrier, NPA said in its official twitter handle @NigerianPorts on Sunday.
Read more: Lekki Port berths first commercial vessel ahead of Presidential commissioning
Aviation sector complaints third highest in 2022 — FCCPC
Adams Abdullahu, the Director of Operations at the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), said on Sunday that complaints about Nigeria’s aviation industry ranked third on the list of those it received in 2022.
According to Abdullahu’s statement, 674 of the 13,580 complaints received by the commission in 2022 were about incidents in the sector.
He said that the aviation sector complaints came behind those for financial services (5,709) and the electricity and power sector (3,293).
Abdullahu added that the majority of the complaints received were about delays, cancellations, lost baggage, pilfered baggage, and their general airport experience.
Other complaints were about the general condition of the terminals and the cooling system, among others.
He noted that airlines did not communicate properly with their customers.
“Most times, if you explain to passengers what the problem is, they can understand it, but operators don’t tell the public what is actually going on with their operations.
“You buy a ticket, sit in the airport for unending hours, and you don’t even get any sort of information on the status of your flight, and that really angers passengers.”
“If you usually carry them along and tell them, these are the challenges that you are facing, it brings down the tempers and that is always what we encourage our service providers to do and they should do that also,” he said.
Ogun govt. declares Tuesday, Wednesday work-free days for PVC collection
Kunle Somorin, the Chief Press Secretary to the Ogun State Governor, said in a press statement issued on Sunday that the state government has declared Tuesday, January 24, and Wednesday, January 25, as work-free days for workers in the state public service.
Somorin said that the work-free days declared were to enable workers to collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVC). The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had extended the date for the collection of PVCs till January 29.
“Governor Dapo Abiodun has graciously approved Tuesday, January 24th, and Wednesday, January 25th, as work-free days to enable public servants to collect their PVCs from their respective local governments.
“The governor enjoined executive members of public markets and private establishments to allow flexibility in their schedules, and for residents to use the opportunity to visit INEC offices or collection centres where they registered to collect their PVCs,” he said.
Chris Hipkins confirmed as New Zealand leader, picks deputy
Chris Hipkins was appointed on Sunday as New Zealand’s next prime minister. He chose Carmel Sepuloni to act as his deputy, making her the first person with Pacific Island heritage to attain that position.
Hipkins replaces Jacinda Ardern after lawmakers unanimously gave him the support he needed to take over from Ardern, who stepped down on Thursday after leading the country for more than five years.
The Associated Press reported that Hipkins will be officially sworn in to his new role on Wednesday. He will have less than nine months before contesting a tough general election, with opinion polls indicating his party is trailing its conservative opposition.
The lack of other candidates for leader indicated that party lawmakers had rallied behind Hipkins to avoid a drawn-out contest and any sign of disunity following Ardern’s departure.
Prominent Cameroon journalist found dead after abduction
The mutilated body of a prominent Cameroonian journalist, Martinez Zogo, was found near the capital Yaounde on Sunday, five days after he was abducted by unidentified assailants.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a media watchdog, said that Zogo, the director of private radio station Amplitude FM, was kidnapped on January 17 by unknown assailants after trying to enter a police station to escape his attackers.
RSF claimed that Zogo had recently been talking on air about a case of alleged embezzlement involving a media outlet with government connections.
“Cameroonian media has just lost one of its members, a victim of hatred and barbarism,” Cameroon’s journalists’ trade union said in a statement. This is according to Reuters.
