Sanwo-Olu announces 50% reduction in Lagos transport fare
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State announced a 50 percent reduction in transportation fares in Lagos State on Wednesday.
Governor Sanwo-Olu, while talking to journalists at the Lagos House in Marina, said that the reduction in transportation fares on the roads and waterways would take effect next week and was a way to help reduce the hardship many Lagosians were going through.
The governor said that the BRT buses and first- and last-mile buses have been directed to charge 50 percent of the current fare to reduce the hardship of the naira swap on residents.
“To further support Lagosians to weather these stormy days, I hereby announce the following measures: A 50 percent cut in fares on all our BRT buses, LAGRIDE taxi-scheme, First Mile and Last Mile buses, and Lagos Ferry Services (LAGFERRY),” the governor said.
“This will take effect from tomorrow for the next seven days. We will push out more Cowrie Cards to enable more Lagosians to get on board our services.”
Read more: Fuel, naira crisis: Sanwo-Olu cuts transport fares by 50%
Naira swap: Supreme court order will douse tension, restore economic activities – CPPE
Muda Yusuf, the founder of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), has welcomed the restraining order of the Supreme Court on the timeline for the naira swap.
Yusuf said that the action of the Supreme Court would restore normalcy to economic activities, especially in the distributive and informal trade sectors as well as the rural economy.
He added that the development would also reduce the current social tension and the risk of social unrest in the country.
He noted that small businesses and ordinary citizens were the biggest victims of the unspeakable disruption and hardship inflicted by the deadline given by the CBN on the naira swap.
PDP cautions against election postponement
Kola Ologbondiyan, the Spokesperson for the Atiku/Okowa Campaign Organisation of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Wednesday in Abuja warned the federal government and especially the ruling party—the All Progressives Congress (APC) against the postponement of the 2023 general election and setting up of an Interim National Government.
Ologbondiyan said that the interim government does not have a place in the 1999 Constitution.
He said that the alleged narratives or demands for the postponement of the 2023 general election should perish.
He said the Feb. 25 presidential election date must be tampered with, urging all Nigerians to get ready to elect the candidate of their choice as the next president of the country.
Chinese state media, AI companies warn of risks in ChatGPT stock frenzy
The ever-growing influence of ChatGPT has generated some concern globally, forcing the Chinese state media on Thursday to caution against the risk of chasing ChatGPT-concept stocks.
In light of the current concern from ChatGPT, artificial intelligence (AI) companies urged investors to be rational after their soaring share prices caught regulators’ attention.
The frenzy around the ChatGPT chatbot has spurred speculative bets in China’s stock market, pumping up AI firms such as TRS Information Technology Co., Ltd., Hanwang Technology Co., Ltd., and CloudWalk Technology Co., Ltd.
ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI and backed by Microsoft Corp., gives strikingly human-like responses to user queries.
The Securities Times in a front-page editorial highlighted several technological concepts that spurred stock buying in China, such as fifth-generation telecommunications networks (5G), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and anti-virus garments, the excitement for which has died down. This is according to Reuters.
Disney to let go 7,000 Jobs as Bob Iger seeks $5.5bn in savings
Bob Iger, the Chief Executive Officer of Walt Disney Co., announced plans on Wednesday to introduce a series of dramatic restructuring exercises that would see 7,000 people lose their jobs and $5.5 billion saved.
According to Bloomberg, the reduction includes plans to cut $3 billion from its budget for movies and TV shows and the rest from non-content-related areas. About $1 billion of the savings are already underway, Iger said Wednesday on a conference call with investors.
