Nigeria has recorded 2 additional deaths and 711 new COVID-19 cases.
They are; Delta (508), Plateau (41), Rivers (40), FCT (32), Enugu (24), Lagos (19), Imo (16), Cross River (9), Ekiti (9), Abia (4), Benue (3), Kano (3), Bauchi (1), Bayelsa (1) and Ogun (1)
The Nigeria Centre of Disease Control said the cases were reported in fifteen states and the FCT.
The country’s fatality toll from the virus now stands at 2,884 while number of confirmed cases so far is 211,171.
The Nigeria Labour Congress has challenged the Federal Government to urgently address the rising unemployment rate in the country, which it described as a time bomb.
It said it will be difficult for the nation to have peace if the issue of unemployment is not checked.
NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, said these during the 40th-anniversary celebration of the Labour Writers Association of Nigeria.
He said with what was happening today, the organized labour needed more collaboration and sensitization of every worker, to be able to be on the same page and address some of the ills.
On his part, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, said the Buhari-led administration had maintained a calm industrial environment.
He said the current government had in six years and five months been very effective in job creation, despite the inherited socioeconomic downturn.
The World Bank has blacklisted eighteen Nigerian firms and persons for engaging in corrupt and collusive practices in its 2021 financial year
In a new annual report titled World Bank Group Sanctions System FY21, the World Bank said the individuals and companies were sanctioned for different sentences depending on their offences.
The global lender noted that the firms and individuals were blacklisted by the World Bank Sanctions Board, World Bank Chief Suspension and Debarment Officer and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
According to the report, Elie Abou Ghazaleh and Fadi Abou Ghazaleh, alongside their firm, Abou Ghazaleh Contracting Nigeria Limited, were debarred for six months for collusive practices.
It added that a Nigerian firm, Swansea Tools Resources, was debarred for fraudulent practices for two years and 10 months, while Juckon Construction and Allied Services Nigeria Limited, was debarred for corrupt practices for three years.
Another Nigerian, Okafor Glory, was debarred for fraudulent practices for four years, while the firm involved, Unique Concept Enterprises, was debarred for five years for same reason.
The bank added that another Nigerian company, Asbeco Nigeria Limited, was debarred for five years for corrupt practices.
It added that A.G. Vision Construction Nigeria Limited was debarred for fraudulent practices and collusive practices for four years and six months.
According to the World Bank, there are some firms that were debarred by other multilateral organisations under cross-debarment, which makes them debarred by the World Bank.
The presidency has described a recent article by The Economist on Nigeria’s challenges as “flawed” and “anti-Nigeria”.
In the article which was published on Saturday, The Economist had criticized the federal government’s approach to insecurity, saying “when violence erupts, the government does nothing or cracks heads almost indiscriminately”.
The article had also criticized security agencies, and in its recommendations, said “to stop the slide towards lawlessness, Nigeria’s government should make its own forces obey the law”.
Reacting in a statement on Sunday, presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, said while the article’s identification of the security threats facing Nigeria are “correct”, the present administration is the only government that has shown determination to fight insecurity.
While faulting the description of banditry attacks in the article, Shehu said criminals who have resources to shoot down military aircraft shouldn’t be referred to as “bandits”, but as “highly organized crime syndicates with huge resources and weaponry”.
He added that while such organized syndicates are not different from insurgents, the current administration remains committed to addressing the situation.
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