Damilola Adeparusi, the well-known Chef Dammy from Ekiti State, has officially finished the 120th hour of the ongoing cook-a-thon.
Just a few hours prior, Chef Hilda Baci, who holds the record for the greatest stretch of cooking time (individual category) at 100 hours, was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records.
The first of its kind in the world, the Federal Government presented a license for the construction of the Belema Sweet Export Terminal on Tuesday in Abuja.
Farouk Ahmed, CEO of the Nigerian Mainstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), presented the license on behalf of the Federal Government to Mr. Tein Jack-Rich, CEO of Belema Oil Producing Limited, and reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to making doing business in Nigeria simple.
He said that by receiving the license, Nigeria had successfully secured its first hybrid crude export terminal, which has a storage capacity of eight million barrels.
Ahmed noted that with the presentation of the licence to Belema Sweet Export Terminal, the indigenous oil company becomes the second to acquire such a license, the first being the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Exploration and Production Limited.
The NMDPRA boss explained that except in accordance with the appropriate licence by the Authority, no company or entity had the right to engage in any exploration activity in the country, except the two companies.
He stressed that:” no entity had the right to operate or establish terminals or other facilities for the export or importation of crude oil or petroleum products.
”In line with this, the authority has processed and hereby approved terminal establishment licenses to these two organisations.
”One is the NNPC Exploration and Production Limited, with 2,179,704 barrels of crude oil terminal at Off Shore Akwa Ibom State within the waters of the exclusive zone.
”The second is the Belema Sweet Export Terminal in Kula, Rivers State, with 2 million barrels of crude oil terminal,” Farouk said.
According to him, the terminals are expected to operate within the provisions of the conditions of the licences as contained in the document.
He, therefore, called on investors to invest in the sector as the government was determined to ensure a business-friendly environment for them.
Speaking after the ceremony, Jack-Rich said the event marked a great milestone for the country, and attestation to the great success story of President Bola Tinubu, in less than two weeks of assuming office.
”With the establishment of Belema Sweet Crude Export Terminal, Nigeria now ranks number one in the world to establish a crude oil Export Terminal that is climate-conscious, where traditional energy and renewable energy integration is operated through a virtual power plant model.
”This is in line with energy efficiency/sustainability to protect our ecosystem,” Jack-Rich said.
”This will also create over 100,000 jobs for families in the Niger Delta and Nigeria at large.
Also speaking, Mr Modibbo Ahmed, who received the licence on behalf of the NNPC, said that Nigeria should expect the crude oil terminal in the next one to three months.
Belema Sweet Export Terminal Project is designed to be the first hybrid crude oil export terminal in the world.
It is a land-based terminal with good proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, via the San Bartholomeo River, for ease of offtake.
The terminal is divided into two sections; the crude oil processing terminal section and the oil export loading terminal section.
The first phase of the project will comprise a 2,000,000 million barrels storage capacity.
The export loading terminal would be able to receive any crude oil carrier size such as Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC), Suezmax, and Aframax, among others.
Another key feature of the Belema Sweet Export Terminal includes 400,000 barrels of Liquid per day central processing facility (CPF).
Professor Yakubu Mahmood, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, is scheduled to appear before the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja on June 15 to testify on behalf of the Peoples Democratic Party and former vice president Atiku Abubakar, the party’s presidential candidate in the election held on February 25.
The PDP and Atiku are contesting Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s election as president.
The development came after Chief Chris Uche, SAN, of Atiku’s legal team, served Mahmood with a subpoena.
Uche informed the Court that the INEC Chairman would testify regarding the handling of the contentious Presidential election and provide some sensitive documents to help the petitioners.
However, Atiku’s lead counsel did not open up on the nature of documents the INEC boss is expected to give evidence on and tender.
Uche told the PEPC that he decided to announce to the court of his intention to bring Mahmood before the court on Thursday so that the respondents especially Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) would not be caught unaware.
Meanwhile, at Tuesday’s proceedings, Atiku called his first star witness, Dr Alex Adum Ter, a legal practitioner and former Attorney General of Benue State, who in his testimony claimed that the presidential election was highly flawed with monumental irregularities and non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2022.
The witness, a National Coordinator, Situation Room for PDP on the February 25, presidential election had tendered three different video clips featuring Mahmood, INEC’s Commissioner in charge of Voter Education, Mr Festus Okoye, who in their broadcast assured Nigerians that presidential election results would be electronically transmitted to make the election credible and transparent.
The third video involving European Union Election Observer Mission was admitted as exhibits by the court alongside Guidelines for Election Officers 2022 and Manual for Election Guidelines 2023.
Though, Tinubu and APC opposed the admissibility of the documents, Chairman of PEPC Justice Haruna Tsammani admitted them after which the video clips were played in the open court.
The witness also tendered screen shots of the IReV portal.
However, upon cross examination by INEC’s lawyer, Abubakar Mahmoud SAN, the witness admitted that he was not at the National Collation Center but was at the PDP situation room in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The witness also admitted not being an ICT expert but that he based his report from information obtained from agents of the PDP at the collation centers.
The witness faulted INEC for not transmitting presidential election results electronically, adding that calculation errors led the electoral body into grave errors .
Under cross examined by Akin Olujimi SAN, counsel for Tinubu, the witness said he came to the conclusion that the presidential election was a sham by reason of corrupt electoral practices as related to him by PDP agents.
According to Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), as of the end of 2022, there will be 53.1% fewer recognized areas of clusters throughout Nigeria without access to telecommunications services.
At a recent telecom sector stakeholders event in Yenagoa, Bayelsa state, Danbatta made this disclosure.
Usman Mamman, the Head of Pre-Licensing at the Commission, represented Danbatta at the forum. Danbatta claimed that from 207 clusters of access gaps in 2013, the industry has seen a drop to 97 clusters of access gaps as of the end of 2022 by bridging 110 clusters of access gaps, indicating a 53.1% reduction.
This was said in a statement made by Mr. Reuben on Tuesday.
Danbatta said by implication, the number of Nigerians who fell within the access gap which were estimated at 37 million in 2013 has been reduced to 27 million, following increased access to telecoms services by those hitherto not digitally included.
Recalled that access gaps refer to the cluster of communities or grouped areas in different parts of the country that are bereft of access to telecom services and till date, the NCC has reduced clusters of access gap by more than half.
He said, “We have worked tirelessly to ensure we bring telecom services to people living in rural, unserved, and underserved areas of this country, totalling 37 million people courtesy of the consultancy that was conducted in 2013.
“By 2019, we had succeeded in reducing the clusters of access gaps to 114 through the deployment of the necessary infrastructure needed to bring services to people living in rural, unserved and underserved areas of the country. The deployment of infrastructure is in terms of base transceiver stations, which resulted in the reduction of Nigerians in those clusters from 37 million to 31 million in 2019.
“By 2022, we have reduced the clusters of access gaps to 97 from 207 in 2013. The number of Nigerians again have come down from 37 million in 2013 to 27 million as we speak. We achieved this by deploying, from 2009 to 2011, a total of 79 new base transceiver stations,” he said
Danbatta stated that in 2013 to 2018, the telecom sector also witnessed the deployment of additional 124 base transceiver stations while from 2019 to 2022, a total of 364 base transceiver stations were deployed.
“So far, the total number of base transceiver stations we have deployed to date between the time the access gaps were identified till the end of 2022 are 567,” he said.
While describing the reduction in access gap so far as a landmark, Danbatta, however, said the Commission will not rest on its laurels as it thrives to ensure that the remaining 27 million Nigerians, who currently lack access to telecoms services, are provided with services.
Meanwhile, the EVC said part the regulatory interventions of the Commission to bridge the remaining 97 access across the country to provide ubiquitous connectivity in all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria are the issuance of the Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) Licences and the deployment of Fifth Generation (5G) networks, among others.
Kingsley Okonkwo, better known by his stage name Kcee, is a Nigerian artist who claims that throughout the course of his career, gospel music has brought in more money.
This was revealed by the artist in an interview with Lagos’ Cool FM, which was released on Monday.
The gospel record ‘Cultural Praise’ by Okwesili Eze Group, which was published in 2021, was cited by Kcee as being his most streamed work to date.
He said, “When I did the gospel and a lot of people were like, ‘It’s over, he is actually going close to his village. Now he’s taking the music to the village. I think he is moving from his town to a village’.
“That was horrible. When I heard that I was like, ‘Okay, let’s see how that works’. And it didn’t happen. I made more money from it; more than any ever before in my whole career.”
Speaking on how certain he was that the song would be a financial hit even before it was released, he said, “I knew I was going to make a lot of money. I fought with a lot of people before I released it. They said that this one is 10 mins and a lot of people in this generation do not have that patience. That project has been my highest stream project ever.”
President Bola Tinubu has addressed the suffering of Nigerians as a result of the elimination of subsidies, saying that their sacrifice would not go in vain.
He said this on Monday during a national broadcast to mark 2023 Democracy Day.
In order to mitigate the effects of the loss of gasoline subsidies, Tinubu continued by saying that the government would make significant investments in the infrastructure for transportation, education, regular power, healthcare, and other public utilities.
I admit that the choice will place an additional strain on the majority of our people, he remarked. We must make this choice in order to prevent the financial collapse of our nation and free our resources from the tyranny of elements.
He said, “I admit that the decision will impose an extra burden on the masses of our people. This is one decision we must bear to save our country from going under and take our resources away from the stranglehold of a few unpatriotic elements.
“Painfully, I have asked you, my compatriots, to sacrifice a little more for the survival of our country. For your trust and belief in us, I assure you that your sacrifice shall not be in vain.
“The government I lead will repay you through massive investment in transportation infrastructure, education, regular power supply, healthcare and other public utilities that will improve the quality of lives.
“The democracy MKO Abiola died for is one that promotes the welfare of the people over the personal interests of the ruling class and one where the governed can find personal fulfillment and happiness. That is the hope MKO Abiola ignited throughout our country in 1993.”
Nigerian Chef Hilda Effiong Bassey, also known as Hilda Baci, has been praised by Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, for being the new record holder for the longest cooking marathon by an individual.
On Tuesday, Baci was named the new record holder for the longest cooking by a single person by Guinness World Records.
In a tweet he published, Obi praised the cook for having faith in her plans and said she had written her name in the “golden books of history” and brought tremendous honor to Nigeria.
Congratulations to Hilda Baci for breaking the Guinness World Record for the longest cooking, he remarked in a tweet.
He wrote, “Congratulations to you Hilda Baci #hildabacicooks on breaking the Guinness World Record for the longest cooking time by an individual. You believed in your vision, you persevered till the end, and you have now carved your name in the golden books of history and have brought great honour to our nation.
“You have, by your victory, reminded us that the path through which one attains victory in any endeavour must be excellent. By towing the path of hard work and determination, you broke a world record.
“Millions of people across the world are now inspired by you. I remain committed to building a new Nigeria that will provide various noble and productive platforms for Nigerian youths to live out their dreams and compete favourably on the global stage. It is POssible! -PO”
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) said on Tuesday that the President Bola Tinubu-signed student loan bill will lessen the amount of anti-social activity that college students engage in to satisfy their debts.
NANS, in a statement provided to Daily Independent by Comrade Akinteye Babatunde Afeez, Vice President for External Affairs, added that the student loan, if properly managed, will also lower, if not completely eliminate, the rate at which students commit suicide due to depression brought on by their inability to meet financial obligations. It will also lower debasement, particularly among female students.
The association stated that it never regretted the endorsement of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led federal government, saying the signing of the student loan bill into law represents a special democracy dividend to students and parents.
The statement reads: “The first democracy day in this new dispensation came with a special gift for us the Nigerian Students and our parents – signing of the student loan bill into law. This is because whatever affects us equally affects our parents.
“All the presidential candidates in the last presidential election in Nigeria had their manifestos… about their plans for the education sector, none surpassed that of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“His education plans were meticulously spelled out and even a novice would be able to relate with it because it was straight to the point and the goals were not too complex to be achievable.
“Right from his first hour in office, Nigerians have started to feel the change of power and the light of the RENEWED HOPE has shone around every sphere since he assumed office.
The subsidy was removed from our fuel and this alone will help Nigerians save enough for more infrastructure and a higher standard of living for all. We have seen him starting to remove the bad eggs in the system like chaff from beans.
“Now, he has surprised us in our jurisdiction(education) with an accessible loan for us in higher schools. This means that the rate at which my fellow students drop out of school will reduce drastically and more students will be encouraged to apply to higher institutions without the fear of finance since they now know that they have a place to look up to for financial aid.
” I want to sincerely appreciate Asiwaju on behalf of the Nigerian Students and we know that he is yet to even start with Nigerians as this renewed hope shall come alive in every Nigerian home in no distant time”, the further stated.
Tuesday, the Labour Party and Peter Obi, its candidate for president in the presidential election scheduled for February 25th, submitted an additional 188 exhibits to the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s designation as the election’s victor is being contested by Obi and the LP.
The Independent National Electoral Commission’s results sheets and reports, which made up the majority of the exhibits, were offered and accepted as proof that Tinubu’s election as president was lawful or not.
Obi submitted forms EC40GPU, EC40G1, and reports created by INEC after the election through one of his attorneys, Peter Afoba SAN.
A breakdown if the documents showed that 45 EC40GPU forms were tendered from Local Government Areas of Niger State, 23 from seven Local Government Areas of Osun, 17 from three Local Government Areas of Edo State and 52 EC40GPU forms from five Local Government Areas of Sokoto were tendered.
Obi also tendered 15 forms EC40G from 8 Local Government Areas of Osun State, 12 forms EC40G1 from 12 Local Government Areas of Edo, 15 forms EC40G from four Local Government Areas of Sokoto and 9 forms EC40G1 from two Local Government Areas of Sokoto.
More so, the petitioners tendered 5 Reports on the conduct of the election in Niger State and 8 in Edo to back up his allegations of malpractices during the conduct of the election.
Obi also tendered INEC Results Viewing (IRev) reports from 21 Local Government Areas of Adamawa State, 20 from Ogun State, 16 ilfrom Ekiti State, 19 in Rivers State and 25 Akwa Ibom State.
INEC opposed the admission of the documents as exhibits, but Chairman of PEPC, Justice Haruna Tsammani admitted them as exhibits.
The PEPC has adjourned further hearing to June 14.
The Ntokon oil and gas discovery on OML102 off the coast of Nigeria was announced by NigTotalEnergies on Tuesday.
The Ntokon-1AX finding well, located in shallow waters 60 km off the southeast coast of Nigeria, found 73 meters of net oil pay in reservoirs of high quality, while its side-track Ntokon-1G1 found 38 meters of net oil pay and 15 meters of net gas pay.
According to a release, Ntokon-1G1 tested satisfactorily up to a maximum throughput of about 5,000 barrels per day of 40° API oil.
Ntokon, which is situated on OML102 and is 20 km from the Ofon field facilities, is intended to be built using a tie-back to these current facilities.
Nicolas Terraz, President, said: “The Ntokon discovery opens a promising outlook for a new tie-back development.”
“The Ntokon discovery opens a promising outlook for a new tie-back development’’,
said Nicolas Terraz, President, Exploration & Production at TotalEnergies. “After the
start-up of production of the Ikike tie-back on OML99 in 2022, this new success in the
area further demonstrates the potential of nearby exploration to create value within our low cost, low emission strategy”.
OML 102 is operated by TotalEnergies EP Nigeria with a 40% interest, alongside partner NNPC Limited with the remaining 60%.
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