Author: Vardiafrica

Meta, the parent company of Instagram, is introducing a new account setting specifically designed for users under the age of 18 in a bid to improve safety on its platform. Beginning Tuesday, teenagers in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia will automatically be placed in a restricted “teen account” with enhanced parental supervision options when signing up for Instagram. Existing accounts held by users under 18 will transition to this new setting over the next 60 days. Meta plans to roll out similar changes to teen accounts in the European Union later this year. This move comes amidst increasing public…

Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has suspended Otonye Briggs, the Chairman, Caretaker Committee of Akuku-Toru Local Government Area. This was announced in a statement on Tuesday by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Nelson Chukwudi. According to the statement, Briggs’ suspension is with immediate effective. Chukwudi did not, however, give a reason for the suspension “The Governor has directed Hon Bitebobo Amiee to immediately take over as chairperson. though specific reasons for the decision were not disclosed. “Mr Briggs is hereby directed to hand over all council property in his possession to the (new) Caretaker Committee Chairperson,” he said.…

Bala Mohammed, governor of Bauchi, says his state has enough water to quench the fire that Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), threatened to put in the states of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors supporting Siminalayi Fubara. Fubara, governor of Rivers, and Wike have been at loggerheads for months now. Speaking at a PDP congress in Rivers recently, the FCT minister warned governors in the party against interfering in the affairs of the opposition party in Rivers state. Wike then said he would “put fire” in the states of the governors siding with Fubara. While hosting some members of PDP’s national working committee…

The Central Bank of Nigeria has maintained its Ways and Means Advances to the federal government at a 5 per cent limit for the fiscal years 2024-2025, despite a bill passed by the National Assembly which raised the maximum borrowing percentage in the Act from five per cent to ten per cent. The Ways and Means Advances are loan facilities used by the CBN to finance the government during periods of temporary budget shortfalls and are subject to limits imposed by law. A report titled ‘Monetary, Credit, Foreign Trade, and Exchange Policy Guidelines for the Fiscal Years 2024-2025, published by…

The UK government has unveiled up to £1.9 million in funding to bolster science, technology, and innovation in Ghana and Nigeria through its new West Africa Research and Innovation Hub, named Sankore. This initiative aims to enhance collaborative efforts between the UK and West African nations, focusing on the commercialisation of innovative solutions, improvement of innovation policy, and advancement of government digital services. The Sankore call for proposals will support the UK-Ghana Science, Technology, and Innovation (ST&I) Strategy by fostering partnerships between universities, research centres, and the private sector. The goal is to transform new ideas into practical industry applications…

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says the country’s foreign exchange reserves are at risk due to the petrol subsidy removal and lower crude oil earnings. As of September 12, Nigeria’s external reserves stood at $36.08 billion, according to data from the CBN. In its ‘Monetary, Credit, Foreign Trade, and Exchange Policy Guidelines for the Fiscal Years 2024-2025,’ published on Tuesday, CBN also said increased external debt servicing obligations could pose downside risks for the growth of external reserves during the period. “Lower crude oil earnings, fuel subsidy removal, rising import bills and increased external debt servicing obligations could pose downside risks for the…

Former U.S. president Donald Trump along with his sons and entrepreneurs has launched a cryptocurrency platform but provided few details. Little was revealed about the Trump family crypto project during a two-hour online presentation other than an offer to let people buy digital “tokens” giving them a vote in platform decisions. The event went ahead as planned despite an apparent assassination attempt against Trump on Sunday at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida. World Liberty Financial intends to offer services based on so-called decentralized finance, a mechanism that eliminates the need for an intermediary such as a bank…

The United Nations has announced the donation of $6m fund in support of the Maiduguri flood victims in Borno State. In a statement on Tuesday, the Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mohammed Fall, said a joint mission comprising UN agencies and NGOs, alongside the Nigeria Red Cross Society, visited the main city of Maiduguri over the weekend. According to him, the team met with people who had been impacted – many of them had already been displaced multiple times by conflict and insecurity in the area. The flood was caused by an overflow in the Alau Dam located just over 10…

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the first woman and first African to head the World Trade Organization, will seek a second four-year term when her mandate expires next August, her spokesman said Monday. “We can confirm that Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has officially announced her intention to seek a second term as Director-General of the WTO,” spokesman Ismaila Dieng said in a statement. Dieng said the 70-year-old had taken into account “the overwhelming and broad-based support expressed by members”. Her current term at the helm of the 166-member WTO ends in August 2025. Her decision to seek another term was officially communicated to WTO…

First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu has unveiled the OneNigeria/UnityFabric, which she described as a symbol of national unity. The fabric was designed by 25-year-old Miss Mofinyinfoluwa Bamidele a graduate of the University of Ibadan. Bamidele, went home with a prize of ₦25m, emerged the winner of a fabric designs competition, organised by the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI), chaired by First Lady. In her keynote address at the unveiling of the #OneNigeria/UnityFabric and announcement of the winner of the competition held on Monday at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja, Tinubu explained that the concept of a national fabric…