Nigeria’s inflation rate rose to 33.20 per cent in March 2024 from 31.70 per cent in February 2024.
This was disclosed in the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, March Consumer Price Index and Inflation report.
The March 2024 headline inflation rate increased by 1.50 per cent compared to the February 2024 headline inflation rate.
On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 11.16 per cent, higher than the 22.04 per cent recorded in March 2023.
This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in March 2024 compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., March 2023).
Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in March 2024 was 3.02 per cent, which was 0.10 per cent lower than the rate recorded in February 2024 (3.12 per cent).
The implication means that in March 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is less than the rate of increase in the average price level in February 2024.
This is the eighth time the inflation rate is rising since the commencement of President Bola Tinubu’s administration on May 29, 2023.
The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company Plc, EEDC, on Monday alerted its customers of a total system collapse, causing blackout in the entire Southeast.
EEDC in a statement issued by its Head of Corporate Communications, Emeka Eze, said the incident occured at about 2am on Monday.
The company, however, assured residents of the region that efforts are being put in place to ensure that normalcy is restored soon.
The statement reads, “This resulted in the loss of supply to all our interface TCN stations. Consequently, we were unable to provide service to our customers in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States.
“However, the situation is gradually being resolved as we received supplies at Awada TCN station, Onitsha, at 7:30am.
“We are in constant communication with the relevant authorities awaiting full restoration of supply by the National Control Centre, NCC, Oshogbo”.
The Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, has asked President Bola Tinubu’s appointees from Northern Nigeria to defend the government they are serving in or quit.
Mr Matawalle said this in a statement on Monday in reaction to the recent attack on the Tinubu administration by one of the appointees, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, Mr Baba-Ahmed, who serves as the special adviser on political matters in the presidency, said it would have been better if Mr Matawalle had listed his achievements as minister and those of the other appointees from the North instead of attacking the Northern Elders Forum (NEF).
He was reacting to a statement by Mr Matawalle in which he described the forum as “political paperweight.” Until his appointment as adviser, Mr Baba-Ahmed was the spokesperson of NEF. He is also a relative of the vice presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Datti Baba-Ahmed.
The LP came third in the election, losing to President Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Mr Matawalle, a former governor of Zamfara state, in his latest statement said Mr Baba-Ahmed and other appointees from the North owe the administration a duty to promote and advance its efforts across all sectors.
“As appointees of the government from the North, we must all take a stand, be unequivocal and be counted in the roll of honours for our support and work for the success of the administration we are serving,” he said.
World Vision Ghana has commissioned Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and educational facilities in the Agortime-Zoipe District of the Volta Region.
The facilities included eight solar-powered water systems, equipped with standpipes and taps in eight communities, serving five schools and five health facilities and nine institutional toilets; six water closets for health facilities and three KVIPs for schools.
The rest are five multi-purpose information poles to enhance communication in five communities and pavilions as youth resource centres in four communities to offer a safe and secure environment for children to learn.
The beneficiary communities include Segbale, Asafokope, Agorhokpo, Sarakope, Sileandre, Keyime, Dohia, Yevi, Kpetoe, Akpokope, Afegame and Wedzedeke.
The facilities were commissioned by Madam Laura Del Valle, the Country Director of World Vision Ghana, Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, Volta Regional Minister and traditional leaders within the district.
Over the course of its four years of operation in the district, World Vision Ghana has carried out a number of initiatives aimed at improving the lives of the people, including community engagement and sponsorship programme, reading improvement and skills enhancement, and healthy environment and wellness.
The reading improvement and skills enhancement (RISE) initiative seeks to improve children’s reading abilities while the healthy environment and wellness (HEAL) project concentrated on improving water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) conditions.
The newly commisioned WASH Facilities
The community engagement and sponsorship programme foster collaboration between World Vision, donors, and the community to produce long-lasting results for children’s well-being.
Madam Laura Del Valle, World Vision Ghana’s Country Director, said the success of these projects would not have been possible without the crucial assistance of officials from the region and the district.
She said that the solar-powered water systems, which cost $360,000 to build, had provided safe water to 15,937 people, including children, in eight communities, eliminating the need for children and their families to make long trips to obtain safe water, and freeing up children’s time for school.
The Country Director said the institutional toilets which cost $114,000 and included three KVIP for schools and six water closets for healthcare facilities, would allow 771 school children to use an improved latrine and an average of 1,635 clients or patients to access improved sanitary facilities at the health institutions.
She said the solar-powered multipurpose poles, which they installed in various communities in partnership with THEOVISION and which cost $11,500, would enable 2,311 children to study at night, promote child safety messages and environmental stewardship to more than 23,000 households.
Madam Del Valle said they were pleased with the progress made as a team in empowering communities and attaining sustainable development for all.
Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, Volta Regional Minister, expressed gratitude to World Vision Ghana for its effort in providing the residents of the Agortime-Ziope District with clean water, sanitary facilities, and hygiene supplies.
He said Agortime-Ziope was one of the districts in the region where access to potable water was scarce despite the numerous interventions put in place over the years.
The Regional Minister said due to the nature of the land, it was quite difficult to drill boreholes and obtain good yields and that attempts to drill boreholes yielded no results in most cases.
He said the Goal Six (6) of the Sustainable Development Goals talked about the provision of clean water and sanitation and this goal was critical as the fulfillment of it would facilitate the achievement of other Goals by 2030.
He said access to water, sanitation and hygiene were some of the basic needs of humanity and a fundamental human right and yet many people were unable to access them, noting that the challenge posed by these, and the lack thereof should be of grave concern to all.
Togbe Agbale II, Chief of Agorhokpo thanked World Vision Ghana for its support through a variety of initiatives that improve the lives of the people leading to positive transformation and enhanced standard of living.
The Minority Caucus in Parliament has refuted claims by the Minister for Works and Housing, Mr Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, that the Minority was responsible for the delay in operationalising the Komenda Sugar Factory in the Central Region.
This was contained in a statement signed by Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, the Minority Leader in Parliament and copied to Ghana News Agency in Takoradi.
According to the statement, Mr Oppong-Nkrumah was reported to have blamed the Minority in Parliament for the failure of the government to operationalise the Komenda Sugar Factory.
“In his attempt to justify his government’s incompetences, the Minister claims the Minority’s opposition to certain tax waivers before Parliament is to be blamed for abandoning the Komenda Sugar Factory by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government,” the statement said.
The statement described the claim as false, saying there was currently no such request for tax waiver before Parliament, in respect of the Komenda Sugar Factory.
It said: “For the record, the over GHS5.5 billion worth of unconscionable tax waivers to crony businesses of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government currently pending before the Finance Committee of Parliament, do not include any such request as claimed by Kojo Oppong Nkrumah.”
The Minority could, therefore, not be blamed for stalling the Komenda Sugar Factory.
“On the contrary, such blame must be laid squarely at the doorstep of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP administration, which inherited a revamped Komenda Sugar Factory when power was handed over to them in 2017,” the statement noted.
The statement said the factory was revamped in 2016 by the erstwhile National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, with a $35 million Indian Export-Import (EXIM) Bank facility, with an additional $24 million equally secured to support sugar cane out-growers to feed the factory
The statement said the factory was expected to create over 7000 jobs and substantially reduce Ghana’s sugar importation.
It said President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo after a tour of the facility in 2021, promised the chiefs and people of Komenda that his government was going to open the factory by March 2022.
It said, “following a similar working visit to the factory in 2022, then Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kyeremanteng also promised to ensure that the factory becomes operational but that again did not see the light of day.
Work has commenced on the reconstruction of the 23 kilometre Takoradi-Agona Nkwanta road into a dual carriageway.
The project, which has been awarded to Justmoh Construction Limited, also involves the construction of four major bridges and a number of culverts with funding from the GCB Bank PLC. It will be completed in 24 months, but could be extended based on additional works from the client.
Government has, in recent times, come under severe pressure and criticism from the public over the seeming neglect of the Takoradi-Agona Nkwanta stretch of the National Highway 1 (N1) which runs from Elubo through Takoradi, Accra, Tema to Aflao.
The deterioration of the road and the weakening of two major bridges led to the closure of the Ewisiejoe bridge on two occasions for repair works to be carried out, while the potholes and gullies caused several haulage trucks to tip over in their attempt to manoeuvre through the deteriorated road.
These instances had led to the blocking of the road, sometimes for several hours and days. The situation also brought untold hardships on the people. It also made the road unsafe to travel on, as it poses serious threat to life. The Ewusiejoe portion of the 23 kilometer stretch appears to be the worst portion.
Several cars, most especially foreign haulage trucks, had turned over at the Ewusiejoe portion due to the nature of the road.
JUSTMOH CONSTRUCTION LIMITED
The Western Regional Minister, Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, in the midst of the pressure announced that government had awarded the contract for the reconstruction of the road to Justmoh Construction Limited.
However, this was taken with a pinch of salt by a cross section of the public, including the media, as there was no evidence to that effect.
However, Workers of Justmoh were seen on the road some months ago, undertaking remedial works on the Ewisiejoe bridge and this gave rise to new wave of criticisms that, the contractor had refused to move to site to start work.
The Chief Executive of the Company, Dr Justice Amoh, explained during a site inspection that, there are a lot of processes to go through after the award of contract before mobilising to site to begin earthworks.
“The first phase of the project involves the handing over of the site, site evaluation, planning, survey works, soil/material test, design among others. As we speak, there are workers on site undertaking all these activities”, he said.
According to him, “earthworks will start in a month’s time, which will involve the removal of soil to flatten, build up and slope road location”.
MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT
Meanwhile, the company has acquired the needed equipment and machinery for the project, which are on standby at the Apremdo camp site.
Dr Amoh said everything is set for all phases of the project and that work will progress until completion.
APPEAL FOR COOPERATION
The Chief Executive of Justmoh Construction appealed to the public to cooperate and support the company.
“There will be some challenges and inconveniences to road users and communities along the route. We urge you to bear with us as we must go through such difficulties before the work can be completed for the benefit of us all. If anyone has any idea or suggestions that will help in the execution of the project, please come to us, our doors are always open”, Dr Amoh assured.
ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE
The 23km Takoradi-Agona Nkwanta road is a major link connecting the Takoradi Port to mining, goods and agriculture enclave of the Western and Western North Regions. It will facilitate the easy transportation of export commodities to the port as well as transportation of imported mining machinery and equipment.
The stretch also connects the Agona Nkwanta-Elubo road to enhance intra-African trade through the movement of goods and people to and from Ivory Coast
GHANA HIGHWAY AUTHORITY
Dr Justice Amoh explained that the project is a Government of Ghana funded project with the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) as the client.
“They are the agency that awarded the contract and have all the details. I will kindly direct the media to the GHA for all the necessary information about the project”, he said.
The 27-year-old man, Masaudu Fuseini with some of the stolen cables
A 27-year-old Electrician, Masaudu Fuseini, was on Monday April 8, 2024 sentenced to 30 days imprisonment for stealing electricity cables belonging to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) Limited at Klo-Agogo, in the Upper Manya Krobo District, in the Eastern Region.
The Koforidua Circuit Court “A”, presided over by Miss Asare Anima, also convicted him (MasauduFuseini) to a fine of 1,000 penalty units, amounting to GH¢12,000 or in default serve two (2) years in prison.
Fuseini, who was arrested on March 25, 2024 was arraigned and remanded into prison custody to reappear in Court on Monday for judgment, after pleading guilty to the charges.
He was also ordered by the Court to replace the cables, which were valued by the police at a cost of GH¢9,000 which the Court was informed by the ECG representative that the convict had replaced the cables.
Prosecuting Police Inspector Elorm Arku Klaye told the court that Fuseini was arrested at Klo-Agogo, a community in the Asesewa District of the Eastern Region operational area of ECG, on Monday, March 25, 2024.
Fuseini, a resident at Nkurakan in the Asesewa District was seen cutting some cables belonging to the ECG in some parts of the Town, and in the process was nabbed by members of a watchdog committee set up by the Assembly member for the area.
They informed the police about his activity and while carrying out a second operation, he was arrested.
He led the police and to the spot where he kept the stolen cables he cut from the poles and after investigations, he was sent to court.
The Ashanti regional minister ,Simon Osei-Mensah ,grabting an interview to the media.
The indiscipline in Afigya Kwabre South district of the Ashanti region is getting out of hand, as traditional leaders continue to sell out portions of the ‘shooting range’ land belonging to the Ghana Armed Forces to private developers.
The shooting range is an area where the military train their officers on how to use firearms. The development of illegal structures on the military site, which is located at Ntribouho, The Chronicle gathered, takes place mainly at night.
The Chairman of AREGSEC,Simon Osei-Mensah together with other members of AREGSEC seated in a meeting with one of the quarrying stones companies.
Apart from the encroachment on the military lands, concessions belonging to quarrying companies in the district are increasingly being encroached upon by private developers, after they had bought the lands from traditional leaders in the area.
This development came to the fore when the Ashanti Regional Security Council (AREGSEC) paid working visits to Quarry Companies working in the Afigya Kwabre South District to inspect safety measures put in place by the quarrying companies.
Among the companies AREGSEC visited were Woldcool Stone Quarrying Ltd, K.K Quarry, Bosa Quarry and Modern Granite Quarry.
When AREGSEC members got to the ‘shooting range’, the observation was that houses were increasingly springing up on the north-western side of the range. Owners of these buildings, The Chronicle gathered, do not have permit and allocation papers to that effect.
At a press briefing held at the assembly premises and attended by stakeholders in the quarrying industries, the Ashanti regional minister, Mr. Simon Osei-Mensah, who doubles as the Chairman of AREGSEC, expressed concern over what he had witnessed on the ‘military shooting range’ and quarry sites.
A visibly disturbed Osei-Mensah said AREGSEC had noticed that most of the chiefs are selling out buffer zone areas for residential development.
On the usefulness of the Ntribouho ‘military shooting range’, Osei-Mensah indicated that it is a no go area for civilians.
“There are some rocks which serve as a shield in the event a gun is misfired. The military knows there is a distance within which bullets are effective and vice versa, and that is why we have reserved a buffer zone. When we went to the firing range, we observed that people were increasingly building into the buffer zone”, he said.
Mincing no words, Osei-Mensah asked residents of Afigya Kwabre South who have encroached upon military firing range lands among others not to come to him when an action is taken against them.
stone quarrying operations being carried out at World Cool Stone Quarrying Ltd,Ntribuoho.
“Please, do not come to me when the army demolishes your building. No one should trespass the buffer zone. If you build there and they demolish it, do not run to me for intervention, because I cannot stop the military from using this place. I do not have any place in mind to take them to, so let us protect where they train so that they can protect us.”
He directed Christian Adu-Poku, the District Chief Executive for the area to make sure that every building that is being built in a buffer zone is destroyed.
Commenting on buffer zones regulations, the Ashanti regional minister told the meeting that 500 meters away from the quarry site are reserved as buffer zones and no one is allowed to build there, but people have built as close as 20 meters from quarry sites.
One of the buildings is located so close to the quarry and when the quarry company carries out blasting exercises, the structure will be affected, destroying properties which sometimes lead to misunderstanding.
He warned the chiefs that all the quarry companies have buffer zones that must be preserved and that they should desist from selling the lands.
During the meeting, the District Chief Executive for Afigya Kwabre South, Christian Adu-Poku, asked the quarry companies to exercise patience when residents approach them about the impact of their operations, but Minister Osei-Mensah disagreed with the DCE.
“We have to call a spade a spade and stop defending the indefensible,” he said.
Touching on safety measures at quarry sites, Simon Osei-Mensah said AREGSEC will put the observations they have made on paper and bring it back to the companies for action.
According to him, almost all the companies visited had no safety manuals, adding that only one company had one but still left with training of staff to be abreast of ‘dos and don’ts’.
He announced that AREGSEC through the security agencies will provide a template to guide the quarry companies to design a safety manual and such documents would be modified based on the location of the company.
The Chairman of Northern Quarry Association, Mr. Adu Tutu Gyamfi, said his outfit was facing some challenges in their operations. Tutu Gyamfi accused the Afigya Kwabre District Assembly for encouraging encroachment on their concessions.
The Ntribouho Millitrary Shooting Range which has been encroached upon.
According to him, anytime they reported an issue of encroachment on their concession to the assembly, they refused to take action on it. Disclosing how lawless the Afigya Kwabre South has been, Tutu Gyamfi disclosed at the meeting that he came under attack, but no one was arrested.
“I share a boundary with the military, but they have started encroaching into the boundary. At a point in time, they threatened that they would kill DCE and I”, he alleged
On how feeble they are in defending themselves against attacks, the Chairman of Northern Quarry Association disclosed that they are individual companies, so anytime one company is attacked, they are unable to defend themselves.
Chairman Tutu disclosed that a sister quarry company had been hauled to Manhyia Palace for resisting the sale of a portion of her concession by traditional authorities to someone.
To Adu Gyamfi, Afigya Kwabre South chiefs do not respect the constitutional provisions which debar them from claiming ownership over minerals.
“The Chiefs do not respect the law, which says mineral royalties found on a piece of land belong to the state. To them, they do not accept it. The DCE is aware of this. They do not accept that the minerals belong to the state else they would not have sold lands 20 meters away from concession for development”, he said.
Famous Street-pop artist, Habeeb Okikiola, popularly known as Portable, has revealed why he exhumed his mother’s body from the initial burial ground to another location.
During an interview with Brooke Bailey, Portable took the show host to where his mum was buried before he decided to exhume her body and place it at a new location.
Portable noted that when he was asked to go and make supplications at his mum’s gravesite some years ago, he found out that his mum’s family had sold the land she was buried on and was denied access to his mother.
Portable further said that he was just 13 years old when he lost his mum, adding that growing up with a struggling father was no easy feat.
He also shared that wanting to stay close to his mum is one of the reasons he went back to exhume his mother’s remains and reburied her at his new mansion, which he is currently building in Sango.
He said: “This is where I buried my mother, my mother died 13 years ago. I had to rebury her because the initial place she was buried, the land was sold. I removed my mother’s dead body, so I brought her here to be reburied and I also want to build a mansion here to honour her.”
Multiple award-winning Artiste, Kofi Kinaata has marked his birthday with a poignant musical release, unveiling his latest single, ‘Effiakuma Broken Heart,’ on April 15th, 2024. The track, a soul-stirring ballad, offers a raw and emotional exploration of love and heartbreak.
Kofi Kinaata has consistently captivated audiences with his authentic storytelling and compelling melodies. ‘Effiakuma Broken Heart’ serves as a testament to his prowess as a lyricist, delving into the complexities of relationships with depth and honesty.
Reflecting on the significance of the single, Kofi Kinaata shared, “Effiakuma Broken Heart is a reflection of the universal experience of love and loss. It’s a tribute to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of music to heal and uplift.”
‘Effiakuma Broken Heart’ is a single off his debut 7 track list Extended Play (EP) titled ‘Kofi oo Kofi.’ Set to be a compelling musical journey encompassing a range of emotions and themes, the album promises to showcase Kofi Kinaata’s evolution as an Artiste.
While fans eagerly await the release of ‘Kofi oo Kofi’ on a later date, ‘Effiakuma Broken Heart’ offers a heartfelt glimpse into the depth and artistry of Kofi Kinaata’s musical repertoire. With its release coinciding with his birthday, the single serves as a reminder of his commitment to connecting with audiences through his music.
‘Effiakuma broken heart’ is currently on all streaming platforms.
These instances had led to the blocking of the road, sometimes for several hours and days. The situation also brought untold hardships on the people. It also made the road unsafe to travel on, as it poses serious threat to life. The Ewusiejoe portion of the 23 kilometer stretch appears to be the worst portion.
