Top Nigerian Newspaper Headlines For Today, Monday, 24th June, 2024

Good morning Nigeria. Welcome to the Naijaonpoint roundup of top newspaper headlines in Nigeria for today, Monday, 24th June 2024

President Bola Tinubu, on Sunday, received a symbolic gold bar presented by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake

According to Alake, the development will boost the naira value and the country’s foreign reserves.

Alake expressed appreciation to President Tinubu for backing reforms in the solid minerals sector, stating that the implementation of the National Gold Purchase program will contribute to enhancing the country’s reserve and strengthening the value of the naira.

The gold sourced from artisanal and small-scale miners and processed by the Solid Minerals Development Fund, an agency of the Ministry, has been upgraded to meet the London Bullion Market Association Good Delivery Standard.

Recently, Alake noted that the refined gold will be supplied to the Central Bank of Nigeria to enhance foreign reserves.

During the event, Alake highlighted to President Tinubu the importance of the occasion, explaining that it represented the inaugural commercial deal within the National Gold Purchase Program (NGPP) which is a centralized system that enables the purchase of gold, backed by a decentralized network involving small-scale miners, cooperatives, and production units.

Abia North Senator, Orji Uzor Kalu, has advocated that the federal government should pay more than ₦62,000 as the new minimum wage for Nigerian workers.

The former Governor advocated that President Bola Tinubu should make the minimum wage ₦90,000 because civil servants need good treatment and the minimum wage has not been increased in the last five years despite the inflation in the country.

Kalu also said that although the President has done well in certain aspects of the economy, it is obvious that Nigerians are hungry, and more needs to be done in the area of food production.

The vice-president of oil and gas at Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Devakumar Edwin, on Sunday, accused international oil companies (IOCs) in Nigeria of doing everything to frustrate the survival of Dangote Oil Refinery and Petrochemicals.

Edwin said the IOCs are deliberately and wilfully frustrating the refinery’s efforts to buy local crude by jerking up the high premium prices above the market price, thereby forcing it to import crude from countries as far as the United States, with its attendant high costs.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), has rejected the idea of a decentralized minimum wage negotiation which would allow state governors to negotiate differently from the federal government.

In rejecting the idea, the secretary of the NLC in Oyo State, Adebayo Aribatise, expressed concerns, noting that some state governors would bastardize the opportunity and it may also cause a disadvantage for workers.

Instead of decentralization, the NLC expressed support for the federal government to continue to champion the process while the state governors key into the agreement.

The position of the NLC was made known in response to suggestions from some political figures who have been advocating for decentralized discussions regarding minimum wage.

A group of about 50 members of the House of Representatives, representing various regions and political parties, have come together under the banner of Concerned Federal Lawmakers for Peace and Security in the South-East.

They have petitioned President Bola Tinubu to use Section 174 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) and Section 107(1) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, to secure the release of the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

These lawmakers believe that releasing Kanu will help restore peace in the South-East region.

In addition to calling for Kanu’s release, the legislators urged President Tinubu to initiate a presidential peace campaign to tackle the myriad issues affecting the South-East.

The lawmakers requested that President Tinubu instruct the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, to use his ‘nolle prosequi’ powers under Section 174(1) of the Constitution and Section 107(1) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 to release Kanu and halt his trial, emphasizing that such a move would promote peace in the South-East.

The legislators argued that this action is overdue and essential for fostering dialogue and addressing the underlying issues behind the South-East agitations.

They noted that a similar gesture was extended in the cases involving Omoyele Sowore and Sunday Igboho.

The Labour Party (LP) Presidential Candidate in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, has dissociated himself from a trending report online, alleging that he was among “detractors” criticizing the Federal Government’s alleged spending on the national anthem.

Obi distanced himself from this claim in a statement released by his Media Office, in Abuja yesterday.

According to the statement, which was signed by his Spokesman, Yunusa Tanko, “The attention of the Peter Obi Media Reach, POMR has been drawn to a news story circulating in social media that the 2023 Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi has been among ‘ detractors’ who have been vocal against the expenditure on the new National Anthem.

“The news story claimed that the sum of N814b was spent on the National Anthem by the Federal Government and that it has attracted criticism from Nigerians, including Peter Obi.

“POMR wishes to state clearly that while Peter Obi has been a critic of wasteful spending of public funds, he has not said a word directly or indirectly on the new national anthem.

“Most of OBI’s statements are based on verifiable facts and he never embarked on frivolous remarks.

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has stated that the Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration is looking into reports of government officials at international airports begging and extorting Nigerians.

Naijaonpoint reports that Nigerians have at various occasions called out government workers over extortion at airports. Videos have also emerged showing airport officials requesting bribes from travellers, including foreigners.

Reacting in a post on his X (Twitter) handle on Sunday, Keyamo revealed that the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, had recently called a meeting over the controversy.

He wrote: “I have received several complaints about the menace of begging and extortion at our International airports by a few unscrupulous persons who give all of us a bad image.

“My phones are beeping every minute with messages about this from well-meaning Nigerians.

“Just to set the records straight, most of the agencies involved in this menace are not under the control of the Aviation Ministry, though they are stationed at our airports.

“However, I have been working closely with other Ministers, arms of government and agencies who are responsible for these agencies and a solution is in sight soon.

“We are all working under the coordination of the National Security Adviser who called a meeting a few days ago on this issue and we shall soon unveil practical steps being taken to stem this ugly tide.

“We thank Nigerians for their eternal vigilance on this issue.”

The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has confirmed the presidency’s commitment to alleviating the suffering of Nigerians.

He also stressed that all well-meaning Nigerians should play prominent roles in leading the country, especially the media.

Onanuga made this statement over the weekend in Abuja while receiving the Association of Corporate Online Publishers (ACOE).

He confirmed that all Nigerians would need to embrace agriculture to combat hunger.

The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has revealed the plan of the Federal Government to relocate 29 correctional centres from urban areas.

According to Tunji-Ojo, the decision to relocate the prison became imperative to curtail the security risk the prisons posed to society because of their closeness to urban centres.

The minister listed some of the prisons, including Ikoyi Correctional Centre, Apapa, Agodi, Enugu, and Suleja.

Naijaonpoint reports that Tunji-Ojo disclosed this while speaking as a guest on ‘The Big Interview’, hosted by O’tega ‘The Tiger’ Ogra.

The minister said the relocation of the correctional centres was necessitated by the audit carried out on all the 256 correctional centres in the country.

He faulted the siting of a correctional facility in Ikoyi, Lagos, saying a jail attack on the centre would not only damage the reputation of the country, but also worsen insecurity in the state.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has raided a shrine used for storing illicit drugs in the Igor community of Benin City, Edo state, which was guarded by a large black snake.

In a statement on Sunday, June 23, NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, revealed that operatives discovered a specially constructed large hole hidden in a wall behind wallpapers and fetish objects.

Naijaonpoint gathered that this concealed space was used to store various illicit substances.

Among the seized drugs were methamphetamine and several potent strains of cannabis known as Loud, Colorado, and Arizona, with a total weight of 8.743 kilograms. These were retrieved from the deep hole in the shrine’s wall.

During the operation on Tuesday, June 18, 2024, two women, Sonia Chinonso Ezumezu and Risikatu Tijani, were arrested after the giant black snake guarding the shrine was neutralized.

That’s the top Nigerian newspaper headlines for today. Read more Nigerian news on Naijaonpoint. See you again tomorrow.