Scene of a horrible car crash in Abuja this morning

A white Ford Ranger pickup truck this morning lost control and hit the road intersection before crashing into a black Toyota Prado SUV belonging to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA.

The accident happened near Gosa market along Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Road, Abuja.

An eyewitness said that both vehicles somersaulted a couple of times before resting on their backs.

The two occupants of the Prado SUV came out unhurt. The driver and lone occupant of the Ford Ranger although came out of the truck on his own, slumped and fell unconscious soon after and was rushed to the hospital.

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El-Rufai To Spend N14b On Lunch, Tuition For School Children

Gov Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State says his government has set aside, nearly fourteen billion naira to provide lunch for the state's estimated one million primary school pupils and improved meals for her 273,000 boarding  students.

Gov El-Rufai said that the N13.6b budget would improve the quality of food served to boarding students by 500%, and also provide new school uniforms for every primary school pupil in the state, thereby providing jobs for over 5000 tailors.

He said, “Every commissioner here has brought a blueprint and how he intends to achieve it. Just as I have promised, no primary school pupil will pay a penny either as tuition, Parent Teachers Association levy or any sort of levy.

“That means that parents of these pupils will save N3.7 billion annually as what was charged them by the last government.

“Also, we are embarking on a free lunch programme for our primary school pupils and that will cots N9 billion to cover one million children.

“Today, only N11 is used to feed each boarding school student in this state per meal, which is unacceptable. We have resolved to raise it by 500%.Each student will now be fed on N66 per meal; we shall spend N200 million per term or N600 million per year. That will cover our 273,000 boarding students."

El-Rufai who addressed newsmen in Kaduna at the end of a three - day retreat for his cabinet said that he was committed to delivering on his promises to the people.

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UNFPA, Yobe Govt Partner On IDPs

The United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA says it is working with the government of Yobe State to help Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs in the areas of promotion of reproductive health, restoration of women dignity and provision of psychosocial support.

Head of UNFPA subregional office in Kaduna, Ms Dawn Minott disclosed this in Damaturu on Monday during a working visit to Yobe State. She said the visit was to assess the impact of the support provided by the fund.

She said that UNFPA was engaging rape victims as change agents to encourage other victims to overcome cultural barriers to addressing sexual abuse.

She added that she was happy with the feedback from stakeholders on the relevance of the support being provided by UNFPA.

She said, "The reproductive health kits went directly to the beneficiaries at the IDP camps and state specialists’ hospital. We have seen for ourselves that those kits have been relevant for this particular context.”

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More Nigerians To Pay Taxes By Next Week - FG

The Federal Government has said that more Nigerians will begin to pay taxes by next week.
The Acting Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, Mr Tunde Fowler said that measures to actualize the objective have been worked out in collaboration with state governments' internal revenue services across the country.

He added that tax collection would be enforced by the federal and state governments.

Mr Fowler who spoke at a meeting of the Joint Tax Board in Abuja on Monday said that government was aiming to achieve a tax compliance and remittance level of 99.9%.

He said that just as every individual is expected to pay tax at the state level, every corporate organization must pay the appropriate tax at the federal level.

On the modalities for achieving the objective, he said,
“We are going to exchange information with state boards of internal revenue so that we have all the information in a database. We’ve given them out already in case there is any company within their states that they don’t currently have on their database. That is step number one.

“So, immediately, we should have a growth in taxpayers both at the federal and state levels within one week.”

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Nigerians To Pay More For Electricity From October.

The Federal Government on Monday declared that electricity tariffs across the country would be increased in October.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, Mr Godknows Igali made the declaration in Abuja at the Powering Africa Nigeria Conference. He reiterated government's commitment to improving the lot of the power sector by providing the enabling environment for investors.

He said that government would continue to fine tune the relevant areas in the sector to enable investors to run their business profitably.

On the proposed review in electricity tariffs, the Chairman, National Electricity Regulatory Commission, Mr Sam Amadi said that from October, power Distribution Companies would begin to implement a new tariff for retail consumers.

He added that stakeholders were fine-tuning the new tariff structure and would explain to the consumers why they need to pay more.

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Photo of Alyssa Milano Breastfeeding

Alyssa Milano posted this photo of her breastfeeding her newborn on Instagram.

That got her some negative comments. But what do you think of the picture? Do you consider it offensive?

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Jos School Building Collapse Kills Four Pupils

A story building being used for Islamic teaching has collapsed in Bukuru, Jos killing four pupils and injuring five others.

The school identified as Abu Naib Islamic school is located at Gero Road, Bukuru, Jos South local government area of Plateau State.

The Coordinator, North Central Zone of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Alhaji Muhammad Abdulsalam confirmed the incident. He said ;
“So far four children have been confirmed dead while five others have sustained injuries and have been taken to the specialists hospital. Our men are still carrying out the rescue mission and by tomorrow (today) I will give you the details.”

Sources around the school said that the casually figures could  rise as rescue efforts were still ongoing

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