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National Assembly Members Receives N17 Billion As Running Costs

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Senate President Ahmad Lawan in Abuja Monday said members of the National Assembly receive N17bn annually as running costs.

Lawan disclosed this at a ‘Distinguished Parliamentarians’ Lecture Series’ facilitated by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies.

According to him, the amount covers the costs of their local/international travel, consultancy services, medical services, office stationery/computers, consumables, books, newspapers, magazines, maintenance of motor vehicles and office equipment, among others.

“The quarterly office allowance for legislators is what is erroneously conflated with a monthly income to create confusion and mislead the Nigerian people.

“The average office running cost for a senator is about N13 million; while that of a member of the House of Representatives is N8 million.”

“The N13m office running cost for a senator amounts to N52m a year; while the N8m for a member of the House of Representatives amounts to N32m a year.

He, however, said the office running cost of the federal lawmakers was the lowest of any presidential democracy in the world.

“The total salary of a member of the Senate is about N1.5 million and that of the House of Representatives is about N1.3 million.

“We have broken many ‘jinxes’ and done many ‘firsts,’ overcoming traditional obstacles through consensus building and clever political brinkmanship.

“In all, the 109 senators and 360 house members receive annually N5.6 billion and N11.5bn respectively as office running cost, totaling N17bn yearly,” Lawan said.

The Senate President described the current National Assembly as the most successful in law-making since the return to civil rule in 1999.

He stated that as of November 2021, about 2,500 bills had been introduced in the National Assembly – 769 in the Senate and 1,634 in the House of Representatives.

“However, as I have repeatedly maintained, for us in the 9th Assembly it is not so much the number of bills as it is quality.

“We have focused our energy working on legislations that have a realistic chance of being assented to as well as those that have the potential to impact most on the lives of Nigerians,” he said.

He said President Muhammadu Buhari led-APC had been the most proficient in granting assent to bills, added that available data on gazetted Acts showed that between 2015 and 2021, Buhari assented to more than 84 bills, the highest since 1999.

 

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OMG: United Airlines flight from Nigeria forced to turn back after ‘unexpected aircraft movement’

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  • A United Airlines flight from Nigeria to the US made an emergency landing following a technical issue.

  • The flight from Lagos to Washington, DC. experienced “an unexpected aircraft movement,” United said.

  • Six people were taken to hospital with injuries but have been discharged, the airline said.

A United Airlines flight from Nigeria to the US was forced to make an emergency landing in Lagos early Friday.

The flight from Lagos to Washington D.C. turned back after the aircraft — a Boeing 787-8 — experienced a technical issue and “an unexpected aircraft movement,” the airline said.

After diverting, United Airlines Flight UA613 landed safely back in Nigeria. Four passengers and two flight attendants were taken to hospital with injuries but have been discharged, United Airlines said in a statement.

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) said an additional 27 passengers and five crew members sustained minor injuries.

Videos circulating on social media appear to show scenes on board the aircraft. The footage shows food and items strewn across the cabin with the sound of panicked passengers in the background.

Two-hundred-and-forty-five passengers were on board the flight, as well as eight flight attendants and three pilots.

Flight data from Flightradar24 shows that the plane abruptly dropped speed twice during the flight, at one point slowing from over 500 knots to 40 knots.

United Airlines said it was working with US and Nigerian aviation authorities to investigate the cause of the issue.

FAAN said the aircraft did not suffer “any major damage.”

The Boeing 787-8 in question, registered as N27903, was built in 2012.

In 2024, the FAA ordered hundreds of Boeing 787s to undergo inspections after a Latam Airlines jet suddenly dropped in midair.

Boeing did not immediately reply to a request for comment from Business Insider, which was sent outside regular working hours.

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Africa

Nigeria’s female cricket team is from West Africa to qualify for a World Cup

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Nigeria’s women’s under-19 cricket team, the Junior Yellow Greens , made history by qualifying for the ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup, which is being held in Malaysia . The Junior Yellow Greens’ qualification made it the first female cricket team from Nigeria and West Africa as a whole to qualify for a World Cup.

The team’s outstanding performance in the regional qualifiers won them a spot. Despite a rain-soaked final match, they beat Zimbabwe on points earned during the group stages.

With this victory, Nigeria secured their place in Malaysia and made their second-ever appearance in a cricket World Cup. The male U-19 team competed in the 2020 edition in South Africa.

Victory Igbinedion, Naomi Memeh, Anointed Akhigbe, Amusa Kehinde, Omosigho Eguakun, Umoh Inyene, Beauty Oguai, Jessica Bieni, Usen Peace, Adeshola Adekunle, Deborah Bassey, Christabel Chukwuonye, Peculiar Agboya, Lilian Ude, and Lucky Piety are among the 15 players on the female team.

They now hope to make it to the semi-finals.

Brila reports that despite Nigeria’s 41-run (DLS method) loss to South Africa on Wednesday, their thrilling two-run victory over New Zealand earlier in the tournament and a shared point with Samoa guaranteed them a place as the second-best team in Group C.

The team will now face England on January 25 and Ireland on January 29, as they continue their quest for a historic semi-final appearance.

The 2025 ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup, which runs from January 18 to February 2, started with 16 teams exhibiting some of the best young talents in women’s cricket .

This year’s tournament, the second edition of this worldwide event, features the top four teams from 2023—India, England, Australia, and New Zealand—along with four debutants: hosts Malaysia, Nepal, Samoa, and Nigeria.

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Path to National Rejuvenation – Advice to Nigerians in 2025

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We will start a new decade, 2030 – 2039, five years from today. By then, humans might be going to space for holidays. Driverless cars may have become the norm on our streets. The average life expectancy is almost certainly higher in many countries. Artificial Intelligence (AR) will be working wonders in healthcare. Where will Nigeria and Nigerians be then? What will be our lot within the human community?

Nigerians should no longer be aloof to the affairs of their country and how they are governed from year to year. In 2025, they should, with one voice and one heart, resolve to change the trajectory of their country towards delivering a better life for all citizens (without exception) and becoming a more respected nation in the world.

As a Nigerian-American citizen, I have spent much of my adult life in the United States. I have worked as a productive citizen, paying taxes to help build the American society. Now, I am looking forward to retirement. But it is with a heavy heart because the country of my birth is moving at full speed in reverse gear. And I have family and friends back home whose plight depletes my joy.

We will start a new decade, 2030 – 2039, five years from today. By then, humans might be going to space for holidays. Driverless cars may have become the norm on our streets. The average life expectancy is almost certainly higher in many countries. Artificial Intelligence (AR) will be working wonders in healthcare. Where will Nigeria and Nigerians be then? What will be our lot within the human community?

Nigerians should no longer be aloof to the affairs of their country and how they are governed from year to year. In 2025, they should, with one voice and one heart, resolve to change the trajectory of their country towards delivering a better life for all Nigerians (without exception) and becoming a more respected nation in the world.

As a Nigerian-American citizen, I have spent much of my adult life in the United States. I have worked as a productive citizen, paying taxes to help build American society. Now, I am looking forward to retirement. But it is with a heavy heart because the country of my birth is moving at full speed in reverse gear. And I have family and friends back home whose plight depletes my joy.

My humble advice to the people and government of Nigeria is simple: Borrow a leaf from thriving and progressive countries in critical sectors and get your act together. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. The world owes you nothing. You owe yourselves everything.

The most important thing to borrow is not money or even technology (as crucial as they may seem). It is the mindset of working relentlessly for the common good and posterity, not for immediate, selfish benefits or the interest of small groups closely related to us.

I arrived in America over 40 years ago, barely from my teenage years. I knew no one who could speak for me. But I received a decent education and regular odd jobs to pay my way through. It was a hard life, but the opportunity was available to me (and others like me) without minding my status as an immigrant. In the years since my graduation, I have paid back that favor with multiple interests. That’s how systems are built to be self-sustaining and grow.

No one I know feels that they owe Nigeria anything. Indeed, most think that Nigeria denied them opportunities and owes them arrears. Changing this narrative would require more than the leadership mindset shift I referred to earlier. The citizens must also be involved to hold elected and appointed leaders accountable and monitor their job performances. In doing so, they must be prepared to enforce their sovereignty or die trying.

As G.K. Chesterton rightly said, “The paradox of courage is that a person must be somewhat careless with their life to keep it.” The balance of duty, privilege, and fear keeps leaders on their toes.

In the last decade since APC came to power, it has become fashionable for Presidents to ignore or scorn public opinion while carrying on as kings and emperors with divine right to rule. This is a tragic development that must be quickly arrested. The Office of the Citizen is the most important in a Republic. The President and Governors answer to that office and take their instructions therefrom.

To exercise that office, citizens should demand regular town hall meetings from their elected leaders where they can ask questions and demand answers. If the answers are not provided or are inadequate, they should demand the resignation or removal of affected officials.

All public service outlets’ official email addresses, phone numbers, or social media handles should be in the public domain. Through these, citizens may file complaints about hardships, make suggestions, and report service failures from government officials or those asking for bribes to do their jobs. All allegations should be thoroughly investigated, and those found guilty should be fired.

Sometimes, even living in today’s Nigeria can be seen as an act of courage. Life should not be that way. Life should be enjoyed, not endured, by the living. Nigeria is a great country, blessed with enormous resources that can make it the most beautiful nation on earth.

Those of us in the Diaspora have a moral responsibility to help by using the expertise and experience gained from other climes to transform the country of our birth to be better than when we left and make us proud abroad.

The knottiest of Nigeria’s problems can be fixed simply by getting exemplary leadership into power – and insisting that the leadership recruitment system is not perverted. This ensures that leadership has vision and character compatible with the best values of the people. Can we see if the Chinese and Emirates of Dubai can do it?

♦ Dominic Ikeogu is a social and political commentator based in Minneapolis, USA.

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