For Today’s Numbers to Ponder, COVID-19 has disrupted the distribution and revenue of newspaper publishers. From a short online poll conducted by DATAPHYTE, out of 778 people, only 45 buy a newspaper every day, while about 24 buy once a week. We are also sharing news of alleged grand corruption at the Lagos State House of Assembly. According to Sahara Reporters, Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa; Deputy Speaker, Wasiu Eshilokun-Sanni; and 17 other members received N80 million as estacode after attending a five-day event in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Not yet Uhuru for former Abia Governor Senator Theodore Orji. The ex-governor is answering questions on how he spent N38.8billion security votes during his eight years in office.
778 Participants
The short poll paints the ugly dilemma facing newspaper publishers in the media industry. These are loss in revenue, more people embracing online media, and new life order from COVID-19 crisis. Recently, sales from government and private establishments have significantly reduced as offices closed. With the new order of life, digital media get a boost. Although most print newspaper publishers have also embraced online publications, the operational cost of the other component – print – still overshadows the online revenue. From the poll, out of 778 people, only 45 buy a newspaper every day, while about 24 buy once a week.
1,416 Deaths
At least 1,416 lives have been lost to violence in the first quarter of this year in Nigeria, a new report by Global Rights Nigeria has revealed. These are unrelated to deaths caused by the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging almost all the 36 states of the country. Nigeria’s coronavirus-related deaths stood at 171 as of Saturday evening. The report said no fewer than 1,141 civilians and 275 security agents were killed between January and April — totalling 1,416, due to the increasing spate of insecurity in the country.
N80m For Attendance
In yet another grand corruption at the Lagos State House of Assembly, SaharaReporters has discovered how Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa; Deputy Speaker, Wasiu Eshilokun-Sanni, and 17 other members received N80m as estacode. The lawmakers received the funds after attending a five-day event in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. SaharaReporters had in a series of reports exposed how Obasa and some of his allies at the Lagos Assembly diverted public funds for personal use. Some of the reports showed how Obasa fraudulently approved the sum of N258m for the printing of invitation cards for the inauguration of the Ninth Assembly two months after the event held.[SAHARA REPORTERS]
N38.8bn Security Votes
A former Governor of Abia State, Senator Theodore Orji has furnished the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) with details of how he spent his N38.8billion security votes during his eight years in office. Orji who was in charge of the state between 2007 and 2015 is being investigated by the anti-graft commission for corruption. He said he collected N38.8billion as security votes during the period and not N48 Billion as alleged by the EFCC. Orji who is currently representing Abia Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly said he shared much of the N38billion with members of the state House of Assembly, his security informants and traditional rulers. He claimed to have also given part of the money to military units, the police, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and security agencies as what he called statutory allocations.
N500m Fundraiser
The Pan-Okun people relief response agenda has begun an N500 million fundraising programme aimed at ensuring effective healthcare delivery across Okun land in Kogi state. In a statement on Saturday, Ronke Bello, general secretary of the project, said the project was established to cushion the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the people of Okun land in Kogi-west senatorial district. She said the fundraising project will be chaired by Olu Obafemi, member of its elders’ advisory council, and Sola Akanmode, former deputy chief of staff to the president and member of the steering committee, and has a deadline of two weeks.
50% Salary Cut
Kano Governor Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has said all political office holders are to receive half salary with immediate effect from May. Ganduje said this was due to a shortfall in the Federation Account and decline in the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) because of COVID-19 pandemic. The Governor said: “Due to shortfall of the price of oil in the global market which affects world economy and eventually causes a serious shortfall in the federation account for states, the state slashes the salary of all political office holders by 50 per cent.”
30,000 Job Losses
Emirates Group is considering plans to cut about 30,000 jobs as the operator of the world’s largest long-haul carrier seeks to reduce costs after the coronavirus pandemic grounded air travel. The Dubai-based group could slash the number of employees by about 30% from more than 105,000 at the end of March, according to people familiar with the matter. Emirates is also considering accelerating the retirement of its fleet of Airbus SE A380s — of which it is the biggest operator, some of the people said, declining to be identified because the information hasn’t been made public. Emirates said it is reviewing “costs and resourcing” levels against projections as it prepares for a resumption in service.