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US Open: Serena Overcomes Sakkari, Advances To Quarter-Finals

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Third seed Serena Williams advanced to the US Open quarter-finals after overcoming Greece’s Maria Sakkari in a tension-filled 6-3 6-7(6) 6-3 victory.

Early nerves saw Williams start with a double fault, but the veteran then found her footing, playing strong defensive tennis to save all three break points against her in the first set.

Williams got the first break against Sakkari for a 4-2 lead, before closing the set out with an ace.

The 23-time Grand Slam winner came up short in the second-set tiebreak however, with Serena’s power serve abandoning her when she needed it most.

Greece’s Maria Sakkari returns a shot during a US Open match against Serena Williams

Sakkari, seeded 15, carried the momentum into the third set as she started the decider with a break.

But 38-year-old Williams again showed the battling instincts that have made her one of the all-time greats. She broke back to level for 2-2 as Sakkari’s forehand started to misfire.

The six-time US Open champion, who fired off the tournament’s fastest serve with a 124 mph ace during the third set, marked her 100th win on Arthur Ashe Stadium with a roar that could be heard all around the grounds.

8️⃣

“I just kept fighting,” Williams, who lost to Sakkari two weeks ago in the Western & Southern Open, said.

“She was doing so well she was being so aggressive. I knew I needed to do the same thing.”

Williams, who kept up the pace despite breathing heavily towards the end of the nearly 2-1/2-hour match, said her physical condition had improved since their previous meeting.

“I was able to compete longer. I was a little fatigued last time and had some cramps,” Wiliams added. “I felt like she almost played better today. She’s such a good competitor. So it was still a really intense match.”

It was Williams’ second nail-biter of the tournament, after digging herself out of a one-set deficit to beat fellow American Sloane Stephens in the third round on Saturday.

Williams faces Bulgaria’s Tsvetana Pironkova in the last eight.

Cashless Revenue System: DPR Remits N673bn To Federation Account

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Not less than N673.7 billion has been remitted to the coffers of the federal government by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in the first six months of this year.

The Director of DPR, Mr Sarki Auwalu, said the petroleum agency was committed to meeting its target for 2020, especially at a time the nation was struggling to survive because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking during a visit of the Federation Allocation Accounts Committee (FAAC) post-mortem sub-committee to the agency, he said efforts have been made to block all loopholes.

According to him, the DPR operates a cashless revenue system, which enables all revenue remittances to be paid directly to the federation account in compliance with the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy.

He said the agency also conducts comprehensive quarterly and annual reconciliations of revenue payments to ensure accurate and timely remittances to the central government.

Recently, DPR incurred the wrath of the Senate when it was alleged that of the N2.4 trillion generated in 2019, the agency only remitted N44.5 billion into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF), while N88 billion was removed as 4 per cent collection fee out of which N5.72 billion was also remitted, while the balance was used for overhead.

The DPR is a revenue-collection agency for revenues accruable to the government from oil and gas industry operations, including oil and gas royalties which represent the proportional value of oil and gas production and sales from oilfields.

The agency also generates revenue from the collection of gas flare penalties imposed for gas flaring, concession rentals paid for the grant of oil and gas acreages by exploration as well as production companies and miscellaneous oil revenue, which consists of statutory application fees, license and permit fees, and penalties.

Federal Government To Fund NBET With N152bn In 2021

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The federal government is set to spend additional N152.416 billion in funding the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc in 2021.

This was stated in the 2021 capital budget ceilings in the Pre-Bilateral Proposal circular released by the Budget Office of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning which determines the maximum expenditure of each of the federal government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

In that proposal, the Federal Ministry of Finance itself is to spend a maximum of N158. 026 billion on capital projects, with NBET taking N152 .416 billion, while the ministry headquarters is to spend N1.015 billion on capital expenditure.

It was also stated that the  federal government reportedly spent over N240 billion in the last five years, paying some power plants for electricity that did not get into the grid for the use of the consumers.

The monthly payments are based on the “take or pay” clause in the Power Purchase Agreement between the federal government and the affected power generation companies on the understanding that since electricity cannot be stored, whatever was generated must be paid for whether utilized or unutilized.
However, five of such power plants have not been operating due to lack of gas supply to the plants.

Meanwhile, in the 2021 capital budget proposal, the Federal Ministry of Power headquarters, National Rural Electrification Agency, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission and Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) were allocated N7.35 billion, N12.58 billion, N294.06 million and N441.09 million respectively; while N294.06 million, N914.87 million and N4.09 billion were allocated to National Power Training Institute, Nigeria Electricity Liability Management Limited and Transmission Company of Nigeria, respectively.

In petroleum, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources Headquarters is to spend a maximum of N1.16 billion; while the Petroleum Training Institute and Nigeria Nuclear Regulatory Authority were allocated N853.62 million and N792.65 million respectively.

The Department of Petroleum Resources(DPR ) and Petroleum Production Pricing Regulatory Agency(PPPRA) were not captured on the table.

Meanwhile the Budget Office of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, will, this morning, commence its Bilateral Meetings with the MDAs on the 2021 proposals.

NIPOST Set To Inaugurate Smart Offices

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The Nigeria Portal Services to open smart offices across the country in line with the Federal Government’s digital economy policy.

The Postmaster General of the Federation, Dr Ismail Adewusi said this during an interview with journalists in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, while on inspection of the NIPOST’s facilities in the state.

The NIPOST chief, who stated that with technical advancement across the globe, letter writing was already out of vogue, said the postal services had initiated creative business methodologies to maintain its relevance.

He said, “We want to be a one-stop outfit where you can do many transactions like collection of your international passport, driving licence, capture your National Identity Card images; all these are the e-governance platforms that we are developing.

“We want to run a smart outlet post office services. It would not be big but you will be able to do all your transactions.”

He added, “We are going to use the new technology platform. Presently, we have the licence to do international cash transfer.

“The citizens will be able to do their online transactions at our smart outlets in pursuit of the digital economy policy of the Federal Government.”

With about 13,000 staff in the 3,000 outlets across the country, he said, “If need be, we will hire more staff for our operations. We will start with what we have and later expand the frontiers of employment.

“After the pandemic, things have been very difficult for the postal services sector. It is not only the sector alone that is affected; it is a global problem.

“During the lockdown, we could not move our mails. That impacted negatively on our revenue. The Nigerian airspace had not been open. These impacted negatively on our operations.

“Mails are reducing as people no longer send letters. The reform is in place to ensure that NIPOST is commercially run as a viable business entity.

“NIPOST Properties and Development Company Limited as well as NIPOST Transport Company and Logistics Limited are already registered.

He added, “Now, we don’t have enough postal outlets. The ones that we have now were designed several years ago. In Ibadan, we have about eight post offices.

“Ibadan is so large that we need to take our services down to the grassroots where they are needed. Definitely, when we set up those smart offices, working with the private sector of course, we are going to have more than 10,000 outlets all over Nigeria. We have about 3,000 outlets all over Nigeria.”

He added that the main focus at the moment for the postal organisation was to put all its services together and be competitive.

PGF Commends President Buhari For Efficiently Managing Nigeria’s Economy

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Governors of the All Progressives Congress, APC under the aegis of the Progressives Governors Forum, PGF have commended Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari for efficiently managing the country’s economy. 

The PGF Chairman and Governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu, made the commendation in a press statement that contained resolutions of a teleconference meeting of the Progressives Governors. 

Governor Bagudu said the efficient management of the economy has led to the development in the country. 

“Forum also commends President Muhammadu Buhari for efficiently managing Nigeria’s economy, which has led to giant strides in the execution of major national projects that include the revival of railways, the 2nd Niger Bridge, Ajaokuta Steel, road projects across all parts of the country, among many others. The efficient management of the economy has strengthened the capacity of the Federal Government to control the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic” he said.

The Forum also commended the Federal Government for getting the UK Commercial court to suspend penalties against Nigeria on the $9.6 billion Process and Industrial Development (P&ID) debt.

The Governors noted several strides that the Muhammadu Buhari led government has achieved. 

“Commend the Federal Government for successfully getting the UK Commercial Court to order the stay of execution, which also suspends any penalty against Nigeria in respect of the $9.6 billion Process and Industrial Development (P&ID) debt judgement against Nigeria. The ruling, which was given by presiding judge Rose Cranston of the Royal Courts of Justice Strand, London is a victory for all Nigerians. Progressive Governors in particular commend Nigeria’s legal team led by the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami SAN;

“Applaud Nigeria’s certification by World Health Organisation (WHO) as a polio-free country and restate the commitment of all Progressive Governors to continue to work with Federal Government for the eradication of all communicable diseases in the country;

“Congratulate the Federal Government for the re-election of Dr. Akinwumi Adesina as President of the African Development Bank for a second term. Forum also notes with much appreciation and commendation to the Federal Government’s nomination of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Eweala for the position of Director-General of the World Trade Organisation”

Also on party matters, the forum said the setting up of the APC, Executive and Legislative Tripartite Consultative Committee would help to resolve APC challenges and develop democracy.

Former Minister’s Exit From Party Makes No Difference – Taraba APC

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The Taraba chapter of Nigeria’s governing party, the All Progressives Congress, APC has said that the exit of the former Minister of Women Affairs, Hajia Aisha Alhassan, from the party made no difference. 

The APC Taraba state Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim El-Sudi, said this while speaking to journalists at the APC National Secretariat in Abuja shortly after a meeting with the Chairman of the party’s Caretaker Committee and Extraordinary Convention, Mai Mala Buni.

He said that Alhassan only polled 16,000 votes when she left APC to contest election in another party, while the APC candidate polled over 340,000 votes.

“So, her movement has not shaken APC in Taraba. It is in the heart of Taraba people that they want APC and they will continue to support APC” he said.

He added that he and delegation of Taraba SPC members visited the Caretaker Chairman to seek solutions to the challenges they are experiencing in the state.

“We also brought the problems of Taraba to the committee to look into them, with a view to solving them.

“After addressing the chairman and the committee, we were assured that they would look into our problem in order to solve the issues that are hanging in the air,” he said.

Mr. El-Sudi expressed confidence in the ability of the committee to address the Taraba state issue.

“The chairman is a tested and trusted leader; he was a party secretary in his state.

“He knows the plethora of problems facing the party and he has already taken steps toward solving most of them,” El-Sudi said.

NGEA To Drive Digital Transformation – DG NITDA

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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has said that implementation of the Nigeria Government Enterprise Architecture (NGEA) by the Agency is to set directions for Government digital transformation in Nigeria.

READ ALSO: Africa has great potentials to drive Digital Economy – NITDA

The Director General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi who disclosed this at 12th ISACA Annual Conference said NGEA is also used as a standard tool for executing a digital transformation strategy.

Abdullahi who delivered Keynote Address with the theme: “Accelerating Digital Transformation: The Nigerian Trends said NITDA implemented the Nigeria Government Enterprise Architecture framework to drive short, medium, and long term digital transformational impact.

The Director General noted that the framework provides direction enabling other government parastatals to easily, quickly, and conveniently execute digital initiatives. It also reduces the complexity associated with digital transformation and accelerates adoption across the board.

“The framework we designed at NITDA is in line with the digital transformation foundation laid by President Muhammadu Buhari. In October 2019, the president renamed and expanded the mandate of our Ministry to cover Digital Economy, Abdullahi explained

He further stated that, “In November the same year, 2019,the president unveiled National Digital Economy Policy for Digital Nigeria, and he directed my Minister Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, to implement the policy. On the same day, the president also directed all Federal Public Institutions to set up a Digital Transformation Technical Working Group and on 27th August this year, the Honorable Minister of communications and digital economy inaugurated the first set of 100 Federal Public Institutions’ digital transformation working group.

The idea behind setting the technical working group is to consolidate on the achievements recorded under some of our initiatives such as the Nigeria e-Government Master Plan (NeGMP), Nigeria e-Government Interoperability Framework (Ne-GIF) and Nigeria Government Enterprise Architecture (NGEA), The NITDA Boss stated.

According to him, “the framework has two value propositions. Firstly to promote One Government digital service and secondly, to guarantees the autonomy of each Federal Public Institutions (FPIs) to make individual decisions around business processes, digital services, and applications.

“Furthermore, the framework has seven layers, namely Business, Service, Data, Application, IT Infrastructure, Security, and Performance, which centered around people and processes. Each layer has high-level expectations for FPIs and as well as specifies best practices, standards, tools, reference models and recommendations that will help FPIs achieve their value propositions and meet citizens’ expectations for government digital services”.

Abdullahi maintained that with the current reality of COVID-19, digital transformation strategy focuses more on how to deliver digital service to Nigerians. Therefore, the strategy depends on existing capabilities as a country to achieve operational excellence in a digital economy.

“Having understood how important digital capabilities are in driving digital transformation, we have embarked on upskilling and reskilling Nigerians with appropriate knowledge and skills that the necessary building blocks for digital transformation. We have trained over 26,000 Nigerians this year alone on different digital skills to help them understand and embrace digital transformation.

In addition to the capacity building, we have provided thousands of digital tools to Nigerians raging from artisan toolbox set, smart mobile devices, laptops to building Community training centers, IT hubs, Innovation, and incubation hubs and center of excellence for emerging technologies,” He added.

Electricity, Petrol Price Increase: Government Reschedules Meeting With Labour Unions

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A meeting between the federal government and labour unions to discuss the hike in petroleum prices and electricity tariff has been moved to Tuesday.

The government announced the meeting to avert the planned strike by labour unions and other civil society organisations over the price increases.

The Nation newspaper reportedthat President Muhammadu Buhari Friday directed the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, to dialogue with the labour unions on September 12.

But the spokesperson of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Charles Akpan, in a phone interview said:

“The meeting has been moved to Tuesday, September 15.”

He said the meeting was moved to Tuesday to accommodate all participants.

The venue is Banquet Hall of Presidential Villa. You know all parties that will be involved in the negotiation must be present,” he said.

Meanwhile, the President of Trade Union Council, Quadri Olaleye, in a phone interview with PREMIUM TIMES said the meeting could not hold on Saturday because the unions were not properly informed: “and we don’t attend such impromptu meetings.”

“We only read about the meeting in the media but now we have been properly communicated to so the meeting is now 10 a.m. on Tuesday,” he said.

Nigerian Army Will Be Ruthless With Bandits, Others – Army Chief

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The Nigerian Army has extended its operation to curb the activities of bandits, cattle rustlers, gunrunners, and other criminals in the North-West with a promise to go tough on the outlaws.

Chief of Army Staff Lt. General Nigerian Army announced this on Saturday in Faskari, Katsina State while speaking to journalists from the state and neighbouring Zamfara.

“Be rest assured that the troops are determined to deal decisively with any criminal element not only in the Northwest but also across the country,” he said.

‘Operation Sahel Sanity’, launched amid an upsurge in crime particularly the activities of bandits, rustlers, kidnappers, and gunrunners, will now continue until December.

The army boss, however, believes determination on the part of the army alone will not be enough to stop the criminal activities which have resulted in the loss of scores of lives in the region and sparked outrage over time.

To him, it would take more support from the people of the region who he said had already provided tremendous support for the army – leading to the killing of hundreds of bandits and arrest of hundreds more including their allies.

“I already said it that these people don’t come from the skies they are within us and most of the arrests that have been made in the towns and villages, they have relations in those communities and they visit them,” he said.

“As soon as we stop shielding these criminals, the sooner we will get the insecurity resolved in all our societies. We have so far improved on our intelligence gathering.”

In order to expose such criminals, Buratai expects people to disregard their relationship with them “no matter how tight and close” the relationship may be.

“Otherwise these criminals will one day turn against them,” he warned.

Since the army launched Operation Sahel Sanity it has announced successes several times and the army boss is impressed with the progress made so far.

His visit to Katsina is to access the progress of the operation, especially in Katsina and Zamfara states where the Special Army Super Camp is located, from where the operation is coordinated.

“I am impressed with the brief I had this afternoon with the level of commitment, dedication, and loyalty of the troops,” he said.

Under the operation, the army boss added, “The troops have shown courage and determination to resolve the security challenge that has bedevilled the region.

“They tamed to the barest minimum, the issues of kidnapping, cattle Rustling, armed banditry, and gunrunning across the border among others.”

He, however, does not want the army to slow down and decided to extend the operation to ensure that “the desired result is achieved”.

Apart from acknowledging the troops and the people of the region for their support so far, Buratai praised members of the press in Katsina and Zamfara states.

“Their reportage, commentaries, and general assessment have been quite encouraging,” he said.

On Saturday, September 5, 2020, that army announced that troops of Operation Sahel Sanity had over two months killed 100 armed bandits, arrested 148 of them, and recovered about 4,000 cattle.

In addition to that, a total of 3,984 cows, 1,627 sheep/rams, and three camels were recovered while 148 suspected bandits were arrested along with 315 illegal armed miners.

Only JSS3, SS2 Students Will Resume September 21 – Lagos Government

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The Lagos State Government has announced that only JSS3 and SS2 students will be allowed to resume school on Monday, September 21, 2020.

The Commissioner for Education in Lagos State, Folashade Adefisayo disclosed this in a statement on Sunday through the Head, Public Affairs, Ministry of Education, Kayode Abayomi while revealing plans for a new 2020/2021 Academic Session resumption for public and private schools.

She said that the state would adopt a phased approach in opening public schools, thereby congratulating the SS3 students for successfully completing their WASSCE exams and urge them to stay safe as they wait for their results.

 Public Schools

Mrs. Adefisayo stated that the phased approach to opening will enable public schools to meet COVID-19 social distance rules and safety protocols which will help watch the behaviour of the pandemic as “we gradually open up our schools.

“The present JSS3 and SS2 students in public schools in the state are to resume classes from Monday, 21st of September, 2020”.

READ ALSO: Reopening Of Lagos Schools Will Be In Phases – Govt

She explained that the resumption will permit the present JSS3 students who are already in an exiting class to revise and get adequately prepared for their forthcoming Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) organized by the Lagos State Examination Board and scheduled between Tuesday, 6th and Monday, 12th of October, 2020.

According to her, the resumption will also afford the present SS2 students an opportunity to prepare effectively for their transition to SS3. The scheduled dates and venues for Entrance Examination into Lagos State Model Colleges will soon be announced by the State Examination Board.

The commissioner assured parents that announcements for opening the other classes will occur as soon as the state is certain of their safety.

In the meantime, “the unopened classes in public schools will continue their lessons on our various distance learning platforms (Online platform, radio, television and WhatsApp) while the next phase for physical resumption will be announced in due course”.

Private Schools

For private schools, Mrs Adefisayo also announced that private primary and secondary schools in the state are allowed to resume on Monday, September 21, 2020.

She added that the State Government strongly recommends and encourages school owners to put safety first and open in phases similar to the plans for public schools.

The phased opening includes strategies for staggered resumption in the mornings, classes on alternate days during the week, and teaching through various distance learning methods.

“Schools must also comply with safety protocols and hygiene guidelines as instructed by the State Government through the Office of Education Quality Assurance (OEQA).

“The Office of Education Quality Assurance will continue to monitor and evaluate Schools’ preparedness.

“Please note that pre-primary classes and schools in both public and private schools will remain closed until further announcements are made”, she emphasised.

The commissioner reminded schools that the pandemic is still around and so in all situations ensure the safety of children, teachers, and parents as a whole the first priority.

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