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COVID-19: Osinbajo, governors, British PM others popularise digital meetings

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In the midst of what is increasingly becoming a global coronavirus lockdown, governments’ operations and private businesses are being affected across the world as isolation and social distancing have become the order of the day.

But it would seem Nigerians are leading in adopting technology to beat the situation which ordinarily would have grounded operations of governments and businesses.

In Nigeria, championing this innovation is Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who in the last couple weeks have been holding his meetings and some public engagements through videoconferencing.

Besides this meeting, the VP has also held other meetings using technology to beat the shutdown and comply with social distancing at the same time. He also participated in a Google Hangout in Abuja on Monday where young technology innovators across the country discussed solutions, ideas and sharing public information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and its attendant implications.

Besides the VP and the Governors, the other international public figure known to hold meetings via videoconferencing this week is the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

For improvising various means to beat the Coronavirus pandemic, the Nigerian Young Tech Professionals based in the United Kingdom have commended the Vice – President of Nigeria for being a model to other world leaders and captains of industry by holding a video conference of from his office.

The Secretary of the group, Chinedu Ogbonna said: “the Vice – President has shown that he can improvise and make things work in any situation using technology. He took the lead by being a model to other world leaders, and they now take a cue from the brilliant idea at this critical moment of the pandemic outbreak”.

 

COVID-19: Osinbajo, governors, British PM others popularise digital meetings

holding meetings in his office via video conferencing while on self-isolation in accordance to the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) protocols, the Vice President has also been worshipping online for the past two Sundays as the Aso Villa Chapel streams the service online with less than 10 people including the Chapel Chaplain and few others on the ground at the Villa Chapel.

@Cbngov Akin posted on twitter how Osinbajo held the online meeting, while the Lagos State Government and Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of Britain followed suit.

In response, @Ibmojotu99 wrote: “Always an innovative leader he made it look so easy and now the world follows but I can’t help but imagine if it was The UK prime minister that did it first, wailers would label anyone after copycat”

On the contrary, Dwight Shrute added: “Someone said all these small companies have been doing it since, but our own just started. The hatred sent ehnnn. Ocho ga”

 

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JUST IN : $4.2m COVID-19 fraud : Apetu of Ipetumodu, Oba Olugbenga Oloyede.jailed four years in US

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The Apetu of Ipetumodu in Osun State, Oba Joseph Oloyede, has been sentenced to more than four years in prison in the United States.

Oloyede, 62, who holds dual U.S. and Nigerian citizenship and resides in Medina, Ohio, was on August 26 handed 56 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Christopher A. Boyko.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio in a statement on Tuesday, the monarch, was also ordered to “serve three years of supervised release after imprisonment and pay $4,408,543.38 in restitution.

“He also forfeited his Medina home on Foote Road, which he had acquired with proceeds of the scheme, and an additional $96,006.89 in fraud proceeds investigators had seized,” the statement read.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Oloyede led a conspiracy to exploit COVID-19 emergency loan programmes created for struggling businesses.

“From about April 2020 to February 2022, Oloyede and his co-conspirator, Edward Oluwasanmi, conspired to submit fraudulent applications for loans that were made available through the U.S. Small Business Association (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act,” the statement read.

In April, the duo pleaded guilty to wire fraud and tax fraud charges linked to a pandemic relief scam that siphoned over $4.2m in federal stimulus funds.

The court was told that Oloyede, who also worked as a tax preparer, “operated five businesses and one nonprofit, while Oluwasanmi owned an additional three business entities.

“Both defendants used their businesses to submit loan applications using false information.

“They obtained approximately $1.2 million in SBA funds for Oluwasanmi’s entities and $1.7 million for Oloyede’s entities,” the statement added.

According to investigators, “Oloyede submitted fraudulent PPP and EIDL applications in the names of some of his clients and their businesses.

“In exchange, Oloyede would receive 15-20% of their loans as the fee, or kickback, for obtaining the loans for them, without reporting this income to the IRS on his own tax returns.”

The funds were then used for personal gain, prosecutors said.

“Investigators learned that the defendant used funds obtained from these loans to acquire land and build a home and purchase a luxury vehicle,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office disclosed.

In all, Oloyede “caused the SBA to approve 38 fraudulent applications, amounting to $4,213,378 in disbursed loans and advances.”

His co-conspirator, Oluwasanmi, 62, of Willoughby, was earlier sentenced in July to 27 months in prison.

He was also ordered to pay more than $1.2 million in restitution, forfeit a commercial property purchased with fraud proceeds, and surrender more than $600,000 held in financial accounts.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office emphasized the significance of the conviction, noting that the case was jointly investigated by the Department of Transportation Office of the Inspector General, the FBI Cleveland Division, and IRS-Criminal Investigations as part of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee Fraud Task Force.

“This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Edward D. Brydle and James L. Morford for the Northern District of Ohio,” the release concluded.

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BREAKING : Air Peace is set to launch direct flights from Lagos to Brazil, following an agreement reached during President Tinubu’s visit to Brazil

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Air Peace, is set to begin direct flights from Lagos, Nigeria  to São Paulo, Brazil following an agreement reached during President Bola Tinubu’s state visit to Brazil

Details later

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Breaking : Panic as Abuja-Kaduna Train Derails

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A passenger train traveling from Abuja to Kaduna derailed on Tuesday morning, sparking panic among passengers and their families.

The incident reportedly occurred along the Kaduna corridor shortly after the train left Abuja around 11 a.m. on its way to Kaduna.

A passenger on board described the situation as “chaotic,” noting that people were “scrambling to safety in fear and confusion.”

The cause of the derailment remains unclear, but official confirmation indicates about six people sustained injuries, with no fatalities reported.

According to security sources, military personnel have been deployed to the scene to help evacuate stranded passengers.

The Nigerian Railway Corporation has issued a statement on the incident.

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