Twitter is considering building a new feature that will allow users to tweet things longer than the traditional 140-character limit, and the company is targeting a launch date toward the end of Q1.
Twitter is considering a 10,000 character limit which is the same character limit the company uses for its Direct Messages product.
It is said that Twitter is currently testing a version of the product in which tweets appear the same way they do now, displaying just 140 characters, with some kind of call to action indicating that there is more content you can’t see.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has been looking for ways to jumpstart user growth for some time and recently the company has threw a number of product updates at users to make this happen.
He made the announcement on Twitter with this tweet
Spamming issues may arise from the character limit extension but Twitter will definitely perfect the character limit extension before rolling out.
Bosch, a global supplier of technology and services partnered with United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) recently to organise a stakeholders consultative meeting in Lagos with farmers to discuss the prospect, challenges and marketing of cassava production in the country.
Speaking at the forum, Managing Director of Robert Bosch West Africa, Mr. Ghislain Noumbessy, said it is imperative for farmers to take advantage of the technological tools and services that could help them find solutions to their food loss and perk up their profit.
Noumbessy stated that Bosch has been motivated by the search for ever-better technological solutions and fresh approaches that will help tackle the great challenges of today and deliver benefits to her customers.
A representative of UNIDO from Austria, Dr. Yvonne Lokko stated that organization is working with Bosch in line with the United Nations agenda to reduce poverty, facilitate trade capacity building, agri-business and agro-industry development in Nigeria.
Speaking on the Bank of Industry role in Agric-Business development in Nigeria, its Managing Director, Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa stated that agriculture is one of the cardinal agenda of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, saying the bank will continue to give adequate necessary supports and loans to farmers to grow their business.
Olaoluwa, who was represented by the Group Head, Agro Processing Unit of BoI, Mrs. Ruth Kadafa said farming is a serious business and cassava is a profitable trade but there is a significant need for many farmers to improve on their skills and management structures to enable them improve their farming in 21st century.
She said BoI has noticed that many farmers are individualistic and hardly come together as a team to have a registered corporative or association which could enable them to access loans from financial institutions.
Mrs. Kadafa therefore charged farmers integrate and collaborate with like-minds, utilize technological tool to improve the quality of the produce and package them as premium brands that consumers will be willing to pay for.
To encourage farmers to leverage on the opportunity to improve the quality and quantity of their cassava and other farm produce with the aid of her offerings, the company’s Sales Director for Bosch West Africa, Mr. Francis Omoniyi said: “Bosch will be giving one year free service maintenance to customers that purchase any of their tools and educate them how to fully utilize the equipment”this is in a bit to structure Agric business in the nation and as well boost her GDP.
Two suspected oil thieves arrested last week by the Nigerian Navy, Warri, Delta State have been handed over to the area commander, Nigerian police Warri, Mr Muazu Mohammed, for further investigation.
Also in police net were trucks used by the hoodlums to commit the alleged crime and one hundred and thirteen (113) empty drums also for the same purpose.
Handing over the suspects whose names were given as Igere and Oyor, and the items recovered from them, NNS Delta base operations officer, Commander Shehu Tasiu, requested that the suspects be properly profiled for future references.
CEO Mr Kingsley Makhubela today announced the appointment of Mrs Linda Sangaret as Chief Marketing Officer of the country’s official marketing and reputation management agency.
Mrs Sangaret has recently concluded a decade long tenure as South African Tourism’s Country Manager in France. During this time, she was key to South Africa’s efforts to position the country as a destination of choice for French tourists.
Between 2000-2005, Mrs Sangaret held the position of Global Communications and Marketing Manager at the Societe Generale Investment Bank in France and was responsible for the implementation of the Bank’s communications and marketing strategy in Asia and the Americas.
Mrs Sangaret has also served the country as a diplomat in Paris between 1995-1999.
Welcoming Mrs Sangaret to Brand South Africa, Mr Kingsley Makhubela said, “Brand South Africa is pleased to have a global citizen of the calibre of Mrs Sangaret as its Chief Marketing Officer. Mrs Sangaret will be responsible for co-ordinating national efforts to position South Africa as a competitive destination of choice in a range of areas and we wish her a successful tenure at Brand South Africa.”
Speaking about her appointment, Mrs Sangaret said, “After many years of working to position my country positively on foreign shores, I am pleased to be able to showcase to the world, including South Africans, the beauty and magnificence of our country and its people. In an increasingly borderless global world, a nation’s reputation and its competitive strengths are its biggest assets. I look forward to the task of defining South Africa’s value proposition with a range of stakeholders so that we can leverage the best that the country has to offer to position South Africa as a world class destination of choice,” concluded Mrs Sangaret.
On Wednesday, the Lagos State Government demolished the Owonifari Market at Oshodi which has been in existence for more than 40 years.
The Lagos State government had on tuesdsay closed the market to deal with security challenges within the Oshodi metropolis.
According to the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, the move was geared towards the need to sanitise and beautify the Oshodi area and bring transformation, in particular, to the Owonifari area, as well as the entire bus stop terminal, which had been constituting a menace and an eyesore in the locality.
The demolition was directly supervised in the earlier hours of Wednesday by the Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode among a host of other officials.
It was further learnt that the affected traders and shop owners had been relocated to the new Isopakodowo Market at Bolade Area of Oshodi.
According to the World Bank’s January 2016 Global Economic Prospects, weak growth among major emerging markets will weigh on global growth in 2016.
However, economic activity should still pick up modestly to a 2.9 per cent pace from 2.4 per cent growth in 2015, as advanced economies gain speed,
Simultaneous weakness in most major emerging markets is a concern for achieving the goals of poverty reduction and shared prosperity because those countries have been powerful contributors to global growth for the past decade. Spillovers from major emerging markets will constrain growth in developing countries and pose a threat to hard-won gains in raising people out of poverty, the report warns.
“More than 40 per cent of the world’s poor live in the developing countries where growth slowed in 2015,” said World Bank Group President, Jim Yong Kim.
“Developing countries should focus on building resilience to a weaker economic environment and shielding the most vulnerable. The benefits from reforms to governance and business conditions are potentially large and could help offset the effects of slow growth in larger economies.”
Global economic growth was less than expected in 2015, when falling commodity prices, flagging trade and capital flows and episodes of financial volatility sapped economic activity.
Firmer growth ahead will depend on continued momentum in high income countries, the stabilisation of commodity prices and China’s gradual transition towards a more consumption and services-based growth model.
Many flights were cancelled on Monday, January 4 and Tuesday, January 5 as a result of the inclement weather in many cities in the country.
According to sources, virtually all the airlines cancelled many domestic flights while passengers were stranded across the country.
Daily Trust gathered that Arik Air, Med-View, Dana Air, among others had to cancel flights due to poor visibility occasioned by the harmattan haze.
It would be recalled that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) had alerted airline operators especially pilots to take cognizance of the weather before flying.
Arik Air spokesman, Adebanji Ola promised to find out about the flight cancellation and get back to our correspondent.
However, Dana Air Communication Manager, Okwudili Kingsley confirmed that some flights were cancelled on (Monday) and Tuesday.
“We were also affected by the weather. I am aware some flights were cancelled yesterday (Monday) and even today (Tuesday)”, he said.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, has instructed the 11 distribution companies, Discos, not to connect new customers except they are provided with meters.
This was announced on Wednesday, January 6, in a statement by its Public Affairs Head, Usman Abba-Arabi.
The commission, also said the increase in tariff would be effective February 1. It said it has not changed the take-off date as speculated.
It quoted the acting Head of the Commission, Anthony Akah, said the removal of fixed charge under the new tariff regime “was in response to electricity consumers’ complaints and a measure to ensure electricity distribution companies improve on service delivery as their income is dependent on the quantity of electricity used by their customers.”
The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, has flayed the federal government over the recent cut of 50k in the pump price of fuel, stressing that the margin was not justifiable given the fall in the price of crude oil in the international market.
The TUC president, Bobboi Kaigama, and Secretary-General, Barrister Musa Lawal, said in a statement in Lagos on Wednesday that the appropriate deed for the Buhari’s government was to have reduced the price of fuel by 40 per cent.
It said: “Considering the drastic fall in the price of crude in the international market, we expected that the pump price of fuel would be reduced by, at least, 40 per cent.
“It is most disappointing that the government reduced the price by just N1 and 50k at filling stations respectively owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the independent marketers”.
Nigeria is set to become a major exporter of fertilizer in the first quarter of 2016 when Indorama’s brand new fertilizer plant begins production.
The Indorama fertilizer project is the world’s largest gas-based single stream urea plant being built in Eleme, Rivers State, by the Indorama Eleme Fertilizer and Chemicals Limited (IEFCL), a sister company of the Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals Ltd. (IEPL).
The company, in its in-house magazine, Impact, disclosed that several critical sections of the plant are going through various stages of commissioning and test-run leading to the plant’s inauguration in 90 days’ time.
An 84km gas pipeline to supply the Natural Gas Liquid (NGL) feedstock and a port terminal at Onne Port Complex are also being completed to complement the fertilizer project.
The Bauchi State Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar of Bauchi presented a budget proposal of N135. 3billion for the 2016 fiscal year to the State House of Assembly.
The Governor, while presenting the budget proposal to the Bauchi State House of Assembly complex on Wednesday, January 6, said the budget was made up of N65, 498, 008, 456 as recurrent expenditure, and N69, 805, 091, 554 as capital expenditure.
He gave a recurrent estimate of the budget as N67, 136, 820, 593 for recurrent revenue.
According the Governor, the estimate of the budget is made up of Internally Generated Revenue of N9, 998, 136, 773 and statutory allocation of N57, 138, 683, 820.
Governor Abubakar also gave the budget’s recurrent expenditure of a total sum of N65, 498, 008, 456 comprising of personnel cost of N25, 182, 118, 675; Overhead cost N23, 745, 885, 004; consolidated revenue fund charges of N16, 570, 004, 777.
According to him, the consolidated revenue fund charges comprised of Pension and Gratuity N8.5 billion; Public Debt Charges/Debt Services N7.02billion; and Public Officers’ Salary of N1.04 billion.
The Governor said it is projected that Bauchi state will realize capital receipts in the sum of N57, 714, 770, 077 comprising of opening balance N250 million and internal loans N21, 600, 000, 000; External loans N7, 774, 261, 216; Grants and Aids N9, 993, 223, 164; and Other capital receipts/local Govt. Joint Project N18. 097, 285, 697.
The Budget capital expenditure breakdown is Administrative sector N5.4 billion; Economic sector N30.5 billion; Law and Justice Sector N1.9 billion; Regional sector N3.3billion, and social sector N28.5billion, giving a total of N69, 805, 091, 554.
He explained that the present administration came into power at a difficult time when the economy was at the brink of total collapse with public treasuries at all levels of government empty, high level of corruption, and insecurity of lives and property nationwide.
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, has said the new terminal building at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, MMIA, Lagos, which will be completed in 2016 is expected to boost the airport’s passenger capacity by another 15 million in addition to existing capacity of 15 million passengers,
Spokesman of the airport authority, Yakubu Dati told reporters in Lagos on Wednesday, January 6, that FAAN was currently gearing up towards handling the expected 30 millions passengers traffic at the completion of work at the international airport terminal building.
The aviation authority faces the new challenge as it awaits the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) safety audit in March this year. But the agency said there was no room for disappointments.
Dati, who spoke on the activities of the agency on traffic management before and after the yuletide period, said except the Turkish airline’s passengers breach that happened on Christmas day, the yuletide season saw a hitch-free and seamless passengers facilitation.
He said FAAN was alive to its responsibilities in ensuring that its security operatives and other security agencies deployed detective machines such as screening machine, CCTV, full body scanners and personal intelligence to ensure easy facilitation of passengers.
He said, “Let me also emphasise that a safe and secured airport will be in place and will be witnessed this year when the new terminals under construction will be completed and passengers will have that experience they always enjoy outside the shores.
“With the completion of the new terminal in Lagos, the terminal will be able to process additional 15 million passengers which means we will able to service about 30 million passengers. All these are things put together to raise aviation to a new level this year.”
Nigeria Customs Service, NCS Federal Operations Unit, FOU, zone C Owerri on Wednesday, January 6, disclosed that the unit made a Duty Paid Value, DPV, of N2.7 billion in 2015 up from the N1.8 billion generated the preceding year.
The Area Controller in charge of the unit, Victor David Dimka, who disclosed this to reporters in his office, said that the collections represented a geometrical progression of what the unit made in 2014 adding that it would hopefully go higher in 2016 because the officers of the unit are ever ready to work.
With over N72 million recorded as revenue in 2014, Dimka said that N130,144,132 million was made in 2015.
Dimka who took stock of the performance of the unit last year in comparison with that of the preceding year 2014, said that while 466 seizures were made in 2015, 363 was made in 2014, adding that a total of four suspects were convicted in 2014 and one in 2015.
He said that the unit arrested a total 316 suspects in the year 2015 in connection with the smuggling of various contraband goods into the country.
According to the Area Controller, the figure was recorded in contrast to that recorded in 2014 which stood at 104.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, has said that the new electricity tariff, the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) 2015, will take effect from February 1, 2016.
The Commission noted that there are inbuilt consumer protection mechanisms and incentives for improved service delivery by the distribution companies and fair return on investment in the new tariff order.
Consequently, the Commission has restated its mandate to the distribution companies (DISCOs) to abide by its order not to connect new customers without first providing them with meters.
The acting Head of the Commission, Anthony Akah, in a statement made on Wednesday, January 6, said the removal of fixed charge under the new tariff regime “was in response to electricity consumers’ complaints and a measure to ensure electricity distribution companies improve on service delivery as their income is dependent on the quantity of electricity used by their customers.”
Akah said that the Commission will continue to engage stakeholders including members of the National Assembly to address their concerns on the new tariff regime, adding that “NERC holds the National Assembly in high esteem and we are sure that both institutions are working to ensure that the national and consumer interests are protected.”
The Commission, in implementing this cost reflective tariff will effectively monitor and enforce all service delivery agreements in the new tariff order, Akah said in the statement.
The new tariff order aside from eliminating fixed charge has a robust mechanism to ensure that electricity distribution companies fully meter their consumers and eliminate “crazy” billing within one year.
Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, IMF, Christine Lagarde on Wednesday, January 6, said Nigeria must increase the Value Added Tax (VAT) in order to generate more revenue for development.
The IMF Boss, who is in Nigeria on a 4-day official visit spoke when she met Senators and members of the House of Representatives yesterday at the National Assembly.
To step up revenue mobilization of the country, she said the first step should be the broadening of the tax base and reduction of leakages by improving compliance and enhancing collection efficiency.
“At the same time, public finances can be bolstered further to meet the huge expenditure needs. For example, the current VAT rate is among the lowest in the world and well below the rates in other ECOWAS members-so some increase should be considered,” she said.
While urging the Federal Government to be careful on borrowing, she said Nigeria’s debt is relatively low at about 12 per cent of GDP but that it weighs heavily on the public purse.
“Already, about 35 kobo of every naira collected by the federal government is used to service outstanding public debt. Transfers and tax expenditures should also be addressed.”
For example, continuing the move already begun by the government in the 2016 budget to eliminate resources allocated to fuel subsidies would allow more targeted spending, including on innovative social programs for the most needy.
“Indeed, fuel subsidies are hard to defend. Not only do they harm the planet, but they rarely help the poor. IMF research shows that more than 40 per cent of fuel price subsidies in developing countries accrue to the richest 20 per cent of households, while only 7 per cent of the benefits go to the poorest 20 per cent,” she said.
“Over the medium term, oil prices are likely to remain much lower than the 2010-13 average of more than $100 a barrel. Why? Because of the huge oversupply in global oil markets.”
“Think of the shale oil boom in the United States, and some historically large producers such as Iraq and Iran coming back to the market. Other factors include OPEC’s strategic behavior and the drop in global demand for oil, especially in emerging economies.”
“Already, lower oil prices have sharply reduced Nigeria’s export earnings and government revenues. Both are likely to remain at depressed levels, reducing the space for policy interventions to address Nigeria’s social and infrastructure needs,” the IMF chief said.
Transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, closed on a negative note Wednesday, January 6, as the All Share Index plunged by 3.28 per cent to close at 27,180.76 points from 28,102.14 on Tuesday, January 5.
Similarly, market capitalization also slid from N9.665 trillion to N9.347 trillion.
WAPCO recorded the highest gain of the day with N8.99 gain or 9.36 per cent to N105.00 followed by Berger Paint with a gain of N0.50 or 5 per cent to close at N10.50 followed by NAHCO that gained N0.18 or 5 per cent to close at N3.78 per share.
On the other hand, Dangote Cement topped the losers’ chart with N16.57 loss or 9.75 per cent to close at N153.43 followed by Union Homes that lost 0.47 or 9.46 per cent to close at N4.50 per share, and Skye Bank that lost N0.14 or 9.33 per cent to close at N1.36 per share.
All together, a total of 202,724,225 shares worth N1.481 billion exchange hands in 3,012 deals.
The new year started on a bad note for investors in Nigerian stock market as transactions on the bourse remain in the negative one for three consecutive trading day.
Equities had in the last three days traveled south with N503 billion declined in stocks values.
Market losses of N94 billion on Monday continued on Tuesday with N92 billion dropped, while it depreciated by N317 billion yesterday as a result of massive sell-off in big capitalized stocks such as Dangote Cement Plc, Oando Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, FBN Holdings and Tiger Brands Consumer Goods.
At the end of Wednesday, January 6 trading, the equities market closed on a negative note, as NSE All Share Index depreciated by 3.28 per cent to close at 27,180.76 basis points, compared with the 0.95 per cent depreciation recorded previously.
Oil prices shed more than 4 per cent to new 11-year lows on Wednesday, January 6 as the rift between Saudi Arabia and Iran made any cooperation between major exporters to cut output even more unlikely.
The row over Saudi Arabia’s execution of a Shi’ite cleric has chopped nearly 8 percent off the price of oil in the last three trading days, wiping speculation that OPEC members might agree to production cuts to lift prices.
“There are rising stockpiles and the tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia make any deal on production unlikely,” said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.
Benchmark Brent crude futures were at $35.07 a barrel at 1318 GMT, down $1.58 on the day, and reached their lowest since early July 2004, having staged their largest one-day drop in percentage terms in nearly five weeks.
U.S. crude futures were down $1.25 cents at $34.72 a barrel after slipping 79 cents the previous day.
Oil has slumped from above $115 in June 2014 as shale oil from the United States has flooded the market, while falling prices have prompted some producers to pump even harder to compensate for lower revenues and to keep market share.
Adding to this oversupply, Iranian oil exports are widely expected to increase in 2016 as Western sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program are lifted.
“Shale production and increasing capacity from countries like Russia who need to protect revenue combined with expectations of further Iranian supply mean actual production as well as expectations of future production are rising,” Hewson said.
South Africa owned giant telecommunications firm, MTN, has finally acquired Visafone, the only surviving Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operator in Nigeria, owned by the banking magnate, Jim Ovia.
The acquisition of Visafone, marks the final death of CDMA operations in Africa’s largest economy.
Though, MTN is yet to make official announcement of the acquisition, inside sources confirmed the development to Daily Trust.
Contrary to the initial report about the deal that MTN is not taking along the purchase of the CDMA company with its liabilities, sources stated the telecoms giant has acquired the struggling Visafone with all its properties, including its spectrum and liabilities.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) – In September 2014 UNICEF began implementing a joint programme with UN Women on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) funded by the European Union (EU). The programme will support the Nigerian Government (Federal level), three Northern Nigerian States namely Adamawa, Gombe and Plateau and selected Local Government Areas (LGAs) to strengthen women’s leadership, advance gender equality and improve protection for women and children in conflict settings.
UNICEF is responsible for implementation of Component 2 of the programme, namely ‘to increase access to reporting mechanisms and protective services for girls and women affected by human rights abuses, including gender based violence, in 3 states of northern Nigeria”. This will entail enhancing avenues for reporting of child rights violation and Gender Based Violence in Plateau and Gombe States, strengthening access to and quality of services for children and women who have experienced violence (including gender based violence (GBV), abuse, neglect and exploitation and strengthening the information management system for collecting data on violations.
We are recruiting to fill the position of:
Post Title: National Consultant for Child Protection and Gender-Based Violence (GBV)
Vacancy number: VN-NGR-01-2016 Locations: Plateau and Gombe States
Contract Type: Special Service Agreement (SSA)
Duration: 11.5 months
Purpose of the Consultancy
The purpose, of this consultancy is to support Government and NGO partners (including community based groups) to strengthen reporting an response for children and women who have experienced violence, including gender based violence.
UNICEF is looking for two national consultants to support the implementation of the programme – one to cover Plateau State and one to cover Gombe State
Major tasks to be accomplished:
Support state and non-state actors to strengthen the child protection system including modelling a pilot in four Local Government Areas
Support the state to launch the their campaign to end violence against children and their priority responses
Organize framings as needed for frontline workers on child protection and GBV in Gombe and Plateau States
Develop a costed advocacy plan for the passing of the Child Rights Act (CRA) in Gombe State in Plateau State support the effective implementation f the Plateau State Child Rights Law (CRL)
In collaboration with the Child Protection Specialist in Bauchi, assist with overseeing the child protection mapping and assessment in Gombe including technical assistance for the research team help organize and facilitate validation meetings and backstop for the research team
Strengthen the information management system for child protection and GBV
Participate in any state level coordination of groups related to child protection and GBV for advocacy for child protection and GBV concerns in Gombe and Plateau States
Minimum Qualification
University degree in Social Science, Law or related field (Masters or equivalent level)
Five years experience of relevant professional work experience on child rights child protection social welfare or GBV/gender Issues”‘
Experience in project management
Excellent planning and organizational skills
Excellent communication skills – both oral and written
Familiarity with the systems strengthening approach to child protection
Experience in working in Plateau/Gombe
Application Closing Date
15th January, 2016.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidate should submit their applications, accompanied by updated CV’s in English and a completed United Nations Personal History Form.
Applications should be sent to: nrecruit@unicef.org Please put the position title you are applying for on the subject line of your email.
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