Good morning.

Here are the top 5 stories you should be monitoring today:

Nigeria’s minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, on Tuesday said President Muhammadu Buhari is under no obligation to disclose his medical condition.

Mohammed suggested the silence was not unusual, just hours after the president returned to Abuja from another round of check-ups in the British capital.
“It’s not strange at all for a sitting president to be ill and it’s not strange either for the state to take care of his medical bill,” Lai Mohammed told AFP in an interview.

“I think we would rather respect his privacy,” he said. “If Mr President feels like telling the world his ailment, so be it.”

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While the National Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has resolved to suspend their month-long strike, that of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology remains.

The Chairman, Academic Staff Union of Universities at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Dr. Biodun Olaniran, said the union will not negotiate with the management of the university until N2.1bn is paid to the institution.

“We are open to negotiation but the two state governments are not ready to show any commitment,” he said. “They have not paid a dime to the university and they owe us 12 months’ salaries.”

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Meanwhile, on the nationwide strike by the National Association of Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige has said it is not the fault of the Federal Government.

Responding to the allegation that he traveled on the day government officials were expected to meet with leaders of the striking workers, he said, “as a minister, I am fully aware of the sanctity of my responsibilities as a servant and it is wrong for a servant to be maligned or brutalised for no just cause.”

“We invited you to a meeting on Thursday, September 21, 2017, your union failed to turn up and later requested for Friday, September 22, 2017. I already had an official engagement at Owerri and the health minister was also involved in a different function,” he said in his defense.

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British Airways has terminated the appointment of Joanne Wickenden, an air attendant who made racist remarks about Nigerians in a video.

British Airways said in a statement, “She no longer works for British Airways. We expect the utmost professionalism from our staff when they are representing British Airways.”

Joanne said “she’s not racist” and she had ” been framed by another British Airline employee.”

“They were encouraging me, egging me on to say things,” she said.

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In Saudi Arabia, the leaders of the country on Tuesday announced that, starting June 2018, it would allow women to drive – ending a policy that has become a global symbol of the repression of women in the home to Islam’s holiest sites.

Saudi leaders also hope the new policy will help the economy by increasing women’s participation in the workplace.