• Lagos State Government warns Lagosians of traffic diversion at Ikeja Along
• Aviation workers vow to strike due to deduction of 50% of revenue
• Ex-NANTA chief urges FG to step in and stop foreign airlines’ extortion
• NBS reveals harvest season has reduced inflation to 39.5%
• Monkeypox Outbreak: FG introduces countermeasures against the virus

Across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, these are the five top Nigerian news stories you shouldn’t miss.

Lagos State Government warns Lagosians of traffic diversion at Ikeja Along

The Lagos State Government has warned Nigerians to prepare for traffic diversion at ‘Ikeja Along’ for the demolition of the old pedestrian bridge.

The state government revealed that traffic will be diverted at the Ikeja Along bus stop between Ile Zik and Conoil Petrol station on the Oshodi lane from Saturday, 17, to Sunday, 18, August 2024 (12 am to 4 am daily).

Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Oluwaseun Osiyemi, stated that the diversion was solely for the demolition of the old pedestrian bridge at the bus stop, and he assured Lagosians that there would be Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) present to help control and monitor the movement of vehicles in the location.

Aviation workers vow to strike due to deduction of 50% of revenue

Aviation workers have announced that they will be going on strike on August 21 against the federal government’s deduction of 50% from their internally generated revenue (IGR).

“All workers of the NCAA, FAAN, NAMA, NiMet, NCAT, and NSIB, joined by the solidarity of all aviation workers, are at this moment directed to embark on peaceful protests at all airports nationwide on Wednesday, August 21, 2024, to demand the discontinuation of deduction of 50 per cent from the internally generated revenue of the agencies mentioned above through exemption,” the announcement letter says.

However, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has requested peace and dialogue, stating that the strike would only do more harm than good by disrupting flight activities across the country.

The strike would involve many air authority agencies, namely the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), Nigerian Meteorological Services Agency (NMSA), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), and Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT).

Ex-NANTA chief urges FG to step in and stop foreign airlines’ extortion

The chief executive of Aeroland Travels and former vice chief of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA), Segun Adewale, has asked the federal government to step in and stop foreign airlines from heavily extorting from all Nigerian agencies.

According to Adewale, many agencies have been forced to shut down due to the payment of fines imposed on them by foreign airlines.

He said that Turkish Airlines had imposed a ₦56 million fine and $8,000 penalties on him for the alleged breach.

Segun Adewale reminisced of how licensed travel agencies were once able to issue tickets from any part of Nigeria, but since the Naira and Dollar policy review in 2023, foreign airlines have blocked all travel agencies from booking in Nigeria but not across Africa.

NBS reveals harvest season has reduced inflation to 39.5%

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has published a report stating that Nigerian inflation has decreased to 39.5% due to the recent harvest season.

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate was previously 40.87% and dropped to 39.53% on Thursday, August 15.

“In July 2024, the headline inflation rate reduced to 33.40% relative to the June 2024 headline inflation rate of 34.19%. Looking at the movement, the July 2024 headline inflation rate showed a decrease of 0.8% points when compared to the June 2024 headline inflation rate,” the announcement reads.

Monkeypox Outbreak: FG introduces countermeasures against the virus

The federal government has ordered extra security and screening at all entry stations in the country to avoid the possible spread of the monkeypox (MPox) virus since its outbreak.

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Mohammad Pate, has informed Nigerians of the outbreak as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has reported 39 cases across the country.

In response to the MPox outbreak, the FG has instructed the screening and monitoring procedures be intensified at all entry points in the country as the virus continues to worse in Africa and around the world.