GODWIN EMEFIELE’S SUSPENSION TO PROTEST IN SENEGAL – THE WEEKLY NEWS QUIZ

The Nigerian president has suspended Godwin Emefiele, the CBN governor, as part of planned reforms in the country’s financial sector. This suggests that the decision to suspend Emefiele is not related to allegations of financial corruption or public dissatisfaction, but rather a strategic move to initiate changes in the financial system.

The Deputy CBN Governor of Operations, Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi (one of four deputies), has been asked to take over duties from Godwin Emefiele. Shonubi will assume the role of acting Central Bank governor during the investigation and reforms, indicating that his role will be to fulfil the responsibilities of the CBN governor in Emefiele’s absence, rather than leading a specific investigation or advising the Nigerian president on financial matters.

The government obtained a court injunction – The Nigerian Labour Congress was preparing to go on strike but decided to suspend it after a meeting with the government and the national industrial court. The government obtained a court injunction, and the court agreed that the strike would disrupt socio-economic activities and cause further discomfort in the country, as argued by Maimuna Shiru of the Federal Ministry of Justice. Therefore, the court’s decision played a significant role in the Nigerian Labour Congress’ decision to suspend the strike.

Increasing the minimum wage to ₦200,000 – During the consultations with the government after suspending the strike, the labour union put forth various demands. One of these demands is increasing the minimum wage to ₦200,000 (the current minimum wage is ₦30,000). This indicates that the labour union is seeking a higher minimum wage as part of their negotiations with the government.

Reduced the number of workdays per week – In response to the significant increase in transportation costs, the Kwara State government has decided to temporarily reduce the number of workdays from five days to three days per week for all workers in the state. This measure aims to address the financial burden caused by the increased transportation costs and provides a solution to the issue faced by the workers in commuting to work.

It is a chartered aircraft from Ethiopia – The Interim Managing Director of Nigeria Air, Captain Dayo Olumide, admitted that the recently paraded Nigerian Air aircraft is actually a chartered aircraft from Ethiopia. This confession was made during a meeting with the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation, where he explained that the airline launched by the previous President, Muhammadu Buhari, was rented for a limited period to showcase the airline’s logo.

He intentionally excluded non-Muslims from the deputy governor position – In his speech to Muslim clerics, former governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State in Nigeria stated that his political calculations led him to believe that not many non-Muslims voted for his party, so he intentionally decided not to give them the deputy governor position. He also added that his government had treated Christians in the state fairly and that they were never cheated.

Violation of securities laws – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a lawsuit against Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, and its CEO Changpeng Zhao. The SEC believes Binance and its CEO engaged in practices that are in violation of the established securities laws.

Blocked mobile internet access in certain areas – The government of Senegal has taken the action of blocking mobile internet access in certain areas in response to the protests and the spreading of “hateful and subversive” messages online. The country has experienced three days of protests, resulting in 16 deaths. Initially, the government limited access to certain messaging platforms, but people found ways to bypass the restriction using virtual private networks (VPNs). As a result, the government has extended the outage to include all mobile internet data in certain areas and at certain times.