- FG panel report reveals reasons for Plateau school collapse
- Yusuf signs a law establishing three second-class emirates in Kano
- Elon Musk to move companies out of California over transgender law
We have highlighted the five most important developments in the news today, Wednesday, July 17, and present them below.
5 issues in the news that should matter to you today
1. FG panel report reveals reasons for Plateau school collapse: The investigative panel set up by the Federal Government on the collapsed two-storey school building in Jos, Plateau State, has released a preliminary report on the sad incident.
The two-storey building housing Saint Academy, located at the Busa Buji community in the Jos North Local Government Area of the state, collapsed on July 12, claiming 22 persons and leaving about 154 trapped persons who were evacuated to various hospitals.
Addressing journalists in Jos, on July 16, the Director General of the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute, Prof Samson Duna, said the report of the panel, headed by Prof O.F. Job of the Building Department at the University of Jos, revealed that the physical observation of the building looked distressed while weak materials were used for the building.
2. Yusuf signs a law establishing three second-class emirates in Kano: Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, has given assent to the Kano State Emirates Council Bill 2024, passed by the House of Assembly. The governor signed the law which approved the establishment of three second-class emirates in the state at the council chamber of the Government House on July 16.
He urged those who would be appointed emirs of the newly created emirates to diligently serve humanity, saying the government would announce the new emirs' names very soon.
3. NCDC warns of rising yellow fever cases amid ongoing cholera outbreak: The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has issued a warning about the increasing number of yellow fever cases in the country, coinciding with the ongoing cholera outbreak that has affected nearly all states, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported.
This was announced by Dr Jide Idris, the Director-General of the NCDC, during a press conference on July 16 in Abuja.
Idris said that since June, the NCDC has been actively managing a cholera outbreak that has spread across 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), impacting 187 Local Government Areas (LGAs). He said that the agency had also observed a troubling rise in yellow fever cases, particularly with the onset of the rainy season.
4. Senate suspends legislative activities: The lawmaker representing Chikun/Kajuru Federal Constituency of Kaduna State in the House of Representatives, Abubakar Adams, died on July 16. The Senate, on July 16, suspended all legislative activities to honour the deceased, Adams.
Adams, won the federal parliamentary seat on the platform of the Labour Party in the 2023 National Assembly elections.
5. Elon Musk to move companies out of California over transgender law: Elon Musk has said that he will move the headquarters of SpaceX and X to Texas after a California law blocked schools from forcing teachers to notify parents about changes to a student’s gender identity.
“This is the final straw,” Musk said on X after California governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill that fired up the already fraught culture wars in a tumultuous US election year.
“Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas,” Musk said.