News
National mourning ends in Britain after Queen’s funeral
Flags on government buildings returned to full mast and an epic clean-up operation was underway on Tuesday as British public life resumed after the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, although the royal family remains in mourning for another week.
Around a quarter of a million people queued round the clock to view the queen’s coffin as it lay in state in the days leading up to the funeral, the UK government said.
Liz Truss, appointed prime minister by the queen just two days before she died on September 8, flew to the UN General Assembly hours after delivering a biblical reading at the lavish funeral.
En route to New York, Truss praised the “huge outpouring of love and affection” shown towards the late monarch, as well as the “huge amount of warmth towards” her successor, King Charles III.
Charles, 73, and his family will remain in mourning for another seven days.
That means no official engagements after he spent an exhausting week touring his new kingdom and attending to the ornate pageantry of a role that he has spent a lifetime preparing to take on.
The royal Twitter account published a picture of the queen hiking in 1971 at her Scottish retreat of Balmoral, where she died at the age of 96 as Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.
The photograph was accompanied with the words: “May flights of Angels sing thee to thy rest. In loving memory of Her Majesty The Queen.”
The quotation is from the tragic conclusion of Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet” and was said by Charles in his first national broadcast as king the day after his mother passed away.
– Dramas old and new –
Members of parliament were taking an oath of allegiance to their new sovereign on Tuesday, as political life resumed after 10 days of government mourning.
Following a public holiday for the funeral, business life was also resuming, and workers were busy clearing up the debris left by an estimated million-plus people who lined the streets of London on Monday.
The queen’s coffin was on display from Wednesday to early Monday inside parliament’s cavernous Westminster Hall, and the waiting time for public mourners at one point reached 25 hours.
Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan told Sky News her government department was still “crunching the numbers”, but she believed that around 250,000 people had passed through the hall in total.
Donelan said she did not know the final cost of the state funeral at Westminster Abbey, which entailed a vast security operation for hundreds of foreign dignitaries.
But she said the British public would agree that it “was money well spent”.
“You saw so many thousands out there and I don’t think anybody can suggest that our late monarch didn’t deserve that send-off, given the duty and the selfless service that she committed to over 70 years.”
National Grid said there was a drop-off of two gigawatts in usage on Britain’s power network — the equivalent of 200 million lightbulbs being switched off — from 10:30 am to 11:00 am (0930 to 1000 GMT) on Monday.
– Disunited kingdom –
“This was because people were stopping their usual activities in time for the funeral,” a spokesman told AFP.
Usage picked up again by 500 megawatts during the funeral but dropped off again by the same amount during the two minutes’ silence just before noon.
With the departure of the only monarch most Britons had ever known, attention was turning back to the country’s soaring inflation problem and the crisis stemming from Russia’s war in Ukraine.
There are also deeper fissures over the very future of the United Kingdom, as Scotland’s nationalist government agitates for another referendum on independence, and as Northern Ireland turns majority-Catholic for the first time.
“Is it possible that in the Windsor vault now lies buried the person who, more than any other, served to cohere these islands?” commentator Jonathan Freedland wrote in The Guardian newspaper.
“The last 10 days have been a holiday from the usual political polarisation: admiration for the queen was one of the few things most people could agree on,” he said.
“If that turns out to have been the magic of Elizabeth, rather than the Crown, then it’s not clear how long there will be a United Kingdom for Charles to reign over.”
For most UK media, the focus remained on the unquestionable grandeur with which the country and the world bade adieu to Elizabeth.
“An outpouring of love,” the Daily Telegraph headlined, above a picture of Charles draping military colours held in life by his mother over her coffin in Windsor Castle.
The lawmaker representing Ibarapa East/Ido Federal Constituency of Oyo State, Engr. Aderemi Oseni, on Thursday, donated the sum of fifty million naira (₦50 million) toward the construction of the proposed Sheikh Agbotomokekere Mosque building project.
Oseni joined other dignitaries, religious leaders, and Muslim clerics to honour the Chief Imam of Ibadanland, Grand Imam of Oyo State, and Grand Patron of the League of Imams and Alfas of Yorubaland, Edo, and Delta States, His Eminence Sheikh AbdulGaniy Abubakre Agbotomokekere, during the annual Maolud Nabiyy celebration at the Ibadan Central Mosque, Oja Oba.
It was during the event that he announced the generous donation.
The Maolud Nabiyy celebration, organised by the Al-Imam Agbotomokekere Islamic Foundation, also featured the unveiling of the proposed mosque project and an award presentation ceremony.
Delivering an insightful lecture at the event, the Chief Imam of Ogbomosoland, Dr. Yunus Tolhat Ayilara, who served as the Guest Lecturer, highlighted the importance of perseverance in the face of challenges.
In a statement issued on Friday by his media aide, Idowu Ayodele, the lawmaker, who also chairs the House Committee on the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), reaffirmed his commitment to supporting initiatives that strengthen the spiritual and social development of his constituency and state.
He commended the Al-Imam Agbotomokekere Islamic Foundation for its dedication to fostering a sense of community through faith, education, and shared values.
According to him, the mosque project symbolises unity and the determination of the people.
Reflecting on the significance of the proposed Agbotomokekere Mosque, the APC chieftain described it as a beacon of unity and religious harmony.
“This mosque project reflects our shared values and our commitment to building a community grounded in faith, love, and unity. I am honoured to contribute to this vision and support the Agbotomokekere Foundation in its efforts to promote peace and spiritual growth,” Oseni stated.
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has announced a record revenue collection of N5.7 trillion as of November 12, 2024, surpassing its yearly target by 10 percent.
This was disclosed by the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, at the ongoing 2024 Comptroller-General of Customs Conference in Abuja.
Themed “Nigeria Customs Service: Engaging Traditional and New Partners with Purpose,” the conference showcased the Customs Service’s progress in modernizing its operations and fostering collaborative partnerships.
“Today, I stand before you to demonstrate how our commitments in 2023 have evolved into tangible achievements,” Adeniyi stated.
He attributed the revenue growth to a series of reforms, including the implementation of a one-stop solution for cargo alerts, a revamped ICT infrastructure, streamlined inspection procedures, and enhanced automation.
Adeniyi explained that these changes reflect the agency’s commitment to elevating operational transparency and efficiency.
“We pledged to re-align our free trade operations, elevate cargo integrity standards, and expand our scanning capacities,” he said.
“Above all, we promised to usher in a new era of customs operations—one built on transparency, efficiency, and genuine collaborations with our partners.”
As of Tuesday, November 12, Adeniyi confirmed that the NCS collected N5.07 trillion, achieving the anticipated 10 percent revenue surplus.
“This performance validates our partnership-driven approach to revenue collection and trade facilitation,” he added.
Adeniyi also highlighted recent strides in trade facilitation, revealing that six companies have been selected to benefit from the Authorised Economic Operators programme, which provides fast-tracked customs clearance and other trade facilitation benefits.
Similarly, the NCS has processed 21 requests under an advance ruling programme, designed to expedite customs decisions on import and export cargoes before they reach Nigerian ports.
The Comptroller-General expressed optimism about the NCS’s potential to drive further economic growth, citing the agency’s commitment to fostering partnerships and advancing innovative practices within the customs sector.
Nineteen out of the thirty-eight directors who were shortlisted to fill permanent secretary vacancies within the Federal Civil Service have failed the qualifying examination, a memo from the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) revealed on Tuesday.
The memo, signed by Dr. Emmanuel Meribole on behalf of the examination committee, disclosed that the qualifying exam was conducted on Monday, November 11, 2024.
The Federal Government, through the OHCSF, launched the recruitment drive in October to fill permanent secretary vacancies in eight states.
Providing insights into the progress, Eno Olotu, Director of Press at OHCSF, stated, “Of the 38 eligible directors who sat for the exam, 19 have passed the first stage and will move on to the second stage, which will assess their competency in using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in government operations on Wednesday, November 13, 2024.”
Olotu highlighted the rigorous three-stage selection process, designed to ensure that only the most capable individuals are appointed to these high-ranking civil service roles.
This comprehensive approach, according to OHCSF, aims to elevate the quality of leadership across federal ministries.
The directors who advance beyond the ICT proficiency test will face a final stage on Friday, November 15, 2024, where a panel of senior government officials and private sector experts will conduct a final evaluation to determine their suitability for the permanent secretary positions.
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