Business

FG moves to stop $1.9bn monthly loss to oil theft

Published

4 years ago

August 9, 2022

The Federal Government has stepped up moves to halt oil theft, costing Nigeria a monthly loss of $1.9bn, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, has said.

He said Nigeria was not meeting its production quota at the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, due to oil theft.

Sylva, who led a Federal Government delegation on anti-oil theft to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, said the team was in Asaba to seek the support and buy-in of the state government on measures to be adopted to check oil-theft in the country.

He said, “As a country, we cannot sustain this kind of theft perpetually, oil theft has become a national emergency, especially as the nation has not been able to meet its OPEC production quota.

“Our production has dropped drastically to very unsustainable levels. So, we have decided to take the bull by the horn by putting some structures in place and those structures cannot function effectively without the collaboration of the state government.”

On his part, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, who is coordinating the security intervention against oil theft, said security agencies had been dealing with issues of illegal refineries and oil bunkering across the Niger Delta in the last five months.

Irabor advocated the engagement of indigenes and host communities in the fight against the criminal activity.

Mele Kyari, who was also part of the delegation, lamented that Nigeria was currently losing about $2 billion monthly to the activities of oil vandals, with its attendant effect on environmental degradation.

Kyari said, “As a country, we hardly meet our OPEC production quantum of 1.99 million barrels per day with our current production level of 1.4 million barrels per day, which is currently being threatened by the activities of these economic saboteurs.

“This has done extensive damage to the environment and losing 1.9 billion dollars every month is colossal, considering the nature of the global economy at the moment.”

He held that the team needed the support and buy-in of Delta State government “because stopping this oil theft requires the concerted efforts of the Federal, State Governments, oil companies and security agencies”.

In his remarks, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa advocated a review of surveillance contracts on oil facilities to involve host communities in order to check the high rate of oil theft in the country.

Okowa insisted that reviewing oil surveillance contracts based on performance of the contractors and engagement of host communities would ensure effectiveness in securing the nation’s oil and gas assets.

While admitting that the challenge of oil-theft was huge, given the level it had assumed, the governor expressed joy with the steps being taken by the authorities to curb the menace.

He said: “I am glad that we are discussing this hydra-headed issue which impacts directly on our economy and the environment.

“It impacts on the health of the people and sustainability of the environment and I am glad that we are taking some steps because there are so many issues that led us to this.

“We went through situations where gaps where created between host communities and oil companies, and unfortunately criminality set in.

“It has gone so bad but we are doing our best as a state. I am also glad about this collaboration,’’ pointing out that it was often difficult to secure the facilities, especially when the persons given the contracts did not have adequate information on the environment or not have the buy-in of host communities.

“We know that the impact of the nefarious activities on the health of the people cannot be immediately ascertained, and this collaboration is, therefore, very imperative.

“Any measure that will deliberately reduce the level of oil thefts is definitely worth supporting, and as a state government, we pledge our continued support.

“Why investment of the communities is needed is because there are some parts of the creeks that cannot be accessed by the surveillance contractor. Therefore, surveillance contracts should not be such that communities are not involved.

“The surveillance contracts should be tied to performance such that when there are oil thefts you terminate the contract and it is always good that communities are involved because they know the environment better”.

The governor berated oil companies for not keeping faith with their Memorandum of Understanding, MOUs, thereby making the stakeholders to lose confidence in the system.

He explained that when oil companies failed to sign or implement MoUs, “it becomes very difficult for the state government to mediate when there are issues.

“The security agencies must heighten their operations and they need to be resourced to enable them to also increase their level of surveillance and for this to succeed, there must be sincerity on the part of all stakeholders.

Related Topics:Featured FG NNPC Oil theft Sylva

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Business

Facebook, Instagram Global Outage: Over 130,000 Reports as Millions Logged Out

Published

1 day ago

June 12, 2026

Trends Admin

Facebook, Instagram Global Outage: Over 130,000 Reports as Millions Logged Out

NEW YORK/LONDON/SINGAPORE – Meta-owned social media platforms Facebook and Instagram experienced a widespread outage on Friday, June 12, 2026, leaving millions of users across the world unable to access their accounts as the disruption affected the entire ecosystem of Meta-owned services.

The disruption affected Facebook’s main website, mobile application and Messenger service, with many users reporting that they were automatically logged out of their accounts. The trouble appeared to begin on WhatsApp before spreading across Meta’s platforms. Users attempting to access Facebook received error messages including “an unexpected error occurred,” “sorry, something went wrong,” and “Query Error.”

Visitors to Facebook’s website were shown a notice stating that the company was working to resolve the issue. The disruption began at approximately 10:00 AM Eastern Time (2:00 PM GMT) , with users reporting being unable to load feeds or access core features on affected platforms.

According to outage-tracking platform Downdetector, the scale of the disruption was substantial. Facebook recorded over 130,000 user reports at its peak, while Instagram logged approximately 9,500 complaints. Reuters reported more than 62,000 complaints for Facebook and over 8,000 for Instagram during the peak of the disruption.

Reports of the outage quickly flooded social media platform X, formerly Twitter, as users turned to the site to confirm whether others were experiencing similar problems. While Facebook and Instagram were the most affected services, WhatsApp and Messenger also experienced significant disruptions.

The outage appeared to be global, with complaints emerging from multiple countries within a short period. The disruption affected users across the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, Philippines, India, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, Vietnam, and the United Arab Emirates. In Singapore, reports about Facebook spiked on Downdetector at approximately 1:00 PM GMT.

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According to outage-tracking website StatusGator, users in the Philippines, India, Australia, Canada, and the United States also reported issues with Meta’s various applications. In Vietnam, users began reporting problems at approximately 8:40 PM local time, and the issue was reported resolved by approximately 9:20 PM local time.

Meta communications director Andy Stone confirmed the company was aware of the issue. “We’re aware people are currently having trouble accessing our services. We’re working on it,” Stone wrote in a post on X.

The company’s internal status page logged “high disruptions” across its business products, including Facebook Ads Manager, the Messenger Platform, the Messenger API for Instagram, and the WhatsApp Business Platform. Advertisers reported being unable to create or edit ads during the disruption, and Meta apologized “for any inconvenience.”

Notably, while Facebook and Messenger experienced issues, some users reported that Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp remained operational for certain regions or devices. However, many users still reported issues accessing these services depending on their location and device type.

The disruption was not limited to mobile applications. Users attempting to access Facebook and Instagram through web browsers also encountered error messages and were unable to load content normally. Some users reported that Facebook’s mobile app worked while the desktop site displayed errors, highlighting the uneven nature of the disruption.

Meta’s own status page, which is responsible for providing real-time information about platform responsiveness, failed to provide valuable data during the incident. Throughout the disruption period, the page displayed all services as having “no errors detected,” potentially leading users to believe the problem was on their end rather than the platform.

Downdetector’s own website experienced technical difficulties around the same time as the outage, though it was not immediately clear whether the two events were connected. Before becoming unavailable, the platform had logged tens of thousands of error reports within minutes.

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The disruption adds to a series of intermittent outages affecting Meta’s family of apps in recent years. In one major outage in March 2026, Facebook and Instagram users across several countries reported being unable to load feeds or access accounts for several hours. A separate disruption earlier that month also affected thousands of users globally.

Prior to 2026, Meta experienced major outages in March 2024, when the entire ecosystem including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Threads was down for over two hours, with Downdetector recording over 550,000 outage reports. Another similar incident occurred in December 2024, disrupting communication for millions of accounts worldwide.

Meta representatives have stated in both previous instances that the root cause stemmed from internal technical issues, emphasizing that these incidents were independent of each other and completely unrelated to external cyberattacks.

By midday Eastern Time (approximately two hours after the outage began), service was recovering unevenly, region by region. Meta marked some services, such as ad delivery, as resolved, while others remained “in the process of being restored.”

On the consumer side, Facebook was loading closer to normal and Downdetector reports were falling, though some users still saw empty Stories bars, stale feeds, or “Try Again” errors. In Vietnam, the issue was reported resolved by approximately 9:20 PM local time.

The scale of the disruption underscored the central role Meta’s platforms play in global communication and commerce. Even a few hours of downtime ripples through messaging services, business operations, and login authentication systems far beyond the social media feed.

Meta has not yet released an official statement regarding the specific cause of this latest outage as of the time of finalizing this report. The company has not provided an estimated timeline for when all services will be fully restored, though restoration efforts continue to proceed.

This is a developing story. Updates will follow as Meta provides official explanation of the cause and confirms full restoration of all services.

Facebook, Instagram Global Outage: Over 130,000 Reports as Millions Logged Out

Business

Elon Musk Becomes World’s First Trillionaire After SpaceX IPO Valuation Surge

Published

1 day ago

June 12, 2026

Trends Admin

Elon Musk Becomes World’s First Trillionaire After SpaceX IPO Valuation Surge

Elon Musk has officially entered uncharted financial territory after becoming the first individual in history to reach a $1 trillion net worth, following the blockbuster initial public offering (IPO) of SpaceX, which was priced at $135 per share.

The milestone marks a dramatic reshaping of global wealth rankings, driven primarily by the surge in valuation of SpaceX, the aerospace and space exploration company at the center of Musk’s financial empire.

The SpaceX IPO has been described as one of the most significant private-to-public transitions in modern financial history. With shares debuting at $135, investor demand pushed the company’s valuation to unprecedented levels, instantly elevating Musk’s paper wealth. Before the IPO, Musk’s net worth was estimated at approximately $813 billion, already positioning him far ahead of other global billionaires, including Google co-founder Larry Page, whose estimated wealth stood at about $288 billion. Following the listing, Musk’s total fortune is now estimated at just over $1.005 trillion, making him the world’s first confirmed trillionaire on paper.

According to the IPO structure, Musk holds approximately 4.8 billion shares in SpaceX, representing about 42% ownership, along with around 350 million stock options exercisable at a significantly lower strike price of $8.39 per share. At the IPO valuation, his SpaceX equity stake alone is worth roughly $648 billion, while stock options contribute an additional $44.3 billion. Combined with his holdings in Tesla and other investments, Musk’s total net worth crosses the symbolic $1 trillion threshold.

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Despite the historic milestone, financial analysts emphasize that Musk’s trillion-dollar status remains highly dependent on market conditions. Once trading begins on the Nasdaq Composite, fluctuations in SpaceX share price could significantly impact his net worth. A strong opening could push his fortune higher, while a decline could bring it back below the trillion-dollar mark. This volatility underscores a key characteristic of ultra-high-net-worth wealth: it is largely paper-based and market-sensitive, rather than liquid cash.

Musk’s achievement places his personal wealth in the same category as the gross domestic product of some of the world’s largest economies. Only a small number of countries globally—fewer than 20—have economies exceeding $1 trillion GDP, highlighting the scale of the milestone. The development has also intensified discussions around wealth inequality. Advocacy group Oxfam America has previously warned that extreme wealth concentration reflects widening economic disparities between the ultra-rich and the rest of the world.

While Musk remains the primary beneficiary of the IPO, the listing is also expected to generate substantial wealth for employees and early investors. Reports suggest that approximately 4,400 SpaceX employees could become millionaires depending on post-IPO market performance, marking one of the largest employee wealth creation events in the tech and aerospace sectors.

Musk’s rise to trillionaire status highlights the extraordinary growth of privately developed space technology and the increasing financial power of high-growth innovation companies. However, analysts caution that such milestones remain fluid, as billionaire rankings and net worth estimates can change rapidly based on market sentiment and stock performance.

Elon Musk Becomes World’s First Trillionaire After SpaceX IPO Valuation Surge

Auto

Toyota moves to ease vehicle ownership amid economic challenges

Published

2 days ago

June 12, 2026

Trends Admin

Managing Director of Toyota Nigeria Limited, Mr. Kunle Ade-Ojo; Chairman of TNL, Chief Michael Ade.Ojo, and MD/CEO, AGL Motors Ltd, Alhaji AbdulAfeez Gabar Lado, at the presentation of the 2025 best customer award to AGL Motors in Lagos.

Toyota Nigeria unveils plans to ease vehicle ownership

As rising costs put car ownership beyond the reach of many Nigerians, Toyota Nigeria Limited says it is rolling out fresh measures to make buying and maintaining vehicles easier for customers.

Managing Director, Mr. Kunle Ade-Ojo, announced the plans at the company’s 2026 Awards and Customers’ Night in Lagos, where he reaffirmed Toyota’s commitment to expanding mobility solutions in the country.

A statement on Thursday quoted Ade-Ojo as saying Toyota Nigeria would continue to innovate and introduce strategies that would enable more Nigerians to own and maintain Toyota vehicles while enjoying quality after-sales support.

According to him, the company’s commitment goes beyond selling vehicles to ensuring customers enjoy a seamless ownership experience through a robust nationwide service network.

“We will continue to innovate, adapt and elevate our product offerings and service delivery. Our ambition remains clear: to sustain industry leadership while contributing meaningfully to Nigeria’s economic development as a responsible corporate citizen,” he said.

He added that the company’s future plans are aligned with Toyota’s global vision of enriching lives through mobility, with a strong focus on innovation, sustainability and value creation.

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Ade-Ojo noted that Toyota Nigeria’s success over the years had been driven by the loyalty of customers, support from dealers, suppliers, employees, financial institutions and strategic partners, as well as the guidance of the company’s board led by its founder and chairman, Chief Michael Ade-Ojo.

The highlight of the event was the presentation of the Evergreen Customer of the Year Award to Zenith Bank Plc, which retained the title as Toyota Nigeria’s highest-volume customer for 2025. In recognition of the achievement, Chief Michael Ade-Ojo presented the bank with the keys to a brand-new Toyota Starlet Cross.

AGL Motors emerged overall winner in the Customer of the Year category, while the Nigerian Army and Zenith Bank were named first and second runners-up respectively. The winners received office equipment valued at several millions of naira.

Toyota Nigeria also honoured excellence in automotive journalism. Theodore Opara of Vanguard was named Journalist of the Year, while Mike Ochonma of Transport World and Rasheed Bisiriyu of Newstrends received awards for their contributions to automotive reporting, mobility advocacy and industry analysis.

Speaking at the event, several dealers and business partners commended Toyota Nigeria’s investments in dealer development, technical training and workshop upgrades, describing the initiatives as critical to sustaining high service standards and customer satisfaction across the country.

Toyota Nigeria unveils plans to ease vehicle ownership