Meta, the giant tech company, announced on Wednesday the integration of celebrity voices into its artificial intelligence chatbot, Meta AI, in an effort to compete with products like ChatGPT.

At the Meta Connect 2024 developer conference in Menlo Park, founder Mark Zuckerberg revealed that users of Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Facebook can now engage in real-time conversations using a variety of voices, including those of celebrities like Awkwafina, Dame Judi Dench, John Cena, Keegan-Michael Key, and Kristen Bell.

While this new voice feature aims to enhance user interaction, it differs from OpenAI’s Advanced Voice Mode for ChatGPT, which is celebrated for its expressive and emotive tones. In contrast, Meta’s offering resembles Google’s Gemini Live, which transcribes speech and reads responses aloud with synthetic voices.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says the average price of domestic flight tickets in Nigeria rose to N123,700.14 in August.

In its ‘Transport Fare Watch’ report for August 2024, the NBS said this indicates an increase of 25.51 percent compared to July.

“In air travel, the average fare paid by air passengers for specified routes single journey was N123,700.14 in August 2024, showing an increase of 25.51% while compared to previous month (July 2024),” NBS said.

“On a year-on-year basis, the fare rose by 56.56% from N79,011.38 in August 2023.”

According to the report, Niger recorded the highest average prices of airplane tickets on a single journey with N129,575.21, followed by Abuja with N129,442.67.

“Conversely, Zamfara recorded the least fare with N102,665.89, followed by Cross River with N120,088.93,” NBS said.

The bureau added that the south-east recorded the highest fare with N125,640.19, followed by the north-central with N125,420.29 while the north-west had the least with N121,957.18.

BUS FARE

NBS said the average fare paid by commuters for bus journeys within the city (per drop) decreased by 7.77 percent from N942.61 in July to N869.35 in August.

“On a year-on-year basis, it declined by 34.95% from N1,336.38 in August 2023,” the agency said.

“In another category, the average fare paid by commuters for bus journey intercity per drop was N7,159.00 in August 2024, indicating an increase of 0.59% on a month-on-month basis compared to N7,117.17 in July 2024.

“On a year-on-year basis, the fare rose by 20.97% from N5,918.18 in August 2023.”

The report further showed that the states with the highest intercity bus fares are Anambra (N9,580.85) and Gombe (N8,349.26).

“The least fare was recorded in Kwara with N5,574.46, followed by Ebonyi with N5,614.81,” NBS said.

“Zamfara state recorded the highest bus journey within the city (per drop constant route) in August 2024 with N1,155.52 followed by Ondo with N1,065.20. On the other hand, Adamawa recorded the least with N455.33, followed by Abia with N455.35.

“For analysis by zone in August 2024, transport fares of bus journeys within the city recorded the highest in the South-South with N916.32, followed by South-West with N905.33, while the North-East recorded the least with N832.34.

“In terms of bus journey intercity, the South-South had the highest fare with N7,671.01 followed by the South-East with N7,338.13, while North-Central recorded the least with N6,856.65.”

MOTORCYCLE TRANSPORTATION

According to the NBS, the average transport fare paid on motorcycle transportation was N524.22 in August — representing an 8.46 percent rise compared to the N483.33 recorded in July.

“On a year-on-year basis, the fare decreased by 18.87% when compared with August 2023 (N646.12),” the bureau said.

“Also, Lagos State had the highest motorcycle transport fare in August 2024 with N909.20, followed by Ondo with N761.39. Bayelsa recorded the least fare with N312.10, followed by Anambra with N317.05.

“Also, commuters on a motorcycle (Okada) paid the highest fare in the South-West with N593.76 followed by NorthEast with N556.37, while the South-East recorded the least with N487.08.”

WATERWAY TRANSPORTATION

For water transport (waterway passenger transportation), NBS said the average fare paid in August 2024 was N1,449.34, indicating an increase of 3.30 percent on a monthly basis.

“On a year-on-year basis, it increased by 3.03% from N1,406.74 in August 2023,” the bureau said.

“Similarly, water transport fare was highest in Bayelsa with N4,563.98, followed by Delta with N4,261.55, while the least fare was recorded in Borno with N475.89, followed by Gombe with N619.19.”

In addition, NBS said the south-south zone had the highest fare on water transport with N3,602.92, followed by the south-west with N1,414.91, while the north-east had the least with N825.03.

The Federal Executive Council is proposing an amendment to the National Identity Management Commission Act No. 23, 2007 to allow for foreigners living in the country to be issued the National Identification Number.

The FEC, on Wednesday, also proposed the Economy Stabilisation Bill to pave the way for the taxing of foreigners living and working in Nigeria.

The two proposed legislation are aimed to “expand the scope of registrable persons to include foreign individuals with the taxable presence or taxable source of income in Nigeria, and make provisions for the mandatory use of National Identification Number for transactions which are relevant for tax administration, and for related matters.”

The government proposes a new paragraph to Section 16, which reads, “Any person, whether or not he is a citizen of Nigeria, who is deemed to be resident or otherwise subject to tax in Nigeria under any legislation in force in Nigeria.”

If passed into law, the new bill would see expatriates and income-earning immigrants being taxed.

The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, revealed this while briefing State House Correspondents at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday.

Onanuga explained that, “If the National Assembly passes that bill, it provides that everybody living in Nigeria, including foreigners, will now be registered and given NIN.

“Once you are doing some work here and earning income, you will be registered and given an NIN so that you can be taxed.

“Your NIN will give you your tax identity, and you can also be taxed and come under our tax structure. The law that set up the NIMC initially precludes foreigners from being registered.”

The presidential aide announced a third bill seeking to amend the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency Act No.17, 2007, to “provide for the payment of fees and other charges in naira to improve the ease of doing business and for related matters.”

It amends Section 15 by adding a new subsection (2), which says, “All fees, charges, levies, fines and other monies accruing and payable to the Agency under this Act may be paid in Naira at the applicable official exchange rate.”

Onanuga explained, “Hitherto, these agencies were charging in dollars, but now they can always collect it in Naira. This government wants to put a lot of emphasis on our national currency instead of everything being dollarised in our economy. The government is now saying, ‘pay in Naira. Everything doesn’t have to be in dollars.’”