Atmosphere
Senate screens Lauretta Onochie, others for INEC position
The Senate on Thursday started the screening of nominees for appointment as National Commissioners for the Independent National Electoral Commission. The nominees, including one of the aides of President Muhammadu Buhari, Lauretta Onochie, are already in the Senate for the exercise. Onochie arrived at the Senate wing of the National Assembly about 11 am; accompanied by the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Babajide Omoworare. She was immediately ushered into the office of the Chairman of the Senate Committee on INEC, Senator Kabri Gaya. Onochie is currently waiting for her turn to be screened by the Senate panel. The nomination of Onochie, who currently serves as Senior Special Assistant on New Media to President Buhari, has provoked serious public outcry with ...
Euro 2020: Wales set for hostile crowd as Italy eye knockouts
Wales are bracing for a hostile reception when they face Turkey in Baku at Euro 2020 on Wednesday while rejuvenated Italy can seal their place in the last-16 with victory against Switzerland. After drawing 1-1 with the Swiss in their opening Group A game, Wales play in the capital of Azerbaijan, with locals expected to get behind their Turkish neighbours, who will also have several thousand travelling fans on their side. Wales captain Gareth Bale, who experienced a dizzying run to the semi-finals at Euro 2016, said he was unfazed by the prospect of an aggressive atmosphere. “Hostility is no problem,” said the Real Madrid forward. “This is what we do for a living. We’re used to playing in away games and being in front of hostile crowds.” Turkey are desperate to shake off the disappointment ...
Police: No invasion of miscreants into Ekiti
The Ekiti State Police Command has described as untrue the reports that miscreants have invaded Ado Ekiti, the state capital. The state’s Commissioner of Police, Tunde Mobayo, who disclosed that the information was false, said it was intended to disturb the peaceful atmosphere of the town. A video had circulated online on Friday that some Fulani-Hausa men were found around Agric Olope Housing Estate, in Ado Ekiti, in possession of dangerous weapons including AK-47 rifles with the intention to unleash terror on the community. Mobayo, in a statement signed by the command’s spokesman, ASP Sunday Abutu, and made available to reporters on Saturday, explained that the news was fake as the men were in the town to execute a building project, warned peddlers against spreading false information. He ...
Russia calls U.S. decision to not rejoin Open Skies arms pact ‘a political mistake’
Russia on Friday called a U.S. decision to not rejoin the Open Skies arms control pact, which allows unarmed surveillance flights over member countries, a political mistake that strikes a sour note ahead of a summit, Russian news agencies reported. The United States told Russia on Thursday it would not rejoin the pact, which Washington left in November, accusing Russia of violating it, something Moscow denied. The original decision to quit the pact was taken by the administration of then U.S. president Donald Trump and Moscow had hoped that Joe Biden would reverse that decision. Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, was quoted by the RIA news agency on Friday as saying that Moscow was disappointed but not entirely surprised by Biden’s decision. “It certainly does not make us ha...
Centre decries burning of INEC offices
The Centre for Transparency Advocacy has decried the incessant cases of burning of offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission across the nation, describing it as a dangerous trend which could impede the process of organizing the November 6, Anambra State governorship election. It noted that the coordinated attacks have in recent times affected three states in the South East in particular – the INEC office in Ahiazu Mbaise Local Government Area in Imo State, the Igboeze Local Government Area office in Enugu State, the Udenu office of INEC on May 16, 2021 and the attack on the INEC headquarters in Enugu. It also noted that the INEC headquarters in Awka, Anambra State, was invaded and set on fire on Sunday night, May 23, 2021. “It appears that these dastard events are targeted a...
Rice millers protest ‘multiple taxation’ in Ebonyi
Rice millers in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, have protested against what they claimed to be multiple taxation in the state’s mill market. The millers, who decried alleged extortions of traders by the management of the market, called on the state government to find a lasting solution to it. They appealed to the government to review its revenue policy and reduce the increased taxes. The protesters carried placards with different inscriptions such as, “Management should not take rice mill as their father’s business”, “We are tired of the multiple and high taxes”, “We need an elected chairman and not Caretaker Committee to move development forward in the mill.” Speaking with journalists in Abakaliki on Tuesday, Chukwuma Eniokoro, the chairman of millers in the market, said they embarked on the pea...
Kaduna strike: Nigerian governors appeal to NLC to exercise restraint
Governors under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) have appealed to the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to exercise calm and restraint in its engagement with the Kaduna State government. The NGF in a statement on Monday by its chairman and Ekiti State governor, Kayode Fayemi, called for cautious introspection on the part of Labour as no meaningful progress of any kind has ever been achieved in an atmosphere of conflict and chaos. He said the NGF also wishes to remind the NLC that its actions could become counter-productive especially as the last year 2020 adversely affected workers socially and economically. “Therefore the NGF advises the NLC to explore the already open avenue of rapprochement that the Kaduna State government has provided to resolve the matter and join the State...
Nigerian farmers raise alarm as insecurity threatens food availability
Some concerned parties in the agriculture sector have appealed to the federal government to intensify efforts in curbing banditry, kidnapping and terrorism, as these can threaten food security. The parties made the appeal in separate interviews with newsmen on Friday in Abuja. They noted that the recent increase in kidnapping and banditry had made a lot of farmers run from their farmlands in search of safe hideouts. The Executive Secretary, National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA), Paul Ikonne, said there was a need to urgently address the insecurity challenges in the country in order to overcome the challenge of food shortage. Ikonne noted that dialogue remained critical in addressing issues of insecurity and herders, adding that a peaceful dialogue between farmers and her...
Senator Buhari: Nigeria needs restructuring, not secession
National Insight Sen. Abdulfatai Buhari (APC – Oyo North) says Nigeria needs restructuring to resolve its myriads of problems, not secession. Buhari who disclose this to newsmen in Ibadan on Wednesday said that secession would only lead to “war within war.” Newsmen report that Buhari is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Land Transport. “I don’t believe in secession; restructuring, I believe in it so much. “Yoruba Presidency I am 100 percent, I believe in what is called rotational, it’s just fairness. “If you say democracy is a game of number, I agree, but there is what is called a situation for the right place and where you find yourself. “Secession does not bring peace, but war within war,’’ he said. The lawmaker, who expressed strong support for restructuring, added that a better Nigeria...
Elon Musk says he is first SNL host with Asperger’s syndrome
Elon Musk kicked off his “Saturday Night Live” debut by declaring himself to be the first person with Asperger’s syndrome to host the US comedy sketch show. “Or at least, the first person to admit it,” he said. In his opening monologue, the eccentric tech entrepreneur behind Tesla and SpaceX offered an explanation for some of his past eyebrow-raising behavior. “Look, I know I say or post strange things but that’s just how my brain works. To anyone I’ve offended I just want to say, I reinvented electric cars and I’m sending people to Mars in a rocket ship,” he said. “Did you think I was also going to be a chill, normal dude?” Musk has previously drawn criticism for moves like publicly mocking the US Securities and Exchange Commission and calling a cave diver who rescued boys trapped in Thai...
SpaceX launches its third astronaut crew, the first on a used Crew Dragon capsule
SpaceX launched its third crew of astronauts to the International Space Station early Friday morning, reusing a Crew Dragon space capsule to fly humans for the first time. The mission, dubbed Crew-2, is the latest flight under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, and will add four more astronauts to the orbital space station. A used Falcon 9 rocket, last flown for SpaceX’s Crew-1 mission last year, lifted off at 5:49AM ET from Cape Canaveral, Florida carrying Endeavor, the same Crew Dragon capsule that first launched SpaceX’s debut astronaut mission nearly one year ago. For this flight, the Endeavor capsule carried four astronauts from three different countries — SpaceX’s most diverse NASA-managed crew yet. “Off the Earth, for the Earth, Endeavor is ready to go,” NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough,...
Nigerian Army begins show of force in Imo
File Photo The Nigerian Army on Thursday began show of force in Imo State. Our correspondent gathered that the military exercise was an offshoot of Monday attacks on Owerri Correctional Center and the Imo State Police Command headquarters. The attackers, who operated between 1am and 3am also attacked a military base at Ukwuorji on Owerri-Onitsha expressway, burnt a soldier in a car and razed four military operational vehicles. The military exercise was intended to burst the moral of security agents and to restore the confidence of the people in the security agents, a source told newsmen. The source said, “The operation show of force is a military exercise targeted at restoring the confidence of the people in the security agencies. It is also a way of raising the morale of the operatives af...
