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Governor Obaseki: Corruption level in Edo healthcare system alarming, unacceptable
Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo has decried the level of corruption in the state’s healthcare system, describing it as a deliberate act to run down the system. Obaseki, who stated this in Benin. on Sunday, at a town hall meeting with health practitioners in the state, added that the meeting with the doctors, was convened to discuss the way forward for the state’s healthcare system. “I have seen corruption like never before in the healthcare system. The level of corruption in the healthcare system in the state is alarming and unacceptable. We have drawn the line; it will no longer be business as usual. It’s left to you to either join us or take a bow honourably,” he said. Obaseki queried the modality of having just one doctor in Igarra, the headquarters of Akoko Edo Local Government Area of the ...
Woman sets sister, three others on fire over inheritance
A woman identified simply as Imole, allegedly set an apartment in Idimu area of Lagos, occupied by her sister and members of her family on fire, over an argument over her share of their late father’s four rooms apartment. Doctors at Alimosho General Hospital were still battling to save the lives of the victims, weekend. Information at newsmen’s disposal had it that Imole visited her elder sister on Dupeolu Street, Pipeline area of Idimu, last Friday, to demand that the four rooms be shared equally between them. But her sister was said to have declined, offering her one room, as she explained that their father had other wives whose children were also beneficiaries. A heated argument according to eyewitnesses ensued between the siblings, at the end of which Imole was pacified. However, at mi...
Iran won’t resume nuclear commitments until US lifts sanctions – supreme leader
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Sunday the US must “completely lift” sanctions first, followed by verification by Tehran, before the Islamic republic returns to its nuclear deal commitments. “If they want Iran to return to its commitments … America must completely lift sanctions, and not just in words or on paper,” Khamenei said in a televised speech to air force commanders. “They must be lifted in action, and then we will verify and see if they have been properly lifted, and then return,” he added. The 2015 landmark deal has been hanging by a thread since US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from it in 2018 and reimpose sanctions on Tehran. Tehran a year later suspended its compliance with most key nuclear commitments to the deal. The new administration of ...
Imo North bye election: Appeal Court upholds Frank Ibezim’s disqualification as APC candidate
The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, on Saturday, upheld the disqualification of Sir Chuwuma Ibezim as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the Senatorial by-election held in Imo North on December 5, 2020. The appellate court, in a unanimous decision by a three-man panel of Justices, affirmed the judgement of the Federal High Court in Abuja which ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to remove Ibezim’s name from the list of candidates for the by-election, after it found him guilty of submitting falsified documents. The high court judgement followed a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1229/2020, which was filed against Ibezim by Asomugha Elebeke. Trial Justice Inyang Ekwo had in the judgement delivered on December 4, 2020, barely 24 hours to the by-election, ...
Liverpool complete loan deal for Schalke defender
Liverpool have completed the deadline-day signing of Ozan Kabak from Schalke, subject to international clearance. The 20-year-old defender will move to Anfield on loan until the end of the season, with the Reds having the option to make the move permanent in the summer for a fee of £18 million ($25m). Kabak, a Turkey international who moved to Schalke from Stuttgart in 2019, will be the first of two signings on a busy day on Merseyside. He will be joined by Preston centre-back Ben Davies, who finalised his switch earlier on Monday. Goal understands that Liverpool will pay an initial loan fee of around £1m ($1.4m) for Kabak, while the deal for Davies could be worth in excess of £1.6m, should all performance-related add-ons be triggered. The Reds had been insistent that it would be a quiet w...
Nigerian government meets labour over fuel price, electric tariff hike
The Federal Government on Monday resumed its meeting with the organised Labour over the issues of increases in the pump price of petrol and electricity tariff hike. The meeting had been adjourned in December last year, with hopes that it will be reconvened earlier in 2021. Dr Chris Ngige, the Minister of Labour and Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), are the two ministers representing the federal government at this meeting. At the opening of the meeting, Dr Ngige said the government’s side of the bargain has received reports from the committee set up to look into some of the demands of the labour movements. Similarly, Boss Mustapha also noted that the committees set up last year will be presenting their findings during the meeting. The SGF also assured t...
Shkodran Mustafi joins Schalke from Arsenal
Arsenal’s squad trimming has continued, with Shkodran Mustafi joining Schalke on a deal until the end of the season. Gunners boss Mikel Arteta said prior to the January transfer window that he was keen to trim some flab from his squad. Mesut Ozil has been the highest-profile departure, with the former Germany international joining Fenerbahce and in so doing the club cleared a sizeable chunk of wages from the monthly bill. Sokratis Papastathopoulos joined Olympiakos earlier this month after being released from his contract, William Saliba, Sead Kolasinac and Matt Smith have left on loan, while Matt Macey joined Hibernian on a permanent basis. World Cup winner Mustafi emerged as a possible departure towards the end of January, and he was linked with a shock move to Liverpool. Premier League ...
Nigeria expects 41 million coronavirus vaccine doses from African Union
Nigeria expects to receive 41 million Covid-19 vaccine doses from the African Union, the head of the country’s primary healthcare agency said on Monday, while the health minister said vaccines from Russia and India were being considered. Authorities in Africa’s most populous country, which has 200 million people, plan to inoculate 40% of the population this year and another 30% in 2022. The African Union initially secured 270 million Covid-19 vaccine doses from manufacturers for member states. Last week it was announced that the bloc would receive another 400 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Faisal Shuaib, who heads the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, said Nigeria’s previous request for 10 million doses through the AU had been increased four-fold. “We have applied...
U.S. threatens to take action against detainers of Myanmar’s president, others
The U.S. has threatened to take action against those responsible for the detention of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as President Win Myint in Myanmar. “The United States is alarmed by reports that the Burmese military has taken steps to undermine the country’s democratic transition, including the arrest of State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and other civilian officials in Burma (Myanmar). “President (Joe) Biden has been briefed by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan,” White House Spokesperson Jen Psaki said in a statement. Earlier, Western media reported that Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint were detained along with other members of Myanmar’s ruling party in an early morning military raid on Monday. “We continue to affirm our strong support for Burma’s democratic ins...
Economist: Official exchange rate may depreciate to N420 to the dollar
The managing director of Financial Derivatives Company, Bismarck Rewane, has projected that the naira will depreciate to N420 against the dollar on the official window by the end of 2021. Rewane was speaking at a virtual event tagged ‘Vantage Forum 2021’, organised by The Elevation Church (TEC) on Saturday. The economist also projected that the naira will exchange at N470 to the dollar at the parallel market. At present, the naira trades at N480/$ at the parallel market and N380 at the official rate operated by the Central Bank of Nigeria. This, he said, is based on a worst-case scenario where Nigeria produces 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) with an inflation rate of 16.15 percent in the full year. “In the worst-case scenario, it goes the other way, in all cases you find that the average...
Bishop Kaigama: It’s time to give youths chance in governance
The Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, His Grace Ignatius Kaigama, has said time has come for youths to take active part in governance. Kaigama, who insisted that “it is the right time now to give our youths a chance to express their leadership skills”, tasked authorities to expand the political space to allow more youths involved in decision making. Kaigama particularly advised Nigerian youths to seize the opportunity to bring to an end, decades of recycling political leaders by taking up leadership positions in the country. Speaking Saturday, during the 9th convocation lecture of Veritas University, Abuja,where he is the Chancellor, Kaigama said:”Recent events in our country show that there is the urgent need to expand the political space and allow our youths to be more inv...
