Ideas
Nigerian Army appoints new NDA commandant
Major-General Sagir Yaro has been appointed as the commandant of the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA). The NDA is a military university based in Kaduna. Bashir Jagira, the academy’s spokesperson, in a statement on Wednesday said Yaro is taking over from Jamil Sarham, also a major-general who is now to proceed on a senior research course at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Kuru, Plateau state. Jaguar described Yaro as a seasoned military officer of the Nigerian Army Corps of Engineers, and member of the 36th regular course of the NDA, who has held several appointments cutting across command, staff and instructional. Until his appointment, Yaro was the general managing director, Nigerian Army Welfare Limited by Guarantee (NAWLG). While addressing principal staff o...
Minister: PIB will address production sharing contracts issues on gas
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, says the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) currently before the National Assembly will resolve the issues under the Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) on gas. Sylva made this known at a National Assembly Public Hearing organised by the Joint Committee on Gas Resources, Petroleum Resources, Upstream and Downstream, on Monday, in Abuja. The hearing was on the topic: “Inclusion of Gas Terms in Production Sharing Contracts by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).” He said that issues on gas terms was not captured under the PSC especially with the commercial aspect. “Issues on gas terms was not captured in the PSC because at the time, the offshore was just a frontier territory, today, it is no longer frontier, it is a...
NANS asks Nigerian government to declare abductors of students terrorists
Following the gale of abductions of school children in the Northern part of the country, the National Association of Nigerian Student (NANS), has advised the federal government to list bandits perpetrating such horrendous crime as terrorists. Newsmen averred that the abduction of over 300 schoolgirls from Government Girls Junior Secondary School, Jangebe, Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State in the early hours of Friday, was an indictment and clear indication of the failure of the nation’s security apparatuses. Again, NANS advised the government to convey a National Security Summit towards galvanizing the best brains in providing ideas and innovation to combating the country’s multi-faceted security challenges. In a statement in Ado-Ekiti, on Sunday, NANS National President, Com. Su...
Ekiti moves to reposition MSMEs for economic growth
Ekiti State Government has expressed its determination to enhance the growth of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to boost economic prosperity of the state. The government had before now reconstituted a 22-member Council to address the myriad of challenges confronting MSMEs in Ekiti , with intention to upscale industrial growth and development . The Commissioner for Investment, Trade and Industry, Mr Muyiwa Olumilua, stated this during a one-day sensitisation workshop with the theme: “Making Economy A Private Driven Economy” held in Ado Ekiti. He said the state government will partner federal government and corporate agencies to facilitate opportunities for business owners in the state. Olumilua at the event, which brought together medium and small scale business owners from acro...
AC Milan ready to pay €30 million for Real Madrid’s Brahim Diaz
AC Milan are willing to pay as much as €30 million (£26m/$36m) to land Real Madrid forward Brahim Diaz, with the 21-year-old having made a positive impact during his loan spell with the Serie A side. Goal can reveal that Milan bosses are keen to make the loan move permanent and, although they do not have a purchase option, they are keen to discuss a transfer with Madrid. While Brahim has always wanted to succeed at the Bernabeu, Madrid will now weigh up whether to keep him beyond the end of the 2020-21 campaign or sell for what would be a significant amount amid the coronavirus crisis. Following his loan switch to Milan in September 2020, Brahim immediately took to life in Italy and has become an important member of Stefano Pioli’s first-team squad. He has made 25 appearances in all compet...
Apple’s App Store hosting multi-million dollar scams – developer
Mobile app developer Kosta Eleftheriou has a new calling that goes beyond software development: taking on what he sees as a rampant scam problem ruining the integrity of Apple’s App Store. Eleftheriou, who created the successful Apple Watch keyboard app FlickType, has for the last two weeks been publicly criticizing Apple for lax enforcement of its App Store rules that have allowed scam apps, as well as apps that clone popular software from other developers, to run rampant. These apps enjoy top billing in the iPhone marketplace, all thanks to glowing reviews and sterling five-star ratings that are largely fabricated, he says. Up to now, I’ve been in the “Apple *wants* to do the right thing” camp. My viewpoint is starting to change. How to spot a $5M/year scam on the @AppS...
Mikel Arteta delighted with new football chief appointment
Arsenal boss, Mikel Arteta, is delighted with the imminent arrival of new football chief Richard Garlick. Arteta has revealed his excitement at the appointment of Richard Garlick as the club’s director of football operations. Garlick, who currently holds the role of the Premier League’s director of football, will replace Huss Fahmy, who left the Gunners board in November. “We lost Huss at the start of the season,” said the Spaniard. “He had a really important role because it is a very important link between myself, Edu the technical director, the board, Vinai [Venkatesham]. “We needed a person with a lot of experience, who knows the job really well, has all the connections in English and international football. “As well, someone that can bring some ideas and some qualities that we believe ...
Senators decry executive’s disregard for resolutions on insecurity
Federal lawmakers, on Tuesday, deplored the federal government’s continued disregard for Senate’s resolutions on the issue of national security. The Senators spoke while contributing to a motion on the recent kidnapping of students at the Government Science School, Kankara, Katsina State. The Red Chamber had twice called for the replacement of the service chiefs. The lawmakers, in their various contributions to the motion, expressed deep frustration over the recurring issues of killings and kidnappings across the country and the inability of the security agencies to address the challenges. They insisted that the service chiefs had overstayed and should allow other officers with fresh ideas to take over. Senator Mohammed Sani Musa (APC, Niger) said, “Every day, people are dying and nothing ...
Group dismisses Nigerian Army chief’s coup alarm as diversionary
A Coalition of elders under the auspices of Nigeria Elders for Peace and Good Governance (CONEPAGG), has accused the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, of raising false alarm about “imaginary” coup to divert the attention of Nigerians from the failings of the Service Chiefs. Buratai had while decorating the 39 newly promoted Major Generals, said he was aware that some Generals were being approached by politicians, warning that his eyes are on them. He vowed that the Nigerian Army will never tolerate any agent of destabilization bent on scuttling the current democratic dispensation. “Democracy has come to stay. We will not tolerate any agent of destabilization. The years of military misadventure in politics have never carried us anywhere. It is over,” Buratai had stresse...
VP Osinbajo: We’ll do all it takes to secure Nigeria
The Muhammadu Buhari administration will not relent but will do all it takes, including putting new ideas on the table in order to secure the country, Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, has said. The Vice President is on one-day official visit to Nasarawa State today and was accosted by reporters on his arrival in Lafia after he was received by Governor Abdullahi A. Sule. Below is the verbatim report of the Vice President’s response to the media: As the President said, these group of people have acted insanely in such a dastardly manner, killing innocent people, people who had gone to their farms to work. I spoke to the Governor, Governor Babagana Zulum and the former Governor, Senator Kashim Shettima to express my condolence, but more importantly, to try and think through ways of dealing with...
eGovernment: NITDA begins capacity building for ministries, agencies
Commonwealth of Nations The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) on Wednesday began a two-day virtual strategic capacity building workshop for federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs). The exercise is being carried out to hasten the implementation of the National e-Government Masterplan and inculcate the use of Information Technology in government activities. The training is in three phases for directors of ICT and heads of procurement, network administrators and domain managers, while the third batch is for the NITDA team driving the digital transformation agenda. The Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Abdullahi, who was represented by the Director e-Government Development and Regulation, Vincent Olatunji, in his opening remarks said the training aims at e...
Rumble in Edo as governor runs government without cabinet
Precisely 129 days into his second tenure as governor of Edo State after his election on September 20, 2020 and inauguration on November 12, 2020, Godwin Obaseki, has not formed his cabinet. This has generated some flaks from different quarters, including the opposition party, All Progressives Congress (APC), constitutional lawyers, political analysts, public commentators, residents among others. While others feel that Obaseki has not committed any crime or breached any law, others believe that he is running a one-man administration and must go ahead to form his cabinet. They argued that going by Section 192 of the 1999 Constitution, the governor is obliged to form a cabinet, saying this is a circumvention, which the state House of Assembly should take action on. Obaseki had said that his ...