Nigerian
Ijaw youths block East-West road over NDDC
Pool Photo The ripples over the appointment of a sole administrator for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) reached a boiling point on Monday as hundreds of Ijaw youths blocked the popular East-West road, causing many travellers to be stranded. The youths under the aegis of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) said the protest was for the immediate removal of the Sole Administrator, Mr Effiong Okon Awa, and the inauguration of the substantive board. The protest held travellers stranded for hours and attempts by some armed soldiers backed by an Armoured Personnel Carrier and led by a Major to persuade the protesters to leave the East-West road proved abortive. A plea by a former Secretary to Bayelsa State Government and ex-Nigerian Ambassador to the Scandinavian countries, Dr Godknows Iga...
2023: There was no pre-merger agreement in APC on zoning – Senator Yerima
A former Governor of Zamfara State, Senator Sani Yerima, has denied that the All Progressives Congress (APC) had any premerger agreement to rotate the presidency between the north and the south. Yerima disclosed this yesterday during a media interaction with reporters covering the activities of the APC. His claim was contrary to the views of the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, who recently said that the party had a gentleman agreement on zoning. Yerima said: “I don’t think there is anything like agreement. You can ask Mr. President, he led the group, Asiwaju was there, I was part of it, there was no meeting I didn’t attend or any meeting that I attended that there is such agreement. Agreement can’t be verbal. It has to be written. In any case, any agreement that is co...
President Buhari a true leader and democrat – Reps deputy speaker
The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase, has described President Muhammadu Buhari as a true leader and Democrat with a listening ear to the yearning of the Nigerian people. Wase who congratulated the President on his 78 birthday said President Buhari has been able to showcase true qualities of a good leader and have proven to have a listening ear as he is always ready to do the yearnings of Nigerians. In a birthday message signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Umar Muhammad Puma, Wase joined the millions of Nigerians and well-wishers globally in extolling the virtues of the President as not only the Father of the whole nation but as a true leader and democrat. “True to his words before assuming office, President Buhari has stayed faithful to the yearnings o...
Nigeria loses 250,000 babies to preventable, treatable causes annually – experts
Despite the global efforts to end preventable newborn deaths by 2030, through the Sustainable Development Goal 3.2, experts have raised the alarm that Nigeria loses over 250,000 babies yearly due to preventable and treatable causes, even as the country ranks second highest globally in infant deaths. According to a Professor of Paediatrics at the College of Medicine University of Lagos, and Clinical Lead, Newborn Essential Solution and Technologies, NEST360, Professor Chinyere Ezeaka, with current slow progress, it may take Nigerian 100 years to meet the goal. Ezeaka identified causes of newborn deaths in Nigeria to include prematurity, infections, birth asphyxia, congenital abnormalities among others, she said these would be reduced with the wide-scale adoption of comprehensive newborn car...
Air passengers decry upsurge in fares, seek urgent attention to roads, railway
Nigerians, who travel by air, have decried the “sudden” upsurge in air fares and urged the Federal Government to intervene to avoid poor patronage that could dwindle the fortunes of the aviation industry. Newsmen report that the air fares shot up by about 100 per cent in the last one week, with some airline operators even raising their fares by as much as 120 per cent or more. At Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, the fare from Abuja to Lagos, which was N35,300 (Economy Class), rose to between N70,000 and N75,000. Newsmen found that Business Class travellers were charged between N100,000 and N120,000, depending on the airline. Our correspondents, who visited other airports across the country, found that the rise in airfares was the same, a situation that forced some passengers to...
AfDB chief urges Nigerian government to deepen investment in youth
The President, African Development Bank (AFDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has appealed to the Federal Government to deepen investment in youth, to enable them put their entrepreneurial ingenuity to good use. Adesina, who spoke virtually at the 2020 Nigerian Prize for Leadership at the weekend in Abuja, noted that Nigerian youth are plagued by plethora of challenges like unemployment, limited technical and vocational skills, limited inclusion in the socio-political space and lack of finances to develop their businesses. “No nation is perfect. But those who learn from history become greater. Events repeat itself twice when people do not learn. As a nation, Nigeria should do everything possible to invest and reinvest itself by focusing on the youth. “Today, we have 206 million people, 70 per cent ...
Shiites call for release of Sheikh Ibraheem el-Zakzaky
The Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), otherwise known as Shiites, have called for unconditional release of their leader, Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, along with those still in detention. Recalled that the convoy of Army Chief of Staff, Lt. General Yusuf Buratai had clashed with members of IMN in Zaria on December 12, 2015, leading to death of several persons on the fateful day. Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife and some Shiites have been detention, and undergoing court trial since the incident happened. In a statement on Sunday by the IMN media Spokesperson, Ibrahim Musa to mark the 5th anniversary of the Zaria killings, it noted that five years in detention amounted to systematic oppression of Zakzaky and other members of the Movement. “As we mark the fifth anniversary of this Zaria Genocide Memori...
Nigerian midfielder sees red as 10-woman SL Benfica fall at Chelsea
Christy Ucheibe got sent off in Wednesday’s Uefa Women’s Champions League first leg, Round of 32 encounter as 10-woman SL Benfica suffered a 5-0 loss at home to Chelsea. The Nigerian midfielder was first cautioned in the 31st minute for a foul on Fran Kirby before receiving a second yellow card for a bookable offence against Erin Cuthbert in the 74th minute. Having squeezed past POAK and Anderlecht to the Round of 32, the Portuguese champions hosted the English giants at the Benfica Stadium with the ambition of boosting their next round chances. The hosts made a false start in the encounter when Fran Kirby opened the scoring for the visitors after just two minutes. In the 29th minute, Guro Reiten set up Millie Bright to double the lead for Chelsea before Reiten bagged her brace of assists,...
Victor Osimhen: Napoli clears Super Eagles medics of any wrong doing
Napoli has denied reports from Italian media that Nigerian doctors complicated Victor Osimhen’s shoulder during the first treatment. Tuttosport claimed Napoli medic revealed that their Nigerian counterparts caused more damage to the shoulder in the process of treatment before he returned to Italy. However, Napoli and the player on Saturday afternoon took to their social media handle to debunk the reports and clear the Super Eagles team doctor of any wrongdoing. “The current situation regarding the injury of Victor Osimhen is only a consequence of the dislocated right shoulder,” Napoli said in a tweet. Osimhen dislocated his shoulder while in action for Super Eagles of Nigeria last month at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City. The striker went down in the second under a challenge fro...
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...
Ayo Fayose: President Buhari must account for $1 billion taken from excess crude account
Former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose has queried President Muhammadu Buhari to account for the $1 billion withdrawn from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) to battle insecurity in the country. However, newsmen found that the call may be superfluous as government rendered an account on 22 July. Oblivious of this, Fayose, in series of tweets appeared to suggest that the money had been wasted, because of the rising killings and kidnappings being witnessed on daily basis. “Nigerians should recall that I took a stand openly against withdrawal of the $1bn,” he said. According to Fayose, 30 months after the $1bn was released, Nigerians, including soldiers and FG officials were complaining of no arms and ammunition to combat insecurity in the country. “When in December 2017, FG took $1bn fro...
Ex-President Jonathan: I was judged harshly before 2015 elections because …
Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday said he was wrongly judged by some of his friends and political opponents before the 2015 presidential election because of his personal convictions and the vision he had for the country. He, however, insisted that he does not hold any grudge against his detractors for their harsh criticisms. It would be recalled that the ex-President was widely criticised, before the election, for his approach to alleged corruption in his administration, the perennial problem of insecurity, and the sacking of some top government functionaries within his administration including the former Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, ex-Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, among other. Speaking in Abuja during the public presentation of a book ‘Dear...