A statement signed by the head of NEMA’s public relations department, Mr. Yushau Shuaib, stated that “reliefs and rehabilitation officials of NEMA confirmed that 28,764 internally displaced people were registered in 11 camps of the 14 affected local government councils in the state.” The statement also revealed that “at least 11 pregnant women were successfully... Read More
With the growth rate of 7.5 per cent per annum and all other things being equal, Nigeria’s economy may overtake those of United Kingdom and France on or before 2050, a UK-based Nigerian lecturer, Dr. Gbenga Oduntan has said. Dr. Oduntan, who lectures at Kent University, UK, spoke yesterday in Abuja at a special lecture... Read More
by Isi Esene The Osun State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has dissociated itself from any involvement in the abduction of Muibat, wife of the speaker of the State House of Assembly, Najeem Salam. The statement was made public public yesterday by Diran Odeyemi, the state PDP director of Publicity, Media and Strategy, who said it... Read More
A sister of one of the four University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) students brutally murdered last Friday in Umuokiri village, Aluu, Rivers State, has narrated how her younger brother and his friends were lynched. Miss Ibisobia Elkanah, elder sister of Tekena Friday Elkanah, revealed yesterday that policemen visited the scene where the students were burnt... Read More
by Stanley Azuakola Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan released some startling data on Thursday in Abuja, when he said that 50 to 70 per cent of many states in the country had been submerged by floods. The flooding situation in the country, which has affected all the geo-political zones, is one of the worst the nation... Read More
by Akan Ido The alarming rate of domestic violence and other forms of injustice has attracted the attention of top Nigerian celebrities who have resolved to come together to walk against violence. The walk which is an initiative of the Soundcity On-air-personality, Olayinka Adamu, will bring together 2face Idibia, Ice Prince, Psquare, M.I, 9ice, Timaya,... Read More
by Bobby Udoh The essential first step to the building of a developed Nigeria is that you and I accept responsibility for Nigeria. So far this year, we have witnessed so many events that have stirred deep sentiments amongst the majority of Nigerians. From the fuel hike protest, to the various Boko Haram killings, to... Read More
by Collins Uma There is an invisible thread that runs through these two killings: frustration with the status quo. I was going to write on something entirely different from this but, as I sat down to write, news filtered in about a massacre that had happened at Mubi, Adamawa State in Nigeria’s North-East. I chose... Read More
But, you see, unlike Omojuwa and his passionate young friends, they actually end up doing nothing. It’s all sound and fury, signifying nonsense, masking their own impotence. They are glad to point at his flaws and laugh at his errors, and then sit back, rubbing their bellies. On Sunday, he did it again: channeling... Read More
by Stanley Azuakola This year’s been one of the toughest for Nigeria’s aviation sector. A plane crash, airlines going down, and what we are left with is a ‘near- monopoly where two airlines are dominating the domestic services.’ As a result of these, the Federal Government is reportedly facilitating the registration of four additional airlines.... Read More
by Macdonald Nwajagu Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a complete reflection of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo (GCFR) in the way they handle party affairs. The average Nigerian is distraught after 13 years of misrule by the Peoples Democratic Party at the centre of governance. After the initial jubilation of emancipation from military & dictatorial rule a... Read More
by Reuben Daba When things used to be sweet between the Hausa Muslims and Berom Christians in Barkin Ladi Local Council of Plateau State, a certain Berom man gave out his land to be used by the Muslims during their prayers and festivities. Those days of peace are only found in memories now, as Barkin... Read More
The European Union won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for its historic role in uniting the continent in an award meant as a morale boost for the bloc as it struggles to resolve its debt crisis. The EU has been a key in transforming Europe “from a continent of wars to a continent of... Read More
by Isi Esene Sekinat Akewusola, a mother of twins on Thursday committed suicide by jumping into the Osun River. The woman was said to have given alms to some beggars in the area before taking the fatal plunge. Some of the beggars reportedly said they saw the woman jump from the bridge located at Oke-Gada,... Read More
by Ayo Olukotun Concern and apprehension continue to be raised regarding the quality and character of policymaking in the context especially of such misadventures as the proposed, mercifully aborted, change in our currency denomination, the abrupt renaming of the University of Lagos and the still elusive arithmetic of alleged petrol subsidy removal. Recently too, consternation... Read More
by Hauwa Gambo The Democratic base might have fallen in love anew with Vice President Joe Biden in yesterday’s vice presidential debate in the US elections, but the press… not so much. Channeling his inner Al Gore circa 2000, Joe Biden seems to have delivered an over the top performance. See tweets form some of... Read More
By Reuben Daba From an initial ten man shortlist, the Advisory Board for the NLNG-sponsored, The Nigeria Prize for Literature has approved a final shortlist of three books. The three books are Onaedo: The Blacksmith’s Daughter by Ngozi Achebe, Only a Canvas by Olusola Olugbesan and On Black Sister’s Street by Chika Unigwe. Chairman of... Read More
by Oluwatobi Soyombo To think that Instagram is not even accessible via web (which a handful of Nigerians have access to) – with all its limitations – is to predict it’s failure more in Nigeria. A respected man in the social technology scope published an article two days ago. In the piece, he gave several reasons why... Read More
ONE of the parents of the slain UNIPORT students, Mr. Steven Biringa, has insisted that his son, Chiadika, was labelled a thief by his assailants so that they could find a reason to kill him. Biringa told our correspondent in Port Harcour, Rivers State on Thursday that his son had a good upbringing. He said... Read More
Russia manager Fabio Capello on Thursday said that he intended to reverse the squad’s knack for losing big matches by taking the game to Portugal during their top-of-the-table 2014 World Cup qualifier in Moscow. Friday’s showdown at the nearly sold-out Luzhniki Stadium has been billed as a “decider” by a Russian media that is ominously... Read More
Mark to Okupe: Know your limits Late last night, Mark and Tambuwal responded to what they called Okupe’s disrespectful remarks against the National Assembly and its leaders. A statement by Mark’s spokesman Kola Ologbondiyan said, “It is instructive to first state that Senator Mark and Mr. President are on the same page in the onerous... Read More
The Presidency on Thursday slammed the leadership of the National Assembly, describing the budget-related criticisms levelled against President Goodluck Jonathan as an attempt to rubbish the 2013 budget proposals. President Jonathan had presented the proposals to a joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday. At the budget presentation, Senate President, David Mark, had told... Read More
A former Governor of Abia State, Orji Kalu, has taken his campaign for the emergence in 2015 of a president of Igbo extraction in Nigeria to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mr. Kalu on Monday met with Nigerians in the DRC to sell his message to them. The meeting, which was well attended, saw the... Read More
by Isi Esene The Lagos State government has announced that there will be a full closure of the Third Mainland Bridge on Sunday. The bridge is billed to undergo repairs and traffic will be diverted from the hours of 6am till midnight. Kayode Opeifa, commissioner for Transportation announced this on Thursday stating that the closure... Read More
In many African countries, it is illegal to be gay. 25 out of 38 African nations have passed laws that give varying degrees of prison sentences to people caught practicing homosexual acts. In Nigeria, a 14-year jail term is prescribed for convicted offenders under the Same Sex Marriage (prohibition) bill which was passed into law in 2011. These laws... Read More
By Stanley Azuakola The stories left behind in communities across the country which have been visited by the deadly unrelenting floods have been tales of grief and woe. There was one such sad story in Umudara village in Ihite community of Ihiala Local Government Area, Anambra State this week. A 16-year-old girl, Edith Afugwuobi and... Read More
by Isi Esene Mohammed Dalhatu, first son of former minister of Power and Steel, Bashir Dalhatu recently died in a power bike accident on his way back Abuja from a biker’s convention in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. Mohammed, 34, was reported to have fallen from his power-bike and run over by two vehicles, but other... Read More
For allegedly defrauding an American lady, Kathy Lunsford through the internet under the pretext of marriage, a University of Lagos student, Michael Opaleye has been sent to jail by a Lagos State High Court Opaleye was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment today by Justice Aishat Opesanwo for defrauding Miss Kathy Lunsford, of 9,200 US dollars... Read More
A French woman had the shock of a life time when she received a phone bill of £10 trillion – nearly 6000 times the country’s GDP. Solenne San Jose nearly fainted when she saw exactly how much she was meant to pay for closing her account. Despite the outlandish sum, Ms San Jose, from Pessac,... Read More