Conference
SAN faults Southern governors’ call for constitutional conference
A human rights lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, has faulted the call by 17 Southern governors for a constitutional conference. The governors had said such a conference would straighten knotty problems confronting the country. But Ozekhome who spoke in Anambra State on Thursday, as a keynote speaker at the 25th Law week of the Awka branch of Nigerian Bar Association, described the governors’ suggestion as unnecessary. Speaking on the topic ‘Legal profession in a lawless society,’ Ozekhome said the call for a new conference was not necessary, especially considering that the recommendations of the one held in 2014 had not been implemented. He said, “I was at the 2014 national conference headed by late Justice Idris Kutigi. The over 200 recommendation we made at that conference was yet to be touche...
NMA: Worsening insecurity affecting healthcare delivery
File Photo The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), has raised the alarm over the poor delivery of healthcare services, as a result of the worsening state of insecurity in the country. This was contained in a communique signed by President of the NMA, Prof. Innocent Ujah and the Secretary General, Dr. Philips Ekpe, issued at the end of the NMA’s Annual General Conference and Delegates Meeting held in Jos, and made available to newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja. The NMA urged the Federal Government to renew efforts to quickly bring what was described as a “humanitarian disaster” under control, and appealed to all citizens to jettison dangerous unpatriotic and tendencies. The communique reads in part: “The Conference is saddened by the worsening spate of killings, maiming, kidnapping, banditry, a...
Nigerian government establishes 20 new marriage registries
The Federal Government has established 20 new Federal Marriage Registries across the country in a bid to bring Federal Marriage Registry closer to the grassroots. Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola disclosed this Friday in Abuja at a National Stakeholders’ Conference on the Administration and Conduct of Statutory Marriage in Nigeria. According to him, efforts are ongoing to have Federal Marriage Registries in all the State Capitals of the Federation. A statement issued by the ministry’s Department of Press and Public Relations and signed by Towoju Raphael added that the Minister was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr. Shuaib Belgore. He said the Conference was necessitated by need for the Ministry to inform stakeholders and enlighten the public on some new...
Taraba governor advises Nigerian government on state police
Gov. Darius Ishaku of Taraba has advised the Federal Government to try state police in addressing the security challenges in the country. Ishaku gave the advice in his remarks at a world news conference organised by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) at the party national secretariat in Abuja, on Monday. The conference also featured Senate Minority Leader, Sen. Enyinaya Abaribe, and former president of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki. According to Gov. Darius, the primary responsibility of any democratic government was to secure the people and their property. He said the state governors were going through challenges and were helpless in managing the insecurity as they have no power over security. “No matter how bad the state police, let us experiment it. After all, we have the State Electora...
Somalia invites state leaders to crucial election talks
Somalia’s prime minister on Sunday invited regional leaders to a fresh round of negotiations in the hope of resolving a protracted feud over elections that sparked violence in the capital. The troubled Horn of Africa country is experiencing its worst political crisis in years, with fighting erupting in Mogadishu last week after the president extended his mandate by two years without going to elections. Opposition fighters remain in the capital even after President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed backed away from the mandate extension at the weekend and agreed to hold a fresh vote. The president, better known by his nickname Farmajo, tasked his prime minister with reaching out to rivals and overseeing the negotiations, a key opposition demand. A government spokesman said Prime Minister Mohamed Hu...
President Buhari seeks NMA support in providing responsive health care system
President Muhammed Buhari has solicited the support of Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in reforming the Health care sector in order to deliver a health system that is responsive to the needs of Nigerians. Buhari disclosed this on Thursday during the 61st Annual General Conference Annual Delegates meeting of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), held in Jos, Plateau State. The President who was represented by Minister of Health, Professor , Osagie Ehanire, said inspite the Country’s fragile health system, Doctors have continued to respond to diseases. He said the Country’s health system has a long way to go in meeting the demand of Nigerians. President Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Prof. Innocent Ujah appealed to Federal Government to provide modern medical equipments and consuma...
Saudi Arabia donates $1.2 million food items to Zamfara disaster victims
The Saudi Arabia based King Salman Humanitarian and Relief Center has donated food items worth 1.2 million dollars to victims of armed banditry in Zamfara. Retired AVM Muhammadu Muhammed, Director-General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said at a news conference in Gusau on Friday. Muhammed said that the food items would be distributed to 8,725 households. “Each household will receive a package weighing 59.8kg; comprising rice, beans and a condiment of tomato paste, maggi cube, cooking oil, salt and masa flour. “The donors expect the items to immediately reach the beneficiaries in order to give them some relief in this fasting period,” he said. The NEMA boss commended the centre for the items, noting that Nigeria would remain grateful for such donations which was also made to ...
Barcelona supremo: European Super League a ‘necessity’
Barcelona president Joan Laporta described the European Super League as a “necessity” on Thursday but said the final decision would be given to the club’s members. Barca, Real Madrid and Juventus are the only clubs yet to withdraw officially from the breakaway competition, which lasted just 48 hours before the project imploded. Nine of the 12 clubs involved have pulled out. With total debts of more than a billion euros, Barcelona are struggling to keep up with Europe’s elite, making the prospect of a hugely lucrative new tournament particularly attractive. But Laporta said Barca’s members would have to approve the idea in a vote. “We understand it is a necessity but on the other hand, the members will have the last word,” Laporta told Catalunya Radio. “It is absolutely necessary the big cl...
Borussia Dortmund chief confirms BVB, Bayern Munich reject Super League
Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has confirmed that both Dortmund and Bayern Munich are against the formation of a Super League. Plans to launch a Super League were announced by 12 of Europe’s leading clubs late on Sunday night. However, they do not have the support of either of Germany’s two biggest clubs. “The members of the European Club Association (ECA) gathered for a virtual conference on Sunday evening and confirmed the board decision of last Friday remains valid,” Watzke said in a statement released on Dortmund’s website. “This decision means the clubs wanted to implement the planned reform of the Champions League. It was the clear opinion of the members of the ECA board to reject the plans to form a Super League. “Both German clubs who are represented on the ECA board, Ba...
NIMASA: SPOMO act improving Nigeria’s image
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) says the Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences (SPOMO) Act, is improving Nigeria’s image in its fight against piracy and sea robbery. Dr Bashir Jamoh, Director-General, NIMASA, said this in a statement on Sunday in Lagos. He said that the Act signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari in June, 2019 was to end piracy and sea robbery in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea. He made this known at the maiden edition of the Nigerian Admiralty Law Colloquium organised recently in Lagos by the agency, in collaboration with the National Judicial Institute (NJI). The colloquium had the theme, “Achieving Maritime Safety, Security and Shipping Development (TRIPODS) through Enforcement of Legislations and the Implementation of th...
Ex-minister: It’s time to convoke sovereign national conference
Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately convoke a Sovereign National Conference to address the numerous problems facing the nation. Ezekwesili lamented that the nation at this crucial period of crippling political and social dangers needed a conference to address the thorny issues. She said this had become inevitable in view of happenings in the country. Ezekwesili said the problem now was whether the Nigerian government led by Buhari would be willing to hold such an important conference. In her words: “Nigeria, at this time, the crippling political, economic and social dangers make the convocation of a Sovereign National Conversation inevitable. “The question is whether President Muhammadu Buhari’s Nigerian government realizes ...
All Chinese schools now have access to internet
Andrew Brookes/Getty Images All Chinese schools now have full access to the Internet, and 95.2 per cent of them are equipped with multi-media classrooms, according to a senior official with China’s Ministry of Education. The country has been constantly accelerating informationisation of teaching, and sees it as underpinning the modernisation of education, said Zhong Denghua, vice minister of the education ministry, at a virtual conference attended by ministers of education on the E9 Digital Learning Initiative jointly held by UNESCO and Bangladesh on April 6. Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, online courses thrived across the country as a way to ensure normal teaching activities, said Zhong, adding that nearly 300 million teachers and students had learnt or taught online whi...
