Media
Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan launch new Nile dam talks in DRC
A new round of African Union-mediated talks between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan has begun aimed at resolving a years-long dispute over a massive dam built by Addis Ababa on the Blue Nile, a main tributary of the Nile river. The three-day talks that kicked off on Saturday are taking place in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the current chair of the AU. Foreign and irrigation ministers of the three nations were attending the talks over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), along with AU experts, according to Ethiopia’s Irrigation Minister Seleshi Bekele. A Sudanese diplomat was quoted as saying by The Associated Press news agency that the experts from the three countries and the AU met on Saturday, ahead of ministers who would meet on Sunday and Monday. He s...
CSOs: Bandit attacks a risk to food security in Nigeria
Bandit attacks heighten risks for acute food crisis in Nigeria, stakeholders from the civil society and the media have said. This is even as they vowed to unite against terror rather than do anything that could promote it. “In addition to displacement, insecurity has hampered agricultural activities and heightened the risk of acute food uncertainty in the country”, they said in a communique issued on Thursday after a meeting of civil society groups and media in the nation’s capital. But they insisted that the adoption of new approaches by the government will address the specific political, economic, and social challenges that encourage banditry and terrorism in the country. The communique co-signed by Gbenga Onayiga and Adamu Ladan, the Acting Chairman and the Executive Director of the Vis...
IPOB: We’ll not spare killer herdsmen in South-East, South-South
The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, on Wednesday accused Nigerian Security agencies of aiding and abating murderous herdsmen to kill Biafran people of Ebonyi and Enugu States IPOB while reacting to the alleged killing of herdsmen in Ebonyi State, through its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, said they in IPOB and ESN are chasing Fulani terrorists, herdsmen, in the whole of South East and South-South and we will spare terrorists when they get them. IPOB statement read in part, “It is now clear and open to the public how Nigeria security agencies are aiding and abetting murderous Fulani terrorists herdsmen to kill our Biafran people in Ebonyi and Enugu States. “Nigeria security agencies are giving them cover to attack the villagers in these two states because Nigeria Army and ...
Rivers governor speaks against travelling abroad for medical check-up
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State says he doesn’t have any reason to travel abroad for a medical check-up because the State Government House Clinic is equipped with everything he needs for medical examination. The governor said this on Wednesday, March 31, 2021, when a delegation of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House, Port Harcourt. Wike’s comment came at a time President Muhammadu Buhari left the country for a medical check-up in London. In a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Media, Kelvin Ebiri. Wike urged the council not to play politics with the approved quota for medical and dental schools in Nigeria. Wike was quoted as saying, “The health care system in Nigeria requires very serious attention. It is unfortunate wh...
CAN: Osun governor’s education policy review reduces tension
The Christian Association of Nigeria, (CAN) Osun State chapter has lauded Governor Gboyega Oyetola for the careful review of the education policy of the previous administration which has drastically reduced tension in public schools. The association also commended what it described as the ingenious and dynamic leadership with which Oyetola has handled critical sectors of the state. This was revealed by the second Vice Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria, who also doubles as the minister in charge of the Sacred Cherubim and Seraphim, Oke-Atan Ile-Ife, Pastor Elijah Fagbile, while speaking with the media at the Osun Civic Engagement Office. He emphasized that Oyetola is a man of honour whose character and personal qualities have engendered tremendous development which the state curren...
Presidency: Atiku Abubakar can’t extricate himself from Nigeria’s rot
The Presidency has attacked former Vice President Atiku Abubakar for his comment on the Bloomberg report that Nigeria may emerge the country with the highest unemployment rate in the world. The position of the Presidency was stated by the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, on a Channels Television programme: Sunday Politics, on Sunday. Adesina said the recent report released by the National Bureau of Statistics that 23.2 million Nigerians are unemployed was not new. He said: “You will recall that in the build-up to the 2015 elections, when the APC (All Progressives Congress) was campaigning, the figure that was used by then candidate Buhari was that a minimum of 30 million Nigerians were unemployed, particularly youths, and that his governme...
Presidency: President Buhari never promised to make N1 equal $1
The Presidency has said that there was not a time when President Muhammadu Buhari promised to make N1 equivalent to $1. The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said this on a Channels Television programme, Sunday Politics, on Sunday. Adesina, who also addressed complaints about the economy by Nigerians, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, said of the often quoted promise by Buhari to make N1 exchange for $1: “It does not exist, it is fake, it is false, it is apocryphal, it doesn’t exist.” He further told Channels Television that the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has debunked the claim several times and challenged anyone with clips and publications of the President promising such to make them available. On the critic...
Suez Canal Authority says stranded ship partially refloated
The stranded container ship that blocked the Suez Canal for nearly a week was almost fully re-floated on Monday and has restarted its engines, a shipping source with knowledge of the matter said, raising hopes the busy waterway will soon be reopened. The 400-metre (430-yard) long Ever Given has been straightened in the canal and will undergo initial inspections before being moved, two sources said. Video posted on social media appeared to show the ship’s stern had swung around, opening space in the canal. Other footage, which could not be immediately verified by Reuters, included cheering and ships’ horns sounding in celebration. Ship-tracking service VesselFinder has changed the ship’s status to under way on its website. The Ever Given became jammed diagonally across a southern section of...
LOC: Nigerian government yet to release funds for 20th National Sports Festival
The Federal Government is yet to release the funds it promised Edo for the hosting of the 2020 National Sports Festival (NSF) with less than a week to its commencement. Musa Ebomhiana, a Project Manager in the Media and Communications Sub-Committee of the festival’s Local Organising Committee (LOC), disclosed this on Sunday in Benin. He told newsmen however that, while the Edo State Government still remained hopeful the fund would be released, an early release would be better. “This will ensure smooth planning for the nation’s number one sports fiesta,” he said. Ebomhiana pointed out that the need to have a smooth planning was the reason the state’s Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, had last week appealed for the funds’ early release. “We are taking seriously the promise by the Minister of Y...
Thousands flee to Thailand after Myanmar army’s air strikes on villages
About 3,000 villagers from Myanmar’s southeastern Karen state fled to Thailand on Sunday following air attacks by the army on an area held by an ethnic armed group, an activist group and local media said. Myanmar’s military launched air strikes on five areas in Mutraw district, near the border, including a displacement camp, the Karen Women’s Organization said. “At the moment, villagers are hiding in the jungle as more than 3,000 crossed to Thailand to take refuge,” a statement from the group said. Thai PBS reported about 3,000 had reached Thailand. Thai authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment. At least two soldiers from the Karen National Union were killed, said David Eubank, founder of the Free Burma Rangers, a relief organisation. “We haven’t had air strikes ther...
Former Roma boss, online fan clash over Mo Salah sale
Four years after Mohammed Salah was sold to Liverpool for £35m a die-hard Roma fan has hauled pebbles at the decision describing it as undue emphasis on money over quality. Former Roma president James Pallotta locked horn with a fan who from all indication was ready to throw blows should the need arise. Salah has starred for Liverpool ever since leaving Roma in 2017 for £35m. The unamed fan took Pallotta online , suggesting it was all about money, claiming Roma only cared about Financial Fair Play regulations. He posted to social media: “Replacing Salah with [Patrik] Schick is confirmation of the inability of a company that constantly sells the best players. “You’re not good enough at turning omelettes, trust me.” Pallotta replied: “You still show ignorance by ignoring fact that Salah want...
More than 90 killed in Myanmar in one of bloodiest days of protests
Security forces killed more than 90 people across Myanmar on Saturday in one of the bloodiest days of protests since a military coup last month, news reports and witnesses said. The lethal crackdown came on Armed Forces Day. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the junta leader, said during a parade in the capital Naypyitaw to mark the event that the military would protect the people and strive for democracy. State television had said on Friday that protesters risked being shot “in the head and back”. Despite this, demonstrators against the Feb. 1 coup came out on the streets of Yangon, Mandalay and other towns. The Myanmar Now news portal said 91 people were killed across the country by security forces. A boy reported by local media to be as young as five was among at least 29 people killed in...
