Nigeria
US election: Oye Owolewa made Nigeria proud – minister
The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, on Thursday, described the feat achieved by 31-year old Oye Owolewa in the 2020 United States election as national pride. The minister tweeted, “Congrats are in place for the 31-year old Adeoye Owolewa for making Nigeria proud by being the first Nigerian to win a seat in the United States Congress.” Owolewa was on Tuesday elected as a shadow member of the US House of Representatives from the District of Columbia, making him the first Nigerian-American to achieve the milestone. According to election results on the website of the District of Columbia Board of Elections on Wednesday morning, Owolewa polled 81.59% of the votes, which represents 164,026 votes against Joyce Robinson-Paul, who scored 18,600 votes, and Sohaer Syed with 15,...
Rivers university suspends two students over Facebook posts
The management of Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAEU), Rumuolumeni, Port Harcourt, has suspended two students for one academic session for allegedly posting inciting posts on their social media handles. The suspended students are Sunday Idongesit Okpokpo of the Department of Political Science and Chibuzor Remmy of the Department of Educational Management. The institution accused Okpokpo of creating panic and confusion with a post on his social media page calling for the cancellation of the final year examination scheduled to commence on Monday, November 2, 2020 as well as the Matriculation Ceremony scheduled to hold on Saturday, November 7, 2020. It accused Remmy of calling out students in a comment he made on Okpokpo’s post. Remmy had allegedly asked the students to come out for...
Governor Masari: Katsina won’t negotiate with bandits
Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State on Wednesday reiterated his charge on the security agencies to be ruthless with bandits terrorizing the state as well as neighbouring Kaduna and Zamfara States. He made the declaration when heads of security agencies in Katsina brought two repentant bandit commanders from Illela village in Safana Local Government Area. The repentant bandit commanders also returned 10 AK 47 rifles. The two bandit leaders, Sale Turwa and Muhammed Sani Maidaji who returned 8 AK 47 and 2 AK 47 respectively, were presented before the Governor by the State Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Sanusi Buba, and his colleagues from the 17 Brigade, Katsina, the Department of State Security and Civil Defence. The Commissioner of Police informed the Governor that it was the view and co...
AFCONQ: No fans for Super Eagles, Sierra Leone clash – ministry
The Ministry of Youth and Sports Development and the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 have advised the Edo State Government and the Nigeria Football Federation against allowing fans into the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City, during the 2021 AFCON qualifier between the Super Eagles and Sierra Leone on November 13. This is coming after the Edo State Government announced that the gates would be thrown open for fans to watch the game at the refurbished Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium. The ministry said admitting fans into the match venue would amount to a breach of the COVID-19 protocols. In a letter addressed to the Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, the ministry stated that the game “will not have any audience and no gathering”. The letter read in part, “The ministry wishes to brin...
Kebbi begins free registration for youth investment fund
Kebbi State Government has commenced the free registration exercise of Nigerian Youth Investment Fund (NYIF) for youths across the 21 local government areas of the state. The state Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Alhaji Gidado Kaliel, who inaugurated the exercise on Wednesday in Birnin Kebbi, urged the youths to come out enmass to utilize the opportunity for their progress. He said,”I want to urge the youths in the state to make use of this opportunity and take the advantage of this scheme. “It is for your benefit. I also want to urge those of you who are not youths but you have youths in your houses to please, tell them to come out for this registration. “There is no cost for it, it is free. They can access money from N250,000 to N3 million. This is one of the initiatives o...
#EndSARS: Enugu governor begs police officers to return to duty posts
Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, on Wednesday, passionately appealed to men and officers of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to fully renew their ultimate commitment towards the provision of security of lives and property by returning to their duty posts across the state. Mr Ugwuanyi made the appeal when he visited the Senior Police Officers Mess, Agbani Road, Enugu, to address and commiserate with the members of the Enugu State Police Command, over loss of lives of private citizens and security personnel, grievous bodily injuries as well as destruction of private and public properties including security infrastructure. The governor who described the mayhem unleashed by miscreants and hoodlums that hijacked the hitherto peaceful #EndSARS protests as “an unusual and challenging perio...
#EndSARS: ICC begins probe into shooting of protesters
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has disclosed that it’s conducting a preliminary investigation into the recent #EndSARS protests in Nigeria, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported on Wednesday. In a statement, the office of the ICC prosecutor had earlier said it had received information on alleged crimes. The examination will “assess whether the legal criteria for opening an investigation under the Rome Statute are met.” For weeks crowds of peaceful protesters gathered in streets in major towns of the country to demonstrate against police brutality, leading to a crackdown. Rights group Amnesty International said security forces opened fire on protesters, killing and injuring a number of people. Both the police and the army have rejected Amnesty’s allegation. The ICC sai...
Governor Wike: Security operatives have arrested two IPOB kingpins over Oyigbo killings
Two alleged kingpins of proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) have been arrested by security operatives in connection with recent violence that left four policemen and six soldiers killed in Oyigbo Local Government Area of Rivers State. Governor Nyesom Wike disclosed this Tuesday when Rotary District 9141 Governor, Mrs Virginia Major led a delegation of Rotarians on a visit to Wike at the Government House, Port Harcourt. The Governor told the Rotatians, “If we did not take the steps we took by imposing curfew in Oyigbo, it would have been the Hausa and Igbo that will have been fighting and nobody knows what level it would have taken today. “I will not support criminality. I won’t because the soldiers don’t like me, then you go and kill them. And then, I will come out and clap, tha...
Four Personalities Who Inspired Nigeria This Year
*CSP GARBA, NGOZI OKONJO IWEALA, OLUMIDE AKPATA AND THE NIGERIAN YOUTHS: FOUR PERSONALITIES WHO INSPIRED THE NATION THIS YEAR* Godwin Maduka It was Ralph Nader who stated and rightly so that there can be no daily democracy without daily citizenship. In other words, democracy can only thrive and be deepened when the citizens of a State are alive to their responsibilities. The recent events in the country this year have changed my perception and my thoughts about leadership. Citizenship in Nigeria in the previous years has been marked with apathy and tepidness. The laissez-faire attitude is largely because of the distrust Nigerian citizens nurse against the Nigerian State. But it is that way because the people do not understand the enormity of the power they wield. This lukewarm attitu...
Nigeria debts will hit N38.68 trillion in 2021 – minister
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, has said the total public debts of Nigeria would hit N38trn by December 2021. The Minister stated this on Tuesday, in her presentation to the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts. The Minister said, ”The total public debt stock comprising the External and Homes debts of the Federal and state governments and the Federal Capital Territory stood at N31.01trn (USD85.90 billion) as at June 30, 2020. “It is projected, based on existing approval, to rise to N32.51 trillion by December 31, 2020 and N38.68 trillion by December 31,2021.” She attributed reasons for numerous abandoned road projects across the country to poor funds releases occasioned by dwindling revenue. She explained that the current Sukuk fund is N162bn for...
Nigeria mulls exit from some International organisations – minister
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Godfrey Onyeama, says plans are underway to reduce the number of International Organisations Nigeria belongs to because of paucity of funds. Onyeama made this known while defending the ministry’s 2021 budget at the House of Representatives on Tuesday in Abuja. He said that the ministry is faced with a challenge of meeting its contribution to those International organisations. “We are owing a lot, and in the Federal Executive Council (FEC), there is a process to rationalise and cut down on the International Organisations we belong to. “This is because we are just owing monies left and right and it is not even good for the image of the country,” he said. Onyeama, who decried the poor funding of the ministry, reeled out the challenges facing the 2021 budget...
Lekki shooting: CCTV stopped recording after 8pm – LCC chief
Lekki Concession Company (LCC) has said that CCTV cameras at Lekki Tollgate stopped working at 8p.m. on Oct. 20, the day military men alleged shot at unarmed #EndSARS protesters. Managing Director of LCC, Mr Abayomi Omomuwasi, made the disclosure while testifying during proceedings of Lagos #EndSARS Judicial Panel on Tuesday. Led in evidence by his lawyer, Mr Rotimi Seriki, Omomuwasi said that the cameras stopped working due to network issues. “We never tampered with the surveillance camera, that is why we have footage until 8 p.m. when it stopped recording. “It was around 8.p.m. that we did not get any CCTV recording. It stopped recording because of network issues with the system. “The major cause is that we have the network that connects our cameras together at Ikoyi Link Bridge, Chevron...
