Nigeria
Governor El-Rufai urges federal government to increase frequency of Abuja-Kaduna trains
The governor of Kaduna state, Nasir el-Rufai, has urged the ministry of transportation to increase the frequency of trains plying the Abuja-Kaduna rail line. The governor spoke on Thursday when Gbemisola Saraki, minister of state for transportation, and the management of the National Institute of Transport Technology (NITT) paid him a courtesy visit in Kaduna. He said the increase will help to check overcrowding as the trains are “always fully booked”. “There are areas of constraints with the COVID-19 pandemic, but I think that the way our figures are going down with the rollout of the vaccination, there are going to be far more movements within the country, and particularly on that route,” he said. “So, we would like the ministry to consider increasing the frequencies and completing the p...
UN projects Nigeria’s GDP to expand by 1.5 percent
Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) is projected to expand by 1.5 per cent this year, after a contraction of 3.5 per cent in 2020, a United Nations (UN) report said on Wednesday. In the latest World Economic Situation and Prospects report, the UN noted, that tighter foreign exchange (forex) liquidity, mounting inflationary pressures and subdued domestic demand clouded the medium-term outlook. Although last year, the global economy shrank by 4.3 per cent, this year’s projected recovery of 4.7 per cent will barely offset the losses of 2020, according to the report. The World Economic Situation and Prospects 2021 is a report produced by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), in partnership with the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the five UN regional ...
Enugu completes 1,355 school projects in 17 LGAs
Enugu State Government under the administration of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi said it has carried out 1,355 verifiable projects in various primary and secondary schools across the 17 Local Government Areas of the state, under the State Universal Basic Education Board (ENSUBEB) and Post Primary Schools Management Board (PPSMB), in line with its vision to improve the learning condition of the students. The state government disclosed that besides recruiting over 7,030 primary and secondary school teachers, it also procured and distributed over 50,000 classroom furniture and other learning tools for school children and their teachers across the state. It revealed that it supplied and installed computers to 490 primary and secondary schools; science equipment to 151 secondary schools, and constr...
Official: Why CCB denies Nigerians access to public officers’ assets information
The Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) on Wednesday explained why it denies Nigerians access to the details of the assets declared by public officers. The chair person of the bureau, Muhammad Isah, also disclosed that assets declaration would soon become online-based. Mr Isah, represented by his special assistant, Mustapha Musa, spoke in Lagos at a meeting on ‘Promoting Transparency and Accountability in Asset Declaration by High-Ranking Public Officers’. Newsmen report that the meeting was organised by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP). On access to public officers’ assets information, the CCB chair said the bureau never honoured citizens’ requests for such information because the National Assembly had yet to give the guidelines for such public disclosure. He said the...
Nigerian government begs resident doctors to shelve planned strike
The Federal Government has appealed to Resident Doctors to shelve their threat of embarking on a nationwide strike in the country. The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, made the appeal at a conciliatory meeting with the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) on Wednesday in Abuja. Newsmen recall that NARD had threatened to shut public health care facilities beginning from April 1, over unpaid salaries and other welfare packages. Ngige said that majority of the welfare issues under contention were almost resolved even before the letter of compliant and notification of a planned strike action was delivered at the ministry ”We are here because we have started solving your issues. We put up proposals with given timelines on how to deal with them. “We will look at thos...
ECWA: Terrorists tactically taking over Northern Nigeria
The Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) has raised the alarm, saying terrorist groups are tactically expanding their activities and making incursions into other parts of the North. Addressing a press conference in Jos on Wednesday on the insecurity ravaging the country, ECWA President, Dr. Stephen Panya, said “Boko Haram and ISWAP have destroyed tens of thousands of lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of Nigerians and many Christians and Christian communities have been deliberately targeted and destroyed. “It is clear that these terrorist groups are gradually but tactically expanding their activities and making incursions into other parts of the north and even beyond, and the apparent lack of unity in the fight against these terrorist groups, and the inability of government to deal...
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...
US accuses Nigeria of significant human rights abuses
US Embassy in South Africa The United States has accusesd Nigeria of significant human rights abuses in its latest ‘’Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2020’’, released Wednesday by the Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour. In the report titled ‘’’Nigeria 2020 Human Rights Report, Executive Summary’’, the US accused Nigeria of ‘’significant’’ human rights abuses, which include: unlawful and arbitrary killings by both government and non-state actors; forced disappearances by the government, terrorists, and criminal groups; torture and cases of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government and terrorist groups; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions. The 102-page report also accused the federal government of ‘’arbitrary d...
President Buhari condemns attempted coup in Niger Republic
President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the attempted coup in Niger Republic, saying “any illegal effort to depose a democratically elected government is not only despicable, but also unacceptable to democratic governments around the world.” Speaking in a telephone conversation with Mahamadou Issoufou, his counterpart and outgoing President on the situation in Niger Republic, President Buhari according to a statement by his media aide, Garba Shehu warned that “the international community is hostile to the change of government by violent and unconstitutional means.” “It is utterly naive to attempt the removal of an elected government by force. “Military political adventurers should respect the will of the people and respect constitutional order. “I’m particularly concerned about the negati...
NSF: UNIBEN orders students to vacate halls of residence
Ahead of the 20th National Sports Festival (Edo 2020), the Senate of the University of Benin (UniBen) has ordered students to vacate its Halls of Residence from April 1. The university hall of residence have been earmarked for the use of contingents coming for the festival holding in Benin between April 2 and April 14. A statement issued on Wednesday in Benin by the Public Relations Officer of the institution, Dr Benedicta Ehanire, said the UniBen management had provided holding facilities for students who may need to keep their luggage. She said that the luggage must be tagged and dropped under strict security supervision while their mid-session break lasted. “Following the directive by the Senate of the University of Benin for students to vacate the Halls of Residence on April 1, the Man...
NSF: Borno to participate in 13 sports – official
Borno is to participate in 13 sports in the coming National Sports Festival (NSF) scheduled for April 2 in Benin. The Information Officer of Borno Sports Council, Mr Ibrahim Tukur, made this known on Wednesday in an interview with newsmen in Maiduguri. Tukur said the sports comprised football, handball, badminton, tennis, cycling, volleyball, taekwondo, wrestling, Kunfu, Karate and traditional sports like langa, local wrestling and dambe. Tukur said that the state is sending a contingent of 150 people, including sportsmen and officials. “In compliance with directive, samples have just been taken from all those going to for the Festival including the Commissioner for Sports for COVID-19 test,” Tukur said. Get more stories like this on Twitter You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are look...
