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Wole Soyinka to Nigerians: Don’t accept child hostage taking as a way of life
Following the Friday abduction of over 300 school children in Jangebe in Zamfara State, Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, on Saturday warned Nigerians against accepting kidnapping of school children in parts of the north as a way of life. Soyinka who lamented that the government and security agencies have failed Nigerians, said he did not know what else to recommend as panacea to the nation’s “abnormal times.” The octogenarian playwright spoke in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, at the ANA Ogun award lecture and public presentation of ‘Chronicles of the happiest people on earth,’ the latest book authored by him. The event was put together by the Association of Nigerian Authors, Ogun State chapter in collaboration with Abeokuta Club. The 524 page book was launched by foremost indigenous ...
Three injured as explosion rocks power infrastructure repair site in Maiduguri
Explosion on Saturday rocked the site where technicians were carrying out repair work on damaged power infrastructure in Maiduguri. Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram, has been in darkness for about a month now since suspected Boko Haram members damaged power lines along Maiduguri-Damaturu road. Technicians were subsequently deployed to the site and security was provided for them by a combined team of soldiers and men of the Borno State Rapid Response Team. Every day before the commencement of work by the technicians, soldiers scanned the entire area for any explosive drvice that might have been planted by Boko Haram. But on Saturday at about 10am, when technicians were getting ready to commence the day’s work, there was an explosion which destroyed a Hilux Toyota van and seriously in...
Nigerian telecoms’ workers issue 14-day ultimatum to Huawei
The Private Telecommunications and Communications Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PTECSSAN) has issued a 14-day ultimatum to Huawei Technologies Nigeria Limited to halt what it described as disregard and denial of workers’ fundamental rights to freedom of association as enshrined in Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution. Speaking to journalists in Lagos, yesterday, the General Secretary of PTECSSAN, Okonu Abdullahi, said all efforts in the past to address all the labour-related issues confronting the workers in the company have been rebuffed by its management. According to him, “All our efforts in the past to address all the labour-related issues confronting the workers in the company have been rebuffed by its management. Ultimate of which is gross disregard and denial of workers th...
Investigations set to begin in DR Congo following the death of Italian envoy
Congolese investigators arrived in Goma on Thursday to try to clarify the circumstances in which the Italian ambassador, his guard – a carabinieri – and a driver working for the World Food Program were killed earlier this week. The authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo also sent a delegation to the region to meet with members of the United Nations and other NGOs acting in the east of the country where the attack against the UN convoy took place. “The purpose of today’s meeting with the humanitarian workers based in Goma was to plan what to do next,” Christian Bushiri, Senior Advisor of the DRC presidency, told journalists. “It’s necessary to have a close collaboration between humanitarians and officials, between the State and NGOs,” he said, According to Bushiri, the government h...
Oyo governor to declare Hijrah holiday from next year
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, on Wednesday, declared that starting from next year, the government would declare Hijrah holiday in line with the yearnings of the Muslim community in the state. Makinde, who made the declaration during the celebration of 2021 Mawlud Nabiyy, held at the Remembrance Arcade of the Government House, Agodi, Ibadan, stressed the need for the Muslim faithful and non-Muslims as well to continue to peacefully coexist. A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, indicated that the governor equally declared that the state will always rise above the antics of perpetrators of evil, whom he said had tried all they could to plunge the state into chaos. According to Governor Makinde, only peaceful and harmonious coexistence would lead the...
Bauchi deputy speaker asks Benue governor to apologise to Bauchi people
Following the statement by the Governor of Benue State, Mr. Samuel Ortom describing his counterpart in Bauchi State, Senator Bala Mohammed as a terrorist, the Deputy Speaker of the Bauchi State House of Assembly (BAHA), Hon. Danlami Ahmed Kawule, who is also representing Zungur/Galambi Constituency has urged Ortom to apologise to the people of Bauchi State for making the alleged derogatory statement. The Deputy Speaker who stated this yesterday during an interview with journalists in Bauchi, said that the citizens of the state as well as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state are not happy over the strain in relationship between the two PDP governors who are supposed to be working towards the unity of the nation. He maintained that leaders in the country should refrain from making...
Crypto ban: We acted in Nigerians’ best interest – CBN
The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, says the Bank’s decision to prohibit deposit money banks, non-banking institutions, and other financial institutions from facilitating trading and dealings in cryptocurrency is in the best interest of Nigerian depositors and the country’s financial system. Mr Emefiele made the declaration on Tuesday, February 23, 2021, while briefing a joint Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions; ICT and Cybercrime; and Capital Market, on its directive to institutions under its regulation. Describing the operations of cryptocurrencies as dangerous and opaque, the CBN Governor said the use of cryptocurrency contravened an existing law. He said given the fact that cryptocurrencies were issued by unregulated and...
Gombe governor suspends Mai Tangale selection process
Gombe State governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, has suspended all proceedings leading to the selection of a new traditional ruler of Tangale Chiefdom until peace is fully restored to the troubled area which has seen days of violent protests. This follows confirmation by the state’s commissioner of Police, Maikudi Shehu confirmed that three persons have been killed during the crises. The police commissioner who spoke when the governor led some members of the government on assessment tour of the destruction of lives and property in Billiri local council area said: “So far we have arrested 10 suspects and we are still counting. About three people died during the cause of incident.” Meanwhile, governor Inuwa Yahaya during statewide broadcast yesterday shortly after returning from Billiri that th...
Nasarawa assures electoral agency of total independence
Nasarawa State has assured its internal electoral agency of a free hand to run elections into the 13 local councils. The Deputy Governor, Emmanuel Akabe, disclosed this on Friday while declaring open a two-day training workshop organised for members and staff of the Nasarawa State Independent Electoral Commission (NASIEC). Akabe, who represented Governor Abdullahi Sule at the event, assured that the state government would not interfere in the conduct of council elections, but support the complete independence of the commission to conduct free, fair and credible council elections. “In a society like ours, free, fair and credible election constitutes the basic principle of democracy. In this regards, electoral administrators are the drivers who ensure that the tenets of democracy are greatly...
U.S. to de-link Ethiopian aid pause from dam policy
The U.S. State Department on Friday said Washington will de-link its pause on some aid to Ethiopia from its policy on the giant Blue Nile hydropower dam that sparked a long-running dispute between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan. U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters that President Joe Biden’s administration will review U.S. policy on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and will assess the role the administration can play in facilitating a solution between the countries. A bitter dispute between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan over the filling and operation of the dam remains unresolved even after the reservoir behind the dam began filling in July. “We continue to support collaborative and constructive efforts by Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan to reach an agreement on the GERD,” P...
Chelsea boss takes blame for Hakim Ziyech struggles at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has shouldered the blame for Hakim Ziyech’s stalled progress at Stamford Bridge, challenging the midfielder to fight for his place in the team. Morocco international Ziyech, who signed in July, has only featured twice so far under Tuchel, leading to suggestions the former Ajax star could seek a summer exit. But Tuchel is adamant he will need to call on Ziyech as the hectic season unfolds. “It is my fault actually, not his,” Tuchel said on Friday. “It is my hard decisions at the moment as well for Mason Mount, Callum Hudson-Odoi and for Christian Pulisic sometimes in the half positions where we seem the strongest. “It is the same for Hakim at the moment and for some other players — there were hard decisions to make. It is never easy but it is a good thing, we have...
Niger bandits promise to release captives, seek deradicalisation
Armed bandits terrorising some local government areas and communities in Niger State have promised to release all the kidnapped victims in their captivity. This followed a ‘mediation parley’ between a popular Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Abubakar Gumi, and the criminals. Notorious kidnapping warlords such as Dogon Gida, Kachalla and others, it was gathered, attended the reconciliation forum with Gumi. They expressed willingness to be part of any de-radicalisation exercise or programme that the government will unveil for their repentant ‘boys’. “The meeting took place at an isolated area inside a forest in the state, yesterday,” a security source reliably disclosed. The bandits, he said, told Gumi that they were tired of the atrocities and killing of innocent persons. “They are not happy th...
