The students of the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State who were kidnapped last Saturday have been released.
A terse statement by the Director, Information, Protocol and Public
Relations of the University, Mrs. Rosemary Waku, revealed that the students
were returned to campus on Tuesday.
She identified the released students as Israel Farren Kwaghgee and
Solomon Salihu |||READ
MORE
Popular Nollywood actors, Iyabo Ojo and Yomi Fabiyi, have taken to their respective Instagram accounts to throw jabs at each other over the defilement of a teenager by their peer, Baba Ijesha.
Both actors are trending on the Nigerian Twitter space. While Iyabo
is trending at the number one spot with over 7,500 tweets, Yomi Fabiyi is
trending at number seven with over 2,000 tweets.
Fabiyi, who first made a comment, shared a cryptic message, urging
his colleagues not to be in a hurry to crucify Baba Ijesha. He added that
before they castigate their colleague, they should ensure that law enforcement
officers have done their investigation |||READ
MORE
As food scarcity looms in Nigeria, with farmers facing enormous challenges, agricultural biotechnology involving use of different scientific techniques to modify plants and animals may be the way forward. Scientists have reported that genetically modified crops have more yields, require less spraying, and enhance nutrient composition. They also are resistant to pests and disease.
Nigeria approved its first biotechnology crop in 2018 and
presently, two crops; Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt.) cotton and cow pea has been
approved for commercial use. This development, though welcomed by some
Nigerians especially scientists, also raised safety concerns. Countries such as
France, Germany, Austria, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Latvia, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Poland, Denmark, Malta, Slovenia, Italy and Croatia are
reported to have chosen a total ban on GMOs.
The national vice president, All Farmers Association of Nigeria
(AFAN), Chief Daniel Okafor, told me that from what he had seen, scientifically
modified crops do better in terms of yields but urged the institutions to carry
out more research while the regulatory agencies do their work as well |||READ
MORE
The African Action Congress (AAC) has said the clamour for restructuring, power rotation and secession by various groups in the country would not meet the long-term aspirations of Nigerians.
This is even as the opposition political party also said it was
unfair for the federal government to defend the minister of Communication and
Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, in the wake of allegations that he had openly
supported some extremist groups in the past.
Factional national chairman of AAC, Omoyele Sowore, who stated this
during the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja on
Tuesday, however, warned that a mass revolution was inevitable if the
legitimate concerns being raised by Nigerians about the future of the country
were treated with levity |||READ
MORE
Popular comedienne, Oluwadamilola Adekoya, popularly known as Princess, has narrated how fellow practitioner in the Nollywood, Olarenwaju Omiyinka, a.k.a. Baba Ijesha, was caught sexually molesting her 14-year-old adopted daughter.
The comedienne cum actress narrated the incident in a video from an Instagram live broadcast obtained by LEADERSHIP.
Princess explained that she was rendering help to Baba Ijesha, and that it was during one of his visits to her house that the actor molested one of five children living with her |||READ MORE
NIGER State governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, confirmed on Monday that Boko Haram insurgents have hoisted their flag in Kaure village, in Erena township axis of Shiroro Local Government Area of the state, two hours drive from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
The governor also said that the Boko Haram fighters forcefully
snatched wives of some of the villagers and married them. There had been
attacks on Niger communities of recent, which were attributed to bandits.
Governor Sani Bello made the revelation in Minna, when he paid an on-thespot assessment visit to the internally displaced persons (IDP) camp at Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) Primary School, near the palace of the Emir of Minna, Alhaji Umar Bahago, in Chanchaga Local Government Area of the state |||READ MORE
After a difficult few weeks following Prince Philip's death, the Cambridges found the perfect way to enjoy some family time at the weekend.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their three children - Prince
George, seven, Princess Charlotte, five, and three-year-old Prince Louis - were
spotted happily playing in the new Sandringham play park on the Queen’s Norfolk
estate as they made the most of the sunshine on Sunday.
Of course, 39-year-old Kate has a special connection to the park.
It recently underwent a major revamp, inspired by her Back to Nature Garden at the
Chelsea Flower Show in 2019 |||READ
MORE
The Federal Government plans to issue a travel advisory within the next two days on inbound flights from India, Brazil and Turkey.
This followed the escalation of new variants of COVID-19 virus in those countries, Head, Technical Secretariat of the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19, Dr, Mukhtar Muhammad, said at a news conference in Abuja yesterday.
He expressed concern over the situation in India, which is a popular destination for medical tourists from Nigeria.
The PSC also urged Nigerians to keep observing all the regulations
and instructions already provided to keep safe from the infection of COVID-19,
warning that the third wave of the pandemic, going by how it has been sweeping
through other parts of the world, is lurking around to enter Nigeria,
especially as the nation has already reopened its economy to the world |||READ
MORE
India’s coronavirus death toll is nearing the bleak milestone of 200,000 with another 2,771 fatalities reported while its armed forces have pledged urgent medical aid to help battle the staggering spike in infections.
Over the past 24 hours, India recorded 323,144 new cases on
Tuesday, slightly below a worldwide peak of 352,991 reached on Monday, with
overrun hospitals turning away patients due to a shortage of beds and oxygen
supplies.
India, home to approximately 1.3 billion people, has so far
reported 17.64 million COVID-19 infections and 197,894 deaths but experts
believe the tally runs significantly higher
|||READ
MORE
A former Minister of Education, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, said she was determined since 2007 that she would never accept a ministerial appointment again.
Ezekwesili said this in a series of tweets yesterday, adding that
she had rejected past ministerial appointments.
The former minister’s tweet came barely two weeks after her former
protégé, Japheth Omojuwa, said in an open letter that Ezekwesili was expected
to be appointed a minister by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 |||READ
MORE
MANIFESTATIONS abound testifying
the afflictions of Nigeria by indiscipline: In 1966, there was the
phrase “ten percenters”; in 1975, we were told Nigeria had so much money that
she didn’t know what to do with it and by that time, Nigeria was 158 out of 159
in the UNDP HDI; in 1975-79 during a military government, $2.8billion was found
missing; in 1980-83, Nigeria imported shiploads of sand and paid fully for
them; in 1991, Nigeria lost $12.4billion oil wind sales; between 2003 and 2007,
$16billion for building of power plants was missing; in 2013, Nigeria lost over
N3trillion to fuel subsidy within three years; in 2014, a top government
official was allegedly given $2.1billion to share among some political elite so
that the coming 2015 election will favour the ruling political party.In that same year, the then Central Bank governor declared that
$20billion was missing from the NNPC’s account at the Central Bank; in 2016, a
Canadian professor declared that Nigeria spent $1.5trillion on foreign
education; in March 2021, the FEC approved $1.5billion for turnaround
maintenance of the Port Harcourt refinery that has not refined one barrel of
crude oil in the past five years.
Over 70 per cent of Nigerians live below the poverty line, yet a federal legislator is paid over N29m monthly; over the past 20 years, SPDC has reported that about 100,000 barrels of Nigeria’s crude oil is stolen daily and at an average price of $50 per barrel, this equals $1.75billion or N665billion per annum. Till date these stolen, lost and wasted resources have not been investigated and culprits punished accordingly |||READ MORE
Two more students of Greenfield University, Kaduna, kidnapped over a week ago by bandits have been killed by their abductors who are insisting on payment of N800 million ransom.
Remains of three of the students, a male and two females, had
earlier been found in a village close to the university.
Mr.Samuel Aruwan ,Commissioner, Ministry of Internal Security and
Home Affairs in Kaduna State, who confirmed the killing of the two students
yesterday, said the state government would update the citizenry on further
developments |||READ
MORE
It is not difficult to see the depressing spectacle as you worm your way into the womb of the state with an estimated 22 million people, from the Berger end of the endlessly rehabilitated Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, and traverse its aquatic landscape, The expressway, as important as it is to the nation’s economy, has taken the whole of the last 22 years, involving all the administrations that have ruled the country since then, to fix. Every New Sheriff in Town comes with a new completion date that never happens. Agony subsists. Incidentally, the Abeokuta end of its entry point isn’t exciting either.
As you descend from the scary Long Bridge that has now turned into a haven for herdsmen killers and night marauders, then to Kara Bridge, and face what ordinarily should be the allure of Lagos, pockets of cudgel-wielding fierce-looking youths, menacingly commandeering buses and trucks bearing farm produce and sundry products meant for the millions of residents, welcome you instead. The brazenness is unimaginable. What a contradiction it is, the centre of excellence introduced by a less than excellent visage.
If it is at dusk, it is even scarier and messier. The traffic on
the road is obstructed, so the wearied drivers could compellingly pay
unreceipted levies. But, at all times, it is a spectacle that tells the tale of
a state whose government, as an institution for law enforcement, fights a
losing battle for space with unaccountable non-state actors, and most times and
in many places, surrendering the space to them |||READ
MORE
NEW DELHI: India's coronavirus situation is worsening by the day with the country reporting a record surge of nearly 3 lakh new infections and over 2,000 deaths on Wednesday morning.
The massive spike in infections comes as the country battles a
severe second wave of the pandemic, which has crippled the healthcare system
and prompted the Centre to expedite the nationwide vaccination programme.
"This second corona wave came like a storm," Prime
Minister Narendra Modi acknowledged in his address to the nation on Tuesday |||READ
MORE
Each gold medalist from Oyo State in the just concluded National Sports Festival (Edo 2020) is to get N500,000, silver medalists, N350,000 and bronze medalists, N250,000.
Also, each of the state’s 55 coaches to the festival is to receive
N500,000, irrespective of whether their trainee won a medal or not.
Governor Seyi Makinde made this announcement when he received the
state’s contingent to the festival at the governor’s office, Ibadan, on
Wednesday ||READ
NORE|
While the Bible encourages and even commands gathering together as believers, nowhere do we find that a perfect church is expected or even possible.
I was not very excited about my first Sunday at my church three
years ago. Still aching from the closure of the church I had attended for
years, I missed the people I was used to seeing every week. It took me a solid
year of back-and-forth before I decided I would stay at this new church, and it
took me even longer to feel like I was finding my place in it.
At first glance, my church may not look like the ideal church for
singles. We’re a smaller congregation with less than 200 people, most of whom
are families with kids. We don’t have a singles ministry, a young adult group,
or even Sunday school |||READ
MORE
Idriss Deby took power in a coup decades ago and died fighting against rebels trying to oust him. Over 30 years, Deby has been a maverick figure in the Sahel region, with friends in the West but enemies close to home.
Idriss Deby, the son of a shepherd who went on to lead his country
Chad and become one of Africa's longest-serving heads of state, has died on a
battlefield with anti-government rebels. He was 68.
The shock announcement came from the Chadian military, just a day
after Deby was confirmed president-elect after securing nearly 80% of the April
11 vote. Meanwhile, Deby's son, Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, has taken over as
interim leader of a transitional military council, the military said |||READ MORE
The Senate on Tuesday approved $1.5billion and Euro 995million external loans for the Federal Government.
This followed consideration of the report of the Senate Committee
on Local and Foreign Debts on the external borrowing plan of the Federal
Government at plenary.
Chairman of the committee, Senator Clifford Ordia, presented the
report.
The loans are part of the external borrowing plan of the Federal
Government |||READ
MORE
AHEAD of 2023 general and Presidential elections, the umbrella body of South East people, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has asked Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the All Progressives Congress, APC, and other political parties to zone the presidency to the South East for equity, justice and fairness.
Addressing journalists yesterday in Abuja, the President General of
Ohaneze Ndigbo, Professor George Obiozor, who noted that time is ripe for
Nigeria to get a President of South East extraction in 2023, said the talent of
Igbo is yet to be fully utilized and maximised by Nigeria.
Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, yesterday, inaugurated the state Human Development Core Working Group with the charge to improve the lives of residents and provide excellent opportunities to make life more meaningful in line with the National Human Development Plan.
The group is chaired by the Deputy Governor, Dr Obafemi Hamzat,
with the mandate to ensure the effective coordination and implementation of
Human Capital Development Intervention in the state as defined in the National
Human Development Plan.
The Special Adviser, Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs and
Investment, Mrs Solape Hammond, will serve as the State Coordinator and Focal
Person while the Office of the SDGs and Investment will be the Secretariat of
the Core Working Group in the state |||READ
MORE
Professor of Political Science, Abia State University, Professor Hatz Ofoeze, has cautioned members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, and other Biafra agitators not to be carried away by the promise by the United Kingdom to grant asylum to ‘persecuted’ members of the movement.
Ofoeze in an interview with our Correspondent said ” Britain can
never be trusted”, hence, he holds the promise with a pinch of salt.
He said that Britain was the cause of Nigeria’s woes, and doubted
the sincerity of the promise |||READ
MORE
An undated viral video which surfaced on Wednesday involving a motorist and a policeman is currently causing public outrage on the social media after the motorist was seen assaulting the armless policeman over an argument in Lagos.
The policeman had apparently insisted on impounding what looks like
a mini-truck. Argument ensued between the policeman and a man holding a bottle
at the back of the vehicle, who was trying to force the security man to come
down from the truck.
Onlookers were also heard from the backgroud prodding the man with
the bottle, who is apparently the owner of the vehicle, to assault the
policeman and the latter brazenly did by hitting the policeman with the bottle
on the head |||READ
MORE
The federal government has approved an N8.39 billion augmentation for the completion of a section of the Sokoto-Makera Road, which traverses Sokoto, Kebbi and Niger states.
Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), disclosed
this to State House Correspondents yesterday after the federal executive
council meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential
Villa .
According to him, the handlers of the 185 kilometre long project,
CRCC Construction Company, requested for the contract augmentation because of a
range of factors |||READ
MORE
The Senate, on Wednesday, approved the sum of N257,183,671,694.71 as budget for the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for the 2021 fiscal year.
The approval followed the consideration of a report presented by
the Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariffs.
Chairman of the Committee, Senator Francis Alimikhena (APC, Edo
North), in his presentation, said out of the amount budgeted for the Customs in
the 2021 financial year, the sum of N99,719,722,681.71 is for Personnel Cost;
N19,530,769,000.00 for Overhead; and N137,933,180,013.00 for Capital Cost |||READ
MORE