Edo state Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has approved a restructuring that will reduce the number of government’s ministries, departments and agencies by over 31 per cent. Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Andrew Emwanta, disclosed this on Wednesday while briefing reporters after the State Executive Council Meeting. The measure, Emwanta said, is to cut wastages in government and eliminate duplication of functions, but did not state if it will lead to job loss. Under the new arrangements, the state government has slashed the number of ministries from 22 to 18. Also, government departments and agencies, otherwise known as MDA, have been reduced…

Nigeria's military is urging people in three Northwestern states to leave forested areas ahead of a bombing campaign targeting bandits and terrorists, according to local broadcast stations and a military official. An advertisement running on local television and radio stations warned people in Zamfara, Katsina and the Birnin Gwari area of Kaduna state to leave the forests in advance of a "heavy bombardment." Murtala Alhasan Umaru, general manager at Zamfara state TV and radio, showed the advertisement to Reuters and said the military asked them to play it. There are versions in local pidgin English, Hausa, Kanuri and Fulani. A…

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy demanded a special United Nations tribunal impose "just punishment" on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, including financial penalties and stripping Moscow of its veto power in the Security Council. Hours earlier, president Vladimir Putin had ordered Russia's first wartime mobilisation since World War Two. DIPLOMACY/POLITICS * Russia and Ukraine carried out an unexpected prisoner swap, the largest since the war began and involving almost 300 people, including 10 foreigners. * Putin's thinly veiled threat to use nuclear weapons was "dangerous and reckless rhetoric", NATO's secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said. * "If the territorial integrity of our…

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has said Nigerians are fed up with governments at all levels, warning that the electorate would shock politicians and political parties in the forthcoming 2023 elections. Speaking to journalists in Benin, Edo State capital, on Tuesday, Obaseki said politicians should expect surprise from the electorate due to poor governance and inefficiency. “Nigerians are fed up with the inefficiencies and failures of government officials and other representatives and will reject the same if nothing is done to change the narrative. No political party today can beat its chest and say they will win or have…