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Saturday, 13 March 2021 05:39

Popularity of Harry and Meghan goes down in UK after Oprah interview, poll says

The popularity of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan has tumbled in Britain and has never been lower following their explosive interview with U.S. chat show host Oprah Winfrey, according to a poll on Friday. During the interview aired last Sunday, Meghan said her pleas for help while she felt suicidal were ignored and that one unnamed member of the family had asked how dark their son Archie’s skin might be. Meanwhile, Harry, Queen Elizabeth’s grandson, also bemoaned his family’s reaction of the couple’s decision to step back from official duties. The tell-all interview has plunged the 1,000-year-old monarchy into…

Friday, 12 March 2021 03:33

NIPOST or FIRS? FG finally decides on which of the two feuding agencies to collect Stamp Duty

Federal Government on Thursday declared that Nigeria Postal Service was the agency authorised to produce and collect stamp duties across the country. By this declaration, NIPOST has reclaimed the right to collect stamp duties from Federal Inland Revenue Service. This brings to an end the prolonged years of scuffle between both agencies on who had the authority to collect stamp duties in Nigeria. Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, made the latest decision public in Abuja during the inauguration of Nigeria’s 60th Independence Anniversary Commemorative Postage Stamps. He said, “Our efforts regarding the issue of stamp duty collection…

Friday, 12 March 2021 03:32

US offers to help Nigeria end abduction of schoolchildren

The United States has expressed readiness to help Nigeria end the frequent abduction of schoolchildren in northern parts of the country. Michael Gonzales, deputy assistant secretary at the US Bureau of African Affairs, said America is willing to assist in ending the security challenge if Nigeria seeks its help. He was speaking on Thursday during a press briefing organised by the bureau. In 2021, there have been two cases of mass abduction of schoolchildren in northern Nigeria during attacks by bandits. More than 1,000 children have been taken hostage from their schools in such attacks in the last seven years.…

Friday, 12 March 2021 03:31

Abductions: Niger state shuts all public secondary schools

Niger State government has ordered the closure of all public secondary schools in the state for two weeks. This decision was reached after an interface between the state government and officials from various security agencies. The state’s Commissioner for Education, Hannatu Jibrin Salihu, said the schools will be closed from Friday, March 12th to Friday, March 26th, 2021. Though 22 secondary schools (11 Day and 11 Boarding Schools) had earlier been closed, Salihu said the two weeks closure of all secondary schools was necessary to give relevant security agencies the time and opportunity to conduct a comprehensive risk assessment. The…

Thursday, 11 March 2021 04:06

UK suspends recruitment of doctors, nurses from Nigeria, 46 other countries

The United Kingdom has announced suspension of international recruitment of health and care workers from Nigeria and 46 other countries under a new regime of its updated Code of Practice (CoP). According to Africa Check, about 5,250 Nigerian-trained doctors are on the UK books as at April 2018, a rise of 10 per cent on the previous year. The UK said CoP provide safeguards against active recruitment from 47 countries on the WHO Health Workforce Support and Safeguards list. The list of the 47 countries is included in its updated CoP which sets out how UK health and social care…

Thursday, 11 March 2021 04:05

Labour protests at N’Assembly, State Houses of Assembly over Minimum Wage Bill

Workers across the country, yesterday, trooped out en-masse to picket National Assembly in Abuja and other 36 states House of Assemblies over plan to move minimum wage from the Exclusive List. The protesting workers issued a fresh threat to shut down the National Assembly and the entire country should the lawmakers fail to step down the bill sponsored by Garba Datti Mohammed, representing Sabon Gari Federal Constituency of Kaduna. National Assembly leadership has arranged a meeting with leadership of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) next week Tuesday to discuss the way forward. The bill has passed…

Thursday, 11 March 2021 04:04

Buhari approves N5bn for NIMC for capacity building

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday approved N5 billion for National Identity Managment Commission (NIMC) to enable it deliver the national digital economy project with appropriate infrastructures and attractive conditions of service in agencies saddled with the responsibility to do so. Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, said there was an upward review of the capital budget of NIMC from between N500 million and N700 million in the previous years to about N5 billion this year as part of the commitments of the president to digitalise the economy. He commended the President for his support and approval of proposals on…

Thursday, 11 March 2021 04:03

Security agencies must wipe out bandits - El Rufai

Nasir El-Rufai, Kaduna state governor, says bandits have challenged the sovereignty of Nigeria and must be wiped out. He said government at all levels must “immediately and without hesitation” put an end to the activities of bandits. El-Rufai made the remark on Wednesday at the presentation of the 2020 Annual Security Report in Kaduna. “Banditry has severely impacted the rural economy and shaken the confidence of citizens,” he said. “It has driven farmers from their land, putting food security at risk, displaced communities, stolen property and deprived people of their right to life. “We must put a stop to these…

Thursday, 11 March 2021 04:02

‘Repentant’ bandits deceive to collect money for more weapons - Niger gov

Abubakar Bello, governor of Niger, says his administration will not offer cash to repentant bandits. Speaking when he held a meeting with a vigilante group at Mariga LGA, Bello said some persons who claimed to have repented, collect money to purchase more weapons, and return to their old ways of banditry. According to a statement issued on Tuesday by Mary Noel-Berje, chief press secretary to the governor, Bello said any bandit who gives up his old ways would be offered a means of livelihood without cash backing. “I am here to thank the vigilantes, boost their morale and to offer…

Thursday, 11 March 2021 03:58

Ivory Coast Prime Minister Hamed Bakayoko is dead

Ivory Coast Prime Minister Hamed Bakayoko, who was seen as a possible successor to President Alassane Ouattara, has died in Freiburg in southwestern Germany, two days after his 56th birthday, the government said on Wednesday. A former media executive who turned to politics, Bakayoko acted as a negotiator and intermediary between warring factions during a prolonged civil conflict in Ivory Coast from the early 2000s. “He was a great statesman, a model for our youth, a personality of great generosity and exemplary loyalty,” Ouattara said on Twitter. A close ally of Ouattara, he was appointed prime minister in July 2020…

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Wednesday, 10 March 2021 06:09

Buhari launches Port Harcourt-Maiduguri railway project, two others

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday launched the $3.2 billion rehabilitation and reconstruction of Port Harcourt- Maiduguri eastern narrow gauge railway project, Bonny Deep Sea Port and the Railway Industrial Park, Port Harcourt, to be executed with 85 per cent loan and federal government’s 15 per cent counterpart funding. The three projects will be co-financed with loan from a syndicate of Chinese financiers. The rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Port Harcourt- Maiduguri railway project, Bonny deep Sea Port and Railway Industrial Park, Port Harcourt are being developed through direct investment by the conglomerate led Messrs CCECC Nigeria Limited with a total investment…

Wednesday, 10 March 2021 06:08

FG replaces ‘Emergency Travel Certificate’ with temporary passport for Nigerians in diaspora

Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola yesterday launched the Nigerian Temporary Passport (NTP) to cater for Nigerians who desire to return home but whose national passports are not available. This was disclosed in a statement signed by Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS)’s Public Relations Officer, Sunday James. James explained that the temporary passport is a new genre of passport that would be issued at the Nigerian Embassies/High Commissions outside the country to Nigerian citizens who wished but do not have up to date national passports. “The minister stated that the temporary passport is a travel document designed for a one-way travel to…

Wednesday, 10 March 2021 05:59

Herdsmen defy FCT’s open grazing ban, move cattle on Abuja roads

Herdsmen have continued to move cattle on roads in the Federal Capital Territory in contravention of the ban on open grazing by the Federal Capital Territory Administration. Some of the pastoralists were seen grazing their animals at the Idu Industrial Estate, Jabi bypass and the Gwarimpa Expressway in defiance of the prohibition of open grazing of animals by the FCTA. Director, Abuja Environmental Protection Agency, Hassan Abubakar, had in an interview informed our correspondent that the FCTA would seize any livestock found grazing in the nation’s capital, noting that the one-month ultimatum issued to the pastoralists expired in February. He…

Wednesday, 10 March 2021 05:57

I fainted several times when I was arrested - Wakili

Notorious Fulani Warlord, Iskilu Wakili, has said that he fainted several times while he was being taken to a police station after he was arrested on Sunday. Wakili was arrested by a joint team of Ibarapa security operatives, including Oodua Peoples Congress, Vigilante, and other groups. The warlord and his gang had been fingered in the killings, kidnapping and other criminal activities in Ibarapa, Oke Ogun, Oyo State. Speaking to newsmen at the State Criminal Investigation Department at Iyaganku, Ibadan, Wakili said he was alerted by the women in his compound of the presence of those who arrested him. “I…

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