Women Can’t Help in Nation-Building if Excluded by Law, Cultural Practices—Johnson

By Adedapo Adesanya The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a suspect wanted for attempts to ship illicit drug consignments to the United Kingdom. This was made known in a statement signed by the NDLEA spokesman, Mr Femi Babafemi, on Sunday. He further disclosed arrests made by NDLEA operatives through interdiction operations that led to the seizure of four tons of illicit substances in the past week. According to the agency, the suspect, Mr Obiorah Chigozie, had been on its wanted list since September 15. This, he said, was when a consignment of 1.500kg skunk concealed in flour

By Adedapo Adesanya The House of Representatives has urged the Federal Ministry of Power and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to urgently provide funds for the completion of the Okpai–Kwale Transmission Line Project in Delta State. At the plenary on Tuesday, the lower chamber of the parliament mandated its Committee on Power to ensure that bottlenecks mitigating against the completion of the project are effectively addressed and the project is completed in due time. This followed a motion moved by Mr Nnamdi Ezechi, the lawmaker representing Ndokwa/UKwuani Federal Constituency in the National Assembly on the floor of the green

By Bliss Okperan The Sokoto State Election Petition Tribunal will on Saturday, September 30, 2023, deliver a judgement on the petition filed by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the governorship election in the state, Mr Sa’idu Umar. Mr Umar challenged the victory of the Governor of Sokoto State, Mr Ahmed Aliyu, who contested the poll under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He said Mr Aliyu was not qualified to partake in the poll and also alleged electoral fraud during the March 18 governorship election. In a press release, the court stated that, “Take

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) is set to embark on its planned strike as it said it does not have any agreement with the federal government to shelve the action. This came from its Head of Information and Public Affairs, Mr Benson Upah, who countered a statement by the Ministry of Labour and Employment. Mr Upah also said the NLC did not have any date for a meeting with the government that may lead to the suspension of the proposed strike. “We do not have any agreement with the government to suspend the planned strike action. Neither

By Adedapo Adesanya The Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) said it has commenced the distribution of smart electricity meters to its customers. The scheme was simultaneously launched in Kano, Kaduna, Ikeja and the EKEDC franchise areas. In a statement signed by the General Manager, Corporate Communications, EKEDC, Mr Godwin Idemudia, the Disco kick-started the distribution of its electricity meters at the Surulere axis, one of the areas within its distribution network in Lagos. Mr Idemudia said the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) was in fulfilment of the federal government’s and the Discos’ commitments to close the metering gap in the

By Dipo Olowookere The use of social media platforms for political campaigns is no doubt gaining more traction and politicians have found a way of using the channel to pass their message to the electorates. Since the United States came hard on Facebook after the 2016 elections, the social media giant has made efforts to make things better. As Nigerians prepare to head to the polls next month to pick a new set of leaders and representatives, Facebook is coming out with stringent measures to control political campaigns on its platform. Revealing its plans to bring about sanity to the

By Dipo Olowookere President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed optimism on the release of more of the kidnapped Chibok girls, after 21 of them were freed by Boko Haram, following more than two years of captivity. Speaking at a joint press conference with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday in Berlin, President Buhari said negotiations will continue until all the girls secure their freedom. “On the Chibok girls, we have been able to secure the release of 21 of them, so over 100 more are still in the hands of the terrorists somewhere in the Lake Chad Basin area which

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A deal has been singed between Hilton and Transcorp Hotels Plc to allow the former manage Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja for an additional 20 years. Transcorp Hotels Plc is a subsidiary of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp Plc), the largest listed conglomerate on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), and with the new deal, Hilton will manage the property until 2037. The hotel, which is a national landmark for having hosted countless heads of state and global events like the World Economic Forum on Africa, has been operated by Hilton since its opening in 1987. Speaking

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The exporters of yam to the United Kingdom and the United States have disputed the reports, initially aired by the Africa Independent Television (AIT), purporting that the yams exported after the official flag-off ceremony on June 29, 2017 were rejected at their export destinations. The symbolic event, done at the Lilypond Container Terminal in Lagos by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Audu Ogbeh, meant to boost the morale of Nigerian exporters and make a bold statement to the global marketplace, has drawn widespread criticisms on various media platforms. A statement issued by the Minister’s

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The supplementary 2021 budget of N982 billion recently passed by the National Assembly has been signed by President Muhammadu Buhari. The budget was signed by the President on Monday shortly before he departed the country for London to attended an education summit and also see his doctors in the United Kingdom. The N982.7 billion budget, which was signed in the presence of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and a few others, would be used to address urgent security and COVID-19 needs of the nation, a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and

By Ahmed Rahma The government of South Africa has suspended the use of AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine on its citizens over an issue concerning the protection of users. About a million doses of the vaccine from the United Kingdom have already been delivered to the former Apartheid country by the manufacturer. However, South Africa claimed test results showed that the vaccine did not protect clinical-trial participants from mild or moderate illness caused by the more contagious COVID-19 virus variant ( B.1.351) that was first seen there. It was not clear from the studies whether the vaccine protected against severe disease from the

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Leading bottler of Coca-Cola products in 28 countries including Nigeria, Coca-Cola HBC, has been named the Sustainability leader of the beverage industry by the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) assessment published on September 8, 2016. The company scored a total of 90 points, which is 40 points higher than the industry average and 3 points higher than last year. It would be the ninth year Coca-Cola HBC has been included in the global assessment, as a result of its leading sustainability performance in 2015. All through 2015, Coca-Cola HBC continued to reduce its environmental footprint, decreasing its