Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has determined to fight corruption in the country to a stand-still. In view of the president’s determination, Turkish authorities on Monday detained 102 people, including 60 traffic police officers, as part of an investigation into alleged bribery and abuse of safety regulations in the construction sector. Authorities took into custody 42 people for allegedly bribing the police to avoid inspection and allowing a concrete mixer and earth moving trucks into normal traffic flows, in violation of the law. No fewer than 24 people, including six children, were killed in the past year by construction vehicles. Security…
Author: Alaba Rotimi
Not less than 25 countries and 150 exhibitors will grace the 10th African Arts and Crafts (AFAC) Expo scheduled for Abuja, Nigeria. The Director-General of National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Otunba Segun Runsewe, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja. Runsewe said that participants from these countries and the exhibitors were expected to showcase their unique cultural identities at the expo which is holding from Aug. 27 to Sept. 17. He expressed commitment to justifying his appointment by using culture as the only tool to change the narratives…
The Germany’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Bernhard Schlagheck, has disclosed that his country is ready to support a more united and prosperous Nigeria devoid of wrangling and urged the people to respect the constitution. Schlagheck spoke during an interactive session with the leadership of the Enugu State Chapter of Ohaneze Ndigbo, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, in Enugu on Monday. The ambassador also said that the Federal Republic of Germany had confidence in Nigeria’s ability to deal decently with the call for the restructuring of the country for a more equitable nation. He, therefore, advised all stakeholders to respect the…
The Ogun State Police Command disclosed on Wednesday, July 26 that its officers shot dead five suspected kidnappers on Tuesday night after a failed attempt to collect a N100 million ransom. Mr Abimbola Oyeyemi, the command’s Public Relations Officer (PPRO), said this on Wednesday while parading the corpses of the suspected kidnappers to journalists at the Egba Owode Divisional Police Headquarters in Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area. Oyeyemi said the kidnappers had engaged the police in a shootout during the rescue of the victim who had been in captivity for five days. He said the suspects had on Friday waylaid the…
The publishers of the controversial book, “Mandela’s Last Years” have withdrawn it from the shelves and immediately stopped issuing copies following the protest by Graca Machel, the widow of South Africa’s Nelson Mandela. Machel had threatened legal action against his late husband’s personal doctor, Dr. Vejay Ramlakan, over a book that reveals previously undisclosed details of his patient. According to Africa Review, Dr Ramlakan, headed the former South African leader’s medical team until his death in December 2013 at the age of 95. He released his book, “Mandela’s Last Years’’ last Tuesday to coincide with Mandela Day on July 18, in…
The G20-backed Global Infrastructure Hub (GIH) has said on Tuesday that the world needs to spend around $94 trillion in global infrastructure by 2040 to eliminate infrastructure deficit. The GIH said to close the spending gap, annual infrastructure spending needs to rise to 3.5 percent from 3 percent of global gross domestic product. The report details how much each country needs to spend on infrastructure to 2040, which sectors need it the most and how they far they are from meeting these needs based on current spending trends. “We believe this information will be key to governments, and indeed those…
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Marshall Boboye Oyeyemi has disclosed that the agency’s Traffic Radio Station will go on air very soon. Oyeyemi told our correspondent in New York that the radio station would be fully dedicated to traffic information in the country. “All over the developed countries, you see you’re on the highway, you just tune to the Traffic Radio, on the spot and get the traffic situation. “When the station takes off, every 30 minutes, you should be able to tune on. “I should be able to give you the situation between Abuja-Kaduna, Lagos-Ibadan, Enugu-Port Harcourt and…
The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Senator Aisha Jummai Alhassan, said on Tuesday that the Federal Government had set aside the sum of N1.6 billion for women empowerment programme called the National Women Empowerment Fund (NAWEF). She made this disclosure at a town hall meeting with women groups in Dutse, Jigawa State. Alhassan said that NAWEF is part of the FG’s Social Investment Intervention Programme known as the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP). She explained that the programme was being implemented by the ministry in collaboration with the Bank of Industry (BoI), the administrating bank for the…
The Federal Government would soon start the implementation of a comprehensive rebuilding plan for the North-east areas of Nigeria that were ravaged in recent years of Boko Haram terrorist-insurgency. According to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, who presided over a government-wide meeting that included the Governor of Borno State, federal ministers and service chiefs “the plan is a very clear, we all know what direction we should be headed,” regarding the reconstruction of the North-east. While the whole region is intended to be covered eventually, the plan opens with Bama Local Government including several towns in an initiative that would…
The House of Representatives’s Committee on Public Petition on Wednesday, July 26, 2017 asked National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for identities of informants whose tip-off led to raid on former First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan’s property. The committee gave the order on Wednesday in its session on a petition on incessant harassment of herself and family sent to it by the former first lady. It also summoned the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Police to appear as defendants in the petition. A Director in the NDLEA, Mr Femi Oloruntoba, had told…
The National Coordinator of National Sex Workers Association, Ms Amaka Enemo, has called on the Federal Government to de-criminalise sex work in Nigeria for effective control of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Enemo made the appeal on Wednesday in Abuja while briefing newsmen at the inauguration of new report on `Understanding the high risk of urban sexual networks in Nigeria.’ The national coordinator said that everybody is at risk of whatever he does, adding that sex workers faced a lot of violence especially for from their clients, thugs and law enforcement agents. She said that most of the times,…
262 more Nigerians were repatriated from Libya on Wednesday, July 26, 2017 with the help of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the Nigerian Embassy in Libya. The returnees arrived aboard a chartered Libyan Airlines with registration number 5A-LAR, which landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos at 10p.m. The returnees, who had been stranded in Libya, were made up of of 108 males, 135 females, eight children and 11 infants. They were received by officers of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) , the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and the Police. Also…
The Government of Saudi Arabia has extended its Amnesty Programme by a month for undocumented migrants to leave as the first extension ended on July 24. This was made this known on Wednesday by the Ethiopian consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The first extension of one month was between June 24 and July 24. Saudi Arabia announced in March 2017, a three month amnesty programme for undocumented foreign migrants to voluntarily leave the country before the amnesty’s expiration on June 24. However, Saudi Arabia gave a one-month extension which ended July 24 to provide more time to undocumented foreign migrants to…
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) General Manager (Public Affairs), Mrs Seun Olagunju, says the organisation has increased the transformer capacity in its Ajah sub-station by additional 60MVA 132/33kV transformer. Olagunju disclosed that the transformer was successfully refurbished and installed on July 11. She said that this had increased the station’s transformer capacity from 132kV to 220MVA. Olagunju said that the newly installed 60MVA 132/33kV power transformer had replaced the old 60MVA transformer which failed on August 2016. She said TCN was also installing a 60MVA 132/33kV mobile power transformer in the same station to further increase transmission capacity in…
The Government of Iran has successfully tested a space-launch vehicle called Simorgh. The rocket has the capability of carrying satellites, a local media reported yesterday.. Simorgh is able to carry satellites weighing as much as 250 kilogrammes at an orbit about 500 km above the Earth’s surface. The launch, carried out by Imam Khomeini Space Centre, marked official inauguration of the space base, which is responsible for all operations related to satellite carriers, including preparation, launch, control and steering. “The space centre satisfies the latest international standards, the report said. It added that the base would be able to meet all the…
The Minister of Communications, Mr Adebayo Shittu, says the Federal Government will partner with Google to train the teaming technology savvy youths in various levels of ICT capacity development. Shittu said this in a statement by Mr Victor Oluwadamilare, the Special Assistant on Media to the minister, at the closing of a Google event in Lagos on Thursday. According to him, the government will deploy the opportunity given by Google to further open up the accessibility of turning around the nation’s economy and making ICT the mainstay. He said that Nigeria as a nation had so much more to learn…
The Smallholder Women Farmers Association of Nigeria (SHOWFAN) yesterday called for the introduction of gender responsive agricultural policies to encourage women farmers. The group’s leader, Miss Lola Fademi, made the appeal when the group visited Mr Adegoke Bamidele, Kwara Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, in Ilorin. Fademi, while presenting a 10-point demand to the commissioner, said that women farmers wanted favourable agricultural policies that would take care of funding issues, provision of modern farm inputs as well as access to farmlands and markets, among others. She urged the state government to consider the interests of women farmers while reviewing…
The Bayelsa lawmaker, Hon. Kate Owoko, who built a floating latrine for her people, has thrown punches back to Nigerians, who have ridiculed her effort and expressed anger over how low she went. She said she built the toilet according to the pressing demand of the women of Okori Ama and Oweidei Ama in Amassoma LGA, Southern Ijaw Constituency. “This is an insult to democracy”, tweeted Ogwu Karl Chukwuweike, in one of the many reactions, that summarised the outrage of Nigerians, when photographs of the floating latrine hit the social media. That she even had the audacity to invite TV cameramen to shoot…
Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has for the third consecutive day on Wednesday, July 26, 2017 sustained bullish run with the All-Share rising by 4.88 per cent to cross the 36,000 mark. The index inched 1,675.30 points or 4.88 per cent to close at 36,740.77 compared with 35,065.47 posted on Tuesday. Similarly, the market capitalisation rose by N577 billion or 4.77 per cent to close at N12.662 trillion against N12.085 trillion achieved on Tuesday following gains by some highly capitalised equities. A breakdown of the price movement table indicated that Dangote Cement led the gainers table, growing by N11.50 to close at N245…
An insurance expert, Mr Mufutau Oyegunle, has called on the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to start penalisng insurance firms that were still neck deep into premium rate-cutting despite several warnings. He gave the advice in an interview with NAN in Lagos on Wednesday, July 26, 2017. Oyegunle, who is the Managing Director of LAKEG Insurance Consult, said the practice was injurious to the industry and members of the public. Rate-cutting is the practice of charging ridiculously low premium on policies by underwriting firms in desperate bid to attract business. Oyegunle said the rate-cutting was undermining the ability of insurance firms…