A midnight fire outbreak on Sunday consumed goods worth millions of naira at Baboko market in Ilorin, the Kwara capital. It was reported that 20 shops were completely razed by the inferno which lasted several hours. Our source gathered that some shop owners left huge sums of money in their shops when the incident occurred. The inferno was triggered by a spark from an electric cable in one of the shops when electricity was restored. Some night guards at the market were said to have noticed smoke billowing from one of the affected shops and drew the attention of leadership of the market…
Author: Kunle Atiba
Is Central African Republic (CAR) matured to hold a free and fair poll? After enduring a series of delays, this time the elections in CAR may actually take place. Despite the lack of resources and ongoing insecurity, voters in the CAR will be heading to the polls on Wednesday, in a closely watched election that is seen by some as the country’s best chance to end its ongoing political crisis. The presidential and parliamentary vote comes two weeks after people in the CAR successfully voted for a new constitution – even if critics say that most citizens were unlikely to have known…
The British parliament, last year, despite fierce lobbying from tobacco companies, decided that from May 2016 cigarettes would be sold only in plain packaging in the UK. Anti-smoking campaigners in that country were quick to declare it as the latest nail in the coffin of an industry that has seen consumption of its products shrink inexorably in the West over the past three decades. But while it is true that health concerns, public education, and increasingly stringent controls on the advertising, sale and use of tobacco have brought about that decline in North America and Europe, anyone thinking to write…
United Nations (UN) Security Council has given its backing to Libya’s new government of national unity, a move it hopes will help stem mass migration to Europe and reverse gains made by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group. The 15-nation council gave its support on Wednesday to the deal signed last week in the Moroccan town of Skhirat between representatives of Libya’s two competing regimes. Matthew Rycroft, the Britain’s ambassador to the United Nations, presented the motion, which he said represents a “strong collective sign of our commitment to Libya’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and national unity.”…
A rebel leader in Burundi said on Wednesday that opposition has come together for the first time with the stated aim of using force to oust President Pierre Nkurunziza. The rebels have called themselves the Republican Forces of Burundi – or “Forebu” from its name in French, Les Forces Republicaines du Burundi – said Edward Nshimirimana, a former army colonel. The group has come together “to protect the population” and uphold the Arusha agreement, which ended the 1993-2006 civil war that killed an estimated 300,000 people. “Our goal is to drive out Nkurunziza by force to restore the Arusha accord and…
Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, on Tuesday, December 22, disclosed that N369.9billion was shared among the Federal, States and Local Governments for November 2015. She stated this when she addressed journalists on the outcome of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting in Abuja. She added that the amount comprised the month’s statutory revenue of N297.4billion. She said, “Also, there is the exchange gain of N4.9billion which is proposed for distribution. “Therefore, the total revenue distributable for November, including VAT of N61.1billion, is N389.8billion”. Adeosun added that N6.3 billion was refunded to the federation by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation…
Hajia Aisha Buhari, the wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday donated food items to Persons Living with HIV/AIDS at the National Hospital, Abuja. The development was contained in a statement signed by the Director of Media to the president’s wife, Malam Zakariya’u Nadabo. According to the statement, the president’s wife made the donation when she visited the hospital accompanied by the Wife of the Vice President, Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo. In her remarks, the first lady noted that though a lot of success had been recorded in curbing the spread of the disease, there was the need to continue increasing awareness on…
Workers of Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN), Ibadan have resumed at their duty posts after a six-week strike. The institute’s gate, which had been locked since the workers protest on November 2, was opened yesterday. The timber, heaps of sand and placards, which were used to barricade the institute’s entrance gate, had been removed. Mr Solomon Adebiyi, who is spokesman for the aggrieved workers, informed that the resumption followed the intervention of the federal government. The executive director, Prof. Malachy Akoroda, had been directed to proceed on an indefinite leave while Dr Abiodun Okelana had been directed to act as the…
All Progressives Congress (APC) commended President Muhammadu Buhari for the N6.08 trillion 2016 budget presented to a joint-session of the 8th National Assembly today, December 22. This is contained in a statement today in Abuja by the party’s Assistant Director Publicity, Mr Edegbe Odemwingie. In the statement, APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, assured that many of the promises made to the electorate by the party in the 2015 presidential campaign were contained in the proposed budget. The statement assured that the current administration’s pro-people policies would be implemented in the 2016 financial year. It said: “In fulfillment of APC’s election promises to…
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, has said that the Federal Government voted N500 billion to tackle unemployment and provide care for the vulnerable. The minister said this during a courtesy visit by the Rwanda High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Stanislas Kamanzi in Abuja. He said the Federal Government was determined to face the menace of unemployment squarely, especially among youths in the country. Ngige said the government would fight spiritedly to solve the unemployment problem totally in the country. Ngige said the government was also poised to engage the over 500,000 that graduate yearly from the…
According to a report by a UK-based human rights group, Burundi’s security forces systematically killed dozens of people on December 11 as an act of repression in the country’s capital, The government, however, blamed much of the violence on rebels. Amnesty International said it documented extrajudicial executions, arbitrary arrests, and looting by the police in Bujumbura on what it called the single bloodiest day of the country’s escalating crisis. At least 87 people were killed, with many reportedly shot at short range. “In the single most deadly day since the current political unrest began, the streets of Bujumbura were left…
Hon James Abiodun Faleke, who was the running mate to the late Abubakar Audu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in November 21 governorship poll in Kogi State, has filed a petition before the State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal. Faleke, accompanied by Mohammed Audu, son of the late Abubakar Audu, and lawyers, submitted the petition to the clerk of the tribunal at about 12.20 p.m. in Lokoja, yesterday. Hundreds of party members and supporters converged on the state High Court premises, venue of the tribunal, to witness the event. However, the secretary of the tribunal, Mr Akanji Akinlabi, who received…
The Hisbah Board initiated by Kano State Government has repatriated 60,822 beggars to their respective states of origin and other countries between 2014 and 2015. The director-general of the board, Abba Sufi, made the disclosure in Kano yesterday during an interview with newsmen. He said the beggars were arrested at different locations within Kano metropolis. He said, “Some of the beggars were arrested and handed over to the police, while others were taken to court for proper prosecution.” Sufi added that those arrested were made up of 20,348 adult male and female beggars and 10,658 children beggars. He explained that out of…
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has inaugurated a 5-man panel to investigate the remote and immediate causes of the clash between the Nigerian Army and members of the Shiite Islamic sect in Zaria. The Executive Secretary of the commission, Professor Bem Angwe, who inaugurated the panel in Abuja yesterday, said that the investigation became necessary following a complaint tendered before the commission by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai. According to Angwe, the panel is expected to make recommendations to the commission on how to forestall a recurrence. He stated that the panel will investigate to determine…
South Sudan recently marked the second anniversary since a brutal conflict began that has killed thousands of people and forced two million others from their homes. Under immense international pressure, President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar signed a peace deal in August. Nevertheless, fighting continues in many parts of the country with widespread reports of atrocities against civilians. The United Nations peacekeeping mission (UNMISS) has been in South Sudan since the interim period that ushered in South Sudan’s independence in 2011. Since the eruption of the most recent conflict, 180,000 internally displaced people have sought protection inside its…
The government of Burkina Faso has issued an international arrest warrant for ousted leader Blaise Compaore in connection with the murder of former President Thomas Sankara, news reports said Monday. Sankara, a revolutionary figure who is still a hero to many in West Africa, was killed on October 15, 1987 during the coup that brought his friend and former comrade-in-arms Compaore to power. “I confirm that an international arrest warrant was issued against [ex-]President Blaise Compaore by the investigating judge,” Prosper Farama, a lawyer for Sankara’s family, told Reuters news agency. At least five other people, mostly former soldiers, have…
Not less than two people have been killed in an ambush on a passenger bus in Kenya’s northeast near the border with Somalia, an official and residents said. The bus was believed to be carrying more than 50 passengers when it was attacked between Kutulo and Daba village in Mandera county early on Sunday, Mohamud Saleh, the chief administrator of Kenya’s northeastern region, said. “The attackers tried to wave the bus down but then sprayed it with bullets when the driver refused to stop,” Saleh told Al Jazeera. “Two people were killed and at least three people were injured in the…
Gracious Omondi invigilates the classroom. With incessant, searching eyes, he zigzags the only quarter filled, unpainted room, looking out for the wandering gaze of a student. It’s the final week of the third term exams at Victoria View Academy in Maluba, a small fishing village in Uganda. He has been teaching for more than 10 weeks now in the small classroom near the shores of Lake Victoria. Today, it is time for the students to reap what they’ve sown these past weeks. Wearing a dark green shirt and gripping a thick wooden stick, Omondi patrols the classroom. It’s a maths…
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has come under renewed criticism for failing poor and developing countries in their 14-year-long battle to achieve a breakthrough in key agricultural trade talks. Several countries, including Kenya, India and Pakistan, have been calling the WTO to force developed countries to phase out subsidies paid to farmers whose overproduction threatens the livelihoods of farmers in the developing world. Many analysts argue that negotiations at the WTO have remained largely dominated by traditional economic powers, such as the US and EU, with discussions failing to deliver promised change. Some point to the failure of western governments…
The President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, has urged Nigerians to be resolute in the face of the current challenges confronting the nation. He gave the advice at the Interdenominational Thanksgiving Service held in honour of the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Ikenwoli Emiko in Warri yesterday. The service was held at the Foursquare Gospel Church inside the Palace of the Olu in Ekorode Itsekiri in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta. Orisejafor urged the people not to be deterred by the present situation, noting that God will intervene at the appropriate time. He said that clerics were…