Author: Kunle Atiba

Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has said that with the conduct of peaceful elections and transitions from one government to the other on the continent, it was clear that democracy had come of age in Africa. Mr Laolu Akande, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Vice President, issued the news release in Abuja on Tuesday. He said Osinbajo made the remark in Conakry, Guinea, at the inauguration of Prof. Alpha Conde’s second term in office. “It shows that democracy has come of age in Africa. All over, you can see the demonstration of peaceful elections, peaceful transitions from…

President Muhammadu Buhari has called on religious leaders to support the Federal Government’s in its efforts at stripping Boko Haram of its religious pretensions. The President made the appeal on Tuesday in Abuja when he received in audience the Ecuador’s new Ambassador to Nigeria, Leopoldo Rovayo Verdesoto. He said the religious leaders’ collaboration with government would fully expose the group’s viciousness “as terrorists, devoid of any moral or philosophical direction.” President Buhari noted that so much ground has been covered in the attempt to properly expose Boko Haram members as “ruthless, destructive, and misguided terrorists.’’ “What we have succeeded in doing…

Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has disclosed that thirty-one ships laden with petroleum products, food items and other goods are expected to arrive Apapa and Tin-Can Island Ports in Lagos between Tuesday and Jan. 1. NPA made this known in its daily publication, Shipping Position, a copy of which was made available to newsmen on Tuesday in Lagos. It said that the ships contained general cargoes, containers, steel products, buck wheat, rice, bulk sugar, bulk salt, base oil, crude palm olein, bulk charcoal, steel products, empty container and petrol. Nine other ships, it said, had arrived the ports and waiting to…

Aid organisations are unable to reach hundreds of thousands of people, and thousands more are at risk of starvation as civil war in South Sudan reaches the end of its second year, according to aid officials speaking to Al Jazeera. Despite a peace agreement signed in August, ongoing fighting has put the lives of thousands at risk. The worst-affected areas are in the central and southern districts of Unity State and the west bank of the Nile in the Upper Nile State, where the conflict has displaced more than 2.2 million people and left 3.9 million others “severely food insecure”,…

The Egypt’s government has for the second time extended the detention of a journalist accused of “releasing false news aimed at spreading terror” and “joining a banned group” by another 15 days pending further investigation, the detainee’s family and local media said. Award-winning investigative journalist Ismail Alexandrani is likely be held until at least the end of December given the extension, his wife Khadeega Gafar said on Monday. The extension was announced last Thursday, days before his current detention period was to end. “He didn’t even finish the first 15 days. The general reason they say he is being detained…

Burundian government, on Monday, has commenced trial of 28 men accused of launching a failed coup in May amid heightened tensions after attacks last week in which 87 people were killed. Former Defence Minister Cyrille Ndayirukiye and five other generals were among those standing trial for their alleged involvement in an attempt to oust President Nkurunziza while he was seeking a third term in office. The defendants – who appeared under tight security in a court room in Gitega, some 100km east of the capital Bujumbura – are charged with an “attempted coup and calling for a popular uprising, killing soldiers, policemen and civilians,…

China has been considered as the new land of opportunities for many African entrepreneurs today. One of the African entrepreneurs doing business in China is Annie Ngimbi from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). With demand for Chinese products growing, Ngimbi is on a shopping spree in China’s third largest city, Guangzhou. She has three weeks to fill a container with a list of products to sell back home in the DRC. She buys everything from clothes, furniture and electronics to food items such as onions and garlic. A dynamic woman, Ngimbi is no pushover when it comes to business. Working with…

60 indigent students of Kebbi State have received free admission forms from Banganna District Development Association in Kalgo Local Government Area of Kebbi. The Chairman of the association, Alhaji Attahiru Mohammed, made the disclosure in Kalgo on Sunday. He said the forms were distributed free of charge to qualified indigent students of the area, adding that the forms were for admission into NCE and Diploma programmes. Mohammed said the association had spent N125,000 to procure the forms that to enable the beneficiaries secure admissions into polytechnics and colleges of education. He said the association would expand the scope of the…

Area Courts in Omu-Aran, Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara, have amicably resolved more than 30 divorce suits between warring couples, since January. Investigation revealed that 15 other civil matters, especially those bordering on land disputes, were also resolved within the same period. Some of the reasons submitted for filing the divorce suits were lack of love between the parties, desertion, uncaring attitude and childlessness. Other reasons were drunkenness, cruelty as well as irresponsibility on the part of husbands. Out of the 63 dissolution cases filed, 25 traditional marriages were dissolved by the Area Court while the remaining five suits were resolved by the Upper Area Court…

The Chairman of Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on Health, Mr. Segun Olulade, on Sunday said that the committee would ensure more efficiency in health care delivery in the state. He said the Assembly was committed to bringing about a revolution in the health care sector. “I want to assure residents that the health sector in Lagos State will witness a revolution that will bring in efficiency and care. “We will ensure unparalleled health services as far as Nigeria and Africa is concerned. “We are committed to this promise as we are going to perform our oversight functions as expected. “We…

Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) National Co-ordinator, Otunba Gani Adams, has condemned the Frivolous Petitions Bill pending for approval in the Nigerian Senate. The bill seeks to stop the social media from defaming members of the public, including lawmakers. Adams disclosed his stand on Sunday in Lagos that the passage of the bill would negate the rule of law and some provisions of the Nigerian constitution. He said that there were extant laws which regulated the practice of journalism in the country and these were adequate. Adams said that additional laws, when the country is not under a military rule, was uncalled for.…

Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) has procured 100,000 electricity prepayment metres for distribution to its customers. The company’s Managing Director, Dr Jamil Gwamna, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Kano. He said out of the number, 62,000 had since arrived the state while the remaining 38,000 were still being awaited. Gwamna said that as soon as the remaining metres arrived, the company would commence distribution to customers. He said the company found it necessary to provide the metres in order to stop estimated billing and ensure effective service delivery. Gwamna said the company planned to employ 1, 000 additional staff…