Renowned Professor of Pharmacognosy, Maurice Iwu, yesterday, reiterated that a compound in garcinia kola also known as bitter kola, is a possible cure for the Ebola Virus Disease, saying that the study is however, in progress. The former INEC Chairman explained that kola is an anti-viral product but much more importantly an anti-inflammatory agent, adding that anti-malaria drugs like Artemisinin and others are from a similar plant. He stated this at a pre-summit briefing for the press and stakeholders for the 3rd Annual Clinical Trials Summit, by the Association of Good Clinical Practice in Nigeria (AGCPN), in collaboration with the…
Author: Wale Adebayo
FILE PHOTO The National Emergency Management Agency said on Monday that it had deployed more field workers to Borno to cater for the increased humanitarian needs due to Boko Haram insurgency. NEMA North East Coordinator, Mohammed Kanar, stated this while briefing journalists in Maiduguri. Mr. Kanar said the deployment was to boost camp management in the state which had continued to witness daily influx of Internally Displaced Persons from communities being ravaged by the insurgents. He said that the agency had also sustained its weekly intervention in IDP camps in the state to ensure minimal comfort to the displaced persons.…
Managing Director, The Infrastructure Bank Plc, Mr Adekunle Oyinloye, says the proposed Lagos Metro Rail Transit (LMRT) project will cost N456 billion. “We still have some paper work to do with Lagos State for concession. Immediately the concession is done and we have a bankable document and get to finance close then the project will start,” Oyinloye said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). “We are hoping and believing that within the next six to eight months we will be able to get to finance close and we will start,’’ he said. According to Oyinloye, the bank…
Managing Director of Capital Oil and Gas, Mr. Ifeanyi Ubah, said it is not too late for President Goodluck Jonathan to fully deregulate the country’s downstream petroleum industry. Ubah, whose company released 13 million litres of petroleum products to assuage the pains of Nigerians while oil marketers went on strike, urged Jonathan to bequeath to Muhammadu Buhari, a regulated price regime. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in-house members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Worker Association of Nigeria (NUPENG), had gone on strike in protest against the…
More than 100 persons, mostly women, children and the elderly, were feared killed on Sunday morning in villages and refugee camps located at Ukura, Gafa, Per and Tse-Gusa in Logo Local Government Area of Benue State. The attack suspected to have been perpetrated by Fulani herdsmen was on areas, which until the latest onslaught, were havens for those who fled from previously attacked communities. A reliable source told Vanguard that some of the attackers dressed in military uniform, stormed the affected villages in large numbers. “What happened was like a war situation where people were killed like animals, irrespective of…
A former Secretary to the Government of the Federation under the late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua administration, Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, has charged the incoming administration not to allow anyone with a case to answer flee the country after May 29. Yayale, who is the pro-chancellor and chairman of council of the Bayero University, Kano (BUK) gave the advice after presenting a paper titled “The 2015 Transition: Realities, Expectations and the Challenges”, at the 31st convocation lecture of the university yesterday. The former SGF said when the Muhammadu Buhari administration takes over, it would discover many things and ask many questions.…
A Senator-elect for Sokoto South senatorial District, Ibrahim Abdullahi Danbaba, has revealed that they are throwing their weight behind Senator Bukola Saraki for the Senate Presidency in the 8th National Assembly because he has all it takes to occupy the position. Danbaba also stated that there’s no way zoning could be wished away, adding that it is a constitutional issue, which talks about federal character to ensure minorities are well represented. He said: “Senator Saraki has what it takes to become the Senate president. He is well exposed to the political terrain of Nigeria, others are just craving for positions”. “We have…
The National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, has advised President Jacob Zuma of South Africa to stay away from the presidential inauguration of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari on May 29. The Association also threatened to storm the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, should the South African President step into the country’s airport. The umbrella body for Nigerian students of public tertiary institutions, said Zuma should keep off as his visit will be an insult to the sensibility of Nigerians over his alleged poor handling of the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other migrant foreigners in South Africa. A statement by NANS…
The Imo State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party has expelled Senator Ifeanyi Araraume and 19 others from the party. Among those expelled are Jerry Chukwueke and Humphrey Anumudu, who were governorship aspirants of the party. Others were Gibson Achonwa, C. Y Amako, Charles Amadi, Kingsley Onunuju, Ethelbert Okere, Jones Uzoka, Nkem Nwankwo, Independence Ogunewe, Nnamdi Obiaraeri, Bethel Nzimako, Celestine Uwakwe, J.C.N. Harcourt, Sunny Heart Ibe, Aznubuike Ekwegh, Jeph Ojinaka, J. I. J. Njoku and Stan Nzekwe. A statement issued in Owerri, the state capital yesterday, said that after an executive committee meeting of the party on May 4, 2015, attended by the chairman of the party in the…
Minority Leader of the House of Representatives and one of the leading contenders for position of Speaker in the incoming 8th National Assembly, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, has said that the outgoing Speaker, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, is supporting his bid. In a statement by chairman of the Gbajabiamila campaign organization, James Abiodun Faleke (APC, Lagos) yesterday, the Minority Leader said a recent statement credited to one of his supporters to the effect that Tambuwal was in support of another aspirant, Yakubu Dogara, could not be true. An APC Rep member from Kaduna State, Rufai Madaki, had in a statement…
Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, has asked the President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, to support the 8th National Assembly in reducing the enormous powers the Federal Government wields by devolving some of the powers to the state governments. Akpabio, who claimed that Nigeria was operating a unitary state because of the enormous powers of the Federal Government, stated this during a Channels TV programme titled, View from the Top, on Monday. The outgoing governor also identified complacency as the reason why his party – Peoples Democratic Party – failed at the last general elections, adding that the party realised…
A group within the Peoples Democratic Party has warned that the PDP will continue on the path of failure if members of the National Working Committee fail to resign. The group, under the aegis of Concerned PDP Stakeholders, in a statement by its coordinator, Mr. Lanre Hassan, said it was hypocritical of the National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Olisa Metuh, who is also a member of the NWC, to be talking of restrategising without first offering to resign his position. The stakeholders said the NWC contributed to the loss of the PDP in the last elections, adding that it was time…
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has denied a published report published by a national daily that its National Working Committee’s meeting of Monday night resolved to zone the Senate Presidency to the North-Central and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to the South-West, saying the contentious issue of zoning was never discussed. In a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday by its National Secretary, Hon. Mai Mala Buni, the incoming governing party said it was deeply embarrassed by the story, which was apparently planted in the media to sow the seeds of instability in the party. “The NWC never…
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Monday welcomed the plan by the incoming administration of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari to give priority attention to the fight against corruption. The commission, which has recently come under public scrutiny as a toothless bulldog in the war against graft, particularly in the last eight years, said the president-elect’s pledge would help the commission make the needed impact. “We are happy that the incoming government is making the fight against corruption one of its cardinal objectives”, the Head, Media & Publicity of the EFCC, Wilson Uwajaren, told journalists Monday. “Every Nigerian is happy about…
Award winning actress, broadcaster, wife and mother, Iretiola Doyle, was recently named Brand Ambassador for Fairy Dishwashing Liquid. She describes the relationship as the right round peg in the right round hole – a perfect match. The Journey to fame: Education and Career She moved to Lagos after having studied Theatre Arts at the University of Jos. While waiting for the big break and with the intention of taking over the Nigerian movie industry, she got a job in a production company and gradually became grounded in the art of producing, presenting and broadcasting. Career and family grew alongside each…
The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers (NUPENG) said yesterday that the scourge of fuel carcity will persist in the country unless the federal government makes efforts to refine petroleum products in the country and make the nation’s refineries work again. President of the union, Comrade Achese Igwe at a news conference in Lagos yesterday, stressed the need for the removal of fuel subsidy and deregulation of the downstream sector. He said: “Until the downstream sector is deregulated and fuel subsidy is removed completely, we will continue to have fuel scarcity one time or the other. It is…
The Health Committee of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), has raised strong objections to the proposed abortion to be carried out on pregnant women rescued from the Boko Haram camps, saying what the women needed was special care and rehabilitation. Chairman of the committee and Auxiliary Bishop of Abuja Catholic Archdiocese, Rev. Anselm Umoren, in a statement yesterday, expressed sorrow at the traumatizing experiences endured by many Nigerians including men, women and children under the orgy of violence and terror by Boko Haram, adding that it was misguided for a cross section of persons and groups to be…
The inaugural edition of the New Media Conference is set to take place on May 27th, 2015 at Terra Kulture, Lagos. Join highly established names in digital media like Ameyaw Debrah, Subomi Plumptre, Tolu Ogunlesi, Demilade Olaosun & many others as they shine the light on the misconceptions of New Media in West Africa and how it can become a viable business for those involved. This event is for aspiring bloggers, digital media specialists and stake holders in digital media. The Theme for this year’s conference is: NEW MEDIA IN THIS AGE: CHANGING THE WHOLE PERSPECTIVE. Speaking about the event,…
The Lagos State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal will today commence hearing in the petition filed by the People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidate in the last governorship election in Lagos, Mr Jimi Agbaje. Agbaje is challenging the victory of the All Progressive Congress (APC) candidate, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode. The registrar of the Tribunal presided by Justice Muhammad Sirajo said that the date was fixed after notices of hearing were sent to all parties involved. Agbaje had contested the victory of Ambode as the winner of the April 11, gubernatorial election. He had prayed the Tribunal to grant him access to inspect…
The Federal Government, yesterday said Nigeria has lost more than 2,000 mega watts in the national grid due to shortage of gas supply to the thermal plants. A statement signed by the Chairman of the National electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) Dr. Sam Amadi said that only five out of 23 power plants are currently generating electricity. “In the last couple of months, electricity supply has been generally poor on account of increase in vandalism in the run up to the April 2015 elections. But this bad supply condition has worsened in the last few days,” Amadi said. “At present, 18…