News

Sunday, 15 January 2017 17:08

FG rejects BBOG conditions for joining Chibok Girls’ search mission

The Federal Government has rejected the conditions given by the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) group for joining a day search sorties for missing Chibok girls to Sambisa Forest. In a letter addressed to the convener of the group, Mrs Obiageli Ezekwesili, which was made available to the media on Sunday, the government said it was unable to postpone the trip as scheduled. The letter dated Jan. 14 was signed by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed. ‘’Thank you for your letter, dated Jan. 13, which is in response to ours of Jan. 11, requesting that we…

Sunday, 15 January 2017 17:05

Nigeria needs more private universities – NUC

Executive Secretary of the National University Commission, NUC, Professor Abubakar Rasheed, has said that the number of universities in Nigeria was too small given its population. He charged individuals and organisations to invest in education by establishing private universities. Delivering the convocation lecture of the Fountain University, Osogbo, Rasheed explained that Nigeria has just over a hundred universities for a population of over 180 million people. During the convocation, a total of 198 graduands got first degrees while honourary degrees were conferred on two eminent Nigerians, Sakariyau Babalola and Yusuf Ali. Mr. Babalola who is the Deputy President-General of Nigerian…

Sunday, 15 January 2017 03:07

Interview: Boko Haram’s resilience baffled us – Buratai

Fresh from recent victory in the Sambisa Forest, Chief of Army Staff LT General Tukur Yusuf Buratai spoke to Daily Trust on Sunday on a wide range of current issues. Excerpts: You look relaxed for a man who is leading a major war? I must feel relaxed because the operation is progressing as planned. By the grace of Almighty God, it is moving the way we planned. That is not to say that I am resting on my oars. We are very much alert and will continue to pursue the fleeing Boko Haram terrorists wherever they are. The capture of…

Sunday, 15 January 2017 03:06

Come search for Chibok girls with us in Sambisa forest, FG invites BBOG

The Federal Government has invited members of the Bring Back Our Girls group to a short trip into Sambisa forest in search of the missing Chibok girls. The invitation extended to members of the BBOG, an advocacy group for the release of the missing school girls from Chibok, Borno, was contained in a letter dated January 11. The letter, signed by the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, and addressed to Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, Convener of the group, was made available to the media on Saturday. In the letter, the government asked the BBOG to nominate three of…

Sunday, 15 January 2017 03:04

N'Delta talks: Osinbajo leads FG delegation to Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers

On Monday the Federal Government will start talks with Niger Delta stakeholders, including militants, who have been bombing oil assets to draw attention to challenges in the oil region. The talks would see Vice President Yemi Osinbajo leading a high powered delegation of the Federal Government to visit some states in the Niger Delta. States to be visited are Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers. Meanwhile, leader of the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Chief Edwin Clark, said the visit was not a substitute for dialogue. A statement from the Office of the Vice President, yesterday, stated that government was committed to an…

Sunday, 15 January 2017 03:03

Fresh row over new N7b VP’s residence

With about N6.215billion already spent in eight years on the new official residence of the nation’s Vice President in Abuja, the project remains enmeshed in controversy. While the House of Representatives Committee on FCT is alleging that the job done is not commensurate with the 87 percent of the contract sum paid, no one seems to know when the project will be ready for occupation. The project has been abandoned in the last five years owing to disagreement between the Senate and the Federal Capital Development Authority on the variation of the project. The contract was awarded in 2009 at…

Sunday, 15 January 2017 02:53

Universities’ non-academic unions to begin 5-day warning strike

Non-academic unions in the Nigerian universities say they will on Monday embark on a five-day warning strike over the inability of the Federal Government to implement the 2009 Agreements with the unions. The unions are the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT). The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the unions in a statement stated that the warning strike became necessary in order for government to fully implement the 2009 FGN/Non-Teaching Staff Unions Agreements it freely entered into with the unions. JAC said that a letter of the…

Sunday, 15 January 2017 02:40

WASC students shun proper registration for 'miracle centres'

2017 May/June West African School Certificate Examination (WASC) registration exercise has been greeted by apathy in Ebonyi State even as the examination council has said that the deadline for registration of candidates for the examination remains today, January 15. Worried over deadline for the registration, school principals and parents have called for extension of the exercise to enable students register for the examination which costs N15,000. Investigation by Sunday Telegraph shows that only very few students have registered while majority of them are running round for money to enable them register. At Government Technical College (GTC) Abakaliki, only six out…

Sunday, 15 January 2017 02:39

Nigerian troops repel Boko Haram attack in Borno, kill 10

Troops of the Nigerian Army on Friday repelled an attack by Boko Haram fighters on their location in the northern part of Borno State, killing no fewer than 10 of the terrorists, authorities said. According to the spokesman of the Nigeria Army, Sani Usman, a Brigadier General, the insurgents attempted an attack on troops location in Kangarwa village of Kukawa local government. Kangarwa is situated around the locations where the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is currently prospecting for oil in the shores of the receding Lake Chad. Following the disrupting activities of Boko Haram in that strategic region, the…

Saturday, 14 January 2017 16:57

Maitama Sule, other key northern leaders denied access to IDP camp in Maiduguri

Members of the Northern Elders Forum, led by Maitama Sule and Paul Unongo, were on Friday stopped by security at the gate of an IDP camp, as they tried to make donations. The elders arrived Maiduguri the Borno State capital and were received by the governor, Kashim Shettima. The NEF members said they were in Maiduguri to commiserate with the people and government of Borno on their experiences with Boko Haram, and to congratulate the governor on his work as chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum. They called for a more united northern Nigeria, and commended the Nigerian military for…

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Saturday, 14 January 2017 16:56

FG's efforts to save the naira have crumbled, says IMF

International Monetary Fund (IMF) says efforts to save the naira by rationing foreign exchange have gradually crumbled. The IMF also said the challenges around foreign exchange in Nigeria have pushed inflation to double digits in Africa’s largest economy. This is coming a year after Christine Lagarde, IMF managing director, met with the main players in the Nigerian economy, including Kemi Adeosun, minister of finance; Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and President Muhammadu Buhari. Lagarde, at the time, called for subsidy removal and devaluation of the naira — both of which have been done. In its…

Saturday, 14 January 2017 02:42

RCCG saga: Sacked FRC boss Obazee in fresh trouble

The last may not have been heard about the sack of Mr. Jim Obazee as Executive Secretary of Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN). Few days after he was removed as the scribe of the body, the Federal Government is considering probing his tenure. Some other top officials of the council may also be asked to make way as government prepares for the overhaul of the parastatal. The planned reorganisation is a consequence of allegations of wrongdoings in the establishment. One of the allegations is that over N1 billion cash of the council, meant for International Financial Reporting Standards Academy…

Saturday, 14 January 2017 02:41

Nine dead as NEMA confirms suicide bomber had baby strapped on her back

At least nine people were killed when three female suicide bombers struck in Madagali, Adamawa State, on Friday, a rescue agency has said. National Emergency Management Agency also confirmed that one of the three female suicide bombers died with a baby strapped on her back. PREMIUM TIMES reported residents as saying three suicide bombers blew up themselves while approaching a security check point, where vehicles are stopped and screened before being allowed into the town. “This morning the suicide bombers blew up themselves after they were intercepted by local vigilantes stationed at the check point and already two vigilantes lost…

Saturday, 14 January 2017 02:39

Nigeria army memo: Prepare 800 troops for Gambia if needed

A Nigerian army memo orders officers to prepare a battalion of 800 troops for a possible military intervention in Gambia, where the longtime leader has refused to accept his election loss and step down. West Africa's regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States, has said it has a standby military force ready to enter Gambia if President Yahya Jammeh does not cede power when his mandate expires next Thursday. Jammeh, who has ruled since he took power in a 1994 military coup, is challenging his Dec. 1 loss. The Nigerian memo dated Wednesday and seen by The Associated…

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