The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigerian news

  • Bayelsa says it’s committed to sports devt

    The Bayelsa Government is committed to developing the potentials of the state’s sports men and women as part of efforts to rebuild sports in the state, an official has said.

    The State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, expressed the commitment Friday in Yenagoa during a courtesy visit by officials of Bayelsa chapter of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN).

    “It is in realisation of this objective that the state government embarked on the improvement of sports facilities to encourage sports men and women in achieving their maximum potentials,’’ he said.

    The commissioner described sports as “big business’’ and called for more collaboration between the state government and SWAN to accelerate growth in the sports sector in the state.

    He said such development and collaboration would go a long way to encourage talented youths and enable them excel in national and international events.

    “We have been pushing forward to ensure an improvement of facilities, while the state sports academy has come to stay.

    “Academic activities have started, with the students on ground. We are doing this because sports is a big business.

    “The reconstruction work at the Samson Siasia Stadium in Yenagoa is getting to completion stage and I believe by Feb. 14, the stadium will be commissioned as part of events marking the sixth year anniversary of the present government,” Iworiso-Markson said.

    The Commissioner however applauded Bayelsa SWAN’s planned effort to hold the maiden edition of Clinton Thompson Football Competition in the state, describing it as a welcome development.

    The competition fixed for Dec. 18 is being organised by Bayelsa SWAN to immortalise the late sports journalist who died earlier this year.

    The late Thompson, who was a veteran reporter and the pioneer President of SWAN South-South Zone, was at a time the General Manager of Radio Bayelsa, Glory FM 97.1.

    Alambo Datonye, the state SWAN Chairman, said the competition which would involve practising journalists in Bayelsa, was aimed at encouraging physical fitness and mental alertness of media practitioners through sports.

    He said the Association was ready to work with the state government to encourage athletes in the state, especially from the grassroots level.

    “We organised a six-kilometre road race earlier this year and that competition was successful. We are not going to stop, because sports is a veritable tool we and the present government can use to rebrand the state.

    “There are talented youths in Bayelsa. These talents can be groomed and promoted to the highest level in areas of sports,” the chairman said.

    NAN

  • LCM donates N5m to welfare homes

    Lagos Channel Management (LCM), a Lagos-based dredging company, on Friday donated N1million each to five orphanage homes in the state.

    The beneficiaries include Oyiza Orphanage and Foster Foundation in Mushin and Lady Oyindamola Memorial Home for the mentally challenged in Badagry.

    Others are: Special Correctional Centres for Boys in Oregun, Olubukola Fowowe Memorial Children Centre in Ogba and Correctional Homes for Boys in Yaba.

    Mr Danny Fuchs, the Managing Director of LCM, said that the donation was part of the company’s corporate social responsibility to the society.

    Fuchs said that the government alone should not be saddled with the responsibility of caring for the less privileged in the society, and urged other corporate entities to do likewise.

    “I know what we have given can’t solve all the problems in in your various homes, but it is just our own little way of identifying with the children in your care.

    “Over the years, we have taken it as a point of duty to give to the society and this has become the norm in LCM.

    “I also commend the care givers for dedicating their time to take care of these children and I hope they will use the money judiciously to better the lives of the children,” he said.

    Meanwhile, Mrs Yewande Falugba, the Director of Administration and Human Resources in the Ministry of Youth and Social Development, praised the company for its enterprise and gesture to the less privileged.

    Falugba said that the government was doing everything possible to ensure that the children in government-owned homes get adequate care, while those owned by private individuals are properly run.

    “We appreciate LCM for what they are doing because their support will go a long way to put smiles on the faces of the children.

    “The Lagos State Government is doing a lot to keep these homes running in order to impact positively on the life of children and we hope more companies will support the government, ” she said.

    Three out of the five homes that benefitted from the largesse are owned by the Lagos State Government.

    Thirty-five orphanage homes have benefitted from the company’s yearly donation in the past seven years.

    NAN

  • Mechanic arraigned for phone theft

    Mechanic arraigned for phone theft

    A 20-year-old mechanic, Tola Lebile, on Friday appeared before an Okitipupa Magistrates’ Court in Ondo State over alleged theft of  a Tecno V8 phone valued at N8,000.

    The accused, who has no fixed address, is facing a two-count charge breaking in and stealing.

    According to the prosecutor, Insp. Zedekiah Orogbemi, the accused stole the phone from Mr Ogunyemi Adewunmi at 2.30a.m. on Nov. 6 at No. 10, Lebi St., Okitipupa.

    Orogbemi told the court that the mechanic entered  Adewunmi’s house to steal the phone.

    He submitted that the offences contravened Sections 412 and 390(9) of the  Criminal Code, Laws of Ondo State, 2006.

    The accused, however, pleaded not guilty.

    Read also: Mechanic in court for absconding with vehicle

    The Magistrate, Mr Banji Ayeomoni, granted him bail in the sum of N30,000 and a surety in like sum.

    He ordered that the surety must provide evidence of a year tax payment to the Ondo State Government.

    The magistrate adjourned the case until Dec. 15 for mention.

    NAN

  • JAMB begins registration for UTME 2018

    JAMB begins registration for UTME 2018

    The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board said it has begun registration for the 2018 unified tertiary matriculation examinations ( UTME ) registration.
     
    JAMB said the registration would take place in over 700 computer based test (CBT) centres in 36 states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
     
    The organization’s Head of Media, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, made the announcement in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.
     
    He said the exercise would end in February next year.
     
    Dr. Benjamin urged candidates to register within this time frame, noting that the board would not extend the registration period.
     
    The statement reads: “We will also want to state clearly that the board does not post candidates to any examination town other than the one chosen by the candidate at the point of registration. 
     
    “Candidates are, however, advised to register on time before the available spaces in their town of choice are exhausted.
     
    “The registration exercise started on Wednesday 6th December, 2017 and as at today so many candidates have text their names using their phone numbers to 55019 and got their profile registered. After which they equally proceeded to the CBT centres for registration. 
     
    “The exercise from our tour of centres today clearly showed that this is one of the best registration regime of the board in recent time. It is easy, smooth and hitch free. This system is simple and convenient, candidates are requested to do it themselves to avoid being defrauded by anybody.
     
    “Candidates can purchase the e -pins using their ATM or through Interswitch, Remita and other online platforms at the comfort of their homes.
     
    “The Board offices are available for any challenge encountered by candidate while trying to obtain the e -pin to register for the 2018 exercise.
     
    “Candidates who desire to register for the optional mock are also urged to do so as the platform will be withdrawn by the 30th of December, 2017 and only those who registered and indicated their interest on or before that time will be enlisted to participate. 
     
    “The board again reiterated its avowed commitment to conduct a hitch free examination and advance the cause of any Nigerian child desirous of qualitative tertiary education in the country. This is the beginning of the 2018 process.”
     
  • Obasanjo condemns resurgence of slavery in Africa

    Obasanjo condemns resurgence of slavery in Africa

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday, condemned the resurgence of slavery in some parts of Africa, saying that the development was worrisome.

    Speaking at the 2017 Annual Conference of the Comptroller General of Immigration held at the MITROS Residences in Abeokuta, Obasanjo said that slave trade in the 21st century should be condemned in the strongest  term possible.

    The theme for the conference was : “Managing Migration and Facilitating Trade and Development in 21st Century Nigeria : NIS’ Perspective”.

    The former president noted that the current development in Africa should be a sober reflection for African leaders.

    He explained that the leaders must feel a sense of regret on what they ought to do, what they had done and what they had not done.

    “I believe that slave trade in the 21st century should be condemned in the strongest language possible and nobody who is involved in it should be excused.

    “What can we do and what must we do? We must ensure that conducive atmosphere is created for genuine exchange of goods and ensure development within our country, sub-region, continent and the world which we live.

    “But then today, migration has a very nasty connotation particularly when you watch the television and you hear the story of thousands of our youths daring to go through the desert.

    “Then after they have embark on such perilous  journeys, some of them are sold as slaves. Slaves in the 21st century, Africans being sold by Africans and maybe to Africans.

    “All of us as leaders must feel a sense of regret and have sober reflection on what we have done or what we have not done to bring this about to our own people, ” he said.

    Obasanjo, charged the men of the NIS  to imbibe the culture of training, professionalism, integrity, loyalty, and service, saying that all these must not be taken for granted.

    In his address, the Comptroller – General of NIS,  Muhammad Babandede, said that the service was committed to safe and regular migration of Nigerian citizens and foreigners.

    He disclosed that the current issue being witnessed  in Libya was not new to the NIS and it had regularly engaged in measures and activities to reduce the menace.

    Babandede however warned travel agencies, individuals and officers in  the passport offices at various borders who are engaged in smuggling of migrants to desist from it, saying anybody found wanting would be made to face the law.

    He said that the service have some cases of smuggling under investigation, urging his men to step -up their activities through intelligence gathering, speedy investigations to allow the law to take its full course .

    Babandede added that starting January, 2018, the National  Identity Number  would be part of requirements for issuance of Nigerian passport with the National Identity Management Commission.

    He noted that the aim of the conference was to review the E- passport, after 10 years of its introduction in order to better the services they rendered.

    “I wish to state that NIS is committed to safe and regular migration to prevent the sad stories of loss of lives and sources of Nigerian citizens and others, occasioned by the desperate journey through the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean sea.

    “The recent media revelations of the sad events in Libya are not new to the NIS and we had regularly engaged in measures and activities to reduce the menace in collaboration with partners and stakeholders, ” he said.

    Earlier, Gov. Ibikunle Amosun who declared the conference open, also condemned the resurrection of slave trade in Libya, saying that African leaders should rise to condemn the act.

    Amosun charged all the participants at the conference to see the programme as an avenue to brainstorm and come up with practical solutions that would be of benefits to the Nigerians and the country.

  • Guild of Medical Directors in FCT seek review of taxes, levies

    Guild of Medical Directors in FCT seek review of taxes, levies

    The Guild of Medical Directors in FCT on Thursday asked an FCT High Court for judicial review of taxes and levies paid by members to Abuja Municipal Area Council ( AMAC ).

    Mr Akinwale Aderele, counsel to the plaintiff made the plea in an application brought before Justice Charles Angbaza of Jabi court.

    He said the group was seeking judicial review of taxes and levies paid to AMAC so as to reduce the burden on members.

    He added that the application would help to determine whether the demands and the summons served medical directors and private hospitals by AMAC were in line with the law.

    According to him, there is a law that guides the kind of taxes and levies payable to government by operators of any income generating ventures
    in the country.

    “Under the law, local governments can only collect taxes and levies ontenement rates,” he said.

    He explained that there had been cases where members of the guild were
    asked to pay radio and television fees, environmental fees, trade and operating licence fees.

    The counsel said some hospitals were sometimes charged between N500,000 and N1 million as taxes, stressing that it was affecting the capacity of medical doctors to deliver quality services in FCT.

    He noted that Nigerians were being affected because once such hospitals were forced to pay up to N3 million on regulatory fees, they could not buy medical equipment.

    He said the quality of health in the country would suffer considerably, noting that medical directors would have no choice than to increase the price of consultancy.

    He added that “we are in court to ensure that Nigerians get quality healthcare; that doctors can have means to engage in research and
    provide quality health services to citizens.”

    He announced that the FCT had about 411 land plots designated for hospital use, saying that of the 120 doctors that formed the Guild in Abuja, only 10 of them had allotted plots on hospital land.

    He claimed that “people who are not medical practitioners have managed to get plots meant for medical use and they have deprived doctors of those plots.”

    Aderele appealed to the FCT Minister, Alhaji Muhammad Bello, to revoke plots illegally given to non-medical practitioners and give same to genuine doctors.

    He also sought the assistance of the court to enable a representative of the doctors to be listed in court instead of
    all the 112 private hospital owners in the territory.

    The News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN ) reports that AMAC, the defendant in the matter was absent in court.

    Justice Angbaza, however, granted the two prayers by the plaintiff and adjourned the matter until Feb. 1, 2018 for hearing.

  • Otedola’s daughter, nicest thing that happen to me – Mr Eazi

    Otedola’s daughter, nicest thing that happen to me – Mr Eazi

    Mr Eazi, Nigeria’s self-acclaimed pioneer , Banku Sounds, says his relationship with Temi, daughter of popular oil magnate Femi Otedola, is one of the nicest things that happened to him this year.

    The ‘Leg Over’ crooner, real name Oluwatosin Ajibade, described the relationship which has generated public interests as “one of the highlights of my year’’

    “It’s been one of the nicest things to happen to me this year. You know love is sweet. At least I have more inspiration for plenty songs.
    “So don’t be shocked that my new songs are going to be love-based.”

    The two love birds who are not shy about their relationship, frequently share their PDA pictures on their IG

    In a chat with HIPTV, Mr Eazi said he is still love in spite the intense trolling particularly for his claim of pioneering the infusion of Ghanaian lingo in lyrics.

    Eazi, who is also Apple Music’s Up Next artist, said “there is no real hate because if we as Nigerians saw another human being as Tanzanian or Ghanaian, we would still help; we are happy people, it is not that serious.”

    Eazi who is also a songwriter and entrepreneur is a graduate of mechanical engineering from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology ( KNUST ), where he began booking artistes to perform at college parties.

    He parades himself as the pioneer of Banku Music, a fusion sound he describes as the mixture of “Ghanaian bounces, Ghanaian highlife, Nigerian chord progressions, and Nigerian patterns”.

    He showed interest in music after recording a guest verse on “My Life”, a song that gained traction and became a popular record at KNUST.

    Eazi released his debut mixtape, About to Blow, in July 2013.

    He gained an international audience following the release of the 2015 single “Skin Tight”.

    Mr Eazi inked a record deal with Wizkid’s Starboy Entertainment in May 2016.

  • Unemployed man jailed two years for drug trafficking

    Unemployed man jailed two years for drug trafficking

    A Federal High Court in Lagos, on Thursday  sentenced a 30- year-old man, Abubakar Nasir, to  two years imprisonment for drug trafficking.

    The unemployed convict who was arraigned by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on a count charge of dealing in narcotics, had pleaded guilty.

    He begged the court to temper justice with mercy and give him another chance and promised to be a better person in life, if given the opportunity.

    In her judgment, Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo, found the defendant guilty as charged and accordingly convicted him.

    Read Also: Ex-convict gets 3-year sentence for drug possession

    She, consequently, sentenced him to two years imprisonment, beginning from the date of his arrest.

    Earlier, the Prosecutor, Jeremiah Aernan, had told the court that the convict committed the offence on Sept. 20.

    Aernan said that the man was arrested at the Yadoya Market in Mile 12 Lagos.

    He said that about 300 grammes of cannabis sativa known as Indian hemp was recovered from the convict and he was arrested and subsequently charged to court.

    He said that the offence contravened the provisions of Section 11 (c) of the NDLEA Act Cap. 30 Laws of the Federation, 2004.

  • Atiku visits Babangida in Minna

    Atiku visits Babangida in Minna

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar visited former military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (retd), at his home in Minna, Niger State, on Thursday.

    Atiku arrived the Minna International Airport at 12:10 p.m. and arrived Babangida’s uphill residence 20 minutes later.

    Read Also: Atiku’s daughter still in PDP

    The duo later went into a close-door meeting in one of the ex-President’s rooms in the villa.

    Those at the meeting included former Niger State Governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Niger State, Barr. Tanko Beji and other party chieftains in the state.