The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigerian Newspaper

  • Nasarawa downsizes 18 existing ministries to 13

    Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa state has downsized the eighteen existing ministries in the state to thirteen.

    Governor Sule made the announcement during a Stakeholders meeting in Lafia.

    The five affected ministries which have been scrapped and merged with re-established ones include Special Education, Science and Technology; Higher Education; Housing and Urban Development; Community Development and Water Resources.

    The Thirteen new ministries are Education, Health, Land and Urban Development, Environment and Natural Resources, Youths and Sports Development, Justice, Finance and Economic Planning.

    Read Also: Stop consuming non-iodised salt, NAFDAC advises Nigerians

    Others include, Local Government, Community and Chieftaincy Affairs; Women and Social Development; Works, Housing and Transport; Agriculture and Water Resources; Trade Industries and Investment; and information culture and tourism

    Governor Abdullahi Sule said the development is to ensure that ministries are reduced into a manageable size and avoid conflicting roles

    Governor Sule said government is working towards strengthening MDAs for effective service delivery and appealed for the support of stakeholders.

     

     

  • Woman killed by suspected ritualists in Delta

    A yet to be identified woman has been reportedly murdered by suspected ritualists in Sapele, Delta State.

    The woman said to be in her twenties was found on Monday morning, along Ogorode Road, with a white rope tied around one of her ankles.

    Sapele, it will be noted has been in the news for killings of two other young ladies, in unexplained circumstances.

    The Nation also reported the death of one Godwin Iwere, who was found dead in another part of the town barely three days ago.

    The Commissioner of Police, Delta Command, while confirming the incident, stated thus: “Yes. She was killed by suspected ritualists. We think so because of the white rope tied around her leg.”

    Read Also;  Several persons abducted on Delta expressway

    Witnesses, however, claim that the corpse of the lady was found with bloodstains and with severe cuts in a shallow swamp along the road.

    They alleged that some of her vital organs were missing at the point of discovery.

    A source said, “The lifeless body was found Monday morning with blood all over her body seemingly stabbed to death by unknown persons.”

    Council boss of Sapele, Hon Eugene Inoaghan, had recently issued new modalities to hotel operators in the council to address the increasing killings in the area.

  • BBNaija: ‘I felt so much peace around Gedoni’ – Khafi

    Evicted Housemate, Khafi Kareem says she loves her partner Gedoni Ekpata and felt so much peace around him whilst in the BBNaija Reality show.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that actress and presenter said this in her first major interview with host, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu following her exit from the show.

    Khafi who spoke on the intensity of her relationship with Gedoni, reiterated that they never had sex in the house.

    “I felt such peace around him. I didn’t think I couldn’t be myself around him.

    “We did not have sex. You know sex is a natural thing. If I did, I would actually say that’s what happened.

    “I wouldn’t want to be given the penalisation or punishments for things I didn’t do,” she said.

    She said, “I just feel like in the house, everything is so intense so where you will get to in a relationship over three months seeing somebody and been on a date with them is like a week in the house.

    “The intensity seeing everybody when you wake up and when you go to sleep. I think it was after the eviction in the first week, after we were almost up that’s when our bond really grew.

    Read Also: #BBNaija: Khafi Kareem the ‘controversial’ constable and self-acclaimed ‘celibate’

    The bubbling personality also revealed plans to host a Nigerian tourism show as part of her post-BBNaija plans.

    When asked if she would fully concentrate on acting, Khafi said, “I love acting, I feel like it will be a given. I can do that with my eyes closed.

    “I definitely want to do presenting. I would like to have a travel show where I showcase different states in nigeria and just do some tourism stuff,” she said.

    Ebuka also asked Khafi how she maintained her bubbly demeanor when her eviction was announced. She noted that she felt grateful for the experience.

    She said, “I felt grateful. When my name was called, I would have been grateful to stay in the house.

    “When I was leaving, I was like it had been an amazing last week in the house and I felt grateful and now I can begin the rest of my life,” she said.

    On her relationship with fellow housemate Tacha, Khafi also described her relationship with Tacha as genuine, adding that they were naturally pulled towards each other.

    She said, “interestingly I want to be friends with the person I think has no friends or who felt alone.

    “I also felt alone in the house when I first came. We just gravitated to each other and we have been cool since the first week,” she said.

    The police officer also noted that Ike Oyeama, who nominated her for eviction, was playing the best game in the house.

    NAN reports that with Khafi’s eviction, there are ten housemates left to compete for the Grand prize worth 60 million Naira.

  • BREAKING: Many cows dead as lorry, passenger bus collide in Lagos

  • BREAKING: Many feared dead in Lagos-Ibadan crash

    Many passengers were dead on Tuesday as a bus crashed into a truck around the Foursquare camp axis inbound Lagos of Lagos/Ibadan Expressway before Fidiwo bridge.

    Details shortly…

  • 500 women screened for breast cancer in Ilorin

    Five hundred women have benefited from a free-breast-cancer screening in Ilorin, in order to curb its prevalence.

    The Medical Director of Lifefount Hospital, Ilorin, Dr. Yemisi Adeyeye, told reporters that there was the need for women to be aware of the existence of the disease at its early stage.

    She said this is because women are usually the most affected victims and their early awareness of its existence in their breasts will lead to a cancer-free society.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the three-day medical outreach was organised by the hospital in collaboration with the African Research Group for Oncology.

    Adeyeye advised women to always embark on self-breast examinations through frequent checks of their breasts for lumps and other strange features around their breasts.

    Read Also: Group launches silicon breast forms and mastectomy bras for breast cancer survivors

    She said: “Those who are still menstruating should also check their breasts between the seventh and 10th day after menstruation.

    ”This is because by that time, the breasts will not be as bulky as they used to be in the rest days of the month.

    “For women who are already in their menopausal years, they can choose a particular day of the month to always check their breasts.

    “Besides checking one’s breasts by oneself, they also should create time to visit the hospital.

    “This can be once in a year or once in six months for doctors to conduct clinical breast examinations for them; which is very good.’’

    The medical director advised women from 40 years and above to do mammography at least once in a year, while those below 40 years should do breast ultra sound.

    She said but for the free medial outreach, it would have cost each of the beneficiaries between N50,000 and N60,000 to do a breast-cancer screening.

  • #BBNaija: Khafi Kareem the ‘controversial’ constable and self-acclaimed ‘celibate’

    Prior to Big Brother Naija 2019 ‘Pepper Dem’ edition, ‘Khafi Kareem’, was just a regular UK policewoman with dreams and aspirations to make it big in her own way.

    Interestingly, for the first time in the history of the competition, Khafi Kareem was one of the twenty-one Big Brother Naija 2019 housemates. She however got evicted from the reality show on Sunday, September 15.

    Khafi is a native of Ekiti, Nigeria, but she lives in London. Khafi who is aged 29 years old, is also a Police Officer in London.

    Her exit is coming after spending a total of 77 days and eleven weeks in the house thus bringing an end to her journey in the race for the mouth-watering cash prize of N30 million and other rewards bringing the total prize N60 million.

    Upon her entry into the house, she had Nigerians talking on Twitter especially with her status as a constable with the Metropolitan police UK.

    A quick look at her lifestyle especially during the house sojourn reveals that she’s a lady full of energy and positive vibes. She’s of the opinion that ‘you can reach anything as long as you believe in yourself’. She likes public speaking, dancing and singing.

    Khafi dislikes people who also try to control her or block her self-expression.

    While in the house, Khafi won the Innoson vehicle valued at N3.85 million during a challenge, she also won 220,000 Scanfrost TV during the ‘Scanforst challenge’, Arla cooking challenge, a co-winner of the Indomie N1million challenge, a co-winner of the TravelBeta challenge under team Lagos that won N1million prize.

    Read Also: Inside the ‘risky’ life of Bobrisky

    Recently, she dominated the news, both local and international, for allegedly breaching the rules and regulations at her workplace.

    It was reported that the she might face disciplinary actions from her employers, MET Police for partaking in BBNaija.

    A report published by several UK news outlets noted that she was refused permission to appear on the show by her superiors.

    However, the reality star’s management said the reports were not only derogatory but sensational.

    The management claimed that the UK Sun failed to inquire or get her side of the story before publishing the article.

    One of the highlights of Big Brother Naija 2019 has been the relationship between Khafi and Gedoni.

    Gedoni and Khafi did not only cross the line but they did rub it in the faces of other housemates, night after night.

    Ekpata Gedoni is a fashion entrepreneur from Cross River.

    In the post-eviction interview, Khafi said she bonded with Gedoni in the first week because they were both up for eviction.

    She told Ebuka that she believes he loves her as much she loves him, adding that she was a forlorn lover when he was evicted.

    In what appeared to be a controversy, Gedoni and Khafi were first captured in a sex act in the house on Saturday, July 20, then again on Tuesday, July 23, and again on Monday, July 29.

    Khafi revealed to Gedoni that she abstained from sex for eight years, after she converted from Islam to Christianity.

    Khafi has however maintained that she did not have sex with Gedoni. She reiterated that she is still celibate and did not have sex on the show.

    On his part, Gedoni has repeatedly said that they did not have sex and the rumours were unfounded.

    When asked to address the sex rumours, Gedoni told show host, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu that he was unhappy that the rumour went viral and felt terrible about it.

    He added, “I think I will allow Khafi to ask whether we had sex or not. There were intense moments but sex, no.”

    He detailed the moment he felt sparks for the bubbly Khafi and stated that his feelings for her were real.

    However, Gedoni Ekpata has reassured fans that his relationship with his love interest/co-star, Khafi Kareem is beyond the show.

    Gedoni said that he would be open to date his co-star, Khafi after the ongoing Big Brother Naija season four ends.

    So perhaps, while we might have assumed — whether because of their few on-screen bedtime moments or their romantic displays — that Gedoni and Khafi had sex number of times, they are both responsible for their private affairs or their public display of love.

  • Assembly urges Ganduje to rescue communities from erosion

    Kano State House of Assembly has urged the government to rescue the residents of three communities in Ungoggo Local Government from erosion.

    The advice followed a motion yesterday by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member representing Ungoggo Constituency, Alhaji Aminu Sa’adu.

    He said the erosion, which affected Zangon Marikita, Gayawa and Dankunkuru communities, has destroyed houses, schools and business places.

    “It was necessary for me to call on the assembly to urge the government to rescue our communities because the situation caused by the erosion has crippled businesses, which is a great challenge to the economy,” he said.

    Read Also: Why I don’t have a cabinet yet – Ganduje

    Sa’adu said due to the collapse of some schools, as a result of the erosion, children in the affected areas cannot go to school, adding that “this is a threat to education in Kano.”

    “To tell you how serious the erosion affected the area, in a normal situation, from the Airport road it can take you only 10 minutes to get to these communities. But now it takes motorists not less than two hours before they get there.

    “The condition in which the residents live is bad,” he said.

    The session, presided over by Speaker Abdulazeez Garba-Gafasa, unanimously adopted the motion and urged the government to rescue the victims.

  • LADOL’s Lack of Commitment to Nigerian Economy

    Despite being the greatest beneficiary of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act of 2010, Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics (LADOL) has not made serious investment to develop local facilities and manpower for the benefit of the Nigerian economy.

    NOGICD Act makes it mandatory for foreign companies that win contracts in the industry to sub-contract  certain scopes of the works to Nigerian companies to boost the country’s economy.

    For instance, Saipem, a subsidiary of Italian oil giant, Eni, secured an engineering, procurement, commissioning and installation (EPCI) contract, worth about $3 billion, from Total Upstream Nigeria for the subsea development of the Egina oilfield.

    Some of the works were sub-contracted to indigenous companies.

    American oil services firm, FMC Technologies also awarded part of the Egina project to local companies.

    Truly Nigerian companies that worked as sub- contractors in these projects used the proceeds to develop their fabrication facilities to world standards so as to attract future projects and create job opportunities for Nigerians.

    Out of the many companies that participated in the Egina project in the name of local companies, LADOL was the greatest beneficiary.

    Apart from hosting the fabrication and integration yard in the LADOL Free Zone where the Egina Floating Production Storage Offloading (FPSO) unit was fabricated and integrated locally, LADOL also hosted the FPSO itself, which is the largest FPSO in the fleet of Total Group worldwide.

    By hosting the fabrication and integration yard in the free zone where the fabrication and integration works were carried out, LADOL also enjoyed significant revenues from the Egina project.

    When the FPSO arrived at the LADOL Free Zone in Lagos from South Korea, LADOL attracted the official visit of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

    The company made promises of future investments in the free zone before the vice president and also enjoyed major headlines in the media.

    Unfortunately, unlike the truly Nigerian companies that invested heavily in the development of their yards for future projects, LADOL cannot boast of employing more Nigerians since the FPSO sailed away.

    Rather, it devoted its resources to fight foreign companies that invested in the free zone, thereby hurting Nigerian economy.

    No wonder recent media reported have questioned its indigenous status.

    While Aveon Offshore, Doman Long Engineering, Nestoil, Niger Dock and other truly Nigerian companies that worked on the Egina project have re-invested their proceeds to create opportunities for the employment of Nigerian youths, LADOL can’t boast of such investments.

    Perhaps, the revenues the company generated from the project were repatriated to its foreign owners as being speculated by the industry stakeholders.

    LADOL was also privileged to be among the companies that used indigenous status to access the federal government’s Nigerian Content Intervention Fund but how the fund was utilised is known to only LADOL and its foreign promoters.

    Sadly, the company has refused to use the privileges it has enjoyed under the Nigerian Content Act to help create job opportunities for Nigerians by partnering foreign companies in a win-win situation.

    Indeed, only a foreign company like LADOL can make huge revenues from its operation in a local environment and refuse to give back to such local environment to boost the country’s economy.

    Instead, LADOL has been taking steps that will throw more Nigerians into the labour market by chasing away foreign companies and damaging Nigeria’s economy.

    While local companies are building alliances with foreign companies and investing heavily to take advantage of future opportunities, LADOL’s hostile attitude is chasing away foreign investors.

    Without foreign companies coming into Nigeria to help transfer technology and develop local capacity, it will be difficult for Nigerians to grow the capacity and skills to execute complex and challenging projects.

    Until the Nigerian government and its agencies take practical steps to identify the real and truly Nigerian companies, the country’s economy will continue to experience challenges.

    • Alabi, a local content advocate, writes from Warri, Delta State

  • Emir decries falling standard of education

    Emir of Lafia Justice Sidi Bage (retd) has expressed dismay over the falling standard of education.

    He said all hands should be on deck to improve it.

    Bage, Chairman, Nasarawa State Council of Chiefs, spoke when the management of National Teachers’ Institute (NTI), Nasarawa branch, visited him yesterday.

    The emir, represented by Madakin Lafia, Alhaji Isiaka Dauda, underscored the roles of the institute in training and retraining of teachers for the development of the country.

    “I want to commend you for the visit and to urge you to continue to discharge your duties without fear or favour.

    “The activities of your institute, which involve training and retraining of teachers, will restore the lost glory of education,” he said.

    Bage urged the management of the institute to work towards tackling the challenges facing education.

    He assured them of his emirate council support to enable them carry out their activities effectively.

    The first class traditional ruler enjoined his subjects and other Nigerians to live in peace and tolerate one another irrespective of their affiliation.

    Mr. Abubakar Audu, the state coordinator of the institute, said the visit was to seek royal blessing and inform him of the activities of the institute in the state.

    “Our mission is to train and retrain teachers to ensure that quality teachers are produced,” he said.

    Audu said the institute would maintain standard in order to produce qualified teachers.