The high-yielding material benefits accruing to insurgents and kidnappers from their dreaded activities in Nigeria in the last decade acan no longer be seen as stand-alone issues. They have so much infected other people in different activity areas that almost everyone has since developed the tendency to take advantage of every and any opportunity to profiteer. No wonder, one popular cleric once concluded that based on the huge ransom which its practitioners are accumulating, kidnapping could be regarded as a lucrative commercial activity. On their part, expert oil thieves have been allegedly busy devising new methods to ward-off government’s arrangements…
Author: TheStories
Delegates of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) gathered on Sunday to choose a new party leader, pitting President Cyril Ramaphosa against former health minister Zweli Mkhize. The winner, who will run for president under the ANC banner in elections in 2024, has been more or less guaranteed to become president in the three decades since Nelson Mandela ended white minority rule in the country. But this is no longer a certainty as the ANC’s popularity has waned over that period and the party faces the possibility of losing its majority for the first time. More than 4,400 delegates…
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has presented relief materials to 4,215 flood victims in three local government areas of Kano state. Mustafa Habib, the Director-General, NEMA, said this at the distribution of the materials to the beneficiaries on Sunday in Warawa, Dawakin Kudu LGA of the state. Habib, represented by NEMA Coordinator Kano Territorial Office, Dr Nuradeen Abdullahi said the items were meant to alleviate the suffering of the victims. He advised residents to adhere to the yearly precautions by the Nigeria Metrological Agency (NiMet) on flooding to prevent future flooding. Habib urged the beneficiaries to ensure judicious use…
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has warned corps members willing to participate in the 2023 general elections to be neutral and apolitical. Mrs Christy Uba, the acting Director General of NYSC, said this while addressing corps members at the Mbaukwu/Umuawulu Permanent Orientation camp, Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra on Saturday. Uba witnessed the cultural carnival of the scheme organised for members of 2023 Batch C in Anambra. The Ag DG said election duty was voluntary for corps members and those who wished to take part must eschew all forms of malpractice that could undermine the integrity of…
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says it plans to transform the future of public health by targeting three billion people by 2023. Dr Mie Okamura of the Emergency Preparedness and Response, WHO, said this in Abuja on Saturday during the “Walk The Talk’’ peace awareness exercise. Okamura said the WHO Walk The Talk was part of awareness creation on Non-Communicable Disease (NCDs) and to promote exercise. According to her, NCDs include heart disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes. “This is what we call walk the talk, which is being done every week to sensitise the population and communities to…
By Justina Auta The National Centre for Women Development (NCWD) solicits funds to establish a multipurpose technical workshop and a vocational training block to empower more women as it marks its 30th anniversary. The centre is a Federal Government institution conceived by Mrs Maryam Babangida, wife of former Military Head of State, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida. Established in 1992, the centre is modeled after the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW). At the unveiling of the new logo for the centre on Saturday in Abuja, the Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Pauline Tallen extolled…
“Yesterday, they killed one army man and kidnapped some men which they also killed. They showed us human heads, that if we tell the government anything about this place, they are going to cut off our heads. They beat us, they even roast human beings. They are many, I can not even count, both boys, girls, ladies and kids, I cannot even explain” By Bernice Eke Horrible insecurity happening in the camp of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its militia group, Eastern Security Network (ESN), where human bodies were roasted and used to make soup in Udah,…
Nigerians lined up to withdraw cash on the first day that new 200, 500 and 1,000 naira notes starting circulating, but they were in short supply as most of the money handed out remained in old bills that are being phased out, customers said. Nigeria’s central bank started circulating the redesigned higher-denomination notes on Thursday under a plan to curb double-digit inflation and move towards a cashless economy. “A few (notes) came into the bank so we are going to be giving out … just a few too,” one cashier told Reuters. The equivalent old notes cease to be legal…
More than a thousand people joined a demonstration in a suburb of Liberia’s capital on Saturday, protesting over economic hardships and President George Weah’s prolonged absence from the country. Large protests have taken place sporadically during Weah’s five years in office, but anger over his government’s management of the economy has grown as Liberians grapple with rising food and fuel prices linked to the Ukraine war and fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Saturday’s rally in Monrovia’s Paynesville district was organized by a coalition of Liberia’s four largest opposition parties, but internal disputes led all but one, the Alternative National Congress…
In an effort to develop a consensus on Africa’s oil and gas resources at the conference, Al Ghais also led the OPEC-Africa Dialogue Session featuring both African OPEC and non-OPEC member countries This past October, the African Energy Chamber presented African Energy Week 2022, a multi-venue event that opened with a keynote address by OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais of Kuwait. He demonstrated a strong understanding of, and concern about, Africa’s widespread energy poverty and the continent’s great need to continue harnessing its oil and gas resources while supporting global efforts to address climate change. “Energy, like education and…