Arts

1,144 athletes set for Bayelsa Sports Festival

1,144 athletes set for Bayelsa Sports Festival

Athletes numbering 1,144 will jostle for glory in the maiden edition of the Bayelsa Sports Festival tagged “Access Bank Prosperity Games” and scheduled for March 26 to April 1. The state’s Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Daniel Igali, stated this while addressing newsmen in Yenagoa on Wednesday. Igali said hosting the festival became necessary due to the exploits recorded and the global attention the state has received in the last three years. He attributed the positive publicity sports had attracted to the state government to the governor’s commitment to sports development. The festival would feature 14 events The commissioner…
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Nigeria | Death by  tax collector

Nigeria | Death by tax collector

Theophilus Abbah At 2 AM on March 28th 2022 Olanrewaju Suraju, the head of the Human and Environmental Development Agency (HEDA), was asleep beside his wife in their bedroom in Abuja when they suddenly found themselves under attack by men who had broken into the house. The men, who made off with laptops, mobile phones, and cash, could have been mistaken for ordinary criminals were it not for the fact that they mysteriously told the couple that they were ‘acting on information and instruction.’ Nigerian burglars recently appear to have developed a taste for targeting social justice activists. Houses are…
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Cry Freedom

Cry Freedom

Repression and resistance: how a new generation challenges African autocrats and their international allies A transnational investigation by Ngina Kirori, Emmanuel Mutaizibwa, Chief Bisong Etahoben, Elizabeth BanyiTabi, Theophilus Abbah and Brezh Malaba ‘It’s your man who did this!’ shouts a woman at a village meeting in Nakuru County, Kenya. She is filmed by Kenyan journalists as she points at another woman, a supporter of a powerful local politician known for associating with gangsters.In the run-up to the Kenyan elections of August 2022, five women in this area were raped and murdered and their bodies set alight. According to the Kenyan…
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FactCheck: Picture of Nollywood actor, Osita Iheme, doctored to imply support for IPOB

FactCheck: Picture of Nollywood actor, Osita Iheme, doctored to imply support for IPOB

By: Stephanie Adams-Douglas Claim: A user on Twitter shared a picture of Nollywood actor, Osita Iheme, dressed in the colours of the Biafran flag to show support for the secessionist group. Verdict:  The photo of Mr Iheme adorned in the Biafran flag is photoshopped to suit the narrative. Full Text Twitter user, Chris Ososa Asuelime (@OsosaChris), alleges popular Nollywood actor, Osita Iheme also known as “Paw-Paw,” has shown his support for the separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). Biafra is a state conveived by secessionists in Southeast Nigeria after some Igbo military leaders unilaterally declared their independence from…
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Data shows Nigerian youths could determine outcome 2023 elections

Data shows Nigerian youths could determine outcome 2023 elections

By Daniel Adaji On the average, the number of youths with PVCs is 40 million, a figure that is higher than the number of votes cast in any of the presidential elections since 1999.   If the majority of Nigerian youths who are registered voters would march to their polling units to cast their votes in the 2023 elections, they could determine the leadership of the country at all levels, based on available data on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC’s) website. According to INEC data the voting population before the 2019 elections was over 84 million Nigerians registered of…
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Buhari: Nobody can blackmail me on illicit enrichment, vows to serve God, Nigeria until last day in office

Buhari: Nobody can blackmail me on illicit enrichment, vows to serve God, Nigeria until last day in office

  President Muhammadu Buhari says nobody can blackmail him on inexplicable wealth and illicit enrichment while in office, saying ‘‘I do not have one square-inch outside Nigeria.’’ Speaking at a State banquet, Monday night, organised in his honour in Damaturu, the Yobe State capital, the President restated his vow to serve God and Nigeria until his last day in office and beyond. I do not have one square-inch outside Nigeria He advised Nigerians to remain patriotic, saying ‘‘as I said more than 30 years ago, we have no other country than Nigeria, we must all stay here and salvage it…
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Nigeria faces rice scarcity in 2023, but…

Nigeria faces rice scarcity in 2023, but…

By Daniel Adaji Key Points Floods ravaged rice-producing belts in Nigeria in 2022 Historically, there is always rice scarcity after every flood in Nigeria Prices of locally-produced rice will increase in 2023 due to scarcity Rice farmers have not received support from government to enable them recover from the losses An institute in Niger State has come up with a variety of rice that could help. The variety does not require much water to produce. Mr. Yakubu Mutah is a Chibok based farmer with more than five hectares of rice farm in Borno State. He has been farming for over…
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FG condemns kidnapping of train passengers in Edo

FG condemns kidnapping of train passengers in Edo

By Lucy Ogalue The Federal Government has described the kidnapping of train passengers at Tom Ikimi Train Station, Igueben in Edo as despicable and utterly barbaric. The Director of Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Transportation, Mr Henshaw Ogubike, said this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja. “The Public is hereby reassured that the security agencies are making efforts to rescue the kidnapped train passengers. The Nigeria Police is on the trail of the criminals “The Nigeria Police is on the trail of the criminals and have mobilised with a view to protecting the lives and property of the…
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2023: How to read Obasanjo’s momentous letter to youth

2023: How to read Obasanjo’s momentous letter to youth

Players in the 2023 political game are agitated at former President Obasanjo’s New Year letter to youths, but multiple data prove  that Obasanjo was nationalistic by writing it. By Theophilus Abbah, PhD Key points: Media focus contributed to the misreading of Obasanjo’s letter to youth Youths, who constitute to highest voting population, suffer from bad leadership in Nigeria Buhari, el-Rufai had argued previously that younger persons make better political leaders All over the world, younger persons, in their 30s and 40s, are national leaders Candidates in the 2023 polls are not coming up with new and creative ideas to tackle…
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President Buhari signs 2023 budget says adequate provisions made for 2023 election

President Buhari signs 2023 budget says adequate provisions made for 2023 election

By Daniel Adaji President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday in Abuja signed the 2023 Budget of N21.83 trillion along with the 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Bill into law. Speaking at the signing of the eighth and final annual budget of this Administration, the President said the aggregate expenditures of N21.83 trillion, is an increase of N1.32 trillion over the initial Executive Proposal for a total expenditure of N20.51 trillion. The President explained that the 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Act would enable the administration to respond to the havoc caused by the recent nationwide floods on infrastructure and agriculture sectors. As is customary, he…
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My appeal to all Nigerians particularly young Nigerians- Obasanjo

My appeal to all Nigerians particularly young Nigerians- Obasanjo

  By OLUSEGUN OBASANJO Dear Compatriots and Friends, Happy New Year! May all our national calamities disappear this year. I am constrained to write this letter to all Nigerians especially young Nigerians, friends of Nigeria globally as well as our development partners because of the gravity, responsibility and implications of the collective decision Nigerians, both young and old, will be making within the next two months. The last seven and a half years have no doubt been eventful and stressful years for many Nigerians. We have moved from frying pan to fire and from mountain top to the valley. Our…
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Saraki’s courageous leadership made 8th Assembly most productive- Dogara

Saraki’s courageous leadership made 8th Assembly most productive- Dogara

Former Senate President Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, demonstrated great leadership and courage which resulted in the unprecedented performance of the 8th Assembly, Hon Yakubu Dogara, the immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives, has said. In a message celebrating Saraki on the occasion of his 60th birthday anniversary, Hon Dogara commended  Saraki's partnership in steering the affairs of the 8th Assembly saying, " Yours have been 60 years of meritorious service to our fatherland as examplified by your consistent display of unwavering commitment to the unity, peace and progress of Nigeria and particularly, the independence of the legislature. "In…
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