The Green Chamber of the National Assembly wants the Federal Government to issue a directive to religious houses to stop open worship for now because of the ravaging coronavirus pandemic. This is coming as Abuja has restricted entry into Nigeria for travellers from the following high incidence countries; China, Italy, Iran, Norway, South Korea, Spain, Japan, France, Germany, United States of America, United Kingdom, Netherlands & Switzerland. This is with effect from Saturday, March 21, 2020 for an initial period of four weeks. These are countries with over 1,000 cases domestically. The Federal Government has also suspended the issuance of…
The Nigeria Police Force might be unbundled in a bid to enhance the efficiency of the law enforcement agency. The Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on Security Challenges is already pressing for its decentralisation as a way of addressing the problem of insecurity bedevilling the country. The Red Chamber of the National Assembly will be recommending to the Executive arm of government that the Police command structure be decentralised with operational and budgetary powers vested in the zonal commands. This is part of the recommendations of the Senate committee report. It also recommends that all Joint operations be carried out strictly in…
All top players of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), President Muhammadu Buhari’s party who allegedly subverted the controversial 2019 elections by acts of violence, intimidation, or corruption have been barred from entering the United States of America. The US on Tuesday announced the imposition of visa restrictions on Nigerian politicians who were allegedly responsible for undermining the democratic process during the elections. This implies that Washington DC has declared those implicated, some of them top functionaries of the Buhari administration, personae non gratae. This is the plural of the Latin term, Persona non grata. It literally means an unwelcome…
A growing number of institutional investors are holding off from making investments in coal-burning power plants since coal emits more global-warming carbon dioxide than natural gas. Amid a strengthening movement to replace it as a power source, there is a research that aims to enhance coal’s appeal by reducing its impact on the environment. The Japan Coal Energy Center (JCOAL) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with parties including the American state of Wyoming and Columbia University. The project was reportedly mentioned during the summit between US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Group of…
Burdened by the worsening migrants and refugees’ crises, two top agencies of the United Nations- the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)- have tasked nations of the world to urgently address why people migrate. IOM had last week reported the death of 683 migrants on the three main Mediterranean Sea routes through 199 days of this year which represented 47 per cent of the total (1,449 deaths) confirmed during the same period in 2018. It also reported that 34,226 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea through July 17, roughly a 34 per cent decrease from the 51,782…
As tensions between the United States and Iran continue to rise, the oil market keeps struggling to sustain a rally despite supply restrictions that generally would be considered bullish. This is largely because US sanctions on Venezuela and Iran have removed more than 1.5 million barrels of daily supply from the market, and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has extended a supply-cut deal into 2020. Consequently, in recent days, sentiment in the oil market has shifted dramatically with hedge funds, producers and traders all taking a more bearish tack in response to what they see as weakness in…
There is a worrisome mass internal displacement throughout Ethiopia due to consecutive years of drought and conflict which have currently left nine million people in need of humanitarian assistance and protection. A United Nations agency, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) is already appealing to the international community for $50 million to continue offering lifesaving assistance to 1.5 million people in need. The request by IOM is part of the comprehensive inter-agency 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Ethiopia, which aims to raise $1.3 billion to support around nine million people. Half-way through the year, less than one-third of the HRP has been…
More than 3000 fleeing herdsmen from Taraba State are currently taking refuge in Obanliku local government area of Cross River State. The local government area was, however, created by the Ibrahim Babangida military regime on August 27, 1991. Its headquarters is located at Sankwala. Obanliku is located in the Northern Senatorial District of Cross River. It is both an inter-state and international boundary area. It is bounded in the North by Kwanda local government area of Benue State, in the East by the Republic of Cameroon, the West by Obudu local government area and in the South by Boki local…
The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has advised the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), President Muhammadu Buhari’s party, to seek restitution for the misery it has caused Nigeria instead of always looking for scapegoats where none exists. Nigerians, according to the PDP, are saddened that ‘’The incompetent, divisive, vindictive and deceitful APC’’ has allegedly reversed all the gains achieved by the PDP in a space of four years, arguing that if anything, “the APC has only succeeded in bringing economic misery, escalated insecurity, piling foreign debts, dilapidated infrastructure and despondency in our country.’’ PDP took on the APC as a report…
The most thorough state-of-the-planet study ever done recently warned that a million species are at risk of extinction due to human activity and called for urgent action to address the crisis. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is responding to the crisis through her BioTrade programme and recently partnered with the Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT) to get more companies to adopt practices that benefit the planet’s plants and animals as much as its people. The UN agency and a nonprofit association have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on May 7, at the United Nations European…
