Author: straightnewsng.com

Transparency International, anti-corruption group, said Monday that the government has in the run-up to elections, expanded the use of opaque $670 million-a-year funds that fuel graft. The funds, known as “security votes”, are a relic of military rule, mainly disbursed in hard cash and nominally released for dealing with unexpected security issues. They come from both federal and state governments, although the vast majority is disbursed under the latter. According to Transparency International’s report, they have become “synonymous with official corruption and abuse of power.” The watchdog’s report comes as President Muhammadu Buhari is gearing up to run for a…

Withhold not discipline from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall die admonished by the Holy Book if not obeyed by parents in child upbringing is said to attract shame and embarrassment to the family and the society, declared a clergyman. Speaking during this year’s Children’s Day celebrations, Pastor Sam Etok observed that inability by many parents in the society to instill discipline in their children through corporal punishment has compelled them to wrong doings. Etok preaching a sermon at Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, South South 33 Region, Uyo on Sunday decried the…

Analysts and callers on a privately owned radio station in Uyo, Monday, have unanimously raised alarm: Declare state of emergency on public primary and secondary schools in Akwa Ibom State said to be in deplorable conditions to forstall dwindling standard of education. The alarm came against the background of various publications based on thorough investigations by Premium Times, online newspapers further collaborated by Uyo-based Radar newspapers that the schools were stinking in terms of infrastructural facilities coupled with dearth of committed teachers due to lack of motivation. Of course, the analysts were not oblivious of the fact that most of…

In a bid to address the increased demand for dollars which led to N2 depreciation of the naira in the parallel market last week, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Sunday, increased dollar sales to bureaux de change, BDCs, by 50 percent, saying it was compulsory that each BDCs purchased $60,000 per week. The apex bank also directed banks to begin to sell dollars across the counter to all travellers with valid documents, both customers and non customers. Meanwhile, the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators (ABCON) has kicked against the CBN order, describing it as ‘unfair.’ The directives of…

Ahead of the 2019 general elections, Akwa Ibom Governor, Udom Emmanuel, has cautioned aspiring political office seekers and their supporters in the state against arming youths to disrupt elections. Emmanuel gave the warning Sunday during an inter-denominational thanksgiving service that marked the 2018 Democracy Day and the third year anniversary of his administration, at the Uyo Township Stadium, Uyo. The Governor, who took Bible readings from Proverbs 2: 5, Isaiah 20:27 and Psalms 18: 28, remarked that state has enjoyed relative peace in the last three years, observed that it would be unpatriotic for individuals to attempt to create anarchy…

As part of the on-going dialogue and consultations between the All Progressives Congress, APC, and members of the aggrieved new People’s Democratic Party, nPDP, led by Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, the group will Monday meet with the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, to further chat a way forward. The outcome of the meetings with the Vice president and President Muhammad Buhari will determine whether members of the aggrieved nPDP in the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, will still stay in the party or consider other alternatives. The meeting as scheduled will later take in the office of the President, Muhammadu Buhari…

Aliko Dangote, President of Dangote Group, weekend, parodied Nigeria for wasting much foreign exchange in importing foods that ordinarily would have been produced locally and exported. Dangote, who spoke in an interview with newsmen in Lagos, at the Dangote Cement Plc, said until a new approach at redirecting the economy from import dependent to an export one, which the present government was leading, no meaningful changes could happen. He said it was because of his belief in government’s approach at re-energising the economy and make it export-oriented, that made him step up his investment in agriculture, especially with regards to…

More than 8.2 million children in 24 states of the federation are being offered free meals daily, President Muhammadu Buhari has said. Buhari, who stated this in his Children’s Day celebration message Sunday, said 45,000 schools have benefited from the programme across the country. He also noted that since inception of his administration in May 2015, attention had been given to issues of child protection, participation and survival. The President said the campaign to end violence against children was launched in 2015 and commemorated in 2016. According to the President, November 2016 also saw the launch of campaign to end child…

Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Sunday urged Nigerian children to believe in the possibility of a great and prosperous Nigeria. Atiku, who felicitated Nigerian children on the occasion of the 2018 National Children’s Day, hoped to clinch the ticket of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to vie for the office of the President, in 2019 general elections, assuring the kids of his readiness to invest massively in the education sector if voted into power. In a status update on his Facebook wall, the Wazirin Adamawa wrote: “Let us all sustain the hope that in our time, Nigeria can become truly…

The All Progressives Congress, APC, has asked the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to stop whining about imaginary attempts to clampdown on the opposition in the lead up to the 2019 general elections, saying after years of suicidal gluttony, the PDP has ignored ongoing efforts at clearing the mess it created. APC was reacting to allegations by the PDP which accused it of, among others, corruption, sectionalism and opposition clampdown, ahead of the 2019 elections. Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, National Publicity Secretary of the APC, in a statement in Abuja Saturday, said the party was increasingly baffled by PDP’s new found proclivity…