Author: straightnewsng.com

Two Nigerian Presidents who doubled as Ministers of Petroleum Resources have dilly dallied in the petroleum industry for years, Straightnews investigation has shown. Recall that General Olusegun Obasanjo was Nigeria’s head of state from 1976 to 1979, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari was the Federal Commissioner of Petroleum and Natural Resources for the same period. Olusegun Obasanjo, who was President from 1999 to 2007, made himself the Minister of Petroleum Resources but relinquished that position in January 2007. Similarly, President Buhari who started ruling the country from 2015 till date appointed himself as a Minister of Petroleum Resources, while Dr. Mikanti Baru…

More than 40 per cent of extremely poor people in the world will be living in Nigeria and DR Congo by 2050, a report by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has revealed. In the 2018 goalkeepers report released Tuesday, the foundation said by 2050, Nigeria out of a projected population of 429 million, will have 152 million people in extreme poverty. It blamed this on the lack of investment in human capital to correspond with the increasing population growth. Nigeria is currently the seventh most populous country in the world with an estimated population of 198 million people. The annual…

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, Tuesday formally signed the instrument for the sale of 21 percent of the federal government’s interest in the Nigeria Security Printing and Minting Company, NSPMC. The instrument, which was signed by Godwin Emefiele, the CBN governor and Alex Okoh, the Director-General of the BPE, transferred 12.69 billion federal government’s interest in the NSPMC to the Central Bank of Nigeria. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who is the Chairman of the National Council on Privatization, NCP, said the whole idea behind divesting 21 percent…

An Italian priest was kidnapped, Monday, in south Niger, near the border with Burkina Faso, the second abduction of a European in the West African country this year. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the kidnapping, which was confirmed on Tuesday by the Nigerian and Italian governments. West African states have been struggling to gain the upper hand over jihadist groups, including some affiliated with al Qaeda and Islamic State, which are active along Niger’s porous borders with both Mali and Burkina Faso. The kidnapping took place in the village of Bomanga, in the southern Makalondi district, about…

The trade war between the United States and China again escalated Tuesday, as Beijing announced 10 percent tariffs on $60 billion in U.S. imports. This comes one day after President Donald Trump announced a 10 percent tariff on $200 billion in Chinese imports starting next week. The U.S. administration said the tariffs will rise to 25 percent in January. Trump reacted on Twitter, promising “great and fast economic retaliation against China if our farmers, ranchers and/or industrial workers are targeted.” Trump added that many of those workers back his presidency, saying the Chinese tariffs are an attempt to influence U.S.…

A Magistrates’ Court in Minna on Tuesday ordered the remand of one Ade Ilesanmi in prison for allegedly causing the death of his wife. Ilesanmi had pleaded not guilty to a count of culpable homicide, contrary to Section 221 of the Penal Code. The Prosecutor, Sergeant Aliyu Malami, had told the court that one Blessing Kunle reported the matter at the A Division Police station in Suleja. Malami said that the accused hit his wife, Patience, with his fist over a minor misunderstanding on August 31 at 9:30 p.m. He said that the blow caused blood…

Elder statesman, Tanko Yakasai, has challenged the agitators of restructuring to tell Nigerians its real meaning. There has been an ongoing debate on the issue of restructuring the country, with some of its proponents expressing different views on what it entails. Speaking at a public lecture organised by Africa Research and Development Agency, ARADA, in Kano on Sunday, Yakassai said “It is upon those who are agitating for restructuring to tell Nigerians the real meaning of restructuring. For example, how will Nigeria look like after restructuring? What is your fate? “If restructuring means constitutional amendments, there is…

The emergence of Senate President Bukola Saraki and his predecessor, Senator David Mark, in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential primaries contest has reshaped the permutations on the ticket as their separate bids cause divisions in their strongholds in the National Assembly and North Central geo-political zone. The campaign of the third aspirant from the North-Central, Senator Jonah Jang, who is also a serving senator, has, however, failed to pick momentum. Senator Rabiu Kwankwanso from Kano State is the fourth member of the National Assembly involved in the PDP presidential contest, but he is from the North West…

Ahead of October 6 Presidential convention of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, slated for Port Harcourt, some aspirants are not comfortable with the use of the Rivers state capital for the all-important event. The aspirants, Vanguard gathered, are demanding an alternative venue. It would be recalled that last Thursday, when the PDP governors and the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party held a meeting with the aspirants, the governors had picked Port Harcourt, ditching  Enugu and Akwa Ibom, on the excuse that Port Harcourt had more hotel space than the two states. In that meeting held at Ekiti State Governor’s Lodge,…

The Islamic State West Africa Province, ISWAP, a faction of Boko Haram has killed one of the three humanitarian workers abducted in Rann, Kala Balge local government area of Borno State. The victim- Saifura Ahmed- was abducted alongside Leman and Alice Ngaddah, a mother of two, who are the ones in captivity among the three people abducted in Rann during a raid on a military facility in the area on March 1. In a video seen by TheCable, the deceased was wearing a white hijab. She was shot from behind. At least four soldiers, policemen and three humanitarian workers were killed in…