Author: straightnewsng.com

Akwa Ibom Government and Joint Health Sector Union State, Akwa Ibom chapter are brandishing swords on one another following the ongoing strike by the union and threat by the government to sack the striking workers. JOHESU had given the state government a 15 day-ultimatum from Monday, June 15, 2020, to accede to their demands, failure which an indefinite industrial action would commence on Tuesday, June 30. Among the demands by JOHESU include the non-implementation of the already agreed 80% of the National Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS), and a review of the hazard allowance to the minimum of 50% of…

Nigeria has reported 643 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 34,259. This is according to the latest figures released on Wednesday night in a tweet by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). The new cases were recorded in 18 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Lagos State maintained its lead position with 230 new infections, followed by Oyo – 69, while the FCT recorded 51 cases. The remaining 16 states with new infections are Edo – 43, Osun – 35, Rivers and Ebonyi each having 30 cases, Kaduna – 28,…

A total of 5,478 Akwa Ibom youths from the 31 local government areas in the state have benefitted from Governor Udom Emmanuel’s Skills development and youth empowerment programme in the past 18 months. The youths were trained in ICT, Oil and Gas, Welding and Fabrication, Fashion design, among others. Speaking on Wednesday on Inspiration FM, Uyo as part of activities to mark World Youths Skills Day, 2020, Mrs. Alice Ekpenyong, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Skills Development, stated that the Governor has demonstrated commitment to ensuring Akwa Ibom youths are economically independent through skills and entrepreneurship development.…

More airports across the country have resumed flight operations after about three months of shutdown following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the resumption schedule from the Ministry of Aviation, the airports in Akwa Ibom, Edo, Kwara, and Kaduna, among others reopened on Wednesday. Last week, flight operations resumed at the airports in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt, and Maiduguri and Owerri airports. Ibom Air is one of the luckiest airlines to have been given a clean bill of health to resume and the airline kissed Victor Attah International Airport, Uyo on Wednesday, July 15 after several months.…

The Senate on Tuesday passed a bill prescribing life jail for persons found guilty of kidnapping. The life imprisonment is against the provisions of section 364 of the Act, which proffer the punishment of imprisonment for a term of 10 years, where the offence of kidnapping is established. The new Bill as passed by the Senate has now approved the deletion of the limitation period for the prosecution of defilement which indicates that anyone who commits rape can be prosecuted, anytime the matter is filed. The bill which was read the third time and passed further prescribed that there should…

Hunger and malnourishment are increasing around the world as the coronavirus crisis pushes more people into poverty and limits access to healthy diets, according to the United Nations. Almost 690 million people were undernourished last year, the most since 2009, and the pandemic could tip as many as 132 million people into chronic hunger by the end of this year, the UN said in a report. At the same time, obesity has been on the rise as healthy foods remain out of reach for billions of people, a problem that will be compounded by the economic fallout from the virus.…

The deplorable East-West Road spanning across about four states is to be completed by Niger Dleta Development Commission (NDDC) before December this year, Senator Godswill Akpabio has said. The road whose contract was awarded more than 18 years ago was abandoned by successive administrations, leading to involvement of road users and pedestrians in auto crash and other forms of accident. Akpabio who spoke with Premium Times correspondent on Monday in an interview said “I will like to see bridges sprout in the Niger Delta region. I will like to see regional projects, like Warri-Sapele Road completely dualized; completion of the…

Federal Government is said to be paying salaries to workers of moribund refineries in the country for the past three years now. The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva told Arise TV on Monday in an interview that the staffers are still collecting their salaries, though the refineries are not functioning. Sylva said that the government is also promoting the workers for the three years now. He blamed the unions for supporting what he saw as abnormal, particularly encouraging payment of salaries to workers of the non-functional refineries. The Minister, therefore, advocated the privatisation of refineries to make…

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the appeal filed by a governorship aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party in Bayelsa State, Timi Alaibe, challenging the emergence of Governor Duoye Diri as the party’s candidate in the last year’s election. A five-man panel of the apex court led by Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour dismissed the appeal. Alaibe’s lawyer, Chief Ifedayo Adedipe, withdrew the appeal after the panel members pointed his attention to the fact that the issues raised in the appeal were not about the primary election but about an internal affair of the party. Alaibe, who had lost…

The COVID-19 cases in Nigeria have exceeded 33,000 following the confirmation of 595 new infections in the country. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) stated this on Monday night. According to the agency, the new infections were recorded in 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Lagos maintained the lead position with a total of 156 new infections, followed by Oyo with 141 and the FCT with 99 new cases. Other states with registered cases include Edo – 47, Kaduna – 27, Ondo – 22, Rivers – 20, Osun – 17, Imo – 13, and Plateau – 10.…