Author: straightnewsng.com

By Akanimo Sampson Many federal ministries, departments and agencies under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration have been spending money in the last five years without recourse to the Appropriation Act. This is the worrisome revelation from the Senate Public Accounts Committee on queries raised against most agencies of the Federal Government. Apparently disturbed, the Senate Committee is therefore, launching a full scale probe into the Federation Account from 2015. The Committee Chairman, Senator Mathew Urhoghide, says “we have discovered that the ministries, departments and agencies of government spend money that was not appropriated.’’ According to Urhoghide, the National Assembly was yet to…

“The North has become a region of endless funerals and perpetual bereavement. Bandits in the North have become a state. They impose fines and taxes, send notices, control spaces, determine life and death and operate without challenge” – Senator Shehu Sani of Kaduna State, March 2020. I wish that historical Lord Lugard and the King or Queen of England who granted him the powers to rule and ruin our lives are alive today to behold the explosions being set off by the time bomb they planted in this part of Africa in 1914. History does not tell us its alternatives.…

By Akanimo Sampson Director of Technology and Logistics at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Shamika Sirimanne, says gender bias can be illustrated using a simple Google exercise. Type into Google Translate: She is a scientist. He is a nurse. “Translate it into a language that does not have gender pronouns, such as Georgian or Turkish. When it comes back in English, the result shown after automatic translation is: He is a scientist. She is a nurse. Just as the devil is in the detail, the bias is in the algorithm,’’ Shamika Sirimanne said. According to the 2015 UNESCO…

By Akanimo Sampson Rwanda has launched its Soil Information Service programme. The launching was done by the country’s Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources through the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resource Development Board (RAB) in collaboration with the IITA in Rwanda. The programme, which has a duration of two and half years, aims to develop fertilizer and lime recommendations for Rwandan crops, provide information on different types and occurrence of erosion, and design a functional and interactive National Soil Information Service to monitor changes in soil properties. RAB Deputy Director-General, Dr Charles Murekezi, says “mainly, as a government, we aim…

By Israel Umoh Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital in the South-South Region of Nigeria means different things to many people. It could mean the ecosystem of mango trees. To some historians, it can mean a voice laden in rulership and authority. But, it may sound strange to discover that Uyo shares a near-homophonous link with another place. In far away, Ikot Udo Obobo in Ukanafun local government area of Akwa Ibom is a place called Anwa Uyo, a family setting. Both share Uyo in common. The former is a cosmopolitan area while the latter is rural. Yet, Anwa Uyo said…

By Akanimo Sampson A rare outbreak of Pellagra, a disease triggered by Vitamin B3 deficiency, is sickening almost 4,000 people in Sofala, Mozambique, with the numbers increasing rapidly. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) says this is coming a year after Cyclone Idai devastated much of central Mozambique limited funding for essential reconstruction is preventing many of the hardest-hit people from getting back on their feet. WFP is, however, the world’s largest humanitarian organisation, saving lives in emergencies, building prosperity and supporting a sustainable future for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change. In the…

By Akanimo Sampson Like some of his peers, a 31-year-old from Bama, a village located about 350 kilometers southwest of Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso, did not have the opportunity to further his studies beyond primary education. As a result, Ouattara Siriki started helping out his father in the family plot in his teens. In Bama, most of the population is involved in subsistence farming. This village which is close to 5000 people has a tradition of cultivating rice, maize, millet, and rearing livestock. For decades, Siriki and his father used to obtain seeds from families and neighbours…

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday granted an interim order releasing the deposed Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi from detention. Justice Anwuli Chikere granted the order in line with the prayers on the exparte motion filed on behalf of the deposed Emir by Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, SAN. The judge also notes that the order for the release of the deposed monarch should be served on the respondents to the application. The respondents to the application marked FHC/ABJ/CS/357/2020 are the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Muhammed Adamu; the Director-General of the Department of State Service (DSS), Yusuf Bichi; the Attorney-General…

The dethroned Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi, has approached the Federal High Court in Abuja to enforce his fundamental rights. Sanusi, who was deposed as Emir by the Kano State government last Monday and forcefully taken to Awe in Nasarawa State where he has been on confinement, is seeking an interim order of the court directing his immediate release from detention. Mr Abubakar Balarabe-Mahmoud, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and leader of the team, at a news conference in Kano on Tuesday, threatened to sue the Kano State Government over what it called “illegal detention and banishment “ of…

By Akanimo Sampson The Green Chamber of the National Assembly has suspended legislative approval indefinitely, President Muhammadu Buhari’s request to take an external loan of $22.79 billion. This happens as the Red Chamber of the parliament on Wednesday proposed jail term for anybody who engages in the importation, sales and use of electricity generating sets in Nigeria. The Senate is proposing that anyone found guilty of the offence and upon conviction will be liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than ten years. This is the sanction provided in a fresh Bill introduced to the Senate with the aim of…