Author: straightnewsng.com

By: Israel Umoh His first name- Adams- resonates in the labour and political circles. But in the ecumenical circle, Eric meaning a brave ruler, autocrat, ever-powerful is being esteemed by the Muslim-turned Christian. Yet, Eric of Germanic origin appears like a talisman that elicits courage and obstinacy in him to dare the highs and the lows in the society to being loved by some and hated by others. What a name! Adams Oshiomhole, the National Chairman of All Progressives Congress, is a firebrand trade unionist and a daring politician. When he worked with the Arewa Textiles Company, he contested and…

By Akanimo Sampson Access to Libyan markets has practically disappeared for Chadians in Bourkou region, resulting in a scarcity of food and other essentials like fuel, and inflated prices leaving many local people struggling to meet their daily needs. This was once a booming northern border town, supporting thousands of Chadians and Libyans who came to trade, barter or sell their wares. But with the closing of Chad’s border with Libya last March, the boom has turned to a bust. And all the while, vulnerable migrants stranded in Libya, including survivors of human trafficking in urgent need of assistance, continue to…

By Akanimo Sampson Some aggrieved players of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), President Muhammadu Buhari’s party, have started firing at the national secretariat of the party in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, pressing for the removal of Adams Oshiomhole, as their national chairman. Oshiomhole, a former Governor of Edo State and an ex-labour leader does not seem to be finding politics easy as the APC big boss. Protesters on Monday stormed the party’s secretariat, demanding his sack in a bid to save the party from continued failure. They said his continued stay in office will bring misfortune to the party, adding…

By Akanimo Sampson Djibouti has exceeded the global average of 28 per cent on the infusion of young members of parliament into the National Assembly. 2018 elections in the country brought an infusion of young legislators into the National Assembly with 32 per cent of the new House under 45 years of age. To help the young parliamentarians, as well as encourage more young people to enter politics, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) last January organised a two-day workshop in partnership with the National Assembly. The workshop was designed to develop the leadership and communications skills of the young national lawmakers…

With effect from April 1, electricity consumers in the country will have to pay through their noses following a directive by the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) for electricity distribution companies to increase their tariffs billing by 50 percent. The directive is in flagrant disregard to the order by the House of Representatives which on January 14, 2020 ordered NERC to suspend the purported tariffs’ increase. Ikeja Electric (IE) Plc, which made this disclosure in its memo to the commission, noted that the directive is “in order to meet the tariff shortfall funding target from 2020 by the Federal Government…

By Akanimo Sampson Last year, 11,500 people on average, boarded vessels each month from the Horn of Africa to Yemen, making it the busiest maritime migration route on earth. Data collected by the International Organisation for Migration’s (IOM) Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) shows that over 138,000 people crossed the Gulf of Aden to Yemen in 2019. More than 110,000 migrants and refugees crossed the Mediterranean to Europe during the same period. This is the second year in a row that the so-called Eastern Route has reported more crossings than the Mediterranean. In 2018, roughly 150,000 people made the journey. Nearly 90 per…

By Akanimo Sampson Sub-zero temperatures and increased snowfall are currently exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in northwest Syria where more than 250,000 people have been displaced in the past few days and forcing over 80,000 to sleep under trees. According to the United Nations, more than 830,000 people have been displaced in the region in the last two months and more than 1.2 million since April 2019. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) is extremely concerned about this rapid and ongoing rise in displacement which continues to rise in the tens of thousands every day, particularly as conflict spreads northward to highly populated urban…

By Akanimo Sampson Going by data from the Advisory Power Team (APT) in the Office of the Vice President of Nigeria, the country’s epileptic power sector lost around N19.15 billion in just 10 days, due to constraints from insufficient gas supply, distribution and transmission infrastructure. The obviously huge losses were recorded in the 10 days to this February 14. On Friday, Valentine’s Day (February 14) the sector lost an estimated N1.96 billion; it lost N2.01 billion on February 13; N2.00 billion on February 12; N1.95 billion in February 11; N2.15 billion on February 10, and N1.95 billion on February 9.…

By Akanimo Sampson In the spirit of this year’s Valentine’s Day which was celebrated globally on Friday, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is calling on the world to prioritise ending child marriage. Around the world, Valentine’s Day is celebrated as a time of joy and romance. Yet for millions, fairy tales of love and marriage are just that – fiction. Hundreds of millions of women and girls alive today were married off while still children. Many were exposed to violence, forced from school and pushed into premature parenthood. Child marriage is a tragedy for the individuals it ensnares – often…

By Akanimo Sampson Cameroonian refugees have begun moving to border communities in Cross River and Taraba States of Nigeria as destitute and are eking out a living in low-wage jobs. According to a previous statement by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), they are crossing the border into the two states, thus bringing the number of refugees to around 100,000. In the last two weeks, some 8,000 people have fled into Nigeria from Cameroon to escape clashes between the armed security forces and armed separatists in the latter country, the UN refugee agency said on Thursday. While fighting…