Author: straightnewsng.com

A popular social media critic, Femi Fani-Kayode has dismissed as fake news purporting that he has defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC. A former Aviation Minister and the then director of Media and Publicity, Goodluck Jonathan’s Campaign Organization, in 2015, criticised the purveyors of the news, noting that he would rather die than join the party. Recall that Femi had in May 2013 dumped the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and defected to APC, a party he did not spend much time but returned to PDP. Distancing self from the alleged story, Fani-Kayode via his facebook handle opined: “The…

By Akanimo Sampson The passage of a new Citizenship Amendment Bill by India’s Parliament has drawn the ire of the Minority Rights Group International (MRG). The bill introduces a discriminatory regime of citizenship based on religion, which disproportionately impacts the country’s Muslim minority. MRG is, however, a leading international human rights organisation working to secure the rights of ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and indigenous peoples. It is working with more than 150 partners in over 50 countries. MRG’s Deputy Director, Claire Thomas, says the changes introduced by the Citizenship Amendment Bill are in violation of both the secular framework…

Julius Berger, the giant construction company, has come under scathing attack for its inability to complete palliative work on the failed portions of Calabar-Itu Highway. Senator Ita Enang, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Development Commission after paying an unscheduled visit to the site on Saturday, expressed displeasure over the shoddy work done on the highway. He said that two weeks ago the federal government directed the construction company to undertake palliative work on some failed portions to enable motorists to enjoy free flow of traffic during the Yuletide season. According to him, Julius Berger had informed…

By Akanimo Sampson Investigations into the specific cause of death on the three main Mediterranean Sea routes for migrants and refugees have been launched as deaths recorded on the routes through December 11 stood at 1,246 individuals. This is however, about 56 per cent of the 2,219 deaths confirmed during the same period in 2018. The International Organisation for Migration’s (IOM) Missing Migrants Project (MMP) noted several tragedies in the past week along the Mediterranean route. On the Western Mediterranean migration route, the remains of an unidentified person believed to be from Sub-Saharan Africa were recovered in Bouyafar in Morocco on Friday, December 6.…

President Muhammadu Buhari has urged insurgents in the country to lay down their arms and rejoin decent humanity. Reacting to the alleged execution of four aid workers by terrorists in North-eastern Nigeria, Buhari expressed sadness over the incident and commiserated with the family and loved ones of the slain aid workers. The President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina stated this in a statement in Abuja on Saturday, December 14, 2019. The aid workers were abducted near Damasak, Borno State in July and had been held by the insurgents in spite of efforts to secure their release.…

By Akanimo Sampson A total of 183 refugees originating from Sudan and the Central African Republic on Thursday arrived safely in France after departing from Chad on a flight chartered by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) through France’s resettlement programme. The charter marks the last operation in a two-year programme which has resettled over 1,700 refugees from Chad to France. Launched in October 2017, the effort is funded by France and the European Union (EU). The refugees had been living in camps in Chad’s Eastern and Southern regions as well as in N’Djamena, the capital. The country hosts nearly 438,000 refugees, who…

By Akanimo Sampson The 2019 Handbook of Statistics published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) says global trade and economic output stagnated this year after a continued surge last year.   Merchandise trade is however, predicted to drop by 2.4% to $19 trillion, after significant growth rates in 2018 (9.7%) and 2017 (10.7%). Trade in services is predicted to only increase by 2.7% to $6 trillion, a considerable deceleration from 7.7% in 2018 and 7.9% in 2017. Real global economic output (gross domestic product) is now expected to grow by 2.3% this year, 0.7 percentage points…

The people of Akwa Ibom State have applauded the state government and State Agency for Community and Social Development Projects, (CSDP) for rendering assistance to rural communities and vulnerable groups  in the state, through life touching micro projects. The commendation was given recently during the inspection of completed micro projects in 15 benefiting communities in the state by the Ministry of Economic Development and Ibom Deep SeaPort. Expressing their gratitude in separate interviews, the Village Head of Okpo Eto Edem Idim community in Obot Akara local government area of the state, Chief Nsikak Ekefre commended the present administration, under the…

Three music icons are reportedly the top three best-selling male singers in the US from 2000 to 2019. They are Chris Brown, Bruno Mars and Justin Bieber. Chris Brown tops the list of best-selling male singers in the US from 2000 to 2019, with sales of over 135 million units. Bruno Mars is the second best-selling male artist in the United State of America. The third best-selling male singer is Justin Bieber. Christ Brown shared a captionless Instagram post showing the top best-selling male artists.

By Akanimo Sampson The Ethiopian government with support from the United Nations, international and national non-governmental organisations as well as donors, have developed an initiative that seeks to ensure that internally displaced communities in the country are supported to either return, integrate or relocate voluntarily. It is Ethiopia’s national Durable Solutions Initiative (DSI). It will promote conducive conditions for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to rebuild their lives. It was launched in the capital city at an event organised by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). Opening the meeting, Ethiopia’s Minister of Peace, Muferihat Kamil said: “Those of us who have…