Author: straightnewsng.com

By Akanimo Sampson Investment promotion agencies and special economic zone authorities from China, South Africa and Sri Lanka have won awards for their excellence in promoting sustainable investment in special economic zones. They received the awards on November 11 during the eleventh session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) Investment, Enterprise and Development Commission held at the UN’s offices in Geneva, Switzerland. The awards were presented at the second Ambassadors’ Roundtable on Investing in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The event attended by 31 ambassadors from developed and developing countries as well as those with economies…

By Rowland Udoh The murky water of Nigerian politics has been stirred again in Bayelsa State. Betrayals, intrigues of politics and the politics of intrigues have shown tendencies of many a political elite. The real manifestation of the Darwinian theory of survival of the fittest or George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Man, truly is a poor student of history. It is common knowledge in the political circle in Nigeria that at your best in a second term, an incumbent Governor can at best by himself deliver only one Senatorial district. Many who tried winner takes all, ended up being disgraced; worse…

The National Legal Adviser of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has described Hate Speech Bill as a prototype of Decree 4 enacted by Muhammadu Buhari as the Nigerian Military Head of State. Though the Bill has passed the first reading in the National Assembly, Decree 4 promulgated in 1984 was seen as the most dreaded, most repressive press law enacted in Nigeria, leading to arrest and trial of two journalists- Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor of The Guardian were among the journalists who were tried under the decree. Emmanuel Enoidem while speaking with newsmen in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state capital accused…

By Akanimo Sampson Human blood is still flowing in Nigeria as politically inspired and sectarian killing of citizens is yet to abate. While the death toll in the bloody Kogi State governorship election keeps rising, suspected herdsmen and bandits are busy leaving bloodstain on their trail. In Song local government area of Adamawa State, herdsmen allegedly aborted the lives of six hunters in a farming community. Local sources say the killer herdsmen arrived Aljannaru in a night, destroying farms, shooting at people, and getting the six hunters killed. The Adamawa State Command of the Nigeria Police which confirmed the killing…

As the campaign for sex-for-grade legislation is being intensified, 1,700 change agents have signed the on-line petition to fast track the passage of Sexual Harassment in Educational Institutions Prohibition Bill by National Assembly into law. Of the number, 56 percent of the petitioners are women while 44 percent are men, indicating that men and women are equally concerned about the sex-for-grades pandemic in tertiary institutions. A press release issued by Ike Onyechere, the founding Chairman of Exam Ethics Marshals International on Monday said “We are also painfully aware that the first effort to pass this bill started in 2016. And…

By Akanimo Sampson With the world fiercely focused on a decarbonised future, the Baltic Exchange says fossil fuel movers and traders should be reconsidering their future seriously. But, it, however, pointed out that there are still reasons to be cheerful about job prospects for the 2020s and beyond. Baltic Exchange is the world’s only independent source of maritime market information for the trading and settlement of physical and derivative shipping contracts. Its international community of over 600 member firms encompasses the majority of world shipping interests and commits to a code of business conduct encapsulated in the motto our word…

By Akanimo Sampson The principal agencies of the United Nations on migration are gearing up for 2020 challenges. To this end, they are calling for the roll-out of the Network work plan, at regional and country levels, to ensure that 2020 sees the acceleration of collective efforts to demonstrate the benefits of international cooperation on migration. The Principals of the Executive Committee of the UN Network on Migration met at the weekend in New York to discuss United Nations system-wide assistance to member states in their implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM). There was…

Stefanos Tsitsipas battled back from a set down against Dominic Thiem to win the ATP Finals title on Sunday, emphatically staking his claim as the leader of the next generation of aspiring global superstars. The Greek 21-year-old, who won, 6-7 (6/8), 6-2, 7-6 (7/4) is the youngest champion since Lleyton Hewitt in 2001 and the fourth first-time champion at the season-ending event in as many years. It is Tsitsipas’s third title of the season and comes a year after he was crowned champion at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan. He has charmed the crowd at London’s O2 Arena…

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Monday, declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, as the winner of the governorship election held in Kogi State on Saturday, November 16. Yahaya Bello polled 406,222 votes to defeat his major opponent, Musa Wada of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who scored 189,704 votes to emerge second. Bello was re-elected after winning in 20 out of 21 local government areas in the state. Announcing Bello as the winner, Professor Ibrahim Umar, INEC’s Returning Officer for the election and Vice-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, stated that Bello triumphed after scoring the…

The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Bayelsa State, David Lyon, has been declared winner of the Bayelsa State 2019 governorship election. The declaration was made Monday morning by Faraday Orumwese, Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin and the returning officer in the election. The returning officer announced that Mr Lyon polled 352,552 votes to defeat Duoye Diri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who polled 143, 172 votes. The total number of registered voters was announced as 922, 562 and the number of accredited voters was put at 517,883. In the results announced for Ekeremo local government…