Author: straightnewsng.com

The Federal Government has pledged to lift 90 million Nigerians currently living in poverty across the country. Ms Sadiya Farouq, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development said this while presenting the 2020 budget estimates N44.21 billion for the approval of the House Committee on Internally Displaced Persons and Refugees on Monday. Farouq said that the ministry was tasked with the responsibility to address some of the underlying causes, drivers and consequences of humanitarian crises and underdevelopment including. She said this included the relatively high level of poverty of nearly half (90 million) of the country’s 198 million…

By Akanimo Sampson For almost three decades, Somalia has been in the throes of unending conflict. Now, the most recent drought is adding to her many troubles. Currently, the result is displacement and food shortages. There are reports of urgent need for assistance among the most affected regions, such as Baidoa. In the first half of the year, forced displacement in Somalia was primarily due to insecurity, drought and floods, and at the moment, a total of 2.6 million people remain displaced within the country. Following the declaration of a severe drought in the Horn of Africa region, aid agencies, in collaboration with…

By Akanimo Sampson The people of Ubahu village, a Nanka community in Orumba North local governnent area of Anambra State in Eastern Nigeria, the hotbed of Biafra agitation, are no longer at ease as a major landslide has ruptured the social and economic peace of the area. This disaster of nature is seriously threatening their homes and farmlands. As a result, scores of families are already fleeing their homes in search of relatively save shelters. The area has always been vulnerable to erosion menace, leading to seasonal displacement of endangered families. Nanka comprises seven villages: Agbiligba, Enugwu, Ifite, Amako, Umudala,…

Pensioners in the country are asking the federal government to pay them minimum pension in line with the N30,000 new minimum wage approved for civil servants. The senior citizens said their demand was in the interest of equity and fairness and in line with Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution as amended Recall that the Federal Executive Council, FEC, presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had last Wednesday directed that the arrears on the minimum wage which took effect from April 18 when President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Minimum Wage Amendment Bill into law be paid on or before December 31. Speaking…

By Akanimo Sampson The International Labour Organisation (ILO) Regional Director for Africa, Cynthia Samuel-Olonjuwon, says gainful employment is still the most reliable way of escaping poverty. But, access to both jobs and decent working conditions remains a challenge. According to her, “66 per cent of employed people in developing economies and 22 per cent in emerging economies are in either extreme or moderate working poverty, and the problem becomes even more striking when the dependents of these working poor are considered. “Thus, it is not just unemployment or inactivity that traps people in poverty, they are also held back by…

By Akanimo Sampson Lack of effective border control and tensions over limited available resources are currently making Tillabéri a volatile area. Ethnic conflict has been a determining factor in the development of violent extremist organisations (VEOs) and criminal groups that occupy and regularly cross the region’s border areas. Tillabéri is however, located in southwest Niger. It straddles Niger’s borders with Mali and Burkina Faso. The region is characterised by fragile stability and today sits threatened by various economic and security risks concentrated at this three-state border zone. This October, the International Organisation for Migration’s (IOM) Community Cohesion Initiative (NCCI) in…

The Federal Ministry Health says it needs more than N234,620,402 in the 2020 Budget to engage Nigerian medical doctors, pharmacists, medical academics and other sector professionals from the Diaspora. The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, made the request Sunday, while defending diaspora-related parts of the budget of the Ministry of Health, before the House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora Affairs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman Nigeria Diaspora Commission, had conceptualised the framework for the Ministry of Health to engage Nigerian health professionals resident abroad. The Minister, while giving a breakdown of the budget for 2020, told the committee that N173,020,401of the…

The 19 northern governors Sunday expressed worry over porous borders, which have resulted in high level insecurity in the region. The governors, who spoke under the aegis of Northern Governors’ Foum, attributed this to the banditry, cattle rustling, kidnapping and Boko Haram insurgency that have claimed hundreds of lives in the north Chairman, Northern Governors Forum Security Committee and governor of Katsina State, Aminu Bello Masari, who expressed the concern of the governors, stated this while declaring open the maiden meeting of its technical committee saddled with responsibility to find lasting solution to insecurity in the region. Governor Masari said…

Senator Ali Ndume, the Chairman of Senate Committee on Army did not want to sweep under the carpet the predicament hindering the army from winning the war against insurgency and facing internal security challenges in the country. Ndume who is attending the 12th Biennial Training Conference of the Nigerian Army Finance Corps holding at Le’ Meridien Hotels and Golf Resort, Uyo came out point-blank: under-funding of Nigerian Army. Speaking to journalists at the venue of the conference on Monday, the Senator representing Borno South in the National Assembly expressed dissatisfaction with the funds the Federal Government has so far released…

Akwa Ibom, the 21st state in Nigeria is acknowledged as the highest earner of revenue from the Federation Allocation Account Committee, FAAC, in the country. The avowal, according to Comrade Iboro Ibara, the Vice Chairman and Secretary of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Akwa Ibom State Council, was corroborated by figure bandied by Governor Udom Emmanuel. “During the presentation of 2020 budget, the Governor said we have received over N165.785 billion from the Federation Account for the period ending August 2019 excluding Internally Generated Revenue, IGR. “If you look at what other states received within the the same period, Abia State…