Author: straightnewsng.com

By Akanimo Sampson Former Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) cum Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, and the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Local Content, Legor Idagbo, are currently at logger heads over the 2023 zoning deal in Cross River State. Ndoma-Egba is locked in a backstage political battle with stakeholders in the state to jettison the formula of rotating the governorship of the state. The governorship of the state is rotating on Senatorial District basis. Former Governor Donald Duke (1999-2007) of Cross River South flagged off the power rotation deal, followed by Liyel Imoke from…

By Akanimo Sampson In the last week of July in Ethiopia, 353 million trees were planted in one day in a seeming patriotic response to their Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed’s call to break the Guinness World Record in a nationwide reforestation initiative. The feat came as Hijrah Talk, a talk show using digital platforms to challenge misconceptions around migration, was launched on July 29 by IOM’s Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Its production aims to spread fact-based dialogue around migration across 22 Arab countries and throughout the Mediterranean region.  The format consists mainly of…

By Akanimo Sampson While East Coast ports are currently taking a larger share of the import container trade, the Inter-modal Association of North America (IANA) has said that the volume of business in the trans-Pacific trade lane has remained weak due to the US-China trade war. IANA’s estimates of inter-modal container activity underscore the deepening of the freight recession that railroads and trucking companies saw in the 2019 second quarter as container volumes fell 3.8 percent from the year earlier period to 4.56 million, compared to a 1.5 percent drop in container volumes during the second quarter, IANA said. While…

By Akanimo Sampson At the no-nonsense rate the Benue State Government is going in arresting cattle, enormous public funds would be required in building prisons for the valued Fulani animal. The arrested cattle and their convicted nomadic herders need to enjoy the same prison space. After all, both jointly committed the crime. For a better understanding of this theme, the Encyclopedia Britannica defines prison as “An institution for the confinement of persons who have been remanded (held) in custody by a judicial authority or who have been deprived of their liberty following conviction for a crime. A person found guilty…

The wealthiest 500 people on earth lost 2.1% of their collective net worth on Monday as US stocks plunged in their biggest drop this year. Twenty-one members of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index lost $1 billion or more as investors reacted to stepped-up tensions between the US and China. Amazon.com Inc. founder,  Jeff Bezos declined the most, shedding $3.4 billion as shares of the online retailer tumbled. But he’s still the richest person on the planet with $110 billion. The loss is an abrupt reversal for the world’s richest, who up until today had experienced steady gains. Other forces have also…

Counterfeit whiskey crooks don’t stand a lick of a chance! Scottish scientists are putting a new twist on artificial intelligence with an “artificial tongue” used to detect fake batches of booze, according to a report Tuesday. The ground-breaking device — which can be used to sniff out counterfeit, or falsely advertised single-malt scotch — is portable and features 2 million tiny “artificial taste buds,” researchers told the UK Guardian. “You could train your particular ‘tongue’ to know what one of these whiskies ‘tasted’ like, so that when the fake stuff came along it could identify it and when the real…

Catholic Archbishop of Lagos Metropolitan See, Most Rev Alfred Adewale Martins, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently commence the process of restructuring the country as this remains the surest way to move the nation forward. Martins, who was reacting to the recent killing of Mrs Funke Olakunrin, daughter of Afenifere top Chieftain, Pa Fasoranti by gunmen in Ore, Ondo State, said the problem of insecurity, unemployment and other vices plaguing the country would easily be curtailed once the nation was properly structured on the path of true federalism. He said the incessant attacks and killings of hapless Nigerians…

The Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Elder Simon Achuba, has accused Gov. Yahaya Bello of failing to account for N53.8 billion funds the state received between 2016 and last year. But the state government in a swift reaction, described the allegation by the deputy governor as a blatant lie. However, documents made available to Vanguard indicated that the amount consisted of unaccounted receipts from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee, FAAC, in 2016, 2017 and 2018. The allegation is coming on the heels of a fierce contest for the All Progressives Congress, APC, ticket in the November 16, 2019, governorship election…

The Nigerian-American economic expert, Adewale Adeyemo, who assisted the US government to fight recession, has been appointed president of Obama Foundation. Adeyemo had served in the administration of former President Obama as deputy national security adviser, NSA, for international economics and is reputed to have helped the US combat the global economic recession of 2008. Martin Nesbitt, chairman of the foundation’s board, said in a statement that Adeyemo will lead “the implementation of the organisation’s strategic plan and manage its organisational structures and functions.’ “Wally is the ideal person to help lead the foundation team as we continue to grow…

Grieved by perennial attacks by suspected herdsmen which have resulted in deaths of thousands of people and wanton destruction of property in the region, ethnic nationalities of the Middle Belt have advocated a united action against further aggression by the intruders. They also resolved to collectively resist further attacks on any of them, noting that an attack on one will be considered as an attack on all, henceforth. The ethnic nationalities in a communiqué issued at the ends a one-day conference with theme; “Re-awakening,” in Abuja, resolved amongst other things that there is urgent need for united political force and…