Author: straightnewsng.com

By Akanimo Sampson The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), a United Nations agency, has assisted 143 Somali returnees stranded in Yemen to return home. A total of 46 men, 41 women, 26 boys and 30 girls set off by boat from Aden, Yemen, the previous Monday and arrived the next day at the port of Berbera. The movement was made possible through funding from the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) and the Government of Kuwait. IOM works in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on returnee movements out of war-torn Yemen. With the…

By Akanimo Sampson Boko Haram still remains a threat to security in the North-East axis of Nigeria, Human Rights Watch has said in its World Report 2019 on Nigeria. The verdict is coming despite notable military advances, and a seeming premature proclamations of the jihadists’ group defeat by government forces. Disturbingly, the Premium Times reported that on Thursday, the rampaging terrorists killed 11 soldiers and wounded 14 in an ambush on a military convoy in Borno State. Thirty-four brave troops of 154 Task Force Battalion, including two officers, were on a patrol of Mauli-Borgozo area of battle when Boko Haram…

President Muhammadu Buhari, Monday, said a significant proportion of Nigeria’s prosperity today is concentrated in the hands of a few people. He said those few people are currently living primarily in four or five states and the Federal Capital Territory. The President said this at the opening session of the 25th Nigerian Economic Summit held in Abuja. He said while only five states had most of the wealthy people, the remaining 31 states have about 150 million people waiting for better opportunities to thrive. The President said a prosperous society is one where the majority of its citizens have an…

Doctors Without Borders, MSF, Monday on warned of a decline in international funding and rapid shifting of the financial burden to affected countries after a decade of strong commitments to fight HIV and tuberculosis (TB). The decline is in danger of reversing lifesaving gains and causing an “epidemic rebound” in some countries, MSF said in a report. The goal of ending HIV and TB is still far from being achieved as the diseases, together, still kill upwards of two million people each year, MSF said. In spite of this, donor and domestic funding for HIV programmes declined in 2018 for…

The Organized Labour, Monday, demanded that workers in the country should be treated with dignity in their work places. .  Labour also urged the federal government and employers in the private sector to uphold a decent work practice which grantees workers’ necessary benefits and freedom of association. President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Comrade Ayuba Wabba in a statement to mark this years’ decent work day observed on 7th October every year said that upholding a decent work place is a panacea for workers to productively put in the required best towards achieving government or organisational goals as the case…

Governor of Katsina State and Chairman, Steering Committee of All Progressives Congress, APC, on Legislative Matters, Aminu Bello Masari, Monday, warned the leadership of the party against lack of coordination, saying this could destroy the party, if not urgently addressed. Speaking when governors on the platform of the APC visited the leadership of both the Senate and the House of Representatives at room 301, Senate Wing, in Abuja, Masari called on APC leaders to make amends in the management of political relations and engage in serious consultation with stakeholders and other members of the party at all levels. Masari, who…

By Akanimo Sampson More than four million people die each year from exposure to cooking stove smoke, making household air pollution the fourth biggest health risk in the world, the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) which made this known also pointed out that it is highly toxic for the environment. ISO is an independent, non-governmental international organisation with a membership of 164 national standards bodies. Through its members, it brings together experts to share knowledge and develop voluntary, consensus-based, market relevant international standards that support innovation and provide solutions to global challenges. ISO has developed a number of international standards to support new…

The Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria has ordered Dr Boniface Igbeneghu allegedly involved in the sex-for-grades scandal to step down from all ministerial assignments. Igbeneghu, a senior lecturer teaching in the Faculty of Arts, at the University of Lagos, Akoka, was caught on tape after a reporter with the British Broadcasting Corporation posed as a prospective student of UNILAG. BBC Africa Eye investigated academic institutions in West Africa over allegations of sexual harassment by lecturers and caught Dr Igbeneghu, who is one of the pastors of Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria in the sex-for-grades documentary by BBC. The church on Monday in…

By Akanimo Sampson The Director of International Trade and Commodities at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Pamela Coke-Hamilton, has warned that there will no longer be business if the world does not have biodiversity. Science has also been warning that the ecosystems that support rich biodiversity are collapsing. The world is staring at a biodiversity crisis, with more one million species threatened with extinction within decades. Sadly, the knock-on effects will touch every part of life as we know it today. Critically, for developing countries, the hopes for development through economic growth will be dashed. Yet…

The Accountant-General of the Federation, AGF, Ahmed Idris, has charged the Nigerian Law School to remit part of its Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, into the treasury. Idris spoke this when a delegation from the NLS, led by the Director-General, Prof. Isa Chiroma, visited him in Abuja, according to the spokesman of the Office of the AGF, Mr. Henshaw Ogubike. The Accountant-General said the national purse from where government funds its Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, was a pool of contributions from various sources. According to him, the Nigerian Law School should be able to contribute its own quota, no matter…