Author: straightnewsng.com

By Akanimo Sampson In a seeming frantic bid to address the environmental challenges facing communities of origin in West Africa, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) organised a workshop on 3-4 July 3-4 in Rabat, Morocco, that brought together 45 experts, policymakers and academics from North and Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe to discuss opportunities for integrating environmental dimensions into reintegration activities. In West Africa, environmental challenges are widely believed to drive migration from rural areas, where livelihoods are largely dependent on natural resources (agriculture, mining and fishery). Simultaneously, these challenges impact the sustainability of reintegration for returned migrants, limiting their…

Simmons Coopers Partners, which Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has a stake, has been linked to Ocean Trust Limited fingered in an alleged N100 billion scam involving Alpha Beta Consulting Limited and Alpha Beta LP. Ocean Trust Limited, which was accused of being a conduit for diversion and laundering of funds by Alpha Beta, listed Simmons Coopers as its company secretary, documents exclusively obtained from the Corporate Affairs Commission by Saturday PUNCH showed. Simmons Coopers was listed as a company in which Prof Yemi Osinbajo (now Vice-President) had a stake in his asset declaration form in 2015, according to the statement by…

By Akanimo Sampson A seeming nerve-breaking report by Transparency International which shows that the Police, the Legislature and the Judiciary are among the most corrupt institutions in Nigeria has rattled the federal lawmakers, forcing them to rise in self-defence. Chairman of the Senate ad-hoc Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Adedayo Adeyeye, says the report of the global whistle-blowing body was based on perception, claiming that it did not represent the reality on the ground because no scientific investigation was carried out by the body before arriving at its conclusion. According to the Senate spokesman, “The Transparency International report…

Clutching her trophy 20 minutes after becoming Wimbledon’s champion, Simona Halep checked out the board inside Centre Court that lists tournament winners. Below all of the mentions of Serena Williams, her opponent in Saturday’s final, there already was inscribed: “Miss S. Halep.” Halep was not concerned with preventing Williams from winning a 24th Grand Slam title. All Halep cared about was winning her first at the All England Club. And she played pretty much perfectly. On top of her game right from start to finish, Halep overwhelmed Williams 6-2, 6-2 in stunning fashion for her second major championship. The whole…

By Israel Umoh The Governor Udom Emmanuel’s Completion Agenda is on course. Unlike Surpassing Superior Performance Agenda of his first term in the office, seen to be mind-boggling, the second term’s agenda is focusing on completing development projects the administration embarked on in the first term in office. The first term agenda was anchored on a five-point Agenda of: Wealth Creation, Economic and Political Inclusion, Poverty Alleviation, Infrastructural Consolidation and Expansion and Job Creation. Mr. Emmanuel anchored his second term manifesto tagged, “completion agenda 2019-2023” on an eight-point agenda of Industrialisation, Aviation Development, Rural and Riverine Area Development, Agricultural, Human…

By Akanimo Sampson Aiteo Eastern E&P Co has unveiled a continental ambition that will see it serving the needs of communities across Africa, helping the continent to reassert her energy independence and building a high-quality asset base, while increasing market share, revenue and shareholder value. The Niger Delta basin, Nigeria’s main oil and gas region, is a core area for Aiteo, where it is expecting to contribute high-margin production. With tens of billions of barrels of oil reserves remaining untapped, there is enough capacity there alone to support the country’s oil industry for decades to come. On its website Aiteo…

By Akanimo Sampson The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has cautioned petroleum products marketers against selling Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol above N145 per litre.  The state oil corporation says there is no plan to increase the pump price of petrol in the country. The state oil corporation advised motorists and other petroleum products consumers to disregard trending rumour of a planned hike in the pump price of petrol. But on Wednesday, Mele Kyari, the new Group Managing Director of NNPC, had at the National Assembly, Abuja, said that Nigeria was the only country in West Africa with…

By Akanimo Sampson Going by one of the latest posts of the Rael-Science, diabetes can be effectively prevented. But, it’s all up to you. Fatty liver has been thoroughly investigated as a known and frequently occurring disease. But, little is known about excess weight-induced fat accumulation in the pancreas and its effects on the onset of type 2 diabetes. A research team led by Professor Annette Schürmann and Professor Tim J. Schulz of the German Institute of Human Nutrition (DIfE) has now found that overweight mice prone to diabetes have a high accumulation of fat cells in the pancreas. Mice…

Some years ago, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, a French writer, aristocrat and journalist, penned “One can be a brother only in something. Where there is no tie that binds men, men are not united but merely lined up.” But Thursday, July 11, a Nigerian journalist and writer who might not have contemplated Saint-Exupery’s quote ricocheted the thought differently “My greatest enemy is a brother who does not want me to grow or does not want me to fulfill my destiny.” Cletus Ukpong, assistant editor in-charge of South-South region with Premium Times, reclining on his chair “There are family members, friends or…

Algeria booked an Africa Cup of Nations semi-final with Nigeria after battling past Ivory Coast on penalties. Similarly, the Eagles of Carthage, who will face Senegal in Sunday’s last-four tie, led through Ferjani Sassi’s deflected shot from the edge of the box. For Tunisians, Youssef Msakni then doubled their lead after Wahbi Khazri’s shot was parried by Melvin Adrien. Naim Sliti added an injury-time third to cap off a counter-attack as Madagascar sent players forward. Indian Ocean island side Madagascar, ranked 108th in the world, were the story of their debut tournament. They had to start Afcon qualifying in the…