Author: straightnewsng.com

Afropop star, Ayodeji Balogun aka Wizkid has become the first African artist to hit eight million monthly streams on Spotify. Spotify is an online, music streaming platform that pays royalties based on the number of artists streams as a proportion of total songs streamed. News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that streaming records revealed Wizkid’s popularity on the platform on Monday. The previous record was held by Congolese rapper and singer, Maitre Gims. He had seven million monthly listeners. This win follows Wizkid’s recent collaboration with DJ Spinall and Tiwa Savage on ‘Dis Love’. The singer also featured on ‘Like,’…

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), says the average price for the refilling of a five kilogramme (kg) cylinder  Cooking Gas increased to N2,024.80 in July from N1,995.38 in June. The bureau said this in its “Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Cooking Gas) Price Watch’’ for July obtained from its website on Tuesday in Abuja. The NBS said the price of refilling a five kg cylinder cooking gas increased by 1.47 per cent month-on-month and 0.71 per cent year-on-year in the period under review. According to the bureau, states with the highest average price for the refilling of a five kg cylinder…

By Akanimo Sampson Political and socio-cultural leaders of Eastern Nigeria, the hotbed of the undying Biafra agitation, who have been identified as “enemies’’ of the struggle of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) are now to be treated as “traitors’’ of the Igbo people, an IPOB source said from Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. This is coming as Senator Ike Ekweremadu, the immediate past deputy senate president, confirmed a physical assault on him by some alleged IPOB activists in Nuremberg, Germany, on Saturday. In a 64-second video about the attack released by his Media Assistant, Uche Anichukwu in Abuja, Ekweremadu was…

President Muhammadu Buhari has called on ministers-designate to work as a team to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next 10 years. Addressing the ministers-designate, the President said the country and the administration would rely on them to implement policies and programmes to lift Nigerians out of poverty. Buhari, who declared open a two-day retreat in Abuja for ministers-designate, stated “We must work as a team. Working as a team demands that we know what the next person is doing. “You must open communication with your colleagues. Lack of communication leads to lack of cooperation and sub-optimal…

By Akanimo Sampson Since the beginning of 2014, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), a United Nations agency, has recorded the deaths of 32,629 migrants, including 1,675 so far as at August 14, 2019. IOM is making efforts to systematically record deaths on migration routes worldwide through its Missing Migrants Project (MMP). But due to the challenges of collecting information about these people and the contexts of their deaths, the true number of lives lost during migration is likely much higher. Missing Migrants Project records should only be viewed as indicative of the risks associated with migration, rather than representative…

The embattled Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Winifred Oyo-Ita, has decided to send her letter of retirement to President Muhammadu Buhari over alleged fraud levelled against her. Mrs Oyo-Ita is being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over alleged N3 billion bribery, duty tour allowance, falsification and fraud case. She was invited by the EFCC on last Wednesday to answer questions regarding the allegations which emanated from a petition against her. She has, however, denied all allegations against her. A source told our correspondent in Abuja that Oyo-Ita gave in to pressure from relatives,…

  Two housemates of the of the Big Brother Naija have been evicted from the ongoing fourth season of the reality television show. News Agency of Nigeria reports that the housemates- Joe Abdallah and Ede Nkechiyere aka Enkay- were evicted during the live eviction show on Sunday. While Enkay was part of the losing team ‘The Icons’, Joe was part of the winning team ‘Cruisetopia’ but was put up for eviction by Diane with her power of the chance card. Biggie had on August 6, divided housemates into two different teams named ‘The Icons’ and ‘Cruisetopia’ to compete in challenges/tasks.…

The family of Gbolade Ejemai, a 30-year-old, Nigerian medical student, who was murdered in Kharkov, Ukraine, allegedly by one Victoria Popvrako, is crying out for justice. Up to 150 Nigerians living in the diaspora have been murdered across countries such as South Africa, United Arab Emirates, China and Ukraine, in the last three and half years. Ejemai, a final-year medical student of Kharkov International Medical University, had lived in Ukraine for 10 years during which he had made an acquaintance of Popvrako. TheCable gathered that Popvrako, a 36-year-old Ukrainian mother of two, had planned with her father to kill him. She…

Non-teaching staff unions in universities have directed all branches and members to comply with the proposed strike that commences Monday, declaring that it would be total and comprehensive. The two unions, the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities and Associated Institutions, NASU and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, said that within the period, there would be no form of concession or internal arrangement with management. A circular, entitled, “Directive on five day national strike”,signed by the President of SSANU and Chairman of Joint Action Committee, JAC, of the unions, Comrade Samson Ugwoke and the General Secretary of NASU,…

The Federal Government intends to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo stated this iover the weekend. Osinbajo speaking at an event organised by African Venture Philanthropic Alliance, AVPA, and IBAN, tagged “African Policy Road Show- Building Robust Policies for Increased Social Investment & Inclusive Business”, said lifting 100million Nigerians out of poverty was possible but noted that it required human capital, restored growth, investors, and micro economic policies, among others. Represented by his Special Adviser, Ambassador Adeyemi Dipeolu, the Vice President said since the inception of the Buhari’s administration, there had been a reduction in…