Author: straightnewsng.com

No fewer than 10,665 lives were allegedly consumed in violence across the federation in 2018, Nigeria Watch, an annual report supported by the French Institute for Research in Africa (IFRA) and the French National Research Institute for Development (IRD), said. The fatalities rose from 10,515 in 2017 to 10,665 in 2018. The watch, which primarily monitors lethal violence, conflict and security in Nigeria on annual basis, has also claimed that there was a 1.4 per cent increase in the number of violent deaths in the country in 2018. The report, which is contained in the IFRA’s official website forwarded by…

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved N208 billion for the upgrading of facilities in the federal universities. Announcing this at the 23rd convocation of the University of Abuja on Saturday, Buhari said Nigeria could overcome its challenges by developing its human capital. This amount is against N1.1 trillion demanded by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) as revitalisation fund for the universities. Represented by Sonny Echono, permanent secretary of the education ministry, he said his administration would continue to address the concerns of the tertiary institutions. “The present administration will continue to improve on the infrastructural facilities in the universities,…

More than N14.5 billion banks’ commitment has been secured by the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending, NIRSAL for agricultural lending in the last five months. Stating this in Abuja, Monday, the agency said further commitments worth N48 billion are at various stages of approval. NIRSAL said it was engaging banks with a view to constituting Joint-Technical Committees with NIRSAL in order to pursue this new and innovative agriculture/agribusiness financing framework. The agency said that the prior perception of agriculture being a high-risk area by banks was gradually giving way to a new-found faith in the new business…

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, said it lacked the constitutional power to de-register any of the existing 91 political parties in the country. The INEC Federal Commissioner in charge of Nasarawa, Kogi and Kwara States, Malam Muhammed Haruna, made this known on Monday in Lokoja while declaring open a post-election review meeting on the last general elections. Haruna said that the clamour by Nigerians for a reduction in the number of registered parties could only be done through an amendment of the Constitution. He agreed that the provisions in the 1999 Constitution that state that parties must be national…

Acting Chairman of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, Apapa branch , Mr. Joe Onyebu, has said that many businesses were going through very difficult times, following a drop in power supply in recent months. It is estimated that over 40 percent of cost of manufacturing in Nigeria goes into generation of electricity. Speaking at the Environmental and Safety seminar organised by the association in Lagos, Onyebu, said Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, SMEs, appeared to be the worst hit by the epileptic power supply, leading to closure of many. He explained that once an SME shuts down, it sets up…

By Akanimo Sampson The largely unknown oil barons that have been sabotaging Nigeria’s oil economy appears to have staged a major comeback, and are busy making mincemeat of the country’s oil industry in spite of the heavy security presence all over the oil and gas region. In Bayelsa State, the Aiteo Group, operator of the Nembe Creek Trunk Line to Shell’s Bonny export terminal, has been one of the hardest hit this year, halting flows through the link at least three times since January. Aiteo is, however, one of Africa’s fastest-growing energy leaders. The company is an integrated energy group with…

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, Monday, said the opposition members would be appointed to serve as committee chairmen in the 9th National Assembly. This is contrary to the comments of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the All Progressives Congress, APC, National Chairman, that the ruling party will not share committee heads with members of opposition parties. Gbajabiamila also said that the names of heads and members of the House Committees will soon be reeled out. Besides, the Speaker said that the reforms he was going to introduce would be in piece meal to avoid doing anything that could…

A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Maitama Monday rejected uncertified documents sought to be tendered by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC, in the trial of former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Babachir Lawal, and three others for alleged corruption. The EFCC arraigned Mr Lawal alongside his younger brother, Hamidu Lawal; Suleiman Abubakar, Apeh John Monday and two companies, Rholavision Engineering Ltd and Josmon Technologies Ltd; on March 18 on an amended 10-count charge bordering on fraud, diversion of funds and criminal conspiracy to the tune of over N500 million. They were earlier arraigned…

By Akanimo Sampson McDermott, a fully-integrated provider of technology, engineering and construction solutions to the energy industry, released her financial results for 2018, reporting a $2.7bn net loss for the full year. For more than a century, customers seems to have trusted McDermott to design and build end-to-end infrastructure and technology solutions to transport and transform oil and gas into the products the world needs today. Her proprietary technologies, integrated expertise and comprehensive solutions deliver certainty, innovation and added value to energy projects around the world. Operating in over 54 countries, McDermott’s locally-focused and globally-integrated resources include approximately 32,000 employees, a diversified…

No fewer than 30 persons were killed in triple suicide bombing by Boko Haram jihadists in Konduga, Borno State. This is even as three persons were killed in fresh outbreak of violence in parts of Jalingo, the Taraba State capital. These came as the Inspector General of Police, IGP Mohammed Abubakar Adamu, declared Monday that the crime rate in the country has declined. In the Borno incident, three bombers detonated their explosives outside a hall in Konduga, 38 kilometres (24 miles) from the Borno state capital Maiduguri, where football fans were watching a match on Television. “The death toll from…