Author: straightnewsng.com

By Akanimo Sampson After 18 months of submitting his panel’s report to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on the need to dispense with the subsisting pseudo-federal structure which virtually all the geo-political blocs see as an impediment to national cohesion and economic progress, Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has echoed the need for a speedy restructuring of Nigeria. At a summit of Northern youths, Governor El-Rufai who headed the APC committee, said Nigeria as presently constituted consists of two unequal countries. According to him, ‘’there is a backward, less educated and unhealthy Northern Nigeria and a developing, largely educated…

By Akanimo Sampson The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) is not on the same page with the Northern Governors’ Forum on the fire-stoking Ruga settlements plan by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari for his nomadic Fulani herdsmen. While the Northern governors are urging all stakeholders in their region to remain calm and be democratic in expressing their views about the suspended Ruga settlement, ACF, the umbrella body for the area, is calling on Nigerians not to heat up the polity on the Ruga issue, insisting that herdsmen in the country should be encouraged. ACF has expressed strong support for the…

Senator Sahabi Yau’ Alhaji, Sunday, expressed concerns over the senseless attacks on Zamfara State by bandits and the alarming rate of bloodbath as well as wanton destruction of economic activities in the state. Senator Alhaji, a deputy Minority Whip of the Senate, therefore, called on security operatives to redouble their efforts to ensuring that people still in captivity regain their freedom. In a statement in Abuja, Alhaji, however, hailed the Zamfara State Police Command for securing the release of no fewer than 40 people being held in various hideouts by volunteer vigilante groups and bandits in the state. The Senator also…

Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer, CEO, of Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NEPC, Segun Awolowo, said weekend that Nigeria could in the next 10 to 15 years, earn about $150 billion from non-oil revenue sources. Awowolo stated this while speaking with State House correspondents after a meeting behind closed doors with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. He said the successful implementation of a zero oil plan will increase significantly foreign exchange earnings for the country. Awolowo, who stated that he was at the villa to brief the President on the zero oil implementation plan and the steps taken so far…

Governor Udom Emmanuel has called on privileged Akwa Ibom indigenes in the state and in the Diaspora to partner his administration in the development of the state. Emmanuel, who made the call during the second anniversary and graduation of trainees of the Ibom Development and Empowerment Assembly (IDEA) on Sunday in Uyo, said his government was eager of taking less privileged indigenes off the streets of Akwa Ibom. The Governor, who was represented by Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, the Secretary to the State Government, said only through such partnership would the vision be accomplished. He lauded the vision of the organisers of IDEA,…

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has said it was overwhelmed with applications for correction of data by candidates who sat for its examinations in the past 10 years. The board said the development arose from its recent disclosure that it would revalidate the biometrics of all candidates who had taken its examinations in the past 10 years in a bid to detect impersonators. JAMB in its weekly news bulletin made available to newsmen by Dr Fabian Benjamin, the Head of Media, Sunday, noted that recently it “had vowed to publish the names of impostors in order to serve…

President Muhammadu Buhari has advised African leaders to ensure that free trade was fair trade for all member countries. Buhari speaking on Sunday in Niamey, Niger, as he signed the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA agreement, at 10.47 a.m. local time at the opening of the 12th Extra Ordinary Summit of the African Union on launch of the Operational Phase of AfCFTA. The President signed the agreement for Nigeria at the 12th Extraordinary Summit of the African Union on Launch of the Operational Phase of the AfCFTA, making Nigeria the 53rd country on the continent to append its signature to the…

The United States retained the women’s World Cup on Sunday as a Megan Rapinoe penalty and a superb Rose Lavelle strike gave the holders a 2-0 victory over a battling Netherlands side in the final in Lyon. Having been kept at bay by the brilliant Dutch goalkeeper Sari van Veenendaal throughout the first half, the USA finally went ahead just after the hour as Rapinoe stroked home from 12 yards to end the tournament as joint top scorer on six goals. There was an air of inevitability about the pink-haired 34-year-old, the star of this World Cup on and off…

By Akanimo Sampson A seeming unguarded ultimatum by a coalition of Northern groups has triggered a backstage consultation in the vastly polluted Niger Delta, Nigeria’s main oil and gas region that could boil over with another armed rebellion. The coalition has given governors who are opposed to the RUGA Settlements for Fulani herdsmen’s 30 days to reconsider their decisions in the best interest of their states. Their Spokesperson, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, said the debate to accept or not to accept the programme was already causing disaffection for Fulani herders. According to him, “While we warn all state governments that stand against…

By Okon Nna-Etuk It does not take a deep study to notice that our farmlands and forest reserves are fast receding while human settlements expand at an uncomfortable rate. Look at it this way: There used to be what the Annang people call “abong adop,” meaning you “shout and stop” when nobody comes to your rescue in a stretch of road passing through a large expanse of unoccupied land in the country side. In the rural, rustic country side there used to be buffer zones, if you like, or interfaces between villages. Human settlements would take a small portion of…