Author: straightnewsng.com

By Akanimo Sampson China Merchants Group (CMG) that operates many key transportation infrastructures in Mainland China and Hong Kong, and very influential in five major ports in China including Pearl River Delta (Hong Kong, Shenzhen), Yangzee River Delta (Shanghai, Ningbo), Bohai Bay (Qingdao, Tianjin, Dalian), Xiamen Bay (Zhangzhou), and Southwest coastal area (Zhanjiang) is currently bidding to invest in port assets owned by French shipping company, CMA CGM. It seems the state-owned firm is seeking to diversify geographically and boost capacity. In 2017, CMG’s container throughput was over 100 million TEU for the first time, which makes the company the…

By Akanimo Sampson The US-China trade conflict appears to have evolved into a bullish animal. After a plural bouts of tariffs and counter-tariffs, last August 23, Beijing slapped a 5 per cent levy on US crude for the first time, targeting a commodity analysts say is already influenced by the trade tensions, and adding to a swathe of US-origin commodities like propane, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and soybeans. Those who know better say it was part of a wider tariff on $75 billion of US imports into China. US President Donald Trump responded with raising tariffs on $550 billion of…

Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman, says Nigerians will not become second-class citizens elsewhere if the country is what it ought to be. Speaking at the “Naija Youth Talk” programme organised by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Abuja on Monday, Adesina said while it is the right of citizens to demand for the kind of country they want, it is pertinent to love Nigeria against all odds. The event was the first of a series of conversations about the Nigerian youth and children ahead of the 2019 International Literacy Day. He said: “We have a right to ask for the kind…

The Department of State Services, DSS, said Monday that some persons were plotting to set the nation on fire. The alarm came at a time the presidential election tribunal is set to give its verdict on the petition Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 general election, filed to challenge the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari. Peter Afunnanya, spokesman of the agency, said this in a statement issued on Monday.Spokesman of the agency did not, however, mention any name or group but said the service would not relent in its bid to secure the…

As the new school session will soon begin, 1.3 million persons teaching in public and private primary and secondary schools across the country face sack unless they are able to meet the December 31, 2019 deadline set by the Federal Government to get registered and licensed by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, TRCN, investigation by Vanguard has shown. The affected persons form the bulk of an estimated two million people teaching in primary and secondary schools across the country who are not qualified to do so, going by TRCN’s regulations. As of now, over 700,000 teachers have been certified…

The Founder and Senior Pastor of Commonwealth of Zion Assembly, COZA, Biodun Fatoyinbo, has been dragged to court over rape claims. Busola Dakolo, wife of Nigeria’s inspirational singer, Timi Dakolo, sued the pastor. An FCT High Court in a writ of summons obtained on Monday by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), dated Sept. 6 and served on Fatoyinbo, ordered the Pastor to appear before it within 14 days of the service or judgment may be given in his absence. “You are hereby commanded that within fourteen (14) days after the service of this writ on you, inclusive of the…

The popularity of General Muhammadu Buhari, the then presidential candidate of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change, CPC is said to have stalled his prosecution by former President Goodluck Jonathan, despite the widespread violence that rocked some parts of the country and claimed many lives during the 2011 general elections. Former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, in his new book, entitled Burden of Service: Reminiscences of Nigeria’s former Attorney-General, pointed out that though the administration accused Buhari of inciting the violence, which claimed many lives, including 12 members of the National Youth Service Corps, the…

Senator Emmanuel Diffa has urged the executive director, finance and administration, EDFA of Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, to work in synergy with other board members in clearing debts owed contractors for jobs duly completed. Diffa from Bayelsa State speaking in an interview with journalists further called on Mr Maxwell Oko, the new EDFA together with the board members to identify dilapidated roads in the Niger Delta region and fix them. He also urged the newly appointed boards of the NDDC to move with compassion and eradicate the suffering of the people, noting that by so doing their living standard…

As the diplomatic spar between Nigeria and South Africa is worsening, President Muhammadu Buhari, Monday, directed the immediate evacuation of Nigerians willing to return home. Buhari gave the order as he received report from Ambassador Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, the Special Envoy he sent to South Africa to meet with President Cyril Ramaphosa over the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians. This is as Air Peace has announced plans to evacuate free of charge more than 400 Nigerians willing to return home on Wednesday. The President further directed the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama to continue to engage with appropriate authorities…

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Sunday, said it has secured a judgment from a United States Southern District Court of New York, dismissing a suit filed by ESSO Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited and Shell Nigerian Exploration and Production Company Limited as of no-consequence. In a statement in Abuja, the NNPC stated that both companies were seeking an arbitral award of $2.699 billion against Nigeria, despite the fact that a Nigerian court had earlier dismissed the award. The NNPC said: “The court hearing was held on February 1, 2019, in the protracted litigation arising from the disputes between NNPC…