Author: straightnewsng.com

She wasn’t even born by the time Venus Williams had won four grand slams, but 15-year-old American, Cori Gauff stunned the five-time Wimbledon champion on her debut in the tournament Monday. Gauff, nicknamed “Coco,” is the youngest player in the Open era to advance through qualifying to reach Wimbledon’s main draw, she wasn’t content to stop there and beat the 39-year-old Williams, one of her biggest idols, 6-4 6-4 in their first-round clash at the All England Club. “I don’t really know how to feel, this is the first time I’ve cried after a match, after winning,” Gauff told the…

By Akanimo Sampson With the deteriorating security situation in Rivers State- assassinations, kidnapping, rape, extortion, robbery and murder- being carried out virtually on a daily basis, Governor Nyesom Wike administration is fashioning out a new security architecture for the 52-year-old big oil and gas state. Politics in Rivers is a do-or-die affair because most of the politicians are vying for power over the oil resource of the state which has one of the highest oil revenue in the country. Political wrangling encourages the use of political thugs and the use of violence to gain power. The thugs are said to…

The Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, Tuesday, announced a list of principal officers  for the ninth Senate. They are Orji Uzor Kalu, former Governor of Abia State along with the senator representing Abia Central, Enyinnaya Abaribe, Yahaya Abdullahi (APC, Kebbi) and Ajayi Borrofice (APC, Ondo). After reading separate letters sent by the national chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) respectively at the plenary, the Lawan announced Orji Uzor Kalu, as the new chief whip and Aliyu Abdullahi (APC, Niger), the deputy chief whip. Abdullahi, on the other hand, was named Senate leader while Ajayi Borrofice…

By Akanimo Sampson In spite of the broadening rejection of the Ruga Settlements, a programme of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration for the nomadic Fulani herdsmen, the pro-Fulani administration has commenced a seeming fierce backstage lobby to rally the resisting circles behind the land-grabbing project for a suspected Islamisation agenda. The Buhari lobbyists are claiming that there is no government plan to seize state land, colonise territory or impose Ruga on any part of the federation. President Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, has been battling to convince the skeptical citizenry that his principal’s settlement…

By Akanimo Sampson The putrefying stench of corruption that has been oozing out of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration since the exit of the largely demonised Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015, is seriously calling the integrity of the retired Army-general and former military dictator to question. The Buhari military regime aborted the administration of the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) under the watch of the late former President Shehu Shagari, on the ground of corruption and decayed social infrastructure. Since his military dictatorship was terminated in a palace coup by his then Chief of Army Staff, General Ibrahim…

The 2019 Big Brother Naija reality show which kicked off on Sunday parades such housemates as medical doctor, investment advisor, banker, psychotherapist, lawyer to models, among others. The BBNaija reality show is featuring 21 housemates, most of whom some viewers described as “more foreign than Nigerian.” The housemates will spend 99 days in the house, competing for the star prize worth N60 million. But, Khafi Kareem- a London-based police officer from Ekiti State- is one housemate who may attract the attention of many. The ebony looking woman, who declines to reveal her real age, has already warned housemates not to…

Against Federal Government’s planned establishment of Ruga settlements so far in 12 states in the country, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, the Ekiti State Governor, Monday, assured that nobody coming from outside the state will be allowed to take over the land of its people. Fayemi gave the assurance when he paid an early morning visit to the people of Orin-Ekiti in Ido/Osi local government area to commiserate with them on the killing of a farmer, Mr. Emmanuel Ilori, by suspected herdsmen last Saturday. Addressing community leaders and other residents during the visit, Fayemi said: “Nobody is coming to take our land…

By Akanimo Sampson Diplomats from Germany, Britain, France, the European Union, China, Russia and Iran met in Vienna for talks on the 2015 Iranian Nuclear Treaty, a year after Washington unilaterally scrapped the agreement. The meeting which held at the weekend ended in a stalemate as no agreement emerged on the central issue: the growing danger of a US war against Iran. Amid an ongoing US military build-up in the Persian Gulf the previous week, US President Donald Trump announced that he had pulled back from launching air strikes on Iran that would have caused hundreds of deaths only 10…

By Akanimo Sampson The experts and members of the Ministerial Committee on the Single Currency Programme of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) at their meeting in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, in the dying days of last month, failed to stay united on the symbol of the sub-region’s currency. They, however, agreed by a consensus on ECO as the name for the ECOWAS single currency. They also considered other monetary issues particularly the status of economic convergence, exchange regime, monetary policy framework, Central Bank model and implementation of mechanisms relating to the Special Fund for Development of the currency’s road…

Madagascar produced the shock of the Africa Cup of Nations so far as they beat three-time winners Nigeria 2-0. The Indian Ocean islanders have been the surprise package on their AFCON debut, claiming four points from their first two games in Egypt. And Lalaina Nomenjanahary stunned Nigeria by pouncing on a defensive error to claim an early opener. Carolus Andriamatsinoro’s deflected free-kick then ensured Madagascar went into the last 16 as winners of Group B. Madagascar are ranked 108th in the world – 63 places below Nigeria, who go through as runners-up having won their first two group games. Nigeria…