Author: straightnewsng.com

A major witness in the long-running Malabu oil scandal on Wednesday told an Italian court that Eni officials knew that the controversial payment made in the deal would go to Malabu Oil Company controlled by former oil minister, Dan Etete. Vincenzo Armanna, former Eni manager and defendant in the corruption trial, said in his testimony that it was clear to everyone involved in the deal that Mr Etete would get over $1 billion, adding that there was no doubt the money was going to Malabu. The former Eni manager appeared before the court in Milan to give testimony about his…

By Akanimo Sampson Two people have been allegedly shot dead in Calabar, Cross River State capital, in a move seen as a reprissal for the killing of a final-year student of Electrical, Electronic Engineering in the state University of Technology (CRUTECH), Calabar, on Monday. The latest killing which took place on Tuesday was said to have taken place between Palm Street and the university pavilion field in Calabar South local government area. They died as a result of gun shots. Local sources could not immediately establish whether they were students of the university. The victim of the Tuesday’s bloodletting identified…

A total of 994 Nigerians were said to have been deported from Ghana through land border in the last 18 months. This showed that while 508 Nigerians were sent back in the last six months, 486 were deported in 2018. Speaking at a forum to receive a Nigerian Professor exiled in Ghana, Augustine Nwagbara, in Abuja Thursday, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Chairman, National Diaspora Commission, in condemning the act, said the continent would suffer if Nigeria decides to treat other nationals in same manner. “It will not go down well in the continent if Nigeria decides to do what they do…

By Akanimo Sampson Leaders of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) have started a seeming major initiative aimed at cementing the broken walls of Nigeria as the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has started backstage mobilisation of Igbo youths to stand up to the killer herdsmen. MACBAN is pressing for the cooperation of all key stakeholders in its bid to resolve the herdsmen crisis in the country. Apparently not persuaded, IPOB said Igbo youths were ready to face the youth wing of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) after the expiration of its 30-day ultimatum. According to the group that…

Barely a week after drawing the attention of Nigerians to the nation’s increasing debt stock since the assumption of office by President Muhammadu Buhari, former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Thursday said a whopping sum of N2.5 trillion would go down the drain by the end of 2019 in debt servicing. Atiku in a statement, entitled “Can a nation survive like this?” said the alarm he raised recently had been vindicated with the release of debt-related statistics by the nation’s statistical bureau. Signed by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate in the February 23…

The House of Representatives has sought Federal Government’s quick intervention to enable Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, and the Non-Academic Staff Union, NASU and other associated institutions to halt their impending strike to avert disrupting the academic calendar. The House also called on the government to immediately set up a committee to resolve the alleged discrimination of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, and the Non-Academic Staff Union, NASU and the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU. It further asked the federal government to release the Earned Allowance of non-teaching staff from 2009 to 2016, urging it…

Unidentified gunmen, Wednesday afternoon, killed two soldiers and abducted an expatriate at a road construction site in Oruk Anam local government area of Akwa Ibom State. The incident was said to have happened as the expatriate engineer working with Al Madal construction company was inspecting Ikot Ibritam-Inen Ekeffe-Odoro Ikot-Ukanafun Road construction project awarded by the Akwa Ibom State Government. A witness, Friday Idiok, told journalists that the two soldiers were killed while escorting the expatriate on a routine inspection of the road project along Idim Okpok mini bridge in Inen Ekeffe, the boundary between Oruk Anam and Ukanafun local government…

By Akanimo Sampson Nigeria, the West African country widely regarded as a giant in the African continent has come under the hammer of a global confederation of 19 organisations working together with partners and local communities in more than 90 countries, Oxfam International. Oxfam whose work in Nigeria focuses on: Economic justice and improving livelihoods, gender justice and female leadership, good governance and the Niger Delta, as well as disaster risk reduction and responding to humanitarian crises says the country manifests an array of contradictions. According to the group, Nigeria is a rich country of poor people and decaying infrastructure;,…

By Akanimo Sampson A new research has found that making minor changes to how food is produced, supplied and consumed around the world could free up 20 percent, a fifth of agricultural land. The study – Transforming Agricultural Land Use Through Marginal Gains In The Food System (Global Environmental Change, 2019; 57: 101932 DOI: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2019.101932) – by Peter Alexander, Anjali Reddy, Calum Brown, Roslyn C. Henry and Mark D.A. Rounsevell said: There is an increasing need for transformational changes in the global food system to deliver healthy nutritional outcomes for a growing population while simultaneously ensuring environmental sustainability. However, such…

Amaju Pinnick, the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF President, has been axed as Confederation of African Football (CAF) 1st vice president. This may be unconnected with the removal of other CAF officials on alleged corruption charge. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) had fired Amr Fahmy, its secretary after he made corruption accusations against the president Ahmad Ahmad. Already, Fatma Samoura, FIFA secretary-general has been appointed general delegate for Africa for six months starting August 1 as part of ongoing reforms within African football’s governing body. Pinnick replaced Kwesi Nyantakyi, who resigned from the post last year amid corruption row that…