The Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi, says the defence cooperation between Nigeria and Russia is a win-win deal and rule out procurement of obsolete equipment. The minister stated this while briefing members of the House of Representatives Committee on Defence on Tuesday. The minister, according to a statement by his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Muhammad Abdulkadri, briefed the committee on the Military Technical Cooperation Agreement. He said that the agreement was between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Russian Federation. He said that the performance of the previous technical agreement between 2001 and 2006 before its expiration was…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
The Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) on Tuesday launched its 2018-2019 West Africa Epidemiology Network on Drug Use (WENDU) Report aimed at effectively tackling illicit drug use and trafficking in the sub-region. The report, launched virtually by the ECOWAS Commission in conjunction with other stakeholders will serve as a guide to member states on how to effectively tackle illicit drug use and trafficking. The report contains statistics and trends of illicit drug supply and drug use in the sub-region and will help member states in developing programmes, policies, and advocacy. These programmes, policies, and advocacy will in turn…
The federal government of Nigeria on Tuesday announced an increment of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) research grants to universities and other tertiary institutions to N8.5 billion, up from the N7.5 billion it doled out in 2020. The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, who announced the increment while declaring open the first National Conference on Research, Training and Development in Zaria, noted that in 2019, the grants totalled N5 billion. The conference, under the theme: “Research, Training and Development in Nigeria’s educational system in the 21st century: challenges and way forward” was organized by the Institute of Education, Ahmadu…
President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo have urged the financial sector to invest more in housing and rural electricity projects for the benefit of Nigerians. The president and his vice gave the advise on Tuesday, at the 14th Annual Banking and Finance Conference, which held simultaneously in Abuja and Lagos, and streamed online from both locations. Speaking on the theme of the conference, ”Economic recovery inclusion: The role of banking and finance”, they challenged the banking sector to do more for the country, in order to further boost the economy. Buhari said that financial institutions must play an…
The Afghans born forty years ago to date have seen all kinds of wars, experienced all kinds of war-induced turmoil, sadness, and hopelessness in their war-ravaging country. This reminds me of my interaction with a Lebanese colleague as an undergraduate student of ABU Zaria in the Faculty of Engineering in the 1980s. That Lebanese told me that all his life he knew nothing but war until he came to Nigeria to study Civil Engineering. In Lebanon, then peace was a mirage; they were going to the schools when possible and thereafter dress for war. My facial expression indicated to him…
Gunmen have abducted the Emir of Bungudu in Zamfara, Hassan Attahiru. Competent source confirmed that the Emir was kidnapped along Kaduna-Abuja highway on Tuesday. Details later…
The federal government of Nigeria says it is committed to giving support to smaller companies to create jobs and boost the nation’s economic growth. The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, said this Tuesday, in Abuja when he declared open a two-day Inaugural Partnership Economy Summit, organised by the Ministry of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs. Represented by Chief Niyi Adebayo, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investments, Osinbajo said the summit was a bold initiative designed to strengthen government and citizen collaboration under the banner of Partnership Economy Nigeria (PEN). PEN, according to him, is a socio-economic platform made up of a variety of key…
By Abujah Racheal The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), says in a bid to increase COVID-19 vaccination coverage in the country, it has introduced vaccination exercises during Sunday services across the country. The Executive Director, NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib, disclosed this during a meeting with the leaders of Christian Association of Nigeria on Tuesday in Abuja. Shauib noted that the move was to ensure that members of the Christian community who have not had access to the COVID-19 vaccine for any reason were given an opportunity to be vaccinated at their worship places. “I am glad to inform…
The World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, on Tuesday said more than 5.7 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered globally, but only two per cent of them in Africa. The UN agency is urging every country to vaccinate at least 40 per cent of its population by the end of 2021, and hopes to help ensure that 70 per cent of the world’s population is vaccinated by the middle of 2022. At a press conference on COVID-19 and vaccine equity in Africa, which is home to more than 1.2 billion people, Ghebreyesus informed that, so far, just…
The Director-General, Directorate of Technical Cooperation of Africa (DTCA), Rabiu Dagari on Tuesday said that the solution to the myriad of challenges in Africa lies in the application of science, technology and research. Dagari stated this during a visit to Pan African University of Life and Earth Sciences Institute, (PAULESI), University of Ibadan on Tuesday. The DTCA boss said that while Africa has a large population engaged in agriculture, unfortunately it was rural agriculture and the production level low to meet food sufficiency. He said that was why Africa spent a lot of money importing food from other continents, which…