The book I have been waiting for has arrived. It is called: “Formation: The Making of Nigeria From Jihad to Amalgamation”, written by Fola Fagbule and Feyi Fawehinmi and was published by Cassava Republic in 2021. They discovered a magical formula, that the writing of history is too serious an agenda to leave in the hands of historians. These young professionals, both of them in the financial sector, decided to read history books written about the Nigeria land area and write a compelling narrative which, in a sense, is about the inevitability of the emergence of Nigeria as a Nation.…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, on Thursday condemned the recent abduction of 100 students and a teacher of Government Day Secondary School Kaya in Maradun local government area of Zamfara state, north-west Nigeria, which happened on Wednesday. Peter Hawkins, UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, also described the attack as horrific. “We strongly condemn this attack, which has happened just a few days after kidnapped students of a school in Niger State, north-central Nigeria, were freed. “We call on the authorities to take expedited action to rescue these students and reunite them with their families. “We reiterate that attacks on schools…
The Transition Monitoring Group, TMG, has set a four year agenda and announced its renewed commitment to reform and re-engineer the group. The new chairperson of the group, Auwal Rafsanjani made this known at a press conference addressed by him on Thursday. He also assured that TMG would “do our best to advocate for electoral transparency and accountability by mobilizing Nigerians to demand positive change in our electoral process.” Rafsanjani noted that “Nigerians are increasingly losing confidence in our electoral system, which is full of forms of malpractice, manipulation, violence, commercialization and privatization of political parties and political offices for…
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has explained that concerted efforts by the Corporation and some Federal agencies to combat the menace of smuggling of petroleum products have been largely hampered by existing arbitrage fueled by the prevailing huge price differentials in pump price of petrol in Nigeria and neighbouring countries. In a presentation at an interactive session by the Joint Senate Committee on the 2022-2024 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP), Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, said with a price difference of over N100 per litre between what is sold in…
The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Sen. Godswill Akpabio on Thursday while submitting the Forensic Audit Report on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) says 13,000 projects abandoned in the Region. Akpabio submitted the report to Mr President through the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, in Abuja. “The report of the audit committee showed that there are over 13,000 abandoned projects in the Niger Delta and even before the submission of the report some contractors have returned to site on their own and completed about 77 road projects. “Although the exercise had…
A Nigerian creative artist, Yemi Akinyemi-Dele, has made the list of the first 20 shortlisted applicants for a trip around the moon. The Japanese billionaire, Yusaku Maezawa had announced on March 2 that he would choose eight members of the public to join him on the trip. Maezawa’s mission, tagged “Dear Moon,” is scheduled to fly on SpaceX’s Starship rocket in 2023. The dear moon project is a mission organised by Elon Musk’s SpaceX and funded by the billionaire and founder of E-Shop in Zozo town with a passionate love for creative artists. The space mission project, which was open for creative…
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) declared in Lagos on Thursday that 27.4 million Nigerians earn below N100,000 per annum. It said the figure represented 48.9 per cent of persons living in poverty in the country. It made the declarations at the launch of a report entitled: “The Ignored Pandemic: How Corruption in the Health, Education and Water Sectors is Plunging Nigerians into Poverty.’’ Presenting the report, Dr Elijah Okebukola, Senior Research Fellow at the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria, an arm of the ICPC said the report’s survey covered the six geopolitical zones of the country. The report states…
The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) on Thursday, reassured Nigerians of the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines in the country. Executive Director, NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaibu, gave the assurance when Mr David Anyaele, Executive Director, Centre for Citizens with Disabilities, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), visited the agency in Abuja. Represented by Dr Bassey O. Bassey, Director, Disease Control and Immunization, NPHCDA, Shuaibu urged Nigerians to erase misconceptions about COVID-19 vaccines and ensure they were vaccinated against the virus. While pledging the agency’s commitment to ensure inclusive healthcare for People with Disabilities (PWDs) in the country, Bassey tasked…
In a bid to reduce its reliance on monthly federal allocation for its revenue, the Adamawa state government was fully prepared to develop its livestock industry and agribusiness in general, according to Dr. Ishaya Dabari, the state’s finance commissioner. Dabari, who stated this on Thursday, in Yola, added that pursuing the agribusiness programme had become necessary to serve as alternative to oil and the monthly federal allocation. Dabari noted that the livestock value chain was an internationally recognised vibrant business similar, to crop farming and was not restricted to any particular tribe or nation. The 2019 statistics of the Adamawa…
The Association of Deans of Agriculture in Nigeria Universities (ADAN) has honoured the Director-General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Dr Nteranya Sanginga, with an Award of Excellence for successfully pioneering the IITA Youth-in- Agribusiness programme. The IITA Advocacy, Promotion and Outreach Lead Officer, Godwin Atser, announced this in a statement on Thursday in Ibadan. According to the statement, the award was presented to the IITA boss during the 64th Annual General Meeting of ADAN held recently in Nasarawa. It quoted the ADAN Committee Chairman, Prof. Olumuyiwa Jayeoba, as saying that the association was proud of the impact…