One month from now, Nigeria’s last batch of states created in 1996 to bring the total to 36, would turn 25 years old. The last batch of six states – Ebonyi, Bayelsa, Nasarawa, Zamfara, Gombe and Ekiti – was created by the military head of state, General Sani Abacha, on October 1, 1996. Post-Abacha, agitation for more states has continued, which is hardly surprising for a country with over 300 ethnic nationalities, where diversity has been disastrously mismanaged in recent times. Till date, no civilian government has created any state and that trend seems set to continue. The exception was…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Nigerian government have strongly condemned the coup d’état that took place in the Republic of Guinea Conakry on Sunday. President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana and Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, condemned the action in separate statements on Sunday. They described the action as a clear violation of the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, demanding for the immediate return to constitutional order. Akufo-Addo, who is also the Chair of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, said ECOWAS demands the immediate and unconditional release of…
Northern Nigeria, the region with the highest turnover of political and military leaders is profusely bleeding and desperately needing a savior. The region is educationally bleeding, economically emaciating, and demographically expanding in geometric proportion. There is a looming dangerous situation in the region akin to sitting on a keg of gunpowder. Save for the empty promises on how to address the situation thereby creating false hopes, there is apparent silence from all quarters. As evils are being machinated in the region, the leaders with some of us as their followers seemed to be muted and prefer to play ostrich either…
I wrote the following on March 1, 2021. With what is happening, I find it still relevant, hence repeating it today. I had intended to continue with the topic, ‘Nigeria and Presidential Democracy: Any Better Alternative? (3)’ but I had to suspend it; it is more of a proposal for the future. I had to look at what was immediate. Boko Haram (translated to mean Western education is a sin) advocates are threatening to overwhelm the North and impose their creed on a docile, perhaps Janus-faced, like people. Since kidnapping for ransom became a fad on the Abuja-Kaduna road and…
The Equities market of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited has been ranked as the best investment asset class to hedge against inflation from August 2020 to August 2021. The Financial Derivatives Company (FDC) disclosed in the inflation vs investment return data released for August, on Sunday, in Lagos. Among the four asset classes tracked by the FDC, the Nigerian equity emerged the best hedge against inflation on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis. The data also showed that NGX topped the list as it recorded y-o-y return of 54.85 per cent against inflation rate of 17.38 per cent. According to it, the…
The Oil and Gas Free Trade Zones Authority (OGFZA) says it has attracted $16.6 billion Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) into the economy within a 20 year period covering 2001 and 2020. The Managing Director, OGFZA, Mr Okon Umana disclosed this on Sunday while speaking with newsmen in Abuja. Umana said during the same period, the authority also attracted the sum of N255.33 billion local investments into the country. According to him, between January and May 2021, the sum of N9.41 billion has been generated as revenue by OGFZA through the free trade zones. He further revealed that the revenue showed…
President Muhammadu Buhari has directed National Land Development Authority (NALDA) to establish integrated farm estates in all the senatorial districts to boost food production across the country. Executive Secretary of the agency, Mr Paul Ikonne, who disclosed this to State House correspondents on Sunday, said that the directive was part of the outcome of his meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja. According to him, the president has inaugurated one of such integrated farms in Daura, Katsina, adding that NALDA is poised to accomplish the remaining 108 farms, in line with the presidential directive. He said that the aim was…
Bandits have abducted the wife and two children of the lawmaker representing Bakori constituency in Katsina State House of Assembly, Dr Ibrahim Kurami. Reports indicate that at the time the bandits stormed the lawmaker’s house at Kurami village in Bakori local government of area at about 9:00pm on Saturday, he was not at home. The spokesperson of Katsina Police Command, SP Gambo Isah could not give full details because “I have not got details of the incident from the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Bakori.”
The Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman National Judicial Council (CJN), Justice Tanko Muhammad has demanded the records of proceedings in all the suits on which conflicting exparte orders were given. Spokesperson of the National Judicial Council, Soji Oye confirmed that a memo had been sent out from the office of the CJN, ChannelsTV reports. The Chief Judges of Rivers, Kebbi, Cross Rivers, Anambra, Jigawa and Imo states are to meet with the CJN on Monday, September 6, to answer questions on the controversial conflicting orders delivered in their various states. There are indications that the Chief Judge, of Delta…
The police on Sunday said that they were combing forest to arrest the killers of Olajide Sowore, the younger brother of Sahara Reporters’ Publisher and human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore. The spokesperson of Edo Police Command, Kontongs Bello gave the assurance in Benin while addressing newsmen. The suspected kidnappers shot dead Sowore in Okada, Ovia North-East local government area of the state. According to him, “It has become very necessary for the police to inform the general public that the police are on top of the situation since the incident happened yesterday (Saturday) at about 6:45a.m. “Bush combing has started…