President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed delight that the Mali situation had calmed down considerably, following interventions by leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Mr Femi Adesina, the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, in a statement in Abuja, said Buhari stated this when he received updates on the Mali situation from the Special Envoy/Mediator to the West African country, former President Goodluck Jonathan, on Thursday. The president said: “We can’t do hop, step and jump like other developed nations of the world, but one is delighted at the successes recorded.’’ After the intervention by the…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
The 2021 Appropriation Bill has passed second reading in the House of Representatives, following the conclusion of debate on its general principles. During the debate on Wednesday, several members commended and condemned various proposals in the bill. A member, Nicholas Ossai, described the bill as “a budget of hardship” and not ‘A Budget of Economic Recovery and Resilience’ as the President Muhammadu Buhari administration named it. “We are servicing debt in the 2020 budget with almost N3.5 trillion and the 2021 budget with about N4.2 trillion. Is that a budget of recovery or hardship?” he said. “We are servicing debt…
Mrs Abigail Makinde, the mother of Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo state, is dead. Mrs Makinde death, which occurred in the early hours of Thursday at the age of 81 years, was disclosed in a statement issued on Thursday in Ibadan, by Chief Muyiwa Makinde. It said the deceased, who gave no indication of any sickness, died at her Ibadan home, No. 7B, Oyeleke Street, Ikolaba, Ibadan. “While we appreciate the Almighty God for sparing her life thus far, we must confess that we will sorely miss her counsel, motherly role and impact on the lives of her children and…
Pope Francis has appointed a new chief of the Vatican’s sainthood department, a post left vacant three weeks ago by the resignation of disgraced Cardinal Angelo Becciu. Italian Bishop Marcello Semeraro will be the new Prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, the Vatican said in a Thursday statement. Semeraro was until now bishop of Albano, a lakeside town some 25 kilometres south-east of Rome, and secretary of the committee of cardinals drafting a reform of the Curia, the Vatican bureaucracy. Becciu resigned as prefect and gave up his cardinal rights on Sept. 24, after the pope accused him of…
The Micronutrient Laboratories Limited on Thursday introduced its Cognito Micronutrient Powder, a micronutrients food fortification formula, as a response to the challenge of high infant mortality from poor feeding in Nigeria. The unveiling was at the 44th Annual Conference of the Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology in Lagos. According to the association, Nigeria’s battle against deficiencies in childhood nutrition will get a boost with the introduction of the micronutrient fortification product for quick and easy utilisation by families. The Chief Executive of Flour Mills of Nigeria plc, Dr Paul Gbededo , unveiled the micronutrient powder. Gbededo, who was also…
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday presided over a virtual meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The meeting was the fifth virtual meeting as the nation complies with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) protocols on COVID-19. The governors joined the virtual NEC meeting from their respective states. At the last virtual meeting on Sept. 17, the council announced that 15 states had qualified to benefit from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) for funding education as part of measures to cushion the impact of COVID-19 on the sector. It listed the states…
Gunmen in the early hours of Thursday invaded Okofi community in Kogi, killing three persons and injuring two others. Eyewitnesses in Lokoja on Thursday said the attackers invaded the community when the Muslim faithful were observing the early morning prayers in the community’s only mosque. Okofi community is in Kogi Local Government area of the state. Confirming the incident, the state police command spokesman, DSP William Aya, said that those killed include the Chief Imam of the community and two other worshippers. He also said that two other persons were critically injured in the attack and were taken to hospital…
Kyrgyzstan’s President, Sooronbay Jeenbekov, has resigned after a disputed parliamentary election triggered mass protests, according to a speech published by his office on Thursday. “I am not holding on to power,’’ Jeenbekov said in the statement. He did not want to be remembered by history as the president who opened fire on his own citizens, he said. Violent unrest broke out in Kyrgyzstan in early October, after parliamentary elections resulted in a win for candidates with ties to the sitting president. Kyrgyzstan, a country of 6.5 million people located on the border with China, was plunged into chaos following the…
Social media giant Facebook has taken down the page of a New Zealand political party just days before the country’s general election. Advance New Zealand is now calling for an enquiry, stating the American social media company has interfered with the election due to be held on Saturday. The page was removed on Thursday for repeatedly sharing misinformation about COVID-19, Facebook said in a statement. “We have clear policies against this type of content and will enforce on these policies regardless of anyone’s political position or party affiliation.” Advance New Zealand co-leader Billy Te Kahika was streaming live to the…
France stretched their unbeaten run against Croatia to eight games after a late goal by Kylian Mbappe gave the world champions a 2-1 win in their Nations League top-tier Group 3 match on Wednesday. The result left France second in the group on 10 points from four games, behind Portugal on goal difference after the European champions brushed aside Sweden 3-0. Croatia have three points and the Swedes none. France beat Croatia 4-2 in the 2018 World Cup final before defeating them by the same score in last month’s reverse Nations League fixture. “We knew we’d be in a real…