Month: July 2017

Football, business and government

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Football clubs, business and government are on my mind. Many people, even within the sport sector, have been advocating that for the sports industry and sports to grow in Nigeria, States and the Federal governments must keep-off the running of sports. I am of a slightly different opinion. In Nigeria, as in most parts of Africa, government and sports have always been together in an undefined but necessary relationship that has sustained sports. The relationship may not have been the best and may not have helped to develop the industry…

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Astronomers discover brightest galaxy

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A team of scientists has discovered the brightest galaxy, known from the epoch when the universe had 20 percent of its present age, using an amplified image produced by a gravitational lens and the Gran Telescopio CANARIAS. The galaxy is 10 thousand million light years  away. The discovery, recently published in an article in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, shows that the distant galaxy is about a thousand times brighter than the Milky Way. “Thanks to the gravitational lens produced by a cluster of galaxies between ourselves and the source, which acts…

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N-Power application extended by two weeks

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Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has directed the extension of the 2017 N-Power application by two weeks. The application portal will now close on July 27. In a statement on Sunday, Afolabi Imoukhuede, special assistant to the president on job creation, said the selection process for the second batch would be characterised by transparency. He said about 2.45 million graduates have applied for the second batch of the national social investment programmes (NSIP), which is meant to take 300,000. The first batch engaged 200,000 young Nigerians in the N-Power volunteer corps…

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Court Papers: How Aluko, Omokore laundered $1.7b stolen from NNPC

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Court papers  in Lagos Nigeria have revealed in graphic details  how oil businessmen, Kolawole Akanni Aluko and Jide Omokore laundered  the $1.7 billion creamed off the questionable oil swap transactions between them and the NNPC, during the tenure of Diezani Alison-Madueke. Some of the money laundered through the United States and which had been used to acquire assets are now the subject of a forfeiture bid by the United States Justice Department. But the filings in a Lagos court have provided the most insightful details yet into how the entire money was laundered, while…

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APGA will win Anambra guber polls – Agbaso

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The Acting National Chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Martin Agbaso, has boasted that the party will win convincingly the Anambra State governorship election slated for Nov. 18. Agbaso who said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja noted that the achievement of APGA in Anambra in the past 11 years showed how reliable the party is. He said APGA under his watch would consolidate on the achievements of past leaders of the party to make APGA an enviable institution rather than…

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Alcohol causes mental disorders in young people

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The excessive consumption of alcohol beverages left more than 2,014 young people with mental disorders in Maputo, Mozambique. Mozambique’s Office of Prevention and Combat Against Drugs (GPCD) said the young people are between the ages of 16 and 25. GPCD director Sara Jafete is quoted by state-controlled as saying that the group affected includes students, mainly from secondary school. “Students mix alcohol with soft drinks and it becomes difficult for teachers to notice that their students are consuming alcohol and these are the cases we have seen in hospital units…

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Turkey commemorates failed coup in shadow of crackdown

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Thousands of people gathered on the 15 July Martyrs Bridge in Istanbul on Saturday to take part in a commemorative event to mark one year since Turkey’s failed coup. Turkish President Tayyip Erodgan arrived at the venue in a presidential car, where he is would attend the opening of a memorial located on the bridge. More than 240 people died before the coup was shut down on July 15, 2016 – a show of popular defiance that has likely ended decades of military interference in Turkish politics. But along with…

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Another season of poisonous rumours

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Fellow Nigerians, let me say emphatically that our dear beloved country has never been in short demand or adequate supply of useless rumours. We all love gossip of all kinds, mundane or sublime, plausible or outrageous. We enjoy junk and gobble up any news in sight, no matter how ridiculously far-fetched. I remember one hot story during the last Presidential campaign of 2015. Major General Muhammadu Buhari had left Nigeria to London. His main mission was to honour an invitation from the influential Chatham House. I don’t know if he…

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High bride price gets traditional council’s attention

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The high cost of bride price as well as cost of burials has gotten the attention of the Tiv Traditional Council (TATC) which has set up a 15-man committee to look into it. The Chairman of the Council, His Royal Majesty, Prof. James Ayatse said that committee will have to figure out the best way to bring down the items for bride price and the cost of burial ceremonies. The committee, which has three months to submit its report, is headed by His Royal Highness, Chief Jam Gbinde Ter Ikyor, and…

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Edo PDP rejects Obaseki’s offer for political appointments

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The Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party on Saturday rejected an offer from Governor Godwin Obaseki to work with his administration for the development of the state. Obaseki had while reacting to the ‎judgement of the Supreme Court which affirmed his election and dismissed the appeal filed by the candidate of the PDP, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, urged the opposition to join hands with his government to move the state forward. He had, however, advised opposition parties not to expect any appointments from his administration, adding that he would…

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