Thisday Tell:

Nigeria’s former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd) has cited implementation of some of the recommendations of the 2014 Confab, good leadership as some of things that can guarantee unity and peace in Nigeria. The confab recommendations were the result of the 2014 National conference put together by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan. Gowon said there was need for a review of the country’s federal system in order to achieve stability and harmony, adding that the federal structure must be “fair, balanced, equitable and functional and the federating units must be strong enough. The former head of state, who was represented by a former Minister of Information and Culture, Prof Jerry Gana, stated this at Araya, Isoko South Local Government Area of Delta State during the third session of the Sixth Synod of Oleh Diocese of the Anglican Communion. Noting that government should give top priority to ...

The agitators for Biafra have been cautioned by the South East Governors Forum and the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, against going ahead with its sit-at-home declaration in the South east state and some states of the old eastern region. The chairman of South East governors, Dave Umahi, in a statement issued in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, urged that calmness and wisdom be applied in the present agitation for a Biafran state from Nigeria because it was still possible that the country can remain as one. Umahi, who for the first time since the release of Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) Leader Nnamdi Kanu, will comment on his matter, revealed that South East governors played vital roles by meeting with relevant authorities to ensure he was released. He said, “The South East governors are fully aware of the saturation of various information with the call by the leaders of movements known as IPOB agitation for s...

A robot performs during the final of the national robotics competition on May 20, 2017 at the Marius Ndaye stadium in the Senegalese capital Dakar. / AFP PHOTO / SEYLLOU   The Director, Centre for Satellite Technology Development, Dr. Spencer Onuh, says some Nigerian scientists prefer to practice in the Diaspora due to lack of infrastructure, recognition, and bureaucracy in the country. CSTD is one of the centres of the National Space Research and Development Agency mandated with the responsibility of space, atmospheric and satellite development in the country. Onuh, who decried the poor number of scientists in the country, on Thursday said that some of the scientists in Diaspora were trained in the country but chose to practice in countries that valued their intellects. “For any man who has knowledge, he has his freedom. Nigerian scientists are doing better abroad because they have been prov...

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo   The Federal Government has declared Monday, May 29,2017 as a public holiday to celebrate the 2017 Democracy Day. Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (retd.) in a statement on Thursday in Abuja congratulated Nigerians for witnessing yet another Democracy Day which marked the second anniversary of President Muhammadu Buhari’s government. Dambazau in the statement by the Director Overseeing the Permanent Secretary’s Office, Alhaji Muhammadu Maccido assured Nigerians of the government’s continued efforts towards guaranteeing security, revitalizing the economy and tackling corruption. He noted that a lot had been achieved in the area of security, particularly in the northeast, and in tackling corruption, adding that recent statistics by the National Bureau of Statistics indicated tremendous improvement in the nation’s Gross Domestic Product. ...

The Senate, on Thursday , passed the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, which seeks to reform the nation’s oil and gas industry. The PIGB is the first of four bills that replaced the well-known Petroleum Industry Bill, which suffered setbacks in two consecutive legislative tenures. President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, who presided over the plenary on Thursday , said the lawmakers had broken the jinx of passing the bill.

  Manchester Arena. Photo credit: Yahoo. At least 22 people people have been killed in a suspected terrorist attack during a pop concert by US star Ariana Grande in the northwest English city of Manchester, police said Tuesday. There was panic as Grande’s audience of youthful fans fled the 21,000-capacity venue late Monday after what eyewitnesses described as an explosion in the foyer area at the end of the concert. At least two parents waiting for their children outside were injured by the explosion, with one saying he had been hit by shrapnel in his leg and another feeling “heat on my neck” Ambulances and bomb disposal teams rushed to the venue, as worried family members searched for their loved ones and residents opened their doors to stranded concert-goers after trains were cancelled. “So far 22 people have been confirmed dead, with around 59 others injured. This is currently being treated as a terrorist incid...

Three persons were killed early Tuesday when Tiv and Jukun people clashed at Feedi Market, opposite the Air Force base in Makurdi, Benue State. The crisis reportedly started when two young men of Tiv and Jukun ethnic groups clashed at Feedi Market on Monday. The matter was said to have snowballed into a heavy fight, which allegedly led to the killing of one person simply identified as Tsegba Terver. The incident was said to have happened around 7 pm on Monday. But the killing was said to have triggered a crisis which led to two more deaths and several houses burnt. As at the time of filing this report, Benue state governor, Samuel Ortom, was on assessment tour.

A National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; the Vice-President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Monday Ubani; and the House of Representatives, on Monday, told Nigerians to resist any attempt to remove the current democratic government in the country by force. Also, a former governor of the old Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, warned the military personnel against throwing the nation into turmoil in their bid to seize power. The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, last week warned some Nigerians, who he did not name, to stop “approaching officers and soldiers for political reasons”, a development which people believe could be a plot to overthrow the current political dispensation in the country. Speaking in Lagos on Monday, Tinubu warned the military to forget any attempt to lure it to stage a coup, adding that such attempt would be...

Personal Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on social media, Lauretta Onochie, has revealed that some elite Nigerian politicians travelled to Niger Republic, India and some other countries to hire marabouts to pray that the president dies. She further disclosed that the same politicians have employed the services of pastors and bishops to pray for Buhari’s death. Onochie stated this on Sunday adding that the religious leaders, after waiting in vain to hear the death of Buhari but were disappointed, resorted to attack him to the extent of announcing the President’s death on cloned websites, “therefore raising exaggerated concerns about his health”. The aide made this disclosure on her Facebook page but failed to name the politicians and the pastors and bishops they rented to pray for Buhari’s death. She said, “There must be a reason why some members of the political elite in Nigeria do not want to see President Muhammadu Buhari in power. They rigged ...

Scene of the building collapse   Rescuers pulled out the body of another victim from the rubble of 2/4, Richard Abimbola Street, Ilasamaja, Isolo, Lagos building. The General Manager, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Mr. Adesina Tiamiyu, told NAN on Sunday that the body was discovered on Saturday night. “The body was pulled out during the post-disaster clearing of the site of the collapsed building at Ilasamaja, bringing the number of deaths to four people, while those rescued alive remain 19. “The body, which is yet to be identified, has since been deposited by the State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit at the Mainland Hospital Mortuary,’’ Tiamiyu said He said the agency would also clean up the area. NAN reports that rescue operations began at about 2.45 p.m. on Thursday, following the collapse of the three-storey building under construction. NAN also reports that t...

Trump   President Donald Trump has called on Muslim-majority countries to do more to eradicate terrorist groups that claim the mantle of Islam, urging them to “drive out” terrorists. “Drive them out. Drive out the terrorists. Drive out the extremists. Drive them out of your places of worship. Drive them out of your communities. “Drive them out of your holy land and drive them out of this earth,” Trump urged. Continuing, he said, “Middle Eastern countries cannot wait for American power, but must instead decide what kind of future they want for themselves, for their countries, and for their children.” Trump said this on Sunday at the Arab-Islamic-American summit in Riyadh, which had in attendance leaders of 55 Muslim-majority countries. Critics say the speech marked Mr. Trump’s first effort to reach out to the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims.

Arsene Wenger   *Wenger accepts uncertainty over his future Arsene Wenger admitted uncertainty over his future as Arsenal manager played a role in the club’s failure to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in 20 years. Arsenal concluded the Premier League season with a 3-1 home win over Everton on Sunday, but Liverpool’s 3-0 victory against Middlesbrough condemned them to a fifth-place finish. Wenger — who claimed he had “turned down every club in the world” — has refused to say whether he intends to stay on beyond the end of the season, which has angered some fans, and he conceded it had created an unhelpful atmosphere at the Emirates Stadium. “It is annoying (to miss out on the Champions League), but we had a spell during the season that was difficult and it was difficult for me in my personal situation,” he said. “We were playing in a hostile environment. The players c...

Buhari, Yar’Adua   As groups and individuals continue to claim that President Muhammadu Buhari’s health is deteriorating while his supporters say he’s getting better and, with the President’s return to the United Kingdom on an indefinite sick leave, BAYO AKINLOYE writes that not a few people are experiencing a sense of déjà vu With a gait less graceful, the gaunt figure dressed in a dark grey kaftan with a matching cap unhurriedly climbed down from the aircraft. A momentary, studied smile formed on his face as he made a cursory glance at those who had come to welcome him after spending 49 days in an undisclosed London hospital in the United Kingdom. That was President Muhammadu Buhari returning from his medical leave since January 23 this year – he got back into the country on March 10. “I couldn’t recall being so sick since I was a young man, including in the mili...