Author: Editor
Lawrence Nwimo, Awka A 2-day investigative journalism training on ‘Strengthening Public Accountability for Results and Knowledge’ (SPARK 2) project has ended with a call for journalists to embrace evidence-based reporting to enthrone accountability in the country. The training which focused on Health and Agricultural interventions was organised by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) in partnership with International Budget Partnership (IBP) for 20 journalists drawn from five states across the country. Addressing the participants, ICIR Executive Director, Dayo Aiyetan, urged media practitioners to embrace data and evidence for credible and balanced reportage. The ICIR boss who described the participants…
Agency Report The Chief Imam, Falomo Lagos Central Mosque, Dr Tajudeen Adebayo, said the public should respect the sensibility of the fasting Muslim faithful by avoiding eating in their presence. Adebayo said that eating in public during the hours of fasting debases the sensibility of those fasting and could discourage people from the self-denial ritual. The Cleric spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Thursday, against the backdrop of some Muslims that were caught eating when they should be fasting. NAN reports that Hisbah, the Islamic Police, on Wednesday in Kano arrested 10 men and a…
By Azu Ishiekwene The journey to Kuriga in southern Kaduna, North-west Nigeria, did not start with the kidnap of 287 students last week. In the early 1990s a neighbouring town, Zango Kataf, was the boiling point. About a decade later, the beast of sectarian violence, which had reared its head in Kaduna, surfaced several hundreds of miles away in two major places that have become the epicentres of insurgency: Borno and Yobe States, both in the North-East. Even though misery travelled southwards aided by Mohammed Yusuf, the itinerant extremist Muslim preacher in Yobe whose activities heightened the…
Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia Abia First Lady, Mrs Priscilla Otti, Thursday, led the awareness march against glaucoma as a procession of the campaigners marched through major streets in Umuahia the state capital. The exercise which was part of activities making this year’s World Glaucoma Week had top Government officials and social crusaders in attendance. Speaking at a rally inside the premises of Workers Secretariat, Ogurube Layout, Mrs Otti represented by the wife of the Deputy Governor, Mrs Adaeze Emetu, expressed concern over the reported prevalence of glaucoma in the state. She called for collaboration among the stakeholders to raise awareness among…
Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia The biting economic situation in the country, has further worsened the plights of post transplant persons in Abia State as the price of their life-saving treatments, has gone out of control. Resultantly, the group under the aegis of Abia State Post Transplant Persons Association of Nigeria (ASPTPAN), has sent Save Our Souls (SoS) message to Government and corporate organizations to come to their rescue, lamenting they can no longer afford their treatment due to the high exchange rate. President of the Association, Professor Remy O. Mejeha; and Secretary, Dr Clement Ifenkoronye, in their remarks during the celebration…
By Rudolf Okonkwo I almost became famous. I was the father of Olumide’s love interest in an unreleased music video shot in Brooklyn in 2014. Famous Nigerian filmmaker, Kemi Adetiba, directed the video. I don’t know why it was not released, but my experience on that set was eye-opening and showed me what fame is from the inside. Despite the abundance of substances to enhance personality and performance, the loneliness in Olumide’s eyes was palpable. It verified what I had always suspected – being famous is like being a peacock on the stage. While you perform, the rest of the…
Ben Ezechime, Enugu A Civil Right Lawyer, Olu Omotayo, has issued a pre-action notice to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, (NAFDAC), over alleged failure of the agency to release the outcome of investigation into a reported case of spoilt peak milk by his client Mr Paul Eze. In the pre action notice addressed to the Director General of NAFDAC and made available to Ikengaonline in Enugu, Omotayo said that on the expiration of the pre action notice, the chamber will take proper legal action against the agency. He said: We have his instructions and authority…
Ike Nnachi, Abakaliki The Ebonyi State Chairman, Association of Primary School Head Teachers of Nigeria (AOPSHON), Comrade Nwali Ede, has petitioned the State Governor, Rt. Hon Francis Nwifuru, over alleged discrimination, unfavorable treatment and neglect by the State Government against primary school teachers in the State. In the petition signed by him, dated 13th March 2024 and addressed to the State Governor, Comrade Ede enumarated some of the discrimination against primary school teachers to include disparity in salary payment, inconsistency in salary payment and retirement benefit of primary school teachers among others. Comrade Ede accused the State Government of using…
Ben Ezechime, Enugu The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) has pledged to support Nigeria to address its current food crisis. Dr Donald Brown, the Associate Vice President, Programme Management Department of IFAD, made the pledge when he and his team paid a courtesy visit to Gov. Peter Mbah of Enugu State on Wednesday. Brown disclosed that IFAD had about a billion dollars agro investment in Nigeria in many sectors around agriculture, processing and production, adding that the organisation would help Nigeria to address food crisis. According to him, the organisation would provide technical assistance…
Ben Ezechime, Enugu Senator Chukwuka Utazi, who represented Enugu North Senatorial district in the 8th National Assembly on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has officially joined the All Progressives Congress, APC. It would be recalled that Senator Utazi recently dumped the Peoples Democratic Party, after eight years in the upper legislative chamber. In a resignation letter, Utazi said he left the party because the ideals that attracted him to the PDP in 1998 “have since receded into oblivion.” “Therefore, I will find another party that will afford me with ample opportunity to operate maximally and contribute to…