Author: Editor

By Osmund Agbo On the 5th of June 2017, the Middle East nations of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and United Arab Emirate announced that they had severed ties with Qatar, a fellow member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). They were later joined by Jordan while a host of other non-GCC nations including Mauritania, Djibouti, Maldives, Israel and the Comoros stood behind in solidarity. In the ensuing diplomatic face-off, Qatar-registered planes and ships were banned from utilizing those nation’s air spaces and sea routes. Saudi Arabia even went a step further to block Qatar’s only land crossing. The State of Qatar…

Lawrence Nwimo, Awka The new Transition Committee Chairman of Nnewi North Local Government Area Anambra State, Mr Mbazulike Iloka, has been suspended by the state government barely one week after his appointment. His suspension wan not unconnected to the strange circumstances surrounding the death of his wife Mrs Chidiebere IIoka and the public outcry which suggests that her death might have been a case of possible homicide. Late Chidiebere, Iloka’s wife, was reported to have slouched and passed away on Sunday morning after preparing her husband’s breakfast. However, someone close to the family argued that Iloka may have murdered his wife given a history of battering. Additionally,…

Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia Abia State governorship flag bearer of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, in the 2023 poll, Professor Greg Ibe, has kicked against the alleged move by the State Government to obtain a bank loan to bail out the Abia State Polytechnic Aba. Professor Ibe who described the move as “digging a hole to fill another hole” expressed worry over the increasing debt burden of the state, and advised Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu to jettison the plan. The Chancellor, Gregory University Uturu said there was no wisdom in increasing the debt burden of the state by going for a fresh…

Lawrence Nwimo, Awka The Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has assured Nigerians that his government, if elected as president, will give them a sense of belonging. Obi spoke at the Labour Party and Coalition for Peter Obi Leadership Summit in Abuja on Thursday. He expressed optimism that his administration would take power back to Nigerians. According to the former Anambra State governor, the only thing lacking in the country at the moment is leadership and stressed that his aim to occupy the number seat is to give Nigerians good leadership. Obi said: “Nigeria is at crossroads and it would be foolhardy for anyone to sugarcoat…

By Richard Akinnola Mr Minere Amakiri was the Rivers State correspondent of the former Mid-West Observer. On July 29, 1973, he went to cover a press conference  held by the Rivers State chapter of the Nigerian Union of Teachers over certain grievances against the State Governor. The teachers had complained that while other civil servants were enjoying increased pay, those of teachers had been stagnated and they felt the time had come for them to confront the State government on their plight. That was the subject of the press conference called by the teachers. Mr Amakiri, as usual went to…

By Azu Ishiekwene When a proud Oluwatobiloba Ayomide Amusan climbed the podium in faraway Eugene, Oregon in the United States, as the World Champion in Women 100m Hurdles, not a few equally proud Nigerians mounted with her in spirit.  She had just set a new World Record at 12.12s breaking Keni Kendra Harrison’s 27-year record and leaving legend Michael Johnson wondering how she did it.  Whether from their living rooms in Canada, in the consulting rooms of UK hospitals, or even on the streets of Indonesia, where they have all migrated in search of the good life that had eluded them in…

Michael Onwuka, Enugu The National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Enugu State Council on Thursday took its campaign on exclusive breastfeeding to pregnant and nursing mothers at Uwani General Hospital, Enugu. The exercise which was done in partnership with Reals Pharmaceuticals Ltd., was part of activities set aside by NAWOJ to mark the 2022 World Breastfeeding Week. In a lecture, the Business Manager, Reals Pharmaceuticals, Mr Lucky Nwajei, said that the benefits of breastfeeding were enormous. Nwajei said that conscientious six months exclusive breastfeeding of newborns could lower incidences of child mortality in the society. He said that feeding of…

Lawrence Nwimo, Awka Anambra State government has marked all illegally constructed shops for demolition in NASPA (New Auto Spare Parts Association), F-Line (Agbedo United Traders Association), and Zone-14 all in Nnewi. The State Government, last month, had embarked on the removal of illegal structures and shop extensions erected on the tarred roads along Bright Street and White House axis of Onitsha Main Market. These actions, Ikengaonline reported, followed Governor Soludo’s order that all market executives in the state decongest every entrance road into their various markets to make way for free flow of human and vehicular movements. However, the Commissioner for Commerce…

Michael Onwuka, Enugu Enugu State government, Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) and Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) are trading blames over the ongoing strike by workers in the local government councils of the state. Recall that local government workers, including public primary school teachers and Primary Health Care (PHC) workers in the state on July 27, 2022, started a strike over non-implementation of the N30, 000 minimum wage in those sectors. The strike was announced after a joint press conference by the leadership of the NUT and NULGE in the state. Meanwhile, the Chairman of NUT in the state,…

Our Reporter, Abuja The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa on Wednesday, August 10, 2022, at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja presented awards to the three winners of the 2021 EFCC Essay competition titled: “How to Fight Economic and Financial Crimes to Make Nigeria Great.” ‘ A press statement by Wilson Uwujaren, EFCC’s head of media and publicity, identified the winners as Ehizogie Iyeomoan, an undergraduate student of Law at the Ambrose Ali University Ekpoma, Edo State; Omtoso Abiola Sodiq, an Engineering student of the University of Ibadan, Oyo State and Zeenat Magaji an…