Author: Editor
Nonsochukwu Uwa, Owerri Following the explosion that rocked an illegal refinery last Friday night in Abaezi community in Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State and claimed over 100 lives, the Imo State Government on Monday directed a mass burial for the bodies burnt beyond recognition. The State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Declan Emelumba, disclosed this to newsmen in Owerri, while commiserating with families who lost their loved ones in the inferno. The State Government also gave an order to the security agencies to quickly comb the entire forests where the incident happened to arrest the operators of the…
Michael Onwuka, Enugu In a bid to boost citizens’ political participation, a Non-Governmental Organisation, Elite Group, in Iheaka, Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State has introduced raffle draws to boost participation in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in the area. The patron of the group, Dr. Felix Ugwu, said during the maiden raffle draw on Monday that the gesture was meant to encourage the people of the community to discharge their civic responsibilities. Ugwu said that he had observed with dismay the low level of registration of voters in the South-East in general and Enugu State in…
By Uche Ugboajah Judging him by the role of “Zebrudaya Okorigwe Nwogbo alias 4:30,” the character he played for over two decades in one of the most popular and pioneering sitcoms in Nigeria, he would easily pass for a mere jester. But you will be wrong! Chief Chika Okpala is a very serious-minded person, a deep thinker, cultural ambassador, and moral compass for a society still in search of its social trajectory. He was born over seven decades ago in Ahoada in present-day Rivers State into a family of nine children with a polygamous father who had two wives but…
Stephen Ukandu, News /Features Editor Nollywood actor, Anayo Modestus Onyenkwere, popularly known as Kanayo. O Kanayo, has disagreed with the Minister of Information and Culture, Chief Lai Mohammed, that the rising cases of ritual killings and love for money among youths are as a result of undue influence from Nollywood movies. Kanayo rather blamed the menace on the ostentatious display of wealth by politicians, erosion of values in society, adverse effect of social media, failure of parents in their responsibilities towards their children, negligence by relevant government agencies, among others factors. The Mbaise, Imo State-born veteran actor and lawyer, made…
Our Reporter, Abuja Former Governor of Anambra State, Chief Okwesilieze Nwodo, has again made a serious case for a Nigerian president of South-East extraction in 2023. Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, the former governor and founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), stated that the most compelling case for a president from the South-East in 2023 is his belief that Nigeria is a country of conscience. Nwodo said that Nigeria had in the past addressed the problem of marginalization and injustice in the system by drawing on this rich reservoir of conscience, whether the problem is…
By Farooq Kperogi Bukola Saraki manipulated “northern elders” led by Professor Ango Abdullahi to simultaneously endorse him AND Bauchi State governor Bala Mohammed as the North’s “consensus candidates” for PDP’s presidential primaries. But by what woolly arithmetic logic do two distinct people emerge as the “consensus candidates” of one region? Well, Abdullahi reportedly said Saraki and Mohammed were “required to make further concessions so that in the end, one of them would be presented as the consensus candidate.” How? Of course, other PDP candidates have dismissed the “northern consensus” exercise as an immature political flimflam. The clearest indication that the…
Michael Onwuka Enugu The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Enugu State Command has urged parents to closely monitor the activities of their children to stem the tide of illicit drug abuse in the South-East. The Assistant State Commander, Drug Demand Reduction Department, NDLEA, Mr. Adjai Eyiuche disclosed this on Sunday during the Mothering Sunday celebration of St. Mulumba Catholic Church, Enugu. Eyiuche, who addressed the worshippers during the advocacy visit, said that the appeal followed the high incidence of drug abuse and production among young people in the state. He said that the most abused illicit drug in the…
Nonsochukwu Uwa, Owerri An exclusive investigation by Ikengaonline has revealed that owners of illegal oil bunkering sites in Abaezi community, Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State, usually pay between N250,000 to N500,000 to landowners, just to allow them to use their property to operate illegal oil refinery sites. A reliable source, a community leader in Abaezi who claimed to have been advocating against the illegal oil bunkering activities, spoke with Ikengaonline after an explosion occurred last Friday night in an illegal bunkering site in the community. Ikengaonline reported that over 100 people were killed in the inferno and several…
Michael Onwuka, Enugu Former Jigawa State governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, says the purported emergence of former Senate President, Alhaji Bukola Saraki and Bauchi State governor, Alhaji Bala Mohammed, as northern consensus candidates for the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) presidential ticket is undemocratic. Lamido disclosed this in a statement on Saturday in Dutse. Recall that the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) had on June 23 announced Saraki and Mohammed as the consensus presidential candidates from northern Nigeria ahead of the May 28 presidential primaries of the PDP. The Chairman, NEF, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, had in a communique, said the election of the…
By Chidi Anselm Odinkalu In the currency of public policy and political communication in Nigeria, one word occupies the Platinum standard all by itself – “virile.” No major speech by a Nigerian ruler is complete without it. Soon after assuming office in his first term, Nigeria’s President, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, proudly informed the European Parliament that his ambition was to have Nigeria “be counted among the most stable, strong and virile democracies in Africa.” His European audience must have been forgiven for wondering why this African president appeared to be distracted by an anatomical part closely associated with change. Buhari’s…