Author: Editor

By Owei Lakemfa In Geneva, Switzerland, an acquaintance once apologised that he was some minutes late for our appointment because he went to vote that morning. Everywhere and everything appeared normal. There was no indication of voting going on. I reflected that back home, elections even at state level are emergencies in which curfew is imposed, movement restricted and the army, police, intelligence and other security services turned out on the streets. In November, 2021, I was an observer at the elections in Venezuela. It was a Sunday because the Venezuelans would not allow a disruption of their normal activities, including…

Ben Ezechime, Enugu The Vice Chancellor of Godfrey Okoye University (GOU) Enugu, Monsignor Christian Anieke has  said that the university was one of the fastest growing private universities in the South-East of Nigeria. Anieke said this at the university’s matriculation ceremony for 2022/23 academic session. “This is a clear testimony of our rapid growth in the number of students matriculating today,” he said. He said that 1,093 new students were matriculated for 2022/ 2023 academic session According to him: “A breakdown of the list showed that 750 were fresh students from Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), while 88 came in through Direct…

Ben Ezechime, Enugu The Primate of the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd Enugu Diocese of the Anglican Communion, Most Rev. Henry Ndukuba, has cautioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against electoral fraud during the forthcoming general election. Ndukuba said this at a Thanksgiving Service in commemoration of Professor Chinedu Nebo’s 70th birthday/retirement  held at Abakpa-Nike, Enugu. Nebo was former Vice Chancellor of University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) and Federal University, Oye Ekiti as well as Minister of Power in then Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. The service was used also to inaugurate one kilometer road leading to the Cathedral Church built…

Lawrence Nwimo, Awka Labour Party candidate for Anambra Central Senatorial District, Victor Umeh, has faulted a high court judgment disqualifying him from contesting in the 2023 general election. A Federal High Court ruling in Awka presided over by Justice H. A. Ngajiwa disqualified the nomination of Umeh as Labour Party Senatorial Candidate for Anambra Central in a suit reportedly filled by Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Senator Lilian Uche Ekwunife. In a statement he personally signed, Umeh expressed total dissatisfaction with the judgment, noting that Uche Ekwunife and the PDP do not have constitutional power to challenge his nomination in…

Lawrence Nwimo, Awka Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), has said that the extension of the old naira notes swap deadline from January 31 to February 10, 2023, is a welcome relief to many Nigerians. Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sunday, announced a 10-day extension of the deadline for the use of the old naira notes across the country after it got approval of President Muhammadu Buhari for the extension. A statement signed by the Lead Director, Eze Onyekpere, said the decision was a huge relief and that “many hardworking Nigerians, especially in the rural areas would have lost their honest income if…

By Osmund Agbo The Boston Celtics is inarguably one of the most successful franchises of any National Basketball Association (NBA) team in American history. Fact. Upon formation on June 6th, 1946, the then owner, Walter Augustine Brown was intentional in naming the team Celtics, as a tribute to Boston’s huge Irish population. Today, the Boston Celtics hold the record for the most recorded wins of any NBA team and it’s hard to tell if this magic was made possible with the help of Lucky the Leprechaun, the team’s official mascot or has something to do with the famed Irish tenacity…

Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia Nigeria’s former Minister of Education, and a strong advocate of transparency in governance, Mrs Oby Ezekwesili, has hailed the initiative by Ukraine to combat global shortage of grain despite the country’s challenge of a raging war with Russia. The former Vice President of the World Bank made the remark while responding to her appointment by Ukrainian President,  Volodymyr Zelensky,  as ambassador of the Ukrainian government’s ‘Grain from Ukraine’ programme. She said that Ukraine’s bold step to tackle the grain crisis would not only help to address the lingering wheat shortage in Africa but the entire world. Ikengaonline reports…

Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia Former Minister for Education and strong advocate of good governance, Mrs Oby Ezekwesili, has intensified her support for the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, as she takes to the social media to educate voters on how to cast their ballot for the Labour Party in the February 25 presidential poll. Ezekwesili, in a post on her verified Twitter handle @obyezeks, urged all eligible voters in the country to be armed with their Permanent Voter’s Cards, PVCs, and actively participate in birthing the new Nigeria by voting Obi into power. She said nobody should be a…

Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, has decried the precarious economic situation in the country, saying that Nigeria has been on the reverse gear. Obasanjo warned that the woes of the country would get worse if Nigerians failed to make the right choice at the February 25 presidential poll. He described the level of poverty and widening economic gap between the poor and the rich following the poor handling of the country’s economy. “I am concerned that the current state of our nation’s economy has widened the gulf of inequality and left many people in despair. Inflation is on…

Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia Ahead of the fresh governorship primary of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Abia State, slated for February 5, the party leaders, have zoned the party ticket to Isiala Ngwa North. The party’s late governorship flag bearer, Professor Uche Ikonne, whose death on January 25, gave rise to the fresh primary, hailed from Isiala Ngwa North. The former Vice Chancellor, Abia State University Uturu, picked his running mate, Hon. Okey Igwe from Isuochi in Umunneochi Local Government Area (Abia North). Apparently to maintain the already power equation put in place, PDP, in a press release by…