Curator

http://ift.tt/2sCteaM …Biafra activists after sit-in By Anayo Okoli, Umuahia For more than a week, tension built in Igboland over the sit-at-home called by the leadership of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, and the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, to mark the declaration of Biafra and to further push for their quest for a better deal for Ndigbo. The police high command threatened fire and and brimstone, directing the commissioners of police in Igboland to do everything to stop the people from obeying the call, arguing that Nigeria is a republic and nobody or group other than the government has the power to ask the people to sit-at-home’, or declare a public holiday. The Nigerian Army and other security operatives increased their presence in Igbo towns and cities with  stop-and-search on the road, all in the effort to cow the agitators to stop the sit-at-home call. The governors of the South-East states issued statements appealing to ...

http://ift.tt/2rEyj5l Chief Sunday Eromedoghene  Onoriode, Delta  State Organizing Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is the immediate past Chairman of Ethiope East local government area  and one-time-State Director of Youths Mobilization and Assistant Secretary of the party. In this piece, Onoriode speaks on the second anniversary of the Okowa administration. On the Governor Ifeanyi Okowa administration two years in office. Without mincing words, Okowa is an action governor who has, for the past twenty four months of his administration, embarked on massive infrastructural projects across Delta. Okowa’s government is geared towards making Deltans, especially the youths, self-dependent, and this has played out in their enrolment under a  skill acquisition programme so that at the end of the exercise they will be empowered and same time be employer of labour. Okowa  started the skill acquisition programme with  starter pack for the benefici...

http://ift.tt/2qHp5Gc Christian Chukwu The All Progressives Congress (APC) has mandated former Super Eagles chief coach, Christian Chukwu to embark on a talent hunt for budding footballers across the six geopolitical zones of the country. The party is organising a football competition involving non- league players to achieve the goal. APC’s National Youth Leader, Dasuki Ibrahim Jalo, who inaugurated the National Unity Cup’s organisng committee yesterday, said the competition, scheduled for next month, is part of the party’s efforts to initiate and implement strategic programmes that would endear it to Nigerian youths.  Disclosing that the competition is organized in conjunction with zonal and states’ youth leaders of the party, Jalo said the competition would bring out hidden football talents, who would be trained to play for Nigeria. He said the date of the kickoff, the modus operandi, competition format, the price rewards, among other things, would be resolved by...

http://ift.tt/2rqWe64 CREDIT: https://i.ytimg.com *Technique scientists hope will cure cancer, inherited disease found to have dangerous flaw Crispr-Cas9 gene editing technology has been hailed as humanity’s route to ‘designer babies’ who are tailored with desirable genetic traits.The technique, which can ‘cut and paste’ small sections of Deoxy ribonucleic Acid (DNA)/genetic material, means the next generation may benefit from powerful gene therapies that can delete or repair flawed genes. It could act as a golden bullet for diseases like cancer, Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and genetic conditions such as Huntington’s disease. But a new study has found that Crispr-Cas9, also known as ‘Crispr’, can introduce hundreds of unintended and potentially harmful mutations into DNA.The finding could put a stop to clinical trials scheduled in the United States (U.S.) for next year, as well as those currently underway in China. Writing...

http://ift.tt/2oO2map University of Ibadan The suspended Students Union Executive Council and Students Representatives Council (SRC) of the University of Ibadan (UI) yesterday urged the Federal Government to investigate the financial transactions of its management. They also asked the authorities to re-open the university for the undergraduates to commence their 2016/2017 first semester examinations.Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Idowu Olayinka had on Tuesday announced Senate’s decision to postpone the examinations to July 17, due to the violent protests embarked upon by the students in the school premises. But President of the suspended Union, Aderemi Ojo said the union remains intact and would continue to fight for improved welfare of the students.Ojo who spoke in company of the union’s Secretary, Uchechukwu Augustine and Speaker of the SRC, Ibrahim Asiwaju faulted the Vice Chancellor statement without Senate’s approval, which he said, was contrary to the university r...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Rosemary Onuoha NIGERIAN workers have been charged to undertake additional voluntary savings to boost their retirement benefits. Managing Director, Sigma Pensions Limited, Mr. Dave Uduanu, who gave this advice at the company’s human resources conference in Lagos also said that self-employed Nigerians should go for a sound pension plan to build strong financial plans for retirement. He urged those in the Contributory Pension Scheme, CPS, to advance to the level of additional voluntary savings into their retirement savings account (RSA) adding that contributors can earn benefits higher than their working days salaries through the additional voluntary savings. He said, “Sigma Pensions, which currently has over 600,000 contributors and listed in the London stock exchange ‘companies to inspire Africa’ report is determined to help Nigerian workers build better financial future. “Sigma Pensions, which is the fifth largest pension fund administrator in Nigeria w...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J The organizers of the sustainability, Enterprise and Responsibility Awards, SERAS CSR Awards have announced the commencement of submission of entries for the 2017 edition. The theme for the 2017 awards is-Transformational Sustainability: From Social Responsibility to Social Impact. This edition of the awards seeks to uncover the brands that have walked their talks in the real sense and unravel the links between investments/interventions and the actual impacts of these in communities where organisations do business and the general society at large. The award is open to large, medium and small scale, not- for- profit organizations, as well as public sector organizations. Twenty honors would be up for grab in line with the sustainable development goals as set by the United Nations. The annual SERAS CSR Awards, which first held in 2007, has grown to become the prime corporate awards promoting and measuring corporate social responsibility and sustainability in Afri...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Naomi Uzor THE United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Representative to ECOWAS and Regional Director, Nigeria Regional Office Hub, Mr. Jean Bakole, has said that the organisation would partner and support the Nigerian government in the development of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country. Bakole stated this during the management retreat organized with UNIDO’s support for the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and its agencies, in Makurdi, Benue State. He said, “UNIDO is strongly committed to support the remarkable efforts of the government to increase the national productivity and achieve sustainable industrialization through value addition and sustainable diversification of productive activities for economic growth and poverty reduction.” “We intend to intensify our activities in Nigeria as well as expand our scope into other sectors such as the mining and creative industries...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Adaeze Okechukwu CORPORATE governance has been identified as a crucial element in ensuring that companies thrive even in the face of economic recession. This was the keynote position at the 2017 roundtable on corporate governance organized by the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria, ICSAN, yesterday, in Lagos. Leading the discourse themed, “The importance of Corporate Governance in a Recessed Economy”, Mr Folarin Alayande, Head of Strategy, First Bank Holdings Plc, explained that recessions lead to greater advocacy for transparency or greater accountability in corporate governance, with activists challenging decisions of Board of Directors and put greater pressure on management for performance, adding that strengthened corporate governance leads to enhanced resource utilization across private and public sectors. He said that this would enhance efficiency in, and ultimately greater resource allocation across the economy, thus lea...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Tare Youdeowei FOR the past two weeks or more, customers of the South African owned MTN network, have lamented the price hike of recharge cards from the network. N100 cards sell for N110, N200 for N220 and the list goes on. Here, retailers, wholesalers and most importantly, consumers voice their woes. Madam Otobo a retailer in Agric, Ojo, Lagos, says: “we buy N100 card for N100, from wholesalers how can we now sell at the same amount? Do we sit all day selling cards for charity? They then go and place an advert that people shouldn’t pay more. It’s not acceptable. Other cards are still normal price.” Mr. Johnbull Agbarakwe, a  subscriber in Ajegunle said; “the solution can only be to stop patronizing them. They have done this before and people moved to other networks. They seem to forget so soon that their monopoly was broken because of their greed. Glo came with per second billing. The last time they did this I bought an Airtel sim card, now this. “The ...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Gideon Olawale T he Nigerian doctors in Diaspora under the umbrella of Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas, ANPA, has successfully carried out a series of surgical operations in Nigeria as a way of giving back to their home country and promote healthy living. The exercise which ran for five days in Lagos witnessed paediatric surgery, anal operation, abdominal and breast surgery among others. The President of ANPA, Dr. Johnson Adeyanju, who spoke during a dinner co-hosted by the Lagos State Ministry of Health, First Consultants Medical Centre and Channels Television, praised the Nigerian government and medical expert in the country for their timely response to the meningitis outbreak even as they called for more proactive approach. Adeyanju who explained that medical tourism was not only peculiar to Nigeria called for more investment in infrastructure, skill development and welfare of care providers. “Some of the factors that promote medical...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Sharonrose Robert The hearing of an application seeking to set aside an arrest warrant issued against two foreigners , over alleged $ 8.8 million fraud has been fixed for May 23, by a Lagos High Court, Ikeja. The Director of Public Prosecution, DPP are prosecuting the Indian-British nationals; Deepak Khilnani and Sushil Chandra , alleged to have defrauded their Nigeria partner, Green Fuels Limited , in 2008 , for conspiracy, cheating, stealing and false representation, before Justice Atinuke Ipaye . The prosecution alleged that the foreign nationals hoodwinked Green Fuels Limited into paying higher sum for machinery procured from Gentec Limited than what was obtained. The prosecution led by by Senior State Counsel, Mrs Bola Akinsete filed an application for the arrest of the defendants, after futile attempts to formally arraigned them in court , as they were alleged to have fled to the United Kingdom , upon commencement of investigation into the alleged fra...