Buhari to lead Nigeria delegation to 73rd UN General Assembly (Guardian)
The Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, says President Muhammadu Buhari, will lead Nigeria’s delegation to the 73rd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, which begins Sept. 18. The 73rd UNGA will begin Sept. 18 at the UN Headquarters, New York, while the General Debate will hold from Sept. 25 to Oct. 1. Read more
Lagos on edge as Tinubu rallies forces against Ambode (Vanguard)
LAGOS and indeed, much of the entire South-West was on tenterhooks yesterday as political permutations against a second term for Governor Akinwunmi Ambode reached a crescendo with the unravelling of the governor’s political base. Worse, the governor’s prospects of serving out the rest of his first term, it was learnt, was hanging in the balance upon claims of momentum to remove him from office if he does not drop his second term aspiration. Read more
Two APC aspirants battle Ambode for Lagos ticket (Punch)
Two new aspirants for the Lagos State governor under the All Progressives Congress’ umbrella emerged on Tuesday, fuelling speculations that all was not well with the incumbent governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, and a national leader of the party, Bola Tinubu. The aspirants, who were former commissioners in the state, Dr Obafemi Hamzat and Jide Sanwoolu, were said to have claimed to have Tinubu’s backing. Read more
Robbers kill Catholic priest in Imo (Vanguard)
A gang of daredevil armed robbers Monday night, snuffed life out of a young Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Jude Egbom. Vanguard gathered that Fr. Egbom, before his gruesome murder, was the Parish Priest of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, Amucha, Orlu local government area of Imo State. Although the story weaved around the priest’s death was very sketchy at press time, it was however gathered that Fr. Egbom was on his way to his parish, from an official engagement, when he ran into the rampaging criminals. Read more
Disregard IPOB’s sit-at-home, Police tell banks in Enugu (Vanguard)
ENUGU State Commissioner of Police, Mr Mohammed Danmallam, has called on banks, other financial institutions and residents to ignore the sit at home call by the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB and go about their lawful businesses without fear of intimidation. IPOB members on solidarity march Danmallam made the assurance yesterday in Enugu during a meeting with the Enugu Bankers Forum, an umbrella of banking practitioners comprising all banks in the state. Read more
PDP: Defection looms as govs sideline national legislators (Vanguard)
THE National Leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has feigned knowledge of friction in the states between some governors and National Assembly members elected on its platform, which could make the aggrieved members to defect to other parties. There have been complaints from some states such as Abia, Enugu, Benue and Kogi among others that the federal legislators were being sidelined by the governors, and the national leadership has not been honouring the promises made to the legislators, who suffered to keep the party afloat. Read more
2019: PDP Governors disagree on consensus Candidate (Vanguard)
Governors elected on the platform of The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors under the aegis of PDP Governors’ Forum yesterday disagreed with the call by the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT)for a consensus candidate, it was learnt late Tuesday night. The governors also resolved that the national convention of the party where the presidential candidate would emerged would hold in Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital. Read more
Dogara to contest in 2019, silent on party (Sun)
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, said he has accepted the request of his constituents to contest for Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa Balewa Federal Constituency of Bauchi State seat in 2019, for another term. The speaker said he was already considering stepping aside, having represented the constituency for three terms. Dogara, who stated this when some of his supporters paid him a solidarity visit in Abuja, was, however, silent on whether he would contest the election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) or the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). The speaker said he was overwhelmed by the show of support by his constituents, who travelled from their respective local government areas, in Bauchi, to appeal to him to continue to represent them in the Green Chamber beyond 2019. Read more
Bianca gets royal blessing to contest senatorial election (Vanguard)
THE debate on whether Bianca Ojukwu, wife of the late Igbo leader and Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu is qualified to contest the Anambra South senatorial election in Anambra State or not, based on the fact that her paternal home is Enugu State, has drawn the ire of some notable Igbo personalities, including the traditional ruler of Nteje community in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State, Igwe Rowland Odegbo who gave Ojukwu’s widow his royal blessings yesterday. This came as the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law, Intersociety, said All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, and Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State will put their names in the good books of history if the wife of late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu is fielded by the party as its candidate for Anambra South Senatorial district for the 2019 election. Read more
‘Africa is world’s biggest untapped shipping market (Guardian)
Against the backdrop that Africa is the world’s biggest untapped market, the Federal Government is wooing more foreign investors to the continent, particularly the Nigerian maritime market space.
Director-General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, (NIMASA), Dakuku Peterside and the Nigerian Ambassador to Germany, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, have however charged foreign investors to tap into the opportunities that abound in the African maritime sector, stating that the continent is one of the largest in terms of cargo contributions to global maritime trade. Read more
Taraba police nab three for killing six-year-old for ritual (Guardian)
The police in Taraba State on Tuesday paraded three suspects in connection with the brutal murder of a six-year-old girl, Maimuna Yahaya, who was lured and allegedly killed by the suspects last Sunday. Taraba State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP David Missal, identified the suspects as Adamu Mohammed, Mrs Umaimatu Tanimu and Abdulahi Abubakar, all of Sabon-Gida in the Gassol Local Government Area of the state. Read more
Why venture capitalists ask for ‘The Nigeria discount’ (Guardian)
Many years ago, I was sitting inside an investor’s office in Redwood City in Silicon Valley, and he asked me a question that threw me off-guard. He wondered if the returns on real-estate in Africa were not better than the returns on startups? His family had bought a lot of land in Tanzania for farming, and he was of the belief that the land or property would yield higher returns than any potential startup investment. Read more
‘Greenhouse technology to aid Nigeria’s tomato export opportunity’ (Guardian)
The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has commended an indigenous producer of tomato, Wells Hosa Greenhouse Farms Limited, for deploying the use of greenhouse technology to produce exportable tomatoes in the country. The Executive Director, NEPC, Olusegun Awolowo, explained that with the technology, Nigeria could now start to export tomatoes to every part of the world, maintaining that the technology would also help to end the era of Nigeria’s tomatoes being infected by different forms of diseases hence unacceptable overseas. Read more
Merchants of faith in the age of hunger (Thisday)
Today, this column is devoted to an interrogation of issues raised in “Saved for His Praise”, a new book by the journalist and publisher, Prince Emeka Obasi which was presented to the public in Lagos a few days ago. In the book, Obasi weighs in heavily on exposing the reader to a series of incongruities relating to ‘the permissive culture of religious hypocrisy and the monster of fake prophecies which it has spawned;’ and he remarks that the challenge is quietly and steadily swamping our national space. He has several tales to support his view. Read more
Donald Trump Jr says not worried about going to jail (Guardian)
US President Donald Trump’s eldest son said he was not worried that he could be jailed over his role in the Russia probe, but suggested investigators might try to “create” legal difficulties for him. In an interview with ABC that aired Tuesday, he also attacked as “disgusting” the senior administration official who wrote a recent anonymous op-ed detailing a chaotic White House, and acknowledged the president’s trusted inner circle has shrunk since the piece’s publication. Read more
PSG announce deal to launch cryptocurrency (Guardian)
French footballing giants Paris Saint-Germain are launching their own cryptocurrency after announcing a new partnership with Socios.com, a blockchain company based in Malta. In a statement announcing the deal on Tuesday, Qatar-owned PSG did not reveal the length of the agreement or how much money they will make from it, although a source told AFP they expected it to be worth “several million euros”. Read more
Why Nigerian athletes get involved in age cheating – sports minister (Guardian)
Nigeria’s minister for youth and sports development Solomon Dalung has said persistent issues of age cheating at competitions was due to long years of youth sports programme abandonment. Dalung made the disclosure to newsmen in Ilorin noting, that athletes eligible during the years sports were abandoned looked for avenues to showcase their talents. Read more