In our lackadaisical manner as a developing nation, we ignore almost every imminent disaster until it happens, then our leaders begin to shed crocodile tears and before you pronounce “Jack”, an investigation panel would have been put in place, if the disaster is big enough. In most cases, the hidden aim of the panel is to avoid asking embarrassing questions about the preventable incidence. By the time, the panel report is submitted, if ever done, the euphoria of the incident would have gone, the victims of the disaster; the dead were buried, and the injured and properties losers would have…
Author: TheStories
United States President Joe Biden said on Sunday that America will maintain open communication lines and seek no conflict with China, ahead of the G20 summit in Indonesia this week, Reuters has reported. Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will meet face-to-face for the first time since Biden took office, as bilateral relations languish at their worst in decades. Jake Sullivan, a national security adviser to Biden, told reporters the meeting could last “a couple of hours”. Biden, who landed in Bali Island after meeting Southeast Asian and East Asian leaders in Cambodia, said the United States would “compete vigorously” with…
The comment by FIFA president for participants to “stick to football” has angered many, including the Amnesty International which secretary general has made an urgent plea to the world football governing body before the World Cup, to commit to a compensation package for migrant workers who suffered abuses in Qatar. Agnès Callamard urged the world football governing body to issue a “cast-iron commitment” that “abused workers will be compensated and that programmes to prevent further abuses are funded”, adding that such a package would go “a long way towards helping victims and their families rebuild their lives”. She also fiercely criticised…
A bomb blast on Istiklal Avenue of Istanbul on Sunday, bustled a pedestrian avenue killing six people, wounding several dozen and leaving panicked people to flee the fiery blast or huddle in cafes and shops, The Washington Post has reported. Emergency vehicles were seen at the scene which is lined up with shops and restaurants that leads to the iconic Taksim Square. Reacting to the bomb blast, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said it is a “treacherous attack” promising that the perpetrators would be punished, adding the incident had the “smell of terror”. The Washington Post reports that Sunday’s explosion…
President Emmanuel Macron of France has described the protests in Iran against the Islamic Republic, calling it a “revolution”, Iran International has reported. He made the remark during a meeting with a delegation of exiled female Iranian rights activists. “We welcomed with great honor and pleasure a delegation of Iranian women. I want here to really emphasize to them again our respect and our admiration in the context of the revolution they are leading,” the French president said. According to the Elysee, the delegation included US-based activist Masih Alinejad, Shima Babaei, and Ladan Boroumand, the co-founder of a Washington-based rights…
A cruise ship with hundreds of Covid-positive passengers docked in Sydney, Australia, after being hit by a wave of infections, CNN has reported. The Majestic Princess cruise ship was about halfway through a 12-day voyage when an outbreak of cases was noticed, Carnival Australia president Marguerite Fitzgerald told reporters in a media briefing on Saturday. The ship had 4,600 passengers and crew on board at the time, according to CNN affiliate Nine News. After mass testing 3,300 passengers, around 800 tested positive for Covid-19, as did a small number of crew, Fitzgerald said. “All positive cases were mildly symptomatic or…
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has called for more investments in Open Universities in the country and expansion of capacities of tertiary institutions. Osinbajo in a statement by Dr Sam Idiagbonya, Media Assistant to the Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Sambo on Sunday in Abuja, made the call at the 20th Convocation of the Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo. The vice president was represented by the minister of transportation. He said expansion of tertiary institutions would accommodate more youths who constituted 70 per cent of the country’s population. ”The expansion will also enhance and engender quality and healthy competition with foreign tertiary institutions.…
The National Association of Seadogs, (NAS), also known as Pyrates Confraternity has donated food items to flood victims in Etsako Central local government area of Edo. The items donated were received by the Senior Special Assistant to Gov. Godwin Obaseki on local government affairs, Etsako Central, Mr Kadiri Erumiseli on Sunday. The Items included: Bags of rice, Bags of beans, Bags of garri, Packs of Noodles, Toiletries, and Beverages amongst others. Mr Dirisu Odion, the Capoon Hybrid Deck, Edo North branch who presented the food items to the victims, said it was part of the association’s humanitarian service to assist rural…
The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has said that 93.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered to 65.5 million eligible Nigerians from March 2021 till date. The Executive Director, NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib said on Sunday in Abuja, that this was based on the 2022 population estimates, indicating that only 46.3 million eligible Nigerians have not taken any of the COVID-19 vaccines. The NPHCDA boss disclosed that Adamawa state has also joined the list of 12 other states that have fully vaccinated over 50 per cent of their eligible population with the COVID-19 vaccines. He also said…
Two unrelated pieces of information prompted the writing of this piece. First was the statement from the chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Mohammed Bello Shehu, when he paid a courtesy visit to the chairman of Nigerian Governors’ Forum, Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State in his office in Abuja. He said the commission had concluded arrangements to review, upwards, of course, the remuneration of public officers in Nigeria. The last time such was carried out for these categories of Nigerians “was in 2008, which makes it even overdue for review,” he stated. The second was…