Burkina Faso’s army captain, Ibrahim Traore, announced Friday night that the army had seized power and ousted military leader Paul Henri Damiba, who himself had taken power in a coup only eight months ago. Traore said in a statement that a group of officers who helped Damiba seize power in January had decided that the leader was no longer able to secure the country, which has been battling a mounting Islamic insurgency. The statement signed by Traore was read on state television late Friday by another military officer. “Faced with the deteriorating situation, we tried several times to get Damiba…
Author: TheStories
We all crave good governance. That is why we opted for democracy and chased the army back to the barracks in 1999. Though a vestige of them remained till 2007, we were proud of what we achieved, and all the exiles returned home to breathe free air without looking over their shoulders every minute. Nigeria that had become a pariah state under the dark goggled general began to have her President airborne across the Sahara so frequently that citizens began to complain. But he was opening closed doors and bringing Nigeria back to reckoning once more. We needed good governance…
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence, Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, has advised the general public, especially Nigerian youths that are desirous of applying for empowerment programmes, to distance themselves from anyone asking them to pay any amount of money before they are considered for the opportunity. Wamakko, in a statement by his special assistant on New Media, Bashar Abubakar on Friday, was reacting to some unscrupulous elements who are duping unsuspecting job-seeking youths of various amounts of money. “The attention of the office of His Excellency, Sen. Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, at the National Assembly (NASS), has been drown on activities…
Chelsea is at the head of the queue to sign Christopher Nkunku next summer. The RB Leipzig striker is thought to have undergone medical tests for Chelsea this year, but with an eye on a potential transfer in 2023. The France forward is thought to have a 52 million pounds ($57 million) release clause at RB Leipzig. And Chelsea’s new owners have already made inroads towards securing a transfer. The prolific striker netted 35 goals last term and has already hit the ground running this season with six in 11 games. Co-controlling Chelsea owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali are…
President Muhammadu Buhari has called on African countries to tackle the forces that are inhibiting business integration among African countries. Addressing the second African Sub-Sovereign Governments Network (AFSNET) Conference, organised by the Afreximbank in collaboration with the secretariat of AfCFTA and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum in Abuja on Friday, Buhari also emphased that intra-regional trade still accounts for a very tiny fraction of total trade in Africa. The president, therefore, maintained that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) would only succeed if African governments demonstrate a higher level of commitment to tackle the slow pace of physical integration, political…
The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room (Situation Room) has called on political parties, candidates and their supporters to desist from cyber bullying and respect the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022. Ms Ene Obi, Convener of Situation Room, a coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) made the call at a news conference on Friday in Abuja it organised as political campaigns begin. Obi said the Electoral Act 2022 has provided a legal framework and model to which electoral activities should be conducted. Obi said: “Situation Room calls on all political parties and candidates to respect and uphold the provisions of Section…
Over the years, women have clamoured for political space because men dominate both elective and appointed positions in Nigeria. This has been from the pre-independence era, Nigerian women have played active part in politics. The action of Aba women in resisting colonial taxation is a familiar story; so also the political activism of late Mrs Margret Ekpo and Funmilayo Ransom-Kuti. Against this background, women influence in Nigeria’s political space was expected to grow with Independence from British colonial rulers in 1960. However, long years of military and civil war limited the influence of women in Nigeria’s politics as they were…
As the Fourth Republic rolled on, Nigerians have become increasingly concerned with the abusive relationship they have had with their elected leaders. According to the fake saying: “people get the leaders they deserve”. For the most part, Nigerians are democrats and have repeatedly elected leaders they believe will play by the democracy handbook, that is provide the services they promised to those who voted them into power. Repeatedly, Nigerians have discovered that it is a deceitful and abusive relationship in which the people are denied the outcome they had hoped to get from their civic engagement – the dividends of…
President Muhammadu Buhari says the initiative by the National Peace Committee to commit all political actors to issue-based campaigns devoid of incitement, personal insults and attacks, because the country needed peace for credible elections. The president made his position known in a video-message to the signing of the 2023 election Peace Accord by the presidential candidates, organised by the National Peace Committee, on Thursday in Abuja. Buhari warned that the rise of fake news and misinformation had continued to pose a significant threat to democracy in Nigeria. According to him, fake news and misinformation have shifted focus away from issue-based…
Nigeria’s Supreme Court has affirmed Ademola Adeleke as the authentic Osun candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the state governorship election held on July 16 and the state governor-elect. The panel of five justices in a unanimous judgement, dismissed an appeal against Adeleke by Prince Dotun Babayemi who, through a parallel party primary, claimed to be the governorship ticket bearer of the PDP. Counsel to the Appellant, Mr. Adebayo Adelodun, SAN, withdrew the appeal after the panel led by Justice Amina Augie, drew his attention to the fact that the case was statute barred. The panel had maintained…