Author: Chief Editor

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed that a ministerial delegation be sent to Ghana to resolve the lingering conflict between Nigerian Traders and the Ghanaian authorities. The delegation, to be led by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Niyi Adebayo, is made up of relevant stakeholders who will dialogue with Ghanaian authorities with a view to finding a solution to the problem. At a meeting convened by the minister with the stakeholders Monday, it was resolved that the delegation led by the Minister should undertake the visit between May 31 and June 1, 2021. According to a statement by…

A senior lawyer and rights activist, Mr Femi Falana, SAN, has urged African leaders to increase investment in the area of public health so as to better tackle current and future health challenges in the continent. He made the call on Monday in Owerri, Imo State, while delivering a paper on lessons learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic. Falana who noted that “no one is safe until everyone is safe” lamented that rich countries of the world are hoarding vaccines to the detriment of poor countries, hence African leaders should begin to take the issue of health services more seriously. “But…

African Footballer of the Year award winners Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah combined for a Premier League goal for the first time this season as Liverpool beat Southampton 2-0 at Anfield. Senegalese Mane nodded in a cross from Egyptian Salah to put the Reds en route to three points that kept alive hopes of a top-four finish and a Champions League place next season. Salah was voted the top African player in 2017 and 2018 and Mane succeeded him. Here, AFP Sport rounds up the performances of Africans in the major European leagues at the weekend: ENGLAND SADIO MANE (Liverpool)…

Nigerian authorities Monday announced a new set of COVID-19 restrictions as many countries continue to battle the resurgence of the virus. The new measures, which come into effect on Tuesday, ban gatherings of more than 50 people while access to government buildings will be denied to anyone not wearing a facemask. Bars and nightclubs are to remain closed and a nationwide curfew will be in force until further notice, a member of the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19, Dr Mukhtar Mohammed said at a press conference. [GuardianNG]

Nseobong Okon-Ekong writes that the predictable gimmick of interim management committees and forensic audit reports deployed by Senator Godswill Akpabio, Minister of Niger Delta Affairs to delay inauguration of the Niger Delta Development Commission Board is about to run its course Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio, Minister of Niger Delta Affairs is used to having his way. As Governor of Akwa Ibom State between 2007 and 2015, things had to be done his way or no way. He ruled when the Naira was relatively strong, compared to what we have today. At the peak of his power in 2013, former Minister…

With a social contract in tatters, an indecisive political leadership and Nigeria bleeding out, the nation’s unending insecurity could only spell disaster, writes Louis Achi All the cases of insecurity in Nigeria beg the question: Do we have a functional federal government? Are our priorities set right as a country? Of what use is Trader-Moni and N-Power if the citizens that the government seeks to empower with N10,000 are not sure if they would see the light of the next day? These lucid posers were recently pushed by miffed Professor of History Toyin Falola-Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker, Chair in…

The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, Monday inaugurated a seven-man panel of enquiry to probe the suspended Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hajia Hazida Bala-Usman The panel is to examine and investigate the administrative policies and strategies adopted by the suspended Managing Director while at the helms and confirm compliance with extant laws and rules from 2016 till date. The minister, during the inauguration of the committee in Abuja, noted that the terms of reference of the panel include examining and investigating issues leading to the termination of pilotage and other contracts of NPA and…

A former National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole at the weekend recounted how he would have been an ex-convict in Nigeria were it not for the courage of the Nigerian judiciary in upholding the rule of law. He explained that in spite of his traumatic experiences as President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) during the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo, he still rallied the labour union against the planned removal of the then president from office in 2002. Oshiomhole who was speaking when he received the leadership…

Former England manager Sam Allardyce has refused to commit his future to West Brom after suffering the first Premier League relegation of his career. The Baggies are the eighth club Allardyce has managed in the English top-flight but Sunday’s 3-1 loss at Arsenal condemned them to the drop. Allardyce’s contract runs until the end of the 2021/22 season but he has yet to reveal his plans for next season and whether he will lead the promotion charge. Both he and the club now have the option of a break clause. Only Birmingham have suffered more top-flight relegations than West Brom’s…

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer praised his team’s “resilience” after they put Manchester City’s Premier League title celebrations on hold by coming from behind to win 3-1 away to Aston Villa on Sunday. Defeat for United in the first of a run of three games in five days would have seen City crowned champions. And their local rivals had reason to be optimistic when Villa’s Bertrand Traore opening the scoring midway through the first half. But United hit back with two goals in four minutes after the break, Bruno Fernandes equalising from the penalty spot before Mason Greenwood put…