Author: Obayomi Abiola Benjamin

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello, has called for partnership with estate developers to address the housing deficit in the territory. Bello made the call while unveiling a high-end estate at Durumi District on Saturday in Abuja. The minister was represented at the occasion by the Federal Capital Development Agency (FCDA) Executive Secretary, Umar Jibrin. He reiterated his administration’s commitment to ensuring the provision of adequate houses for residents of the FCT. “The FCT administration sees this project as a partnership gesture and a demonstration of confidence in the present administration which is working to address the…

By Marc Philips Fresh facts have emerged that some notable key figures in the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) have issued a month court notice to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) management for flouting provisions of extant laws in Nigeria, particularly the Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria Decree No. 24 of 1975 (as it was then known) now CAP E13 LFN, 2007. The notice is being filed independent of the umbrella body – Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) that accused the FIRS management of flouting provisions of extant laws in…

By Kayode Omoyele A pan-Yoruba group, Afenifere, has come down hard on South-West lawmakers for failing to prevent the reduction of the contract cost for the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway project by the National Assembly. The group described the present crop of South-West lawmakers at the National Assembly as “the worst the Yoruba nation has ever put forward.” The Afenifere spokesman, Yinka Odumakin, in an interview, stated that the South-West lacked effective representation in the National Assembly. He described the failure of the lawmakers to fight for the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway project as a shame. He said, “I don’t think the South-West today…

The order of Pope Francis after a June 8 meeting at the Vatican with a delegation from the Ahiara Diocese has been defied again as 3,000 faithful of the Diocese of the Catholic Church protest the appointment of Bishop Peter Okpaleke. The protesters were reportedly backed by the laity, priests and community leaders. Mr. Okpaleke was appointed as Bishop and consecrated by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012, but both the Laity Council and the priests in the diocese rejected his appointment on the grounds that he is not an indigene of the area, Mbaise. In continuation of the defiance, worshippers again converged on…

By Dele Momodu Fellow Nigerians, let me say categorically that I’ve never seen a country where the citizens like to argue over every miniscule issue like Nigeria. We are a country of absolutism. Every now and then we just enjoy coming up with highfalutin theories out of the blues and everyone begins to recycle and regurgitate the mantra. Once upon a time, TRUE FEDERALISM was the swansong. Half, if not most, of those shouting the phrase had little or no idea of what it meant. It seems we just love to hear the cacophony of our own voices and prefer…

By Olusola Adegbite, Esq. In the 2015 Elections, the APC masqueraded its fallibility, masked its hypocrisy, and marketed its coterie of empty promises on the emotional wounds of a confused electorate, who already had their ratio of error damaged by reason of back to back infliction of pain from 1999. Thus when the party showed up, no one could recognize it. The group got away with nearly everything it said. All through, it didn’t have to convince anybody; neither did it have to explain itself. As long as the right cartoons were painted, and the needed deliciously tear-evoking soundtrack mixed,…

By Katurak Yashim The World Health Organisation (WHO), has commended the African region for making significant progress in malaria control in the last five years. Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday, said malaria incidence and mortality rates had declined by 42 per cent and 66 per cent respectively between 2000 and 2015. Moeti made the commendation in Kigali, Rwanda, while speaking at the First Africa Health Forum, launched by WHO, Africa and the Government of Rwanda. She said for the first time, a malaria vaccine has been launched by the…

By Emmanuel Onwubiko Since May 27th 2017 about half a dozen students of a model secondary school in Lagos were kidnapped on gunpoint by a gang of armed hoodlums who have asked for heavy compensation before they could free these young and completely innocent children. The Parents have reportedly coughed out N10 milli9n but these dare devil irrational beasts called kidnappers have failed to free these wholly innocent school kids. What is the offence of these Children? The best response is to say that these Children are absolutely innocent except that they were born in a geographical and geopolitical space…

“Baba just fall my hand! Ha, wetin.” “Which Baba?” “Baba Bubu, the President of all Nigeria.” “In the spirit of this season, may Almighty Allah (SAW) grant him good health and quick recovery. It is part of our duty to pray for our leaders. Only infidels pray for evil.” “My friend, the fasting season has ended. Stop fasting after Ramadan. I am saying something serious. Was it right for the President of Nigeria to address the Nigerian people in Hausa? “ “Hausa? Me no hear am oh. Have they changed the country’s official language?” “Yes. Hausa.” “Baba just enter radio…

By Alex Otti In his 1963 book titled ‘The Wretched Of The Earth’,  Franz Fanon wrote on colonialism and how countries could free themselves not just from the clutches of colonial rule, but break its yoke of dysfunctional development or underdevelopment, eradicate poverty and disease and emancipate themselves from the umbilical cord of their oppressors. He was specifically addressing Algerians in their struggle for independence from the French Colonialists in the 60’s. He advised against the path to independence taken by some countries in Latin America that seemed to have encouraged a transition from foreign oppressors to local oppressors, leaving…