Gov. Jonah Jang of Plateau said on Thursday that his administration was more committed to fighting and eradicating polio, one of the childhood killer diseases. Jang expressed the commitment in Jos while inaugurating a 19-member State Inter-Agency...
The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), an NGO, on Thursday urged the Federal Government to protect the social and economic rights of Nigerians.
The Director of the Centre, Mr Eze Onyekpere, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
``The greatest human rights violation in Nigeria, since the return of democracy, is the inability of the government to tackle corruption which affects social and economic rights of Nigerians.''
He emphasised the need for government at all levels, to fight corruption in all ramifications with stronger political will, to record a resounding success.
The director, who said that the war against corruption must start from the top and percolate down to the bottom, urged the media to step up the support for the fight against corruption.
He said that such collaborative effort became imperative because the economy of the country “has consistently maintained a rapid growth, while poverty level remained high''.
Onyekpere urged Nigerians to be more vigilant to hold government accountable, and to stimulate the politicians to deliver their electioneering promises to the people.
``We should avoid politics of tribalism or religion and hold our leaders accountable to ensure justice and fair play,'' he further advised.
The director also called on the National Assembly to give more time to the constitution review, and said that the exercise required careful deliberations to ensure a people-oriented constitution.
`The process of constitution review should not be rushed, to enable the citizens understand the process and take active participation.''
He added that the review could be considered in the first and second quarter of 2013.
``This will enable the 7th National Assembly to give Nigerians a clean and people-oriented constitution that will set a new agenda for national development,'' Onyekpere said.
The Adamawa Police Command on Thursday confirmed the killing of four people by gunmen in Song town, the headquarters of Song Local Government Area.
The spokesman for the command, DSP Mohammed Ibrahim, said the early morning attack claimed the lives of a soldier, a policeman, an old woman and her grandchild.
Ibrahim said the gunmen, who used machine gun and explosives, burnt the Song Divisional Police Station and the Local Government Secretariat.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Song attack came less than a week after a similar attack in Maiha, Hong and Fufore local government areas of the state.
In Maiha, two people lost their lives in the attack that affected the police station, prison, area court, local education authority, customs post and district head's office.
In Hong, where police repelled the attackers from burning the Divisional Police Station, two people sustained bullet injuries, including the newly elected Hong Local Government Chairman, Alhaji Ahmed Yerima, who was hit by a stray bullet.
Meanwhile, residents of Yola, the state capital, are apprehensive over the development.
Dana Air will resume flight operation on Jan. 4, an official of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr James Shallangwa, said on Thursday. Shallangwa, Head of Commercial at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Internatonal Airport, Abuja, made this known i...
Mr Charles Majoroh, a former President of Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA), on Thursday urged Federal and State Governments to build houses for the middle class. Majoroh told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that satisfying the housing n...
Prof. Dora Akunyili , a former Minister of Information, has debunked rumours of her ambition to contest the governorship election in Anambra in November 2013. Akunyili, who made this known when he addressed newsmen in Awka on Thursday, described the rumour as a big distraction.
``Must I run for every election, it is an unnecessary distraction," she said, noting that she might eventually re-contest the senatorial position “when the time is ripe’’.
Akunyili, who is also a former Director-General of the National Agency for Food, Drugs, Administration and Control (NAFDAC), added ``when the time comes I will run for it and safeguard my vote’’.
She warned rumour mongers to desist from their action.
The market indices of the Nigerian Stock Exchange depreciated by 0.21 per cent on Thursday due to price losses by some major blue chips. The News Agency of Nigerian (NAN) reports that the All-Share Index, which opened at 28,501.21, depreciated by...
Mr Emmanuel Aiyeoribe, a former NLC chairman in Kwara, has appealed to the Federal Government to pay attention to the plight of pensioners in the country. Aiyeoribe, who was reacting to the recent nationwide picketing of NIPOST offices, tol...
The Kwara Government says it spends N1.3 billion every month to pay more than 50,000 workers on its payroll. The state Head of Service, Alhaji Dabarako Mohammed, said this on Thursday in Ilorin in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN...
Some operators of microfinance banks on Thursday expressed optimism that lending rates in the sub-sector would drop in 2013. They said that lending rates in the sub-sector would drop as soon as operators were able to access the Micro Small and Me...
Four persons lost their lives in a canoe mishap in Kirikasamma Local Government Area of Jigawa, an eyewitness has said. The witness told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the accident occurred on Tuesday when a wooden canoe conveying nine pas...
Mr Emeka Madubuike, the Chairman, Securities and Exchange (SEC) Committee on Dematerialisation, says the commission may shelve the nationwide dematerialisation awareness campaigns scheduled to start on Jan. 31.
Madubuike told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Thursday that the postponement was due to the zero allocation to SEC in 2013 federal budget by the National Assembly.
Dematerialisation is the process of replacing paper share certificates with electronic records at the Central Securities Clearing System.
He said that the campaign would not be feasible because SEC needed funds to carry out the elaborate campaigns.
Madubuike, who is also the President Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria (ASHON), said that the zero allocation would affect other initiatives to revamp the capital market in 2013.
According to him, SEC cannot approve the committee's report for the Jan. 31, 2013 date because of the House of the Representatives’ stance that the commission’s director-general must be removed.
Madubuike, however, called for quick resolution of the impasse by the Presidency in the interest of the capital market and the total economy.
NAN recalled that the House of Representatives directed the withholding of SEC's allocation in the 2013 Appropriation Bill it passed on Dec.20.
This followed the lower legislative chamber's decision not to have anything to do with SEC until Ms Arunma Oteh is removed as the director-general.
The commission had proposed to spend about N93 million to execute the dematerialisation policy. Oteh had said at the 2nd Annual Capital Market Committee Retreat in Warri, Delta, in December, that some shareholders were resisting dematerialisation policy due to lack of knowledge of its benefits.
Oteh reiterated that asset transfer from one investor to the other would be much easier in a dematerialised market.
The director-general said that road shows and enlightenment campaign were imperative to sensitise Nigerians on its benefits to avoid resistance.
The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in Gombe State has urged the Federal and state governments to plan for early supply of agricultural inputs for the 2013 farming season Alhaji Umar Abdullahi, the state Chairman of the association, made the ...
A labour leader, Mr Bede Opara, has advised the Federal Government to pay the full severance entitlements of the disengaged workers of PHCN. He said that failure to pay the full severance packages to the disengaged workers could worsen the woes of the ...
The commander of the Niger Delta Joint Military Task Force, code-named ‘Operation Pulo Shield,’ Major General Johnson Ochoga, in a chat with Osa Okhomina, reviews the campaign against crude oil theft, and the complicity of some foreigners a...