ATTENCAO

Ahead of the commemoration of Workers’ Day tomorrow, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday insisted that there was no going back on its demand of N56,000 as the new minimum wage for Nigerian workers, arguing that the three tiers of government were capable of paying. NLC Vice President and Chairman of the May Day Committee, Comrade Peters Adeyemi told journalists in Abuja that this year’s theme, “The Working Class and the Quest for Socio-Economic Revival” was in consonance with labour’s zeal to chart the course of pro-poor policies and programmes in the country. He argued that addressing income equality and ensuring a sustainable living minimum wage remained key to resolving the conflict of inequality and poverty among Nigerians. He justified labour’s call for N56,000 as the new minimum wage, stating that, “some are asking if there is justification for wage increase in view of the current situation on ground; the answer is yes. The Naira itself has collapsed beyond the exp...

The Nigerian Army said on Tuesday that its troops had uncovered Boko Haram’s new mode of dressing and means of identification. This is contained in a statement issued in Abuja by the acting Director of Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman. According to the Army spokesman, Boko Haram fighters are now identified with uniform made of green-colour material and use of ropes on their legs and neck. Usman said the discovery was the latest development in the ongoing clearance operation against remnants of the Boko Haram terrorists in the North-East. He said troops of 22 Brigade Garrison and 3 Battalion made the discovery on Monday while on a long range fighting patrol of Gima village in Ngala Local Government Area of Borno. Usman said the troops came in contact with some elements of the Boko Haram insurgents in the area who scampered to safety on sighting the team. He said the team was, however, able to apprehend two terrorists in their new-styled uniform during the operation at Gim...

In line with the National Assembly’s resolve to meet with the executive to iron out the differences over the 2016 Appropriation Bill, Senate President Bukola Saraki last night met with President Muhammadu Buhari to reach a truce on the budget. His meeting followed a similar one held yesterday afternoon between the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, and the president on the budget. Emerging from his closed-door meeting, Saraki informed State House correspondents that the National Assembly and the presidency had found a way of resolving the impasse over the budget. He said the executive arm of government and the National Assembly agreed to set up committees that would work together to harmonise areas of disagreement. Saraki said: “We just finished a meeting with the president and the vice-president. We came to work out the solutions that we found in moving the budget process forward and we are happy to say that we have agreed on the way forwar...

Thousands of students of the University of Ibadan (UI) this morning went on rampage and shutdown the school over the school’s management victimization of a student who took part in the last protest organized by the students. The aggrieved students also vented their anger over persistent power failure in the school and lack of water supply. UI management had added an extra semester to a 500 Level Engineering student, Michael Tunji Epeti for partaking in a protest hundreds of students of the school staged recently to demand for improvement in power supply and lack of water in the school. Very early in the morning, thousands of students, led by the Students Union President stormed the school gate and shut it while security men at the gate watched helplessly. Activities at the citadel of learning have been paralyzed as no vehicle is allowed in and out of the school. Lecturers and others who live off campus could not drive into the school this morning as all gates leading to th...

The President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki has, for the first time, opened up on the intrigues of his ongoing trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal over asset declaration issues and the role of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying that his refusal to support a Muslim/Muslim ticket for the APC in the 2015 presidential election is largely responsible for his ordeal. Saraki who wrote a reply to an earlier article published last Saturday by Dele Momodu in his Pendulum column said the position he took on the running mate issue was his “original sin” and those whose ambition were truncated by the position had been doing everything possible to frustrate him. He said: “I have also been accused of helping to frustrate some people’s opportunity to emerge as President Muhammadu  Buhari’s running mate. But I have no problem with anybody. My concern was that it would not be politically smart of us to run with a Muslim-Muslim ticket. I doubt if we would have won the ...

MTN Group Limited’s subscriber numbers fell during the first quarter as disconnections ordered by the government in Nigeria, its biggest market, curbed the growth of Africa’s largest wireless operator. MTN’s customer base decreased by 1.4 per cent to about 229 million across 22 countries in the three months through March, compared with the previous quarter, the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement on Thursday. The company cut its guidance for the full year to 11.95 million net additions from 12.5 million. “In order to mitigate any future regulatory challenges, the group took an exceptionally conservative stance by disconnecting all subscribers who could possibly be deemed to be non-compliant,” Bloomberg quoted its Executive Chairman, Phuthuma Nhleko to have said in the statement. “This has had a significant unfavorable impact on total subscriber growth and revenue” in the first quarter. MTN was fined a record $5.2 billion in Nigeria last year for missing a deadlin...

Here is a ‘new’ song from Street Pastor Who made his way into the blogosphere today, under the stables of Black Wall Street. The song  titled “ELEDA” is  a good song, Enjoy it. DOWNLOAD

The PDP has banned some of its members, who are currently facing corruption charges from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, from contesting in the positions in the National Working Committee of the party. The banned members of the party include the former minister of interior, Comrade Abba Moro; Chief Olisa Metuh; the former governor of Jigawa state, Sule Lamido; the former governor of Imo state Ikedi Ohakim; the chairman of Africa Independent Television, Chief Raymond Dokpesi and Haliru Bello Mohammed who is a former acting chairman of the PDP. An official of the party who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the party was gearing towards repositioning it ahead of the 2019 general election and was looking for candidates with integrity to fill positions. He said this was why Metuh who is the spokesperson of the party announced that he would not contest for any position at the convention. Metuh is facing trial over his involvement in the disbursement of $2...

One of the enduring puzzles of Nigeria’s political narrative of the past seventeen years is undoubtedly the Third Term saga. It is perhaps a fitting tribute to the pervasive culture of amnesia today and a shame on the nation’s indolent intelligentsia that, ten years after that attempted political heist, no documentation of note – official or independent – yet exists to preserve its grotesque memory. Nor are there any signs today that a symbolic rite – like a colloquium – will hold tomorrow in remembrance. Yet, TTA (Third Term Agenda) sign-posts a defining moment in the evolution of current democratic experience. By the depth of perfidy and the breadth of chicanery, its historical parallel would only be Ibrahim Babangida’s convoluted transition programme which literally dragged the nation up-hill and down the valley for years, eventuating tragically in the June 12 annulment of 1993. Till date, without shame, Olusegun Obasanjo has continued to live in denial. Even in the face of ...

Starboy honcho Wizkid has heeded to a summons by the Lagos state police command, where he went to respond to a complaint filed against him by popular gossip blogger, Linda Ikeji. The singer who has been on his world tour for months, took a break to pay a visit to the Lagos state police commissioner, Owoseni Fatai, where he also reportedly met with the blogger and they settled their differences. Wizkid who has been quiet since reports of Linda filing a complaint with the police hit blogosphere, shared the photo above from his visit to the police.

The Chinese government has agreed to offer 700 scholarships and expertise training to 1,000 Nigerians especially engineers in the space development sector. The scholarship and training are part of agreements the Nigerian government reached with China, during the visit of President Muhammadu Buhari. The Minister of Science and Technology Doctor Ogbonnaya Onu, gave a hint about the agreement on Monday while briefing reporters of the outcome of the visit. “Investments Above Imports” He said: “What we expect that would be coming in would be investments. Investments”. The Minister of Science and Technology Doctor Ogbonnaya Onu, said that the Federal Government had signed agreements with the Chinese government for investments in different sectors of the economy especially transportation, communication, scholarships and science and technology. The Minister told Channels Television on Monday that a ground receiving station that would link Nigeria to China’s satellite base was t...

The Nigeria Army on Sunday disclosed the recovery of large cache of arms buried in the hinterlands of Borno State at a spot made to look like a graveyard. The Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Leo Irabor, said but for the vigilance of soldiers the grave, which concealed a cache of high calibre ammunition, worth over N20 million, would have remained unnoticed. Mr. Irabor, a Major General, said the quantum of ammunition recovered is capable of deflating the morale of a full battalion if it remains in the hands of a capable enemy. Mr. Irabor, who spoke to journalists in Biu, Southern Borno State during an ongoing tour of the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, said the discovery was made three days ago when his men received some hint regarding the activities of Boko haram terrorists before they fled from Alagarno. “We conducted some various scale of operation as well as specific operations that led to the recovery of arms cache in the village called Gu...

The Federal Government has commenced the release of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) known as petrol to Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN). Information on the release was contained in a statement issued by Lawson Ngoa, the Secretary, IPMAN Reconciliation Committee, on Sunday in Abuja. It would be recalled that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe kachikwu, constituted a 14-man committee to resolve IPMAN crisis and to ensure end to fuel scarcity in the country. The statement quoted the committee secretary as saying the release of the product was part of efforts to settle the 7,000 pending loading tickets of IPMAN. He stated that some marketers had confirmed that they started loading the products from some depots in Lagos as a result of the efforts of the Committee. He noted that IPMAN controlled over 80 per cent of the petroleum products’ retail outlets in the country and that members were not getting products from the Nigerian National P...

President Muhammadu Buhari has commended Nigerians for their perseverance, assuring them that the difficulties they face are only temporary. Speaking at the 2015 Vanguard Awards in Lagos on Friday night, where he was honoured with the personality of the year award 2015,  the president said that he was keenly aware of the difficulties that Nigerians were facing at this time, resulting mostly from the fuel scarcity, poor power supply, and inflation. “As a government that was propelled into office by the power of the people, we cannot but feel the pains of our compatriots, and we deeply empathise with them. We are working round the clock to ease the pains of Nigerians, and the efforts of the government have started yielding fruits as we seek to make the petroleum products available nationwide, restore gas supply to the power generating firms, reflate the economy and put Nigerians back to work,” he said in a statement issued by the office of Lai Mohammed, minister of information a...

  RECUITMENT OF 10,000 POLICEMEN BEGIN ON THE 1ST OF APRIL. President Muhammadu Buhari had last year at the National Security Summit in Abuja directed the recruitment of 10,000 Nigerians into the Force to address the obvious shortfall in the manpower needs of the police. Speaking on the recruitment exercise on Thursday in Abuja, the PSC Chairman, Mike Okiro warned the commission workers who would be involved in the screening of candidates to avoid any act that may compromise the integrity of the exercise.