durables

  President Bola Tinubu has vowed that the federal government will come down heavily against those who have made it a habit to attack the officers and men of Nigeria’s armed forces. He said this on Saturday evening, in reaction to the killing of five soldiers in Aba, Abia State, while the Indigenous People of Biafra IPOB were allegedly commemorating. President, in a statement, said on no account should anyone, under any guise, have the audacity to kill state agents. He warned that the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the armed forces can crush violent non-state actors, making our communities unsafe. Reacting to the latest killing in the South East, Tinubu said: “I have received yet another disheartening news of the killing of five soldiers by suspected militants of the proscribed terrorist organization, IPOB. “The slain soldiers were on peacekeeping duty in Aba, Abia State, on Thursday when they were murdered, just two months after a similar tragic incident happene...

  President Bola Tinubu confirmed 'Nigeria, we hail thee' as the country's "latest national anthem" when he joined a joint sitting of the National Assembly to mark the Silver Jubilee Of Nigeria's 4th Republic. President B. Tinubu has assented to the National Anthem Bill 2024 reverting to the old national anthem. “This morning, President signed into an Act of Parliament, the newly passed National Anthem 2024,” Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, said on Wednesday at a joint session of the National Assembly.  Mr. Tinubu, who later joined the joint session, confirmed ‘Nigeria, we hail thee’ as the “latest national anthem”. senate president, Akpabio said the sitting was primarily to launch the new national anthem, explaining that the President would not be making a speech because he has to leave to launch the Abuja metro line. The Senate and the House of Representatives had previously passed the legislation to swap the national anthem from “Arise, O Compatriots” t...

  The Labour Party, LP, Caucus in the House of Representatives, on Tuesday, said Nigeria’s economy has “dangerously continued” in a free fall since President Bola Tinubu assumed office one year ago. The lawmakers said the situation is “casting a cloud of doubt” on Tinubu’s capacity to rescue Nigeria. They made the remark in a statement signed by their leader, Afam Ogene. The lawmakers said the rising insecurity and economic hardship in the country negates Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda promise to Nigerians. The statement reads partly: “Our Caucus had taken a backseat in the patriotic hope that, maybe, just maybe, the beneficiary administration would be able to wrought magic and pull the nation from the precipice of economic annihilation. “But, as can be obviously felt by the blind and seen by the deaf, the entire country has, after one year, come to the full and unambiguous understanding of what President Bola Tinubu meant when he said that his administration would continue with the ...

  The federal controller of works for Abia, Tony Onwubiko, says the federal government under President Bola Tinubu Onwubiko is using funds from budget allocation, the tax credit scheme, and the Islamic bank loan called Sukuk to execute road constructions in the state and other areas. The official disclosed this in an interview in Umuahia on Monday. He said that the current federal government had sustained road maintenance and construction for the good of the Abia people. “We have two sets of projects: the main contracts and the maintenance works embarked upon by the ministry. The main projects we have now are the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Enugu-Port Harcourt dual carriageway, section two, being handled by Arab Contractors, the rehabilitation and dualisation of Aba-Ikot Ekpene road in Abia and Akwa Ibom by the CGGC Global Projects, and the rehabilitation of Uturu-Isuikwuato-Akara road by Eighteenth Engineering Company International,” he said. Mr. Onwubikon named other...

The Biden administration has told Israel to take "every precaution to protect civilians" after a military strike in Rafah killed dozens of Palestinians. Fellow Democrats have called on the president to halt military shipments to Israel. He has faced increasing pressure from within his own party even before the airstrike on Sunday night that set tents and metal shelters ablaze in a Rafah camp, killing 45 people. "Israel has a right to go after Hamas, and we understand this strike killed two senior Hamas terrorists who are responsible for attacks against Israeli civilians," a National Security Council (NSC) spokesperson said.  "But as we've been clear, Israel must take every precaution possible to protect civilians." Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a prominent Democratic lawmaker in the House of Representatives, called the strike "an indefensible atrocity", adding in a social media post that "it is long past time for the President to live up to ...

  Tens of thousands of Armenian protesters have called for the resignation of prime minister Nikol Pashinyan after the nation agreed to hand over control of several border villages to Azerbaijan. Demonstrators clashed with police after blocking main streets in the capital city of Yerevan on Sunday and the police said 198 people have been detained. The gathering was the latest in a weeks-long series of demonstrations led by a high-ranking cleric in the Armenian Apostolic Church and archbishop of the Tavush diocese in Armenia's northeast, where the four returned villages are located. Bagrat Galstanyan spearheaded the formation of a movement called Tavush For The Homeland after  Armenia  agreed to cede control of the villages in the region to  Azerbaijan  in April. The movement has since expanded to encompass a wide array of complaints about Mr Pashinyan and his government. The decision to turn over the villages in Tavush followed a lightning military campaign in S...

  Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe, Obi of Onitsha, Anambra State, one of the most revered traditional rulers in Nigeria, has said that Governor Alex Otti of Abia State was sent by God, to rescue the Abians from bad governance. He also said that Otti was not just the pride of Abia, but Nigeria as a whole. Igwe Achebe, who was in Aba, Friday to commission three roads reconstructed by the Otti administration, namely, Ehi, Kent, and Old Court Roads, proclaimed that God has sent Otti to restore the glory of Abia and place the state at its place of pride, as number one, after 24 years of decadence and “wandering in the wilderness”. The revered Igbo traditional ruler and corporate titan noted that Abia, indeed Aba, people, are known for their resilience and entrepreneurial spirit, pointing out that since the assumption of office by Otti, things have started to change for the better for the State. “It is a thing of great joy for me to be in Abia State today with you. Your son, Dr. Alex Otti, t...

  The military had promised elections in July to restore civilian rule. Burkina Faso’s military rulers will remain in power for another five years after national talks ended in agreeing to extend the transition back to democracy by 60 months from July, according to the text of an approved new charter. “The duration of the transition is fixed at 60 months from July 2, 2024,” Colonel Moussa Diallo, chairman of the organising committee of the national dialogue process, said after the talks on Saturday. The new charter was signed during what was originally a two-day national dialogue that began earlier on Saturday, ostensibly to chart a way back to civilian rule in the country rocked by political violence. The military seized power in a 2022 coup and had promised to hold elections in July of this year to restore civilian rule, but it also said security considerations would take priority. “The elections marking the end of the transition may be organised before this deadline if the secur...

  Former Governor of Rivers State, Peter Odili, has again expressed backing for the administration of Governor Siminalayi Fubara. At the inauguration of the Omoku-Egbema Road in the state on Saturday, Odili told Fubara not to be apprehensive of anyone as the people of the state are with him. Odili urged Fubara to remain focus on his “people-focused objectives”, saying the projects so far embarked upon by the present administration are enough to secure the support of the people for the 2027 election. Odili, who was Rivers governor from May 1999 to May 2007, said, “Don’t be afraid because when the people are with you, be assured that God is with you and no man can shake you.” Fubara and his immediate predecessor, Nyesom Wike, have been embroiled in a protracted conflict in the last one year. In April 2024, Wike, who is now the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), said he no longer had a smooth relationship with Odili whom he had frequently referred to as his “father”. Wik...