PARROT EYE..

By Baba Kura Mallam, Maiduguri The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Mr. Anthony Lake has said the violent conflict in northeast Nigeria has left children severely malnourished and at risk of death. Lake who stated this on Wednesday in a press statement through his Chief Communication officer, Mrs. Doune Porter added that 400,000 children will suffer from severe acute malnutrition over the next year in the three affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe. He said this would be possible If they do not receive the treatment they need, adding that 1 in 5 of these children will die because cases of diarrhoea, malaria and pneumonia are on the rise and further endangering children’s lives. He noted that the figures represent is only a fraction of the suffering. Stressing further that large areas of Borno state are completely inaccessible to any kind of humanitarian assistance. “We are extremely concerned about the children trapped in these areas.” Lake sai...

By Wahab Akanji, Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari has commended the leadership of the Nigerian military for the intellectual transformation of the officer corps. Speaking at a ceremony for the decoration of two senior officers working closely with him at the State House on Wednesday, the President said that modern armies require superiority of intellect and imagination to achieve victory in warfare. Addressing the newly-promoted officers, Air- Vice Marshal Sadiq Ismaila Kaita, the Commander of the Presidential Air Fleet (PAF) and Colonel Mohammed Lawal Abubakar, his Aide-De-Camp (ADC), President Buhari expressed happiness with the dazzling array of university degrees they have acquired. He, however, urged all officers to ensure the translation of academic achievements to performance in the field and other places of assignment. “I am happy with the intellectual approach of the military. In our time, there was no time for academic pursuit. It was all about war, coups and coun...

. . . AT EKO HOTEL AND SUITES, VICTORIA ISLAND  Pix 001: Wife of Lagos State Governor, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode (3rd left); wife of Osun State Governor, Mrs. Sherifat Aregbesola (3rdright); Chairman , MYFI Organising Committee, Mr. Jide Sanwo-Olu (2nd left), Mrs. Anike Adekanye (left); Mrs. Olayinka Agunsoye during the Musical Youth Fiesta 2016, tagged The Truth, at the Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Wednesday, December 14, 2016. -------------Pix 002: Wife of Lagos State Governor, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode (2nd right); wife of Osun State Governor, Mrs. Sherifat Aregbesola (right); Chairman & Convener, Musical Youth Fiesta Initiative, Senator Oluremi Tinubu (2nd left) and Lagos State Commissioner for Women Affairs & Poverty Alleviation, Mrs. Lola Akande during the Musical Youth Fiesta 2016, tagged The Truth, at the Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Wednesday, December 14, 2016.  Pix 003: Wife of Lagos State Governor, Mr...

By Wahab Akanji, Abuja A coalition of seven political parties that produced The Gambia President-elect, Adama Barrow, is looking up to President Muhammadu Buhari to deploy his vast experience, alongside other African leaders, to resolve the political logjam in the West African country. According to a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, one of the coalition members, Hamad Bah spoke with the media during the high-level ECOWAS /AU/UN Joint Mission to The Gambia on Tuesday. He said: “We need the experience of President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria in many ways. Like President Jammeh, he is a former military officer, so he knows how the military thinks, and would be able to talk to him appropriately. “Again, President Buhari was in the opposition in Nigeria for about 12 years, before he won election in 2015. So, he also knows how the opposition thinks. He can feel what we feel. We are quite glad that President Buhari is here, it gives us a lot of ...

By Musa Gada, Sokoto Sokoto State chapter Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Usman Suleiman Danmadamin has urged Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal not to be distracted by those whom he described some elements bent on destroying the party in the state. By Musa Gada, Sokoto Sokoto State chapter Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Usman Suleiman Danmadamin has urged Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal not to be distracted by those whom he described some elements bent on destroying the party in the state. The chairman passed a vote of confidence on Governor Tambuwal whom he described as a resilient political pillar whose antecedents remain unprecedented. “We were living witnesses to his struggle as then Speaker of HOR in the immediate past political dispensation. He is a committed and patriotic leader. As governor, he is demonstrating convincing political will to transform the infrastructural status of Sokoto state and ensure good gover...

By Wahab Akanji, Abuja The House of Representatives has adopted the 2017 to 2019 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP). Y as President Muhammadu Buhari presents the 2017 budget estimates to a joint session of National Assembly. The House fixed the exchange rate of Naira to a dollar at N350 as against the N290 recommended by the executive. The House also concurred on the oil benchmark of 42.50 dollar per barrel with a proposed daily production of 2.2 million barrels per day. Consequently, the House had mandated its joint committees on Finance, Appropriation, National Planning and Economic Development, Legislative Budget and Research and Aids, Loans and Debt Management to further scrutinise the document. President Buhari had on October 4, forwarded a request to the National Assembly seeking for approval of the 2017 to 2019 MTEF and FSP. Moving the motion for the adoption of the MTEF/FSP, House Leader, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, said Section 11(2)...

By Akeeb Alarape, Osogbo Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has stated that the massive infrastructural projects going on across the state make it difficult for the citizenry to believe that the nation in general and the state in particular, is undergoing economic hardship. This was as the governor warned that the country must discourage penchant and preference for foreign goods if it must sail through the current economic crisis. Aregbesola stated this when he played host to the team of Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Osogbo led by its new General Manager, Mrs Omowumi Omidiji. The governor said because of the huge work his administration has undertaken in the state, nobody believes that the state is going through economic crisis like other states of the federation as well as the Federal Government. According to the Governor, people of the state failed to appreciate the dire economic condition of the state owing to the fact that everyday work is going on in every n...