Author: Akanimo Sampson

Irked by the putrefying stench of massive corruption in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), an interventionist agency, militants of the oil and gas region are currently demanding a Presidential purge of the commission. The Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC) of the plural militant groups in the polluted oil region in a statement this Friday by their Spokesperson, Cynthia Whyte, is demanding for an immediate and total overhaul of the NDDC and a complete removal of the current acting board members. The Niger Delta armed rebels have also taken note of the ongoing investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission…

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A civic group, Igbo Oriental Think Tank, has sent out a disturbing call to Nigerian leaders, urging them to rally all concerned in a bid to urgently rescue the country from doom. According to this Igbo group, Nigeria will not be able to survive what they described as ‘’an impending genocide’’ largely due to ‘’the insensitive move by the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari to establishment settlements for Fulani herdsmen’’. The group wants all cadres of leaders in the country to rise in unison and abort the establishment of such settlements. Government through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture is…

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Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG), Dr. Tammy Danagogo, has explained why the administration of Governor Nyesom Wike waded into the revenue-stalling conflict between host communities and Shell on the Oil Mining License (OML) 25. According to Danagogo, ‘’as a law abiding government, what we are doing is to see that Shell does not trample upon the rights of our people. We want Shell to listen to our people on what they ought to do.’’ Continuing, he said the OML 25 ‘’must’’ be re-opened  for operations  with the interest of the host communities adequately protected by the operating company,  Shell…

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The seeming mutual mistrust between the Anglo-Dutch oil and gas super major, Shell, and her host communities in the Niger Delta, Nigeria’s polluted oil region, crept into the front burner of the ongoing parley aimed at resolving the protracted conflict on the Oil Mining License (OML) 25. With Nigeria said to have so far loss N700 billion as oil revenue since communal disagreements forced Shell, the operating company to shutdown one of its key flow stations in the Kalabari axis of Rivers State, the state government last week intervened as a mediator with the hope of brokering a truce for…

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With barely 11 years to the expiration of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030, CSR-in-Action, a conglomerate of three sustainability driven businesses, consulting, training and advocacy says Nigeria is still lagging behind in achieving the goals. Unfortunately for Nigeria, according to the experts’ group, ‘’there are still some challenges that the country faces in the implementation of the SDGs – which translates as the reasons why we are behind in the sustainability journey. ‘’Some of which include limited economic diversification and continued vulnerability to external economic shocks, limited financial resources for investments in SDG-related activities, huge infrastructural and technological deficits, humanitarian…

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The backstage pressure on some governors by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to cede vast expands of their land for the settlement of the invading herdsmen in their states does not seem to be having a smooth sail. Some concerned citizens are seeing in the herdsmen’s settlement initiative, a veiled programme to Islamise the country. Religious antagonism and suspicion of government’s plans for the Fulani herdsmen is deep-rooted in Nigeria. Governors of Eastern Nigeria, the hotbed of Biafra agitation as well as Samuel Ortom of Benue State, Darius Ishaku of TarabaState and the Ondo State Government have been under intense…

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Despite the growing opposition by governors to the move by the government of Nigeria to establish settlements for Fulani herdsmen across the country, Abuja appears bent on pressing on with the seeming land grabbing initiative. Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammed Umar, said the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is not likely to back down easily from the initiative because of its expected economic benefits to the country. While speaking on the sidelines of the West Africa Antimicrobial Resistance Workshop in Abuja, the country’s capital, Umar insisted that the controversial Ruga settlements will attract…

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Director-General of Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), José Graziano da Silva, has said that political will is the fundamental and necessary ingredient to eradicate hunger and all forms of malnutrition – including overweight and obesity throughout the world. “The idea that to end hunger we must decide to invest in the poorest is now widely accepted by all the countries of the world,” Graziano da Silva said at an event on how to move from commitment to action to achieve Zero Hunger held during the 41st session of the FAO Conference, the United Nations agency’s highest governing body. He was…

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The vultures, the political vultures of Edo State appear to be very desperate for a plundering feast. It seems they have not been having their way easily to the resources of the state since 2016. To therefore, dismantle every obstacle to pillaging the state from 2020, their scheme is to abort Governor Godwin Obaseki’s  re-election bid on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Surprisingly, APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, seems to be galvanizing the abortion surgeons against Obaseki who he foisted on the state in 2016. The governor may not be a saint, but he has not been allowing the political…

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Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, has taken their campaign for the Republic of Biafra to the United States of America, urging the Igbo people of Eastern Nigeria to scale-up the momentum of their agitation in a bid to avert the tragedy that befell Israel. According to Kanu, like what is happening in Igbo land presently, there were attempts by foreigners to dominate Israel, and Israel then failed to act because “they thought it was a joke.” “After 2000 years, their land was no longer called Israel, it was called Palestine and they had to fight their…

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Nigeria’s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has counseled the seeming confused Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to own up to its failures put an end to its consistent denials on the existence of the server as justice will be served at the end of the day. PDP is also challenging the electoral agency to confront the indictment contained in the reports of the European Union and other international agencies which allegedly showed evidence that the 2019 general elections were marred by irregularities and violation of rules by the Commission. PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, who offered…

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The undying President Muhammadu Buhari’s certificate scandal has erupted again in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, as three concerned citizens are challenging in court, the qualification of the retired Army Major General to stand for the presidential election without demonstrating his educational certificates as required by law. Besides President Buhari, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the president’s party, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have some bones to crack on the matter. Already, the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division has ordered the parties involved to respond within five days to the appeal filed against Buhari’s qualification for the 2019 presidential…

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Global Financial Integrity (GFI) says it has found that the estimated potential tax revenue losses to the Indonesian government in 2016 is approximately $6.5 billion, equivalent to six percent of the value of the country’s total government revenue collections that year. In a comprehensive study on the level of trade misinvoicing in Indonesia in 2016, GFI pointed out that misinvoicing is a method for moving money illicitly across borders which involves the deliberate falsification of the value, volume, and/or type of commodity in an international commercial transaction of goods or services by at least one party to the transaction and constitutes…

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A seeming unrestrained push by the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) to unleashed Fulani youths as vigilantes on Eastern Nigeria, is currently causing security concern in that axis of Nigeria, the hotbed of Biafra agitation. Worried by what they generally see as double standards by the Nigerian government under President Muhammadu Buhari’s watch since 2015, Igbo youths have been intensifying their agitation for a sovereign Republic of Biafra. While government’s response to the undying agitation has been a military crackdown, the killer cum the kidnapping herdsmen appears to be enjoying unchallenged reign by the establishment. Some concerned…

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The National Working Committee (NWC) of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) says the worsening insecurity across Nigeria, is a major challenge to the patriotic zeal of the federal legislators regardless of their party affiliations. The party is therefore, calling on the National Assembly, the Legislative arm of the government of Nigeria to save the situation by immediately using their legislative instruments to wade into the spiraling security crisis in the interest of the nation. PDP has also taken on the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, saying the defeatist comments by the army chief on the country’s national…

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Tension is currently building up between the European Union (EU) and Turkey. The European bloc has already issued a sanctions warning to Turkey after it launched a second drilling vessel to the northeast coast of Cyprus to drill for natural gas. Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said that the vessel, Yavuz, would operate near Cyprus’ Karpas Peninsula, at a depth of 3,300m, according to Reuters. In a joint statement, the European Council expressed “serious concerns over Turkey’s current illegal drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean and deplores that Turkey has not yet responded to the EU’s repeated calls to cease such activities.”…

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Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, one of the big oil and gas states in Nigeria, has placed a curse on political leaders troubling the peace, security and economic development of the state. Though he has vowed that his administration will continue to partner with Christian churches for the development of the oil state, he however, declared that those who do not want the state to progress will not progress themselves. According to him, ‘’on March 9, 2019, light prevailed over darkness.  God showed Himself and He is in charge. But for God, I wouldn’t have been here addressing the Christian faithful. ‘’The…

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The Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), the pioneer anti-corruption agency set up by the Nigeria Government in 1979 during the Second Republic, has landed in trouble following its refusal of a Freedom of Information request by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) for the asset declarations of past and present Nigerian leaders since 1999 till date. Within the period, apart from the late President Umaru Yar’Adua who made his asset declaration public, those of former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan, and the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari, past and present governors of the 36 states of the federation are still wrapped in…

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Urolithin A, a metabolite of biomolecules found in pomegranates and other fruits, could help slow certain aging processes, a Rael-Science post has said, pointing out that EPFL spin-off Amazentis, in conjunction with EPFL. The post says the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, has published a paper in the journal Nature Metabolism outlining the results of their clinical trial. It is a fact of life that skeletal muscles begin to lose strength and mass once a person reaches the age of 50. A recent clinical trial involving two EPFL entities—spin-off Amazentis and the Laboratory of Integrative Systems Physiology (LISP) – showed that urolithin A,…

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Participants at the opening of the 41st Session of the FAO Conference on the challenges and opportunities of reaching Zero Hunger have a damning radical message from an international advocate for children’s and women’s rights, Graça Machel.This was Machel’s message: Considering the challenges of migration, the scourge of hunger and malnutrition, and the lack of investment in rural development, there is an immediate need to “change the way we do business”, scale up hunger-ending initiatives, and “disrupt the agricultural sector as a whole”. Delivering the McDougall Memorial Lecture on food security, Machel condemned  “the shameful failure of global governance to address issues of food…

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Parties currently locked in a seeming bitter dispute over the Oil Mining License (OML) 25 in Rivers State have just seven days to resolve their conflict and reopen the oil facility or brace for the wrath of the Government. Already, Governor Nyesom Wike has directed the Secretary to the State Government,  Dr Tammy Danagogo,  to convene a meeting of all key stakeholders in the presence of security chiefs in the state, for the host communities to outline their grievances to  the Anglo-Dutch oil and gas major, Shell, to address pressing development concerns. Wike spoke at a meeting with Shell, Belema Oil Limited,…

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Apparently burdened by the oil pollution nightmare in the Niger Delta, Nigeria’s main oil and gas region, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says the Federal Government is determined to lead the way in the improvement of the environment. He spoke during his commissioning of the $8.00 million, around N2.9 billion Port Harcourt Dockyard Liquid Waste Management Treatment Plant constructed by African Circle Pollution Management Limited in Rivers State. While insisting that the commissioning was another opportunity for Nigeria to lead the way in the improvement of the environment, Osinbajo said the project  was in line with the Build Operate and Transfer Agreement…

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The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the Nigerian government under President Muhammadu Buhari’s watch and his ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of allegedly seeking to foist a siege mentality on the citizenry and ultimately destabilizing the country for their selfish political gains. The National Working Committee (NWC) of Nigeria’s main opposition party made the weighty allegation while condemning in totality, the invasion of the Abuja residence of Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba State by some operatives of the Nigeria Police alleged to have been detailed by Presidential authorities. The party’s missile came as a joint committee of information…

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A new wave of industrial policies and increasing competition for international investment has sparked a boom in the establishment of Special Economic Zones (SEZs), according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) World Investment Report 2019. The global tally of zones has increased to nearly 5,400, up from 4,000 five years ago, and more than 500 new SEZs are in the pipeline. The industrial zones, which offer fiscal incentives and streamlined regulations to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), are common in most developing and many developed economies. More than 145 economies operate such zones today. “There are many examples…

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In a seeming damning allegation, a constitutional lawyer and human rights activist, Inibehe Effiong, says President Muhammadu Buhari has been giving the murderous Fulani herdsmen the leverage to wreck havoc across Nigeria. In a post on his Facebook wall, Effiong added, ‘’those who are silent on this evil in our country will not escape the harsh verdict of history.’’ His obviously weighty allegation is coming after a report by the French Institute for Research in Africa (IFRA) claimed that no fewer than 10,665 Nigerians died from herdsmen clashes, banditry, Boko Haram conflict, cultism and other violence across the country. In the report, Nigeria…

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The economic and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela has pushed 3.9 million persons to migrate or flee, according to recent estimates of the Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants in the troubled country. The figure is bursting out as the 15-year-old Nelsmar, who attended a middle-class school in central Venezuela not long ago, is now in Colombia. Her family is one of those uprooted by the crisis. Nelsmar’s family made the move over a year ago. They walked for eight days, and spent the rest of the journey traveling by bus, before reaching the border with Colombia. When they arrived in the border…

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A seeming public interest post by the Rael-Science says a research group led by Professor Wang Feng at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences recently developed a method to produce diesel fuel and hydrogen by exploiting light energy (solar energy or artificial light energy) and biomass-derived feedstocks. Their findings were however, published in Nature Energy. Biomass, including agricultural straw and forest waste, is the largest source of sustainable carbon resources in nature and is able to replace petrochemical resources to provide abundant derivative products. As an alternative to photocatalytic water splitting to provide hydrogen, splitting…

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The senator representing Delta-North, Peter Nwaoboshi, has been dragged to the Code of Conduct Tribunal by the Federal Government on a three-count of false declaration of assets. The charges were filed by the Office of the Department of Public Prosecutions, Federal Ministry of Justice. He was recently referred to the DPPF’s office for prosecution by the Special Presidential Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property led by Okoi Obono-Obla. Nwaoboshi is to be tried for allegedly making false assets declaration in his Form CCB1 submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau by failing to declare three bank accounts he…

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For the third consecutive year, the global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) appears to be enjoying a downward slide. It nose-dived by 13 percent in 2018, to $1.3 trillion from $1.5 trillion the previous year. This is the third consecutive annual decline, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) World Investment Report 2019. Largely, the contraction was precipitated by United States multinational enterprises (MNEs) repatriating earnings from abroad, making use of tax reforms introduced by the country in 2017, designed for that purpose. Hardest hit by the earnings repatriation were developed countries, where flows fell by a quarter…

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In the next 31 years, Nigeria is expected to add 200 million more people to the global population which is expected to hit some 10 billion by 2050. A new report, The World Population Prospects 2019: Highlights by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) estimates: a mind-boggling 9.7 billion people will inhabit the Earth by 2050, which is an increase of two billion from now. Nine countries are projected to be responsible for over the half of that surge with India leading the way. She is projected to add 273 million to her already massive 1.37 billion…

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