NIGERIAN NOTCH

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that he would continue to hold the former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, in high esteem because he (Jonathan) conceded defeat at the 2015 presidential election. President Buhari made the statement on Thursday night when he hosted members of the Kannywood entertainment industry to a dinner at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Buhari, while recalling his political struggles since 2003 when he made his first attempt to clinch the presidential seat, lauded Jonathan for accepting defeat in the 2015 general elections.  According to him, “I’ll continue to hold former president Jonathan in high esteem as a result of that singular act. “He (Jonathan) was in power as Deputy Governor, Governor (Bayelsa), Vice-President and President, all for about 10 years and he voluntarily accepted defeat and surrendered power to me,’’ he said. Buhari also reassured that the brutal activities of the Boko Haram sect in the country would soon become history.

The Anambra Government has banned religious bodies from using either public schools or its facilities to conduct religious services across the state. The state Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr Don Adinuba, announced the ban on Friday in an interview with newsmen in Onitsha. Adinuba said the ban became imperative because of the ongoing seeming ownership tussle of Bishop Crowder Memorial School, Onitsha, being contested between the state and the Diocese on the Niger, Anglican Communion. The Church, through its legal Secretary, Mr Tabugbo Anaeto, is claiming ownership of the school. Members of the Anglican Church recently staged a peaceful protest and subsequently released a statement, accusing the state government of its alleged refusal from allowing it to assume ownership of its property.  Anaeto, in a statement, alleged that the state government had refused to make public the report of the fact finding committee on the ownership of the school set

Human rights activist and Lagos lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, yesterday, eclared that $12.7 billion worth of crude oil was allegedly stolen from Nigeria between 2011 and 2014, even as he called on the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, to prevail on the anti-corruption agencies to institute a probe to trace the funds and determine the culprits. Speaking at the 40th Anniversary Celebration of PENGASSAN in Abuja, Falana also called for the immediate recovery from oil companies, royalties accruable to the Federation Account since 2014, stating that the Offshore and Inland Sharing Contract Act that provided that for 50 years no royalty would be collected from oil and gas mined from below 1,000 meters depth had expired in 2014. Commenting on the alarming cases of oil theft, Falana said the crude oil theft data was released by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, while he promised to make the report available to the

A 3-storey building under construction, yesterday, in Okpuno Otolo Nnewi, Anambra State collapsed trapping eleven builders inside it. The building, according to residents living around the site, collapsed by 5:00am and trapped the builders who slept there to continue their work the next day. However, eight people with various degrees of injuries were rescued and evacuated to a nearby health centre for first aid, before been moved to the emergency unit of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi. The ninth victim whose legs and arms were trapped in the debris was seen crying for help which took sympathizers a big task to accomplish. When he was finally rescued, though alive, his hands and legs were seen dangling because of the extent of damage done to them. He was equally taken to NAUTH emergency unit. But the remaining two victims trapped in the thicket of the debris whose cries of agony were faintly heard could not be easily approached for rescue a

The standard flag bearer of APGA in Nnewi North, Comrade Smart Nonso Okafor has taken the victory trail to church, to thank God for seeing him through, in a keenly contested primaries, which saw to his emergence as the flag bearer of his party, in a bid to occupy the hallowed chambers in 2019. While addressing newsmen after the church service, Comrade Smart Okafor, said he was thankful to God, for making it possible for his party, to have entrusted such a responsibility in his hands. He promised to carry the people along in his legislative responsibilities to move Nnewi forward.   He said that his focus is on ONAZI development bill, which is to make sure that Nnewi North development interests is well represented in the house. He stressed that the ONAZI development bill will be a project, ear marked to project the development of Onitsha, Nnewi and Awka in the budget, as these areas contribute to the major IGR of the state government in Anambra. He said that he believes that if