Dennis

Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has rewarded seven children with scholarship for their selfless service to the military task force in  the Niger Delta during the severe 2022 flooding in the state. The children are resident in Igbogene, the community where the Joint Task Force (JTF) base is located.  Speaking during the end-of-year event of the JTF code-named ‘Operation Delta Safe’ in Yenagoa, the governor hailed the efforts of the children during such a difficult moment when the state was apparently at war with nature and needed every available help. A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, quoted the Bayelsa helmsman as commending the children for displaying the true Bayelsa spirit of being a brother's keeper and called on others to emulate them. He said it was heart-warming that the lads were part of the success story of the management of the flood, saying the scholarship was a reward for hard work. Governor Diri lauded the task force for its role

Bayelsa State government has commenced the training of recruits into its Community Safety Corps. No fewer than 607 selected recruits are currently undergoing training at the Bayelsa Sports Institute at Asoama in Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area of the state. The Chief Security Coordinator and Coordinator of the Bayelsa State Community Safety Corps, Brig-Gen. Eric Angaye (rtd), disclosed this during a briefing after the state’s 21st security council meeting presided over by Governor Douye Diri at Government House, Yenagoa. Gen. Angaye said at the end of the two-month training, the recruits would assist the police to enhance security in the state. He explained that they would be deployed to all communities across the state. Also, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Ben Okolo, said the security council reviewed the achievements and challenges recorded in the security sector in 2022. He said several arrests were made including kidnappers, pipeline vandals and sea pirates. Mr. Okolo

Brazilian football icon Pele, widely regarded as the greatest player of all time and a three-time World Cup winner who masterminded the “beautiful game,” has died at the age of 82, his family said Thursday. “Everything we are is thanks to you. We love you infinitely. Rest in peace,” daughter Kely Nascimento wrote on Instagram.

The five aggrieved Peoples Democratic Party governors have met with the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu in London, the United Kingdom. The APC standard bearer was said to have lobbied for the endorsement of the five governors during the marathon meeting which was held on Tuesday. Governors Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Samuel Ortom (Benue) and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu states and some political heavyweights from the South had vowed not to support the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, over the refusal of the party’s National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, to resign after Atiku obtained the presidential ticket of the party.   But hours after the governors meeting with Tinubu, the PDP said it was not aware of their parley with the ruling party’s presidential candidate, noting that as far it was concerned, the governors were in the UK on vacation.   The main opposition party, however, threatened to punish the governors for

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday, asked a Federal High Court, Abuja, to dismiss a suit seeking his disqualification from the 2023 election.   Justice Nyako has however fixed January 27 for judgment.   Tinubu, through his counsel, Karma Fagbemi, told Justice Nyako that the plaintiff; the Incorporated Trustees of Kingdom Human Rights Foundation International, was a meddlesome interloper who was neither a political party nor a candidate in the poll.   He said the plaintiff lacked locus standi (legal right) to institute the case, which invariably challenged the political party’s decision and its internal affairs.   APC’s lawyer, Ibrahim Audu, also spoke in the same vein.   The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the group had sued the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, the APC and Tinubu as first to third defendants respectively.   The group, in an originating motion on notice, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1960/22,

The Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress have listed conditions for the proposed review of the national minimum wage, saying the continuous rise in inflation and the devaluation of the naira must be checked before the salary increase announced by the Federal Government could be considered.   The organised labour explained that the cost of virtually all consumables in Nigeria had been on the rise, stressing that if this should continue; any amount of money that would be added to the minimum wage might not meet the expectations of workers.   The NLC and TUC spoke against the backdrop of the disclosure by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, that the Federal Government would soon announce salary increments for civil servants and public officials due to the steady increase in prices of consumer goods.   The PUNCH reports that Nigeria’s headline inflation has continued to rise this year, hitting a new high of 21.47 per cent in November 2022 from 21.09 per cent

The   Senate   on   Wednesday   rejected   the   request   by   the   President, Major   General   Muhammadu   Buhari,   (retd.),   to   restructure   the N22.7tn   Ways   and   Means   advances   collected   by   the   Federal Government   from   the   Central   Bank   of   Nigeria.   The   lawmakers   rejected   the   request   after   an   uproar   in   the   Senate over   the   issue.   Buhari   had   in   a   letter   read   on   the   floor   of   the   Senate   on   Wednesday last   week   sought   for   restructuring   of   the   N22.7tn   ways   and   means advances   collected   from   CBN   within   the   last   ten   years   in   addition   to N1tn   to   be   collected   as   fresh   domestic   loan.   In   the   letter,   he   said   ways   and   means   were   advances   from   the Central   Bank   of   Nigeria   to   the   Federal   Government   for   emergency funding   of   delayed   receipt   of   fiscal   deficits.   However,   trouble   started   when   the   chair