Nation

The United States on Thursday unveiled new measures to punish Myanmar’s army for its February 1 coup, blocking the ministries of defence and home affairs and top military conglomerates from certain types of trade.

President Muhammadu Buhari has felicitated with the Founder of Sword of the Spirit Ministries, Bishop Francis Wale Oke, on his election as President of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN.

Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State said President Buhari stressed this on Thursday when his Chief of Staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, led him to brief the president on the suspension of the strike by the Amalgamated Union of Food and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria (AFUCDN), which had ceased the supply of foodstuffs and cattle to the southern part of Nigeria.

Delta State Governor, Senator (Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa, on Thursday said the State Government would partner Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to develop the state’s maritime potential.

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has said that the porous and extensive border area requiring security coverage was the reason for the spate of smuggling and arms proliferation in the country.

Harsh living conditions in Nigeria have now put life expectancy at 54 years, the Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria (AGMPN) has said.

President Buhari, who gave the order Thursday at the virtual Commissioning Ceremony of the NIS Technology Building in Abuja, also directed the NIS to “ensure that criminal elements don’t find Nigeria as a safe haven to hide and perpetrate their criminality.’’

Worried by the rising level of insecurity in the country, President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday charged the nation’s security agencies to up the ante in their drive towards protection of lives and property.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has mourned the demise of Sadiq Daba, describing him as an iconic thespian/broadcaster and a giant of his time.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has guaranteed a total of N122.632 billion loans under the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF).

The Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), Thursday told the House of Representatives that the agency’s biggest problem in trying to stem arms smuggling is border communities ganging up against his officers.

President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo will receive their jabs of COVID-19 vaccine before television cameras on Saturday, March 6, 2021.

Senator Emmanuel Ibok Essien has emerged as the new National Chairman of Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, which is the mouthpiece of monarchs, leaders and stakeholders of the coastal states of Niger Delta.

A former presidential candidate on the platform of the defunct Advanced People’s Democratic Alliance (APDA), Mohammed Shittu, has joined the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

In acknowledgment of his stand and support for the Christian faith and exemplary service to humanity, the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, has conferred a special award of the Defender of Faith on Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, said he had engaged with controversial Yoruba activist, Mr Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, over the demands made by Amalgamated Union of Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria to lift their food blockade to Southern Nigeria.

North East Governors Forum has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to fast-track work on the Mambila Hydroelectric Power Project.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of plotting a forceful take over of Zamfara State because of the security challenges confronting the state.

The ‘’no fly zone’’ order given by President Muhammadu Buhari over Zamfara State on Tuesday appears to have impacted positively on banditry in Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State yesterday, as bandits ran helter-skelter, abandoning their motorcycles on sighting military fighter jets in the area, and fleeing.

Former President Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has urged Nigerian universities to aspire to produce the kind of workforce that would advance the nation’s economy on a sustainable basis.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the fourth meeting of the Northeast Governors’ Forum in Bauchi, the Chairman of the Forum and Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum, said: “In our previous meetings, we have been able to identify most of the daunting challenges facing us, individually and collectively, and the possible courses of action which we would pursue through shared responsibility and commonality of purpose, in order to arrive at the desired outcomes.”

The National Institute of Horticultural Research (NIHORT), Ibadan, Oyo State, has commenced a 2-day training for unemployed youths and women, on value addition for tomato farmers.