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Buhari Apologize to Fayose: As War of Attrition Shifts to Chinese Capital   As President Mohammadu Buhari clinks glasses for successful negotiation of a $2b loan from the Chinese government, Ayo Fayose, the vociferous Governor of Ekiti State, has written to the Chinese authorities, detailing why the loan should not be approved. It signals a new chapter in the war between the two men, which predates this Republic, Samuel Ajayi writes The battle of attrition between the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, and President Mohammadu Buhari took a new turn during the week. Fayose, ever ready to hug the headlines, wrote to the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, advising the Chinese authorities not to grant the $2 billion trading loan to the country which the Far East country had already agreed to in principle. To underscore his seriousness, Fayose had already written a letter through his chief of staff, Dipo Anisulowo, to the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Gu Xiaojie, a couple of days ...

APC said it's a Mistake Voting for Buhari.     Not many people will think twice before answering the above question in the affirmative mode. This is understandable. The myriad of problems facing Nigerians, ironically at a time they thought they were very near the Promised Land, is enough to wonder whether or not Nigerians were actually right in their choice of a new president last year. Indeed, I have heard and read, on the social media, a new campaign: #Bring Back Our Corruption. And the argument is that if with the monumental corruption of the previous government, we had petrol, inflation was single digit,  U.S Dollar was about N200 and available, the electricity companies could still provide light for about six to 10 hours a day, and the general econometrics of life were yet attainable, then we should have that brand of corruption and let life continue. Those who hold this belief argue that Buhari’s fight against corruption, apart from appearing as the mono-agen...

Western Nigerian/Igbos in abroad remitted $21bn in 2015 –W’Bank Nigerians abroad remitted $21bn in 2015 –W’Bank Nigerians in the Diaspora sent home $21bn in 2015, a slight improvement from the $20.83bn remitted a year earlier. The figure was given by the World Bank in the latest edition of its ‘Migration and Development Brief’, which was released on Wednesday. According to the bank, remittances to developing countries grew only marginally in 2015, as weak oil prices and other factors strained the earnings of international migrants and their ability to send money home to their families. Officially recorded remittances to developing countries amounted to $431.6bn in 2015, an increase of 0.4 per cent over the $430bn in 2014. The bank added that the growth pace in 2015 was the slowest since the global financial crisis, as the global remittances, which include those to high-income countries, contracted by 1.7 per cent to $581.6bn last year, from $592bn in ...

Why do Fulani lives matter? DSS ''discovered'' 55 shallow graves in Abia State Ordinarily, the news that the Department of State Services “discovered” 55 shallow graves in Abia State should spark excitement. Of this lot were bodies of five Fulani who were said to be residents of the state. The rest, presumably victims of violence, have yet to be identified. At a time when public officials wield no magic wand, and cannot find solutions to Nigeria’s multifarious problems, the DSS’ rising to its own responsibility makes one almost want to deafen their ears with wild applause. Yet, to take it for granted that this affair is solely about administrative efficacy is to be naive. First is the question, why do Fulani lives matter? No, I am not about to engage in whataboutery, that diversionary tactic people resort to when they do not want to engage in uneasy topics. To shift focus from the issue at hand, they respond with, “What about XX?” Instead, I am curious if the...

 President Buhari apologize to U.S Ambassador, About Diverting Funds (Photos) The federal government on Wednesday reiterated its commitment to cater for vulnerable people in Nigeria, mostly comprising of displaced persons affected by the insurgency in the north as well as poor and unemployed citizens. At a ’roundtable meeting on vulnerable people in insurgency and  other conflicts in Nigeria’ organised by the office of the national security adviser which held in Abuja, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo promised that the current administration would intervene in the lives of those who cannot help themselves. Osinbajo reiterated the administration’s commitment to spend N500 billion on the social investnents programme,    for which provision has been made in the 2016 national budget. Special adviser to the president on social investments, Mrs Maryam Uwais, listed the five prongs of the N500bn social investment programme to be: job creation, scho...

N Korea says it can now 'reduce US to ashes' North Korea said on Saturday it has successfully tested a new intercontinental ballistic rocket engine that will give it the ability to stage nuclear strikes on the United States. The engine's ground test, if true, would be. North Korea said Saturday it had successfully tested an engine designed for an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) that would “guarantee” an eventual nuclear strike on the US mainland. It was the latest in a series of claims by Pyongyang of significant breakthroughs in both its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes. Outside experts have treated a number of the claims with scepticism, suggesting the North Korean leadership is attempting to talk up its achievements ahead of a showcase ruling party congress next month. According to the North’s official KCNA news agency, the ground engine test was ordered and personally monitored by leader Kim Jong-Un. As soon a...

800 Boko Haram Insurgents Offered Olive Branch by Army Senator Iroegbu with agency report The Nigerian Army has said 800 militants from the Islamist Boko Haram group who have surrendered and shown remorse will be rehabilitated and reintegrated into society. According to the BBC, they would be profiled, documented and offered training in new skills at several camps currently being set up, the army spokesman said. Until now militants who surrendered were held in jail awaiting trial. The army has been criticised in the past for its treatment of Boko Haram insurgents and suspects. Last June, Amnesty International said that 7,000 young men and boys had died in military detention in Nigeria since 2011. The programme, known as Operation Safe Corridor, hopes to persuade others who are yet to renounce their membership of the jihadi group to do so. It is also an attempt by the army to show that human rights will be respected – a key promise made by President Muhammad...