Author: Chronicle Editor

By Kingsley Fanwo Yesterday, I received a call from a friend who resides in Lagos. After the New Year banters, my friend was clearing his throat, so mischievously that I instantly knew he was up to something sinister. “But Kingsley, how come your masquerades in Kogi are so expensive”, he asked with a green voice of suspicion. I knew what he was up to, but I wouldn’t be beaten to it. “Who told you Kogi masquerades are expensive my friend? My late grandfather was a leading “Aworo” (masquerades custodian), so I know a bit of the mystery of masquerades. In…

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has condemned herdsmen attack on Guma and Logo local government areas, stressing that, the Nigerian government should treat the herders like Boko Haram terrorists. In a statement by its Publicity Secretary in Makurdi, Benue state capital, Bemgba Iortyom said, “Once again, heavily armed gunmen on Jan. 2, unleashed violence and mayhem on some rural communities in Benue. “This time in Guma and Logo Local Government Areas (LGAs), killing a yet to be determined number of peasant farmers, women, children and the aged inclusive. “The assailants also visited arson on property of the locals on a…

The Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, on Wednesday announced that the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and the Generation Companies (GENCOs) were working to restore the technical hitches recorded in the national transmission grid. A statement from the management of the ministry indicated that the Nigerian Gas Processing and Transportation Company Ltd (NGPTC) had reported a fire on its Escravos Lagos Pipeline System near Okada, Edo on January 2. The incident, according to the statement, requires a shutdown of the pipeline supplying gas to Egbin 1,320MW; Olorunsogo NIPP 676MW, Olorunsogo 338MW, Omotosho NIPP 450MW, Omotosho 338…

Residents in Makurdi, Benue state capital have trooped out in their thousands to protest against the January 2, herdsmen’s attack on farmers in which 20 people were killed. The protesters are calling on the presidency to bring the culprits to book. The protesters carried placards with inscriptions such as “Presidential Intervention needed”, “Why value cows to Humans”, and “Stop this incessant blood bath”. Some of them chanted, “We will not vote for the present administration again both the State and Federal level if this crises don’t stop”. READ: Coup plot foiled in Equatorial Guinea The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)…

The Equatorial Guinea government has claimed that it thwarted an attempted coup against the government of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema in late December 2017. At least 30 armed men were arrested recently in Cameroon, near the border with Equatorial Guinea. Security Minister Nicholas Obama Nchama said radical opposition parties had recruited mercenaries to overthrow the government of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who has been in power for nearly 40 years. He said the coup attempt had been foiled with the help of the Cameroonian security services. READ: Again, Forte Oil is worst performing stock on NSE The alleged mercenaries -…

For the second year running, Forte Oil Plc maintained its leadership as the worst performing stock on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in 2017 in percentage terms. Statistics obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) from the exchange indicated that the stock, which opened trading in 2017 at N84.43, dropped by 48.50 per cent to close the year at N43.48 per share. NAN reports that Forte Oil in 2016 also emerged the worst performing stock in 2016 in percentage terms having dropped by 74.42 per cent. The stock, which opened trading in 2016 at N330, depreciated by 74.42 per…

Nigeria’s electricity grid has been shut down by a fire on a gas pipeline, the ministry of power said on Wednesday, underscoring the instability of the country’s creaking power infrastructure. Nigeria’s dilapidated power grid is often blamed for hobbling growth in Africa’s largest economy, despite efforts to improve it through privatisation. Many businesses and households have their own power generators, often costly and run on fuel, as a backup for the country’s frequent blackouts. Gas supply to several power stations was cut off because of the fire on the Escravos Lagos Pipeline System near Okada in the southern state of…

A suicide bomber killed 11 people on Wednesday in an attack on a mosque in northeast Nigeria, the epicentre of the conflict with Islamist insurgency Boko Haram, military officials and an aid worker said. The bomber hit the mosque in the town of Gamboru in Borno state, near Nigeria’s border with Cameroon, during dawn prayers, said Ali Mustapha, an aid worker. “I was on my way to dawn prayer, then I heard the sound of a loud bomb explosion inside the mosque,” Mustapha told Reuters. “The mosque was destroyed and burnt,” he said. “After some hours, when we came to…

Liverpool are yet to receive a new bid from Barcelona for Philippe Coutinho, but reports in Spain claim a renewed offer for the midfielder is imminent. Barcelona’s long-standing interest in the 25-year-old has been rekindled by the January transfer window and his continued desire to join the club. Liverpool are now braced for another attempt to secure a deal this month. Liverpool rejected three offers, and a transfer request from the Brazilian, before the start of this season. The last of Barcelona’s three bids was £118m – which included add-ons totalling in excess of £30m based on Coutinho winning the…

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) have released information that Nigerians spent N2.68trillion from January to October 2017 on airtime. According to this data released by the two bodies, the Nigerian economy may be crashing, but Nigerians still managed to spend a massive amount of their income on airtime on their mobile devices, which they used to access both voice and data services from mobile network operators. Nigerians purchased airtime across different platforms. These platforms include the physical recharge card option, the virtual top-up (VTU) done through USSD code, subscribers’ bank accounts domiciled on…