Author: Chronicle Editor

Nigeria will achieve the 30 per cent national broadband penetration by 2018 as projected in the country’s National Broadband Plan. The country will also look into the complaints of multiple taxation to harmonise them to lessen the burden on ICT operators. The Minister of Communications, Mr Adebayo Shittu, said on Monday in Abuja that the country had so far achieved between 18 and 20 per cent penetration as a result of private sector initiatives. The government was encouraging all GSM and ICT companies to invest in the communication sector to expand the broadband penetration. He said the government was also…

A local newspaper has reported on Monday that China has successfully tested a homemade stealth fighter of the fifth generation called FC-31 Gyrfalcon, sources in the aviation industry, told a local newspaper. The improved version of what was earlier known as the J-31 made its maiden flight at the weekend in the northeastern city of Shenyang, the China Daily reported. The flight test comes four years after the initial prototype took to;the skies in 2012 and stayed airborne for 11 minutes. An Aviation Industry Corp official confirmed the test but declined to give any details. The daily reported the state-of-the-art…

A national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has congratulated the country, President Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigerian Army over the capture of Sambisa Forest. Sambisa was the last stronghold of Boko Haram terror sect. Tinubu in a statement by his media office yesterday specially thanked troops of Operation Lafiya Dole for capturing Boko Haram’s Camp Zero. Camp Zero is located in the heart of Sambisa forest where the top commanders of the sect hide. Tinubu also commended the troops for their bravery and resilience, urging them to now move to establish hold on the area.…

On Sunday, the Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha said it will be difficult for young people to assume leadership positions in the current state of the country. He declared that they ought to be groomed well before taking over leadership. Okorocha made the assertion in Owerri, the Imo state capital, through his Chief Press Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodor, as part of his Christmas message. The governor said what the leaders needed to do now was to unite the people. ”The leaders cannot afford to hand over to the next generation what we have at the moment as a nation, in which…

The outgoing UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, whose second five-year term is set to end by the end of this year, reclaimed top spot in recent South Korean presidential polls. A local survey showed on Monday that out of 2,528 voters in a nationwide poll conducted by local pollster Realmeter between December 19 and 23, support for Ban as the country’s next leader was 23.3 per cent, up 2.8 percentage points from the previous week. His main support base was the North Gyeongsang province, a traditional home turf for impeached President Park Geun-hye and the ruling Saenuri Party, in which…

Satguru Maharaj ji, the founder of One Love Family sect, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to constitute a Price Control Board in order to ameliorate the impact of the current economic recession on ordinary Nigerians. He also told newsmen in Ibadan on Sunday that a price control mechanism would strengthen the Naira. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the sect leader spoke at a news conference which was part of activities to mark his 69th birthday. “ We need to protect the value of our naira through the banning of some luxury goods that are not necessarily…

On Sunday, the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, asked President Muhammadu Buhari to call security agencies, which it claimed were killing pro-Biafra agitators to order. The group further threatened to avenge the death of any of its member killed by the country’s security agencies henceforth. In a statement issued in Awka, Anambra State, by the Media and Publicity Secretary of the group, Mr. Emma Powerful, IPOB said the era of killing its members without provocation had gone. The statement read partly, “Many have paid the supreme sacrifice at Igweocha, Port Harcourt, Rivers State; Aba in Abia State, Nkpor and Onitsha…

About 15,772 workers across various local governments, the teaching service commission and the core civil service, have been promoted by the Ekiti State Government. The beneficiaries are those whose promotions were due in 2012, 2013 and 2014. The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, according to a statement on Sunday by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Idowu Adelusi, approved the mass promotion at a meeting held with labour union leaders and top civil servants in Ado-Ekiti. The governor also ordered that the letters of promotion be given the affected workers without delay. “However, the cash backing for the promotions would be…

On Saturday, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode stated that one of his administration’s objectives was to propel Lagos State to the third largest economy in Africa. To achieve this, he said the administration would focus more on education, especially vocational training, adding that health facilities would be rehabilitated, while renewal and building of world-class infrastructure would continue in 2017. Ambode, who spoke at the Christmas Eve Dance, organised by the Yoruba Tennis Club, Onikan, said he remained committed to making the state globally competitive. He said, “Lagos is currently home to 65 per cent of Nigeria’s businesses, with a presence of over…

On Sunday, President Muhammadu Buhari appealed to the militants vandalising oil installations in the Niger Delta to come to the negotiation table. He noted that the proposed negotiation will bring an end to their arms campaign in the oil-rich Niger Delta. Buhari stressed that this would afford both the government and the militants the opportunity to decide how the nation’s resources could be managed instead of arms race. The President revealed his regret that the problems he identified during the campaigns that preceded the 2015 presidential election, which he won, still lingered even with him in the saddle for almost…