Author: Chronicle Editor

On Friday, the Nigerian revealed that no fewer than 6,022 of its personnel would be captured in a biometric enrollment exercise for the 75 regular recruits intake. The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, said disclosed this while in Personnel in Zaria, Kaduna stae where he noted that he was aware of the efforts made on the computerization of the functions of the Nigerian Army Finance Corps. He said that the exercise was in line with the ongoing financial reforms of the Federal Government. “The Nigerian Army as a vital arm of government, will surely leave no stone un-turned…

On Friday, Nigeria and Kingdom of Morocco signed a seven point bilateral agreements in Abuja. This agreement is to foster friendly relationship and aid economic development between the two nations. Mr Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity has said disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents on the outcome of the bilateral meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and the Moroccan King, Mohammed VI. According to him, the eighth agreement, Memorandum of Understanding Between Group Credit Agricole and NIRSAL, will be signed at a later date due to the absence of one of the signatories. “Eight bilateral agreements…

While civil servants in many States across Nigeria are protesting the non-payment of salaries for many months, the story in Cross River is the opposite. Civil servants in the state on Friday condemned the decision of the state governor, Ben Ayade, to pay their December salary on the first day of the month, Punch has reported. Some civil servants had on December 1 received salary alert for the month of December, as against the usual 25th of every month. It would be the second time that workers would be receiving salaries on the first day of the month as they…

Kawu Ashe is just one of up to 120,000 people facing starvation in north-eastern Nigeria, which has been ravaged by the Boko Haram Islamist insurgency. Last month, she made the life-and-death decision to flee her village after militants delivered a chilling message: “We are coming back to take your son.” The insurgents killed her husband, a cattle trader, two years ago and were now insisting that the couple’s two-and-a-half-year-old son Abdullahi belonged to them. Ms Ashe knew she had to act – even if the penalty for trying to escape could be execution. Under the cover of darkness, she and…

US President-elect Donald Trump has spoken directly with the president of Taiwan – breaking with US policy set in 1979 when formal relations were cut. Trump’s transition team said he and Tsai Ing-wen noted “close economic, political, and security ties” between the US and Taiwan in a phone call. The move risks angering China, which sees Taiwan as a breakaway province. But Trump tweeted that Ms Tsai had called him, to congratulate him on winning the US election. The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency. Thank you!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December…

A petrol tanker skidded off the road and exploded in central Nigeria, killing at least 14 people on Friday, witnesses told AFP. They said eight houses were razed following the accident which happened around 8:00 am (0700GMT) in the transit town of Tegina in Niger state. “We buried 14 people including a six-month-old baby who died in the tanker explosion this morning,” said Muhammad Sani who took part in the rescue operation. Eight more victims were taken to hospital with burns, two of them in “very critical condition” while eight homes were burnt in the inferno, said another resident Abdullahi…

Bayern Munich returned to the top of the table as Arjen Robben scored one and set up another against Mainz on his 150th appearance in the Bundesliga. Jhon Cordoba shot past Manuel Neuer to give the hosts a surprise early lead before Robert Lewandowski equalised after being set up by Robben. Robben headed home from Thomas Muller’s cross to give Bayern the lead before a Lewandowski free-kick made it 3-1. Bayern move above RB Leipzig on goal difference. Both teams are on 30 points, but Bayern have played one game more. Leipzig will re-establish a three-point lead if they beat…

Wife of the Governor of Lagos State, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode, has urged the public to desist from discriminating against persons living with HIV. She made the call in Ikeja, at the 2016 World Aids Day commemoration with adolescents living with HIV, organized by the Lagos State Aids Control Agency (LSACA) in collaboration with Positive Action for Treatment Access (PATA). She noted that since HIV was not contracted through physical contacts like hand-shaking or hugging, it was unnecessary to deliberately avoid people with the challenge. She said, “I urge Lagos State Aids Control Agency to continue to sensitize the public, on…

On Thursday, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo identified the importance of merit in the nation’s reward system arguing that preferring a quota system ahead of merit could be detrimental to the progress of any society. He stated his position in Abuja at the dinner and installation ceremony of this year’s winners of the Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM): Professors Omowunmi Amoke Sadiq, an environmental scientist, and Tanure Ojaide, a poet and literary critic. The Vice President, who quoted from works of past and current winners of the NNOM in his remarks, noted that the award recipients demonstrated that Nigeria is…

By Okey Ndibe Except in extremely isolated cases—for example, as an act of self-defense—it is morally indefensible for individuals to engage in extra-judicial killing. When a government makes it its business to slaughter unarmed citizens, that government reveals itself as criminally thuggish. And the state in whose behalf that government kills loses its moral legitimacy. That, I am afraid, is the burden that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has placed on itself. Last week, Amnesty International (AI), a human rights group, released a chilling report on the Buhari administration’s excessively brutal response to members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB)…