Author: Chronicle Editor

A bill on the floor of the House of Representatives considering discontinuation of the National Youth Service Corps scheme (NYSC) has generated mixed reactions. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Alteration Bill, 2020, which is seeking to repeal the NYSC Act, is billed for the second reading. The NYSC scheme was set up in 1973 during the military regime of Gen Yakubu Gowon (Rtd) to reconcile and rebuild the country after the civil war. The bill, which has passed first reading, was sponsored by a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmaker from Rivers state, Awaji-Inombek Abiante. Abiante, in the…

Several European airlines have said that they will not fly over Belarus, days after a dissident journalist was arrested on a flight diverted to Minsk. Air France is the latest major carrier to ban overflights. Neighbouring Ukraine and Poland are stopping all flights to and from Belarus. Western countries accuse Belarus of hijacking the Ryanair plane carrying journalist Roman Protasevich on Sunday. The Greece-Lithuania flight was rerouted over a supposed bomb threat. List of countries where ‘crypto trading’ is legal, illegal Belarus authorities on Monday released video of Mr Protasevich that appears to have been recorded under duress since his…

The Southern Governors in the country have accused the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, of causing confusion. The governors also stated that Shehu was not working in the interest of President Muhammadu Buhari after he issued a statement questioning their announcement on open grazing and its legality. Reacting on their behalf, the Chairman of the South West Governors Forum, Rotimi Akeredolu, accused Garba Shehu of creating confusion in the polity by his utterances. Akeredolu accused Garba Shehu of “working assiduously, for extraneous interests whose game plan stands at variance with the expectations…

Lawmakers seek amendment to the pension bill Want security agents, domestic staff retained The Lagos State House of Assembly on Monday read for a second time a bill that seeks to repeal the law which grants pension and other emoluments to governors and deputies after leaving office. The new bill which was debated on the floor of the House at a sitting presided over by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. (Dr) Mudashiru Obasa, is titled ‘A Bill for a law to repeal the law to provide for the payment of pensions and other fringe benefits to public office holders in Lagos…

Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo state and Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti state have said they fully support the resolution of Sunday’s meeting of Southwest All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders’ meeting in Lagos State. The governors also explained why they were absent at far reaching report. They attributed their absence to lack of timeous communication. The governors explained their positions in statements by their Chief Press Secretaries, Richard Olatunde and Yinka Oyebode. Akeredolu described the parley as “commendable and timely”. Southwest APC leaders reject secession agitation, embrace ban on open-grazing The statement said: “Governor Akeredolu would have loved to be…

No fewer than 58 persons were killed in Benue, Plateau, and Niger states following violent attacks by bandits and herdsmen on villages. Many were also injured in the bloodletting that took place on Sunday. In Niger State where 15 people were also abducted, youths took over the ever-busy Kaduna-Abuja Expressway on Monday, demanding government’s intervention to release the abductees. They razed a police outpost. Twenty-five of the deaths were recorded in Niger; 20 in Plateau and 13 in Benue. It was gathered that the killings in Niger State were carried out by bandits in Mariga and Munya Local Government Areas.…

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday questioned the ban on open grazing by Southern Governors governors ban, stressing that, it was legally questionable. The President also accused the southern governors of playing politics with serious security issues while attempting to show power. The President in a statement by his spokesperson, Garba Shehu, attempted to claim ownership of the ban on open grazing by claiming that President Buhari had put in certain measures. “The President had approved a number of specific measures to bring a permanent end to the frequent skirmishes as recommended by Alhaji Sabo Nanono, the Minister of Agriculture in…

By Samuel Haruna Recently, I had the pleasure of writing the memoirs detailing the decades spent in active service by a retired distinguished senior officer in the Nigerian Foreign Service. It was a most informative and educating exercise, to say the least. The discourse that ensued is best narrated in his own words. The purported letter dated May 4, 2021 addressed to Mr. President by some unknown persons has created an opportunity for the need of some anomalies ongoing in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be brought to the open. One of the most resisted things in organizations or…

Senate President Ahmad Lawan on Monday said that the National Toll-Free Emergency Bill presently before the National Assembly would establish a channel and put in place a structure to guarantee swift security response to Nigerians in times of emergencies. This was just as he posited that the amendment of the Nigerian Postal Service Act would reposition the agency to provide efficient service delivery to Nigerians. Lawan made these known in an address delivered to declare open a one-day public hearing on two bills by the Senate Committee on Communications. The bills are: Nigerian Postal Service Act (Repeal and Establishment) Bill,…

President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed a strong resolve to address the conflicts of herders and farmers in a sustained and lasting manner that should lead to the emergence of a permanent solution to the frequent clashes between them, as well as the associated problem of the gun-wielding “killer herdsmen.” “The President had approved a number of specific measures to bring a permanent end to the frequent skirmishes as recommended by Alhaji Sabo Nanono, the Minister of Agriculture in a report he submitted and the President signed off on it back in April, well before the actions of the Southern Governors…