Author: Chronicle Editor

The Presidency says President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration deserves credit for considerably reducing corruption in Nigeria especially in the public service. Garba Shehu, a spokesman for President Buhari on Thursday said the Buhari administration has reduced corruption in the public service and will continue to vigorously support prevention, enforcement, public education and enlightenment activities of anti-corruption agencies. “We are currently analyzing the sources of data used in arriving at the latest Transparency International (TI) report on Corruption Perceptions Index in Nigeria since by their own admission, they don’t gather their own data,” Shehu said in a statement. Arguing that the report…

President of Senate, Ahmad Lawan has pushed for a cost reduction in the  production of crude oil by International Oil Companies operating in Nigeria. According to Lawan, the new Petroleum Industry Bill presently before the National Assembly would accommodate provisions to ensure same when the bill is eventually considered and passed by the end of the first quarter this year. The Senate President made this known when a delegation of Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS) paid a visit to his office at the National Assembly on Thursday. “The cost of production in Nigeria is a major concern in the oil…

The Lagos State Government on Wednesday banned trucks and trailers from plying roads in the state during day time. The government said trucks and trailers were now restricted to night operations on Lagos roads in order to avert rising carnage’s on roads during day time. The restriction order would soon be implemented by the government. The State government met with officials of various truck unions in Ikeja on Wednesday to make its position known on the proposed the implementation of route restrictions for trailer and truck drivers operating within the State and movement period restricted to night. Commissioner for Transportation, Dr.…

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said Wednesday that it had cleared the Boeing 737 MAX to fly again in European skies, 22 months after the plane was grounded following two fatal crashes. “Following extensive analysis by EASA, we have determined that the 737 MAX can safely return to service,” EASA director Patrick Ky said in a statement. “This assessment was carried out in full independence of Boeing or the (American) Federal Aviation Administration and without any economic or political pressure,” the agency added. The MAX was grounded in March 2019 after two crashes that together killed 346 people — the 2018…

Microsoft co-founder turned philanthropist Bill Gates says he has been taken aback by the volume of “crazy” and “evil” conspiracy theories about him spreading on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, but said on Wednesday he would like to explore what is behind them. In an interview with Reuters, Gates said the millions of online posts and “crazy conspiracy theories” about him and about top U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci had likely taken hold in part because of the combination of a frightening viral pandemic and the rise of social media. “Nobody would have predicted that I and Dr.…

Former Paris Saint-Germain boss Tuchel took charge at Stamford Bridge against misfiring Wolves less than 24 hours after replacing the sacked Frank Lampard. Club owner Roman Abramovich handed the 47-year-old a brief to revive the fortunes of a team that had lost five of their previous eight Premier League games. Chelsea struggled to make an impression against Nuno Espirito Santo’s men, whose form has nose-dived after forward Raul Jimenez fractured his skull in late November. The home side dominated territory and possession, but created few clear-cut chances and the visitors had opportunities to leave with all three points. The new…

Daily global deaths from Coronavirus topped 18,000 for the first time in the latest reminder of its deadly impact while countries further tightened restrictions Wednesday in their struggle against new virus variants. With vaccines seen as the only real chance of returning to some form of normality in the months ahead, a row also erupted between the European Union and drugs firm AstraZeneca over the supply of inoculations. Several countries meanwhile imposed new restrictions or considered them as they faced the reality that measures so far to contain infections have fallen short, particularly with new variants spreading. The more infectious…

Over 1 million people have died from COVID-19 in North and South America, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said on Wednesday. In the last week alone, 2 million more cases were reported in the Americas, with the United States the main driver of the outbreak, the WHO regional branch said. Globally, there have been over 100 million cases and 2.1 million deaths with 44 million cases in North and South America, according to a Reuters tally. Throughout North America, there is growing pressure on hospital capacity and in some U.S. states nearly 80% of ICU beds are being used…

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has joked many times this season that his Manchester United side like to do things the hard way, and they couldn’t have made life more difficult for themselves during a dreadful 2-1 loss at home to Sheffield United on Wednesday night. It was always likely that if they kept falling behind in games, their combination of luck, grit and determination would eventually prove unable to bail them out of trouble. The only surprise was that it happened at Old Trafford against the bottom team in the Premier League. United, though, only had themselves to blame. Kean Bryan’s…

By Deji Oriyomi Splattered all over the history of humankind, right from the very beginning of creation to this day, we’ve heard unbelievable stories of missed opportunities and misplaced priorities. It is as if insensitivity to the available opportunities isn’t enough to contend with. Perhaps that is just the way it is meant to be so as to make the world go round, otherwise, what kind of world would we have had if opportunities are never lost so that someone else could get them and others spend a lifetime with the regret? Insensitivity to opportunities, like I said, is an…