Author: Safiu Kehinde

Can a navigation app be held responsible if a user gets into an accident? That is the question being asked in India after three men died when their car veered off an unfinished bridge and fell on to a riverbed in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Police are still investigating the incident, which took place on Sunday, but they believe that Google Maps led the group to take that route. A part of the bridge had reportedly collapsed earlier this year because of floods and while locals knew this and avoided the bridge, the three men were not aware…

A former Chinese state media journalist has been sentenced on Friday to seven years in prison for espionage, his family has confirmed to the BBC. Dong Yuyu, 62, who has been detained since 2022, was active in academic and journalism circles in the US and Japan and met regularly with foreign diplomats. He was having lunch with a Japanese diplomat in Beijing when he was arrested by police. At the time of his detention, Dong had been a senior staff member of the Guangming Daily, one of the five major newspapers linked to the Chinese Communist Party. In February 2022,…

Agency Report The Federal Government has handed over the completed 62-kilometre, $3.02 billion worth Port Harcourt-Aba railway project to the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC). The Port Harcourt-Aba section is part of the larger Port Harcourt-Maiduguri Eastern Narrow Guage railway project, initiated under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. Mr Ayo Dada, Project Supervisor, Federal Ministry of Transportation, formally transferred the railway to the NRC during a brief ceremony held on Thursday in Port Harcourt. He said that the project, completed in May, had significantly improved passenger movement between Rivers and Abia, thereby enhancing their economies. “The assets handed over include…

Safiu Kehinde The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has raised alarm over the “increasing numbers of first-class graduates” produced annually by private universities in the country. The ASUU National President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, raised the concern on Thursday at an event organised by the body in honour of Prof. Andy Egwunyenga’s successful tenure as Vice Chancellor of Delta State University (DELSU). Speaking at the event which took place at the DELSU campus, Abraka, Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta Osodeke said that if public universities adopt the same practice without regulation, it could lead to the decline of…

Safiu Kehinde The Federal Government has, on Thursday, handed over 15 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-powered buses to the transport unions in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Clean Energy Transport Scheme. Speaking at the handover ceremony in Abuja, the Minister of Transportation, Sen. Said Alkali, said the scheme was designed to ease the burden of fuel subsidy removal in the country. The beneficiaries include National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), and National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO). Alikali said the buses symbolised the government’s commitment to empowering citizens while transitioning…

Safiu Kehinde Kaduna State governor, Uba Sani, has on Thursday in Birnin Gwari received the first set of repentant bandits and opened the cattle market which had been closed for about 10 years due to insecurity. The Governor pledged that his administration would be fair and just to all the citizens of the state. ”I will be fair to everyone, be they farmers, herders and traders, in order to achieve lasting peace and development.” he said. Sani disclosed that state government, in collaboration with some federal agencies,had established. ‘ The Peace Dialogue Group’, which has been tirelessly engaging all the…

Safiu Kehinde The Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Adm. Emmanuel Ogalla, has expressed optimism that the Gulf of Guinea (GoG) nations are ready to work together to tackle insecurity in the region’s maritime. Ogalla stated this at the end of the 8th edition of the Symposium of Heads of Navies and Coastguards in the GoG, on maritime environment in Abuja. Themed “Maritime Security and Sustainable Development in the Gulf of Guinea” the symposium is hosted by the Nigerian Navy in partnership with the European Union (EU) and the French Navy. In his address, Ogalla said the meeting had recorded…

Agency Report The Minister of State for Education, Dr Suwaiba Ahmad, has said education remains the foundation of every thriving society. The Minister said this on Thursday at the 2nd National Education Awards Programme (NEAP), organised to honour the overall best students at the 2023 West Africa Certificate Examination (WACE) and National Examination Certificate (NECO) in Abuja. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NEAP awards, which was co-organised by the Federal. Ministry of Education, has “Incentivising Learning and Reading Processes for Optimal Performance” as its theme. Ahmad said that education is a subject which empowers individuals to…

Safiu Kehinde Equatorial Guinea Supreme Court has acquitted and discharged Baltasar Egonga of charges filed against him, claiming the case lacks evidence. The apex court had, in the ruling held yesterday, acquitted the former Head of the country’s National Financial Investigation Agency, dismissing his case which brooded over his leaked 400 sex tapes. The case gained international attention after videos of Engonga surfaced online. While the court emphasized that medical tests proved he had not transmitted any sexually transmitted diseases to those involved, it also held that the women involved in the videos were all consenting adults. Meanwhile, Engonga has…

Prince Yormie Johnson, Liberian warlord-turned-politician, who became infamous for the 1990 footage of him sipping beer while the-then president was tortured nearby, has died at the age of 72. As one of the key figures in the two civil wars between 1989 and 2003, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission said he should be prosecuted for war crimes, though he was never brought to trial. But as a senator since 2005, he was highly influential in Liberian politics, backing the last three successful presidential candidates. While some have celebrated his political role, others viewed him as a symbol of the country’s…