Month: August 2024

Nigeria as shock-horror skits By Festus Adedayo

Emporium Reporters

Skits literally crack ribs with laughter. The line separating fact from fiction or faction (fact and fiction) in skits is paper-thin. An instance was a skit cobbled together in Addis Ababa on January 11, 1976 at an OAU Extraordinary Session on Angola. This high-octane skit was documented by General Joe Nanven Garba in his Diplomatic Soldiering (1987). Garba was a Langtang-born Federal Commissioner for External Affairs under Murtala Muhammed and Olusegun Obasanjo. Self-titled ‘Field Marshal’ Idi Amin Dada, the notorious Ugandan despot, was then the OAU chairman. It was at…

Hailers and Wailers: Who are more patriotic?, by Hassan Gimba, anipr

Emporium Reporters

This article was first published in December 2017 and repeated with minor changes a few times. I am repeating it because I find it very relevant and perhaps it may make us view Nigeria first over many of the things that pull us apart. Why should a citizen hail a leader today but wail tomorrow when a different leader does what he hailed yesterday? Or why should he wail today when just yesterday he was hailing a different person doing the same thing?   Hailer and wailer are new terms…

The wedding is off! ,by Funke Egbemode

Emporium Reporters

It’s been going on for years, maybe three, maybe more or less. Everybody expects the journey to culminate at the usual final bus stop. And true to peoples’ expectations it looks like the normal thing will definitely happen. The invitation cards are out, the wedding trousseau complete. She has made trips and trips to the fashion designers for fittings and more fittings. The cows have been paid for and a five-tiered cake ordered.   His people have chosen their own ‘aso-ebi’ and so have the bride-to-be’s friends and family. The…

I was jolted when I received news of your husband’s death – Akpabio tells Ubah’s Widow

Lukman Laleye Babalola

President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, on Saturday recalled his instant reaction when he received the news of the sudden death of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, over a forthnight ago, said he was jolted.   Akpabio stated this on Saturday when he led some of his colleagues on a condolence visit to the widow of the late lawmaker, Uchenna, in his Lagos residence. A statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Jackson Udom, quoted him as saying” I was jolted when I received the news of the death of a very…

The Place Called Zaria… By Abdullahi O Haruna Haruspice

Emporium Reporters

Her uniqueness isn’t because she is an institution, her uniqueness lies in the values inherent in her students. The very moment you step at the main gate of the school, every other orientation inherent in you is dropped. You assume a new entity, coated in the philosophy of the founder, the great Sir Ahmadu Bello,the Sardauna of Sokoto.   Ahmadu Bello University Zaria is the gateway to other universities, situated as an embracing womb that births other universities. You can’t get to Bayero University Kano without passing through Zaria, The…

Jibrin Ndace , Nigeria ‘s Consistent Wheel of Loyalty @ 50,by Abdullahi O.Haruna Haruspice

Emporium Reporters

Those who go far in life, are those who wear the shoes of consistency- they keep going and going because they have no other distracting attitude than consistent. They are the ones who tell the story of resilience coated in triumph.   Many years ago, he trekked to the set of NTA Tuesday Live -sitting distantly in the audience corner watching and listening to arrays of opinions by expert commentators – he wasn’t qualified to join the discourse , diligently he stayed put but not without fetching from the fountain…

Matrix Energy Group denies importation of substandard Petroleum products to Nigeria

Lukman Laleye Babalola

Matrix Energy Group, a leading indigenous oil marketing and trading company, has reacted to a publication making its rounds in various online platforms that the company involved in importing substandard petroleum products into the country.   An online news platform reported that Matrix Energy, an indigenous and independent oil marketing and trading company is one of the major importers of fuel from the tiny European country, Malta as well as Russia.   But in its official reaction, the management of Matrix Energy, affirmed that it has never imported or distributed…

Police nab Woman with AK-47 hidden in Garri Sack

Emporium Reporters

Operatives of the Special Tactical Squad of the Nigeria Police Force have arrested a 30-year-old woman, identified as Hauwa Yusuf, for concealing an AK-47 rifle and four AK magazines inside a sack of garri.   Naija News reports that the suspect was arrested on Abuja-Kaduna Expressway during a routine stop-and-search operation.   During a press conference at the Special Tactical Squad Headquarters in Abuja on Friday, Force spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, disclosed that Yusuf admitted to receiving instructions from a notorious bandit, Aminu Basullube, who has been terrorizing Katsina State, to…

FAAC: FG, states, LGAs shared N1.35trn in July

Emporium Reporters

The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) said the three tiers of government shared N1.358 trillion in July. This represented N4 billion increase compared to the N1.354 trillion shared in June. On Friday, FAAC held its August meeting chaired by Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy. According to a statement by Mohammed Manga, director, information and public relations, ministry of finance, FAAC shared the amount from a total revenue of N2.61 trillion available in July. The revenue breakdown showed that statutory revenue was N161.5 billion, value-added…

Nigeria’s forgotten poor! By abiodun KOMOLAFE

Emporium Reporters

_”I have heard you loud and clear. I understand the pain and frustration that drive these protests, and I want to assure you that our government is committed to listening and addressing the concerns of our citizens”._ These were the words of President Bola Tinubu in a broadcast to the nation on the now-suspended # _EndBadGovernanceInNigeria_ protests. Among other things, the protests have highlighted the plight of Nigeria’s forgotten poor, who are not just passive bystanders but active voices demanding change. The brief nature of this outcry finds its flow…