ONE WORD

Toyin Saraki tasks mothers, health professionals By Chioma Obinna Founder of the Well Being Foundation, WBFA, and Wife of the Senate President, Toyin Saraki has encouraged mothers and healthcare professionals to prioritise the first hour of a child’s life as it is crucial in the health and development of the newborn. Toyin Saraki According to her, good nutrition in the first 1,000 days from conception to two years of age is critical to enable all children to live healthier and more productive lives. Giving the advice during a sensitisation conference for Medical Directors; Orientation of Private Health Facilities in Lagos State on Infant and Young Child Feeding, IYCF, Practices in Lagos Saraki noted that the World Health Organisatio, WHO, recommends exclusive breastfeeding within the first hour after birth and until a baby is six months old. Saraki who is also the Inaugural Global Goodwill Ambassador and International Confederation of Midwives, ICM,   while sta...

Mr Mike Igini has revealed that the failures of political parties to stick to INEC’s timetables and a plethora of petitions against the commission with regards to primaries, played a major role in the postponement of the elections originally scheduled for February 16. Igini, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Akwa Ibom, made this known when he appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics. “Today within this period we are talking about, we have had a total of 640 cases joining INEC, and a total of 14 court orders either asking INEC to add or remove a name,” Igini stated. He noted that one of the major grounds upon which elections are challenged in Nigeria is the issue of exclusion from the ballot, stressing that the commission had to contend with that. The REC said the issues stemming from various party primaries caused a delay in the printing of ballot boxes which indirectly added to the rescheduling of the elections. He said despite the ...

The Comptroller, Federal Operations Unit, Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Zone A, Uba Garba Mohammed (left); and the Comptroller-General of Customs, Hameed Ibrahim Ali, during the inspection of 37 assorted vehicles intercepted by the men of FOU in Lagos yesterday. PHOTO: SULAIMON SALAU “Shoot it. Kill me.” A shot rang out and there was a dead man on the ground. But Nigeria Customs Service Sunday said the death of the man, identified by the Customs as Godwin, along the Sagamu Interchange, Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, came amidst “skirmishes and struggle” with its officials. Joseph Attah, the customs’ spokesperson, said the passengers in the bus, suspected to be involved smuggling operations, attempted to disarm the Customs officer. “Preliminary finding indicates that it was during the skirmishes and struggle to disarm the officer that the rifle discharged and hit the friend of the Customs (Godwin) who lost his life,” Attah said. In the footage, which has since gone viral, passenge...

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says not less than 1.8 million candidates would be registered for its 2019 UTME by the end of the registration exercise scheduled for Feb. 21. The Board’s Head, Media and Information, Dr Fabian Benjamin, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Lagos. Benjamin expressed satisfaction with the ongoing registration exercise nationwide, adding that so far, it had been smooth with little or no hitches. The registration of candidates for this year’s all Computer Based Test (CBT) Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), commenced on Feb. 10. Meanwhile, an official bulletin of the board tagged ‘jambulletin’ issued on Sunday, said over 1.6 million candidates had registered for the examination between Feb. 10 and Feb. 15 nationwide, with Lagos recording the highest, with 234,259 candidates. According to the bulletin, preparations for the successful conduct of the examination sched...

The widow of a Nigerian activist suing oil giant Shell over the execution of her husband says his death left her “traumatised” and “poverty-stricken”. Esther Kiobel is testifying in court at The Hague, demanding compensation from the Netherlands-based firm. She is among four women who accuse Shell of being complicit in the hanging of their husbands by Nigeria’s military on November 10, 1995. Shell denies the allegation. The activists led mass protests against oil pollution in Nigeria’s Ogoniland. The protests were seen as a major threat to then-military ruler Gen Sani Abacha, and Shell. They were led by author Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was among nine activists hanged by the military regime. Their executions caused global outrage, and led to Nigeria’s suspension from the Commonwealth for more than three years. Two of the widows were in court, but two others were denied visas to attend. Atmosphere More than two decades later, memories of the executions still move the widows t...

Favour Twenty-four-year-old Miss Favour Friday has finally decided to open up on how she was caught in the web of the men who pinned her down and inserted pepper into her private parts. Favour, who is from Rivers State, said she had been living in Benin since 2018. She disclosed that February 1, was a day she would never forget; that was the day the men accused her of stealing and thereafter debased her. Favour was beaten and stripped by some men who accused her of stealing iPhone X Max valued at N440,000. Her accusers later inserted pepper into her private parts after taking her to a native doctor, who carried out a voodoo activity even in the face of repeated denial. Three persons, the head of the vigilance group at Ugbiyoko community, Mr. Lucky Igbinovia popularly known as One Man Squad, Joel Otoghile and Iyamu Kingsley, have been remanded in prison custody in connection with the incident. Recalling that fateful day, Favour said: “I was in the hotel, where other girls...

Some of the corps members sleeping in the open The youth in any nation represent the future of that nation because they play a very vital and crucial role in the development of their nation in all ramifications and have always been the major key actor to any of the activities in the country. Few days ago, Corps members across the nation were stranded in an horrifying and terrific state. The lamentation and complaints by corps members in various RACs across the nation over the very poor and shoddy welfare condition underscores the inhumane treatment, highly egregious preparations and pathetic welfare conditions for corps members in Nigeria especially during elections. Sadly, various RACs were looking like displaced settlements with no adequate shelter, poor security, no water and other basics. Many took a lot of risk, journeying through the cold night, sleeping in the classrooms, on bare floors, many fought the 'mosquitoes infestation' war. Corps members displayed '...