Paul Okah

The Albino Foundation and the Coal City Literary Foundation on Thursday celebrated a renowned author and medical guru, Prof Anezionwu Okoro as he clocks 90 years. Born May 17, 1929, the nonagenarian dermatologist is the author of many fictions, medicine/health, environmental sciences and ecology including One Week One Trouble, The Village School and the Village Headmaster. Prof Anezi, as he is fondly called, has also written over 200 poems. His recent publication is the translation of 10 Lamb’s tales of Shakespeare to Igbo language entitled, `Akuko Ufodu Shakespeare Koro’ in collaboration with another author, Mrs Nwobiara Chukwura. Okoro, a native of Arondizuogu in Imo, is the first dermatologist in West Africa and the second in Africa. Speaking at the event, Mr Jake Epelle, the National President and Founder of Albino Foundation said that the dermatologist was the brain behind the foundation. According to Epelle, the Albino Foundation will not have been known without Prof...

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCDA) through its Department of Development Control (DDC) has demolished the controversial Caramelo Lounge, a popular strip club for allegedly contravening the FCT land use regulations. This was disclosed by the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC) Coordinator, Umar Shuaibu, while briefing newsmen on the exercise on Monday in Abuja. Umar said that in spite serving of quit notice and contravention letters to the operators of the club since 2016, they failed to revert activities on the plot located at No 630, TOS Benson Crescent, Utako District Abuja. He noted that the plot was originally approved for building of a clinic to provide healthcare services for residents of the territory. The coordinator said the action followed the approval of the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello, for the revocation of the Certificate of Occupancy (C-of-O) on May 10. He said activities of the club contravened the provisions of Clause no. 10 o...

The Ohaoazara West State Constituency of Ebonyi has emerged the winners of the maiden edition of Divine Mandate Super Cup Football Competition, which attracted N3 million prize money. The competition was named after Gov. David Umahi’s campaign slogan, “Divine Mandate”, for the 2019 governorship election. In the final of the competition, Ohaozara West defeated Abakaliki North state constituency 1-0. Ebonyi North came third, having defeated Ohaozara East constituency 3-0 in the third-place match. The match, which was played at the Osborne Event Centre’s soccer pitch at Uburu (the governor’s home town), was watched by the governor, accompanied by top government functionaries, and hundreds of soccer fans. In a speech, Umahi promised that his administration would continue to promote sports in the state. He said, “I commend the organisers for a successful competition. We will continue to encourage budding sports talents in order to harness their skills.” The governor announced ...

The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) said that it would release the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results on Saturday. The board’s Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, disclosed this to newsmen on Friday in Abuja. According to him, the board will meet and consider the details available to be announced to the general public. “We are releasing our results tomorrow, we are having a meeting today to consider what to put out,” he said. The 2019 UTME was held from April 11 to April 18 with over 1.8 million registered candidates. Since then, the board is yet to release the results. It explained that it would first screen the entire candidates’ results to weed out those who were involved in any form of malpractice during the examination. Meanwhile, the Registrar has paraded a staff of the board, who allegedly collected N25, 000 from a 2018 admission seeker. He said the suspect was reported to the JAMB management after he couldn’t meet the dem...

Save for an unlikely intervention by an unbiased party, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) is poised for a showdown with the  Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige over the failed  inauguration of the board of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF).   Mr Ayuba Wabba, has consequently  declared a one-day national protest in Abuja over an attack on its members during a peaceful protest by thugs allegedly loyal to Ngige on Wednesday. Wabba sounded the war drum on Thursday at the end of an emergency meeting of the Central Working Committee (CWC) of the NLC  in Abuja. He said the protest is against the action of Senator Ngige and demanded an apology from the minister and the Federal Government over the action of the thugs it said infringed on the fundamental right of workers to protest. Wabba also called for the inauguration of the board of the NSITF, with Mr Frank Kokori as its chairman, without further delay. I...

The Federal Executive Council(FEC) on Wednesday approved the sum of N970.2 million for the proving of residential accommodation for the Nigeria Customs Service(NCS). Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents after the FEC meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari. The meeting lasted late into in the night. Ahmed said that the accommodation was important because the NCS, being a para-military organisation, was trying to ensure that its members of staff were kept in barracks. “The Nigeria Customs got approval today  for acquisition of residential accommodation for the staff of the service. “What the Customs is acquiring is an estate that has a total of 42 flats and the total cost is N152 million per block of six units. The approval that we got today is in the total sum of N970.2 million inclusive of VAT.” She said that the NCS, in its desire to upgrade its services to international best practi...

Several permanent secretary hopefuls in Ebonyi on Tuesday failed to recite the national anthem, states and capitals, among other questions they were asked in an interview session. The oral interview which came after a written test, was supervised by Gov. David Umahi and his Deputy Mr Kelechi Igwe, who was the chairman of the interview committee. The interview session was televised live by the state’s television network and watched by hundreds of people across the state. Two of the permanent secretary hopefuls, who are top civil servants, failed to recite the national anthem while another two could not recite the states in Nigeria and their capitals. A particular candidate said that the capital of Kwara is Kwara and that capital of Lagos is Lagos while another said that the Anambra capital is Anambra. An amused Umahi jokingly told one of the interviewees to ask her children at home to teach her how to recite the states and their capitals. The governor noted that two persons ...

President Muhammadu Buhari has sent greetings to Nigerians in general and Muslims in particular as they commence the month-long Ramadhan fast. The President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in a statement in Abuja on Sunday, said the President’s greetings followed the sighting of the lunar month of Ramadhan. Buhari called for the continued peace, progress and prosperity of the country. According to the President, Islam is a religion of peace that upholds the values of tolerance and mutual coexistence without a place for hatred and violence. He, therefore, urged Muslims to use the period to build a relationship of friendship and harmony with fellow citizens of other faiths. The President prayed to Allah for the continued peace, progress, and the wellbeing of the country.