irst lady Patience Jonathan on Monday expressed displeasure at the absence of Hajiya Nana Shettima, wife of the Borno governor, at a second enlarged stakeholders’ meeting on the abducted school girls.

Nigeria hosts the World Economic Forum on Africa summit this week under tight security after two deadly car bomb attacks raised fears about a possible spread of Islamist militant violence.

Authorities launched an air and sea rescue operation Monday to find 11 crew members from a Chinese cargo ship after it collided with another vessel and sank just outside Hong Kong’s teeming waters.

The Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSS), yesterday urged Nigerians to embark on fasting and prayer for the safe return of the students abducted in Chibok, Borno, on April 14.

The police in Bayelsa State have intensified search for the killers of a 40-year-old woman found last week with her head cut off in a bush behind the state owned palm estate in the Azikoro area of Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state.

President Goodluck Jonathan said yesterday that he was consulting on the possibility of extending the state of emergency in the Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.

The Kenyan President, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta arrived in Abuja on Sunday on an official visit to Nigeria.

Justice Chukwudifu Oputa was one of the finest jurists to adorn the bench in Nigeria. Unlike these days when appointment to the Supreme Court is by promotion from the Court of Appeal, Justice Oputa was elevated from the High Court to the apex Court. Like many of his colleagues of the era, Justice Oputa contributed immensely to the golden era of the nation’s Judiciary. Through his judgments the jurist displayed deep knowledge of procedural and substantive law. He commanded the respect and admiration of judges and lawyers.

The Joint Health Sector Union, JOHESU, has threatened to embark on nationwide strike if Federal Government fails to implement a mutual agreement on workers welfare and condition of service.

CAPACITY building has become a favorite lingo of all who claim to be improving the economy. The abuses can be imagined. Small and medium enterprises are hailed for the promises they hold. The Bank of Industry’s efforts apart, empowerment schemes have become platforms for containing the youth rather than exploring their zeal and passion.

THe last of the Golden Era of the Supreme Court, Justice Chukwudifu Akunne Oputa, passed on, yesterday in Abuja, aged 96, after a brief illness. He was famously described by his colleagues at the Bench as the Socrates of the Supreme Court.

Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt account for about half of the African economy says new data released by the World Bank Group last week.

CULTISTS have taken over Aminigboko and Owerewere communities in Abua-Odua Local Government Area of Rivers State while most residents have fled the communities.

The youths, they say, “are the future of any nation”. In the light of this awareness, the process of youth education and development would be top priority on the list of objectives for any progressive nation.

Former chairman of the Nigeria Football Federation, Kojo Williams has lambasted the management of the National Stadium Lagos for allowing the once revered sporting arena go into its present state of disrepair.