The Oil & Gas Free Zone Authority, OGFZA, has evolved to become a premium institution not only in the oil & gas sector but amongst federal agencies, especially in the area of economic development. This status appears to have been reinforced with the emergence of Umana Okon Umana as the new Managing Director late last year. In this interview he gave indications of what the future will bring. Excerpts:

AS the strike action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic, ASUP, Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics, SSANIP and Non-Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, NASUP, of Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi, Edo State, over improvement of welfare of members entered its fourth week, residents of the Poly’s community, have appealed to the striking unions to call of their strike in the interest of the institution and the students.

Deep down the remote past, Nkaramoche inherited the eight slit drums (called ekwe), the music, and dance of warriors which his father, Oche, and his kinsmen danced once in a year to honour their ancestors. It was (and is still) a fiery music and dance beaten out of eight slit drums, playing eight hot, varied, and complicated rhythms. Why no other tribe in the world ever succeeded in copying this music and dance is quite understandable – it was associated with the Orieamafor deity. Thus, the ndiche music and dance became the only one of its kind in the world.

Five people remained missing on Sunday after scores of migrants in an inflatable boat were rescued in turbulent waters off the coast of Libya overnight. About 122 of the migrants were saved after being spotted by the Golfo Azzuro, run by the Spanish Proactiva Open Arms group. “We saw the lights, the rescue boat, but […]

A South African cabinet minister vowed Sunday that welfare grants to 17 million beneficiaries would continue to be paid despite confusion over a new payment process.

At least 11 soldiers were killed in Mali on Sunday in an attack on an army base near the border with Burkina Faso, as rival armed factions surrounded the flashpoint city of Timbuktu. The jihadist attack on the border village of Boulekessi killed 11 troops and wounded five more, according to an official toll from […]

Nigerian center Festus Ezeli, who has yet to play for the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers, will miss the full campaign after undergoing left knee surgery in the next few days.

Legendary actor and producer of the popular sitcom, New Masquerade, that ruled the Nigerian airwaves in the 80s and mid 90s, Chika Okpala, a.k.a Chief Zebrudaya and rising actress, Somkele Iyamah-Idhalama emerged the big winners at this year’s edition of the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Award, AMVCAs, which held weekend, with each walking away with a brand new Sports Utility Vehicle, SUV.

THE death has been announced of the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Omatek Venture Plc, Engr. Florence Seriki, MFR.
Seriki, who died Saturday at the Lagos State University Hospital, LUTH, after a brief illness was one of Nigeria’s pioneer and foremost indigenous Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), with her Omatek Ventures Plc that specializes in the manufacturing of computers and other ICT devices.