The Rivers State Government and the four Ogoni speaking local government areas of the state have taken concrete measures to address the needs of Nigerians of Ogoni extraction living in Benin Republic.

PRESIDENT Muhammed Buhari, finally laid the 2019 budget before the National Assembly, on Wednesday 19th December 2018; that is, barely 2 days before Parliament vacated for the Year End holidays. Incidentally, there was no apparent regret, nor indeed explanation why this mandatory process took so long; arguably, however, tardy implementation and gross distortion of the budget plan are the usual products of such casual approach to this critical national assignment.

PORT HARCOURT — SENIOR citizens in Rivers State have accused Governor Nyesom Wike and his predecessor, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transportation of being the “source of great pains to the state” over insecurity and setbacks allegedly being instigated by their lingering political conflict.

Seven people escaped death, yesterday afternoon, as the mini-bus, popularly called Korope, they were travelling in was rammed into at Oshodi.

HORACE, 65-8 BC. VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, VBQ, p 61. That the people perish for lack of good leadership has been one of the abiding verdicts of history. The Nigerian situation today is proving Horace right. In the last three months, I have found myself in several states, east, north, south and west – Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Kogi, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Kaduna, Niger, Ed,. Imo, Kwara, Oyo, Ogun, and of course Lagos. There is a common thread linking all of us in this country today.

Super Eagles striker, Odion Ighalo said the team has all it takes to reach the final of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, where the team is hoping to make up for missing the 2015 and 2017 editions.

AS Nigeria’s economy struggles into 2019 there are indications that the impressive first half 2018, H1’18 foreign investment inflow may be wiped out by increasing headwinds both on the local and international fronts. Already the third quarter 2018 statistics are pointing to reversals which analysts forecast to be sustained into 2019 given some emerging adversities in the external sector.

UYO—Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr Udom Emmanuel has announced the take off of the Akwa Ibom State owned new airline company.

ABUJA—The President General of Ndoni District Communities in Rivers State, Anthony Major, has told a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, that the Nigerian Police Force, NPF, was  after him for exposing Indian-owned companies involved in illegal oil exploration in the Niger Delta region

THE National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, has said that it will consider other   appropriate tools to address the issue of low capital in the insurance industry, following withdrawal of the circular on Tier Based Minimum Solvency Capital, TBMSC.

Super Eagles midfielder, Ogenyi Onazi faces a long spell in the rehabilitation room after he suffered an Achilles tendon rapture as his club Trabzonspor beat Rizespor 4-1 in Turkish league yesterday.

OTA—THE advancement of Pidgin English received a boost recently at Ota, Ogun State at the Nigerian Pigdin Convention Series of Jehovah’s Witnesses which held from December 20   to 23,2018.

I, like many others, have witnessed first-hand the progress of Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari. He is fighting corruption, tackling insecurity, and investing in vital infrastructure like no other President in the history of Nigeria. That is why for the past few months, I have been proud to support Together Nigeria, an advocacy group for the re-election of President Buhari.

MOSES, not his real name, is a supplier to two major fabrication and logistics yards in Lagos (names withheld). He said he supplies varied items, ranging from petroleum products to personnel to these companies. However, Moses, who does not want his real name in print, for fear that the companies might blacklist him in the future, is currently broke, does not have a dime in his account and is surviving from the support of his wife and his in-laws, as well as from the goodwill of his friends.

ONE of the fallout of the cashless policy and rapid deployment of electronic payment channels is online payment.