Blast Naija Media

Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State (waving) acknowledging cheers from the crowd during |the 2017 Democracy Day celebration at the Michael Okpara Square, Enugu. Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State has promised to continue with his vision to provide good governance and other basic needs of the people of the state in order to “build the Enugu State of our dreams”, notwithstanding the economic difficulties in the country.   Gov. Ugwuanyi while thanking the people of Enugu State for their unparalleled support, solidarity and prayers also promised that his administration will continue to run an open and accountable government and work assiduously towards the realization of the dreams of the state’s founding fathers.   These promises were contained in the governor’s address to the people of the state during the 2017 Democracy Day celebration at the Michael Okpara Square, Enugu, which was attended by a mammoth crowd including past and present leaders of the state

Today is Children Day in Nigeria.  As children all over the country marks children’s day, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Friday in his office met with children drawn from twenty three schools in Abuja ahead of the Children’s Day celebration. He conducted them round his office and answered their questions which ranged from the power supply to the economy. The Acting President later announced his experience with the children on his Twitter handle, @ProfOsinbajo describing the children as the future generations and the reason leaders must remain committed to the growth of the nation and shared prosperity of its people.

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has signed the Open Grazing Prohibition Bill 2017, which prescribes a five-year jail term for herdsmen or pastoralist caught engaging in open grazing of animals in the state, into law. Open grazing has been blamed for the frequent clashes between farmers and herdsmen, which has claimed hundreds of lives in the state. The governor signed the bill into law at a stakeholders meeting at the Government House in Makurdi. “The law brings an end to the incessant clash between livestock/herds rearers and crop farmers in the state, who in attempts to protect their respective interest, clash, kill maim and destroy persons and properties,” Governor Ortom said. “The law also encourages large-scale livestock and crop farming in a secure  environment and the Ministry of Agriculture has been empowered to administer and regulate livestock production in the state.” Also, under the law, the governor said it would

Supreme Court of Nigeria The Supreme Court has dismissed the application filed by the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Modu Sheriff, against the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led faction of the party. Sheriff and Makarfi   Sheriff had filed the application in March, seeking to stop the Supreme Court from hearing the appeal filed by the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led faction of the party, challenging the February 17 ruling of the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt, which declared Sheriff as the legitimate National Chairman of the party. Sheriff had argued that the timing of the appeal filed by the Makarfi faction outside the officially allowed time. But the Supreme Court in its ruling, which was read by the Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Walter Onnoghen said that, according to the laws of the apex court, appeals must be filed within three months after the appeal court ruling and the application in question was so filed and as such is de

Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa has condemned alleged moves by some military personnel to remove the government of the day through a coup d’état. Okowa told newsmen on Sunday that any politician wooing the military to take over, is an enemy of the country. The governor spoke at the sideline of a Christian event organised in Benin City, Edo State. He, therefore, called on Nigerians to mobilize and fight against such moves, saying that rather than that, what the President Muhammadu Buhari needs now is prayers. “We should pray for the President to stay alive and I don’t think it is of God to pray for your leaders to die. It’s God that determines when someone should be taken away or brought back. But I know that what we need to pray for is for the unity and progress of this nation and that is what I encourage everybody to pray about because Christians have a calling and that calling is to pray for our nation and its leadership,” Okowa stressed.

The American Embassy in Nigeria has said that change in government in the U.S. will not affect its international exchange programme with Nigeria or elsewhere. The Counsellor for Public Affairs in the United States embassy Abuja, Aruna Amirthanayagam, gave the assurance while kick-starting an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) software development programme for secondary school students in Osogbo, the Osun State capital. Amirthanayagam said the international exchange program by the United States across the world has developed human resources capacity of over a million people who have in return impacted significantly on their community around the globe. He explained that ICT is the immediate and future solution to notable challenges of humanity like poverty, environmental degradation, disease outbreaks, among others spurred into developing the students at a very tender age to provide IT solutions to the problem of their immediate environment

Apart from handing over five prominent terrorists to Boko Haram in exchange for the release of 82 Chibok girls recently, €2m was also paid to the terrorist group, the British Broadcasting Corporation reports. President Muhammadu Buhari was alleged to have been reluctant in approving the disbursement of the money. According to the BBC , the money paid in cash was handed over to the insurgents in exchange for the release of the girls. The report noted that the five senior Boko Haram militants were bomb-makers. It noted further that it took a lot of convincing to get Buhari to approve the money. “It should have happened sooner, but the President was hesitating about freeing the five (commanders) – and especially about the money,” the BBC quoted a source with detailed knowledge of the deal, as saying. “The issue of the money was the most difficult part of the whole negotiation. He didn’t want to pay any money. The ransom was €2m. Boko Haram asked for euros.