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The Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, on Friday said the Federal Government planned to recruit 5,000 officers into the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) over the next five years. Moro said this in Abuja at the 2014 Comptroller-General’s annual conference and stakeholder’s forum in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the service. The two-day conference organised by the service is themed: “Effective Border Control Systems and Procedures for National Security”. He said recruitment was aimed at enabling the service to increase the number of officers manning the country’s 4,400 square kilometer borders. “The fact that we have fewer than 23,000 immigration officers manning our very long stretch of border means there is need to add more men into the service. “We owe Nigeria and Nigerians the duty of securing our borders in spite of the security challenges the country is facing now,” he said. He said due to the extensive responsibilities of the service, the ministry was committed

Contrary to official claims that President Goodluck Jonathan travelled to Germany on a private visit, LEADERSHIP authoritatively gathered yesterday that the president actually took ill and left for Germany to seek medical care. Efforts to get a confirmation from the Presidency failed up until the time of going to press, as several calls to his spokesman, Dr Reuben Abati, did not go through and he didn’t respond to an email enquiry either. Similarly, the senior special assistant to the president on public affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe, did not pick or return several calls to his mobile number last night. President Jonathan left for Germany yesterday after performing the closing ceremony of the National Conference on Thursday. Prior to his departure, presidential spokesman Abati had issued a terse statement saying the president would be making a private visit to Germany as from Friday (yesterday)and would be accompanied by some of his principal aides. It was gathered that the preside

Medical charity says extraordinary measures needed to contain killer disease stalking several West African nations. The Ebola epidemic is moving faster than the authorities can handle and could take six months to bring under control, medical charity Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has said. The warning came a day after the World Health Organization (WHO) said the scale of the epidemic had been vastly underestimated and that "extraordinary measures" were needed to contain the killer disease. New figures released by the UN health agency showed the death toll from the worst outbreak of Ebola in four decades had climbed to 1,145 in the four afflicted West African countries - Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. "It is deteriorating faster, and moving faster, than we can respond to," Joanne Liu, the chief of MSF, told reporters in Geneva on Friday. She added that it could take six months to get the upper hand. "It is like wartime," she said a day

A month ago, a hot Wande Coal verse on a mad beat was leaked on the internet and it immediately went viral; unknown to many, it was a part of Ruggedman's new single that was somehow stolen. Now the veteran award-winning rapper who was recently made a United Nations Peace Ambassador has decided to end people's wait and release the full song; "Agidi" features Nigeria's singing sensation, Wande Coal, a.k.a Black Diamond, produced by Tyrone, with mixing and mastering done by Sheyman. The video for "Agidi" is going to be done by the prolific video director Paul Gambit‎; we hear it is not just a music video but a movie. | ENJOY!!! COMING SOON FROM RUGGED RECORDS: * "8 Figures" video featuring Reminisce, directed by Squareball Films. * "8 Figures" snapbacks, versity jackets and hoodys from TSW [Twentieth September Wear by Ruggedman]. * "Agidi, The Movie," directed by Paul Gambit‎. Download

Nigeria’s former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, has thrown his weight behind the Federal Government decision not to negotiate with the Boko Haram sect. The General made his view known in an interactive session with journalist at his Up-hill residence in Minna, the capital of Niger State. He appealed to Nigerians not to politicise the captivity of the over 200 Chibok girls but rather support the Federal Government in its fight against the rising insurgency across the country. The man fondly called IBB, started by saying that the insurgency in some parts of the country would soon pass away, describing it a feature of all developing countries. The General noted that every administration in the country had always faced a particular challenge and the present administration was no exception. IBB also gave an insight into why a full military action was not the best option for the rescue of the Chibok girls if the nation wants to get them alive. The former Nigeria l

North American country sends up to a thousand doses of an experimental Ebola vaccine to be distributed in West Africa. Canada is sending up to 1,000 doses of an experimental vaccine to West Africa to help the World Health Organisation (WHO) fight the Ebola epidemic, the country's health minister announced. Minister Rona Ambrose said on Wednesday between 800 to 1,000 doses would be distributed through the WHO in West Africa. Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Liberia and Guinea have all reported cases. Ambrose said the Canadian government was "committed to doing everything we can to support our international partners, including providing staff to assist with the outbreak response, funding and access to our experimental vaccine." The VSV-EBOV vaccine was developed at Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It has never been tested in humans, but has shown promise in animal research, according to the government, which licensed BioProtection Sy

Nigeria has recorded another death from the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus. This time, a staff of the Lagos Liason office of the Economic Community of West African State - ECOWAS headquarters, Mr Jatto Abdulqudir. Confirming his death in a statement, ECOWAS management said the 36 year old man was among those who assisted the late Liberian Patrick Sawyer when he came to Lagos for a regional meeting and was quarantined after Sawyerr died of the deadly disease. This brings to three the number of deaths from the deadly virus in Nigeria. The first two being Sawyer and a Nigerian nurse.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Tuesday issued a certificate of return to Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State who won the governorship election in the state last Saturday. The certificate was presented to him by the supervising National Commissioner, Mohammed Wali, at the Commission’s headquarters in Osogbo, the state capital. Speaking at the event, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, of Osun, Olusegun Agbaje, charged the governor to be magnanimous in victory for the benefit if the state and its people. He described the August 9 election as one in which INEC was determined more than before to conduct a free, fair and credible election and that the Commission stood tall with the way the election had gone in Osun. Mr. Agbaje admitted that the election was not completely smooth because political leaders were not too careful in their utterances, which unnecessarily heated up the polity before the election proper. “We at INEC by the judgement of in

The Rwanda Football Federation (Ferwafa) has written to Caf over worries about the cases of the deadly Ebola virus in Nigeria. Rwanda are due to play the Super Eagles in Calabar on 6 September in a 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier. "We wrote a letter to the Confederation of African Football for their advice on the situation in Nigeria," Ferwafa president Vincent Nzamwita said. "We're waiting to see if they can change the game, it's a big worry." He added the federation is also getting direction from the government of Rwanda. "If the government decide that the Amavubi does not travel, then we shall respect that," he added. So far there have been three confirmed deaths from Ebola in Nigeria, all of those cases so far are linked to the death of a Liberian visitor to Lagos on 25 July. The other two teams n Group A alongside Nigeria and Rwanda are South Africa and Sudan, who will be monitoring the situation too. The outbreak has clai

Nine out of the 20 political parties contesting the August 9 Osun State governorship election on Wednesday adopted the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore, as their candidate in the election. The parties are: the Accord Party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, the Democratic Peoples Party, the Action Alliance, the Peoples Party of Nigeria, the Social Democratic Party, the Unity Party of Nigeria, the Kowa Party, and the Advance Congress of Democrats. The Director-General Iyiola Omisore Campaign Organisation, Mr. Lere Oyewumi, who presented the state chairmen of the parties at an event, which was held at the PDP secretariat Osogbo, said the development was an indication that Omisore was the candidate to beat in the election. The Chairman of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, Mr. Popoola Olatunji, who read the speech signed by leaders of the nine parties, said they decided to support Omisore because the Governor Rauf Aregbesola administration had

Nine out of the 20 political parties contesting the August 9 Osun State governorship election on Wednesday adopted the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore, as their candidate in the election. The parties are: the Accord Party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, the Democratic Peoples Party, the Action Alliance, the Peoples Party of Nigeria, the Social Democratic Party, the Unity Party of Nigeria, the Kowa Party, and the Advance Congress of Democrats. The Director-General Iyiola Omisore Campaign Organisation, Mr. Lere Oyewumi, who presented the state chairmen of the parties at an event, which was held at the PDP secretariat Osogbo, said the development was an indication that Omisore was the candidate to beat in the election. The Chairman of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, Mr. Popoola Olatunji, who read the speech signed by leaders of the nine parties, said they decided to support Omisore because the Governor Rauf Aregbesola administration had

Nine out of the 20 political parties contesting the August 9 Osun State governorship election on Wednesday adopted the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore, as their candidate in the election. The parties are: the Accord Party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, the Democratic Peoples Party, the Action Alliance, the Peoples Party of Nigeria, the Social Democratic Party, the Unity Party of Nigeria, the Kowa Party, and the Advance Congress of Democrats. The Director-General Iyiola Omisore Campaign Organisation, Mr. Lere Oyewumi, who presented the state chairmen of the parties at an event, which was held at the PDP secretariat Osogbo, said the development was an indication that Omisore was the candidate to beat in the election. The Chairman of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, Mr. Popoola Olatunji, who read the speech signed by leaders of the nine parties, said they decided to support Omisore because the Governor Rauf Aregbesola administration had

Mr. Fashola stated this on Thursday at the convocation programme of the university. The Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, has directed that the controversial fee hike at the Lagos State University, LASU, be reversed. Mr. Fashola stated this on Thursday at the convocation programme of the university. He said the fees would now be returned to the old charges. The reversal comes after months of protests by students and lecturers of the university. The Lagos State Government had, earlier in 2011, increased the fees from N25, 000 to N198, 000 for humanities and education, while medical students were to pay N350, 000. After the protests, the state government approved a reduction by 34 to 60 per cent. That reduction would have seen students pay between N76, 750 and N158, 250 depending on the faculty and year of study. That reduction was still opposed by the students and the lecturers. Thursday’s announcement by the governor could, however, lead to a reversal to the 2011