Gist Arena

O ne of the victims of the viral disease, monkeypox, has committed suicide, the Bayelsa State government said on Monday. The victim allegedly took his own life on Monday at the quarantine centre in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, located in the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital, Okolobiri, in Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state. Addressing journalists on Monday evening in Yenagoa, the state capital, the Commissioner for Health, Ebitimitula Etebu, said the deceased was among the 21 suspected cases of the virus that were being managed at the teaching hospital. Mr. Etebu was joined at the conference by the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, the Chief Medical Director of the NDUTH, Dimie Ogoina, and other senior health officials. He expressed regret that the patient took his own life despite impressive progress to stem the outbreak by the government. He said the deceased’s medical history did not suggest any mental illness or...

F oremost Maritime lawyer and former President, Nigerian Bar Association, Olisa Agbakoba on Monday dragged the President Muhammadu Buhari before an Abuja Federal High Court in Abuja for allocating the position of the Minister of Petroleum to himself. Agbakoba, in his suit, wants the court to determine the constitutional qualification of the President to hold executive office as Petroleum Minister. In a statement issued by his Chambers, Agbakoba, argued that on the basis of section 138 of the Constitution, the President should be barred from taking any paid employment or holding executive office of Minister of Petroleum Resources. Agbakoba contended that in any event, the President’s appointment as Minister of Petroleum Resources was not confirmed by the Senate of the National Assembly, as stipulated by section 147(2)of the constitution. The affidavit supporting Agbakoba’s claim states that the determination of the questions are of vital national importance, in v...

T he Bishop of the Catholic diocese of Oyo, Emmanuel Badejo, has pointed out that Muslims have a right to Islamise Nigeria. Badejo said this was because the person in power was a ‘Muslim’. He chided Christians for complaining about it adding that they had the opportunity to ‘Christianize’ Nigeria but failed to do so. Speaking to Tribune, he said; “I’ve always shared the view of one of our leaders, John Cardinal Onaiyekan. I believe that Muslims have an Islamisation agenda, and they have a right to have it. Do Christians have a Christianisation agenda? . Yes, I hope so and we have a right to have it. The Muslims are pursuing an agenda; why are we not pursuing ours? Nigeria, for many many years, had a larger number of Christians in power. We failed when we should have worked, and that even now, instead of trying to catch up on our lapses, we’re busy pointing fingers. It’s part of Islam to Islamise; is it not part of our own programme too to evangelise? How much of...

T he Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, has vowed not to respond to those he tagged as “wailing wailers” in their private capacities. Adesina said he was too busy to reply those wailers who were hell bent on “spoiling the current administration with thief tongues.” He made this comment when asked to react to a statement credited to a former Minister of Education, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, in which she described his (Adesina’s) recent statement as a “terribly indecorous press release.” “I don’t respond to wailing wailers in their private capacities,” Adesina simply said when reached by Punch. Adesina had issued a statement on Friday saying the reported discussion between President Muhammadu Buhari and the World Bank Group President, Jim Yong Kim, was deliberately twisted by those who he said specialised in such acts. He had said, “Ignorant and mischievous people” were making it seem that Buhari’s position was a calc...

T he Embassy of the United States of America (U.S.A) in Nigeria and its spokesman Russel Brooks have been dragged before a Federal High court sitting in Abuja over the comments and the stand of the US government on the Indigenous People of Biafra, when it was proscribed by the Nigerian Government last month. The Federal Government last month secured an ordered of the court proscribing IPOB as a terrorist organisation. But the U.S. Embassy, through its spokesman said IPOB is not a terrorist organisation under US laws. In the suit, dated and filed 11th October,2017, the plaintiff, Nze Charles Ugwu, through his lawyer, Simon Kanshio, Esq. UGWU claimed that Nigerian laws are not inferior to laws of other countries and that the statement by the US Spokesman was to undermine the sovereignty of the Nigerian state which is anchored on its constitution. He wants the court to compel the spokesman to withdraw his statement and declare the embassy as a promoter of terrorist...