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The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, on Monday canvassed patronage for Nigerian doctors, declaring their services better than their counterparts abroad. Adewole said this during the commissioning of the Maternity and Neonatal Wards and Central Pharmacy Building at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex (OAUTHC), Ile-Ife in Osun. The minister commended the hospital management for the effective services rendered for the masses, charging them to publicise the hospital services for more patronage. He dismissed speculations that the hospital’s services were limited and that it had no effective medical equipment. He reiterated the plan of the Federal Government to provide standard healthcare for people across the nation. He emphasised that the Rapid Response Initiative (RRI) of the Federal Ministry of Health would continue to provide quick assistance especially to the less privileged. “The RRI will continue for the citizenries to benefit the more. “Majority of the c

The governor of Borno State, Mr. Kashim Shettima, has attributed the rise in the number of children used as suicide bombers in the Northeastern part of the country on  hard drugs given to them by the Boko Haram  sect. Mr. Shettima made this known at a press conference he addressed on Friday. The governor also warned that the celebrated capture of the infamous Sambisa Forest does not indicate an end to the insurgency that has troubled the zone since 2009. “In this criminal endeavor, they resort to the use of teenagers and children as young as seven years. “More recently, they even strap babies on the back of their recruits in order to slip through our security dragnets. “They also use hard drugs on these innocent children, who do not know what they are doing when they kill their own parents, relations, and fellow countrymen and women.  Many precious lives have been lost, hundreds of citizens, including school girls, were abducted. Many more people have suffered serious injuries as a res

An 18-year-old Boko Haram suicide bomber, Amina, who was intercepted by men of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, on Tuesday in Maiduguri, said she was given N200 for the mission. She told the News Agency of Nigeria in Maiduguri that she was abducted two years ago by the sect members in Madagali, Adamawa, and taken to Sambisa forest. “They gave us N200 each which they said we should use to buy food for ourselves. “It took us three days to come to Maiduguri on a motorcycle. We were directed by the sect members to detonate our explosives any where we saw any form of gathering. “They said if we press the button, the bomb would explode and we will automatically go to heaven. “I was scared, so, I told them that I could not detonate any explosive. So, they said if Zainab detonated her own, it would serve the purpose. “On our way to Maiduguri, we encountered the military and they were shooting. I was very scared and the people that brought us ran away. “I am from Imam Sh

President Muhammadu Buhari watching TV The Senate on Tuesday confirmed the receipt of President Muhammadu Buhari’s letter to extend his 10-day vacation in UK. Aliyu Sabi, spokesperson of the senate, made this known to journalists in Abuja on Tuesday. Mr. Sabi said that the letter did not specify when the president would return to the country. “You will recall that we received a letter from President Muhammadu Buhari before suspending plenary to attend to the budget. “In the letter dated January18, he informed the senate that he was proceeding on a 10-day vacation and for medical checkup. “He also stated very clearly that in his absence, the Vice President will be in charge of the affairs of the country. “We are also in receipt of a second letter informing us that he is extending his vacation because in the course of the routine checkup, his doctors recommended more checkups,“ he said. Mr. Sabi said further that he was not privy to when the letter was transmitted to the Presid

James Ibori, who as governor of oil-rich Delta State became one of Nigeria's richest and most powerful men, has returned to the country after serving a sentence for corruption in Britain, his lawyer said on Saturday. "I can confirm that he left last night and arrived this morning in Nigeria," Jonathan Chike-Epelle, Ibori's lawyer in Britain, told Reuters by phone. Local media have said he remains influential in politics, and in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday, Ibori did not rule out a political comeback. Arrested in 2010, Ibori served half his 13-year sentence - as is normal under British procedures - after pleading guilty in 2012 to 10 counts of fraud and money-laundering. He was released in December, but is still locked in a battle over his assets. While in office, Ibori acquired luxury properties in Britain, the United States, South Africa and Nigeria. He is the most senior Nigerian politician to have been held to account for the corruption that has blight