Author: nationalpoint

Cinnamon has a sweet and spicy aroma that conjures up a distinct mixture of exoticness and familiarity, perhaps because it comes from the Far East. It also has a fabulous flavor and often brings pleasant memories of apple pies and holiday fun. The Bible even mentions it as a “choice spice,” while the Egyptians recorded their extensive use of it in Ebers Papyrus, a medical text dating to around 1550 BC. Cinnamon is not only great for baking and adding a wonderful scent to candles and the like, but it’s long been used in Ayurvedic medicine as an antimicrobial substance,…

Amnesty International, Nigeria has condemned the level of extrajudicial killings in the South East. It has called for an end to the killings. Responding to the killing of seven youths by officials of Nigeria’s southeast regional security outfit, Ebubeagu on July 17, 2022, Osai Ojigho, director of Amnesty International Nigeria said: “It is horrifying that unarmed young men who clearly posed no threat to anyone were gunned down, in utter disdain for the right to life. Such killings cannot be justified under any circumstances whatsoever. Nigerian authorities must end these unlawful killings. Authorities must promptly, thoroughly, and transparently investigate the…

G. G Darah is Emeritus Professor of Oral Literature, Folklore and Cultural Sciences, Delta State University (DELSU). He was chairman of the editorial boards of the Daily Times and The Guardian newspapers. Darah equally served in various capacities in former Governor James Ibori’s administration. The literary icon was a delegate to the 2014 National Conference representing Delta Central, where he with other Niger Deltans rekindled the struggle for resource control and 13 percent derivation. Darah, who is currently the Delta State chairman of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), spoke with Harris Emanuel on the sideline of a one-day conference…

The Environmental Rights Action has said that the ongoing divestment by oil multinationals will adversely affect the nation’s economy, saying that the process was improperly done, as the economy, jobs and even host communities are not given consideration. ERA boss, Chima Williams regretted that the ongoing divestment process was done upside down, hence was already creating problems to the economy. Williams said investors who are buying the divested assets from multinationals must have the resources, the manpower, technical know-how to handle the problems that are associated with assets that they are inheriting. Citing the incessant cases of well blowouts from…

The United Indigenous People of Africa (UNIPA), a global self-determination group for indigenous nationalities on the continent, has faulted the newly re-introduced Water Resources Bill, seeking to place all resources accrued through water on the surface or in the ground under the control of the Federal Government. The Co-Convener of the group, Ms Jean May, in an electronic statement she sent from New York, and obtained by our correspondent, described the Bill as a mockery of the country’s already quasi-federal principles, an attack on universal federalism, and an exhibition of wickedness on the part of the Nigerian government. The UNIPA…

Akwa Ibom State government has decried the fast decline in the use of vernacular, particularly by the younger generation, calling for its inclusion in schools curriculum to forestall its extinction. The state deputy governor, Mr. Moses Ekpo made the call while receiving a delegation from the National Institute for Nigerian Languages, Abia State, who came to present published texts for the teaching of Anang language at the level of Universal Basic Education, at Government House, Uyo, the state capital. The deputy governor expressed the willingness of the state government to improve and contribute to the development of the various language…

A former Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Chief Nduese Essien has faulted the claim by the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu that he would bring the naira at par with the dollar if voted in as the next president come 2023. Chief Essien ,a two term member of the National Assembly, stated that such a campaign talk was only ‘meant for the marines’, as the APC Presidential candidate has no magic wand to turn the Naira around to equate in value with the Dollar. He said,”Tinubu made this kind of statement…

A Rotary Press worth over $1.5 million, acquired and installed seven years ago by former governor, Obong Godswill Akpabio for the Akwa Ibom Newspaper Corporation, publishers of Pioneer, appears to have been abandoned and left to rot away. The Press consists of a Supra Setter A105 otherwise known as Computer To Plate (CTP) machine and a Goss Community Press with a web offset press with the capacity to print 17 colour pages, 32 black and white pages of newspaper and runs 500,000 impression per hour, while the CTP runs a resolution of 2,400 DPI. The new press was to enable…

As the ruling party in the state is still deep in crisis over who will control the state’s party structure, some top chieftains of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), mobilisers and over 100 other members of the party in Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State, have defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC). It was gathered thatthe defection move was facilitated and led by the party’s former youth leader in the local government area, Godwin Igbinosun. The defectors said they decided to join the APC because of the performance of the lawmaker representing Ovia Federal Constituency, Hon.…

As the 2023 general election draws near, amidst the worsening situation in the country, underlined by a glaring high rate of hunger, unemployment, insecurity and complete collapse of the nation’s economy, a political analyst and businessman Mr. Uche Tobin has stressed the need for Nigerians to rise up and get it right using the ballot. In his words: “It’s high time we rose up. We cannot continue to be like this. Our children will graduate from school, no jobs, few people (politicians) are holding this country to ransom against hundreds, while millions are left in abject poverty. Politicians who have…