Oriontimes

  A day after the first military strike to hit civilian areas in Moscow, Kremlin officials jumped on the refusal of Ukraine’s allies to condemn the attack as proof that Russia’s real war was with the West. None of Ukraine’s allies went so far as to endorse the drone attack, but Britain’s foreign secretary said that Kyiv had “the right to project force beyond its borders.” The U.S. response also stopped short of criticizing the drone strike, which Ukrainian officials have said they were not “directly involved” in. Dmitri Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s national security council and a former president, said Britain “de facto is leading an undeclared war against Russia” by providing Ukraine with military support. He argued that now any British official “can be considered as a legitimate military target.” Russia has repeatedly hit civilian areas of Ukraine during the war, though it has denied targeting nonmilitary sites. In recent weeks it has turned up the barrage of missil...

  OSUN Online Publishers Association, felicitates with General Secretary of the association, Hammed Tajudeen, on his birthday. OOPAN in a message on Tuesday, described Hammed as a finest Islamic cleric, brave, principled and courageous media practitioner.   The Association pray to God, to grant you all your heart desires as you mark another new year. Happy birthday.

  I want to give a special laurels to Governor Ademola Adeleke, for his matured mind to have issued congratulatory message in recognition of the awards given to his predecessors, Aregbesola and Oyetola as Commander of Order of Niger (CON), as announced by the immediate past president of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari. In a statement released Governor Ademola Adeleke's spokesperson, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, read; "The Executive Governor of Osun state, Senator Ademola Adeleke has congratulated former Governors of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, David Adeleke (Davido) and other indigenes of Osun who bagged different national honours awards as conferred by President Muhammadu Buhari. The Governor noted that the award is a recognition of their noble and immense contributions to the growth and development of Osun state and Nigeria in general. The Governor further noted that they have all distinguished themselves in different ways and areas to have been recognized by ...

  THE Presidential elections of February 25, 2023 was the most keenly contested since I knew my left from right in the annals of the history of Nigeria. We had four top contenders to Aso Rock, Abuja, they are, Peter OBI of the Labour Party, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Rabiu Kwakwanso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed TINUBU of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The election has come and gone, a candidate emerged winner as announced by the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu.  It is now history that Yakubu announced Asiwaju Bola Ahmed TINUBU as the President-Elect of the Federal Republic of Nigeria but two of the candidates, Atiku and Obi are still challenging Tinubu's victory at the Election Petition Tribunal pending the outcome of the legal battle, Tinubu will be at the helm of affairs. As Muhammadu Buhari is stepping out from Aso Rock, Tinubu is going in to face th...

  In Berlin, parliamentary buildings sit next to Russia’s diplomatic mission. For years, a silent espionage struggle played out here, as German lawmakers were warned by intelligence offices to protect themselves by turning computer screens away from the window, stop using wireless devices that were easier to tap, and close the window blinds for meetings. Tensions over Russian espionage were something Germany’s government long seemed willing to ignore. That has become increasingly difficult since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as a Cold War-style chill settles across the continent and recasts relations with Russia. Late last month, Russia exposed what it described as a “mass expulsion” of its diplomats in Germany when it announced a tit-for-tat expulsion of more than 20 German diplomats from Moscow. It was a rare sign, security analysts say, of Berlin’s counterintelligence effort after years of increasingly brazen Russian intelligence operations on German soil. At least twice, Russia...

  President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the postponement of the 2023 Population and Housing Census, earlier scheduled for 3-7 May 2023, to a date to be determined by the incoming Administration. The President gave the approval after meeting with some members of the Federal Executive Council and the Chairman of @natpopcom and his team at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Friday (28 April 2023). In arriving at the decision to postpone the Census, the meeting reiterated the critical need for the conduct of a Population and Housing Census, 17 years after the last Census, to collect up-to-date data that will drive the developmental goals of the country and improve the living standard of the Nigerian people. The President noted that with the completion of the Enumeration Area Demarcation of the country, conduct of first and second pretests, the recruitment and training of adhoc workers,procurement of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and ICT infrastructures, appreciable progress has...

  In the fray of last gubernatorial crusade, utmost Osun electorates might have had all their eggs in Governor Ademola Adeleke's basket with the hope that industries would be major concerns after 12years of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) which was largely focused on road networks. Few weeks agone, Governor, Ademola Adeleke bagged "The Best Governor of The Year" by a Lagos based Champion Newspapers without parameters  but proposed road project ongoing symbolises flirting with power. As German social theorist, Robert Michels. In his seminal analysis of the German Social Democratic Party in 1911, said that, all organizations, no matter how democratic their original intentions eventually come to be ruled by a powerful entrenched minority that, when necessary, will act illegitimately to squelch internal opposition and divert the organisations goals in order to maintain its power. As a matter of urgency, one of the substantial blueprints to sail through the aqua of...