Delta State Governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan has said majority of the people of Niger Delta believe in continuous dialogue despite the cancellation of Niger Delta summit by the Federal Government.

President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua has directed Finance Minister, Dr Shamsudeen Usman, to release the sum of N57 billion as part of the N115 billion meant for power projects to the Ministry of Power within a week, just as it was revealed that power generation in the country has dropped below 2,500 megawatts.

The House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the activities of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its subsidiaries yesterday discovered that the whereabouts of the sum of $210 million paid by Shell Petroleum to the Federal Government as signature bonus for the allocation of an oil block (OPL 245) was yet to be traced.

Nigerian health workers – comprising of doctors, pharmacists, laboratory scientists, nurses and midwives – in all public hospitals have indicated their intention to embark on an indefinite strike from next Wednesday. They are asking for, among other things, their monetisation arrears for two years before October 1, 2005, when the policy was implemented in the health ministry. They want government to recall all of their members sacked last year during the "right-sizing" of federal workers. They are protesting the lack of facilities in the hospitals and the failure of the Yar'Adua Administration to appoint substantive ministers after the resignation of two health ministers in April.

The Labour Party in Edo yesterday criticised the Federal Government for not resolving the issues involved in the ongoing nationwide strike by teachers.

Following the recent nullification of the election of former Governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyel Imoke, people from the state have been enjoined to eschew violence and embrace the rule of law as a way of moving the state forward.

The Federal Government has said that it has the capacity to effectively tackle and deal with the militant groups that have taken and held hostage the Niger Delta area.

Nigeria will play host to the minister in charge of Housing and Urban Development in the continent of Africa.

Architect Halima Tayo Alao, the Minister of Environment, Housing and Urban Development is a committed community leader who has served Nigeria in several professional and administrative positions before attaining her present status.

Former Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River escaped arrest by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Tuesday by the whiskers, courtesy of the timely intervention of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

FEDERAL Government and the Lagos State government yesterday maintained sealed lips over the sixteen petroleum tank farms in the state barred from use of the bays to take delivery of imported petroleum products owing to the traffic jam caused by articulated tankers which load from their depots.

Mystery now surrounds the whereabouts of the sum of $210million paid by two oil companies for oil blocks in the 2003 bid round carried out by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) as officials of the department were yesterday unable to account for it in the ongoing investigation by the House of Representatives ad-hoc Committee into the activities of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its subsidiaries.

THE Cross River State caucus in the National Assembly yesterday charged the federal authorities to defer the August 14 scheduled final handover of Bakassi to Cameroon until after the election of a substantive Governor for the State.

DEADLINES are a waste if appropriate landmarks are not placed to check progress on the journey. Nigeria 's vaunted ambition to be among the top 20 economies in the world by 2020 is an irredeemable mirage.

PRESIDENT Umaru Yar'Adua has ordered the immediate release of N59 billion being part of the N115 billion 2008 budget for the Ministry of Energy to enable it address the epileptic power supply in the country.

THE House of Representatives is to raise an ad hoc committee on the raging crisis in the Niger Delta.

The Federal Government has appealed to the people of the Niger Delta region to give them chance to address all the injustices they have been suffering for years.

Members of the Textile Manufacturer Association of Nigeria yesterday told Daily Trust that President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua is responsible for the delay in the disbursement of the N70 billion textile revival fund.

Participants at the just concluded National Discussion on Women's Human Rights have called for the mainstreaming of gender issues into Nigeria's school curriculum.

We share the concern of patriotic Nigerians about President Yar'adua's reported acceptance of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's offer to deploy British military personnel "to train and advise Nigerian troops fighting militants in the oil-rich Niger Delta region."