THE family of a former Vice President and the Waziri of Adamawa, Atiku Abubakar, celebrated a significant milestone on Friday, August 23, 2024, as their daughter, Laila, tied the knot with her groom, Saleh Maitala, in a simple yet colourful Fatiha held at the National Mosque in Abuja. Laila looked radiant in a sparkling white wedding dress, while her groom complemented her in traditional white attire. Despite the modest scale of the event, it attracted a host of notable dignitaries from northern Nigeria, including a former Vice President, Namadi Sambo; a former Governor of Kano State; Rabiu Kwankwaso, the National…
Author: Maimuna Bashir Isa
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THE Academic Staff Union of Universities has informed the Federal Government of its plans to embark on a nationwide strike by placing the government on a 21-day notice. Sources within the National Executive Council of ASUU confirmed the development to our correspondent in Abuja on Monday. The notice was issued at the end of the NEC meeting, which was held at the University of Ibadan, and a copy is expected to be transmitted to the Federal Ministries of Labour and Education. “It is not an ultimatum but a strike notice. We are giving them 21 days’ notice, after which we…
A LIBYAN driver was arrested on Tuesday in the Bishr area of Libya for attempting to smuggle six undocumented female migrants from Nigeria. The arrest was made during a routine police patrol, which intercepted the vehicle and detained the driver. According to Migrant Rescue Watch, an organisation that monitors migrant activities, the driver claimed that the women were his family members in an effort to evade arrest. However, authorities saw through the ruse and took the driver and the women into custody. The individuals involved have been transferred to the Bishr Police Department, Libya for further legal action as authorities…
HEALTH Minister Ali Pate says doctors and nurses trained in Nigeria are sought-after globally, and that 67% of them work in the United Kingdom (UK). The minister, on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday monitored by News Point Nigeria, said if health workers of Nigerian origin pull out of the National Health Service (NHS), the service will struggle. He spoke on the new National Policy on Health Workforce Migration approved by President Bola Tinubu to tackle the exodus of health workers from Nigeria in a phenomenon colloquially known as ‘Japa’. He said Nigerian doctors and nurses are attractive and…
THE West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has released the 2024 results for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). This is according to a post on the examination body’s X account on Monday. “The West African Examinations Council is pleased to inform Candidates who sat WASSCE for School Candidates, 2024 that the result has officially been released today, Monday, August 12, 2024,” it wrote. “To access the result, log on to https://waecdirect.org.” The West African Examinations Council is pleased to inform Candidates who sat WASSCE for School Candidates, 2024 that the result has officially been released today, Monday, August…
THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday announced the approval for a pivotal financial accommodation to support the proposed merger between Unity Bank Plc and the Providus Bank Limited. The apex bank, in a statement by its acting Director of Corporate Communications, Hakama Sidi-Ali, said the move is designed to bolster the stability of the nation’s financial system and avert potential systemic risks. “The merger is contingent upon the financial support from the CBN. The fund will be instrumental in addressing Unity Bank’s total obligations to the Central Bank and other stakeholders,” the statement read. “It is unequivocal to…
THE Ministry of Finance has failed to release the sum of N4.9bn meal subsidy of 112 Federal Unity Colleges across the country. Our correspondent discovered this through sources within the Federal Civil Service alongside multiple letters written by the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, to his finance counterpart, Wale Edun. Findings by our correspondent revealed that the finance ministry failed to release the interventions for November and December 2023 but went ahead to pay the interventions for January 2024 to date. Our correspondent found out that the sum of N2,478,056,400 is being paid monthly to all the 112 FUCs. The…
JUSTICE Sylvanus Oriji of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja has restricted protesters in the August 1 demonstration to the MKO Abiola Stadium in the nation’s capital. Justice Oriji issued the order on Wednesday while delivering a ruling in an ex-parte application brought before him by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike. In the exparte application argued by his counsel, Ogwu Onoja, the FCT Minister had applied for an order of interim injunction restraining the five leaders of the protesting groups from gathering or parading themselves along any roadway, streets, offices, and public premises…
AS the plan to protest nationwide against hunger, USIR Project Converner, Umma-Salma Isyaka Rabiu has appealed to youths to shun the protest and engage in dialogue with critical stakeholders. Speaking at press briefing in Kano over the weekend, Rabiu noted that engaging in any form of protest at this time will be an ill wind that will do no good to anyone especially people of the north. Acknowledging that hunger was biting hard on Nigerians, Rabiu said: “Our beloved Nigeria is navigating a complex landscape of challenges that test our resilience and unity. Many of you are understandably frustrated, and…
THE management of Bayero University, Kano State, has says that normal academic and administrative activities will continue following the planned nationwide protest. This is contained in a statement signed by the Deputy Registrar, Public Affairs, Lamara Garba, and issued to newsmen in Kano, Monday night. According to the statement, Following the planned nationwide protest set to commence on Thursday August 1, 2024, the Management of Bayero University, Kano wishes to inform members of the University community that normal academic and administrative activities will continue. Consequently, staff and students are advised to remain peaceful, calm and law abiding. “The Management has…
THE National Youth Service Corps has suspended the biometric clearance and the weekly Community Development Services for corps members nationwide. The corps noted that this was necessary in view of the planned protest billed to hold between August 1-10, 2024. This was disclosed in a memo sent to State Coordinators, Local Government Inspectors and Zonal Inspectors across the country. It read, “In furtherance to our earlier memo reminding corps members of the scheme’s policy prohibiting participation in any form of protest, all corps members are informed that biometric clearance and CDS activities are suspended with immediate effect. The date for…
THE Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited said it is set to hire more workers. A statement published on the company’s website on Friday, said the recruitment would be for various positions across various departments within the energy company. “NNPC Ltd is pleased to announce that we are currently hiring for multiple positions across various departments. We are seeking talented and dedicated individuals to join our team. Visit our careers page for application instructions,” Soneye stated. NNPCL urged interested applicants to submit their applications through its official website, https://careers.nnpcgroup.com. This is the first recruitment exercise since it fully transformed into a…
NIGERIA’s Charge’d’ Affaires to Libya, Amb. Mohammed Mohammed on Wednesday announced the repatriation, by the Federal Government of 158 irregular migrants from Libya to Nigeria. Mohammed explained, in a statement on Wednesday, that the evacuees comprised 77 males, 45 females, 26 children as well as 10 infants. He added that of the total number, 26 males arrested from the ongoing raid of undocumented foreigners in Libya were released from Abu-Salim Detention Centre in Tripoli. The Nigerian envoy to Libya also disclosed that so far, 1,776 stranded Nigerians have returned home. Mohammed further explained that the repatriation was a collaborative effort…
META Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has removed 63,000 accounts associated with the notorious “Yahoo Boys” scam group, the company announced in its Q1 2024 Adversarial Threat Report on Wednesday. The accounts, deleted over the past few weeks, were used for financial sextortion scams and distributing blackmail scripts. Meta reported that a smaller network of 2,500 accounts, linked to around 20 individuals, primarily targeted adult men in the United States using fake identities. Meta said it identified and disabled these accounts through a combination of advanced technical signals and comprehensive investigations, enhancing its automated detection…
SENATE President, Godswill Akpabio, on Tuesday, tendered an apology to Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, over his “nightclub” comment on her during plenary. Akpabio had told Natasha during plenary last week that the Senate chamber was not a “nightclub” therefore, the female senator must be recognised before she speaks. But the statement was greeted with heavy bashing from Nigerians. During plenary on Tuesday, Akpabio, who presided over the session apologised, saying he would never deliberately denigrate a woman and that he never intended to insult Senator Natasha. The senate president disclosed that his phone had been overwhelmed with insults…
A TOTAL number of 58 Nigerian women and children have been rescued from human traffickers in Ghana. This brings the total number of rescued Nigerians in Accra in the last three months to 105. Chief Callistus Elozieuwa, Chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO) Board of Trustees in Ghana disclosed this to the Chairman/CEO of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, when she visited the trafficked victims at their location in Accra. A statement by the Commission’s Head of Media and Public Relations, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, on Saturday, gave the breakdown of those rescued as Kano (47), Katsina (5), Jigawa…
THE Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board on Thursday unveiled the list of 2024 top scorers of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination. The list was unveiled by the Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede during the ongoing policy meeting of the Board in Abuja on Thursday. They are; 1. Olowu David – 367- Ondo state 2. Alayande David- 367- Oyo state 3. Orukpe Joel-367- Edo 4. Emmanuel Jeremiah-366- Akwa-Ibom 5. Essiet Etini-365-Akwa-Ibom 6. Ezenwoko Zara-365-Abia 7. Umoh Joshua-365-Akwa-Ibom 8. Mamudu Abdulraham-364-Edo 9. Adeleke Abdulbasit-363-Kwara 10. Echem Victor-363-Rivers 11. Etute Emmanuel-363- Edo 12. Jedidiah Chidiebube-363-Imo 13. Adesanya Oluwatimilehin-363-Ogun
THE Federal Government has repatriated a total of 190 Nigerians from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). According to a statement by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), signed by its Director General, Director, North Central Zone, Bashir Garga, on Tuesday, the returnees were received at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja at 5:57 am, by a combined team of government officials led by NEMA. NEMA said the returnees have been profiled and documented by the relevant agencies, and sensitized to “behave with decorum and responsibility” on their return to Nigeria. “The federal government urges all Nigerians, wherever they may be,…
A FORMER student of Bridge House College, Ikoyi Lagos, Cherish Daniel-Markson has been honored by the Warwick University for her outstanding performance in her studies. University of Warwick, United Kingdom awarded the Nigerian, who hails from Bayelsa state, a first prize for her exceptional performance in three-year BA (Hons) Law with Social Sciences degree program. Cherish who graduated on top of her class as the best law graduate of the University and is the daughter of a former Commissioner for Information and Orientation in Bayelsa State, Daniel Iworiso-Markson. The institution management acknowledged her outstanding result in a congratulatory letter signed…
NO fewer than N721bn was received as bribe by Nigerian public officials in 2023, a new report by the National Bureau of Statistics has stated. The report released on Thursday titled, “Corruption in Nigeria: Patterns and Trends”, said the N721bn paid in bribes amounts to about 0.35 per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product. The result was based on a survey conducted with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. According to the survey, the average cash bribe was N8,284, an increase from an average of N5,754 in 2019. The report read in part, “According to the 2023 survey,…