Author: Maryam Garba

AN officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Abubakar Abdulkadir Mayos, has returned $505 and 30 Saudi Riyals in lost Basic Travelling Allowance (BTA) to an intending pilgrim in Yola. BTA is a foreign currency allowance given to pilgrims to cover personal expenses such as meals, transportation, and shopping outside of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON)’s contractual arrangements. Officials of NAHCON traced the rightful owner, Maimuna Salihu, a pilgrim from Taraba State, to the Yola Pilgrims’ Camp. The funds were returned to her amidst cheers from fellow pilgrims and commendations from officials, including the Director…

A NIGERIAN man and a US national, Omololu Akinlolu, 38, has been charged with causing grievous bodily harm in the ongoing assault case involving US singer, Chris Brown. UK police who charged the American R&B with assault earlier this week have charged Akinlolu in connection with the 2023 incident, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Saturday. Akinlolu will appear at Manchester Magistrates’ Court in northwestern England, according to AFP. Brown, the Grammy-winning 36-year-old former boyfriend of superstar Rihanna, was on Friday remanded in custody until June 13 by a court in Manchester. He faces a charge of causing grievous bodily harm…

WIVES of the 36 State Governors of the federation have called for greater visibility and communication capacity to support their social intervention work, saying their efforts often go unnoticed despite complementing state-led development programmes. Speaking at a media and leadership retreat in Abuja on Wednesday, Ogun State First Lady Bamidele Abiodun, who spoke on behalf of her colleagues, said that as wives of elected governors, they are often the intersection of compassion and influence. The retreat, tagged “Leading With Impact,” brought together wives of governors from across the 36 states to explore strategic communication, media engagement, and narrative building. It…

CITIZENS of Nigeria and Pakistan might be restricted from applying for United Kingdom (UK) visas, the UK Home Office has announced. According to The Times, a UK-based publication, the UK is moving to prevent citizens of countries that are likely to stay in the region beyond the approved duration and eventually seek asylum. Nigeria, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka were highlighted as countries in this category. To prevent this, the UK Government has said citizens of these countries may face tougher restrictions when applying to work or study in the UK. “Our upcoming Immigration White Paper will set out a comprehensive…

NIGERIA accounts for 31 percent of global malaria deaths and 27 percent of total cases worldwide, according to the World Malaria Report 2024. The country also accounted for nearly 40% of worldwide malaria deaths among children under five. About 55 million cases of malaria and 90,000 malaria-related deaths occur in the country every year, while the economic burden of the disease in the country was estimated at $1.6b (N687 billion) in 2022 and may increase to about $2.8b (N2 trillion) in 2030. Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites transmitted to humans through the bites of infected female Anopheles…

POPULAR political praise singer, Alhaji Dauda Kahutu, otherwise known as Rarara, has married his longtime lover, Aisha Humaira. The bride, a Kannywood actress, is a band member of the entertainer and his chorus singer. Former governor of Katsina state, Aminu Bello Madari, alongside other dignitaries attended the event which held in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, on Friday. Although the two lovebirds have been in the news for long for a potential union, their eventual wedding Fatiha caught many of their fans and followers by surprise. The event which reportedly took place after the Juma’at prayer was said to be…

WORKERS of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) have called off their strike after the Federal Government’s intervention. The workers had protested over poor working conditions, grounding flights across the country on Thursday. But after a meeting with the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, in Abuja, the strike was called off. The workers were concerned over the non-implementation of the new national minimum wage, ignoring requests to include omitted staff in past allowances, and neglecting key training programmes, among other matters. The meeting was attended by the Director General, NiMET, Officials of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA),…

THE World Health Organization chief acknowledged Tuesday that US funding cuts had left the UN agency with a huge budget gap, forcing it to slash operations and lay off staff. “The sudden drop in income has left us with a large salary gap and no choice but to reduce the scale of our work and workforce,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told member states, according to a transcript of his opening remarks. The United Nations health agency has been bracing for the planned full withdrawal of the United States — traditionally its largest donor by far — next January. US President Donald…

THE United Kingdom Home Office received 22,619 asylum applications from Nigerian nationals from 2010 to 2024, according to findings by this newspaper. This is as Nigerians accounted for one in 30 UK asylum claims over the period, ranking 11th on the Home Office’s newly released year-end Asylum and Resettlement statistics. According to the Home Office, nearly twice as many Nigerians (2,841) applied for asylum in 2024 as in 2023 (1,462). Overall, 2024 saw the highest number of asylum applications to the UK, with 108,138 people, a 378 per cent rise from 2010. Most were first-time claims by South Asian and…

FRESH from implementing a N15 price reduction in its loading cost for Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, the Dangote refinery has again slashed its refined products prices to make them cheaper, cutting its ex-depot rate to N835 per litre. The new price is a reduction of N30 from N865 per litre implemented six days ago, marking a 3.5 per cent decrease and N45 from N880 per litre sold by the facility last Wednesday. This price slash also marks Dangote’s third downward adjustment in under six weeks. This newspapere gathered that the refinery informed its customers in a notice…

THE International Press Institute (IPI) Nigeria has announced the appointment of prominent media personalities to its standing committees, aimed at promoting press freedom and responsible journalism in Nigeria. The committees include Fundraising, Programming, Advocacy, and Membership, each comprising seasoned industry professionals. Notable appointees include Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris; Senior Special Assistant to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu; former President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Mrs. Funke Egbemode; former Managing Director of Champion Newspapers, Mr Emma Agu; and former Provost of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Mr Gbemiga Ogunleye.…

A 24-YEAR-OLD Nigerian man, Mercy Ojedeji, has pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud and unlawful use of fraudulent immigration documents to gain admission into a university in the United States. On Wednesday, April 9, Ojedeji admitted to fraudulently securing a student visa and gaining admission into the University of Missouri’s chemistry PhD program in Fall 2023. He acknowledged using falsified academic transcripts, recommendation letters, a fake resume, and a fabricated English language proficiency report to obtain the visa. The plea was entered in a US District Court in St. Louis, Missouri, according to a statement released by the U.S.…

MEMBERS of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Thursday morning picketed the Ministry of Steel Development Complex at Wuse 2 in Abuja, the nation’s capital. The aggrieved unions demanded better welfare for themselves and their colleagues working in the ministry. They also opposed what they described as the unjust sack of workers and a ban on workers’ rights to practice unionism. The labour unions led by Eche Asuzu barricaded the main gate of the ministry’s headquarters in the nation’s capital and prevented staffers of the ministry from gaining access to their offices. Carrying placards…

THE Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has predicted three days of moderate-heavy rainfall in six States of the country. The affected States are: Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Edo, Bayelsa Delta and Ogun. The rainfall is anticipated between Wednesday April 9-11, 2025. The agency, in its heavy rainfall forecast bulletin on Tuesday, also forecasted light-moderate rainfall in Ondo, Lagos, Delta, Imo, Abia, Ekiti and few others states. It added that other parts of the country would experience very light or no rain in the next three days. The agency in the bulletin also hinted that there are prospects of flash floods as…

THE Presidency on Wednesday outlined new conditions for the quarterly Stakeholder and Citizens Engagement Meetings, saying the Federal Government is commitment to transparency, inclusivity, and citizen participation in governance. The guidelines, issued through the Central Delivery Coordination Unit under the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination, mandate stricter requirements for ministries to ensure these meetings serve as genuine platforms for public engagement. According to the CDCU, the engagement meetings were introduced as a deliverable for every ministry in response to President Bola Tinubu’s directive that all ministers regularly communicate government initiatives, beneficial programmes, and…

MANAGING DIRECTOR Director of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Bismarck Rewane, has predicted that the cost of premium motor spirit also known as petrol will continue to decline until June 2025. Both Dangote Refinery and the Nigeria National Petroluem Company Limited (NNPCL) have crashed the cost of the essential commodity in recent weeks, easing the pressure on millions of Nigerians who depend on fuel for their energy needs. But Rewane says the recent reduction in the pump price of the product is expected to continue until mid-year. “So, generally between now and June, we will see prices begin to decline. But…

NAIRA closed February 2025 with an 8.5 per cent gain month-on-month on the parallel market to settle at 1,490/$, while it closed at 1,500/$ on the official market, indicating a 1.7 per cent m/m decline. According to the Afrinvest Monthly Market Report, the foreign reserve dipped by 3.2 per cent month-on-month. As of Thursday, it stood at $38.46bn. “This decline can be linked to CBN’s efforts to stabilise the naira, particularly through the resumption of payments for the verified portion of the outstanding $7.0bn foreign exchange backlog,” the analysts said. They went on to project that “in March, we anticipate…

MINISTER of Housing and Urban Development, Abdullahi Ata, has accused the Deputy Governor of Kano State, Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo, of disrespecting President Bola Tinubu. The minister, in a statement by his media aide, Seyi Olorunsola, said the Kano deputy governor while speaking on the lingering emirship tussle in Kano State, had asked President Tinubu to come and remove the emir he (Tinubu) enthroned and kept in a graveyard. The minister said the statement was “inflammatory and reckless. “The Deputy Governor’s audacity in publicly addressing the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in such an uncouth and disrespectful manner is…

A SEASONED Guidance and Counselling scholar at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Prof. Augustine Chinweuba Ukwueze, has said that the role of academic counselling in Nigeria’s education sector is often under-appreciated despite its impact. Ukwueze, a lecturer in the NOUN’s Department of Educational Foundations, Faculty of Education, stated this on Thursday at the NOUN 31st Inaugural Lecture held at the university’s headquarters in Abuja. In the lecture titled, “Academic Counselling: A Dark Horse in Education Industry,” he provided an analysis of why academic counselling remains a “dark horse,” saying, “It is a powerful but overlooked force capable of…

MANY Nigerian passengers aboard an Air France flight have been left stranded in Lomé, Togo, following a diversion caused by bad weather in Abuja. The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, raised the alarm over the situation in a statement posted on his official X account on Thursday night. Keyamo revealed that the Air France flight from Paris to Abuja was unable to land due to adverse weather conditions and was redirected to Lomé. However, he expressed concern over the airline’s handling of the situation. He said, “I have just been alerted of a situation involving mostly Nigerian…