Author: Editor

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin has welcomed the return of Benjamin Netanyahu as head of the most far-right Israeli government the country has known and signalled an intention to strengthen cooperation, the Kremlin said. “I hope that the new government under your leadership will continue the line of strengthening Russian-Israeli cooperation in all areas for the benefit of our peoples, in the interest of ensuring peace and security in the Middle East,” Putin said in a message to Netanyahu, quoted in a statement on Thursday. “In Russia, we greatly appreciate your personal and longstanding contribution to strengthening friendly relations between our…

THE Federal Government said it has not considered imposing mandatory COVID-19 testing or restrictions on travellers from China until there is a need for it. The government, however, admitted that Nigeria was at risk of a fresh surge of the virus. It, therefore, advised Nigerians to go for vaccination. The Coordinator of the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19, Dr Muktar Muhammed, disclosed this to one of our correspondents in Abuja on Thursday. But virologists warned that there could be a fresh outbreak of the virus in the country. There are reports that countries are imposing COVID-19 testing and restrictions on…

A Zaria-based businessman, Pius Egwuekwe, has been kidnapped by gunmen shortly after he arrived at his country home at Ibughubu Umuchu Community in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State. According to Punch ,the incident happened late on Friday, December 23, 2022, shortly after he arrived the village with his driver from Zaria to celebrate Christmas.A source in the community said the Managing Director of People’s Bookshop was whisked away by the gunmen in front of his house and taken to an unknown destination and no contact has been established since then. Following the incident, the community had been thrown…

THE Federal Government is exploring avenues to probe some digital loan apps over what has been described as alleged sharp practices and abuses. The House of Representatives has mandated its Committee on Banking and Currency, Financial Crimes and Telecommunications to commence investigation into operations and loan administration of the fintech companies and online mobile digital loan apps in Nigeria. The resolution followed the consideration of a motion under matters of urgent public importance titled “Need to Investigate Sharp Practices By Unregulated Online Fintech Lending Companies and Abuse of Mobile Digital Loan Apps in Nigeria”, moved at the plenary by Hon.…

ASSASSINATION, disguise and a foreign embassy sound like the typical ingredients of an underwhelming action film, not tales from the life of Pele. But that is exactly what they are. During a February trip to Nigeria in 1976, one of football’s greatest players found himself holed up in a hotel alongside tennis legend and reigning Wimbledon champion Arthur Ashe as they plotted an escape from a volatile situation. Tensions had been bubbling away under the surface in Lagos for weeks before his Pepsi-sponsored visit, which coincided with the first professional tennis tournament to be held in Nigeria. The large number of…

FOOTBALL Legend Pele has passed away at the age of 82. The three-time World Cup winner had been struggling with health issues for some time and was taken to hospital in early December. “He is quite fragile in relation to his mobility,” his son Edinho told Globoesporte in early February. “He had a hip transplant and did not have a proper, ideal rehabilitation. So, he has this mobility problem, which ends up leading to a certain depression.” Pele will always be remembered for the great moments over his career, his goals and of course, titles. On November 19, 1969, he…

PRESIDENT  Muhammadu Buhari Thursday in Okene, Kogi State declared that the All Progressives Congress, APC, has delivered on the promises it made to Nigerians at all levels. Speaking at the Palace of the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, which he also commissioned as part of his one-day State Visit to the State, the President also said Governor Yahaya Bello had performed creditably in his two terms as governor. “We are an Administration that prides ourselves in the fulfillment of our electoral promises to the Nigerian people, at both national and sub-national levels. This is why I am glad that we have an impressive…

BANDITS have killed 14 persons and abducted 81 others in Sokoto and Katsina states. In the eastern part of Sokoto State, 13 persons were killed and 73 abducted, including women and children. The attacks took place in different communities in Sabon Birni, Gada and Goronyo local government areas. Our correspondent learnt that the communities were attacked almost at the same time last Monday. Speaking to Daily Trust, a traditional title holder in Sabon Birni, who sought for anonymity, said three communities were attacked in his local government area and 11 persons were killed. The communities were Gatawa and Dangari where…

KANO Pillars Football Club has recruited 22 new players to strengthen its team ahead of the 2022/2023 Nigeria National League (NNL) season in a bid to regain swift promotion back to the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) The development was disclosed in a statement issued by the Media Officer of the club, Malam Idris Malikawa, on Wednesday, December 28, 2022, in Kano. According to him, the 22 new players will join the 18 players the club retained from the disastrous 2021/2022 season. “We had an open screening which ended recently, led by coach Evans Ogenyi, from that, we were able…

TEN thousand police constables that passed out on Thursday will be deployed to provide security during the 2023 general elections. The Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, disclosed this at the Passing-Out-Parade  of the 2022 batch of police constables in Ilorin. “It is noted that after today’s event, all the graduating recruit constables will be deployed to complement officers on the forthcoming election security duties across the nation, in a bid to ensure a free, fair and credible electoral process. This event, which is taking place simultaneously in four premier colleges and police training schools across the country, wraps…

A KANO High Court Thursday sentenced one Sagiru Abdullahi, 29, to death by hanging for stabbing his stepmother Zainab Dan’azumi, 55, to death. The court had earlier convicted Abdullahi of Kurmawa Quarters, Kano, on a one-count charge of culpable homicide. Presiding Justice Aisha Mahmoud held that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt and sentenced the convict to death. Prosecution counsel, Mr Tijjani Ibrahim, had earlier told the court that Abdullahi committed the offence in June 2014 at Kurmawa Quarters, Kano. He said the convict dealt several machete cuts on the victim’s head leading to her death on…

AT the end of a year in which motherhood has been at the centre of impassioned debate in the US, a school in Texas for teenage mothers shows how young lives are being supported – and reshaped. It was early 2021, and Helen had been eating more than usual. The soon-to-be 15-year-old couldn’t explain why her appetite had seemed to grow so much. “Is this normal?” she asked her older sister. It could be, her sister suggested. But Helen had also been moody and would easily find herself picking fights with family and friends. Then her period was late. On…

KANO State Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje on Thursday assented the 2023 appropriation bill into law. Ganduje assented the 2023 budget during the weekly executive council meeting holding at government house. News Point Nigeria reports that appropriation bill was increased by N23bn by the state assembly, hence the total budget of over N268bn. It could be recalled that the governor had on 4th November, 2022, presented a budget of over N245bn to the assembly for passage. Ganduje appreciated the assembly for the timely passage of the budget and the through work conducted during the process.

A HUGE fire at an expressway tunnel on the outskirts of Seoul as a result of an accident has killed at least six people, emergency services say. At least six people have been killed after a bus and truck crash caused a huge fire at an expressway tunnel on the outskirts of Seoul, the local fire department told AFP. Images of the scene in local media showed huge flames and plumes of smoke rising from the tunnel, as hundreds of firefighters battled to bring the blaze under control. The fire started when a bus collided with a truck at around…

THE five aggrieved Peoples Democratic Party governors have met with the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu in London, the United Kingdom, and the PDP is threatening to sanction them for anti-party activities. The APC standard bearer was said to have lobbied for the endorsement of the five governors during the marathon meeting which was held on Tuesday. Governors Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Samuel Ortom (Benue) and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu states and some political heavyweights from the South had vowed not to support the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, over the refusal of…

ABDUCTORS have freed four students of the Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja, after being  held in captivity for few days in Ondo state. The students namely; Florence Obadero, Oreoluwa Aregbesola, Ifeoluwa Ahmed, and Omotoyosi Olarotimi, were released on Wednesday evening after spending five days in the abductor’s den. News Point Nigeria gathered that the four of them were released after their families paid ransom to the abductors. Meanwhile, the exact figure paid cannot be ascertained as of the time filing this report. Findings show that the victims were abducted last week Friday while returning to their hometown of Ajowa-Akoko in Akoko North…

By Etim Etim HAPPy New Year, Your Excellencies! Let me begin by acknowledging that your public statements and political activities in the last few months have enraptured national attention and kept us in suspense. The formation of the G5 Governors is one of the biggest political events of 2022. The fact that the five of you collectively govern no fewer than 35 million Nigerians and some 12 million registered voters makes you the single most powerful political bloc in this election season. When G5 speaks, the nation listens and the PDP shivers! Your leader, Governor Nyesom Wike, has been particularly…

THE Kano State Hisbah Board says it has destroyed 25 trucks of beer and apprehended 2,260 suspected criminals in its operations from January to December. Dr Harun Sani-Ibn, the Commander General of the Board, stated this when he briefed newsmen at the board’s headquarters on Thursday in Kano. He said that the trucks contained thousands of bottles of assorted beer, adding that more bottles would be wiped out before January. “Most of those arrested for criminal offence were handed over to security agencies for necessary action, the under aged were reunited with their families. “In the year under review, in…

By Tahir Ibrahim Tahir A FEW good men, are always referred to; when history pens down the advocates of utilitarian morality and crusaders for a better world, fostering happiness for humanity from different corners of the world. Very rarely, women are thought of, recorded and celebrated, for their own efforts in shaping the world, and coming through as heroines of their own immediate, and sometimes larger environment. Mrs Maryam Babangida, was one of such very iconic women, who led a life of example; simple in outlook, yet tremendously impactful in the manner in which it has changed lives, and effected…

By Azu Ishiekwene The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) will be shaken to its foundations, but it will survive. The most problematic question for the party of course is who carries its presidential flag in the 2023 election, when President Muhammadu Buhari will step down…If Tinubu survives the ambush of the wolves in his party, the race is over – My precipitations, December 31, 2021 In the last three years, I have formed the dangerous habit of forecasting what the new year might bring, roughly speaking. The quote above was extracted from the piece I wrote on New Year’s Eve…