A FIRE on Thursday gutted the 9th floor of the Northwest University City Campus building in Kano, affecting several academic offices. The fire, which started in the afternoon, was reportedly triggered by an electrical spark. Firefighters from the Kano State Fire Service and the Federal Fire Service responded swiftly, preventing the flames from spreading to other parts of the building. The affected offices include those of the Head of Department (HOD) and lecturers in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) department. See photos from the scene below:
Author: Binta Kabir
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THE United States President, Donald Trump, Wednesday enacted sweeping new tariffs in a move that could escalate trade tensions globally at what he tagged “liberation day”. Trump said the U.S. will implement “reciprocal tariffs” on all countries of “approximately half” of what they charge us. Among the countries slammed with reciprocal tariff is Nigeria. Under the tariff plan, Nigerian exports will be charged 14 per cent tariff as against the 27 per cent charged by the Federal Government. Last year, Nigeria exported goods worth N931 billion to the United States, with crude oil forming the bulk of the goods. It,…
THE National Identity Management Commission has recorded a total of 117 million registrations for the National Identity Number as of February 28, 2025. According to the latest enrolment statistics from the NIMC dashboard, 66,281,803 (56.5%) of the registered individuals are male, while 51,079,521 (43.5%) are female. The data also reveals that Lagos State has the highest cumulative enrolment figure with over 12.6 million registrants, while Kano State followed with 10.2 million registrants. “NIMC’s enrollment figures as of February 28, 2025, currently stand at over 117 million unique records. The highest cumulative enrollment figure of over 12.6 million was recorded in…
THE Nigerian electricity sector slowed in the fourth quarter of 2024 (Q4 2024), with the electricity production index declining by 1.64% year-on-year (y-o-y). Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says this marks a reversal from the 5.55% growth recorded in the third quarter of 2024 (Q3 2024). Average estimated electricity generation rose by 2.34% to 4,206.50 megawatts per hour (MW/h) from 4,110.47 MW/h in Q3 2024. Similarly, electricity consumption saw a modest increase of 2.63%, reaching 4,105.66 MW/h from 4,000.24 MW/h in the preceding quarter. This is as the Nigerian economy witnessed widespread expansion in the fourth quarter…
ALIKO Dangote, Femi Otedola, Mike Adenuga, and Abdulsamad Rabiu have been named in the 2025 Forbes’ billionaires list. Forbes Magazine released the list on Saturday. The quartet are the only Nigerians who made the lineup. Dangote, who owns the Dangote Refinery, tops the list with a net worth of $23.9 billion, up from $13.9 billion in 2024. “Aliko Dangote of Nigeria tops the list for the 14th year in a row with an estimated net worth of $23.9 billion, up from $13.9 billion a year ago,” the magazine wrote. “The big jump in his fortune is primarily due to Forbes…
THE Federal Government has announced that it will pay the backlog of the new ₦77,000 monthly allowance for members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) after several months of delays. The government had announced the allowance increase in September 2024, but despite multiple assurances, the increase has yet to be implemented. Minister of Youth Development Ayodele Olawande confirmed the payment plan on Monday during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today. Olawande stated that the government would pay the ₦77,000 allowance, including backdated payments, to both serving corps members and those who were in the program when the increase…
THE Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, Barrister Hannatu Musa Musawa has been nominated as one of the 65 Nigerian women being recognized for their outstanding contributions to the country’s development. The announcement was made Wednesday morning on the Morning Show, of Arise News. The “Women of Impact” award is an initiative by Arise Group, owners of Thisday Newspapers and Arise, which celebrates the top 65 women who have made significant impacts in various fields. Minister Musawa was nominated for her innovative work in promoting Nigeria’s art, culture, tourism and creative economy She was nominated alongside fellow ministers,…
THROUGH the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), the Federal Government has taken steps end perennial flooding of communities in Nigeria by the release of water from Lagdo Dam in Cameroon. The commission’s acting Head, Media and Publicity, Ifeanyi Nwoko, said the construction of the Dasin Hausa Dam is being accelerated. The intervention, Nwoko said, will end decades of devastating floods affecting residents in Taraba, Adamawa, Benue and other river basin communities. He noted that the dam, designed in the 1980s as a strategic buffer against floods caused by the release of water from Lagdo Dam by the Cameroonian authority, had…
THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has raised the alarm over the activities of 58 illegal Ponzi scheme operators defrauding Nigerians under the guise of investment opportunities. In a statement released on Tuesday by the EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, the anti-graft agency disclosed that the companies are neither registered with the Central Bank of Nigeria nor the Securities and Exchange Commission, making their operations illegal. Oyewale noted that the commission has taken legal action against many of the entities, leading to the conviction of five, while another five have pleaded guilty and are awaiting further judicial…
THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has secured a total of 4,111 convictions in 2024. According to the commission, the conviction was the highest number in any operational year since its inception. The commission also recovered significant sums across multiple currencies, totaling $214.5m, N364.6m, £54,318, €31,265, and various other amounts in different currencies. This was contained in a document obtained by The PUNCH on Sunday. “In 2024, the commission secured 4,111 convictions. This is the highest number of convictions secured in any operational year from inception to date. This laudable achievement is attributable to the dedication of our officers and…
FORMER Presidential Adviser, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, has faulted Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s sexual harassment claim, saying once women become senators, they can’t be sexually harassed. Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan had recently claimed on a live television programme that the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, frustrated her moves to raise motions about Ajaokuta Steel Company in Kogi State because she refused to sleep with him. However, while reacting to Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s sexual allegation against the Senate President on Arise TV on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, Senator Ita-Giwa said women can’t claim to be sexually harassed when they are elected into the Senate. The former lawmaker…
A VIDEO has emerged showing the lawmaker representing Kogi Central, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, accusing an unnamed minister of sexual harassment. In the video, which appears to be from a press briefing, Natasha can be heard saying she suffered the harassment while seeking a job after spending five years at Brass LNG. She explained that she failed to secure the job because the minister confessed that she would be a distraction to him until he had his way with her. Natasha said, “I remember many years ago, I was just out of Brass LNG, where I worked for five years, and…
NO fewer than 20,197 Nigerians stranded in various countries have voluntarily returned to their homeland. According to data collated from various repatriation exercises facilitated by the International Organisation for Migration, the stranded Nigerians The stranded Nigerians returned to their country under the IOM’s Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration programme, which involved intervention from the Federal Government and various Nigerian missions abroad. Women and girls constitute nearly 88 per cent of the returnees, while men account for 13 per cent. Most VoTs fall within the age bracket of 18 to 39 years, with those aged 18 to 25 being particularly susceptible…
THE National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has blacklisted Aveo Pharmaceuticals Pvt Limited, an India-based company implicated in the illegal production and exportation of highly addictive opioid combinations in Nigeria and some other West African countries. The company was found culpable of manufacturing, selling, and exporting a range of addictive pills containing a dangerous combination of Tapentadol, a potent opioid, and Carisoprodol, a banned muscle relaxant with addictive properties linked to overdoses and fatalities. The mix, sold under the names Tafrodol and Royal 225, has been widely trafficked across the region. A BBC World Service investigation…
THE Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) says that there will be a seven-hour power outage in some parts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). In a statement, TCN’s General Manager of Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, said the affected areas will experience blackout on Saturday, February 22, and Sunday, February 23, 2025, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm each day. She attributed the action to scheduled annual preventive maintenance on two transformers. “The Transmission Company of Nigeria informs the public that its maintenance crew will conduct annual preventive maintenance on the 2x100MVA, TR3 & TR4 transformers at the Apo 132/33kV Transmission…
THE naira appreciated to N1,535 per dollar in the parallel market, commonly referred to as the black market, driven by reduced demand for the dollar amid improved liquidity conditions. This marks a gain of N25, or 1.6%, compared to the N1,560 per dollar exchange rate recorded on Monday in the same market. Data compiled from online trading platforms and street traders confirmed the development. “There is not much demand in the market, but we have enough dollars,” a trader noted. In the official foreign exchange (FX) market, the naira also strengthened against the dollar on Tuesday, according to figures published…
THE Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board says candidates under the age of 16 can be considered for admission into tertiary institutions if they demonstrate that they are academically exceptional by scoring 80 per cent and above in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination. Given that the total score in the UTME is 400 marks, 80 represents a minimum score of 320. This development follows the recent reversal of the mandatory 18-year admission age benchmark introduced by the former Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman. The current education minister, Olatunji Alausa, reinstated the previous benchmark of 16 years, a move widely supported by…
THE Honourable Minister of State for Works, and the Minister Superintending FERMA, Bello Muhammad Goronyo, Esq., has disclosed that Nigerians will be given the best in road maintenance and safety across Federal roads network. He made this statement during a familiarization tour to Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) Headquarters today Wednesday 5th February, 2025. He said Nigerians deserve the best experience in pleasurable ride and security from all forms of danger when using the road. He however, bemoaned the poor budgetary allocation for roads maintenance in the country as factor militating against the realization of this dream. According to him,…
THE Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Sonny Echono, has said that the intervention agency has disbursed around N2 trillion to tertiary institutions across the country between 2011 and 2024. He stated that the intervention was deployed to enhance infrastructural projects such as senate buildings, classrooms, lecture theatres, auditoria, ICT centres, laboratories and laboratory research equipment, libraries, workshops, and hostels, among many others, across universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education in Nigeria. The Executive Secretary, who was speaking at the 41st Convocation Lecture of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye, tagged “TETFund And Educational Development in Nigeria: The…
NIGERIA’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, visited Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, to officially commission the newly constructed General Babatunde Idiagbon Flyover at Tanke and the Dr. Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari Flyover. During the event, Tinubu paused her convoy after noticing a group of schoolchildren gathered outside their school, singing and cheering her on. She took a moment to address them, urging them to focus on their education and avoid any actions that could jeopardize their future. The gesture was highlighted in a statement by her Special Assistant on Media, Busola Kukoyi. She wrote: “The highlight of the would be the spontaneous…