Author: Khadijah Olowode

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has paraded 13 suspects arrested in connection with the unlawful possession of explosives, illegal arms, and ammunition among other crimes. A statement on Saturday by the spokesman of the paramilitary outfit, Babawale Afolabi said the clampdown followed a recent directive of the Commandant General (CG) of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Dr Ahmed Audi mandating personnel to intensify nationwide surveillance on critical national assets and Infrastructure (CNAI). He said operatives of the Corps in the CG’s Special Intelligence Squad arrested 11 suspects for unlawful possession of explosive (dynamite), vandalism…

The Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has trained 200 youths across the Niger Delta region in welding and fabrication, in recognition of the importance of the skills in the engineering sector, especially in oil and gas, construction and manufacturing.Speaking at the graduation ceremony of the trainees in welding and fabrication in Port Harcourt, the NDDC Managing Director, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, said that the goal of the training was to equip the participants with the skills and knowledge needed to excel in the field to create new opportunities and possibilities for the youths.He noted that the graduation ceremony was held simultaneously…

Troops of the Joint Task Force, Operation Hadarin, have arrested three suspected gun runners in Zamfara State. One of the suspects, Aminu Ibrahim, is alleged to be the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Ward Chairman for Birnin Yero Ward in Shinkafi local government area. PRNigeria gathered from a military intelligence source in the state that Ibrahim, with his accomplices, namely Musa Usman Seun and Isah Mohammed, were arrested on Monday, 22 January, 2024. The source further said: “The troops of the Joint Task Force North West Operation HADARIN acting on a credible intelligence on activities of a notorious gunrunner with intentions…

Let me especially thank President Bola Tinubu for celebrating me on my birthday. The President of Nigeria has shown that he is a father to all, irrespective of their political affiliations. He chose to openly associate with me on my fiftieth birthday, even as some only privately acknowledged me. Bola Tinubu understands power and relationship building. He is a man who will not let others deter him from doing what he sets his mind to do when he chooses. In my book, he eminently deserves to be where God has put him today. I will only be fifty once in…

By James Imoru BEING a beacon of integrity in an abundantly blessed but criminally managed, consciously monetized society like Nigeria can be daunting. Ask the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) boss, Ahmed Lawan Kuru. Confronting the hawks who wrecked the banking sector with unpaid loans and thus forced the creation of the corporation in the first place is not just a daunting task; it is an assignment strewn with perils, including lawfare and media wars by profiteers from the people’s pain, the friends and enablers of criminals. For one thing, the obligors of AMCON are in the commanding heights…

NOVAmbl Asset Management’s Dollar Fixed Income Fund has been named as the best-performing Dollar Fund in 2023 by Nairametrics, the leading financial information and content creation company based on data from the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). NOVAmbl Asset Management is a subsidiary of NOVA Merchant Bank. SEC had reported that a total of 21 dollar funds registered during the review period averaged an impressive 8.5% return, and all funds within this category achieved positive returns in 2023, with NOVAmbl Asset Management’s Dollar Fixed Income Fund emerging as the best-performing. Undoubtedly, NOVA Merchant Bank’s dedication to excellence and its unwavering…

Aisha Suleiman Achimugu is the MD/CEO of Felak Concepts Limited. The company is into consultancy services related to health, equipment procurement, training and capacity building. Prior to this the award winning Dr. Aisha had made her mark in maritime & transportation engineering. She is the first woman transaction advisor, consultant to develop a seaport (Ibaka Seaport) in Nigeria. Last week she partied hard in the Caribbean Island of Grenada in commemoration of her 50th birthday anniversary. Those familiar with the event said organisers rented the Island for seven days, amounting to about $924,000 in total, in addition to other charges.…

Environmental engineers, waste managers and other stakeholders in the environment sector have faulted the Lagos State Government’s decision to impose an outright ban on styrofoams and other single use plastics (SUPs) across the state. They argued that before imposing an outright ban, the government should have introduced measures that could prepare the public for the new development and ban the materials usage in phases. The Waste Management Society of Nigeria (WAMASON), Nigeria Institution of Environmental Engineers (NIEE) and Lagos Recyclers Alliance (LAGRA) gave the caution on Wednesday through a statement jointly signed and made available to newsmen. The statement was…

Actors within the civil society community have appealed to the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation and the Presidency to retain Gabriel Tanimu Aduda as the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources. The Executive Director, National Civil Society Council of Nigeria, Amb. Blessing Akinlosotu, at a press conference in Abuja, said Aduda had built enough capacity to handle affairs of a mainstream and sensitive Ministry. He said, “We appeal to the Head of Service and the Presidency to urgently reconsider the redeployment, and retain Amb Gabriel Tanimu Aduda as Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources for…

Meets Governor Fubara The British High Commissioner, Richard Montgomery, visited Rivers State between the 24th and 25th of January for high-level discussions with the state governor and key stakeholders in the state government, business leaders and civil society. During the two-day visit, the High Commissioner visited the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara and paid his respects to the former State Governor, Sir Dr Peter Odili. They discussed the strong economic partnership that has existed between Rivers State and the UK, recent developments and future opportunities. The High Commissioner also visited Shell Nigeria and Indorama at their operational bases. Discussions focused…

The Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, Michael Freeman has underscored the need for adequate investment in education to address the dangers of hate speech and hatred, and to ward off any reoccurrence of Holocaust. Freeman, who is also the Permanent Representative of Israel to ECOWAS, while speaking at a commemoration of International Holocaust Day in Abuja on Friday, said the attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2023 was the same as the Holocaust, both a child of anti-Semitic hate. United Nations General Assembly Resolution 60/7 that established the Holocaust and UN Outreach Programme, also designated January 27, as annual…

Governors of the northeast states have agreed to continue the partnership with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), an agency of United Nations, and other stakeholders to build more houses for people who were displaced from their homes following the prolonged Boko Haram insurgency. Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Zulum, made the commitment on behalf of his two colleagues, whose states of Adamawa and Yobe along with his state were the most affected by the insurgency. Zulum, in his remarks during the presentation of awards to winners of the inaugural Housing Design Competition tagged “Home After Crisis” in Abuja on…

Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja has again ordered that Professor Cyril Ndifon, the suspended Dean of Faculty of Law, University of Calabar (UNICAL), be remanded at the Kuje Centre of the Nigerian Correctional Service again pending the conclusion of his bail application. This is even as the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) applied to the Court to substitute the earlier charge. This was granted with the addition of one Barrister Sunny Anyanwu as 2nd Defendant. Barrister Anyanwu, before now was one of the lawyers representing the first defendant in Court but was…

Oyo State Governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, on Friday, 26 January, 2024, reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to the improvement of the education sector in the state. He expressed the readiness of the state to provide necessary support in the areas of education infrastructure and the recruitment of more teachers in order to improve the quality of education. Governor Makinde made this known while receiving a Sweden delegation led by the Ambassador of Sweden to Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and ECOWAS, Her Excellency Ms Annika Hahn-England, at his Ikolaba residence in Ibadan. While welcoming the team, the governor said that his administration has recruited…

The Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has assured that it will continue to support the Nigerian Police Force and other security agencies in their efforts to provide security in the Niger Delta region.The NDDC Managing Director, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, gave the assurance when the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Olatunji Disu, paid him a courtesy visit at the commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt.Ogbuku said that the NDDC appreciated the services of the police to the society, adding that as an interventionist agency, the Commission had a responsibility to make sure that those who protect the lives and property of…

Lagos State has attained the most advanced stage in land documentation and acquisition, launching an electronic Geographic Information System (e-GIS) which provides digitised access to all data pertaining to the State Land before a purchase is facilitated. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Friday, 26 January, 2024, launched the e-GIS portal — a one-stop digital platform that sanitises and revolutionises the process of acquiring, documenting and verifying land in Lagos. As the portal went live, applications for land titles transitioned from the centuries-old manual paperwork into digital form. The innovation has also completely eliminated services of middlemen in processing of land titles,…

Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr.Oladele Alake has called on manufacturers of mine explosives to combat alleged leakages from their factories by tightening the security and logistics of their operations. Speaking at an emergency meeting with the manufacturers in his office on Friday, 26 January, 2024, in Abuja, Alake said there is popular outcry against the role of the manufacturers in the easy access of unauthorised persons to explosives and indiscriminate storage across the country. Noting that the government is reviewing the system for tracking the movement of explosives from the manufacturers to end-users, the Minister urged them to look…

By Tunde Rahman Is the Non-Aligned Movement still around? Is the organisation still in existence? That was the weighty question Professor Ikechukwu Okoro, a visually impaired Nigerian and Iowa State University don, slammed on me the moment I informed him of my mission in Kampala, Uganda. Professor Okoro and I had met on our way to Addis-Ababa, me en route Kampala and he, Atlanta, in the United States. It wasn’t as if the issue he raised had not previously crossed my mind, but I did not bother much about it since I was headed for the NAM conference anyway until…

An Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court has sentenced a Lagos bishop, Oluwafeyiropo Daniels, to life imprisonment for raping his 23-year-old assistant (name withheld). Justice Rahman Oshodi also sentenced Daniels, the Bishop of Reign Christian Ministry, Lagos, to three years in prison for sexual assaulting a 19-year-old member of the church (count three of the four-count charge). The judge held that the cleric should spend the rest of his life at the Kirikiri custodial facility, Lagos. Oshodi held that prosecution established the ingredients of the two offences. According to him, Daniels is a liar and does not have any…

Chairman Isale Eko Descendants Union, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem SAN has felicitated with former Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice for Lagos State, Mr. Olasupo Shasore SAN on the occasion of his 60th birthday. In a statement he signed, titled, “SALUTE TO OLASUPO SHASORE SAN @ 60- A distinguished Isale Eko powerhouse and Omo Eko Pataki”, Kazeem expressed admiration for Shasore’s great dedication to service. The legal luminary who was also a former Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice said Shasore’s selfless leadership of the Isale Eko Descendants’ Union legal team in its fight for the protection of the…