Author: Soffiyyah Olamide

By Bayo Onanuga Following the false claims made by Senator Abdul Ningi, representing Bauchi Central, that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Federal Government is operating two versions of the 2024 budget, we consider it appropriate to inform Nigerians that there is no truth whatsoever in the allegation. Acting under the banner of Northern Senators’ Forum, Senator Ningi, falsely claimed in an interview he granted BBC Hausa Service, that the National Assembly debated and passed N25 trillion as 2024 budget and not the N28.7 trillion that is being implemented by the Federal Government. To begin with, President Tinubu on November 29, 2023…

By Abimbola Ogunnaike A woman named Rukayat, who is now currently under arrest by the Lagos State Police, has confessed to police operatives why she poisoned her one- year-old daughter with insecticide. Rukayat was said to have committed the heinous crime on Friday, 8 March, 2024 in Oworonshoki area of the state. A police source disclosed that the infant had epilepsy and that the mother poisoned her because she was fed up with the circumstances. “One Rukayat brought her one-year-old, seven-month-old daughter to LUTH for treatment. Later that same day, she confessed to having poisoned her child with an insecticide because…

By Abimbola Ogunnaike In what appears to be a robbery attack, famous British actress named Viscella Richards, popularly addressed as Vikki Richards, was discovered dead at 79 with her hands bound in her Caribbean home in North Valsyn, Trinidad, on Wednesday,6 March, 2024. According to the Sun on Friday, the retired actress was found by a friend who became concerned when she couldn’t reach Richards since Tuesday evening. Upon arriving at her home and finding the gate closed, the friend noticed the front door ajar and called out to Richards, eventually discovering her body while searching the house. Local officials…

By Abimbola Ogunnaike Gunmen in the early hours of Saturday, 9 March, 2024 invaded a school named Tsangaya at Gidan Bakuso area of Gada Local Government Area in Sokoto State and abducted at least 15 students of the school. The proprietor of the school, Liman Abubakar, confirmed the development, adding that “So far, 15 students were unaccounted for, but we are still counting. They invaded the town around 1am, shot one person and abducted a woman in the process. “As they were leaving the town, they sighted our students rushing into their rooms and they kidnapped many of them. “We…

By Abimbola Ogunnaike Manchester United bounced back to winning ways on Saturday, 9 March, 2024 by beating Everton with two first half penalties at Old Trafford to keep their Champions League hopes for next season alive Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford converted from the spot to extend Everton’s winless run in the Premier League to 11 games. The much needed victory takes United to within eight points of fourth-placed Aston Villa and three of Tottenham in fifth. Defeat leaves Everton still just five points above the relegation zone, having played two more games than 18th-placed Luton. Back-to-back defeats to Fulham and…

By Abimbola Ogunnaike Federal Government had directed that henceforth health workers going abroad to seek greener pastures must resign their appointments before embarking on such journeys. The Minister of State for Health, Dr. Tunji Alausa, made this known on Saturday, 9 March, 2024 during his visit to the Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta, Ogun State. Alausa said the era of health workers exiting to other countries in search of better offers after applying for a leave of absence is no longer acceptable. According to the minister, the ban on the leave of absence for health workers emanated from the executive order issued by…

By Abimbola Ogunnaike As part of the efforts to address the shortage manpower shortages across the FG-owned health institutions, the Federal Government has disclosed that plans are underway to employ at least 52,000 nurses before the end of this year. The Minister of State for Health, Dr. Tunji Alausa, made this known on Saturday, 9 March, 2024 during his visit to the Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta, Ogun State. Alausa, who admitted the challenge of manpower shortages the FG-owned health institutions are currently facing, said President Bola Tinubu administration is not blind on the Japa effect in the Nigerian health sector. “The government…

By Abimboola Ogunnaike President Bola Tinubu has directed the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, to give back the food items they seized at the border communities to the rightful owners, with the requirement that the items should be sold in Nigerian markets. The Controller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, made this disclosure Katsina on Saturday, 9 March, 2024 while meeting with people from border areas at Kongolam and Mai’Adua border stations. According to Adeniyi, the president had made a decision to use his authority not based on legal guidelines, “but rather reflecting the deep sense of generosity he holds towards Nigeria.” “In…

By Abimbola Ogunnaike The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has confirmed the sighting of the lunar month of Ramadan, which will pave the way for the beginning of the Islamic lengthy fasting. The Kingdom announced its Twitter platform, @Haramaininfo, on Sunday, 10 March, 2024 The tweets partly read, “Crescent of Ramadan 1445/2024 has been sighted in Saudi Arabia! “Subsequently, Ramadan 1445/2024 begins tomorrow, 11 March 2024. “Taraweeh Prayers will begin in the Two Holy Mosques after Isha Prayers.” Recall that the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs(NSCIA) has announced the tentative dates of March 11 and March 12, 2024, as the commencement…

By Abimbola Ogunnaike Tottenham have kick-started their hope of qualifying for next year Champions on Sunday, 10 March, 2024 after it putting four goals into the net of their hosts, Aston Villa. The defeat of Aston Villa may denied them from finishing in the Premier League’s top four. Ange Postecoglou’s side came to Villa Park having at the back of their minds that defeat to their fourth placed rivals would have been potentially fatal to their hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League. But the Postecoglou tutored side rose to the challenge with a second half goal galore in the rain-soaked…

By Abimbola Ogunnaike Nigeria’s Nworie Emmanuel on Saturday, 9 March, 2023  won a bronze medal in the 77kg Greco-Roman event at the ongoing African Game in Accra, Ghana. Nworie defeated Hattingh Johannes of South Africa 11-0 superiority, after what seemed to be a controversial semifinal loss for the Nigerian Wrestler. Speaking after the game, Emmanuel expressed dissatisfaction with his semifinal loss to his Egyptian opponent. He dominated almost the entire tie but was defeated through technical decisions by the umpires. “I really feel sad because of my semifinal defeat because I gave all my strength in the game to be able…

By Abimbola Ogunnaike President Bola Tinubu is expected to inaugurate an agricultural processing zone with equipment and the remodelled Minna International Airport on Monday, 11 March, 2024. Niger State Governor, Mohammed Umaru-Bago of Niger State, made this disclosure on Saturday, 9 March, 2024 while inspecting the projects, adding that about 2,000 hectares would be utilised for the agro-processing zone project. Also on the inspection team was the President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Chris Isiguzo. Bago said about 1,000 hectares would be utilised for drip irrigation and greenhouses while an additional 1,000 hectares was specifically for processing dairy products. He…

By Abimbola Ogunnaike Dozens of people were said to have been trapped after a five-storey building under construction collapsed at Basden Street, Fegge, in the commercial city of Onitsha, Anambra State on Sunday, 10 March, 2024. It was gathered that the building, meant to serve commercial purposes on completion, collapsed in the early hours of Sunday while some of the construction workers were on the last floor. An excavator has quickly been moved to the site to begin the evacuation of rubbles and possible rescue operations of any trapped victims. As at the time of filing this report, the reason…

By Abimbola Ogunnaike The Chairman of the Editorial Board of The Nation Newspapers, Sam Omatseye, will on Tuesday, 12 March, 2024,  unveil his new book on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The book is titled: “Beating All Odds: Diaries and Essays on How Bola Tinubu became President.” According to a statement in Abuja by Omatseye, “The book, which is the first major work to give an account of and context to one of Nigeria’s most tempestuous election seasons, will be launched on Tuesday, March 12, at the Shehu Musa Yar Adua Centre in Abuja. “The occasion, which is expected to attract high-profile…

Nigeria’s richest woman, Folorunsho Alakija, and her husband of 30 years, Modupe Alakija, have parted ways. The news making the rounds is that the mother of four and the businessman allegedly no longer live together in their Ikoyi matrimonial home in Lagos. The couple were alleged to have been having frequent squabbles that led to the separation. He allegedly lives alone within the same Ikoyi neighbourhood. In the past, the lawyer cum businessman was allegedly link with a one-time beauty queen. Few years ago, Modupe Alakija, the husband of billionaire Folorunso Alakija, was in the news following his suspension by…

Dr. Kole A. Shettima, author and Director, The MacArthur Foundation, Africa Office and Folake Soetan, the CEO, Ikeja Electric PLC will lead high-powered speakers at the Women High Achievers Trybe (WHATrybe) 2024 annual conference to be held Sunday 10 March at 4:00pm. The upcoming free one-day virtual event themed “Breaking Barriers and Building Bridges,” is in commemoration of International Women’s Day. WHATrybe is a Nigerian non-profit community dedicated to inspiring and empowering women to attain leadership roles in business and management services. Speaking on the forthcoming virtual gathering, Kiki Okewale, the host and Convener, WHATrybe Community said this year’s conference…

The Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Mrs. Olu Verheijen, on Friday, 8 March, 2024, said the administration of President Bola Tinubu opted for fiscal incentives in the Oil and Gas Sector to attract investments. She also said the government was seeking ways to grow revenue and foreign exchange to stabilize our economy and currency. She said enhanced security measures in the Niger Delta has led to increase in liquids of over 200,000 barrels per day over the last six months. She said the stability in the oil producing areas has increased the availability of NLNG Trains 1-6 from…

Human rights lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi on Friday called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to audit the financial transactions of all officials of government who served under former President Muhammadu Buhari. According to him, the demand became necessary following the startling revelations arising from the prosecution of ex-Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele by the anti-graft agency. Olajengbesi, the Managing Partner of Abuja-based law firm, Law Corridor, in a statement, commended the EFCC for exposing the alleged forgery of Buhari’s signature and that of a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF),…

By Femi Adesina Remember the hit track by Father U-Turn titled ‘Yetunde’ in his 1999 album, Padlock Your Mouth? Well, that was the song I used to tickle my friend and professional colleague, Yetunde Oladeinde (née Francis), who passed on just over two weeks ago. Yetunde Yetunde o Yetunde mi da Yetunde Yetunde Yetunde o Yetunde mi da Yetunde Yetunde o, my darling o Yetunde Yetunde o, Ololufe mi Yetunde… And Yetunde would laugh and laugh, and then cover her mouth with her palm. She knew I was just joking, kidding, as I am who and what you would call…

A human rights organization under the aegis of Coalition of Public Interests Lawyers and Advocates (COPA) on Wednesday protested against what it described alleged pervasive tribalism, abuse of federal character principles in the Nigerian Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) under the leadership of Major General Emmanuel A.P. Undiandeye, the Chief of Defence Intelligence (CDI). The organisation said the appointment of his kinsman, Navy Captain S. K. Ogogo (NN/2122) as the Director of Finance and Accounting (DFA) at the DIA, starkly undermines the principles of fairness and equity, especially when there are numerous qualified individuals suitable for the role. The National Coordinator…