Author: Abimbola Ogunnaike

Ogun State Government has concluded plan to introduce electric bikes as part of the energy transition initiative of the Governor Dapo Abiodun-led administration. The launching, billed for Wednesday, 31 July, 2024, is the second phase of the administration’s e-mobility programme, following the launch of CNG- powered buses last year. Governor Abiodun, speaking during a meeting with the Minister of Transportation, Senator Sa’idu Ahmed Alkali, in Abuja on Thursday, described the planned introduction as a significant step towards sustainable transportation solutions in the state. Prince Abiodun also said that the introduction will further bring down transport fares across the state, noting…

Operatives of Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU) Lagos have arrested a 32-year-old student at Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY), Abeokuta, Ogun State, Timothy Oluwabukola Fashina and the Proprietor of Resign Regal Academy, Benin City, Edo State, Anthony Imonina Odemerho allegedly over a N1.23 billion airtime fraud. The suspects were alleged to have fraudulently converted airtime valued at N1.227 billion to their personal use. Their arrests were sequel to a petition to the police by one of the GSM operators in Nigeria following an Audit Report which showed discrepancies between Revenue Collection Accounts and Fulfilments. Based on the petition, a team of detectives…

The Bauchi State chapter of the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN), has sealed 571 pharmacies and medicine shops for selling fake, expired and illicit drugs across 10 local government areas in the state PCN Director of Enforcement, Pharm. Stephen Esumobi, who made this disclosure while briefing newsmen shortly after the enforcement on pharmaceutical premises and medicine shops in Bauchi, lamented that the rate of sale of hard substances was alarming in the state, adding that the Council would work with other relevant agencies to break the network of circulation. According to him, the council visited Bauchi, Tafawa Balewa, Darazo, Ganjuwa, Alkaleri, Dambam,…

After getting injured during a team training in Perth two weeks ago an Australian field hockey player identified as Matt Dawson has decided to remove a finger on his right hand. Dawson’s decision was aimed at ensuring he competes at the 2024 Paris Olympics in France, BBC reports Friday, 26 July, 2024 The 30-year-old hockey player narrated that he passed out when he saw his finger in the changing room, thinking his Olympic dream was over. Thereafter, he met with a plastic surgeon who told him that the finger may not function well after surgery – even which will take…

Students of tertiary institutions in Delta State, have dissociated themselves from the planned nationwide protest. The planned protest, tagged #EndBadGovernanceinNigeria, is scheduled for August 1 to August 10, which according to the organisers, the protest is to draw the attention of President Bola Tinubu’s administration to the plight of Nigerians and rising cost of living. President, National Association of Delta State Students (NADESSTU), Comrade Monday Wiska, at a press conference in Asaba, said students of tertiary institutions in Delta State were strongly in support of the administration of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and vowed to protect Delta against such a protest. …

The Federal Government has decried that Nigeria and in fact the whole of Africa is still in pains over decades and centuries of exploitation mostly perpetrated on the continent by Global North countries. The Minister of State for Environment, Dr. Izaq Salako said this on Thursday, 25 July, 2024, in Abuja at the Validation Workshop on the National Biodiversity Targets and Indicators for Early Action Support Project to Implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF). The Minister while lamenting that Africa is more vulnerable to climate change, species loss, and biodiversity destruction than other continent, said the African environment and resources,…

Lagos State has been ranked top among the 36 states of the country on Climate Governance Performance. Gombe States was ranked second with Ebonyi State taking the Number three position, both Borno State and Ekiti State jointly ranked fourth. Oyo, Kano and Zamfara States were ranked 34, 35 and 36 respectively, in the result announced on Thursday, 25 July, 2024, in Abuja at an event organised by the Department of Climate Change in the Federal Ministry of Environment in conjunction with Society for Planet and Prosperity (SPP). Speaking at the event, the President, SPP, Prof. Chukwumerije Okereke decried that Nigeria…

The crisis rocking Ogbeozoma community in Okpanam, Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State has taken a dramatic twist with the reported attack by criminals which led to the injuring of security operatives. The incident took place in the early hours of Monday, 22 July, 2024 while the hoodlums were said to be led by one Chinedu Okeke, a.k.a Ekwe-Ogidi. Chinedu Okeke, the Managing Director of Ekwe Ogidi Integrated Resources Limited is also said to be the Chief Executive of Golden Tulip Hotel, Asaba. Several calls, SMS and WhatsApp messages sent to the Spokesperson of Delta State Police Command,…

The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede has called for increased collaboration of all stakeholders in the fight against corruption. He made the call in Abuja on Tuesday, July 23, 2024 when the Old Students Association of Federal Government College Ikom, Abuja Chapter came on one-day familiarisation visit to the corporate headquarters of the EFCC. Olukoyede who spoke through the Head, Media and Publicity Unit and Spokesperson of the Commission, Dele Oyewale stated that winning the anti-corruption fight required multi-stakeholders’ collaborative involvement in all aspects of the fight including whistleblowing. “The fight needs collaborative synergy, collaborative whistleblowing, collaborative building and collaborative integrity to be defeated. Corruption is not happening…

Technical Adviser of Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) of Ibadan, Gbenga Ogunbote, has officially extended his stay with the Oluyole Warriors. After weeks of discussion with the management of the club, the Oracle, as the widely traveled tactician’ is fondly called, agreed to renew his contract with the club, in a deal that will see him staying with the club for the next two years. Speaking after signing the contract extension papers, the former Rangers International, Lobi Stars, Sunshine Stars, defunct Sharks FC of Port Harcourt and Remo Stars’ sweat merchant, expressed joy over the development. “I am thrilled to…

Meta has delisted at least 63,000 ‘Yahoo Boys’ Facebook accounts belonging to Nigerians suspected to be engaging in financial sextortion. The US-based firm disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday, 24 July, 2024, titled, ‘Combating Financial Sextortion Scams From Nigeria’. The latest development come few days after the Nigerian consumer regulator, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), imposed a $220 million fine on Meta and its instant messaging platform, WhatsApp over data privacy breaches and discriminatory practices against Nigerians. Although Meta had earlier expressed its stance to appeal the fine, it said the removal of the 63,000 is a punitive…

President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday, 24 July, 2024 officially welcomed former Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim into the All Progressives Congress( APC) family. Recalls that Anyim, a Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), under President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, recently defected from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). The Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma and his Ebonyi State counterpart, Francis Nwifuru presented Senator Anyim to President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. Senator Anyim in March 2023, signalled that his days in the main opposition were over when he directed his supporters in his home state, Ebonyi, to vote…

Celine Dion is set to smile to bank with a whopping $2 million [approximately N3 billion] for a one-off comeback performance at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. The 56-year-old singer had taken a break from her career after being diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS) in 2022, a rare neurological disorder. Celine Dion is now preparing to return to the stage in France, where she will perform a single song. According to TMZ, a source revealed that Celine is “getting ready to take the stage Friday” and will earn the $2 million for her performance. This news follows…

This is indeed not the best times for embattled American music mogul, Sean Combs, popularly addressed as Diddy, as he has been fingered in the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur. The Bad Boys Records boss is accused of paying $1 million for Shakur’s assassination by suspect Duane “Keefe D” Davis, who was arrested for the murder last year, in new court documents, according to the U.S. Sun. In the papers filed on Thursday, 18 July, 2024, Diddy is named 77 times by his various pseudonyms: Puffy, Puff Daddy, Puff and his government name, Sean Combs. “Defendant [Keefe] has asserted publicly…

An estimated 1.3 million people became infected with HIV in 2023, three times more than the target of fewer than 370,000 by 2025. While there has been marked progress in sub-Saharan Africa, for the first time, in 2023 more than half of the new HIV infections occurred outside of sub-Saharan Africa, a report released on Wednesday said. The report by the Global HIV Prevention Coalition (GBC), said the rising new HIV infections are evident in several countries, particularly in countries where key populations including men who have sex with men, sex workers, transgender people and people who use drugs, are…

The European Union (EU) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) have launched the second phase of its education programme – “Expand, Integrate and Strengthen Systems (EISS),” to build the capacity of teachers in Nigeria. The EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ms Samuela Isopi who spoke at the launch of the Programme in Abuja, explained that the second phase of the programme which focuses on teachers, complements the first phase, Education and Youth Empowerment in North Western Nigeria, launched in 2023. According to Isopi, the funding for both phases amounts to €45.4 million, under the Global…

Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) has demanded transparency and an investigation into allegations of importing and foisting ‘dirty’ fuels on Nigerians. HOMEF, in a statement on Wednesday, 24 July, 2024, advocated this in reaction to the feud between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) and Dangote Refineries, noting that the NNPCL’s inability to refine petroleum products has been an enormous shame and embarrassment to the nation. The statement said over the decades, NNPCL’s poor performance has forced Nigeria into the vice grip of forces of exploitation of colonial proportions, making her the largest exporter of crude oil and,…

The World is at the risk of not achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 and Zero Hunger by 2030. The annual report, launched this year in the context of the G20 Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty Task Force Ministerial Meeting in Brazil, issued by five United Nations (UN) agencies has warned. The report which showed that the world has been set back 15 years, with levels of undernourishment comparable to those in 2008-2009, disclosed that around 733 million people faced hunger in 2023, equivalent to one in eleven people globally and one in five in Africa, according to the…

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has been asked to be cautious how it approaches the proposed prosecution of heinous crime committed in The Gambia during the tenure of former President Yahya Jammeh. The advice was given by the representative of Liberia at the ECOWAS Parliament, Hon. Taa Wongbe. He made gave the advice at the sidelines of the recently concluded ECOWAS Parliamentary session, while speaking to newsmen on his perspective on the issue. He said the call for facilitating the setting up of a special tribunal in The Gambia by the ECOWAS heads of state for the…

A total of 158 Nigerian irregular migrants have again been repatriated from Libya, the Charge’ d’ Affaires of the Nigerian Mission in Tripoli, Libya, Amb. Mohammed Mohammed has revealed The envoy, in a release made available to journalists on Wednesday, disclosed that the repatriation exercise was carried out by the Mission in collaboration with the Libyan authorities and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) under the organisation’s Voluntary Humanitarian Repatriation (VHR). The release further stated that the evacuees departed Mitiga International Airport, Tripoli, aboard chartered flight no: – UZ 189 at 1500hrs local time and arrived at the Murtala Muhammed…