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Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has felicitated fathers for the various sacrifices they make in keeping their families together, which have helped in building healthy subset of the larger society. In his message to commemorate 2024 International Father's Day, in Government House, Port Harcourt, Governor Fubara prayed God to keep, strengthen and prosper fathers, and all male heads of families, to continue to play exemplary leadership roles naturally bestowed on them. Governor Fubara said: "Fatherhood is an essential fabric of the family because of the love, strength and dedication that fathers demonstrate, which enrich the lives of their children. “I celebrate you. I acknowledge your gallantry, sacrifices, love and care in holding the family unit together. I urge you...

President Bola Tinubu says Nigeria needs people who follow the path of sacrifice to fulfil the dreams of the nation’s founding fathers and make the nation great. Tinubu made the remark while addressing newsmen after observing the 2024 Eid el-Adha prayers at Dodan Barracks, Lagos. "Being a very good citizen comes with responsibility. As citizens, what do you do to be a very committed member of our society? Go and sacrifice. "Love your country, love your neighbours, share what you have with one another and be thankful to Almighty God. That's all," the President said. Earlier, while addressing the worshippers, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, harped on perseverance and patience. Hamzat enjoined the Muslim faithful to understand the reason for Eid, which h...

Privatisation An expert in power, Mr Uket Obonga has called for a comprehensive review of the privatisation of the power sector. Obonga, who is the National Secretary, Nigeria Electricity Consumers Advocacy Network (NECAN), said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday. Obonga said that the privatisation of the power sector was a good idea but was not properly done. “Handing over the power assets to those who don’t have the capacity to run them is why we are in this mess. ”The idea of privatising the power sector is a good one, but the modalities that were used in the privatisation is where the error is. ”If you say you don’t have the capacity to run the sector and you are calling on private investors to take over, those you are ha...

The Nigeria Police Force, Zone 2 Command, Onikan, Lagos, have arrested 23 suspects for various alleged offences, including robbery and adulteration of pharmaceutical drugs. SP Umman Ayuba, the zonal command’s public relations officer, disclosed this on Thursday in Lagos when briefing journalists. Ms Ayuba said the zone, under the leadership of the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), Olatoye Durosinmi, had tremendously succeeded in the war against crime and criminality. She said those arrested comprised 21 males and two females. The spokesperson said that among the suspects arrested was an ex-convict, Samson Sesan, the principal suspect and kingpin of a robbery gang involved in several robbery incidents around Abeokuta, Ogun. Ms Ayuba said Mr Sesan was arrested on J...

The Kaduna State government said troops of Sector 6, Operation Whirl Punch, have killed a terrorists’ kingpin, Buharin Yadi, along with dozens of his fighters.The state Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday in Kaduna. Mr Aruwan said Mr Yadi was one of the “deadliest” bandits terrorising northern Nigeria in the last decade. “The Sector 6 Operation, Whirl Punch troops, rained down fire on the kingpin known as Buhari Alhaji Halidu (alias Buharin Yadi) and his cohorts, abruptly terminating their ignominious spell of terror. “Halidu was neutralised in a fierce battle with the troops under the coordination of their commander, General Officer Commanding 1 Division, Nigerian Army, Maj.-Gen. Mayirenso Saraso. “This...

The Defence Headquarters says troops of Operation UDO KA raided several training camps of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its Eastern Security Network (ESN) in the South-East and apprehended 25 suspects. DHQ spokesman Edward Buba disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja while briefing journalists on the operations of the Armed Forces of Nigeria. Mr Buba said the raid operations were carried out in the last week following the killing of five soldiers by the group on May 30, around Aba, in Abia. He said the operations led to the destruction of several camps and the killing of 13 terrorists who had been terrorising the zone from their hideouts. “Additionally, troops arrested violent extremists/IPOB/ESN members in Isiala Mbano and Ohaji/Egbema LGAs of Imo state. Furthermore,...

By NAN The Director-General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), Malami Jibrin Baba-Ndace, says the agency in the last six months has been building relationships with international broadcast Organisations to meet up with global best practices. Baba-Ndace said the organisations include Voice of America (VOA), British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Radio France and others. The VON boss stated this when the House Committee on Information, National Orientation, Ethics and Values  visited the agency on an oversight function on Tuesday in Abuja. The Committee was led by its chairman, Mr Fatoba Olusola Steve. Baba-Ndace said the Agency has 15 directors and two broadcast studios in Lagos and Abuja, adding that, it broadcast in four local and four foreign languages. "While the local l...

By Sylvester Thompson Nigeria and the European Union(EU) have strengthened bilateral agreement to drive technological advancements and tackle shared regional challenges through science, technology and innovation. This was disclosed when Amb. Samuela Isopi ,EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS , led a delegation of European Representatives on a visit to Chief Uche Nnaji, Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, on Thursday in Abuja. Nnaji said the meeting was a crucial step in harnessing the transformative power of technology for mutual growth and development. The minister said innovation and research were key to progress and the ministry was committed to fostering joint research centers in areas like renewable and climate-smartagriculture. "By leveraging the expertise...

President Bola Tinubu was comical about his slip during the presidential parade at Eagles Square in Abuja. The President lost his footing momentarily as he was about to embark on the parade vehicle. However, the president, who was immediately assisted by his aides after the incident, resumed duties at the ceremony. Footage of the incident has since gone viral on social media, with netizens expressing concern. Speaking at the Democracy Day banquet on Wednesday night, Tinubu humorously described the incident as ‘swagger,’ saying social media is confused about it. He said: “Early this morning, I had a swagger, and it’s on social media. They were confused about whether I was doing Buga or Babariga, but it is a day to celebrate democracy while doing ‘Idobale’ (a Yoruba word mean...

Rights activists and followers of the late MKO Abiola appealed to President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday to declare the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election as the ex-president. They spoke at the ‘2024 Memorial Programme for the Commemoration of June 12, 1993 Election’ in Lagos. The event was organised by the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) in collaboration with the Centre for Anti-corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL) and Moshood Abiola Mandate Movement. Speaking, the national president of CDHR, Debo Adeniran, said that Tinubu, an insider in the struggle for democracy for which Abiola sacrificed his life, must complete the process of honouring MKO by declaring him the winner. “Asiwaju must declare him (Abiola) as a former President and Jun...

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has sympathised with President Bola Tinubu for tripping and falling on Wednesday while boarding the parade vehicle at the venue of the 2024 Democracy Day. President Tinubu tripped and fell while boarding the parade vehicle at the venue of the Democracy Day celebration. The President who had approached the vehicle shortly after he arrived at the Eagles Square, Abuja venue of the programme, was however quickly helped up by his security details. Reacting to the incident, Atiku in a post on X platform said he sympathised with President Tinubu over what the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) described as an unfortunate incident, saying he hoped all is well with Mr President. Atiku wrote, “I sincerely sympathise w...

President Bola Tinubu slipped and fell over at Eagle Square, Abuja, during the celebration of Democracy Day in the Nigerian capital. Mr Tinubu, 72, fell while climbing the steps to an official vehicle that was to take him round the Eagle Square. He was helped back to his feet and continued with the celebration. “He immediately went on with the ceremonial rounds. No issues,” Dada Olusegun, a presidential aide, wrote on X.

President Bola Tinubu, Wednesday said that he will soon send a new minimum wage bill to the National Assembly. Tinubu disclosed this in his democracy day broadcast. He noted that his government did not crackdown on Organised Labour as the dictatorship government would have done. “We have negotiated in good fate and open arms with organized labor on a national minimum wage, we will soon send our executive bill to the National Assembly to enshrine what has been agreed upon in the next five years or less,” he said. Recall that the National Minimum Wage committee submited its report to the President on Monday. In the report, the Federal Government proposed N62,000 minimum wage and Organized Labour proposed N250,000. Also, Governors and Organised Private Sector proposed N57,0...

Wife of Rivers State Governor, Lady Valerie Siminalayi Fubara, has presented cheques of N10million to 20 women farmers in the State who are the first batch of beneficiaries of the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) Women Agricultural Support Programme. Lady Fubara handed over the dummy cheques at an event organised at the Banquet Hall of Government House in Port Harcourt on Wednesday where the beneficiaries were told to commit the money to boosting their agricultural yields. Wife of the State Governor explained that the exercise was to flag-off another critical phase of the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) in Rivers State, which is a pet project of Her Excellency, First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu. She said, "I, therefore, bring you the felicitations o...

Neem Foundation and Hedayah have successfully trained Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Northeastern Nigeria on supporting families to counter violent extremism and propaganda from terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP). This initiative, supported by the European Union, was announced in a statement yesterday by the Director of Programmes at Neem Foundation, Mr. Ahmed Jumare, following the conclusion of a six-day workshop. The workshop was held from May 7th-9th and May 28th-30th at the Grand Sands Hotels in Maiduguri, Borno State, and brought together 32 participants from civil societies and organizations in Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, and Taraba states. The Northeastern part of Nigeria has faced significant challenges due to Boko Hara...

The Special Adviser to the President on Social Media, Dada Olusegun, has described as mild misstep, the brief slip of bi's principal. President Bola Tinubu briefly slip while boarding a parade vehicle at the June 12 Democracy Day celebration in Abuja. The aide, in a post on his X handle on Wednesday, said, “Mr President missed his step while climbing into the truck at the June 12 Democracy Day celebration and tripped. It was a mild misstep. He immediately went on with the ceremonial rounds. No issues.” The aide’s statement comes after videos circulated showing the President momentarily losing his footing while stepping into the vehicle. Despite the slip, the President quickly regained his balance and continued with the proceedings. The ceremony at Eagles Square was a flagsh...

Hamzat Lawal, Chief Executive, Connected Development has urged President Tinubu to give security agency chiefs a timeline to deliver on their mandate or exit.Lawal said this at the unveiling of CODE's 2023 Annual Report and Commemoration of Democracy Day event on Tuesday in Abuja.According to him the bulk of Nigeria's budget is devoted to security."Looking at our budget the bulk of the money is dedicated to security so what is their key performance indicators, what are their timelines and when will they deliver on it ."If I would advise Mr president if they don't keep us save in 24 months the service chiefs should actually exit adding that they should be accountable while commending their efforts." Lawal advised.Speaking on the commemoration of democracy day in Nigeria he said the country...

By Diana Omueza The Leprosy Mission Nigeria (TLMN) has disclosed that nearly 2, 500 new cases of leprosy are discovered annually in Nigeria. Dr Sunday Udo, the National Director of the mission in Nigeria, said this at its Open Minds Project close-out meeting on Tuesday in Abuja. The Open Minds project is a 4 year mental health project initiative focused on young people affected by leprosy and Neglected Tropical Diseases. The project was implemented in FCT, Kebbi, and Sokoto States, respectively. Udo said that for over 10 years, the mission had found and equally treated thousands of leprosy cases in the country; however, 90 per cent of the Nigerian population remained protected from the disease. “ TLM works in about 30 countries across the world, including Nigeria, and ev...