Author: Tahir Ahmed

By NEXTER The federal government has said the ongoing naira-for-crude sale deal with Dangote Refinery and other local refineries, facilitated through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, remains. This was disclosed by the Technical Sub-Committee on the Crude and Refined Product Sales in Naira Initiative through a statement on Wednesday. It explained that the naira-for-crude deal is a key policy directive designed to support sustainable local refining, bolster energy security and reduce reliance on foreign exchange in the domestic petroleum market and therefore not a temporary arrangement. “the initiative remains in effect and will continue for as long as…

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has issued a 90-day compliance window to telecommunications operators to resolve the long-standing issue of unutilised and unclaimed subscribers’ recharges. This announcement was made at a high-level virtual stakeholders’ engagement forum held on Tuesday, targeted at refining and enforcing new guidelines that protect consumer rights in Nigeria’s evolving telecom landscape. The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, whose speech was delivered at the forum by the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Rimini Makama, emphasised that the Commission was taking proactive steps to address unused prepaid credit on inactive lines, an issue that impacts millions…

By NEXTER Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume (APC Borno South),has accused President Bola Tinubu of jettisoning the Federal Character guidelines in appointment into his government. Speaking on Arise Television, the vocal senator accused the president of favouring his section of the country over others. He said the president as been breaching the oath of allegiance and promise to carry everybody along while discharging any responsibility as government. Responding to a question on the list of political appointees by Mr President, which is in circulation and in favour of one ethnic group, Ndume said, “Well, I don’t think I have anything to…

Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, senator representing Kogi central, has filed a N5 billion suit against her colleague, Onyekachi Nwaebonyi, over alleged defamation. The suit was filed by Akpoti-Uduaghan through her lawyer, Michael Jonathan Numa, at the federal capital territory high court. In the suit, the Kogi senator asked the court to declare that the statements made by Nwaebonyi, senator representing Ebonyi north, during an interview on Channels Television on March 6, 2025, are false and malicious. Akpoti-Uduaghan said the Ebonyi senator labelled her a “gold digger, habitual liar, and habitual blackmailer” during the interview. The Kogi senator asked the court to rule…

By NEXTER Nigeria’s first lady, Oluremi Tinubu, has donated N1 billion to the national cancer fund to support the fight against cervical cancer. Mrs Tinubu made the donation when she received a delegation of the national task taskforce on cervical cancer elimination led by the Minister of State for Health, Iziaq Salako in Abuja. She said, “I am in support of what you are doing. We are on track, especially with the approach you have adopted: test, screen, vaccinate, and treat. “No matter what wealth you have as a nation, if your population or majority of your population is sick,…

The recent executive order by US President Donald Trump dismantling the US Agency for Global Media, which supervises Voice Of America (VOA) affected an estimated 16.9 million audience of the station. The order also puts 1,300 journalists and staff of the popular mews outlet on administrative leave, it was gathered. The VOA, through its various language stations worldwide, provides news and commentary to hundreds of millions of people. In Nigeria, the VOA Hausa service is one of the popular international radio stations in northern Nigeria, alongside the BBC Hausa Service. However, many listeners who had grown accustomed to VOA Hausa’s…

*18 boarding schools in Niger remain shut By Aideloje Ojo When the heat of attacks by Boko Haram terrorists on education facilities in Niger State became too intensive, the state government ordered the ministry of education to quickly force the closure of all its 56 boarding schools. The first of such schools to be shut was the famous Government Science College, Kagara in Rafi local government. Following the deadly attack in February 2021, a student, Banjamin Doma, was killed and 27 others kidnapped. However, in tackling the terrorists from that axis, the military moved into Kagara town, occupied and converted…

By NEXTER The Nasarawa State Government has trained management staff in Ministries, Department and Agencies on tools to implement climate-smart Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects, to address infrastructure deficit and boost economy. The capacity building workshop was anchored by Nasarawa Investment and Development Agency (NASIDA) in collaboration with United Kingdom Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility (UKNIAF). Speaking at the event on Friday in Lafia, Mr Ibrahim Abdullahi, Managing Director, NASIDA, noted that the importance of PPP to infrastructural development could not be overemphasised, saying that Nasarawa remained a shining example amongst sub nationals in the West African region. Abdullahi said that…

By Bizuum Yadok Let us assume that Nigeria does not survive as a nation and, somehow, its northern part collects large portions of its surrounding countries around West Africa and becomes known as the United States of West Africa (UNWA). Let’s also assume that it miraculously prospers rapidly. Now let us stop assuming because that is the alternate reality that Nathaniel Bivan presents in his debut novel, Boys, Girls, and Beasts. This goes without saying that it is a speculative fiction, but it is set in the United Nations of West Africa beginning from 2068. The advancement of this new…

By Aideloje Ojo In peaceful environments, parents drop their children in school without the fear of any danger to them. In the same vain, many parents believe that sending their wards to boarding school is even more secured under the school’s authority and the government if the school is a public one. However, in recent years this confidence has been eroded by constant fear and security threats to their wards at day and boarding schools due to escalating terror attacks where educational facilities and pupils/students are used as soft targets. In Niger State, the story is the same, with most…