Author: Festus Adeloye

As part of ongoing efforts to ensure a successful 2025 edition of the Pan-African Drum Festival, a high-level delegation comprising Prince Segun Akanni, Convener of the Pan-Afrikan Drum Festival in Canada, Prince Julius Ojo, Founder of Julicare Foundation, and Mr. David Oyedele paid a strategic visit to the Nigerian High Commission in Ottawa, Canada. The team was warmly received and guided to the Head of the mission by the Minister Counsellor/Head Of Chancery, Ms. Rose Yakowa.  The Ambassador, HE Abba Zanna-Kawu, Charge’ D’ Affaires ai, alongside another senior minister at the Commission, Mrs Joy Adeniran, Minister, Political, and Consular hosted…

The United States has opened discussions with President Bola Tinubu on expanding economic cooperation across Africa as part of efforts to deepen trade, investment, and development ties on the continent. This was disclosed following a meeting on Thursday between President Tinubu and U.S. State Department Senior Advisor for Africa, Massad Boulos, in Paris, where the Nigerian leader is currently on a short working visit. According to a statement posted Friday on the official X (formerly Twitter) handle of the U.S. Mission in Nigeria, and shared by President Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the talks also touched on key…

Afreximbank has disbursed a total of $50bn in Nigeria over the past decade, making significant contributions to the country’s key sectors, including energy, manufacturing, healthcare, transport, and financial services. The President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, Prof. Benedict Oramah, disclosed this during the commissioning of the Afreximbank Africa Trade Centre in Abuja on Thursday. Speaking at the event, Oramah highlighted the bank’s commitment to supporting Nigeria’s development, pointing out that these investments have been crucial in expanding the non-oil sectors of the economy. He noted that $19bn of the total amount disbursed had been invested in…

Former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, has urged the Rivers State Administrator Vice Admiral Ibok-Ette Ibas (rtd) to halt the appointments of Local Government Administrators and reconstitution of state boards.  The rebuke follows a Federal High Court order by Justice Adamu Muhammed, barring Ibas from appointing sole administrators to oversee the 23 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the state. Despite the ruling, Ibas proceeded to appoint administrators and reconstitute boards of agencies, commissions, and parastatals, sparking accusations of executive overreach. Justice Muhammed’s ruling explicitly prohibited Ibas from making appointments. However, the retired Naval…

The Sole Administrator of Rivers, Ibok-Ete Ibas, has refuted reports that his administration is set to recruit 10,000 people into the state’s civil service. The development comes following reports on Thursday that the state had begun mass recruitment of graduates and non-graduates. According to the reports, the approval was granted by Ibas and the recruitment was announced by Ibibia Worika, secretary to the state government. Countering the reports, the acting head of the Rivers State Civil Service, Inyingi Brown, called the information false and misleading. He urged members of the public to ignore the notice, adding that it did not…

A helicopter crashed into the Hudson River in New York on Thursday, killing all six people onboard, including the pilot and a family of Spanish tourists with three children. The sightseeing helicopter broke apart in midair and crashed upside down into the Hudson River between Manhattan and the New Jersey waterfront shortly after 3pm ET, leading to a huge response from emergency crews. Videos posted on social media showed the aircraft mostly submerged, upside down in the water, and rescue vehicles crowding on to the streets on shore as emergency workers raced to save those onboard. At the scene of…

The Lagos State Traffic Management Agency has revealed that a fatal tragedy occurred on the Third Mainland Bridge on Thursday night. According to a statement issued on the traffic management agency’s official X account, the lone collision occurred near the UNILAG Waterfront as it approached Adekunle. The statement indicated that the vehicle in question was a loaded mini truck that looked to have lost control, resulting in a devastating catastrophe. The agency confirmed that the accident resulted in a fatality, though the identity of the victim has not yet been disclosed. According to the statement, the traffic management team swiftly…

President Donald Trump held a Cabinet meeting with his top officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as well as Elon Musk, on Thursday. It follows Trump on Wednesday changing course on his tariff policy, instituting a 90-day pause in higher taxes for most countries while ramping up the rate against China to 145%. On Capitol Hill, Republican leaders pushed through a budget blueprint to fund Trump’s domestic agenda despite some GOP hard-liner opposition.  Trump claimed during the meeting that the administration will provide some relief to farmers and hotel operators who employ immigrants lacking…

The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has banned Nigerian radio and television stations from airing rapper Eedris Abdulkareem’s controversial song ‘Tell Your Papa’, saying his lyrics are in breach of broadcasting standards. In a memo dated April 9, 2025, issued by Susan Obi, Coordinating Director of Broadcast Monitoring, the NBC classified the track as “Not To Be Broadcast” (NTBB) under Section 3.1.8 of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code. This provision bars content which violates public decency on broadcast platforms. Despite the song going viral on social media, the commission stated that its lyrical content fails to meet responsible broadcasting guidelines. The memo…

Senate President,  Godswill Akpabio has written a petition to the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, requesting a probe into an alleged assassination plot made against him by suspended Kogi Central Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan. Akpabio’s petition is contained in a letter dated April 3, 2025, in which he denied the allegation and called for Akpoti-Uduaghan to be prosecuted for defamation. The senate president also urged law enforcement agencies to treat the matter with the seriousness it deserves. “I write to formally bring to your attention and seek immediate investigation and prosecution of a criminally defamatory and malicious statement made against…