“Biafra remembrance is about the people’s struggles and their faith in a glorious future” —Ebuka Onyekwelu As recent as 2020, May 30th was greeted with total wilful compliance in honour of fallen Biafra heroes. In 2024, the compliance is much the same but for a different reason; more out of fear of horror. On May 30th, 1967, the sovereign state of Biafra was declared by Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. This declaration was in response to the...
Nigeria’s plan to increase the national minimum wage appears stalled as the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, rejected the latest proposal from the Federal Government. This throws the negotiations into further disarray as a 31st May deadline for a new minimum wage looms. The Federal Government, represented by the tripartite committee on minimum wage, proposed raising the minimum wage to N60,000 on Tuesday. This represents a N3,000 increase from their previous offer of N57,000. However, the...
The Nigerian Air Force, NAF, successfully neutralised 30 terrorists in coordinated airstrikes conducted on 27th May in Borno and Katsina states. This comes as a significant blow to terror groups operating in the regions. According to Air Vice Marshal Edward Gabkwet, NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, the air component of Operation Hadarin Daji targeted terrorist hideouts in Kankara Local Government Area, Katsina. The operation aimed to dismantle the network of a notorious terrorist...
The Nigerian government on Wednesday withdrew terrorism charges against Bello Bodejo, the president of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, a Fulani cattle herders association. Bodejo was arrested in January 2024 after he launched a vigilante group in Nasarawa State to assist security agencies in combatting crime and banditry in the State. He faced three counts of terrorism-related offences, including establishing an ethnic militia and activities threatening national security. He had been in detention since his arrest....
The Force spokesperson of the Nigeria Police Force, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi says 3,078 suspected kidnappers have been arrested and 1,750 kidnap victims were rescued in the past one year. ACP Adejobi disclosed this while parading some suspects in Abuja on Tuesday, said: “Over the past year, we have made substantial progress in arresting individuals involved in crime, including 4,826 armed robbery suspects, 3,078 kidnapping suspects, 2,479 suspects for rape/sexual crimes, 1,243 for unlawful possession of...
The mass retrenchment exercise by the Central Bank of Nigeria has angered members of the House of Representatives who resolved to look into the matter. Recall that in recent months, the apex bank has dismissed over 300 employees including directors, deputy directors, assistant directors, principal managers, senior managers, and lower-ranking officials for reasons not made public. During the plenary session on Wednesday, the lawmakers, after adopting a motion sponsored by Jonathan Gaza from Nasarawa state, passed a resolution...
CJN Summons Chief Judge of the Federal High Court and the Chief Judge of Kano State High Court By Hassan Umar Shallpella The conflicting interim injunctions regarding the Kano Emirate tussle have forced the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola to summon the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court and the Chief Judge of Kano State High Court to appear before him. The conflicting orders have led to significant confusion regarding the rightful authority and protection of...
When I saw the trending pictures of Dr. Tim Menakaya’s 90th birthday, the first thing I quipped was that Ide Umunya is neither in his Anambra hill-top home nor his Abuja residence. Dr. Tim is a man of many positive parts and he is no stranger to opulence and good care. Hence, I was curious to unravel the location of the birthday celebration that apparently appeared like a private event. I later looked at some...
President Bola Tinubu has signed the National Anthem Bill 2024 into law, which will see the current national anthem “Arise, O Compatriots” replaced with the previous national anthem “Nigeria, We Hail Thee.” The bill was passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives and signed into law by President Tinubu on 29 May 2024. The old national anthem was adopted when Nigeria gained independence on 1 October 1960 and was replaced in 1978...
It has been a turbulent year for Nigeria since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took office. From economic hardships to security crises, Nigerians are grappling with a myriad of challenges that seem to have only intensified under Tinubu’s administration. Tinubu’s tenure as the 16th president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria began with his inauguration on 29 March 2023. Tinubu, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, from Lagos who previously served as the Governor...
