“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 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 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...
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...
Primate Elijah Ayodele of the INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church has been warned to stop political prophecies of doom for governments in power, and the downfall of politicians in the country. The Senior Special Assistant on Public Enlightenment to the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Chief Oliver Okpala stated this while reacting to Primate Ayodele who had a few days ago prophesied that the National Chairman of the APC, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje’s time was up...
The Senate has recalled Abdul Ahmed Ningi, suspended on March 12, 2024, over allegations of N3.7 trillion padding of the 2024 budget. Senator Ningi, the then Chairman of the NSF and a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) representing Bauchi Central Senatorial District, made the allegations on the BBC Hausa Service, accusing the National Assembly of budget padding and misinformation related to the 2024 budget. In a resolute response to the claims made by the Senator...
The Benue State House of Assembly has repealed the law providing for the maintenance of former governors and their deputies. This law was passed and assented to by former Governor Samuel Ortom in May 2023, towards the end of his administration. The bill had faced public outcry since its passage under the Ortom administration, particularly from the opposition party that later won the governorship election. Douglas Akya, Chairman of the House Standing Committee on Appointments,...
