Author: Mohammad Adamu

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will not attend the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, confirming weeks of speculation after the Presidency said he would return to Nigeria following a three-week vacation in Europe. In a Sunday statement, Stanley Nkwocha, spokesman to the Vice President, said Tinubu had directed Vice President Kashim Shettima to lead Nigeria’s delegation to the event. Shettima will be joined by Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State, Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State, ministers and other senior officials. The announcement contradicts an earlier statement from Jimoh Ibrahim, Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the…

Saudi Arabia came under missile attack for the first time since fighting resumed in Yemen, prompting the United States to warn that hostilities between Riyadh and the Iran-backed Houthis could escalate rapidly. Loud explosions were heard twice on Saturday in the Saudi capital, where AFP journalists saw a fuel storage tank bearing the Aramco logo on fire near the airport. The strike marks a new and dangerous threshold in the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, who control large parts of Yemen and are battling government forces backed by a Riyadh-led coalition. The US State Department said the conflict…

US President Donald Trump signed a bill on Friday authorising new sanctions designed to pressure Russia over its war in Ukraine, after Congress gave its approval following months of delay. Washington is pushing to revive a mediated path towards ending the conflict as Moscow intensifies attacks against Ukraine, even as much of Russia’s attention and munitions remain focused on its ongoing war against Iran. The legislation, approved by US lawmakers this week, targets Russia’s energy and defense sectors, alongside President Vladimir Putin and other senior officials. It also targets Moscow’s so-called shadow fleet of tankers used to evade Western sanctions…

The Federal Government has constituted a 10-member independent committee to investigate the deaths of 37 people held by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Niger State Command, on suspicion of illegal mining. The move follows a directive by President Bola Tinubu for a comprehensive, transparent and unhindered investigation into the incident, which occurred on Thursday, September 17. Minister of Interior, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, who announced the committee in a Saturday statement, also ordered the suspension of 20 NSCDC officers over the incident, pending the conclusion of investigations. Describing the deaths as deeply disturbing, Tunji-Ojo said the government owes…

Seven of ECOWAS’s fifteen member states have deployed the ECOWAS National Biometric Identity Card (ENBIC), with the bloc committing to mutual acceptance of the card at air, land and sea borders across all member states by December 2026. The update came at a media sensitisation workshop held in Lagos on Thursday, organised by ECOWAS, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS). Officials at the event stressed that meeting the deadline will depend heavily on accurate public understanding of the card — placing responsibility partly on how Nigerian journalists report it. The ENBIC replaces the handwritten…

Some journeys are measured not just in titles, but in the lives touched along the way. For Malam Usman Alhaji Saleh, MIPAM, MNAEP, FCPA, that journey has been defined by a singular commitment: using education to transform his community. As National Secretary of the JIBWIS National Directorate of Basic, Secondary and Overseas Education, Malam Usman has spent years shaping how education is delivered and accessed across the directorate. His academic credentials reflect the same dedication — an M.Ed in Educational Administration and Planning, with a Ph.D in the same discipline currently underway at Umaru Musa Yar’adua University, Katsina, Katsina State.…

Niger State Governor, Umaru Bago, has declared a 24-hour curfew across Minna, the state capital, following unrest in parts of the city. The curfew took effect immediately after Friday Jumu’ah prayers and remains in force until further notice. Residents have been directed to stay indoors and avoid unnecessary movement, while security agencies have been urged to enforce the directive and protect lives and property across the metropolis. The move follows Thursday’s protest linked to the deaths of suspected illegal miners who reportedly died in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Minna. Authorities have called…

A new survey by Enhancing Financial Inclusion & Advancement (EFInA) shows that 61% of Nigerian adults are currently in financial distress. The Access to Financial Services in Nigeria (A2F) 2026 report, released in Abuja on Wednesday, found that 71.6% of adults facing economic shocks relied on fragile coping methods, compared to just 13.8% who used protective strategies. Exclusion Concentrated Among the PoorOverall financial exclusion fell to 21%, but 53% of the poorest Nigerians remain excluded, versus just 1% of the wealthiest. Nearly half of all excluded adults are in the bottom income bracket — showing poverty, not location, drives exclusion.…

South African authorities are grappling with a wave of public alarm after discovering the body of a ninth woman in two months in the Ekurhuleni area east of Johannesburg, deepening fears that a serial killer or group of attackers is targeting women in the region. The latest victim was found partially unclothed and showing signs of severe physical trauma, matching a pattern seen in the previous eight cases. Her body was discovered along a roadside, where forensic teams in protective gear worked the scene as local residents gathered nearby to watch investigators at work. In response to the growing crisis,…

Africa and Artificial Intelligence: Will AI Finally Help Africa Leapfrog—or Widen the Gap? The next African economic revolution may not be powered by oil, minerals or even traditional manufacturing—but by data, intelligence and the infrastructure that makes both valuable. For decades, Africa has been told that its greatest economic opportunity lies in its abundant natural resources, youthful population and rapidly expanding consumer markets. All of these remain important. But another resource is becoming increasingly decisive: intelligence. Artificial Intelligence is changing how economies produce, compete, govern and innovate. It is transforming industries from finance and healthcare to agriculture, manufacturing, education and public…