Author: Opalim Lifted

Busola Tejumola, MultiChoice’s Executive Head of Content and West Africa Channels said on Tuesday that the eighth season of Nigerian Idol will begin on April 23 and continue through July 16. Tejumola said at a media conference in Lagos that the show’s live performances will begin on May 28. She said that the winner of this year’s version of the programme will get N35 million in cash, with the entire grand prize of N100 million, including gift items, to be revealed later. “This time, we are bringing back our judges: Obi Asika, Simi, and D’Banj, as well as Ikponmwosa Osakioduwa…

On Tuesday, when the federal government continued its voluntary evacuation in Libya, it worked with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to evacuate 151 trapped Nigerians from Benghazi, Libya. This was said in a statement made available to the media on Tuesday in Abuja by Amb. Kabiru Musa, Charge d’affiares en titre of the Nigerian Mission in Libya. The evacuees, who comprised 71 women, 54 men, 14 kids, and 13 newborns, are reportedly due to arrive at Lagos’ Murtala Mohammed Airport around 8 p.m., according to Musa. According to Musa, the IOM and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs successfully deported…

Turkish police detained at least 50 people on Sunday after Istanbul’s LGBT community held their annual Pride march. The government led by President Tayyip Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted AK Party has toughened its stance on LGBTQ+ freedoms. Speaking after his election victory in a runoff last month, Erdogan accused opposition parties of being “pro-LGBT”. On Sunday, police in riot gear prevented access to Istiklal Avenue, the traditional venue for Pride marches, as well as the central Taksim Square. Streets nearby were blockaded and public transport in the area was suspended. On Sunday afternoon, hundreds of people carrying rainbow and transgender…

Ex-militants from the Niger Delta rushed the National Assembly’s main gate in Abuja on Tuesday to protest the non-payment of their allowances since the appointment of the Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Major General Barry Ndiomu. (retd.). Former agitators in the oil-rich region highlighted a number of concerns, including the suspension of N65,000 monthly payments to nearly 7,000 of them since Ndiomu’s appointment. Ndiomu was appointed Interim Administrator of the PAP by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), in September 2022. The protestors, who claimed to be from Delta, Rivers, Bayelsa, Ondo, and Edo states, indicated that…

Those pushing for the annulment of the Feb. 25 presidential election and the formation of an Interim National Government (ING) have been labelled “enemies of Nigeria” by the Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT) Ambassadors. Chief Jamiu Ekungba, the National Coordinator of BAT Ambassadors, announced this over the phone in Abuja. Protesters under the banner of the Free Nigeria Movement had called on President Muhammadu Buhari on March 21 to invalidate the presidential election and establish ING pending the conduct of a fresh election on the grounds that the election was rigged. In response, Ekungba stated, “Even before the primaries, they were…

The Federal Government has highlighted the necessity for continuous commitment to behavioural change to preserve the effective containment of the COVID-19 epidemic in the nation. Dr Boladale Alonge, the Director, of the Family Health Department, Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), made the call on Monday in Abuja, during the close-out ceremony of the Hygiene and Behaviour Change Coalition (HBCC 2) initiative. Alonge added that irrespective of the health situation of the public, health hygiene norms were always vital. She also remarked that it was extremely vital to have individuals vaccinated and immunised. “In many countries of the world, the third…

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leadership has replaced Iyorchia Ayu, its suspended National Chairman with one of his deputies, Amb Umar Damagum. The former Deputy National Chairman (North), Damagum will occupy the seat in an acting capacity untill the determination of the substantive suit restraining Mr. Iyorchia from parading himself as National Chairman. In Makurdi on Monday, a Benue High Court sitting ordered him to step aside following a suit filed by his Igyorov Council Ward in Gboko local government area, Benue State. My suspension is an exercise in futility – Ayu The Ward Executive Committee suspended Mr. Iyorchia for…

At least 39 migrants from Central and South America died after a fire broke out late on Monday at a migrant facility in the Mexican northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, the government’s National Migration Institute (INM) said on Tuesday. According to an INM statement, there were 68 adult males from Central and South America staying at the facility in the city opposite El Paso, Texas, and 29 of them were wounded in the fire and transferred to four hospitals in the vicinity. A witness saw bodies lined up in body bags and confirmed that the fire, whose origins are…

A part of a five-story structure at Lagos Island’s famed Balogun Market has been destroyed by fire. The incident happened on Tuesday morning. However, the cause and extent of the flames are still unknown. There was also no mention of causality. Emergency personnel, including the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), the police, and other security agencies, have arrived and roped off the area in preparation for an effective rescue effort. Jubril Gawat, a media adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, confirmed the event, saying, “The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service is currently…

Tunisian officials have begun turning off drinking water at night in portions of the capital and other towns, people reported, in what seems to be a move to curb use during a severe drought. Cutting off water without previous notification, in districts of the capital Tunis, Hammamet, Sousse, Monastir and Sfax, threatens to create social conflict in a nation whose people suffer from bad public services, rising inflation and a weak economy. Officials of the water distribution business contacted by reporters refused to comment. Tunisia is facing a major drought, leading authorities to declare the ministry may begin to turn…