Author: Opalim Lifted

Tragedy struck again in Kaduna State on Saturday as a Catholic priest and 10 other persons were kidnapped, while three people were killed by suspected terrorists in Karku community, Kauru Local Government Area. The Catholic Archdiocese of Kafanchan confirmed the abduction of the priest, Reverend Father Nathaniel Asuwaye, raising the alarm over the attack, which reportedly occurred in the early hours of Saturday. Sources at the Kaduna State Police Command said security operatives have launched a manhunt for the assailants in the Kauru axis, where the incident took place. In a statement issued by the Diocesan Chancellor of the Catholic…

Dangote Refinery has announced plans to begin local production of surfactants, a key raw material used in detergent manufacturing across Nigeria and West Africa. Surfactants are essential ingredients in cleaning products, responsible for breaking down dirt and creating the foaming action in detergents used for household cleaning, laundry and personal hygiene. The announcement was made on Wednesday by David Bird, Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Refinery, during a news conference. Bird disclosed that the refinery has concluded commercial discussions for the installation of a Linear Alkyl Benzene (LAB) plant, which will enable local production of surfactants for detergent manufacturers. According…

Nigerians spent the equivalent of more than $1bn on beer and other brewery products in the first nine months of 2025, highlighting the resilience of the country’s alcohol market despite inflation and currency pressures. An analysis of unaudited financial results from Nigerian Breweries Plc, International Breweries Plc and Champion Breweries Plc shows that the listed brewers generated a combined ₦1.54tn in revenue between January and September 2025. At current exchange rates, this translates to roughly $1.04bn, driven largely by beer sales. Nigerian Breweries Plc, the country’s largest brewer, accounted for the bulk of the revenue. The company recorded ₦1.05tn in…

Veteran Nigerian singer Innocent Idibia, popularly known as 2Baba or 2Face, has said his ambition to venture into politics remains alive. The music star made the revelation during his appearance on the Mic On podcast with Seun Okinbaloye in a video released on Saturday evening. When asked if his earlier political ambition was still alive, 2Baba responded in the affirmative, linking his interest to years of civic engagement. “It’s definitely alive. For me, I’ve always been involved. For many years, I spearheaded a campaign called Vote Not Fight, and we saw some results. We didn’t solve the whole problem, but…

BUA Cement has commenced the production of POP gypsum plasterboards at its Port Harcourt facility, less than a year after operations began at the 2,400-tonne-per-day plant, marking a significant expansion of its building materials portfolio. Chairman of the company, Abdul Samad Rabiu, announced the development in a Facebook post, describing it as part of BUA’s broader push to deepen local manufacturing in Nigeria. “Production has commenced at our Port Harcourt facility for POP gypsum plasterboards, building on the POP production we started earlier,” Mr Rabiu said. The move positions BUA to tap into a long-standing supply gap in Nigeria’s POP…

President Bola Tinubu and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike are facing mounting criticism after Abuja’s 50th anniversary passed with little or no official celebration, triggering outrage among residents and indigenous communities. February 3, 2026, marked 50 years since Abuja was proclaimed Nigeria’s capital. While seven states created on the same day rolled out lavish golden jubilee celebrations, the nation’s capital was met with silence — a move critics have described as insulting, careless and historically damaging. Under Nigeria’s constitution, President Tinubu is effectively the governor of Abuja, with executive authority delegated to the FCT Minister. Many argue that…

Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has declared that his political camp does not require the backing of a sitting governor to mobilise support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in Rivers state ahead of the 2027 polls. Speaking on Saturday in Port Harcourt during the inauguration of the headquarters of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors, Wike said his political structure is strong enough to deliver Rivers for Tinubu without external support. The former Rivers governor praised Desmond Akawor, coordinator of the group in the state, for what he described as extensive grassroots mobilisation across all local government areas.…

Bolaji Abdullahi, the national publicity secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has declared that the recent wave of deadly attacks across Nigeria is “concrete proof that Nigeria has no government”. Abdullahi made the remark on Saturday via his X account, citing a 2014 statement by President Bola Tinubu, who at the time was governor of Lagos State. In that post, Tinubu had blamed the Boko Haram insurgency and the killing of innocent citizens in the North-East on the absence of effective governance. More than a decade later, Abdullahi says the same words now apply to Tinubu’s own administration. “The…

Bayo Ojulari, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, says state-owned refineries have failed to work in Nigeria because too much attention was placed on financing and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), rather than on long-term operations. Speaking at the just-concluded Nigerian International Energy Summit (NIES), Ojulari said the refineries failed largely because operators did not focus on running the facilities after construction. “The reason our refineries have not worked is that we are focused on the first two: EPC and financing. Anybody who wants to do the financing will get value for it,” he…

The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) says it delisted more than 400,000 inactive and non-compliant companies from Nigeria’s official companies register in 2025, as it intensified efforts to improve transparency and restore confidence in the business environment. Hussaini Magaji, registrar-general of the commission, disclosed this on Saturday in Abuja during a Celebration Walk organised by the CAC. According to Magaji, the mass de-registration exercise was aimed at cleaning up the national companies database and safeguarding the integrity of the corporate register. “In 2025 alone, the commission de-registered over 400,000 companies,” he said, adding that the affected entities had failed to meet…