Author: Vincent Osuwo

President Bola Tinubu will address the nation in a broadcast to commemorate the New Year. According to Ajuri Ngalale, his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, the message will be broadcast at 7 a.m. on Monday. The succinct statement reads, “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will make a New Year’s Day broadcast to the nation on Monday, January 1, 2024, at 7 a.m. “Television, radio stations, and other electronic media outlets are enjoined to hook up to the network services of the Nigeria Television Authority and the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria for the broadcast.”

Benjamin Kiplagat, a Ugandan athlete who represented Uganda at three Olympic Games, has been found dead in Kenya, with local reports saying he had been stabbed. 34-year-old Kiplagat reached the semi-finals of the 2012 London Olympics in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. According to reports, he was found in a car with stab wounds to his chest and neck near the Kenyan town of Eldoret, known as a top training center for athletes. Kenyan police say they have launched an investigation into his death.

For the first time since his cardiac arrest, Luton Town captain Tom Lockyer has spoken out, praising the amazing players, medics, and staff who saved his life.  Lockyer, 29, slumped on the field during his team’s encounter against Bournemouth earlier this month at Vitality Stadium and required emergency medical assistance. The center back was released from the hospital last week and is now recovering at home, according to a lengthy statement posted on social media. Lockyer has not ruled out a return to the field and will meet with specialists in the new year to determine his next steps. ”I would just…

Bishop Mathew Kukah of the Sokoto Catholic Diocese has joined many Nigerians in criticizing recent killings in Plateau state, claiming that citizens of Nigeria are rapidly losing faith in their government’s ability to protect them. In a statement signed personally and made accessible to newsmen on Saturday evening, Bishop Kukah stated that religious leaders, both Muslim and Christian, had continued to utilize moral authority to advise their people not to take laws into their own hands.Kukah’s statement comes on the heels of suspected terrorists killing over 150 people in Plateau State on Christmas Eve. According to the statement titled ‘Blood…

Sadiya Umar-Farouq, the former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, has been summoned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in connection with an ongoing investigation into N37,170,855,753.44 allegedly laundered under her supervision through a contractor, James Okwete. According to an exclusive document obtained by our correspondent on Saturday, the former minister was summoned to appear before interrogators at the EFCC offices in Jabbi, Abuja, on Wednesday, January 3, 2024, to explain the alleged fraud. The document read in part, “The commission is investigating a case of money laundering involving the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster…

The Senate has passed the budget for the 2024 fiscal year. The Senate also increased the bill by N1.2 trillion, raising the budget from N27.5 trillion to N28.7 trillion. Senate President Godswill Akpabio approved the budget after a voice vote. Senator Adeola Solomon, the chair of the Appropriations Committee, had previously presented a report on the Appropriation Bill to the Senate. The Upper Chamber estimated aggregate expenditure to be 28,777,404.073.861, statutory transfers to be 1,742,786,788,150, recurring expenditure to be 8,768.5330,852, capital expenditure to be 9,995,143,298,028, and GDP to be 3.88%. President Bola Tinubu presented a total of N27.5 trillion to…

The Senate increased the 2024 budget by N1.2 trillion, raising it from N27.5 trillion to N28.7 trillion. According to the Senate Appropriations Committee report, aggregate expenditure was N28,777,404.073.861; statutory transfers were N1,742,786,788,150; recurrent expenditure was N8,768.5330,852; capital expenditure was N9,995,143,298,028; and GDP was 3.88%.On November 29, President Bola Tinubu presented a N27.5 trillion budget proposal to a joint session of the National Assembly.The President estimated the fiscal year 2024 budget deficit to be N9.18 trillion. He stated that the deficit represents 3.88 percent of Nigeria’s gross domestic product. Tinubu stated, “The N9.18 trillion deficit is lower than the N13.78 trillion…

Celtic increased their Premiership lead to eight points after goals from Paulo Bernardo and Kyogo Furuhashi handed Rangers manager Philippe Clement his first defeat.Although Rangers still have two games in hand, the result restores Brendan Rodgers’ side’s title momentum after a shaky December.Bernardo, a Portuguese under-21 international who joined from Benfica in the summer, appeared in the match for the first time. Aside from scoring the opener for Celtic, the midfielder set up Kyogo for the exquisite left-foot strike that effectively secured the game after halftime.Clement, who had gone 16 games undefeated since taking over for Michael Beale in October,…

Former Governor of Plateau State, Jonah Jang, reiterated that the terrorists responsible for the Christmas Eve massacre of innocent Plateau citizens are ”out on a cleansing agenda and plan to take over the lands of the people.” While commiserating with the families that lost loved ones during the Christmas Eve attack on communities in Bokkos, Mangu, and Barkin Ladi Local Government areas of Plateau State, Jand noted that the incident grieves his heart. In a statement issued on Saturday by Clinton Garuba, Jang’s Media Consultant noted, “This dastardly act has once again tampered with the peace of our dear state,…

The President of Burundi, Evariste Ndayishimiye, on Friday, started an anti-gay diatribe, suggesting same-sex couples should be publicly stoned.  He also slammed Western countries for pressuring other countries to adopt LGBT rights or face losing aid. Burundi, a devout Christian country in East Africa, has made homosexuality a crime since 2009, with prison terms of up to two years for consensual same-sex intercourse.Marriage between same-sex couples was branded as an “abominable practice” by Ndayishimiye, a Catholic. “Personally, I think if we see these kinds of individuals in Burundi, we should put them in a stadium and stone them, and it…