Author: Vincent Osuwo

Moroccans. I love Moroccans. They are a fine people with a very rich history and culture. But in the last six decades their country has been in the news, often for the wrong reasons. They are now known for being intolerant, divisive, quarrelsome, and arrogant but subservient and unscrupulous. When it was decided to host the 2026 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, finals, some of us with knowledge of Moroccan politics thought it was not a good idea. We were not disappointed when the games were marked, not with the friendship associated with football, but with tension and intolerance on and off…

The Abia State Government has held a state burial service in honor of the late, Abia-born, renowned evangelist Rev. Uma Ukpai, who died at the age of 80. Speaking at the event held at the International Conference Centre, Umuahia, on Thursday, Abia State Governor Alex Otti urged people to live good lives so that they would be remembered positively after death. Otti stated that the late cleric’s life and legacy should challenge others to reflect on how they would be remembered. “So, the challenge is for all of us. What would people say on a day like this, when it…

Residents of Special Site in the Pankshin Local Government Area of Plateau State have voiced their anger following the finding of aborted twins discarded in a plastic bag at a waste location. The bodies of the male and female fetuses, estimated to be around five months old, were discovered on Wednesday behind the home of a commercial driver, Enman Danladi, provoking sorrow and outrage throughout the community. Witnesses reported that the find was made by a farmer who saw a dog sniffing a plastic bag with flies swarming above it at the garbage site. Describing the event, Danladi mentioned that…

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has officially restricted banking services for “chronic defaulters” and large-ticket obligors with non-performing loans. To ensure credit discipline and protect the country’s financial system, the central bank released a policy statement on Wednesday after comments made by CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso during the 4th Annual IMF/AFRITAC West 2 High-Level Executive Forum in Abuja. The governor emphasized that the time of leniency for struggling borrowers has come to an end. He stressed that the bank is adopting a more proactive approach to corporate governance to safeguard the N4.61tn in new capital recently drawn into the…

Troops from Sector 2, Operation Fansan Yamma, have ramped up efforts against criminal and terrorist hideouts in Sokoto, Zamfara, and Kebbi states, eliminating at least six suspected bandits and seizing weapons and communication devices during coordinated strikes carried out this week. In distinct missions, security forces accomplished notable rescues. Forces involved in Operation Whirl Stroke, alongside the Benue Civil Protection Guard, successfully rescued a 28-year-old kidnapping victim, Mrs. Member Ityavber, in Tse-Ubena village, Katsina-Ala LGA of Benue State, and apprehended two alleged armed herders. In Zamfara State, police rescued a housewife and her six children, who had been kidnapped by…

The opposition leader in Israel, Yair Lapid, accused the government on Thursday of steering the country towards a “security disaster” because of a shortage of combat soldiers. “The IDF is stretched to the limit and beyond. The government is leaving the army wounded out on the battlefield,” Lapid said in a televised statement, echoing a warning delivered a day earlier by military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir to the security cabinet, according to Israeli media reports. “The government is sending the army into a multi-front war without a strategy, without the necessary means, and with far too few soldiers,” Lapid…

Anambra State Governor Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, during his surprise visit to the state secretariat in Awka on Thursday, ordered the suspension of civil servants who were not on duty by 10 a.m. Soludo issued the order following an on-the-spot review of workers’ punctuality across all state ministries and divisions. Addressing journalists after the visit, the governor stated that any employee who is not present at their duty post by 10 a.m. should be suspended without pay. He said, “I walked in, office by office, and there are quite a significant number of workers who are not yet at work as…

Senegal intends to showcase the Africa Cup of Nations trophy prior to their match against Peru in Paris on Saturday, with the leader of the national football federation pledging a “crusade” against the ruling to revoke the title from the team. On 18 January, the Lions of Teranga secured their second Afcon title by defeating host Morocco 1-0 in extra time, following tumultuous events as Senegal players left the field when their rivals received a last-minute penalty with the score tied. However, last week the Confederation of African Football (CAF) reversed that outcome, granting Morocco a 3-0 win. On Tuesday,…

The Factional PDP National Chairman, Kabiru Tanimu Turaki (SAN), has appealed the bench warrant issued by a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for his arrest. The warrant was issued by Justice Peter Kekemeke due to Turaki’s failure to appear in court for a one-count charge of allegedly giving false information to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) in a petition he wrote. Turaki, who was minister of special duties and inter-governmental affairs from 2013 to 2015, explained his absence through his principal private secretary, Ibrahim Abdullahi, citing a sudden medical visit. He also mentioned that his lawyers had…

The security forces in Iran are recruiting children as young as 12 to monitor checkpoints and perform other responsibilities during the capital’s conflict, according to a Revolutionary Guards official who spoke to state television on Thursday. Since the beginning of the war, checkpoints have appeared all throughout Tehran, with locals reporting youths in plainclothes manning them. Some of them had machine guns. Iranian officials have launched a recruitment drive named “For Iran” in Tehran to register people to join the security services, with the minimum age of recruits reduced to 12. Rahim Nadali, a Guards official in Tehran, told state…