Author: Vincent Osuwo

The federal government and France have agreed to collaborate on projects to boost and diversify the value chain of key minerals in both nations’ solid mineral sectors.  Copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, and rare earth elements are all critical minerals for sustainable energy technology. According to a statement issued on Sunday by Segun Tomori, the Minister’s Special Assistant on Media, the agreement will create new prospects for the repair of over 2,000 abandoned pits across the country. Recently, at least 65 people sadly died in different mining pit collapse accidents around the country. Tinubu, Macron sign €300m agreement on agriculture, food…

President-elect Donald Trump warned on Monday to impose a 100% tariff on the BRICS nations if they weakened the US dollar. “We require a commitment… that they will neither create a new BRICS currency nor support any other currency to replace the mighty US dollar, nor will they face 100 percent tariffs,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social website. He referred to the grouping that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and others. The announcement comes after a BRICS conference held last month in Kazan, Russia, where member countries discussed improving non-dollar trade and boosting local currencies. The BRICS…

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has dissociated itself from the purported declaration of the Biafra Republic by some members of the Finland-based group, describing it as a scam. The pro-Biafran group urged people to disregard the declaration, claiming that individuals who participated in the event in Finland were among the sponsors of insecurity in Nigeria’s southeast region. Emma Powerful, the IPOB’s spokesman, delivered this statement on Sunday. Powerful went on to say that those who issued the declaration in Finland intended to destabilise the South-East, divide the people, induce fear, and divert the attention of Biafrans and those sympathetic…

President Bola Tiunbu has stated that his administration’s removal of fuel subsidy was not intended to torture Nigerians but rather to preserve the country from catastrophic collapse.  The president, who announced the subsidy elimination on the day of his inauguration, May 29, 2023, stated that the strategy had produced great outcomes for the country. Tinubu declared this during the 34th and 35th joint convocation ceremonies of the Federal University of Technology Akure, Ondo State, on Saturday. Represented by the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Wahab Egbewole, the president stated that his administration was aware of the people’s…

President Bola Tinubu will depart France on Monday for Cape Town, South Africa, to co-chair the 11th session of the Nigeria-South Africa Bi-National Commission alongside President Cyril Ramaphosa. This was announced in a statement on X on Sunday by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President Information & Strategy. According to the statement, the presidential BNC, scheduled for Tuesday, December 3, will be preceded by a ministerial meeting on December 2, 2024, at the South African Parliament Building in Cape Town. Tinubu and Ramaphosa will engage in substantive talks on a wide range of issues of mutual interest, including bilateral,…

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 59-year-old Nigerian businessman, Ezeokoli Sylva, for allegedly smuggling 700 grams of cocaine concealed in his stomach. The arrest occurred on Friday, November 29, 2024, in the E-Arrival hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos State. Sylva, who had lived in Brazil for 35 years, was returning to Nigeria on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from São Paulo via Addis Abeba. In a statement released on Sunday, NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi stated that a body scan performed by NDLEA officers showed foreign particles in Sylva’s stomach, which…

Investigative journalist Fisayo Soyombo, on Saturday, disclosed petinent details of his recent encounter with operatives of the Nigerian Army, calling for a complete overhaul of the country’s security structures to tackle illegal crude oil bunkering effectively. Soyombo revealed how the oil bunkers provided him with an account of the sensitive information he had previously shared with the Nigerian Army, aimed at nipping to the bud illicit bunkering operations. Speaking during an interview on Arise TV, Soyombo confirmed that his arrest occurred while conducting an undercover investigation. He stated that he had been investigating the security network that protects illegal bunkers,…

A fire broke out at a spare parts market in Idumota, Lagos State, destroying property worth millions of naira. Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, stated on Saturday that the inferno started on Friday night. Oke-Osanyintolu stated that a preliminary inquiry revealed that many buildings utilised as stores for the sale of car spare parts were destroyed. The statement reads, “Following distress calls via the 767/112 Toll-Free Emergency Lines at 2220hrs, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency activated its Emergency Response Teams from Lekki, Cappa and the Command and Control Centre, Alausa, Ikeja. “On arrival…

A man identified as Fatai Hamzat has reportedly been found dead in his apartment on Oremeji Street, Ijeun Tuntun, Abeokuta, Ogun State. The Ogun State Police Command informed reporters on Saturday that Hamzat’s body was discovered around 7 am on Friday. “I had just returned from church when I noticed Azeez’s motorcycle parked in the compound. I went to check on him, but his door was locked from the inside,” his neighbour reportedly told the police. After numerous knocks without a response from Hamzat, our journalist discovered that neighbours, including one Ogunsola, forced open a window. Inside the flat, they…

Investigative journalist Fisayo Soyombo has appreciated Nigerians and the media for their support and activism, which he claims helped secure his release from the Nigerian Army’s custody.  Following his release on Saturday, Soyombo, who was seized in the early hours of Wednesday and jailed for three days, described his ordeal, revealing how he was interrogated extensively on the day of his detention and kept in a cell overnight. By Thursday, he had stated that the scheduled follow-up questioning did not take place and that the Army intended to take its time investigating his identity as an investigative journalist. FIJ founder…