News Rider

By Chika Okeke, Abuja        Dahiru President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Dr Salisu Dahiru as the pioneer Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the National Council on Climate Change.  The appointment takes effect from 25th July, 2022. Prior to his appointment, Dr.Dahiru was the National Project Coordinator for the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) and the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscape (ACReSAL) project, both financed by the World Bank. As a Fellow of the Forestry Association of Nigeria (FAN), he also served as the Federal Director of Forestry for eight years.  Buhari had made a commitment for Nigeria to achieve a net- zero emission by 2060, in line with the Paris Agreement on climate change and towards attaining the country's climate change agenda.  In his new role, Dahiru is expected to fastrack the implementation of Nigeria’s Climate Change Agenda and the National C...

BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja  Permanent Secretary of Ecological Project Office (EPO), Dr Habiba Lawal (middle); Deputy Director of Press & Public Relations, EPO, Mrs Eno Olotu (right); Publisher of Benny Okeke's Blog, Chika Okeke (left) and other journalists during the end of tenure media briefing organised by EPO in Abuja yesterday. PHOTO BY EPO The Permanent Secretary of Ecological Project Office (EPO), Dr Habiba Lawal has stated that only President Muhammadu Buhari approves ecological and erosion-control projects at the federal level for execution in any of the six geopolitical zones across the country.  This is coming on the heels of misconception by the elites that requests for ecological intervention in their States were turned down by the Permanent Secretary of EPO.  Lawal, who stated this in Abuja yesterday during her end of tenure media briefing,  alongside the top management staff of EPO, is scheduled to retire next week, having served the country ...

BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja  Terrorists seen flogging the abducted train passengers Terrosits have threatened to abduct President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasiru El-Rufai in a viral video circulating online on Sunday.  In the eleven-minute video, the terrorists were seen flogging the abducted Abuja-Kaduna-bound train victims in a forest over the inability of the federal government to meet their demands.  Terrorists had on March 28th bombed the Abuja-Kaduna train, killing eight passengers and abducted about 70 others during the attack.  A youth leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Amin Mahmoud, a medical doctor, Tibile Mosugu, Dental specialist, Chinelo Megafu, and the secretary-general of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Barrister Musa Lawal-Ozigi were among the victims killed by the terrorists.  The terrorists had claimed responsibility for the attack, as well as the bombing of Kuje Medium Prison Facility, Abuja...

BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja  ASUU President, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke and President Muhammadu Buhari  The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has kicked against the two-week ultimatum issued by President Muhammadu Buhari to end the strike action embarked by university lecturers.  President of ASUU, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, who stated this while addressing journalists in Abuja yesterday, said that the crisis wouldn't end until the elites enroll their children in public schools.  Buhari had on Tuesday given the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu two weeks to resolve the issues bordering on the prolonged strike action embarked upon by the ASUU.  BOblogs reports that President Buhari issued the ultimatum at a meeting with the minister and other relevant agencies. Aside the directive, the President also mandated the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha to be part of the...

BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja         Late Ameh Nollywood veteran actress, Ada Ameh dies at age 48.  She died yesterday night at a hospital in Warri, Delta State.  BOblog gathered that the lead star in The Johnson's sitcom suddenly collapsed on Sunday night at about 11 p.m and was rushed to a hospital where she gave up the ghost.  Sources claimed that she was a guest to an oil company worker and his family in the Delta metropolis before she died.  It was also reported that she died as she was being rushed to the nearby Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) hospital. Despite the circumstances surrounding her death, the NNPC hospital, Warri is yet to make a public statement.  President of Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Emeka Rollas confirmed the news of her death.  The late actress had spoken about her mental health in June this year.  She said, “Everything is going to be fine. I have an issue right now, and it’s taking m...

BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja L-R: PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu; Davido, and Ademola Adeleke at the PDP Mega Rally in Osogbo, Osun State before the governorship election. Photo: Twitter (OfficialPDPNig) The People's Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke has emerged the winner of 2022 Osun State gubernatorial election with 403,371 votes.  He defeated his closest rival, the incumbent Governor of the state, Mr Gboyega Oyetola, who polled 375,027 votes.  Adeleke, a former federal lawmaker won in 17 out of the 30 local government areas in the state, while Oyetola won in 13 local governments. He beat Oyetola with a margin of about 44,426 votes. BOblogs reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Returning Officer for the Osun governorship election, Prof, Oluwatoyin Ogundipe declared Adeleke winner of the much-touted poll.   “I declare that Adeleke Ademola Jackson Nurudeen of PDP, having satisfied the requirements of the law, ...

Mourners pay their respects to former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe PHOTO: Reuters Mourners lined the streets of central Tokyo on Tuesday to bid farewell to assassinated former Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe as his hearse was driven past political landmarks after a private funeral. The country’s longest-serving prime minister was gunned down on Friday, July 8, 2022 while campaigning, a crime that rattled Japan and prompted an outpouring of international condemnation and grief. His funeral was held at Tokyo’s Zojoji temple on Tuesday, with relatives and close acquaintances in attendance. But elsewhere in the temple compound, thousands of well-wishers lined up in the humid heat to pay their respects before a photo of the late leader, who held office until 2020. “I can’t get over my sadness, so I came here to lay flowers and say a prayer,” consultant Tsukasa Yokawa, 41, told AFP, describing Abe as “a great prime minister who did a lot to elevate Japan’s presence” on the global s...

BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja         Aregbesola  The federal government has declared Monday 11th and Tuesday 12th July 2022, as public holidays to commemorate this year's Eid-el-Kabir celebration.  Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola disclosed this in a statement by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr Shuaib Belgore. While congratulating Muslims in Nigeria and abroad on the occasion, he pleaded with them to use the period to pray for peace, unity, prosperity and the stability of the country.  He said, "I call on Muslims to continue to imbibe the spirit of love, peace, kindness and sacrifice, as exemplified by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) and to also use the period to pray for peace, unity, prosperity and the stability of the country, considering the challenges of insecurity we face at the moment." The minister stated that President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration is committed to the security of lives and properties o...

BY CHIKA OKEKE  It was a bizarre incident on 1st July, 2022 when the Ondo State Police Command uncovered an underground room in a church where about 77 people were locked up. The church, Whole Bible Believers Church AKA Ondo Church is located at Valentino area of Ondo town.  According to the police, the victims comprised of  23 kids and 54 others including teenagers and adults, males and females. It was alleged that the victims were kidnapped and kept in the basement of the church for over six months before they were rescued. The Pastor of the church and some members were arrested by the police while investigation into the incident had since commenced.  Parading the victims at the command’s headquarters in Akure, the Ondo state capital on Saturday, July 2,  the Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs Funmilayo Odunlami confirmed that the command had commenced preliminary investigation into the matter.  She added,, “Preliminary investigation reveale...

BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja Trouble looms in Abuja as residents of Pasali community in Kuje area council were thrown into confusion on Tuesday night as terrorists detonated explosives at Kuje medium prison facility to release inmates.  The facility, managed by Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) was attacked about 10:20 pm when a high-powered bomb shook the prison walls followed by two other explosives and sporadic gunfire. BOblog revealed that the NCoS received an earlier warning of impending attack on the facility from the Nigeria's Intelligence agency, State State Security.  A staff of the prison reportedly confirmed that the attackers invaded the back of the prison.  Speaking on condition of anonymity, a resident confirmed that the facility was attacked last night.  The prison lies outside the Abuja city centre, 47 kilometres to the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, and 24 kilometres to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, the nation’s capital. According t...