Author: Drum Africa Correspondent

Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, has announced Prof Adamu Ahmed as its new vice-chancellor. Prof Ahmed’s appointment was announced on Wednesday morning by the school’s public affairs directorate. He was picked by the institution’s Governing Council, chaired by Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, during its 209th special council meeting. Ahmed teaches at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning of the institution. He was a one-time Director of the institution’s Directorate of University Advancement; Prof. Ahmed is the current Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of the Federal University of Education, Kano. “Prof Ahmed’s appointment was announced at 6:15 am today (Wednesday,…

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) has predicted high-intensity rainfall likely resulting in flash floods between May and June 2025 in coastal cities of the country. The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, made this disclosure while presenting the annual climate prediction for the year 2025 in Abuja. He also revealed that the onset of rain is predicted to be delayed over the northern and central states of Plateau as well as parts of Kaduna, Niger, Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba, Adamawa, and Kwara. While early onset is expected over the southern states of Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Anambra, and sections of…

The management of the Federal Medical Centre, Jalingo, Taraba State, has dismissed recent media reports alleging a severe drug shortage at the hospital. It acknowledged that while the hospital has faced some challenges in the supply chain, the situation was not as complicated as portrayed in certain media reports. Haruna Abubakar of the hospital’s Press and Protocol Department in a statement on Tuesday, said the FMC management is committed to ensuring the availability of drugs and the delivery of quality healthcare services. The statement reads, “When this administration took over nearly five years ago, we inherited a significant debt related…

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, Kaduna State University branch, has announced plans to embark on an indefinite strike starting on February 11 due to unresolved welfare concerns. The union announced this in a letter signed by its Chairman, Dr Peter Adamu, and Secretary, Dr Peter Waziri, addressed to the national body seeking approval for the action. The letter, obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Tuesday, highlighted the union’s decision to embark on the strike following the non-response from the Kaduna State Government regarding their grievances. Some of the issues raised by the union include nonpayment…

A Tokyo court on Tuesday upheld a suspended six-month sentence for former Nissan executive, Greg Kelly, a one-time aide of the firm’s fugitive ex-CEO Carlos Ghosn. Both prosecutors and Kelly, a 68-year-old American charged with helping Ghosn attempt to conceal income, had questioned the 2022 verdict, but the Tokyo High Court dismissed their appeals. Kelly was arrested in 2018 in Japan at the same time as Ghosn, whose detention sent shockwaves around the business world. Ghosn, a French, Lebanese and Brazilian national, fled the country concealed in a music equipment box the following year while on bail — leaving Kelly…

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) rose from its inaugural meeting in 2025, on Monday, with the approval of the sum of N4.8 billion for the treatment of HIV patients across the country. The approval came on the heels of the recent plan by President Donald Trump of the United States to suspend financial assistance to countries for HIV treatment, among others. The Council also approved $1 billion for health governance and human capital development which the sub nationals are expected to benefit from. Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Ali Pate, disclosed this while briefing newsmen at the end of…

China on Tuesday said it would impose tariffs on imports of US energy, vehicles and equipment, firing a return salvo in an escalating trade war between the world’s two biggest economies. US President Donald Trump on Saturday announced sweeping measures against major trade partners Canada and Mexico, with goods from China hit with an additional 10 percent tariff on top of the duties they already endure. Minutes after they came into effect, Beijing unveiled levies of 15 percent on imports of coal and liquefied natural gas from the United States, while crude oil, agricultural machinery, big-engined vehicles, and pickup trucks…

The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Friday, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to pay a compensation fee of N1.12bn to Mike Madu’s family after he was killed by an INEC driver in Imo State. Justice Inyang Ekwo also ordered INEC to pay the N1.12bn with 10 per cent interest per annum from the date of judgment until the final or full payment is made, and mandated its Chairman, Prof. Yakubu Mahmood, and other defendants to send a letter of condolence to the late Madu’s family. “An order is hereby made for the defendants to pay the cost…

Ontario, Canada’s most populous province and its economic engine, announced on Monday a ban on US companies bidding on tens of billions of dollars worth of government contracts, and dumped a deal with Elon Musk’s Starlink in a pushback to US tariffs. “Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said on X. “US-based businesses will now lose out on tens of billions of dollars in new revenues. They only have President Trump to blame.” Ford said he was “ripping up” a Can$100 million (US$68 million) contract with Starlink, signed in November, to…

The National Civil Society Council of Nigeria (NCSCN) has suspended its scheduled protest after meeting with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). The protest was against the 50 per cent increase in telecom tariffs and the suspension was announced during a press briefing in Abuja on Monday. Following the federal government’s approval of the tariff hike, the NCSCN has revealed a mass protest at the NCC headquarters and the National Assembly. Sharing an update, NCSCN Executive Director, Blessing Akinlosotu disclosed that detailed presentations, economic assessments and operational data provided during the meeting with the NCC resulted in a re-evaluation of the…