Author: Drum Africa Correspondent
Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu has extended heartfelt congratulations to Nigerians on the occasion of New Year’s Day, January 1, 2025, urging hope, renewal, and optimism for a brighter future. He reflected on the significant progress made in the outgoing year and assured Nigerians that the new year will bring promise and possibility. Kalu expressed pride in the legislative milestones achieved in the past year, which have laid the groundwork for a brighter future for Nigeria. The Deputy Speaker said he is also committed to addressing pressing issues in the coming year, including…
Bayelsa State government on Tuesday said it received the shocking news of the demise of Mrs. Elizabeth Bidei, the Commissioner for Women Affairs. Though the cause of death could not be immediately ascertained, Mrs Bidei, a member of the state executive council, reportedly died on Monday 30th December, 2024. The death of Mrs Bidei was disclosed in a statement issued by the state Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy, Mrs Ebiuwou Koku-Obiyai. The statement read: “The Governor, Senator Douye Diri and government of Bayelsa State, received the shocking news of the demise of Mrs. Elizabeth Bidei on Monday 30th December,…
Members of Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital (UNIMEDTH), Ondo town chapter, have begun indefinite strike over alleged poor condition of service. The doctors were said to have protested on Monday after management of the hospital refused to accede to their demands. They demanded a stop to illegal deductions from their salaries, check on huge payment of taxes, non-payment of hazard allowance, among others. President of UNIMEDTH ARD, Dr Olaogbe Kehinde, said the workload was too much for doctors in the hospital. He said many doctors had resigned, while others left without prior notification due…
President Bola Tinubu, early this morning, assured Nigerians that all their sacrifices in the last over 19 months that he took over power and in the months ahead, would not be in vain. In his New Year message, the president, who promised to continue to serve the people diligently and wholeheartedly, also listed some of his achievements in the year that just ended, despite the challenges his government faced. However, setting agenda for the New Year, the president who listed some of the plans in the offing, intended to make 2025 a much better year, urged the citizens, too, to…
Civil rights activist and politician Senator Shehu Sani has urged Nigerians and the government at all levels to appreciate and honour the freedom fighters who defended the country. While speaking with Newsmen on Monday, Sani made the call when he visited the tombs of six deposed Emirs in Lokoja, who refused to bow down to British colonialists. Sani, who was accompanied by his colleague, Comrade Suleiman Ahmed, admonished Nigerians and the government at all levels to appreciate freedom fighters who defended the country. “Today, I am on the visit to the tombs of the Emirs from Northern Nigerians who were…
The former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, on Monday, slammed Reno Omokri, the former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, over comments accusing him of being frustrated for not being appointed a minister by President Bola Tinubu. El-Rufai described Omokri as “a political mercenary retained by any paying person or government.” He also referenced a past case of alleged identity theft, where an American woman accused Omokri of using her son’s name, Wendell Simlin, in an attempt to link the former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Lamido Sanusi, to the terrorist group Boko Haram. Omokri had tweeted on Sunday, “Nasir…
Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu has launched a five hundred million naira grant for 8,400 businesses and families selected from each 400 political Wards in Bende Federal constituency of Abia State. The grants according to the Deputy Speaker is to support businesses and families in Bende as well as to support businesses growth and families towards eradication of poverty, hunger and unemployment. Kalu who stated this at his country home in Bende on Sunday during a town hall meeting with indigenes of Bende Federal constituency, said that the payments of the funds would commence on December 30,…
Jimmy Carter, the oldest living president of the United States, has died at the age of 100. Carter, who was president between 1977 and 1981, died on Sunday at his home in Plains, Georgia, according to The Carter Center. “Our founder, former US President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia,” the organisation, which Carter founded a year after leaving the White House, said in a post on X. The death was first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. No cause of death was immediately given, although Carter had spent almost two years under hospice care at his home…
The political crisis enveloping Rivers State shows no sign of letting off as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has accused former Rivers State Governor, Peter Odili, of siding with Governor Siminalayi Fubara against him instead of playing a fatherly role in resolving the issues. Wike made this known in Port Harcourt on Sunday during a thanksgiving service for the speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule. The thanksgiving service was held at the Church of the Holy Spirit Anglican Church, Port Harcourt in honour of Amaewhule. In attendance were top politicians from…
The Nigerian Communications Commission has dismissed claims of a telecommunications tariff hike allegedly set to take effect in January 2025. The Commission described the reports as false and unfounded, urging subscribers to disregard the misinformation. A senior NCC official, speaking on Sunday, emphasised that the regulatory body operates under a transparent framework guided by the Nigerian Communications Act. According to the official, this framework requires stakeholder consultations and strict adherence to due process before any tariff adjustments are approved. These rumours are baseless and misleading. The NCC is committed to protecting consumers and ensuring that any potential tariff changes are…