Residents of Ogale community in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State have taken to the streets in protest against an oil spill they allege was caused by Shell Nigeria. The protest, currently ongoing at a Shell Oil Serv Facility, is taking place in the same location where the spill reportedly occurred two weeks ago. Community members, holding placards with messages such as “Shell, Clean Up Your Mess,” are demanding immediate action to address the environmental damage. Shell Nigeria had earlier acknowledged the incident, stating that on February 5, an oil spill occurred in Ogale due to an overflow from…
Author: Abdoulaye Kay
After nearly a month of absence, TikTok has returned to Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store in the U.S., despite continued legal and political scrutiny over its Chinese ownership. The reinstatement follows a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice to Apple, reportedly assuring the company that there would be no immediate enforcement of the federal ban. However, some users still could not find the app in the App Store as of Thursday evening. Owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, TikTok was removed from app stores last month in response to a federal ban aimed at pressuring the company to sell…
Nigeria is actively fortifying its health system in response to the anticipated decline in global financial aid, particularly from the United States, according to the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate. In a statement issued on Thursday by his media adviser, Tashikalmah Hallah, Pate acknowledged that Nigeria had long foreseen a reduction in international funding and has been taking steps to bolster healthcare through domestic resources and strategic partnerships. Despite these challenges, he expressed deep appreciation for the long-standing support from the U.S. government, which has played a crucial role in Nigeria’s fight against HIV, tuberculosis,…
The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), in collaboration with the Royal Norwegian Embassy, Tanzania’s Ministry of Agriculture, and the Agriculture Transformation Office (ATO), has reaffirmed its commitment to addressing climate change through climate-resilient agricultural initiatives. This was the key focus of discussions at the Agriculture-Climate Nexus Workshop, where stakeholders explored partnerships to drive sustainable agriculture in Tanzania. At the workshop, AGRA signed a new partnership agreement with Norway to support Tanzania in accelerating the implementation of the 2025 Agricultural Transformation Master Plan (AMP). The three-year initiative aims to enhance the coordination and commercialization of smallholder agriculture to promote…
The West African Development Bank (BOAD) has successfully raised $500 million through the issuance of a sustainable hybrid bond in the international capital market, marking a significant milestone in its financial strategy. The deeply subordinated instrument, with a 30-year maturity and a five-year non-call period, carries an equivalent euro coupon rate of 5.9%. Investor confidence in BOAD’s creditworthiness was evident as the bond attracted a $1.9 billion order book within a single day, resulting in an oversubscription ratio of 3.4 times and a price tightening of 37.5 basis points from its initial offer. This latest transaction follows BOAD’s earlier private…
Nigeria’s fight against corruption saw marginal progress in 2024, according to the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released by Transparency International (TI) through its Nigerian chapter, the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC). The report, launched by the Executive Director of CISLAC, Auwal Rafsanjani in Abuja on Tuesday, shows Nigeria’s score improving slightly from 25 to 26 out of 100, moving up five places in global rankings from 145th to 140th out of 180 countries. While this progress signals some improvement, CISLAC warns that systemic corruption remains deeply entrenched, particularly in the judiciary, security sector, oil industry, and government procurement…
Dangote Peugeot Automobiles Nigeria Limited (DPAN), the official manufacturer and marketer of Peugeot vehicles in Nigeria, has taken a significant step toward reclaiming its leadership in the auto market. The company has commenced the assembly of the GT model of the Peugeot 3008, a globally acclaimed SUV known for its commercial success and award-winning variants. The Peugeot 3008 GT, powered by a 1.6-litre high-performance turbo engine, expands DPAN’s existing lineup, which includes the popular 301 sedan and the spacious seven-seater 5008. Assembled at DPAN’s state-of-the-art plant in Kaduna, the new model reinforces the company’s commitment to providing high-quality, locally assembled…
Russia has rejected a World Health Organization (WHO) initiative to update its assessment of the health effects of nuclear weapons use, breaking ranks with nations still grappling with the devastating legacy of Cold War-era nuclear tests. This opposition comes as Russia has threatened to resume nuclear testing amid its ongoing war in Ukraine. In regions known as “sacrifice zones”, where thousands of nuclear tests have poisoned the soil and ravaged communities, residents continue to suffer elevated cancer rates and birth defects decades after the last Soviet-era detonations. “The Russian delegation is not in favour of discussing this topic,” Russia’s representative…
A 45-year-old woman has had a debilitating, orange-sized tumour surgically removed from her jaw for free after she was spotted by team workers from international charity Mercy Ships in her village in Madagascar.Unable to afford surgery, mother-of-four Marie Elisa had lived with the growing tumour for five years. The condition caused severe weight loss, forced her to stop farming, and left her family struggling financially.What began as a simple toothache at age 40 became relentless pain that drove her to a pharmacy in Berangotra, a village in central Madagascar, where she was given pain relievers.Marie Elisa recalled: “The painkillers helped…
Energy expert Dan Kunle has warned that the continued importation of petrol and diesel by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited and certain marketers—despite the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s capacity to meet domestic demand—is detrimental to the country. Recent reports indicate that NNPC and oil marketers spent N5.5 trillion on petrol and diesel imports within four months. Speaking on Arise TV on Sunday, Kunle likened the massive importation of petroleum products to the infamous “cement Armada”—a 1970s scandal during Nigeria’s oil boom, where hundreds of cement-laden ships congested the ports for years. Kunle expressed disappointment that despite President Bola Tinubu’s…