“And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient” – Qur’an 2:155 Iran, once known as ancient Persia, is home to 95 million people and boasts a civilisation stretching back 100,000 years. The Persian Empire, founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BCE, has been around for over 2,500 years. Spanning a landmass larger than that of Germany, France, the UK, Italy, and Spain combined, Iran stands as a monumental bridge connecting East and West. Blessed with staggering natural wealth, Iran sits…
Author: Editor
Nineteen Nigerian banks have met the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) revised minimum capital requirements ahead of the March 31, 2026 deadline, signalling early compliance with the regulator’s ongoing banking sector recapitalisation programme. According to data from market trackers indicate that the affected institutions had achieved the required capital thresholds as of early January, putting them in a strong position as the deadline approaches. The llist of the banks The banks that have met the targets include leading lenders with international authorisation such as Access Bank, Fidelity Bank, First Bank of Nigeria, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), United Bank for…
I started writing a short, casual article on yansh (the Nigerian Pidgin English word for a woman’s posterior, which probably first emerged as a humorous mimicry of the crude English word ass or arse) a few weeks ago but stopped midway because the prurience of the subject matter is inconsistent with my public persona as a high-minded prude who is not given to lascivious frivolities (more on this misperception later). News of the inclusion of nyash, among other Nigerian words, in the Oxford English Dictionary has given me the perfect excuse to resuscitate the article without any feeling of guilt…
When 32-year-old Grace Choji, who lives in Mpape, a satellite town in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), swallowed her antiretroviral medication, she whispered a quiet prayer that the pills would still be available next month. Choji, a front desk officer at a reputable real estate firm, has lived with HIV for 11 years. She has a toddler, a job she loves, and carefully nurtured dreams of a stable future. “I do not sleep well anymore. If the free treatment ends, I do not know how I will survive, or what will happen to my child,” she said. Choji is one…
As the political landscape of Ondo State evolves ahead of the 2027 general elections, a distinct voice is rising from the grassroots of the Ondo North Senatorial District. Engr. Mike Adeyanju, a staunch member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has emerged as a beacon of hope for constituents calling for a paradigm shift in representation. Amidst growing dissatisfaction with the current senatorial leadership, Engr. Adeyanju’s aspiration represents more than just a political bid; it is being described by supporters as a “rescue mission” to restore effective, people-first governance to the district. The prevailing sentiment across the district suggests that…
A viral report claiming that the former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Pantami, is set to marry the former First Lady, Aisha Buhari, has been debunked as a total fabrication. The rumor, which gained massive traction on platforms like Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), was accompanied by an image presented as a “pre-wedding” photograph of the duo. The post, shared by pages such as Adamawa Pulse, garnered thousands of reactions and shares, fuelled by the fact that Aisha Buhari recently completed her Islamic mourning period (iddah) following the death of former President Muhammadu Buhari in July…
It is the ancient Chinese curse that says, “may you live in interesting times” – meaning a conjuncture of danger, chaos and upheavals. This is where the world and indeed Nigeria, find ourselves today. A few days ago, President Trump deployed an imposing military force in the Caribbean to threaten Venezuela including an aircraft carrier, at least seven other warships, scores of aircraft and 15,000 U.S. troops — for illegal attacks on small boats that he claimed were ferrying drugs. Last Saturday, Mr. Trump dramatically escalated his campaign by kidnapping President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela and his wife as part…
Nigeria’s domestic trade problem is not primarily informal; it is fundamentally structural. For many years, Nigeria’s domestic trade challenges have been explained mainly as a problem of informality. Markets are often described as disorganized, traders as unregistered and services as fragmented. While these descriptions are not entirely wrong, they do not tell the full story. The real challenge facing domestic trade in Nigeria is not informality itself, but weak and poorly designed structures. This distinction is important because how a problem is defined shapes how it is addressed. When informality is treated as the main issue, policy responses tend to…
A most heartwarming experience is commencing a well-planned project and concluding it most imaginatively, with a scoreboard showing that the target was exceeded in multiple ways. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, I witnessed the launch of the Sasakawa Africa Association-Islamic Development Bank–Kano State Agro-Pastoral Development Project (SAA-IsDB-KSADP) in Kano. On December 20, 2025, I was also among the key witnesses at the close-out workshop, which marked the project’s conclusion. Beneficiaries and other key stakeholders celebrated the project’s achievements in combating poverty and advancing food security across the 44 local government areas of Kano State. The SAA-IsDB-KSADP model was not…
The reproductive organs are the key biological components that differentiate women from men.The organs include the uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes, cervix, and vagina, which function together to enable reproduction, pregnancy, and childbirth. However, one of the most significant reproductive health challenges affecting the reproductive organs of women globally, particularly those of African descent, is uterine fibroids. Uterine fibroids, or leiomyomas, are non-cancerous growths of the uterus that often appear during the childbearing years.While these muscular tumours are rarely life-threatening, the World Health Organisation (WHO) says they are a major public health issue for women of reproductive age.According to WHO, fibroids…