The Kano State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Abubakar Labaran, has said that women are more vulnerable to mental health challenges, calling for increased awareness, early intervention, and psychosocial support to promote mental well-being. Labaran stated this on Friday in Kano during a press briefing to mark the joint commemoration of World Mental Health Day, World Sight Day, and the National Childhood Tuberculosis (TB) Testing Week. He said findings from the ministry indicated a steady rise in mental health disorders among women, largely driven by social, economic, and psychological pressures. “The ministry’s data show that women are disproportionately affected by depression,…
Author: Editor
Dangote Petroleum Refinery has refuted reports suggesting that it imported finished petrol with high sulphur content into Nigeria, describing the claims as “false, misleading, and unfounded.” In a statement issued on Friday, the company explained that the cargo in question was an intermediate feedstock — not finished petrol — and would undergo full processing in its refinery to produce fuels that meet both Nigerian and international quality standards. “As a world-scale complex refinery, we process a wide range of crude oils and intermediate feedstocks. This is standard practice in global refining, designed to optimise production efficiency and product quality,” the…
Gatefield, a public strategy and media group, is set to host a high-level health summit in Abuja this month, bringing together global and African leaders to chart a new course for building resilient and equitable health systems across the continent. Public Health Lead at Gatefield, Ms. Omei Bongos, disclosed this to journalists on Friday in Abuja. She said the Health Summit 2025 is scheduled to hold from October 22 to 23 at Nile University, Abuja. According to Bongos, Africa faces an escalating health emergency, driven by rising rates of chronic diseases, drug-resistant infections, and severely underfunded women’s and mental health…
Prices of grains have continued to plummet across major markets in Gombe State, leaving farmers worried about the impact on their incomes and livelihoods. A visit to the Gombe Central and Tudun Hatsi grain markets on Friday revealed that the prices of most commodities have fallen by more than 40 per cent compared to their levels at the beginning of the 2024 harvest season. Traders say they are facing a glut and low patronage, as many buyers complain of lack of funds to purchase grains. For instance, a 100kg bag of maize that sold for ₦60,000 at the beginning of…
Mrs. Franca Odiegwu, Headteacher of Woliwo Primary School II, Onitsha, Anambra State, has described the school’s victory at the just-concluded 2025 President’s Teachers and Schools Excellence Awards as an act of divine favour. The school emerged as the best school in Nigeria and received a 16-seater bus, among other prizes. Speaking with journalists on Friday in Awka, Odiegwu attributed the feat to innovative measures introduced to improve the school’s learning environment. “A good teacher is one who possesses a blend of personal qualities, professional skills, and ethical values that foster a positive and effective learning atmosphere.Emerging as the best school…
The Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Mr. Olakunle Nafiu, has described the Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme as a vital “Plan B” for corps members to ensure self-reliance and economic stability. Addressing the 2025 Batch ‘B’ Stream II corps members in Kaduna on Friday, Nafiu urged them to fully embrace the SAED initiative during their orientation to build sustainable livelihoods. He explained that the programme was designed to equip corps members with practical skills for self-employment, especially when job promises from relatives or white-collar opportunities fail to materialize. “The SAED programme aims to make Nigerian…
Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has criticised the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, following the minister’s heated exchange with Arise Television presenter, Rufai Oseni, which went viral earlier in the week. Speaking at an event on Friday, Makinde defended the journalist’s line of questioning and accused Umahi of evading transparency on the cost of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project. “They asked a minister how much the coastal road costs, and then you (Umahi) start dancing around, saying that the next kilometre is different from the previous one. Then what is the average cost?” Makinde queried. “When we did the Oyo…
When a government rejects poverty data, it risks rejecting reality itself. The recent rejection of the World Bank’s poverty report by the Nigerian Presidency raises more questions than it answers. According to the Presidency, the World Bank’s figures are merely “analytical constructs” and not “real-time headcounts.” The government argues that the global poverty line of $2.15 per person per day, set in 2017 purchasing power parity (PPP) terms, should not be interpreted literally. When converted to roughly ₦127,000 per month at today’s exchange rate of ₦1,420 to the dollar, the figure exceeds Nigeria’s new minimum wage of ₦70,000. By this…
Major stakeholders in Nigeria’s fintech subsector on Tuesday collectively underscored customer trust as the key currency driving the nation’s digital financial future. They made this assertion at the 8th Edition of the Nigeria Fintech Week (NFW) 2025 held in Lagos. The 2025 NFW, themed “The Fintech Ecosystem Symphony: Orchestrating Nigeria’s Digital Future,” brought together regulators, innovators, and investors to discuss the next phase of the country’s digital transformation. The stakeholders emphasised that for customer trust to propel Nigeria’s digital financial future, it must be grounded in advanced security, artificial intelligence (AI), strict compliance, and collaboration. Delivering the keynote address, the…
Over the past few weeks, there has been a lot of narratives about the alleged genocide against Christians that is said to be on-going in Nigeria. The current wave of the narrative is essentially from the United States, generated recently by the comedian, Bill Maher and CNN’s Van Jones who have both accused Nigeria of indulging in “Christian genocide.” In addition, Senator Ted Cruz, amongst other American legislators has accused Nigeria of the same and said that he was introducing a Bill in the Senate to do “something about it” and “protect Christians in Nigeria.” The Canadian Parliament has also…