The wife of the Umar Namadi, Governor of Jigawa State, Hadiza Umar, has strongly condemned the diversion and sale of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) meant for treating severely malnourished children. Umar expressed her concern when the State Director of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mr Ahmad Tijjani, led a team comprising representatives of UNICEF, the Jigawa State Primary Health Care Development Agency (JSPHCDA), and media organizations on an advocacy visit to her office in Dutse. “It is disturbing that the RUTF provided by the state government and partners for the treatment of severely malnourished children is being sold in local…
Author: Newsdesk
The Federal Government says Nigeria has received Long-Acting Injectable Lenacapavir for HIV prevention, marking a new step in the country’s efforts to reduce new infections. The development was disclosed by Adebobola Bashorun, Director and National Coordinator of the National AIDS, Viral Hepatitis and STIs Control Programme under the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja. He explained that the injectable drug, known as Lenacapavir (LEN), arrived in Nigeria on Tuesday and will be used as Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for people at risk of HIV infection. The NASCP coordinator said the introduction of…
A baseline survey on sexual harassment in Nigerian public tertiary institutions has revealed that 70 per cent of female students and 30 per cent of male students have experienced at least one form of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) on campus. The survey also showed that 63 per cent of female staff and 37 per cent of male staff reported similar experiences. The findings were presented during the unveiling of the report conducted by the Alliances for Africa (AfA) in collaboration with the Centre for Gender Studies, Kaduna State University as part of activities marking International Women’s Day 2026. Presenting the report,…
U.S. President Donald Trump said he would release strategic oil reserves to stabilise rapidly rising prices, adding that the reserves would be replenished afterwards. “We’ll do that, and then we’ll fill it up,” Trump told news station Local 12 on Wednesday, saying the move would push prices down. The International Energy Agency (IEA) had earlier announced it would release a record amount of oil onto global markets. The 32 member countries, including the United States, will release a total of 400 million barrels of crude, according to an IEA statement. The U.S. Department of Energy said it plans to release…
The Ondo State Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support (L-PRES) Project has trained no fewer than 1,000 livestock farmers on modern farming techniques and record keeping to boost production in the state. Mr Olufemi Adeogun, L-PRES State Project Coordinator (SPC), made this known at the first graduation ceremony of the L-PRES Farmers’ Field School (FFS) held on Thursday in Akure. Adeogun said the beneficiaries, who underwent six months of training in three value chains — poultry; goat and sheep; and pig — were drawn from the 18 Local Government Areas of the state. The SPC explained that the training and skills…
The World Bank has opened applications for the Alan W. Heston Fellowship, offering up to $10,000 to support early-career researchers and statisticians advancing economic measurement, international price comparisons, and purchasing power parity (PPP) studies. The fellowship is designed for research projects lasting 6 to 12 months to cultivate the next generation of leaders in international economic statistics. The call for applications was disclosed on the World Bank website, with a deadline set for March 29, 2026. A shortlist of candidates would be announced on April 13, and final decisions by May 15. According to the World Bank, the programme aims…
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), backed by Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has released its timetable for 2027 General Elections, fixing May 25 for the Presidential primary election. The party announced the development in a communique issued at the end of the 106th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, read by the National Publicity Secretary, Mr Jungudo Mohammed, in Abuja on Wednesday. The NEC fixed the submission of the membership register for April 10, State Assembly primaries for May 2, National Assembly primaries for May 9, and gubernatorial primaries for May 16. It explained that the timetable was…
Türkiye has decided to phase out single-use plastics in line with the European Union’s acquis, aiming to further contribute to its environmental progress. The Ministry of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change is finalising a new regulation modeled after the EU’s Single-Use Plastics (SUP) directive. This was adopted in 2019 to prevent and reduce the impact of certain plastic products on the environment and human health. The ban aims to significantly reduce plastic pollution by prohibiting common disposable items, such as plastic cutlery (forks, knives, spoons, and chopsticks), plates, straws, and plastic-stemmed cotton buds. Currently in the draft stage, the regulation…
The Cross River House of Assembly has passed a bill prohibiting open defecation. The bill aims to outlaw open defecation in public places and encourage the use of proper toilet facilities statewide with a view to improve sanitation and protect public health across the state. The lawmakers approved the bill after considering a report by the House Committee on Water Resources and Sanitation presented by its Chairman, Kingsley Ntui, representing Etung State Constituency on Thursday. Ntui said that about 47 million Nigerians still practiced open defecation, adding that the practice contributed to water-borne diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea and typhoid.…
The Chairman/CEO of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Ismaila Yusuf, has inaugurated a 17 member Central Security Committee (CSC) for the 2026 Hajj operations in Abuja. Yusuf made this known in a statement by Shafii Sani, NAHCON’s Principal Information Officer, on Wednesday. According to him, the committee is mandated to ensure security, safety, and well-being of Nigerian pilgrims during the onshore and off-shore phases of the 2026 Hajj operation. He urged members of the committee to implement proactive, preventative strategies, including robust monitoring of departure centres to weed out undesirable persons, as well as prevent drug-related or human…