A tech expert, Mr. Nzube Ndiokwelu, has urged Nigerian youths to leverage the tech-innovation ecosystem to multiply progress and elevate standards of technology and creative ideas in society. Ndiokwelu, Founder of The Beaconsmith Collective and a member of the Local Organizing Committee for the Enugu Tech Festival (ETF) 2026, made the call during a presentation on Wednesday at the ongoing festival. Themed “Coal to Code: Energy in New Form,” the event is taking place from February 24 to 27. He described current technology as “phenomenal and no longer incremental but compounding,” pointing to rapid advances in AI, robotics, blockchain, media…
Author: Newsdesk
The government of St Kitts and Nevis has announced the introduction of a new biometric verification system for its citizenship programme, marking one of the most significant security upgrades in the country’s economic citizenship framework in recent years. According to an official statement from the St Kitts and Nevis Citizenship Unit, the new system will require biometric data collection from both new applicants and existing citizens who obtained nationality through the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programme. The initiative is expected to be fully implemented before the end of the first quarter of 2026. Officials say the move is designed to…
Zimbabwe has withdrawn from a proposed $350 million health funding agreement with the United States after President Emmerson Mnangagwa directed officials to halt negotiations, arguing the deal posed risks to national sovereignty and strategic autonomy. The decision, revealed through official correspondence reported by local news outlet ZimLive, signals a sharp deterioration in health cooperation between Harare and Washington and highlights growing tensions around the political conditions attached to international assistance. The collapse of the agreement underscores a broader shift in Africa’s engagement with foreign aid partners, where governments increasingly scrutinise funding arrangements for implications beyond development support. Zimbabwe’s rejection reflects rising…
The Niger Delta Development Commission has called on residents of Ondo State to safeguard the commission’s projects located in their communities against vandalism. The commission lamented that many of its completed projects have either been stolen or vandalised by unscrupulous members of host communities. The Executive Director, Corporate Services of the NDDC, Mr Ifedayo Abegunde, stated this at a one-day capacity-building engagement programme for stakeholders held in Okitipupa town, Okitipupa Local Government Area of the state, on Wednesday. Abegunde, who was represented at the event by the state director of the commission, Mr Kunle Karaki, emphasised that vandalism, theft, neglect…
Senegal’s Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko has introduced legislation that could significantly increase penalties for same-sex relations, proposing prison sentences of up to 10 years under revised criminal laws. The draft bill was submitted to parliament on Tuesday after receiving cabinet approval last week, following a surge in arrests linked to alleged same-sex relationships in the West African nation, where homosexuality is already prohibited under existing law. Addressing lawmakers, Sonko said the proposed legislation would amend current provisions by expanding prison terms from the present one-to-five-year range to between five and 10 years for what the law defines as ‘acts against…
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), says the registration and submission of applications for Pre-Qualification under the Nigeria 2025 Licensing Round will close at 4.30 p.m. on Friday, February 27. The NUPRC, in a statement signed by its management, said the notice was in accordance with Section 11.2 of the Licensing Round Guidelines. “All applicants are advised to ensure full compliance with the stipulated submission requirements within the prescribed timeline,” it said. The NUPRC had in Dec. 1, 2025 announced the official commencement of the Nigeria 2025 Licensing Round, marking another major step in the Federal Government’s drive to…
American technology entrepreneur Bill Gates has apologised to employees of the Gates Foundation over his past association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, while maintaining that he engaged in no wrongdoing. The Microsoft co-founder also acknowledged having two affairs with Russian women and admitted to making mistakes that, he said, had cast a shadow over the philanthropic organisation. However, he insisted that he had no involvement in Epstein’s criminal activities. Gates was among numerous prominent figures—including celebrities, politicians, business leaders and technology executives—whose connections to Epstein surfaced in a trove of documents released online last month by the US Justice…
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has projected N23.8 billion in internally generated revenue (IGR) for the 2026 fiscal year, representing a N4 billion increase from its 2025 target. The projection was presented on Wednesday to the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund as part of the board’s 2026 budget estimates. The presentation was delivered by Dr. Muftau Bello, a director in the office of the Registrar, Ishaq Oloyede. According to the board, N6billion from the projected revenue will be remitted to the Federation Account as operating surplus. “A total of N30.6bn budget profile is proposed by JAMB in 2026, out of which N23.8bn…
The Federal Government has secured a $100 million investment from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for Nigeria’s Project BRIDGE, the federal government’s fibre-optic expansion programme. The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, disclosed this on his verified X account at the conclusion of the Project BRIDGE Investment Tour in Europe. The new commitments add to the $500 million financing earlier approved by the World Bank Group for the project. According to the minister, the Board of the EBRD has formally approved the $100 million investment to support the deployment of fibre infrastructure across Nigeria. “As we conclude the final…
The Anambra State Primary Health Care Development Agency (ASPHCDA) has extended its Integrated Measles-Rubella vaccination campaign by three days due to a temporary vaccine shortage and to reach schools that initially resisted the exercise. State Health Educator Mrs. Uju Onwuegbuzina disclosed this during an interview in Awka on Thursday. The campaign began on February 4 and was originally scheduled to end on February 13, followed by a two-day mop-up on February 14 and 15. Onwuegbuzina explained that the state did not receive enough vaccine doses to cover the entire target population during the initial phase. The shortfall was addressed on…