The First Lady, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu, through the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI), has expanded ICT empowerment programmes to all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Dr Adedayo Benjamin-Laniyi, Mandate Secretary for Women Affairs and FCT Coordinator of RHI, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday that the programme targeted women nationwide. She explained that it was designed to equip them with digital skills and provide essential business tools to support entrepreneurship and sustainable livelihoods. “The nine-day ICT training, in collaboration with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), began on Nov. 11 and will conclude on…
Author: Newsdesk
Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has unveiled a major shake-up of the country’s gold industry, ordering the creation of a National Gold Trading Centre to assert stronger state control over a sector long plagued by illicit exports. The move, announced on Wednesday and backed by data from Swiss NGO SWISSAID, comes as the government seeks to plug billions of dollars in lost revenue attributed to gold smuggling. State takes aim at illicit outflows Faye said the decision to form the centre was a ‘sovereign imperative’, citing the scale of unrecorded exports and their growing impact on the national economy. Authorities…
A Deepening water crisis across West Africa is endangering millions, with new research showing that 45 percent of people in Ghana, Niger and Nigeria now live in areas of high water risk. The findings come from From Roots to Rivers: How Deforestation Impacts Freshwater Access, a study released by WaterAid and Tree Aid, which warns that rapid forest loss is undermining access to clean, reliable water across the region. The organisations report that more than 122 million people are now exposed to unsafe drinking water — a rise of 20 million in just five years — and link this surge…
Ghana’s government says the country’s economy has moved decisively beyond its worst crisis in a generation and is now positioned for sustained growth. Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson made the assessment late on Thursday while presenting the 2026 Budget Statement to Parliament, arguing that firm corrective measures have restored stability and confidence across key sectors. Forson said the administration took office in January to find an economy ‘in distress’, marked by rising debt, weakened fiscal discipline, and a collapse in public confidence. According to him, the immediate priority was to confront the crisis head-on and rebuild stability through tighter controls, targeted…
Lagos residents have decried the increasingly irregular services by the Private Sector Participant (PSP) waste operators in the state, leading to indiscriminate littering of refuse in the state. The residents have warned that the situation is heightening environmental and public health risks. They disclosed this in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Lagos. NAN reports that parts of Ikorodu, Ayobo, Alagbado, Shasha, Ikotun, Akesan, Afariogun Street, Mafoluku , Airport Road and LASU-Iba road, among others showed that long gaps in waste evacuation have pushed many households to burn refuse or dump it in gutters,…
The Lagos State Government, Sunday, said that the installation of modern concrete pontoons in selected jetties across the state, is in progress, as part of efforts to upgrade waterways infrastructure. Lagos State Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Mr Dayo Alebiosu, said that the installation will improve commuter’s experiences under the 410 million Euros Omi Eko Project. In a statement to newsmen on Sunday, he described the installation as being a major step in modernising water transport, and enhancing public confidence in boat travels. According to him, the concrete floating pontoons which function as flexible docking platforms, were already being mounted…
Nigeria has at the close of the 2025 Health Sector–Wide Joint Annual Review (JAR), adopted a new national framework to strengthen accountability, financing, governance and service delivery in the health sector. The is contained in the communiqué at the end of the three days annual review event read by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (FMoHSW), Ms Daju Kachollom. The 2025 JAR assessed national and state-level progresses under the Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) and aligned collective action toward the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative (NHSRII) and Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Chaired by the Coordinating Minister of…
Residents and stakeholders in Kogi, Niger and Nasarawa have expressed mixed reactions to the recent drop in prices of major food items, even as they appealed for sustained government interventions to prevent a reversal. In Kogi, a survey by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lokoja Old Market and Mami Market on Sunday, showed noticeable reductions in the prices of rice, beans, garri, tomatoes, yam and vegetable oil. A 50kg bag of rice, which sold for between N58,000 and N62,000 in Sept, now goes for N48,000 – 51,000. A measure of garri (granulated cassava flakes) dropped from N2,200 to…
The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has entered into a multi-year agreement with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC) to strengthen oversight and accountability in the health sector. The pact is aimed at monitoring, tracking and auditing expenditures linked to the nationwide overhaul of health infrastructure, ensuring transparency and better value for public investments. The initiative, which spans all Local Government Areas, seeks to improve delivery of health projects critical to strengthening Nigeria’s primary healthcare system. Announcing the development in a telecast on his X handle on Sunday, the Coordinating Minister of Health and…
The Kano State Government has reinforced its commitment to safeguarding public health with the inauguration of the State One Health Technical Committee (SOHTC). This was contained in a statement issued on Sunday by Musa Tanko, Press Secretary to the Secretary to the State Government (SSG). The committee members were sworn in by the SSG, Umar Ibrahim, on behalf of Gov. Abba Kabir Yusuf. Housed under the Kano State Centre for Disease Control (KNCDC), the SOHTC will supervise and coordinate the activities of the State One Health Coordination Unit. The inauguration follows the recent establishment of the State One Health Steering…