Author: Anule Emmanuel

President Bola Tinubu has assured Mastercard executives that Nigeria’s young population is poised to adopt digital technologies and compete globally, as his administration presses reforms intended to draw investment and formalize the informal economy. The President stated this while receiving a delegation led by Mastercard Chief Executive Officer Michael Miebach at the Presidential Villa, Abuja Tuesday. NewsQuest reports that the meeting is indicative of the government’s effort to link fiscal and regulatory reforms with private-sector initiatives to expand digital payments, financial inclusion and small-business capacity. “Our most important asset is our youth,” Tinubu said, in a statement by his Special…

President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communications Sunday Dare has defended First Lady Oluremi Tinubu’s suggestion that Nigerians consider low‑capital, informal businesses. The First Lady’s comments touched off a wave of online criticism this week. Dare, in a podcast interview however, described the First Lady’s advice as a call to micro‑enterprise and self‑reliance rather than a prescription to consign young people to menial work. Speaking, Dare invoked his own upbringing in a petty‑trading household to argue the informal sector’s continued economic importance. “At wherever I am today, my mother sold akara,” he said. “I carried bananas in…

Ali Modu Sheriff, a former governor of Borno State and senior figure in the All Progressives Congress (APC) said Tuesday that Northern Nigerians should not support former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in next year’s presidential contest, arguing the presidency should remain in the South until 2031. Speaking on a national television show Sheriff said an informal regional agreement reached after the civil war obliges leaders to alternate the presidency among Nigeria’s major regions. “For Atiku, it’s not our time now,” Sheriff said, adding that while former Vice President Atiku is “eminently qualified,” he should “wait till 2031.” Atiku, a perennial…

The Head of Nigeria’s civil service praised the National Identity Management Commission’s NIMC leadership on Monday, underscoring closer ties between the agencies as the government pushes broad public‑sector reforms. Mrs. Didi Esther Walson‑Jack, Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, met with NIMC management in Abuja and singled out Director‑General Abisoye Coker‑Odusote for steering reforms that, she said, have repositioned the agency as a “leading public institution” in digital identity and human‑capital development. Walson‑Jack applauded the commission’s enforcement of the new NIMC Act and the approval of a long‑sought Scheme of Service — moves she described as “major milestones”…

President Bola Tinubu on Monday commissioned 10 newly completed and furnished staff quarters at the Nigerian Law School campus in Bwari, Abuja and approved the construction of additional 20 housing units to ease accommodation pressures at the institution. A statement by the Deputy Director Press in the FCT Minister’s office Rabi Musa said President Tinubu who was represented at the ceremony by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume,  described the provision of staff accommodation as a strategic intervention under the Renewed Hope Agenda intended to strengthen the infrastructure of Nigeria’s premier legal training institution.…

Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia on Monday met with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa assuring that the ‘Food Basket’ State remains united and ready to mobilize increased support for Tinubu’s bid for re-election in 2027. Speaking to State House Correspondents after a closed-door meeting, Governor Alia who was joined by former Governor Gabriel Suswam, acknowledged post‑primary restiveness among party members in the State but called the disputes temporary and urged unity. “There have been some agitations from APC faithful after the primaries, but I believe they will calm down,” he said, adding that President Tinubu, “as a democrat,”…

In the nation’s capital Abuja, a flurry of newly constructed and resurfaced roads, bridges and brightened public spaces has become both a tangible improvement to daily life and a carefully staged argument for President Bola Tinubu’s re‑election prospects in 2027. At the centre of that effort stands the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike — a former governor of oil‑rich Rivers State who has combined engineering projects with political messaging to reshape both the city’s landscape and its narrative. For many residents of Abuja and commuters, the accelerated changes in the city are massive and phenomenal over…

By Tunde Rahman In recent weeks, Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has come under attack for her Akara and Kulikuli Women Empowerment Programme under the Renewed Hope Initiative. The criticism ranges from the downright cynical to the patronising: “Why akara?” “Is this all women deserve?” “Is it not a political stunt?” Such questions miss the point. Those raising the questions mistake symbolism for substance and mock the very women who keep Nigeria’s economy running before sunrise. Speaking with State House Correspondents after the 2nd Quarter meeting of the RHI with wives of state governors at the Presidential Villa, Abuja,…

The Federal Government on Saturday launched rehabilitation of two key roads in Borno State, moves Vice President Kashim Shettima say are designed to reopen trade links, bolster agriculture and improve security in the violence‑scarred Northeast. Vice President Shettima, representing President Bola Tinubu at the ceremony, described the work on the Bama–Banki and Dikwa–Gamboru–Ngala corridors as critical “lifelines” for commerce and recovery after years of insurgency. “Roads are the lifeblood of our commercial engagements,” he said in a statement issued by his spokesman, Stanley Nkwocha. “They determine whether the farmer reaches the market, the trader reaches the customer, the child reaches…

President Bola Tinubu said Saturday that his administration will continue partnering with religious leaders to foster interfaith dialogue and reduce sectarian tensions, describing the effort as key to addressing the nation’s security challenges. Tinubu made the remarks while receiving Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, the Vatican’s secretary for relations with states and international organizations, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Archbishop Gallagher was escorted by Foreign Affairs Minister Bianca Ojukwu. “Interfaith dialogue is the only path to addressing the country’s security challenges,” Tinubu said, recounting a long, cordial relationship with the Catholic Church that dates to his tenure as governor of Lagos.…