Author: Anule Emmanuel

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…

Ondo State’s University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital (UNIMEDTH) said that the State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has materially improved compensation for its clinical staff, a move hospital officials credited with raising morale and drawing specialists to the facility. In a statement signed by Chief Medical Director Professor Olumide Gbala, the hospital said the governor approved increases to the Professional Table Allowance and Specialist Allowance for workers under the CONMESS and CONHESS salary structures. The measures, the statement said, make Ondo one of the first states nationwide—and the first in the South-West—to adopt the revised welfare package. “The enhanced allowances have…

President Bola Tinubu on Friday signed into law a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s identity framework, moving to make the National Identification Number the central credential for security, public services and digital commerce. The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Act 2026 replaces a 19‑year‑old legal regime and, officials say, will tighten border controls, sharpen economic planning and accelerate digital inclusion—steps the administration argues are essential to broader efforts to boost growth and attract investment on the path to a $1 trillion economy. At a ceremony in the Presidential Villa, Senate President Godswill Akpabio described the legislation as “a defining moment”…

President Bola Tinubu on Friday approved creation of the National Health Technology and Data Analytics Office, a federal agency intended to centralize Nigeria’s digital-health agenda, and appointed Dr. Obi Adigwe as its inaugural national coordinator. The office will sit within the Office of the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare and act as a meta-level platform to coordinate digital-health initiatives across government and private-sector actors, officials said. It is intended to harmonize standards, empower institutions across the health system and operationalize the National Digital Health Architecture that the National Council on Health approved in November 2025. A statement by…

Segun Sowunmi, a senior figure in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has said that President Bola Tinubu could capture roughly 22 states in the 2027 presidential election—an outcome he said would represent a marked improvement on the President’s performance in 2023. Speaking on a national television Sowunmi described the contest as a two-way race between President Tinubu and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who is running under the African Democratic Congress (ADC) banner. “The election is between Tinubu and Atiku; no doubt about it,” he said. Sowunmi, despite his PDP affiliation, said recent political shifts suggest President Tinubu may…

First Lady Oluremi Tinubu, on Friday urged a renewed focus on prevention in the fight against drug abuse and organized crime, aligning her message with the United Nations’ 2026 campaign slogan: “The evidence is clear: invest in prevention. Break the cycle. #StopOrganizedCrime.” In a statement marking the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Senator Tinubu said prevention—through education, public awareness, strengthened family support and community engagement—remained among the most effective tools to stem substance misuse and weaken criminal networks that exploit vulnerable populations. “The evidence is clear: investing in prevention disrupts the pathways that lead children and young…

First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, used her investiture as Grand Matron of the Nigerian Red Cross Society on Thursday to call for a shift in youth attitudes toward volunteerism, saying early exposure to humanitarian work will create lifelong habits of service. Speaking at the Presidential Villa ceremony, Senator Tinubu described the honour as a mandate to deepen her public-service work and to expand youth participation in voluntary organizations. “If they learn to help from an early age, it would not be hard on them to do it when they are old,” she said, urging Nigerians with the means to assist…

President Bola Tinubu on Thursday inaugurated a new interchange connecting the Jahi and Gwarimpa districts of the Federal Capital Territory, calling the project a practical demonstration of his administration’s infrastructure-first agenda and a boost to mobility and commerce in the city. The Arterial Road N16 / Ring Road II interchange, opened as part of a monthlong series of project unveilings marking the administration’s third anniversary, was described by President Tinubu as a remedy to chronic congestion that for years clogged key corridors of the capital. A statement by Rabi Musa Deputy Director Press in the Minister of the Federal Capital…

The Senate on Wednesday approved a constitutional amendment that would establish state-controlled police forces and give Governors the power to appoint state police chiefs, advancing one of the country’s most consequential security reforms in decades. The measure, which passed with support from more than two-thirds of senators following a clause-by-clause review and manual vote, seeks to decentralize policing in Nigeria as the government grapples with rising insecurity across several parts of the country. Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced the bill’s passage after lawmakers overwhelmingly backed the proposal during plenary. The chamber first adopted a report from the Senate Committee on…

First Lady Oluremi Tinubu, said Wednesday that children should not be allowed to go hungry, unveiling steps by her Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI), to expand a nationwide network of food banks and nutrition services for vulnerable families. Speaking at a gathering of Governors’ wives at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Mrs. Tinubu described the programme as a grassroots effort to combat child malnutrition and provide support for pregnant women and nursing mothers. According to Busola Kukoyi Senior Special Assistant on Media to the First Lady, the initiative, she said, locates new food banks adjacent to primary-health-care centers so families can receive…