By Lamara Garba In every city, there are monuments not made of marble or steel but of hope and memory. In Kano, one such monument is set to rise at the heart of Bayero University, where dreams have long chased the ball across dusty fields. Penultimate week, the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau I. Jibrin, has unveiled a vision that could transform the BUK stadium into more than a sporting arena, but into a home for dreams, a cradle of champions, and a beacon for the restless energy of Kano’s youths. On Tuesday, 19th August 2025, his delegation…
Author: National Update
A female food seller identified as Ammaye was on Saturday lynched and stoned to death in Mariga Local Government Area of Niger State over alleged blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad. The incident occurred at Kasuwan Garba market after a quarrel between the woman and her nephew. Witnesses said the nephew had jokingly told her he wanted to marry her “to fulfil the Sunnah,” a comment that led to her response being interpreted as blasphemous. The woman was taken before the District Head of Kasuwan Garba for questioning. After she did not withdraw her statement, the District Head handed her over to…
***Eyes Return of State Assembly After LG Polls Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, on Saturday expressed optimism that the state of emergency declared in Rivers State by President Bola Tinubu will end on September 18, paving the way for the return of legislative activities in the state. Wike made the remarks after casting his vote in the controversial local government elections conducted under the state’s sole administrator, retired Navy Chief Ibok Ete-Ibas. “As far as we are concerned, this election is peaceful. People are trooping out, and at the end of the day it will be…
A feature on Senator Jibrin Isah’s quiet but powerful transformation of Kogi East By John Akubo When Senator Jibrin Isah, popularly known as Echocho, took his seat in the National Assembly in 2019, expectations were high but cautious. The Igala nation, weary of promises, wanted results, tangible ones. Six years on, the evidence is hard to ignore: Kogi East has never had it this good. From the dusty towns of Ankpa to the farmlands of Ibaji, and from the schools in Dekina to the health centres in Idah, Echocho’s footprint is everywhere. Not in rhetoric, but in roads, hospitals, schools,…
The emergency caucus meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Jigawa, Saturday may have looked like a routine show of solidarity. In reality, it revealed something deeper: Jigawa is fast emerging as a litmus test for the PDP’s survival instincts and credibility as Nigeria hurtles toward 2027. With the dust still unsettled from the Babura/Garki by-election, the state chapter turned the spotlight on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), demanding sanctions against three of its officials accused of misconduct. On paper, it was a local grievance. Politically, however, it signaled the PDP’s attempt to redefine its narrative as the…
By Ben Adaji, Jalingo The North East Governors’ Forum (NEGF) has warned that the subregion is sliding into a deeper humanitarian and infrastructural crisis, despite improved security from recent military gains against insurgents. In a communiqué issued at the end of its 12th meeting in Jalingo, Taraba State, and signed by forum chairman and Borno State governor, Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum, the governors said the region is still “confronted by daunting humanitarian and infrastructural challenges” that threaten its fragile recovery. While acknowledging “remarkable improvement in security following the massive onslaught on insurgency,” the governors decried the soaring cost of agricultural…
***Rallies PDP to reclaim moral high ground ahead of 2027 The battle for Nigeria’s political soul in 2027 may have just found its loudest voice. Former Jigawa State governor and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Sule Lamido, has unleashed a searing attack on the All Progressives Congress (APC), accusing the Muhammadu Buhari and Bola Tinubu administrations of driving the country into despair through “hardship, deceit, and betrayal.” Addressing an expanded caucus of the PDP in Dutse, Lamido spoke with the authority of a veteran, invoking his four-decade journey in politics to paint a grim picture of Nigeria’s trajectory under APC…
The political spotlight returned to Rivers State on Saturday as Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, cast his ballot in the state’s local government elections, portraying the exercise as a step toward restoring democratic order after months of turmoil. At Rumepirikom, Ward 9, Unit 007 in Obio/Akpo LGA, the same ward where he launched his political career as council chairman in 1999, Wike described the polls as peaceful and credible, even as critics raised alarms over the non-deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS). “I am very happy. People are casting their votes peacefully. You have not heard…
By: Lamara Garba Azare In the theatre of nations, where countries display what they value most, Nigeria once again played the wrong script. On the 28th of August, 2025, the Federal Government stood before the world and, with fanfare, announced a ₦200,000 cash reward for Nafisa Abdullahi, a 17-year-old girl from Yobe State, who had just conquered the globe at the TeenEagle Global English Championship in London. It should have been a moment of national pride the triumph of intellect, the victory of knowledge, the vindication that Nigerian children, though raised in broken classrooms with tattered textbooks, can still outshine…
My Dear Kogi Easterners, Our support for Senator Jibrin Isah Echocho’s re-election in 2027 is not based on personal interest for personal gains or because one is benefiting from him directly. I, as a person, have never visited Senator Echocho in his office since he became the senator representing Kogi East. My bid for his reelection and that of Rt Hon Abdullahi Ibrahim Halims is built on their performance so far and the benefits of returning them is more than compare to when we send a new member to the senate or reps since we have them as principal officials…