The Global Friendship City Association (GFCA), a U.S.-based international cooperation organisation, has appointed Nigerian politician and diplomat Ambassador Timi Frank as a Senior Advisor, in a move designed to deepen Africa–U.S. relations through city-to-city collaboration, youth-focused programmes and cultural exchange. The appointment was announced on November 25 in San Francisco, California, signalling GFCA’s renewed push to expand sustainable partnerships between African cities and communities across the United States. GFCA’s Executive Director, Jonathan Ginsberg, said Frank brings strategic political and diplomatic insight that will strengthen the organisation’s mission. “Ambassador Timi Frank’s experience across African political and diplomatic circles makes him an…
Author: National Update
In one of its biggest operations of the year, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has taken down a major opioid syndicate in Lagos, storming a covert warehouse stacked with drugs worth N6.7 billion and arresting a suspected kingpin, Onyekachi Pius Nwanagu, along with five members of his network. The operation, driven by weeks of intelligence gathering, targeted a drug trafficking organisation that was allegedly preparing to flood the market with millions of opioid pills ahead of the festive season. The warehouse—hidden inside a quiet residential estate at 23 Sunny Billa East Street, Bucknor, Isheri-Isolo—was found to contain staggering…
***Launches Biggest Security Recruitment Drive in Decades President Bola Tinubu has declared a national security emergency, unveiling the most sweeping security overhaul Nigeria has seen in years as violence surges across multiple states. In a bold push to reinforce the country’s overstretched forces, Tinubu approved the recruitment of 20,000 additional soldiers and police officers, raising the total number of new security personnel to 50,000 when combined with earlier approvals. The massive intake is expected to be fast-tracked. To speed up deployment, the President ordered that NYSC orientation camps be converted into police training centres, a move aimed at producing thousands…
Gunfire erupted outside Guinea-Bissau’s presidential palace on Wednesday, plunging the already-tense West African nation into yet another political crisis just three days after its general elections. By afternoon, senior military officers appeared on national television to announce they had assumed “total control” of the country, closed all borders, and suspended the ongoing electoral process. The declaration was delivered by General Denis N’Canha, head of the presidential military office, who sat flanked by armed soldiers as he read out the statement. According to N’Canha, a joint command drawn from all branches of the armed forces is now leading the country “until…
By Fatima Ndagi The House of Representatives Committee on the South South Development Commission has raised serious concerns over Nigeria’s failure to activate two major funding mechanisms established under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), warning that the delay has deprived the Niger Delta of critical resources for environmental remediation. The Committee disclosed that the lapse has denied the region an estimated ₦1.27 trillion to ₦1.65 trillion earmarked for environmental cleanup and decommissioning of obsolete oil facilities. Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Julius Gbabojör Pondi, issued the warning during an interactive session at the National Assembly on Tuesday, convened to review…
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) suffered a major setback on Wednesday in its asset-declaration case against Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Abba Kyari at the Federal High Court in Abuja, as the cross-examination of the first respondent ended in confusion and little progress. The case, which alleges that Kyari failed to declare his assets, saw the prosecution, led by counsel Sunday Joseph, struggle to establish inconsistencies in Kyari’s statements, particularly regarding inheritance and property ownership. At a previous sitting, Joseph attempted to assert that all properties left by Kyari’s late father were solely his. Kyari firmly refuted this,…
The Nigerian Senate has taken renewed action in the quest for justice for Ochanya Ogbanje, the 13-year-old whose death in 2018 triggered widespread outrage over allegations of prolonged sexual abuse. During Wednesday’s plenary, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (Kogi Central) presented a petition urging the Senate to intervene decisively in the stalled case. The petition, submitted by Inibehe Effiong Chambers on behalf of the Ogbanje family, called for urgent legislative steps to revive the matter and hold all responsible parties to account. It specifically requested the immediate arrest and prosecution of the prime suspect, Victor Ogbuja, who has been on the run,…
The Illushi/Uroh community in Esan South East Local Government Area, Edo State, has urged authorities to launch a comprehensive review of longstanding land disputes and complaints involving Abuja-based lawyer Victor Giwa. Speaking at a press briefing in Lagos, Evangelist Chris Okeh, former President of the Illushi Progressive Association of Nigeria (IPAN), said the community had repeatedly submitted petitions over the years highlighting disputes in the area and concerns tied to Giwa. While some progress had been made by the Inspector-General of Police, many issues remain unresolved. Okeh noted that recent public statements by Giwa had reignited concerns among affected parties…
By K. S. Lawal ECOWAS stands today at a crossroads, not because of a foreign threat or the spread of coups that have destabilised parts of West Africa, but because internal decisions taken at the top of its administrative structure now threaten the organisation’s integrity. At a time when the region needs stability, principled leadership and restoration of public confidence, the conduct of the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Omar Alieu Touray, has placed an avoidable burden on ECOWAS and, by extension, on his home country, The Gambia. What should have been a routine administrative matter has escalated into…
***Slam Kogi East Elites Forum as “Political Attack Dogs” The agitation for a power shift to Kogi West in 2027 gained renewed momentum as the Kogi West Leaders League (KWLL) reaffirmed its total support for Senator Sunday Karimi, insisting that the district’s turn to produce the next governor is long overdue. KWLL, reacting sharply to the press conference held by the Kogi East Elites Forum, described the group as a “hurriedly assembled attack squad” created to distract and derail the region’s legitimate demand for equity in 2027. The League accused the forum of being an emergency contraption designed to suppress…