Author: Akintayo Adams

Tunde Onakoya, Nigeria’s chess guru, has completed 16hrs of chess without losing to an opponent. He is on a mission to surpass the Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon for 58 hours. The event, which is underway at New York City’s iconic Times Square, started on Wednesday, April 17, and is scheduled to end on April 19. Onakoya has emerged victorious in encounters with opponents so far, including his match with New York’s National Chess Master, Shawn Martinez. A post on his X handle early Thursday read, “Tunde Onakoya beats a very worthy opponent and one of New…

Lydia Simon, one of the kidnapped students of Chibok Secondary School, has been rescued by men of the Nigerian Army. This was made known through a statement from the Department of Army Public Relations on Friday, in which it was disclosed that she was rescued along with her three children by troops conducting Operation Desert Sanity III. “Lydia, who was on serial number 68 among the abducted missing Chibok Secondary School girls, was rescued along with her three children by troops conducting Operation Desert Sanity III, around Ngoshe in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State. Lydia was five months pregnant…

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said it will on Thursday, April 18, 2024 arraign the immediate-past governor of Kogi, Yahaya Bello before an Abuja Federal High Court. The embattled Kogi Supremo will be arraigned before Justice Emeka Nwite on 19-count charges bordering on money laundering to the tune of N80,246,470,088.88 (Eighty Billion, Two Hundred and Forty Six Million, Four Hundred and Seventy Thousand and Eight Nine Naira, Eighty Eight Kobo). He will be arraigned alongside three other suspects, Ali Bello, Dauda Suleiman and Abdulsalam Hudu. Count one of the charges reads: That you, Yahaya Adoza Bello, Ali…

The World Bank Group (WBG) has announced that it has sealed a partnership with African Development Bank (AfDB) Group. The deal is aimed at providing no fewer than 300 million people in Africa with electricity access by 2030. This is contained in a statement issued by the World Bank Online Media Centre Thursday.. According to the statement, WBG would strive to connect 250 million people to electricity through distributed renewable energy systems or the distribution grid, and the AfDB Group would cover the connection of an additional 50 million people. ”Access to electricity is a fundamental human right and is…

Nigeria’s sensation, Burna Boy has been named among the top 100 most influential people of 2024 by TIME magazine. The Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People recognition, is an annual event that honours individuals who have made a significant impact on the world through their art, activism, and cultural influence. ”Burna Boy has made that vision a global reality. Inspired by the fantastic drums of Nigerian folk music, and studied in the craft of the great African singer-songwriters, he follows in the footsteps of Fela Kuti—the internationally celebrated Afrobeats artist and activist. “Burna Boy’s deeply original flow and his signature groove…

Security agencies have been urged to fish out the sponsors of Saturday’s attack on the Oyo state government secretariat by the Yoruba World Congress Worldwide (YWC). The group, through its Secretary General, Engineer Stephen Ajayi, made the call in a statement on Wednesday. The group noted that the arrest of the individuals behind the act will serve as warning to others with the similar intention. “This is to formally inform the general public that the Yorùbá World Congress Worldwide (YWC) dissociates herself from any form of violence or any treasonable acts that could jeopardise the peace and order in Yoruba…

The arraignment of the immediate-past Governor of Kano State and now-suspended National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, on bribery charges, suffered setback on Wednesday over the failure of the prosecution to serve the charges on him. The Kano State Government filed eight counts of bribery, involving $413,000 and N1.38bn, against Ganduje,  his wife, Hafsat, and son, Umar with Jibrilla Muhammad, Lamash Properties Ltd,  Safari Textiles Ltd and Lesage General Enterprises listed as defendants. The case was fixed for April 17, 2024, before Justice Usman Na’aba of the state High Court. However, only the 6th respondent, through…

The Speaker, Kaduna State House of Assembly, Yusuf Liman, on Wednesday, issued a stern warning to Bello El-Rufai, the son of the immediate past governor of the state and a former minister of the FCT, Nasir El-Rufai, to desist from threatening and intimidating the House over the ongoing scrutiny of his father’s time in office. The Kaduna State House of Assembly, on Tuesday, kickstarted the probing of foreign and domestic loans and grants which it described as “controversial” secured by the government of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai. However, Bello, who’s the member representing Kaduna North Federal Constituency, was reported to have…

The Federal Government has announced that the execution of the Gas Supply and Purchase Agreement to support the Final Investment Decision for the $3.8bn Brass methanol project has been fixed for May 2024. The Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, announced the execution date for the gas supply agreement in Abuja on Wednesday after a meeting with key stakeholders of the project. The Brass methanol project is a major industrial project located in Brass Island, Bayelsa. It is believed to have a capacity of producing 10,000 tonnes of methanol per day when completed. Methanol is an important industrial chemical,…

Yusuf Zailani, a former speaker of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, has denied claims of approval of a $350m World Bank loan obtained by former Governor Nasir El-Rufai by the house under his leadership. The former speaker dismissed the claim on the floor of the House, and it was seen in a video posted on X on Wednesday, by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Strategic Communications to the Speaker, Kaduna State House of Assembly, Mal. Suraj Bamalli. He said, “I have been waiting for this day, and the day is today. My fight was not to give…