Author: Akintayo Adams

Kenyan President William Samoei Arap Ruto has appointed his foreign minister as the “acting cabinet secretary” for all ministries, nearly a week after dismissing almost his entire cabinet. This move comes in response to deadly anti-government rallies triggered by steep tax increases. The peaceful protests, which took place last month, escalated into violence, resulting in dozens of deaths and presenting Ruto with the most significant crisis of his presidency. Scrambling to contain the fallout, he has embarked on a series of measures, including scrapping the finance bill containing the tax hikes, announcing government cuts, and last week dismissing almost all…

The Managing Director of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), Akintunde Sawyerr, has announced that successful applicants will begin receiving alerts starting next week. He noted that over 110,000 students had successfully applied for the loan, and emphasized that the disbursements would only be made to students who have commenced their academic sessions. “Over 110,000 students have successfully applied for student loans. They have been verified as eligible applicants. But we still carry out further verification to make sure that they are qualified to receive this loan. Over 110,000 students are likely to start receiving the disbursement next week,” he…

President Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID-19 and is suffering from mild symptoms, according to The White House. That has led to the cancelation of a campaign speech he was scheduled to have in Las Vegas. “President Biden is vaccinated, boosted, and he is experiencing mild symptoms following a positive COVID-19 test,” a post by the White House on X reads. “He will be returning to Delaware where he will self-isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time. “The President presented this afternoon with upper respiratory symptoms, to include rhinorhea (runny nose) and…

TotalEnergies has announced the sale of its participation stake in three gas-producing licenses to a Mauritian company. The facilities currently contribute 40% of Nigeria’s LNG production. However, TotalEnergies will retain ownership of its production share, ensuring continued access to the infrastructure and pipelines necessary for supplying gas to the Nigeria LNG plant. “This divestment…allows us to concentrate our onshore Nigeria operations solely on the integrated gas value chain and is intended to ensure uninterrupted feed gas supply to Nigeria LNG in the future,” said Nicolas Terraz, President of Exploration & Production at TotalEnergies. Since February, the CEO of TotalEnergies has…

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu – GCFR has approved the appointment of Didi Esther Walson-Jack as the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation. The appointment is effective from August 14, 2024 as the incumbent Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan – CFR, is due to retire on August 13, 2024. The announcement was contained in a statement titled ‘President Tinubu Appoints New Head of Civil Service of the Federation’ on Wednesday by the President’s Special Adviser, Ajuri Ngelale. “The new appointee will take over from the incumbent Head of the Civil Service of the…

A 24-year-old Nigerian man named Oside Oluwole, also known as “Khoded,” has achieved a remarkable feat by setting a new world record for the longest videogame marathon playing a soccer game. He played continuously for 75 hours, surpassing the previous record of 50 hours set by Englishman David Whitefoot in 2022. Oside, who is a qualified biochemist and currently works as a car dealer, undertook this challenge to raise funds for a local hospital in his hometown of Ijebu Ode. Unlike previous record holders who played FIFA or Pro Evolution Soccer, Oside chose to play the mobile game Dream League…

The Nigerian Senate passed an amendment to the 2024 Appropriation Act for its second reading on Wednesday, approving a total budget of N6.2 trillion for both capital and recurrent expenditures for the fiscal year. Senator Michael Bamidele Opeyemi presented the amended bill, specifying that N3.2 trillion is allocated for capital expenditure, while N3 trillion is earmarked for recurrent expenditure to be utilized by the end of 2024. Senator Adamu Aliero from Kebbi South supported the amendment, emphasizing its importance in funding critical projects not initially covered in the original Act, aligning it with the Renewed Hope Agenda. He highlighted the…

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has kick-started the Student Loan Scheme. This is sequel to a slight amendment to the scheme. Currently, President Bola Tinubu is inaugurating a presidential committee at the State House in Abuja to oversee the initiative. To initiate the program, President Tinubu recently authorized the disbursement of ₦35 billion through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFund), aimed at supporting 70,000 initial applicants based on specific criteria. Jim Ovia, appointed by President Tinubu to chair the Governing Board of NELFund, had previously sanctioned the distribution of loans to successful candidates during the board’s inaugural meeting in Abuja last…

Nigeria has become the seventh-fastest country in Sub-Saharan Africa for internet speed, with an average download speed of 27.62 Mbps. This is according to the 2024 Worldwide Broadband Speed Report published on Tuesday. The report, which tested internet speeds in 220 countries, shows that Nigeria climbed from 133rd in the world rankings in 2023 to 132nd in 2024. In Africa, Nigeria ranks seventh, following the likes of Réunion and Eswatini. Réunion leads Sub-Saharan Africa with an average internet speed of 63.29 Mbps, while South Africa comes in second with 42.42 Mbps. The survey also indicates that Africa has the second-lowest…

Big Brother Naija (BBNaija) has announced that the winner of Season 9 will receive a grand prize of ₦100 million and a new SUV. This year’s prize is ₦20 million less than the ₦120 million awarded in Season 8, won by Kogi State-born Ilebaye Odiniya. At a press conference in Lagos, Busola Tejumola, MultiChoice’s executive head of content and West Africa channels, revealed that the show will premiere on Sunday, July 28, 2024, and will air across all Africa Magic channels starting at 7 p.m. WAT. She said, “The ninth season of Big Brother Naija will be going beyond drama;…