₦airaland Forum

A Nigerian lady, Alex Sandra has completed a Smile-A-Thon attempt during which she kept smiling without stop for 72 hours.

This is coming after Guinness World Record appealed to Nigerians to take it easy on the record breaking attempts as Nigerians overwhelmed Guinness World Record with many applications.

"We set a record and you guys had my back all through … it’s so unreal and we thought we couldn’t do it BUT WE DID! GOD DID!!! The sleeplessness and pains were worth it . I couldn’t have done it without the constant jokes on my live to crack me up. I took it an hour at a time and we kept going till the very last hour #72hours of smiling."

"Yesterday, I had the honour and privilege of speaking at the Graduation and Prize-Giving Ceremony of Pacesetters School, Abuja. I applaud Barrister Kenneth Imansuangbon and Mrs Kate Imansuangbon for the high standards and qualitative education they provide at the schools."

"I am most impressed with the foundational structure of the school system aimed at producing well-rounded and competitive citizens. These are long term investments in human capital, which are perquisites for sustainable development and nation building in the new Nigeria, which we believe is POssible. I have always advocated for greater investment in education. We now have 20 million out-of-school children in Nigeria, that is more than the Year 2022 combined population of Norway, Ireland, Singapore and Dubai, which is 19.7 million."

"Nigeria, therefore urgently needs to do more with respect to investment in education. Education remains the greatest investment any nation can make for the citizens. I also appreciated the teachers of Pacesetters School, Abuja, while reiterating the need to always celebrate teachers for the sacrifices they make and the critical roles they play in the educational system, and ultimately, in societal development."

"I narrated the story of Mr Akeem Badru, a school teacher at St Michael RCM Primary School, Ogunpa Lunloye, Abeokuta, Ogun State, who out of 11,000 nominations from 99 countries, won the 2023 Cambridge Dedicated Teacher Award, and became the first overall winner from Africa since the competition’s inception. Such are the people that should be given national honour and recognition, for the positive impact they make in society, rather than celebrating the same malefactors and individuals responsible for retrogression and governance failure in Nigeria. I once again congratulate the graduands and the school authorities. -PO

"Europe-bound teenage student arrested at Abuja airport with Meth consignment
. Female lawyer, others nabbed with tons of illicit drugs as NDLEA intercepts 116.5kg Colorado from Canada

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA Abuja have arrested a 19-year-old student, Benjamin Nnamani Daberechi for attempting to export 7.2 kilograms of methamphetamine concealed in crayfish to Europe where he was going for undergraduate studies.

The teenage suspect was intercepted on Wednesday 12th July, during an outward clearance of passengers on Turkish Airlines flight TK 0624. While being interviewed by operatives, Daberechi claimed he was a student on his way to Cyprus for studies, but upon a thorough search of his luggage, he was found in possession of 7.2kg of whitish substance neatly concealed inside a sack of crayfish. A field test of the substance however proved positive to Methamphetamine.

In the same vein, operatives of the Tincan Port Command of the Agency on Tuesday 11th July intercepted 116.5kg consignment of Colorado, a strong strain of cannabis concealed in bags hidden in a heap of used vehicles parts on the floor of a container marked FCIU 8459700, bearing three units of used vehicles imported from Toronto, Canada.

Based on intelligence, the Agency had requested for a 100 percent examination of the container which arrived the TICT terminal of the port on 14th June. A joint examination with the Nigeria Customs, DSS and other stakeholders on Tuesday 11th July however led to the discovery of 233 parcels of the illicit substance stashed inside travelling bags on the floor of the container, covered with used vehicles spare parts.

Also attempts to export various quantities of illicit substances through courier companies were equally thwarted by NDLEA operatives of the Directorate of Operation and General Investigations, DOGI in Lagos. While 336 grams of skunk stuffed inside computer hard drives going to Dubai, UAE, were seized at a courier firm, a suspect, Ibrahim Analu, 28, was arrested at Iddo motor park, Lagos while attempting to send 151,700 pills of opioids to Kaduna. A total of 4.830kg skunk was also discovered at another courier firm in a shipment from Douala, Cameroon passing through Nigeria to Oman. The drug was concealed in 10 of 12 cans of palm fruits paste, locally called Banga, packed in a carton.

Meanwhile, a Lekki Lagos based female lawyer, Ebikpolade Helen, who specialises in production and distribution of skuchies, a mixture of cannabis, opioids and black currant has been arrested in a follow up operation in Awka, Anambra state following an earlier seizure of 5kg cannabis and 12 bottles of prepared skuchies in her apartment at Lekki.

While Abubakar Shuaibu was arrested on Thursday 13th July at Cappa, Mushin/Oshodi road with 86 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup weighing 8.6 litres in his Toyota bus marked FFA 241YB, two other suspects: Razak Ogunbo and Adeola Idowu were nabbed Tuesday 11th July at Ikorodu with 51 litres of skuchies. This is even as 372kg cannabis sativa and 48 bottles of skuchies measuring 48 litres were recovered from the home of a fleeing drug dealer at Akala, Mushin Lagos on Wednesday 12th July.

In Ondo state, operatives stormed a building at Ehin-Ala, Akure South LGA where they arrested one Abubakar Zayanu Gyambar, 28, with 162 jumbo bags of skunk weighing 1,944 kilograms, while another suspect, Henry Wilson, 50, was nabbed at Ogume town, Ndokwa West LGA, Delta State with same substance weighing 216.5kg.

A total of 45.41kg cannabis was recovered from Adam Hassan, 27, along Inga wa-Mani - Mashi road, Katsina enroute Niger Republic, while 70kg of same substance was seized from Mamman Nur Shettima on Saturday 15th July along Kano - Nguru road, Yobe state. In Kano, a suspect, Abdulhamid Lawan Bayaro, 48, was on Friday 14th July nabbed at Dan Agundi area, Kano with 114 blocks of cannabis, weighing 71.7kg, just as operatives recovered 50,000 pills of Tamol, a brand of Tramadol at Kofar Waika area of the state.
While a total of 912,600 pills of pharmaceutical opioids including tramadol were recovered from two commercial vehicles; one coming from Lagos to Kano, the other was intercepted along Abuja-Jere-Kaduna expressway, with a suspect, Sahabi Lawal, 25, arrested. In Borno state, 32-year-old Umar Tijjani Mustapha was arrested at Gangamari, MMC, with 55.25kg skunk on Thursday 13th July.

Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) commended the tenacity of the officers and men of NAIA, Tincan, Lagos, Ondo, Katsina, Yobe, Delta, Kano, Kaduna and Borno Commands as well as those of DOGI. He charged them and their compatriots across the country to remain vigilant.

Femi Babafemi
Director, Media & Advocacy
NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja
Sunday 16th July 2023"

"It is an honour to participate in the ongoing 5th Mid-Year Coordination Meeting of the African Union, where I addressed fellow leaders. We are a continent with a resilient spirit. The lessons of our past shall shape our future. #AfricaUnite #AUmeeting #PBATInKENYA"

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu has said that statistical data indicates that the south-east geopolitical zone lost N4 trillion in two years due to the sit-at-home order by separatist group, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), IGBERETV reports.

Kalu stated this during a meeting with Ndigboamaka Progressive Markets Association in Lagos.

He noted that the Monday sit-at-home order has ruined businesses and also suppressed the economic growth of the five eastern states and should not be allowed to continue.

The Deputy Speaker said;

“The existential threat to Igbo entrepreneurship and businesses now is the insecurity and sit-at-home problem in the south-east. The mutation of this problem is largely unfathomable. It is becoming a cankerworm that is eating deep into our collective fortune as a people.

“If I do not tell you the truths as your son, then it will be difficult for anyone in governance from Ala-Igbo to tell you. I am pained by what our dear land has become. We have to be honest and sincere with ourselves. I make a heartfelt plea to every one of you.

“We cannot afford to retreat from our business endeavours. The stay-at-home order on Mondays has resulted in staggering losses of N4 trillion in the last two years in the south-east alone according to statistical data."

"Let us not allow politics to destroy our hard earned relationships.
This is Ganduje giving ride to Kwankwaso on a Vesper in 1981."

An old video showed 9-year-old Don Jazzy boldly leading a group of fellow youngsters to perform the hit song by veteran singer, Blackky, titled Rosie.

The throwback video captured Don Jazzy performing the veteran Nigerian singer's song before a large crowd.

"I can cook and I can sing, I’m so talented."

"Congratulations to Chef Hilda Baci on your Guinness World record plaque.

I, Chef Dammy Is coming for this Award Next month in Jesus name."

The Governor of Sokoto State, Ahmad Aliyu, on Monday, paid an unscheduled visit to the Sokoto Specialist Hospital to ascertain the quality of services provided by the hospital, IGBERETV reports.

Malam Abubakar Bawa, the Press Secretary to the governor, disclosed this in a statement on Monday in Sokoto. Bawa said that the governor’s decision to visit the health facility unannounced followed the series of concerns raised by citizens of the state over the poor health service delivery at the hospital.

The press secretary added that other concerns that made the governor to visit the hospital were the need to have a first-hand assessment of its dilapidated structures, erratic power supply, dearth of manpower and lack of functional medical equipment, among others.

According to him, Aliyu visited the hospital in a tricycle in order to get first-hand information from its workers.

“I was surprised with what I saw during my visit to the hospital which lasted for four hours; it afforded me the opportunity to see things for myself", [/b]Bawa's statement quoted the governor as saying.

[b]“Patients and their relatives are subjected to all kinds of hazardous situations owing to dirty environment and lack of functional equipment in the medical facility.

“Patients’ relatives rely solely on alternative sources of power due to erratic electricity supply in the hospital.

“I have directed the management of the hospital to see me for further discussions on how to remedy the ugly situation,” Bawa further quoted the governor as saying.