₦airaland Forum

[/quote]Mrs. Aisha Buhari, the first lady, apologised to Nigerians Wednesday for the country's security and economic conditions.

At a special Independence Day anniversary Juma'at prayer and open lecture with the theme "Shura: The Islamic Foundation of True Democracy," conducted at the National Mosque Conference Hall in Abuja, Mrs. Buhari expressed her regret.

However, she asked Nigerians to pray for a peaceful transfer of power in 2023, saying that the populace must come together to bring peace and normalcy back to the nation's most difficult regions.

The First Lady addressed the audience, saying, "Your Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, as you may be aware, I beg Nigerians to pray for a smooth election and transition programme. This government is making its leave and probably seeing the last anniversary of the dictatorship.

"The government may not have been flawless, but I want to take use of this chance to ask for forgiveness from the Ulamas and Nigerians as a whole. To make Nigeria great, we all must cooperate.

"Your Excellencies, distinguished visitors, it is also evident that our Naira is being evaluated and that the impact of the foreign exchange rate on our economy has caused a lot of pain and challenges in terms of education, health, and other day-to-day operations of our citizen

She praised the security agencies' efforts in battling terrorism and said Nigerians "must band together to combat security threats.

"I'm very pleased that our security personnel have more than ever met the challenges of security. And right now, their activities are helping to spread the negative impacts of kidnapping, banditry, and other social evils.

Mrs. Buhari continued, "I applaud the work of our brave security men and women and I wish to pray for future victories in their operations.

She said that her office had implemented numerous programmes in sectors like agriculture, business, and youth and women's participation to mitigate the effects and offer alternatives as a supplement to the government's efforts to ensure the welfare of its residents.

Through my Aisha Buhari and Future Assured Foundation, I have instituted programmes and intentional efforts aimed at raising the standard of living for women, young people, and children.

"I have strengthened countless communities through this influence. I appreciate all of my collaborators and partners, including the spouses of governors and service chiefs, as well as my friends, well-wishers, and international organisations, or development partners, for which I am grateful, she said.[quote]

[/quote]The results for the internal candidates for the 2022 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) have been made public by the National Examinations Council (NECO).

On September 29, 2022, in Minna, Niger State, Professor Dantani Ibrahim Wushishi, Registrar and Chief Executive of NECO, said this.


He said that, as promised, the results were made public exactly 45 days after the last paper was completed.

The head of NECO revealed that 1,209,703 people enrolled for the exam, with 636,327 men (52.60%) and 573,376 women (47.39%) making up the majority of the applicant pool.

He did point out that 1,198,412 candidates really took the exam, with 630,180 men and 568,232 women making up 52.58 percent and 47.41 percent, respectively, of the total.

The percentage of applicants who scored Credit or higher in English is 889,188, or 74.89%, while the percentage of candidates who scored Credit or higher in mathematics is 929,140, or 78.23%.

The outcome also reveals that there were 727,864 candidates, or 60.74%, who earned five credits or more, including English and mathematics.[quote]

[/quote]Music star, Ayoleyi Hanniel Solomon, AKA Reekado Banks, has lost his mother.


Reekado made this known on his Instagram page.

Although he did not disclose the cause of her death, he called on Nigerians to put his family in their prayers.

She is survived by her husband, children, and siblings.

It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our wife, mother, grandmother, sister, confidant, and friend.

”Dorcas Olubunmi Solomon is survived by her husband, sisters, children, and grandchildren.

“We implore the general public to keep us in prayers at this difficult time. The Solomon Family.” the statement read.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CjBVguSsJQD/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=[quote]

[/quote]Former Chelsea and Super Eagles Midfielder, John Mikel Obi has retired from football after 20 years of professional career.


On 27 September 2022, the former Nigeria National team captain took to his Instagram account to announce his retirement from professional football.

Mikel John Obi, born on 22 April 1987, is a Nigerian professional footballer who formally played as a defensive midfielder.

Mikel began his career with local club Plateau United, before joining Norwegian club Lyn at the age of 17 in 2004.

In 2006, he made a controversial transfer to English club Chelsea after Manchester United claimed they had already signed him.


He stayed with Chelsea for 11 years, before moving to China with Tianjin TEDA in 2017. After two years in China, he returned to England on a short-term deal with Middlesbrough, before joining Trabzonspor on a free transfer in July 2019.

Mikel moved back to England in August 2020 joining Stoke City. In a 14-year international career between 2005 and 2019, he played 91 times for Nigeria, scoring six goals.

John Obi wrote on his Instagram account: “There is a saying that “all good things must come to an end”, and for my professional football career, that day is today.

“I look back at the past 20 years of my career, and I must say that I am very satisfied with all that I was able to achieve and more importantly the human it has helped shape, he continued.

“All of this would not have been possible without the unwavering support of my family, managers, clubs, coaches, teammates and most importantly my ever-loyal fans.


https://www.instagram.com/p/CjAv5FDKoLq/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=[quote]

Beckham14:
Lol, 1phone got me.


But even if it's an iPhone14 he's using, there's nothing wrong with that.

[/quote]A security guard for a top Nigerian bank has been stirred reactions after he was seen using an iPhone 14 Pro Max just days after its release.

The man was answering a call with the phone while at his duty post outside the bullet proof door leading into the banking hall.

He could be seen offering assistance to customers going into the bank as he helped to ensure the passed through the security door without challenge.

Another customer who filmed the guard expressed disbelief and wondered if is money is safe in a bank which has a rich security man.

Watch the video below:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CjAbZo6IbKN/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=[quote]

[/quote]The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has rolled out fresh guidelines for candidates and other stakeholders ahead of the 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).


The new guidelines were rolled out by the board in its weekly bulletin published on Monday, September 26, 2022.

The board in the new guidelines said all Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres must henceforth use laptops running on at least 2 gigabytes (2GB) RAM for the conduct of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) tests.


It has also barred CBT centres from collaborating with cyber cafes or tutorial centres, saying “any violation of the directive, whether in part or whole, would lead to the revocation of the licence of the erring CBT centre.”


JAMB also announced that it would consider separating UTME registration from that of Direct Entry (DE) beginning in 2023.

JAMB said: “No new Computer-Based Test (CBT) centre would be accredited without meeting the new requirements. To this end, new CBT centres must use laptop computer systems as clients, zero thin clients or Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) would no longer be accepted.

“It became necessary for the board to modify its operations towards achieving far-reaching improvements on various issues emanating from the registration process, biometric challenges, and other operational procedures.”

For the accreditation of the CBT centres, JAMB said it would introduce three mandatory autobot tests –pre-accreditation, during Mock-UTME and the dummy examination (which is held a day before the UTME) – to confirm the readiness of the centres.


“Another key reason for the decision was the need to prevent IP address duplication and abuse,” it said.

JAMB Registrar, Ishaq Oloyede, also stated that biometrics of all accredited CBT centre registration officers would be captured ahead of the exercise.

JAMB also said candidates must use at least two fingers to print their registration slip. “Any of the two fingers taken would be used for biometric verification prior to entering the examination hall on the day of the examination,” it said.

At the registration point, candidates with bad fingerprints would be scheduled for the examination as “Exemption Candidates” and their registration slips would be colour-coded to be different from those of other candidates.

JAMB said such candidates would sit their examination in Abuja on the last date of the national examination calendar and that their results would not be released until after being subjected to proper scrutiny.

The development is coming amid the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) which has grounded academic activities in public varsities for more than seven months.

Recall, JAMB coordinates admissions in all Nigerian Universities, both public and private, and is required to certify the quality secondary students for admission into universities through an examination.

While JAMB’s timeline works perfectly for many private universities, it has destabilized the systems of public universities as they struggle to catch up with the volume of student qualified to enroll. Their struggle is mostly as a result of time being lost during ASUU strike.

With the ongoing strike, it is said that the Nigerian public universities might lose a session.

A lecturer at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) who spoke in an interview said most universities have two sets of students ready to resume the academic session.

“Those admitted in 2021 were meant to resume after the second-semester examination early this year but were halted due to the strike. Now, another set of students sat for UTME this year, waiting for admission processes.

“You know universities have been trying hard to recover from the COVID-19 lockdown, during which schools were shut, and now we have this prolonged ASUU strike. I really don’t know how this would be handled,” the lecturer, who pleaded anonymity, said.

The union is demanding the release of revitalisation funds for universities, renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement, release of earned allowances for university lecturers, and deployment of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS).


The government had claimed to have addressed most of the union’s demands including the release of N50b for the payment of earned allowances for academic and non-academic and non-academic staff of universities but said the that the union will not be paid the arrears of the strike period.

ASUU has also insisted on not calling off the lingering strike until the arrears are settled.[quote]

[/quote]The Lagos State Taskforce said it has impounded 150 commercial motorcycles, whose riders violated the ban on their activities in Lagos metropolis.

It also said 10 suspects including okada passengers and motorists who flouted the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) corridor were equally arrested and charged to court.

The agency revealed this in a statement released yesterday by the Director of Press and Public Affairs, Gbadeyan Abdulraheem.

Abdulraheem said the chairman of the taskforce, CSP Shola Jejeloye, has vowed to go after recalcitrant land grabbers, commercial motorcyclists and other environmental law breakers who have refused to heed warnings by the government to discontinue their illegal activities.

He said Jejeloye expressed displeasure at the regrouping of commercial motorcycles which were noticed in raided areas, adding that the enforcement would continue as the need arises.[quote]

Premiumbuy:
Premium Be Unto You



Does it only covers Ikeja alone?

[/quote]Residents of Lagos State are to observe the first car-free day in Ikeja on Sunday.

This is a collaboration between the Lagos State government and a non-governmental organisation, Lagos Urban Development Initiative.

The aim of the event is to encourage road users and motorists to set aside their cars for a day and take up active and inclusive means of transport such as cycling and walking.

Traffic will be diverted around Alausa/Ikeja on Sunday.


https://www.instagram.com/p/Ci5eLJPDzlF/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=[quote]

[/quote]The National Industrial Court has ordered the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), to call off the ongoing strike.


Recall, that the over seven months old ASUU strike that has grounded academic activities in public varsities started on February 14, 2022.

The union is demanding the release of revitalisation funds for universities, renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement, release of earned allowances for university lecturers, and deployment of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS).

Delivering a ruling on the interlocutory injunction filed by the Federal government , Justice Polycarp Hamman restrained ASUU from continuing with the industrial action pending the determination of the suit.


The government had claimed to have addressed most of the union’s demands including the release of N50b for the payment of earned allowances for academic and non-academic and non-academic staff of universities but said the that the union will not be paid the arrears of the strike period.

ASUU has also insisted on not calling off the lingering strike until the arrears are settled.

Following instance of ASUU not to resume, the federal government, through the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige dragged the striking university lecturers before the National Industrial Court (NIC).

But delivering a ruling on the interlocutory injunction filed by the government, on Wednesday, September 21, 2022, Justice Polycarp Hamman restrained ASUU from continuing with the industrial action pending the determination of the suit.

Justice Polycap who is a vacation judge ordered that the case filed be returned to the president of the Industrial Court for reassignment to another judge.[quote]

[/quote]A Nigerian man has expressed shock after realising that two men he thought were blind may have been pretending just to beg money from people.

He revealed that he gave them money only to see the moments later operating their phones despite being ‘blind.’

One of the beggars was counting the money he made so far while the other was looking through his phone.

The guy decided to record them and shared the video online while recounting his encounter with the two beggars.

‘‘See two blind men wey I give money just now, see wetin I catch dem dey do’‘, he captioned.[quote]

[/quote]A Nigerian man has been captured on tape rolling marijuana (weed) during an ongoing mass in a Catholic Church.

He was reported taken to church fro deliverance from his addiction, however, he did not seem ready to change as he began preparing to smoke weed in church.

A man who sat behind him could be heard expressing disbelief because a man who was taken to church to be delivered ended up doing the same thing that made his family seek spiritual help.

He could be seen wrapping the weed while a reverend father was administering Holy Communion to other parishioners.

”See who dem carry come church for deliverance, e dey church dey rap igbo,” the man recording said.[quote]

[/quote]The ingestion of animal skin, or ponmo as it is known locally, may soon be prohibited by legislation, according to the Nigerian government.

Muhammad Yakubu, director-general of the Nigerian Institute of Leather and Science Technology (NILEST), Abuja, revealed this.

He said that the legal action was required to resurrect the nation's dead leather sector.


To save the industry and strengthen the economy of the country, he suggested ending the practise of eating animal skin, which has little nutritional value.

The director-general further stated that the institute would approach the national parliament and state governments to introduce legislation outlawing the consumption of "ponmo" in cooperation with industry partners.

Ponmo has no nutritional value, thus as far as I know, Nigerians are the only people in the world that overvalue skin as food.

"At one time, a motion was presented to the two houses of the national assembly. It was discussed, but I'm not sure how the subject was dismissed."

He claims that the current status of the tanneries in Nigeria is mostly due to the consumption of animal skin.



He added that several basic issues facing the industry had been addressed under the present National Leather Policy.

People in Nigeria won't have any trouble finding pomo to buy and consume if we get our tanneries, footwear, and leather industry running smoothly, according to Yakubu.

"When completely implemented, it would revive the majority of the paralysed tanneries and increase productivity."

In order to revitalise the industry, Yakubu pleaded with stakeholders to support the legislation and the national leather policy.

According to the Agricultural Research Institute Act of 1975, NILEST was established to encourage the manufacture of leather. The institute carries out research on leather manufacturing, leather goods, and the use of domestic tanning resources in the nation.[quote]

[/quote]The ingestion of animal skin, or ponmo as it is known locally, may soon be prohibited by legislation, according to the Nigerian government.

Muhammad Yakubu, director-general of the Nigerian Institute of Leather and Science Technology (NILEST), Abuja, revealed this.

He said that the legal action was required to resurrect the nation's dead leather sector.


To save the industry and strengthen the economy of the country, he suggested ending the practise of eating animal skin, which has little nutritional value.

The director-general further stated that the institute would approach the national parliament and state governments to introduce legislation outlawing the consumption of "ponmo" in cooperation with industry partners.

Ponmo has no nutritional value, thus as far as I know, Nigerians are the only people in the world that overvalue skin as food.

"At one time, a motion was presented to the two houses of the national assembly. It was discussed, but I'm not sure how the subject was dismissed."

He claims that the current status of the tanneries in Nigeria is mostly due to the consumption of animal skin.



He added that several basic issues facing the industry had been addressed under the present National Leather Policy.

People in Nigeria won't have any trouble finding pomo to buy and consume if we get our tanneries, footwear, and leather industry running smoothly, according to Yakubu.

"When completely implemented, it would revive the majority of the paralysed tanneries and increase productivity."

In order to revitalise the industry, Yakubu pleaded with stakeholders to support the legislation and the national leather policy.

According to the Agricultural Research Institute Act of 1975, NILEST was established to encourage the manufacture of leather. The institute carries out research on leather manufacturing, leather goods, and the use of domestic tanning resources in the nation.[quote]

[/quote]Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, better known as Evans, a wealthy kidnapper, and his co-defendant Victor Aduba were both given a 78-year prison sentence by an Ikeja Special Offenses Court.


The two prisoners were charged with plotting to kidnap Sylvanus Ahanonu Hafia on June 23, 2014, in Lagos' Amuwo Odofin neighbourhood.

They were said to have kidnapped Hafia, held her captive, and demanded a $2 million ransom.

Remember that in February 2022, Evans and two other defendants, Uchenna Amadi and Okuchuwkwu Nwachukwu, were all similarly condemned to life in prison by the court presided over by Justice Hakeem Oshodi.

On two charges of conspiracy and kidnapping Donatus Duru, a businessman, they were found guilty.

The judge stated that in some of the confessional videos played in court, Evans had mentioned some of the other defendants and the roles they played in the crime. In reaching his decision regarding Evans, the judge claimed that he had observed the witness's demeanour.[quote]

[/quote]In Uyo, the state capital of Akwa Ibom, a four-story structure under construction has fallen.

On September 17, 2022, Saturday, the incident took place.

As of the time of this report, the incident's specifics are, nonetheless, vague.

The complex is the most recent of several recently constructed story buildings in the nation to fall.

No fewer than seven people were reportedly hurt on September 8, 2022, in Ibadan as a result of the collapse of an unfinished five-story hotel structure.

On September 4, 2022, a seven-story building under construction on Oba Idowu Oniru Street in Lagos collapsed, leaving no less than two people dead.

This development occurred just days after another building on Adeleye Street, Ladilak in the Bariga neighbourhood of Lagos collapsed, killing no less than two children.

Three adults were reportedly injured in varying degrees and sent to the hospital for treatment.[quote]

[/quote]Sonia, the daughter of Ike Ekweremadu, Nigeria’s former Deputy Senate President, has made a public appeal for kidney donation.

The lawmaker’s daughter made the appeal amid the ordeal of her parents who landed in trouble in the quest to save her.

He and his wife were arrested in June when they tried to get a kidney donor for Sonia, who is in mid 20s.

Prosecutors had arraigned the couple in court over alleged trafficking and an attempt to harvest the organs of an underage.

Beatrice, the lawmaker’s wife, was later granted bail while he is currently in custody pending October when his case would be heard.

In an Instagram post on Monday, September 12, 2022, Sonia, who is based in the UK, asked members of the public to assist her.

“I, Sonia Ekweremadu, hereby appeal to the general public to come to my aid and save my life. I am 25 years old and a graduate of Media and Communications, University of Coventry. I dropped out of my post-graduate studies at the University of Newcastle in 2019 when I was diagnosed with a rare kidney disease, FSGS.

“Nephrotic Syndrome. My family has battled to save my life and has taken me to various hospitals, but the illness persisted and kept degenerating. I am alive today by the special grace of God. I am presently in London, UK, receiving 5 Hours of dialysis 3-4 times a week. This is at the expense of my family as I am not qualified for NHS due to my immigration status.

“The last 3 years have been extremely challenging. The charges being faced by my parents in London presently, are directly connected to my illness and have complicated matter for me and my family.

“I do not intend to delve into details of this unfortunate development as the matter is still in Court. I am however optimistic that the truth will prevail and it will end in praise to God. In the circumstance above, I am appealing to anybody whom it may please to assist me willingly with a kidney donation in the name of God.


“This appeal would have been utterly unnecessary as every member of my family is eager to donate their kidney to me, knowing that I would do the same for any of them.

“Regrettably, comprehensive medical examination showed that my case of nephrotic syndrome is a genetic illness, and the doctors advised against donation from any of my family members, as it would likely reoccur.

“Anybody that is moved by this appeal and wishes to donate his or her kidney to me may send an email to helpsonialive@gmail.com and include his or her name, phone number, email address and place of residence.

“Please, note that under the laws of England and Wales, organ donation must be purely driven by compassion, and therefore no reward is involved. Finally, I have decided to commit and dedicate myself to helping people with the challenges of kidney disease, upon my full recovery. Thank you and God bless you,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Central Criminal Court in the UK handling the case of Ekweremadu has adjourned it till October 31, 2022.

The court on Thursday, August 3, 2022, said it is going to hear pretrial applications on October 31, but the trial will commence fully on May 2, 2023.[quote]

[/quote]Popular Nigerian skitmaker, Chukwuemeka Emmanuel Ejekwu, popularly known as Mr Funny or Oga Sabinus, has survived a car accident in the early hours of today.

According to the comedian, he was driving in his new Mercedes Benz when a car from the opposite lane, ran into his car.

The comedian  however came out unhurt and in a good condition.

He wrote on his Instagram page, “Safe and sound, thanks guys for the calls and care.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CiXEXrGrJUA/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=[quote]