Author: Alade Adisa

The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Richard Montgomery has said the United Kingdom has granted approximately 300,000 new visas to Nigerians in the last two years, highlighting the growing ties between the two nations. Montgomery, who spoke on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, countered claims of harsh UK immigration policies, stating that Nigerians have greatly benefited from the country’s post-Brexit visa reforms. The envoy said, “I have to contest this picture because the UK in the last couple of years has granted around 300,000 new visas to Nigerians which far exceeds any other visa relationship which Nigeria has with…

As Asma Assad and deposed dictator husband arrive in Moscow where family ‘owns £30m portfolio of luxury flats’ – after pair fled Damascus through secret tunnels President Assad, his British-born wife and their three adult children have left behind their Syrian palaces and will begin a new life in Russia after being granted asylum by Vladimir Putin.Asma Al-Assad, a London-born doctor’s daughter who married into the brutal autocratic dynasty, has become accustomed to a life of luxury, with reports that she spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on home furnishings and clothes during her husband’s reign of terror.The US state…

Governor Mohammed Bago on Monday said President Bola Tinubu has secured a $2.5 billion livestock investment in Borgu Kingdom in Niger State from a Brazilian firm. The governor, who revealed this while addressing a delegation of Borgu people in New Bussa during a visit, commended the President for taking bold steps to attract foreign investment into the country. Bago said the investment would ensure the establishment of livestock, rice, and maize farms among others on 1.2 million hectares of land on the corridor of the Niger State component of the Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway project. The governor stressed that the President, being…

Persons believed to be political thugs invaded the Edo State High Court in Benin on Monday, attempting to disrupt the pre-hearing session on the validity of the September 21 governorship election results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Supporters of seven political parties contesting the All Progressives Congress’ (APC) victory were present at the court when they were attacked by unidentified individuals outside the courtroom. In response, security agents swiftly blocked the court entrance and set up a roadblock along the route leading to the court. More to come…

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said Ghana’s decision to decentralize its electoral system was inspired by Nigeria’s success in managing constituency election results. While commending the smooth conduct of the election, INEC chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu observed that until the last election in Ghana, all parliamentary and presidential results were sent to the headquarters of the Electoral Commission in Accra for announcement. The election was won by President-elect of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama. Mahama won the election after his main opponent, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, conceded defeat. The defeat in Saturday’s election ended two terms in power for…

South Korean President, Yoon Suk-yeol has been banned from leaving the country over a failed attempt at imposing martial law, amid growing calls for him to step down and a deepening leadership crisis. Oh Dong-woon, the head of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, said on Monday he ordered a ban on foreign travel for Yoon when asked at a parliament hearing what actions have been taken against the embattled president. A Ministry of Justice official, Bae Sang-up, told the committee the travel ban order has been executed. Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) staged a walkout of the chamber…

Beleaguered human rights lawyer, Dele Farotimi, has been granted bail by the Ekiti State High Court. The court granted Farotimi bail in the sum of N50 million, with a surety of the same amount on Monday morning. The court ruled that the surety must possess a landed property and adjourned the matter to January 29, 2025, for further proceedings. Farotimi was taken to court by Chief Afe Babalola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, after being arrested by operatives of the Ekiti State Police Command. Babalola, 95, accused Farotimi of defaming him in a book titled ‘Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice…

An economist, Mr. Johnson Chukwu, has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to leverage existing infrastructure and Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) to address delays in verifying bank transactions.Chukwu, the Chief Executive Officer of Cowry Asset Management Ltd., raised the concern at the annual workshop of the Capital Market Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CAMAN) in Lagos.The theme of the workshop is: “Banks’ Recapitalisation: Bridging the Gap Between Investors and Issuers in the Nigerian Capital Market”.He noted that leverage existing infrastructure and BVN was to ensure speedy conclusion of the verification process.According to him, the delay in the apex bank’s verification…

As teams investigate ‘hidden underground cells’ Thousands of people, including women and children, have been released from Syria’s infamous prisons – as civil defence teams work on freeing those who may still be detained in hidden underground cells.After insurgents swept across the country in little more than a week to topple the Assad family’s half-century rule, families wept as they reunited with inmates held on political charges.At Sednaya prison near Damascus – a facility dubbed the “human slaughterhouse” by Amnesty International – women screamed with their children as their cells were opened.”Don’t be afraid… Bashar Assad has fallen,” one of…

Rachel Fatuma, a young Congolese woman, could be mistaken for one among thousands of youths in the Democratic Republic of Congo trying to find their feet in an evolving and demanding world.But she isn’t just another face in the crowd.As someone nurturing an unbridled passion for science, this final-year engineering student at Ruwenzori University in Kinshasa is always challenging herself to achieve something that reflects her strength of character and ambition to make a difference.At 24, Rachel has developed a unique system that enables energy generation by stepping and dancing on tiles made from cheap and easily accessible materials.”The system…