Author: Alade Adisa

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has said that married women no longer have to provide a letter of approval from their husbands to obtain a visa clearance certificate. The NDLEA’s visa clearance certificate is a document that proves an individual has no drug-related convictions in Nigeria — a requirement by some countries. Previously, the NDLEA mandated married women to submit a “letter of approval to travel from their husband, attached with his passport photograph,” to obtain the certificate. This rule, however, did not apply to men. The policy came under fire recently when an X user criticized the…

Tennis great, Rafael Nadal has announced he will retire at the end of the 2024 season. The 38-year-old Spaniard will compete in his final professional event at the Davis Cup Finals to be held in Malaga from 19 to 24 November. The player many refer to as the greatest ever on clay court, in Spanish in a video posted on X said, “Hello everyone, I am here to let you know I am retiring from professional tennis. “The reality is it has been some difficult years, especially these last two. I don’t think I have been able to play without…

With the US presidential election around the corner, the hugely influential former President of The United States (POTUS), Barack Obama will on Thursday join the campaign train of Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris in a well-calculated move to get out the vote in the critical swing state of Pennsylvania. The flamboyant first Black president of the world’s leading democracy, Obama, 63, who was president from 2009 to 2017, is hitting the campaign trail in the steel city of Pittsburgh a day after Harris’s Republican rival, Donald Trump charged through the must-win state. Obama, who still wields so much influence…

The Republican Party candidate in the forthcoming United States presidential election, Donald Trump has ruled out a second presidential debate with rival Kamala Harris on Wednesday, hours after Fox News offered to host a candidate showdown later this month before election day on November 5. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is the Democratic Party candidate and the former president locked in an excruciatingly close battle for the White House, have faced off just once, in September, and despite suggestions by multiple news outlets, it appears they will not meet again before the vote. Trump said in an all-caps post on…

The Lagos State Government has appealed to youths in the state to enroll in the military. Making the appeal during the quarterly meetings with the members of the Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) in Ikeja on Wednesday, the Secretary to the State Government, Mrs Bimbola Salu-Hundeyin said the security of a nation was everybody’s business and being in the military was a service to the state and the nation at large. The SSG said it was disheartening to know that indigenous youths of the state were not enrolling in the military, as seen during the last recruitment. She added that…

The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Toyin Alausa has said the federal government has finalized the executive order to implement zero value-added tax (VAT) and excise duties on imported pharmaceutical products and medical devices. In a statement posted on social media on Wednesday, the minister said the scheme would alleviate the financial burden on millions of Nigerians reliant on critical health supplies, aligning with the government’s commitment to improving healthcare access and affordability. On June 28, President Bola Tinubu signed an executive order to introduce zero tariffs, excise duties, and VAT on imported pharmaceutical inputs. The federal…

The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday said it was fully behind the judgment of the Supreme Court on local government autonomy. The Upper Chamber also said it would work with the House of Representatives to ensure alterations to the relevant provisions of the Constitution to provide for the full autonomy of local governments in the country. Thus, the lawmakers asked all the states and local governments to fully comply with the Supreme Court’s judgment on the disbursement and utilization of funds to the third tier of government. The development came after the Senate agreed to prayers by the Deputy President of…

The Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy (FMACCE), in collaboration with Google, has launched an initiative to empower 2,500 young creatives. The minister, FMACCE, Hannatu Musa-Musawa, said in a statement that the empowerment would be through a dedicated training programme delivered by the Del York Creative Academy. Musa-Musawa said the number of young creatives empowered would eventually add up to 10,000 across Nigeria. According to her, the collaboration is a significant step in advancing the FMACCE’s Creative Leap Acceleration Programme (CLAP). She said that CLAP aimed at driving skills development and innovation and fostering public-private partnerships in Nigeria’s…

Succour has come the way of some less-privileged people in Anambra State as the Federal Government distributed bags of rice, gas cylinders, POS machines, and other palliative materials to them. The distribution exercise took place at the Ndi Ichie Hall, Umudioka Village, Awka in Awka South local government area of the state on Wednesday. The Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, while presenting the government palliatives to the beneficiaries, reassured the people of President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to their welfare and security. The palliatives included 5,000 10kg bags of rice, over 500 bags of fertilizers, 500 PoS machines, and 300…

Within 24 hours of the latest hike of the price of petrol, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), has demanded its immediate reversal, saying it is an aberration that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is fixing fuel prices in a so-called deregulated sector. The NLC said the government should immediately reverse the latest price increase as previous ones did not yield any positive results. NLC, in a statement by its President, Joe Ajaero, argued that following the logic of market forces, it is an aberration that a private company (NNPCL) is the one fixing prices and projecting itself as a…