Author: Elizabeth Jenrola Oso

A child prodigy, Zainab Akintola has achieved outstanding academic success at a very young age. In a rare accomplishment, Zainab, a Nigerian girl of Yoruba extraction graduated from secondary school at just 12 years old and earned 30 professional certifications in Software Engineering and Artificial Intelligence (AI) by age 14. Initially, Zainab’s dream was to become a doctor. Growing up, her father, who lovingly called her “Doctor Zainab”, always encouraged her to pursue medicine, emphasizing the need for more Muslim female doctors in Nigeria. Unlike most children her age, Zainab’s education moved at an accelerated pace. With her exceptional intelligence…

President Bola Tinubu has assented to two separate bills establishing the Federal University of Agriculture and Development Studies in Iragbiji, Osun State and the Federal University of Technology and Environmental Sciences, Iyin Ekiti, Ekiti State. The Special Adviser to the President, Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga in a statement on Thursday said President Tinubu noted that the specialised institutions would address the educational needs of the populace while driving research and innovation and contributing to the country’s overall economic growth and development. Onanuga indicated that the President said the institutions would serve as training grounds for developing agriculture, science and…

Unlawful crossings at the U.S. southern border are down 94 percent from the same period last year, Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks told CBS News in his first sit-down interview, crediting the Trump administration’s government-wide crackdown on illegal immigration. Over the past seven days, Banks said, Border Patrol agents have apprehended an average of 285 migrants per day along the entire southern border, compared to roughly 4,800 during the same time last year. Banks attributed the dramatic drop in illegal immigration to a slew of executive actions taken by President Trump. They include an order that has effectively closed the…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas on Friday of committing a “cruel and evil” violation of the Gaza ceasefire deal by failing to return the captive, Shiri Bibas. “We will act with determination to bring Shiri home, along with all of our captives – both the living and the fallen – and ensure that Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and evil violation of the agreement,” Netanyahu said in a video statement. Hamas on Thursday handed over bodies it said were of four hostages, including three members of the Bibas family – Shiri Bibas and her two…

….After Washington designates them as terrorist groups Mexico will never tolerate an invasion of its national sovereignty by the United States, President Claudia Sheinbaum warned Thursday after Washington designated Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organisations. “This cannot be an opportunity for the U.S. to invade our sovereignty,” she said. “With Mexico it is collaboration and coordination, never subordination or interventionism, and even less invasion.” On Wednesday, the Trump administration formally labeled eight cartels as terrorist groups. They include Mexico’s two main drug trafficking organizations, the Jalisco New Generation and Sinaloa cartels. Trump signed an executive order on his first day…

Malian filmmaker, Souleymane Cissé, a pioneer of African cinema with a career spanning 50 years, has died at age 84, Malian television announced Wednesday. The cause of Cissé’s death was not announced. The Malian government said Cissé “had just held a press conference to present two trophies as a prelude to the 29th edition of Fespaco, the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO), which will open this next weekend in the capital of Burkina Faso.” Cissé was the first Black African filmmaker to win a feature film prize at the Cannes Film Festival in France. He won the…

Street rapper, Habeeb Okikiola Olalomi, popularly known as Portable, has been granted a N2 million bail by the Isabo Magistrate Court in Abeokuta, Ogun State. The ‘Zeh Nation’ boss was arraigned by the police on a five-charge bordering on conspiracy, assault and restriction, armed with cutlasses and guns, conduct possible of causing harm to Ogun public officials on Thursday, February 20. He was charged alongside his nine associaltes as they pleaded not guilty to the charges levelled against them. According to the police (prosecutor), Portable and his allies – Nurudeen Warris, Adetola Alashe, Fatimo Muhammed, Oluwaseun Ayenuwa, Ifeoluwa Babatunde, Precious…

President Bola Tinubu has announced some appointments into the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC). Saviour Enyiekere was appointed as the chairman of the commission. Making the announcement in a statement on Thursday, Bayo Onanuga, the president’s special adviser on information and strategy said Enyiekere, an environmental specialist, previously served as the deputy chief of staff to Senate President Godswill Akpabio. The statement said he will hold the position for a five-year term, which may be renewed. Along with Enyiekere, Tinubu also appointed two members from each of Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones to serve on the commission. Like the chairman, they…

A member of the Sokoto State State House of Assembly, Aminu Boza has accused notorious bandit leader, Bello Turji of imposing a ₦25 million levy on villages in the eastern part of the state. The lawmaker is a member representing Sabon Birnin Gobir in the state legislative house. According to security analyst and counter-insurgency expert, Zagazola Makama, Boza made the accusation while speaking to journalists on Tuesday. The lawmaker, who raised the alarm over Turji’s presence in the Isa and Sabon Birni areas said, “Bello Turji is currently in the Isa and Sabon Birni axis of Sokoto. He has even…

A flight carrying primarily Asian undocumented migrants, 65 of whom are minors, is expected to land in San Jose, Costa Rica on Thursday afternoon. A deportation flight leaving the United States on Thursday carrying 135 mostly Asian undocumented migrants is expected to land in Costa Rica in the afternoon. Almost half of the migrants will be children. The migrants, heading from San Diego to San Jose, hail from China, Afghanistan, India and Pakistan, among other countries. Sixty-five minors and at least two pregnant women are among the deportees, Omer Badilla, Costa Rica’s deputy minister of the interior and police, told…