Author: Friday Omosola

On Saturday, Pope Francis was laid to rest in his favoured Roman church after a funeral Mass at St Peter’s Square. The 88-year-old pontiff, who passed away on Monday, was interred during a brief 30-minute ceremony that commenced at 1:00 pm (1100 GMT) within the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, one of Rome’s most significant ancient churches. Video footage released by the Holy See captured cardinals affixing red wax seals to his simple wooden and zinc coffin. READ ALSO: Pope Francis dies at 88: Vatican enters mourning, funeral to take place Saturday Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who as camerlengo oversees the Vatican’s…

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s administration, stating it has no tangible achievements to showcase and no credible record to defend. Reacting to the wave of defections from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku, in a statement posted on his X page yesterday, said the Tinubu administration’s only strategy is ‘chaos and division,’ which he described as ‘the last refuge of the incompetent.’ Atiku compared Tinubu’s leadership to that of an unskilled captain who not only wrecks his ship but endangers the lives of all on board. He maintained that freedom of association and expression are…

A prominent chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Segun Sowunmi, has criticised Peter Obi, the 2023 presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP) over his recent comments on Nigeria’s economic situation during a lecture at Johns Hopkins University in the United States. Obi, speaking on ‘Politics and Change in Nigeria’ at the invitation of Professor Peter Lewis, drew comparisons between Nigeria and three other nations — China, Vietnam, and Indonesia — assessing their development trajectories since 1990. The former Anambra State governor noted that while all four countries were categorised under the medium Human Development Index (HDI) in 1990, Nigeria…

The Federal Government (FG) is set to roll out the National Agribusiness Policy Mechanism (NAPM), a sweeping policy initiative designed to boost agricultural productivity, stabilise food prices, and accelerate economic growth. The Vice President Kashim Shettima announced on Friday while speaking at a meeting of the Presidential Food Systems Coordinating Unit (PFSCU) Steering Committee at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Shettima escribed the initiative as a critical step toward aligning Nigeria’s agricultural policies with modern data-driven practices and robust public-private partnerships. READ ALSO: Nigeria, Brazil set to operationalize direct flights under BASA arrangements “We have had many interventions in the past, but…

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has been appointed by President Bola Tinubu to lead Nigeria’s five-member delegation to the funeral of Pope Francis, scheduled for Saturday, 26 April. In a statement issued on Friday, Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, announced that the delegation also includes the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu Ojukwu; Archbishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria; Archbishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of the Sokoto Diocese; and Archbishop Ignatius Ayua Kaigama of the Abuja Diocese. Pope Francis, the revered head of the Roman Catholic Church,…

The Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal has upheld $220 million administrative penalty imposed by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) on Meta Platforms Incorporated (Facebook) and WhatsApp LLC. In a statement issued on Friday, Ondaje Ijagwu, Director of Corporate Affairs at the agency, announced that the tribunal upheld the commission’s legal authority and validated its investigative findings. On 19 July 2024, FCCPC imposed a $220 million fine on Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram, over multiple breaches of data privacy regulations. READ ALSO: WhatsApp will stop working on these phones from May 5, 2025 Meta has,…

Former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has identified poor political leadership as the primary factor behind Nigeria’s persistent underdevelopment The former Anambra State governor said this during his lecture delivered yesterday at Johns Hopkins University, USA. Speaking on the theme ‘Politics and Change in Nigeria’ at the invitation of Professor Peter Lewis—renowned author of ‘Growing Apart: Comparing Indonesia and Nigeria’—Obi drew sharp contrasts between Nigeria and three peer nations: China, Vietnam, and Indonesia, over the last 35 years. READ ALSO: Defection: PDP undergoing rebirth, not crisis – Saraki Obi noted that in 1990, all four countries were ranked…

Vice President Kashim Shettima has called for greater collaboration between public and private sector stakeholders to unlock Nigeria’s full potential in skills development. He emphasised that a united national strategy is crucial for transforming the country’s workforce. Shettima stressed that Nigeria’s demographic advantage can only translate into real economic gains if the youth and workforce are equipped with critical, market-relevant skills. “We know that isolated programmes, no matter how well-intentioned, cannot substitute for a unified national strategy. That is why this council’s work remains indispensable. There are challenges, but we can conquer them if we act with unity, urgency, and…

Former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has weighed in on the wave of defections currently affecting the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Reacting to the recent defection of Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, alongside the party’s 2023 vice-presidential candidate, Ifeanyi Okowa, and several other prominent PDP leaders to the All Progressives Congress (APC), Saraki described the situation as a phase of ‘rebirth’ rather than decline. In a statement posted on his Instagram page on Friday, the 62-year-old politician stated that those intent on leaving the party should feel free to do so, as their exit would allow the PDP to identify its…

The National Economic Council (NEC), chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima, has approved a series of far-reaching economic initiatives. They includes the establishment of a Cotton, Textile and Garment Development Board and the adoption of a national agribusiness and livestock transformation strategy expected to generate up to $90 billion by 2035. These resolutions were reached during the 149th NEC meeting held on Thursday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The Council, comprising the 36 state governors, key federal ministers, and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, also observed a minute of silence in honour of victims of recent attacks…