Author: Helen Okechukwu

Lagos

The National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) Nigeria has praised the transformative leadership of Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa following his reappointment. NCWS in a post shared on National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Facebook page on Thursday, announced plans to deepen collaboration with the anti-drug agency to expand drug-prevention initiatives across the country. During a courtesy visit to the NDLEA headquarters in Abuja on 3 December 2025, the NCWS National President, Princess Edna Azura, praised President Bola Tinubu for reappointing Marwa as Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the Agency for another five-year term. She described the renewal as a national endorsement…

Police

In a fresh push to broaden access to quality and affordable healthcare for all Rivers residents, the Rivers State Contributory Health Protection Programme (RIVCHPP) has intensified its advocacy efforts by seeking strategic partnerships with the Ministries of Commerce and Transport to boost enrolment, particularly among those in the informal sector. During separate visits to both ministries according to the post shared on Wednesday, the Executive Secretary of RIVCHPP, Dr. Vetty Agala, reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to ensuring that more residents benefit from health insurance without the burden of heavy out-of-pocket payments at the point of care. At the Ministry of…

Nigeria First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, has launched a nationwide economic empowerment scheme for persons living with disabilities, providing business grants aimed at strengthening livelihoods across the country. The launching was carried out on Wednesday. The initiative was introduced during the commemoration of the 2025 World Disabilities Day in Port Harcourt, where the Rivers State First Lady, Lady Valerie Fubara, received the Universal Health Coverage Ambassador Award. Represented by Lady Fubara at the event held at the Banquet Hall of Government House, Mrs Tinubu said the programme formed part of the Renewed Hope Initiative’s (RHI) commitment to improving the economic well-being…

To curb the rising tide of drug abuse among youths, major government and community stakeholders in Rivers State have launched a coordinated, state-wide campaign targeting schools, communities, and public spaces. This move, led by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in strategic partnership with the Southern Base Development Initiative (SBDI), brings together the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Federal Road Safety Corps, Nigeria Police Force, and local education authorities in a unified effort to tackle the scourge of substance misuse. Speaking at the launch event held at Community Secondary School Amadi-Ama, Port Harcourt, NDDC officials described the campaign as…

Nigeria’s growing tax revenues present a significant opportunity to expand funding for vulnerable populations and drive progress toward Universal Health Coverage (UHC), the Health and Managed Care Association of Nigeria (HMCAN) has said. Speaking at the association’s annual general meeting in Lagos, the newly elected HMCAN President, Dr. Abdulkadri Osuma, said the conference theme was deliberately chosen to spotlight the vast opportunities within Nigeria’s healthcare landscape as well as the gaps in existing legislation that could stall sectoral growth if not urgently addressed. He urged the federal government to maximise the fiscal gains through policy alignment and strategic investment in…

Barely 24 hours after Rivers State University’s (RSU) Vice Chancellor reaffirmed the safety of students at the institution’s Emuoha satellite campus, five undergraduates were kidnapped from their off-campus residence in the early hours of Tuesday, casting immediate doubt on the assurances offered by the school management. The attack occurred at Rumuchi/Rumuohia in Emuoha Local Government Area, where gunmen believed to be cultists stormed a cluster of student lodges around 2 am, shooting sporadically before forcefully taking the victims to an unknown destination. The assailants reportedly killed the compound’s security dog to gain access, operating with minimal resistance. Police spokesperson, Grace…

The Rivers State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Adaeze Oreh, has called for deeper collaboration between the state government and traditional institutions to strengthen healthcare delivery across all communities. She made the appeal on Monday while addressing the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers at their combined 123rd and 124th General Meeting at the Council Secretariat. Oreh noted that traditional rulers remain indispensable partners in mobilising citizens, promoting trust in public health interventions, and encouraging the uptake of essential services such as immunisation and maternal and child healthcare. She briefed the monarchs on the state’s community health initiatives currently running across…

The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has put the Federal Government (FG) on notice, signalling that the clock has begun ticking on a strict four-week window to fulfil all agreed demands or face another round of total, indefinite industrial action. In a communique issued after its Extraordinary National Executive Council meeting on Monday, the association stressed that its recent decision to suspend a 29-day strike was merely a strategic pause to allow the government time to honour commitments captured in a freshly signed Memorandum of Understanding. The document, endorsed by NARD’s President, Dr Mohammad Suleiman; Secretary-General, Dr Shuaibu Ibrahim;…