News

Economic Reforms: I Have No Cabal Or Sponsors To Compensate —Tinubu

Published

1 year ago

July 26, 2024

82 Views

President Bola Tinubu has allayed fears of manipulation by any interest group in the ongoing economic reforms, saying his campaign was self-sponsored, without strings, or indebtedness to any individual or institution.

The President, who received a delegation of Islamic leaders led by Sheikh Bala Lau, at the State House on Thursday, said his victory at the polls was purely by divine intervention, careful planning, and diligence in getting support from Nigerians.

“I have no cabal. I have no sponsors. The money I spent on the elections was my personal fortune. At some point, the odds were against me; banks were locked. But Allah, the Almighty God, said I will be the President.

Mine is to now follow the leading and teaching of the Almighty God.

“One of the most potent elements of defence is a good conscience. It is also a defence against corruption.“What should be uppermost in our minds is the future of our children.

We have a lot to teach them on what it takes to be a good citizen and what it takes to be a responsible citizen,’’ the President stated.

President Tinubu said protests, fuelled by anger and hate, could degenerate into violence and set the country backwards.

“We are reworking the social welfare scheme to reach the ward level, which is the closest to our people. We will ensure that we re-establish connection with the wards, again, so that we can give allowances to the poor and the vulnerable.

“The student loans will pay for school fees. There will be monetary support for the education of our children. Consumer credit will support citizens in buying cars and houses, and they can repay them gradually.

“We have increased the minimum wage by more than 100 per cent,’’ the President said.

President Tinubu said the sponsors of protests place their selfish ambitions above the national interest.“The sponsors of protests do not love our country.

They have no love for the nation. They do not understand citizenship. They have alternative passports.“They are in different parts of the world holding meetings virtually.

“We do not want to turn Nigeria into Sudan. We are talking about hunger, not burials. We have to be careful. We should be careful with premature politics; politics of hate, and anger.

“The internet has made it possible to hold meetings in artificial settings. They hold meetings and sponsor anger,’’ the President told the religious leaders.

In his remarks, the leader of the delegation, Sheikh Bala Lau, assured the President of support with prayers and more sensitization.“Peace is paramount for us in the country.

Abraham first asked God for peace and guidance,’’ Sheikh Lau noted.

While speaking, the traditional rulers called for calm over the planned nationwide protest to demonstrate against the prevailing economic hardship in Nigeria.

The protest which is billed to begin from August 1st, 2024 has garnered traction on social media.

“We will listen to our youths because they lead the future. The power and the strength of Nigeria are certainly with the young people,” the Dein of Agbor, HRM Benjamin Keagborekuzi said after the meeting.

“We feel your pain.

I’m a young person myself. It’s been 24 years that I’ve been back and it’s been 24 years that I’ve sadly seen the nation going in a very unpalatable direction.

But by God’s grace, I think if you would give us the chance, this protest, I know that it’s catching you very, very high in the net.

But if you give us the chance, let us not destroy our own country. ”On his part, the Emir of Zazzau Ahmed Bamalli said the country’s leaders are worried about the planned protest but called “on our people to exercise patience and to listen to the words of wisdom”.

“Well, the message we are taking back to our people is to be calm, to exercise patience, and also to listen to the words of wisdom coming from the traditional rulers and from the governors because we have spoken to the President and he has given us the blueprint of what he has been doing over time,” he said.

The Ooni of Ife Oba Adeye Enitan Ogunwusi also followed a similar line but called for caution so the protest would not be hijacked.

“We traditional rulers are not engaged in people, especially the youth coming out to start looting to start breaking down law and order. We are parents, we are traditional rulers, we are closer to them,” he said.

“We are going to go back home and continue to engage them.

It is very difficult to build, but it is the easiest to destroy. We are all stakeholders in this country. We should be stronger as a nation together, than stronger individually.”

Thursday’s meeting is part of a last-minute push by the President Tinubu administration – which has come under severe criticism over its policies – to avert the planned protest.

Following the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira since the inception of the Tinubu government, the cost of living has soared, prompting the administration to reel out a raft of measures including a new minimum wage and the distribution of palliative. He has also called for patience.

But these efforts, many argue, are yet to do much in addressing the challenges.

In the wake of the planned protest scheduled to be held nationwide, security agencies have warned the organisers who have remained faceless to shelve the demonstration.

They fear it may be hijacked by criminal elements, and turning violent like the EndSARS protest of 2020.

Several groups have also pulled out of the scheduled demonstration, but proponents argue that it is the citizens’ right to protest perceived ill-treatment from the government.

News

FG Declares Friday Eid-ul-Mawlid Public Holiday

On behalf of the Federal Government, the Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, extended warm greetings to Muslims in Nigeria and worldwide.

Published

10 minutes ago

September 3, 2025

OCHEFA

10 Views

•Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo

The Federal Government has declared Friday, September 5, 2025, a public holiday to mark Eid-ul-Mawlid, the birth of the Holy Prophet Muhammad.

This was contained in a statement issued by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Dr Magdalene Ajani.

In the statement, the Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, on behalf of the Federal Government, extended warm greetings to Muslims in Nigeria and worldwide.

He urged the Muslim Ummah to emulate the Prophet’s virtues of peace, love, humility, tolerance and compassion, stressing that these values are crucial to building a united and progressive nation.

Business

Aviation Fraud: NCAA Calls for EFCC Intervention

Published

11 minutes ago

September 3, 2025

Charles Flames

12 Views

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to escalate its fight against fraud and economic crimes plaguing the aviation industry.

NCAA Director General, Captain Chris Najomo, made the appeal during a courtesy visit to EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, at the commission’s Abuja headquarters on Tuesday, according to a statement released on the EFCC’s official X handle.

Najomo highlighted how fraudulent activities are severely undermining safety oversight and operational transparency within the sector. He specifically pointed to high-value transactions like aircraft purchases, leasing arrangements, foreign maintenance contracts, and safety infrastructure procurement as areas particularly vulnerable to abuse.

“Non-remittance weakens the NCAA’s ability to fund safety oversight and operational efficiency, and may require EFCC’s intervention to investigate cases where deliberate withholding, diversion, or misappropriation of these funds is suspected,” Najomo stated.

He further alleged that some aviation operators deliberately under-report revenues, manipulate ticketing systems, or divert funds, actions that cripple the NCAA’s regulatory capacity.

Najomo also raised concerns about illegal charter operations disguised as private flights, which involve unregulated financial flows, emphasizing the critical need for the EFCC’s financial intelligence expertise to uncover such practices.

To address these challenges, Najomo proposed collaborative initiatives, including training NCAA personnel to identify financial red flags, organizing joint sensitization workshops, and establishing robust intelligence-sharing mechanisms to enhance regulatory oversight.

Responding, EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede welcomed the partnership and announced that senior EFCC officers would collaborate with the NCAA to finalize a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

The agreement will focus on joint investigations, intelligence exchange, and compliance monitoring. “With the kind of work you do, when people see us beside you, they will take you seriously. Aviation is an area where we have seen money laundering, particularly through chartered services.

That is why we have been reaching out to you, and we will continue until we achieve the desired results,” Olukoyede affirmed.

Health

Rumours of Trump’s ill health spread online despite denial

Published

33 minutes ago

September 3, 2025

Charles Flames

22 Views

From manipulated images to out-of-context photos, false claims that Donald Trump is seriously ill — or even dead — have swirled online, with the misinformation persisting even after the US president publicly rejected it on Tuesday.

At a White House press conference, Trump dismissed social media rumours about his health as “fake news,” following the 79-year-old’s noticeable absence from public appearances and press events last week.

Since last Friday, there were around 104,000 mentions of the hashtag “Trump dead” on the Elon Musk-owned platform X, generating a cumulative 35.3 million views, according to an analysis from the misinformation watchdog NewsGuard.

Some social media users cited online maps purportedly showing road closures near Maryland’s Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre as evidence that Trump was being treated for a serious ailment at the facility.

But there were no credible reports of road closures around the medical facility.

Other social media users shared an image of an ambulance parked outside the White House, claiming it was taken last month and citing it as evidence of a health crisis involving Trump.

It was actually an old photo posted by a journalist on X in April 2023 — while Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, was still in office, according to NewsGuard.

Some users claiming that Trump was dead shared an out-of-context image of the White House flag flying at half-staff, a traditional gesture used to honour the death of a prominent official.

In reality, Trump had issued a proclamation last week ordering flags at the White House, military posts, and naval stations across the country to be lowered in honour of the victims of a school shooting in Minneapolis.

Some users also posted a zoomed-in image of Trump’s face, claiming it showed a deep line above his eye that indicated a recent stroke.

But NewsGuard found that the original image was out of focus and showed no signs of a line over Trump’s eye. The image used in the false posts was digitally enhanced using an AI tool.

The misinformation — which appeared to originate from liberal anti-Trump accounts on X, Bluesky, and Instagram — persisted even after Trump stated on Truth Social over the weekend: “NEVER FELT BETTER IN MY LIFE.”

The falsehoods continued to circulate following Trump’s press conference on Tuesday, where he publicly dismissed the health rumours.

Shortly after the conference, one Bluesky account falsely claimed that the “White House just announced” the president was dead.

The falsehoods highlight how facts are increasingly under assault on a misinformation-filled internet landscape, an issue exacerbated by public distrust of institutions and traditional media.

The health of US presidents has always been closely watched, but with the White House seeing its two oldest ever occupants since 2017, the scrutiny is now heavier than ever.

Trump — the oldest man ever to be elected US president — has alleged that Democrats covered up the mental and physical decline of Biden, who was 82 when he left office in January.

Biden’s health was a key issue in the 2024 election, and the then-president was forced to drop his campaign for a second term after a disastrous debate performance against Trump.

AFP