News
I knew what poverty is when I became Emir – Sanusi Lamido

“Do we actually love the people or do we just love ruling over them? What are our priorities?
The Emir of Kano and former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has said he got to know what poverty truly is when he mounted the throne.
Sanusi said this in a goodwill message at a public lecture with the theme: “Weaponization of poverty as a means of underdevelopment: A case study of Nigeria.”
It was held to commemorate the 60th birthday celebration of former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, in Abuja, on Saturday.
The former CBN Governor said, “Many of the elites in Nigeria do not know what poverty is.
As an economist, former CBN Governor, I see the numbers. I did not know poverty until I became Emir.
“And you go to the village and see the water they drink, the houses they live in, the two block classrooms without roofs.
“Do we actually love the people or do we just love ruling over them? What are our priorities.?
We make overheads and underpasses for ourselves in the cities while there in the rural areas cannot reach hospitals. We are in crisis, how do we get out, should be our focus.”
Sanusi charged those saddled with the responsibility of leadership to inculcate the virtues of empathy with those they’ve been given a responsibility to lead.
Also speaking at the event, former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai expressed concern that Nigerians kept repeating the same mistake of electing the worst among us into leadership positions.
According to him, “We keep electing people who only know how to grab power but don’t know what to do with it.”
A former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme, Prof. Usman Yusuf, in his intervention, explained that most of the cases being handled in hospitals were not medical.
Yusuf blamed corruption and bad governance for the multidimensional poverty in Nigeria. He emphasised that citizens live up to their responsibilities and vote for what is right.
News
Lagos Alerts Motorists on 110-Day Ogudu/Ifako Bridge Repairs
The first to fourth phases, covering the stretch of Ogudu/Ifako Bridge inbound Alapere, will commence from Saturday, June 28 and end on Saturday, August 16 (50 days).

The Lagos State Government has released a diversion plan ahead of the repair of the Ogudu/Ifako Bridge, which will take 110 days.
The Commissioner for Transportation, Oluwaseun Osiyemi, revealed this in a statement he signed and issued to newsmen on Tuesday in Lagos.
Osiyemi said that the repair, postponed earlier, would begin from June 28, 2025 and end on October 15, 2025.
The commissioner said that the repair was expected to be carried out in eight phases on both lanes.
He said: “The first to fourth phases, covering the stretch of Ogudu/Ifako Bridge inbound Alapere, will commence from Saturday, June 28 and end on Saturday, August 16 (50 days).
“Phases five to eight, covering the stretch of Ogudu/Ifako inbound Oworoshoki, will be fixed between Saturday, August 16 and Sunday, October 5 (51 days).”
Crime
BREAKING: Scores feared dead as daredevil terrorists engage Soldiers in Kaduna, Niger

Scores of daredevil terrorists and some military personnel have been killed following a gun battle in Niger and Kaduna States.
Nigerian Army Headquarters made the disclosure in a statement posted on its official X handle on Wednesday.
The statement said the operations were carried out in Kwanar Dutse Mairiga and Boka, Niger State, and Aungwan Turai, Chikun Local Government Area (LGA) of Kaduna State.
The daredevil terrorists had launched an unprovoked attack on the aforementioned areas.
According to the statement, in response to the attacks, “land and air component troops launched several counter-attacks that eliminated scores of bandits in the encounters.
“Sadly, some gallant warriors paid the supreme price in the day-long battles, while four wounded in-action troops are currently receiving treatment for their gunshot wounds.
More updates later.”
News
“That’s pure land grabbing” – IPOB rejects FG’s ranching proposal

The Indigenous People of Biafra, has condemned the announcement by President Bola Tinubu, proposing the establishment of cattle ranches in Abuja, the ancestral homeland of the Gbagi people and other states across the country.
The pro-Biafran group said the move is nothing but Ruga repackaged and a sinister land-grabbing strategy cloaked in government policy.
In a press statement released on Tuesday, IPOB spokesman, Emma Powerful, said it is a shame that in the 21st century, the Federal Government is prioritising cow colonies over education, security, and innovation.
Powerful said what began as the “need for grazing” centuries ago led to the total subjugation of proud territories, adding, “the rise of alien emirates, and the transformation of indigenous owners of the land into strangers in their ancestral homes.
Abuja is about to witness the same fate if this madness is not stopped.”
The statement read in part, “President Tinubu unaware that no sensible country in the world keeps cattle around its capital city?
“Let him point to any major city—from Nairobi to New Delhi, São Paulo to Seoul—where cattle are granted permanent settlements around central governance zones.
“This absurdity is uniquely Nigerian, and disgracefully so.”
While saying that the land around Abuja belongs to the Gbagi people, Powerful said, “To dispossess them by executive fiat is an unforgivable act of aggression and cultural genocide.”
He added, “Today, the Gbagi are being pushed to the margins; tomorrow, there will be an Emir of Abuja. And in 60 years—just like what befell the Hausas—the Gbagi will be footnotes in history, reduced to relics of their own heritage.
“Let it be known that IPOB shall resist any attempt—direct or indirect—to impose this toxic expansionist agenda anywhere in Biafraland.
No inch of our territory will be given for herder settlements, cattle corridors, or so-called ranching. Our forests, our villages, our farmlands are sacred to us—not bargaining chips in a federal contract of death.
“Let them be transported by rail, just as is done in civilised societies. That’s how a serious nation handles its livestock economy—not by slaughtering indigenous peoples and seizing their homes under the guise of ranching.”
According to him, no progressive nation erects ranches next to homes, schools, and marketplaces. The fact that this administration cannot comprehend this basic logic is a reflection of its failure, not ours.
“IPOB stands with the Gbagi people and every other indigenous nationality facing existential threats from Fulani neo-colonial conquest dressed up as national policy.
Our diversity must be respected, our cultures preserved, and our ancestral lands protected. Let the killings in the name of cows stop. Let the bloodletting cease. Let Nigeria choose reason over ruin,” the statement added.
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