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President Buhari Says He Deliberately Closed Borders to Encourage Food Production In Nigeria

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President Muhammadu Buhari has confessed that he deliberately shut the country’s borders to encourage food production in Nigeria. 

He said this during the inauguration of the new Customs Headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.

While the move was heavily criticised, Buhari noted that Nigerians later appreciated it.

“I deliberately closed the borders because knowing Nigerians, they order rice, give some Niger address, and then they bring the rice here,” he said at the event.

Buhari believes Nigeria can be self-sufficient in food production. Credit: Presidency.

“With our land potential – we thank God Nigeria is favoured. We have people, we have land, and we have weather. How many nations are as lucky as Nigeria in the world? Very few nations are as lucky as we are! We thank God for that.”

Continuing, he said: “So, closing that border – 1,600 kilometres from Lake Chad to Benin – and Nigerians insist they that they have to impress their neighbours and other people and they eat foreign rice. I said, ‘No rice’.”

“You eat what you grow or you die. I tried to make my point. Later Nigerians appreciated it because it provided more jobs,” Buhari added.

“People got back to the lands – we have them– and we produced what we eat. Let whoever grows excess rice eat his own rice or sell it somewhere else.”

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Humanitarian Services: NEMA distributes relief materials to victims of terrorist attacks in 2 Niger communities

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The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has distributed relief materials to victims of terrorist attacks in the Allawa and Bagna communities of the Shiroro Local Government Area in Niger State.

The distribution exercise was conducted at the Mutum Daya community in Shiroro local government area, in collaboration with the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, where community members were also sensitised on safety precautions in respect to the 2026 Seasonal Climate Prediction by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency and the Annual Flood Outlook by the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency.

Terrorists in April attacked Bagna, Erena, Yelwa and neighbouring communities, killing residents and vigilante members, burning houses and displacing several families forcing some of the community members to flee.

The Head of NEMA’s Minna Operations Office, Hussaini Isah, stated that the intervention aimed to provide humanitarian support and alleviate the hardship faced by vulnerable persons affected by the attacks.

Isah said the distribution was organised according to the affected communities to ensure fairness, transparency and orderly conduct.

  1. Abdullahi Baba-Arah. DG, Niger State Emergency Management Agency

Both the Village Head of Allawa, Ibrahim Salihu, and his Bagna counterpart, Bitrus Leo and some beneficiaries appreciated the Federal Government and NEMA for the timely intervention, saying the relief materials had restored hope to vulnerable households affected by the attacks.

Items distributed include 1,000 bags of 25 kg rice, 1,000 bags of 25 kg beans, 1,000 cartons of spaghetti, 100 cartons each of seasoning, vegetable oil, tomato paste and iodised salt.

NEMA also used the medium to advise residents to avoid farming, building houses and carrying out business activities along waterways and flood-prone areas due to the risk of severe and localised flooding predicted for 2026 by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency and the Annual Flood Outlook by the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency.

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HAPPENING NOW: Blackout hits Abuja, Embassies affected

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The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has announced power outage in various parts of Abuja including hotels and diplomatic buildings.

The AEDC made the announcement in its verified X handle today.

It said the blackout also affected Bolingo Hotel, Wada Maida Building, which houses the headquarters of Sudan, Egypt embassies, Envoy Hotel, the European Union embassy, among others.

The other places affected by the blackout are the National Planning Commission (NPC), the National Hospital, and the Turkish, Pakistani, and Indian embassies.

“Also, Garki Area One, Two, Three, Seven and Eight; Garki village; Garki market; Ubiaja Street; Kaltungo Street; and Lagos Street have been affected.

“Also affected are Oka Akoko Street, Treasury House, Karibu Hotel, and part of Asokoro, such as Yakubu Gowon Street.

“Similarly, Imo Government Lodges, Gado Nasko Street, Justice Sowemimo, Hassan Musa Katsina Streets, part of Jasse Martin, NIA, and TY Danjuma Street are without power supply.

“It said also affected are Lugbe, Jedo, Forte Royal, Back Of Dunamics, Customs Quarters, Aviation Village Piwoye Kapwa Ok Water, Nicomsat, Korean School and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport,”.

It attributed the power outage to a technical fault.

“The technical team of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) is currently working to restore the power supply.

“We regret the inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your patience and understanding,” AEDC said.

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Burial begins for Oyo school teacher killed by JAS terrorist group

The deceased teacher is expected to be buried at his residence in the Owolake area of Ogbomoso.

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The burial arrangements for Adesiyan Adegboye, the teacher killed during last Friday’s coordinated attack on three schools in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, began on Friday at Ayegun Baptist Church, Ogbomoso.

Adegboye, 49, was shot dead during the invasion carried out by armed bandits at Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota, Community Grammar School, and L.A. Primary School, Esiele.

The deceased teacher is expected to be buried at his residence in the Owolake area of Ogbomoso.

The attackers reportedly stormed the schools around 9:30am, abducting several teachers and students during the operation that threw the communities into panic.

Following the incident, the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, visited the affected area on Saturday and ordered the deployment of additional detectives from the Force Headquarters in Abuja to support ongoing rescue efforts.

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