News
Tinubu: I came To Help, Not Hurt Nigerians, Economy

- Channels N200bn to Foods; Transport N100bn
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, this evening, vows to improve the welfare and living conditions of Nigerians through his economic reforms, saying, “I plead with you to please have faith in our ability to deliver and in our concern for your well-being.
Tinubu, in his national broadcast on the current economic challenges, assures Nigerians that ” We will get out of this turbulence. And, due to the measures we have taken, Nigeria will be better equipped and able to take advantage of the future that awaits her.”
He further urges the led, to look beyond the present temporary economic pains and aim at the larger picture ahead , stressing : ” I came here to help not hurt the people and the nation that I love.”
He acknowledged that although Our economy is going through a tough patch and Nigerians are being hurt by it, ” AFTER DARKNESS COMES THE GLORIOUS DAWN.”
Consequently, in order to ensure that foods are available and affordable, Tinubu has ordered the release of 200,000 Metric Tonnes of grains from strategic reserves to households across the 36 states and FCT to moderate prices.
He said that the government is also providing 225,000 metric tonnes of fertilizer, seedlings and other inputs to farmers who are committed to our food security agenda.
Our plan to support cultivation of 500,000 hectares of farmland and all-year-round farming practice remains on course.
To be specific, N200 billion out of the N500 billion approved by the National Assembly will be disbursed as follows:
-Our administration will invest N50 billion each to cultivate 150,000 hectares of rice and maize.
-N50 billion each will also be earmarked to cultivate 100,000 hectares of wheat and cassava.
This expansive agricultural programme will be implemented targeting small-holder farmers and leveraging large-scale private sector players in the agric business with strong performance record.
Investing N100bn on CNG fuel buses
” We have made provision to invest N100 billion between now and March 2024 to acquire 3000 units of 20-seater CNG-fuelled buses.
These buses will be shared to major transportation companies in the states, using the intensity of travel per capital. Participating transport companies will be able to access credit under this facility at 9% per annum with 60 months repayment period.
His words: “The cost of fuel has gone up. Food and other prices have followed it. Households and businesses struggle. Things seem anxious and uncertain. I understand the hardship you face. I wish there were other ways. But there is not. If there were, I would have taken that route.
” Fellow Nigerians, I made a solemn pledge to work for you. How to improve your welfare and living condition is of paramount importance to me and it’s the only thing that keeps me up day and night.
“All of our good and helpful plans are in the works. More importantly, I know that they will work,” he said.
He explains that the decision by his government to have removed fuel subsidy and the preferential exchange rate system were taken to combat the serious economic challenges this nation has long faced.
” For several years, I have consistently maintained the position that the fuel subsidy had to go. This once beneficial measure had outlived its usefulness.
“The subsidy cost us trillions of Naira yearly.
Such a vast sum of money would have been better spent on public transportation, healthcare, schools, housing and even national security.
Instead, it was being funnelled into the deep pockets and lavish bank accounts of a select group of individuals.
This group had amassed so much wealth and power that they became a serious threat to the fairness of our economy and the integrity of our democratic governance.
To be blunt, Nigeria could never become the society it was intended to be as long as such small, powerful yet unelected groups hold enormous influence over our political economy and the institutions that govern it.
The whims of the few should never hold dominant sway over the hopes and aspirations of the many. If we are to be a democracy, the people and not the power of money must be sovereign.
The preceding administration saw this looming danger as well. Indeed, it made no provision in the 2023 Appropriations for subsidy after June this year. Removal of this once helpful device that had transformed into a millstone around the country’s neck had become inevitable.
Also, the multiple exchange rate system that had been established became nothing but a highway of currency speculation. It diverted money that should have been used to create jobs, build factories and businesses for millions of people.
Our national wealth was doled on favourable terms to a handful of people who have been made filthy rich simply by moving money from one hand to another. This too was extremely unfair.
It also compounded the threat that the illicit and mass accumulation of money posed to the future of our democratic system and its economy.”
I had promised to reform the economy for the long-term good by fighting the major imbalances that had plagued our economy. Ending the subsidy and the preferential exchange rate system were key to this fight. This fight is to define the fate and future of our nation. Much is in the balance.
Thus, the defects in our economy immensely profited a tiny elite, the elite of the elite you might call them.
As we moved to fight the flaws in the economy, the people who grow rich from them, predictably, will fight back through every means necessary.
News
LAAF Organizes Haircut Outreach for Homeless Men in Honour of Men’s Mental Health Month
According to the World Population Review homelessness affects millions globally. In Nigeria alone an estimated 24 million people experience some form of housing insecurity.

The Life After Abuse Foundation expresses deep gratitude to all volunteers, barbers, donors and partners who made the event possible.
Lagos, Nigeria — On Saturday June 29th in honor of Father’s Month and Men’s Mental Health Month, the Life After Abuse Foundation hosted a powerful outreach event for homeless men at Teslim Balogun Stadium under the banner of The Dear Man Project.
The event served as a beacon of hope for fathers, brothers, and sons who have been bruised by life, forgotten by systems and silenced by shame.
This was more than a charity event. It was a sacred moment of restoration. Through simple but meaningful gestures such as a clean haircut a warm meal and a compassionate environment these men were reminded that they are seen valued and not forgotten.
According to the World Population Review homelessness affects millions globally. In Nigeria alone an estimated 24 million people experience some form of housing insecurity.
Among them are countless men burdened silently by poverty addiction trauma or job loss. These individuals often move through life invisible.
“Homelessness is not just the absence of a home” said Halima Layeni founder of Life After Abuse Foundation and facilitator of the session.
“It is the weight of being unseen. But on Saturday love broke through that cycle.
We may not have given them everything but we gave them something priceless: dignity.”
The atmosphere was filled with gratitude smiles and quiet moments of reflection. Many of the men expressed how the experience rekindled a sense of self-worth and reminded them that they still matter.
For some it was the first haircut they had received in years.
For others it was simply being listened to without judgment that moved them the most.
The outreach provided more than temporary relief. It restored confidence and planted seeds of hope.
Several men voiced a renewed desire to pursue support services reconnect with family and rebuild their lives.
The outreach was a heartfelt expression of community healing and humanity.
It was a moment where forgotten men were reminded of their worth and allowed to see themselves with new eyes.
The Life After Abuse Foundation expresses deep gratitude to all volunteers, barbers, donors and partners who made the event possible.
About The Dear Man Project
The Dear Man Project is an initiative of the Life After Abuse Foundation dedicated to supporting the mental emotional and social wellbeing of men especially those affected by trauma abuse and systemic neglect.
Through advocacy outreach and healing centered programs the project reimagines masculinity and champions dignity for all men.
Entertainment
BREAKING: Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs found guilty of two counts of transportation for prostitution

American convicted singer, Puff-Daddy also known as Sean “Diddy” Combs was found guilty of two counts of transportation for prostitution following a bombshell nine-week sex-trafficking and racketeering trial.
See the charges below:

Combs was charged with five counts: one count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking by force or fraud, and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
He was found not guilty of sex-trafficking and racketeering. Prosecutors called 34 witnesses to the stand over a more than six-week period, including three women who accused him of abuse.
Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, Diddy’s ex, told jurors that he coerced her into drug-fueled sexual encounters with male escorts for about a decade.
“I felt pretty horrible about myself,” Cassie told jurors, saying that he lured her into a lurid world under the false pretenses of a romantic relationship — keeping compliant with physical and verbal abuse, as well as the threat of blackmail.
“I felt disgusted,” Cassie said as she testified about these encounters, called “Freak Offs”, “Hotel Nights,” or “King Nights,” which are core to prosecutors’ case.
Diddy allegedly recorded many of these encounters, giving him blackmail material to hold over his victims’ heads, prosecutors said at trial.
The prosecution contends that Diddy’s abuse was part of a sprawling criminal enterprise that relied on other violent acts, such as alleged kidnapping and arson, and included other crimes such as drug distribution and witness tampering, made possible by his devoted employees and inner circle.
A key piece of evidence in prosecutors’ case is a spring 2016 video apparently showing Diddy attacking Cassie in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel during an alleged Freak Off.
Cassie described the alleged horrors in detail during her days on the stand. She was coerced into performing for days even when she had a urinary-tract infection or other injuries stemming from sex acts.
“When we were having frequent Freak Offs,” Cassie alleged, “sometimes they were back to back. I was actually doing the Freak Offs with the infection.” She said the infections were painful and frequent.
“It got to the point where Cipro didn’t work anymore,” Cassie also remarked, referring to the powerful antibiotic.
“Occasionally, I would get sores on my tongue from the Freak Offs, [from] taking drugs, substances, friction in my mouth,” she claimed.
Cassie added that she developed an “ongoing, ooff-and-on addiction with opiates.” Cassie said she would take opiates to come down from the ecstasy.
“Opiates made me feel numb, which is why I relied on them so heavily,” she said. “I didn’t want to feel what was actually going on … it was just an escape for me.”
Cassie also alleged that Diddy raped her after a post-breakup dinner in 2018. “I just remember crying and saying ‘no,’” she said on the stand.“
Jane,” another Diddy accuser who took the stand, entered into what she believed was a romantic relationship with him in early 2021.
He took her on a trip to Turks and Caicos for her birthday and they swiftly developed pet names for each other, Bert and Ernie.
“He was really charming, really nice, and I was just drawn to him,” Jane testified. As they spent more and more time together, which included using molly during their sexual encounters,
Diddy told Jane about his fantasies — involving her having sex with other men. One night, after they had been awake for 12 hours, Jane said Diddy suggested: “I can make this fantasy a reality if you’d like. I can make that happen.”
Since the idea was “turning him on” and Jane cared deeply about him, she agreed. “I felt that that night just opened like a Pandora’s box in our relationship. It just completely set the tone for our relationship going forward,” she said.
As time went on, Jane repeatedly told Diddy that she no longer wanted to participate in these encounters.
She broke into tears while describing how Diddy doled out ecstasy so she could stay awake during those dayslong events that sometimes involved multiple male escorts.
“He would be like: ‘You’re not getting tired on me, are you? Let’s finish strong, hard. Let’s end on a high note,’” Jane said.
Diddy was so demanding about these sexual events that he pressured her into not using condoms, saying “he didn’t want to see a rubber while he was watching.”
If she brought it up, he would “guilt-trip” her. Jane said she went along with Diddy’s desires given how much she’d fallen for him. “I just didn’t want to disappoint my lover.”
Diddy maintained his power over Jane financially, prosecutors claimed. Jane said that in spring 2023, they entered into a “love contract” in which he agreed to pay her rent.
As a result, she felt pressure to make Diddy happy, lest he cut off his support. In the summer of 2024 — when Diddy knew he was being investigated by the Feds — Jane said that Diddy pressured her into an encounter.
“I said, ‘I don’t want to!’” Jane recalled of that evening. Diddy got close to her face and said: “Is this coercion?” and compelled her to take ecstasy. “I had to perform oral sex on Anton. It just felt like forever.”
Diddy allegedly watched. “I felt so sick … I just felt disgusted. I just felt terrible.
”Mia, a former Diddy assistant, said that he attacked her multiple times.
“The highs were really high and the lows were really, really low,” Mia told jurors. The work environment varied wildly depending on Diddy’s ever-changing moods.
“He’s thrown things at me. He’s thrown me against the wall … He’s thrown me into a pool … He’s also, uh, sexually assaulted me,” she said.
Mia said he’d sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions. One night in 2010, when she was staying at Diddy’s Los Angeles home,
Mia woke to “the weight of a person on top of me.” The person was Diddy. Mia remembered Diddy undoing his pants.
“He put himself inside of me … I just froze.” Mia said she felt “terrified and confused and ashamed.”
Another time, when she was leaving a closet area, “He was standing right in front of me.”
Diddy, she said, “had his penis out” and forced her to perform oral sex.
News
Tinubu: Data Now Nigeria’s “New Oil,” Key to Progress

President Bola Tinubu has declared data as “the new oil,” emphasising its critical role in governance and Nigeria’s global standing.
He announced a directive for all ministries, departments, and agencies to capture, safeguard, and responsibly release data to drive public value and facilitate international benchmarking.
This strategic emphasis on data comes as Galaxy Backbone launches its 1Government Cloud Academy, an initiative designed to equip civil servants with the essential digital skills for Nigeria’s transition to a paperless public sector.
According to a statement from Galaxy Backbone on Wednesday, the set up of the academy is a strategic move to advance Nigeria’s transition to a paperless civil service and enhance communication across Ministries, Departments, and Agencies.
The announcement was a key highlight of the 2025 International Civil Service Conference in Abuja, attended by President Tinubu, members of the Federal Executive Council, the diplomatic community, industry leaders, and civil servants.
In his opening remarks, President Tinubu reinforced the strategic significance of data, describing it as “the new oil.”
He clarified that unlike traditional oil, data’s value appreciates with refinement and responsible utilisation.
The President mandated all MDAs to diligently capture and safeguard data under the Nigerian Data Protection Act (2023), and to release it in ways that generate public value, ensuring strict adherence to international data privacy standards.
“We must let our data speak for us. We must publish verified data assets locally and share them globally. This will enable international benchmarking and strengthen Nigeria’s standing on the world stage,” he stated.
He further emphasised the need for data sovereignty and privacy to be rigorously protected within local and allied data centers.
Galaxy Backbone’s new 1Government Cloud Academy aims to train selected civil servants and public sector stakeholders in technical tools crucial for successful digital transformation.
This move is a strategic step towards advancing Nigeria’s digital public service and improving communication across MDAs.
The Programme Director of the 1Government Cloud initiative, Mr. Wumi Oghoetuoma, while speaking on a panel at the event, underscored the paramount importance of trust and understanding in the successful adoption of digital tools.
“Many digital solutions have failed not because they were ineffective, but because users didn’t trust or fully understand them,” Oghoetuoma noted.
He lauded the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation for her decisive reform efforts in public sector digitalization, highlighting that the academy’s training encompasses both technical competencies and vital soft skills for transformation.
The 1Government Cloud Academy will serve as a central hub for training and certifying government personnel, particularly ECM Project Managers.
These civil servants are selected as “transformation champions” within their departments, acting as in-house digital guides to help colleagues overcome initial challenges and build confidence in new tools.
“This approach builds trust, improves usability, and encourages widespread adoption across MDAs,” Oghoetuoma explained, adding, “Many tools are abandoned not because they don’t work, but due to lack of communication and internal support.”
Oghoetuoma pointed out that even basic issues, like poor WiFi connectivity, often remain unresolved because ministry staff fail to engage with their IT departments, and those departments, in turn, don’t escalate the issues to Galaxy Backbone.
“This silent communication breakdown creates a false perception that the system is broken, when in reality, it’s an unreported or unresolved issue,” he said.
To tackle this, the academy is also offering specialized certification courses for IT departments to boost responsiveness and cross-functional collaboration.
He stressed that the challenge isn’t a lack of digital literacy, as most civil servants are proficient with smartphones and social media. Instead, it’s a matter of “mindset, motivation, and ongoing support.”
Oghoetuoma emphasized, “Digital transformation hinges on people, processes, and technology.”
He concluded, “With strong personnel and well-documented processes already in place, the missing link is often technology adoption, and the glue that holds it all together is communication. Sustainable digitalisation in the public sector requires making people feel like active participants, not passive users.”
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, highlighted that Nigeria’s digital reforms as a model for other nations.
She cited the automation of processes through the Enterprise Content Management system, the introduction of a Performance Management System, and the deployment of ServiceWise GPT, which aligns individual roles with national priorities.
The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Richard Montgomery, commended Nigeria’s reform agenda under President Tinubu, stating,“
These are bold and necessary steps for long-term development.”
He underscored that the success of these reforms hinges on efficient service delivery and integrity within the civil service.
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