The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has called on the Federal Government to declare an official moratorium on executions and state governors to commute eligible death sentences to life imprisonment, amid concerns that more than 3,000 inmates remain on death row across Nigeria. The commission said Nigeria was approaching 10 consecutive years without a state execution, a development it described as meeting the international standard for a de facto moratorium, despite the continued imposition of death sentences and the prolonged detention of condemned inmates. The Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Chief Tony Ojukwu, made the call on Friday in Abuja…
Author: Abimbola Ogunaike
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The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and global technology firm Cisco have entered into a partnership to equip up to 50,000 Nigerian youths with digital skills, as the government and development partners intensify efforts to bridge the gap between graduate unemployment and the growing demand for technology-driven jobs. The initiative, backed by the European Union (EU), will provide beneficiaries of the Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme (NJFP) with free access to Cisco’s Networking Academy platform, enabling them to acquire industry-relevant digital competencies to improve their employability and competitiveness in the labour market. The partnership, formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)…
The Embassy of Israel in Nigeria has trained Nigerian healthcare professionals in life-saving maternal emergency care as part of efforts to strengthen the country’s response to childbirth-related complications and reduce preventable maternal deaths. The five-day clinical training programme, led by Israeli medical specialist, Professor Offer Erez, was held at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu, from October 5 to 9, 2026. The programme brought together doctors, obstetricians, gynaecologists, midwives, professors, clinical lecturers and other healthcare professionals for specialised instruction in postpartum haemorrhage (PPH), obstetric emergencies, thrombosis, haemostasis and emergency response protocols. Postpartum haemorrhage, a condition involving excessive bleeding…
The immediate past spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimieibi Ebienfa, has received the Media Diplomat of the Year Award at the 13th edition of the Bayelsa Media Awards, held as part of activities marking the 30th anniversary of Bayelsa State. Ebienfa was honoured at the ceremony held in Yenagoa on September 8, 2026, in recognition of his use of strategic communication to advance diplomacy, project Bayelsa and Ijaw interests, and promote Nigeria’s image before the international community. The organisers said the former ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson emerged from a review of young Bayelsans who had distinguished themselves…
By: Dr James Bwala Vice President Kashim Shettima’s visit to a wheat farm in Ethiopia’s Oromia Region represents more than a diplomatic engagement or a symbolic agricultural tour. It offers an important opportunity for Nigeria to examine how agricultural production, food systems and value-chain development can be deliberately connected to the urgent challenge of improving nutrition. The first field engagement of Day Two of the Ethiopia–Nigeria Leadership Exchange, themed “Moving the Needle on Nutrition”, reflects a timely recognition: food security cannot be measured only by the quantity of food produced but also by the quality, accessibility and nutritional value of…
By Oumarou Sanou With barely a month to go before the Third Russia-Africa Summit, scheduled for 28–29 October in Moscow, African delegations face a question that has nothing to do with diplomacy and everything to do with arithmetic: is it worth the risk of flying into a capital that Ukrainian drones now reach with uncomfortable regularity, and what, precisely, does Africa get for making the trip at all? The security question answers itself first. On 6 October, roughly 650 drones struck the Moscow region in one of the largest such attacks of the war, killing two people and setting…
EbonyLife Place, a new cultural and entertainment destination dedicated to African and Black creativity, has opened in London, in a development expected to further strengthen creative, trade and investment ties between Nigeria and the United Kingdom. The venue, created by Nigerian media entrepreneur and EbonyLife Group Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Mo Abudu, officially opened on Thursday, 8 October, 2026, and is located at 208 Wandsworth Road, between Battersea Power Station and Nine Elms. The opening is being positioned as a significant milestone in UK-Nigeria creative collaboration and is expected to create about 40 direct jobs in London. It also…
The Society for Planet & Prosperity (SPP), in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Environment, has launched the third edition of the Sub-national Climate Governance Performance Rating and Ranking, with Katsina State emerging as the top-performing state. The annual assessment evaluates how effectively Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) govern and implement climate action, environmental sustainability and related policies at the sub-national level. Speaking at the launch in Abuja, the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Lawal, urged state governors to make climate action an integral part of their development and investment priorities. Lawal said the Federal Government, under…
The Chairman/Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd.), has commended the Nigerian Army, Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Services (DSS) and other security agencies for the successful rescue of 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members and another victim abducted in the South-east. Marwa, in a statement issued on Thursday, 8 October, 2026 by the Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, described the rescue operation as a victory for the country and evidence of what coordinated and intelligence-driven operations could achieve in the fight against criminality. He said the…
By Mobolaji Sanusi “It’s not the voting that’s democracy; it’s the counting.”—-Tom Stoppard(1937-2005). The first ballot of the 2027 general election is now less than 100 days away, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is using every opportunity to restate its preparedness to organise a credible election next year. On two separate occasions this week — at the strategic workshop organised in collaboration with the Nigerian Guild of Editors and at the World Press Conference it convened, its Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, personally reiterated to a listening audience and a sceptical public the Commission’s readiness for the polls. A…