British High Commissioner Designate to Nigeria, Pete Vowles, has arrived in Abuja to assume leadership of the United Kingdom’s diplomatic mission, pledging to deepen the longstanding partnership between both countries. Vowles, who succeeds Dr Richard Montgomery CMG, arrived in the Nigerian capital on Monday, according to a statement issued by the British High Commission. Speaking on his arrival, the new envoy said his immediate priority would be to listen, learn and engage with Nigerians across the country “I am hugely excited to be in Nigeria. My first priority is to listen and learn – to travel, meet people and immerse…
Author: Abimbola Ogunaike
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By: Dr. James Bwala Last week I was at the Garki area, specifically at the Kiss FM 99.9, to supervise one of my students on SIWES at the radio station. I arrived while a call-in program was on air with discussions and contributions coming in as I took a seat in the studio. The discussion was centered around politics and religion, with the visits of some religious leaders to the presidency and endorsement of the Tinubu and Kashim Shettima’s administration for the 2027 general elections in the country. This program got hot at some point, and I smiled as I…
Michael Olugbode in Abuja The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and China’s National Immigration Administration have explored stronger technical cooperation, intelligence sharing and capacity building as part of efforts to combat irregular migration, document fraud and transnational organised crime. The discussions took place during a bilateral meeting between the Comptroller-General of Immigration, Kemi Nandap, and officials of the National Immigration Administration of China on September 9, on the sidelines of the Sub-Forum on Migration Management Cooperation in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province. The international forum, held from September 8 to 11, brought together more than 2,000 participants from 139 countries and organisations to…
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has graduated 1,626 officers from its Fourth Combined and Upgrading Course, 2026, with the Comptroller-General of Immigration, Kemi Nanna Nandap, urging them to deploy professionalism, technology and sound judgment in tackling emerging border-security and migration challenges. The officers passed out during a ceremony held at the Immigration Training School, Kano, and the Digital Bridge Institute, marking one of the Service’s largest training exercises and reinforcing its drive to strengthen operational capacity through continuous professional development. Nandap, represented by the Assistant Comptroller-General in charge of Human Resources Management, Samuel Agba, said the changing nature of border…
Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum, has commissioned a nine-span flyover, a dualised 2.5-kilometre road with five kilometres of drainage, and two mega schools in Maiduguri, reaffirming his administration’s commitment to rebuilding infrastructure and restoring public services disrupted by insurgency. The projects, inaugurated on Sunday, form part of the state government’s urban renewal and post-insurgency recovery efforts aimed at easing traffic congestion, improving drainage, supporting economic activity and expanding access to education. The commissioning ceremony was attended by Nasarawa State Governor, Engr. Abdullahi Sule, who served as special guest of honour and performed the symbolic cutting of the tape. The…
By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola The Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the police to maintain the status quo in a suit challenging an invitation by the Force Intelligence Department (FID) to members of the GThomes Estate Residents Association, Lekki, to appear in Abuja for interrogation. Justice Friday Ogazi issued the order on Monday, 7 September, 2026 pending the determination of a Fundamental Rights Enforcement Procedure (FREP) suit filed by the estate’s executive committee. The suit arose from a dispute between a resident and the estate management over her alleged disconnection from the estate’s power supply after she reportedly failed…
The Federal Government has intensified efforts to secure the release of Nigerians detained in India, with the Nigeria High Commission in the country visiting 198 inmates across five prisons in Maharashtra as negotiations continue for a fresh six-month amnesty for Nigerians held over immigration-related offences. The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), in a statement issued on Sunday by its Director of Media, Public Relations and Protocols, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, said the prison visits were conducted as of September 1, 2026, adding that Nigerians remained incarcerated in other Indian provinces. The commission said the visits formed part of the Nigerian mission’s ongoing…
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled multiple drug trafficking networks operating across eight states, intercepting consignments from the United Kingdom and recovering more than 2.3 tonnes of assorted illicit drugs, including synthetic cannabis, tramadol, pregabalin and cannabis. The operations, which also exposed the increasingly elaborate methods used by traffickers to move narcotics, resulted in the arrest of a real estate agent, a tour agent, a 70-year-old woman and several other suspects. The spokesman of the agency, Femi Babafemi in a statement on Sunday, said operatives intercepted two consignments of Colorado, also known as Colos, concealed in consolidated…
By: Dr. James Bwala Recently, a significant conversation has sparked around an interview that the Minister of Defense, General Christopher Musa (retired), had with Channels Television anchor Seun Okinbaloye. This exchange has become a focal point for criticism, as many commentators, including media figures and some religious scholars, interpret his responses in ways that appear to deviate from their true context and intent. Growing up in Kaduna and having a profound understanding of the political scene, I find this widespread misrepresentation quite troubling. A closer look at the interview shows that the criticisms directed at the former Defense Chief often…
By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola The Federal Government has committed more than N10.5 billion to train over 32,000 young Nigerians in digital skills through the newly launched Digital Training Academy (DTA). The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, disclosed this on Monday, 14 September, 2026 in Abuja at the official launch of the academy, saying the programme was designed to bridge the digital skills gap, improve employability and prepare young Nigerians for opportunities in the global economy. Alausa said beneficiaries would undergo six months of training through platforms including Coursera and Pluralsight and obtain certifications from global technology companies. He said…