The Editorials

Oredola Adeola| The U.S. Embassy & Consulate in Nigeria has disclosed that from Thursday, August 29, 2019, Nigerians applying for tourism, student and business visas will pay $110 ( N40,700) visa issuance fee, or reciprocity fee, for all approved applications. This was contained in the statement released on Tuesday by the Embassy. The visa issuance fee is expected to be paid in addition to the N59, 200 fee, payable after the visa has been issued to them, thereby bringing the total cost to N99,900 for applicants applying for tourists visa. The Embassy noted that the reciprocity fee does not apply to applicants whose visa applications were denied. Applicants seeking the L1 Visa (work permit) will pay an extra N112, 100 if given visas while those applying for H4 Visa (dependency/spousal) will pay an extra N66, 600. The statement of the Consulate reads in part: "Nonimmigrant visas in B, F, H1B, I, L, and R visa classifications. The reciprocity fee will be charged

Oredola Adeola | Issues of terrorism, security threats and human trafficking are some of the topics considered for deliberation at the maiden edition of the Nigeria INTERPOL Week ongoing in Abuja. These topics were highlighted in the speech delivered by the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, during the opening ceremony of the event at the International Conference Centre, Abuja. In his address the IGP noted that the recent signing of the African Free Trade Agreement within the ECOWAS framework could present new sets of security threats in the West African Sub-Region. The IGP said, " The Week is the first time that the Nigeria Police which warehouses the INTERPOL National Central Bureau in Nigeria will be dedicating an entire week towards drawing attention to the activities and strategic roles of INTERPOL in national, regional and global security. "Secondly, the Week will enhance the professional knowledge of law enforcement officers as strings of lectures tha

Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola formerly resumed to office as the Minister of Interior on Monday. He was received by top officials of the ministry and heads of paramilitaries under his watch. At his official resumption, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Barr. Georgina Ehuriah handed over affairs of the Ministry to him. Aregbesola said, "It gives me great pleasure to formally resume work and meet all the nice people in this ministry and its agencies. “I have the full understanding of the eponymous implication of my designation as a Minister. To minister (as a verb) actually means to serve while, minister (as a noun) is a servant, therefore the key factor here is service which I am committed to do. I serve at the pleasure of the President & we in this ministry are servants of the Nigerian people. "Where we need reforms, we will brace up to them. Where we need personnel and more hands, we will make the case and get the strength we need. Where we need resources w

Two suspects , Sodiq Musa, 28 and Saidu Atiku, 34, arrested by the Lagos State Rapid Response Squad, a unit of the Lagos State Police Command, for specializing in vandalization of vehicles and stealing of brain boxes. The Command disclosed that the suspects were arrested at 27, Awolowo road Ikeja with three Toyota vehicle brain boxes while Ridwan Adamu escaped with the fourth box. In his confession during interrogation, Sodiq claimed he is a Political science graduate from a Nigerian University before travellng down to Lagos in 2017 in search of greener pasture. He said, I worked in Lagos as a barbeque man in various hotels and events before I met Ridwan who introduced me to brain box theft where He taught me all the antics and styles.” “We use ‘magic stone’ that is, vehicle spark plug to break vehicle windows without attracting attention. It takes two minutes to loose a Toyota Hiace bus brain box and it takes four minutes to lose a Toyota Hilux box”. “The spark plug reduces the

Solomon Aderibigbe and his beau,Favour Favour celebrated their marriage on Saturday, August 24, at Eternal King School, Amje, Alagbado, Lagos. The wedding ceremony is coming few days after the couple had their Court wedding at the Ado/Odo Ota marriage registry. Dress code of the day was blue and touch of white.

Oredola Adeola | Engr. Abiodun Adelakun Orole's son Kehinde and his bride, Opeyemi finally tie the knot in  Lagos on Saturday , August 24 at Amje Hotel, Alagbado, Lagos. The wedding ceremony was well attended by family and friends of the couple as well as the numerous allies of Engr Orole, the estate real estate agent cum politician. Below are some of the pictures of the groom and his couple. DJ 2nny thrilled the crowd with popular Afro hip hip mixes.

Oredola Adeola| The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has given permission to Ikeja, Eko, Benin and nine other electricity distribution companies, to increase the electricity tariff payable by power consumers across the country, commencing from next year, 2020. This is contained in various documents obtained obtained from the electricity regulatory agency. With the new development, electricity consumers across the country are expected to pay an additional average sum of between N8 and N14 for every KWh of energy provided by their respective distribution companies (DisCos). However, the new tariff increase for DisCo differs from each other. However the NERC's document showed the actual cost-reflective tariff for each of the Discos. The NERC instrument tagged "The 2016-2018 Minor Review of Multi-Year Tarrif Order 2015 and Minimum  Remittance Order for the Year 2019, shows the cost-reflective tariff of each of the Discos in separate document obtaine

Oredola Adeola | Eighty-four- year- old elder statesman, celebrated historian and an associate of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo , Prof. Banji Akintoye, has emerged as the fourth Yoruba leader in an election conducted by the assembly of all Yoruba groups worldwide at an event held in Ibadan, Oyo State. Those who voted at the assembly are  Yoruba emancipation organisations across the world including religious, sociocultural and self- determination groups. The first Yoruba leader to be elected by the assembly was Late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, second was Late Chief Adékúnlé Ajasin, and third was Late Senator Abraham Adesanya. The unwritten law did not allow the tow major nominees, Prof Banji Akintoye and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to be aware of their nomination and election. The groups met on Thursday to nominate and vote for the two leaders in their absence, none pleaded nor bidded for the position, they were nominated in recognition of their sterling personalities. Prof Banji A

Oredola Adeola | Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has issued  his first directive in capacity as Interior Minister, ordering the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps to focus more on intelligence gathering instead of being reactive. Ogbeni disclosed this on Thursday during a familiarisation visit to the headquarters of the NSCDC in Sauka , Abuja. The Minister affirmed that its mandate only allowed it to support sister agencies, adding that the intelligence the NSCDC could provide for other security agencies would assist them to perform better, stressing that the Corps was not the lead security agency in the country. Aregbesola said, “ Since you ( NSCDC ) are not the lead internal security agency , you must improve intelligence gathering. The early warning capacity your agency provides to others will help reduce threats . “ My emphasis is on early warning part of security that will help sister agencies work better. Rather than being reactive , we will be proactive," he said

Residents of Nchantancha, Enugu East Council Area, in Enugu State has taken to the street protesting the death of a pregnant woman, who was allegedly killed by suspected herdsmen in the community.  This is coming barely three weeks after a Catholic priest of Enugu Diocese, Reverend Fr. Paul Offu was killed by herdsmen along Ihe- Agbude road in Awgu Local Government Area of the State. The aggrieved residents claimed that the victim was slaughtered while the baby in her womb was removed  when she was returning from the farm. The Enugu state commissioner of police , Sulieman Balarabe has confirmed incident, promising  that the police would arrest the killer. The CP appealed for calm in order to enable the Police conclude its investigation

Idris Olukoya | Chief Adeyinka Jagbojagbo, the Mayegun Isese of Epe Division, has called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State to declare and recognise  August 20 as public holiday for the celebration of Isese Day. He  made the plea in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Epe, on Thursday. Chief Jagbojagbo disclosed that it was important for governments at all levels, in the state to set aside Aug. 20 every year , as a day specially offered to the African Traditional Religion Practitioners to celebrate their Isese Day. He said, “I want to make it clear to stakeholders in the governance of the state and the general public that the traditional religion of our forefathers is rooted in our identity as Africans,“he said. He implored Christians and Muslims in the country to accept traditional worshippers as their brothers and sisters, instead of misconstruing them as  fetish people. According to him, Isese day will further position the state as home of Afri

Oredola Adeola | Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi has promised to revive and reposition the Ekiti State Festival of Arts and Culture, EKIFEST, as platform to showcase Ekiti cultural heritage, discover homegrown talent and harness economic gains of arts and culture in the state. He made this statement on Monday during the maiden edition of the Ekiti State Council of Arts and Culture Stakeholders' forum, where he was represented by Hon Deji Ajayi, Head of Service. Recall that EKIFEST was initiated by Governor Fayemi in 2012 during his first term in office, as an annual event to showcase the richness of arts and culture of the state. The one-week event is billed to serve as avenue for thousands of tourists from local and international communities, to explore the tourism potentialities of the state. The Ekiti State Governor said, "We are going to organise Ekiti State Festival of Arts and Culture in December this year to enhance our capacities in crafts, dancin

 Oredola Adeola with agency report Amazon rainforest,one of the biggest ecosystems in the world, is currently on fire and has been burning for almost three weeks. Investigations revealed that the wildfires are caused by a combination of droughts and human activity; The intensity and frequency of droughts in turn, have been linked with increases in regional deforestation and anthropogenic climate change. The rainforest is referred to as the " LUNG OF THE EARTH " because it reportedly produces twenty percent of global oxygen, which makes the wildfire one of the biggest disaster of the century. The fire is creating so much smoke to the extent that it can be seen from space. This true-color image was captured by the VIIRS sensor onboard NOAA-20, which provides daily, high-resolution visible and infrared images of Earth's atmosphere from across the globe. Over ten(10) milions species of wildlife, plants and insects known to man have been displaced and found dead

Oredola Adeola| The Lagos State Police Command has acknowledged the arrest of four Police officers seen in a viral video, shooting two unarmed suspects who were arrested and already in their custody against the code of professional conduct and laws guiding how suspects in Police custody should be treated. DSP Bala Elkana, Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer,  made this known in a statement released on Monday to the media. According to him, "The Policemen were identified as Inspector Fabiyi Omomayara, Sergeant Olaniyi Solomon, Sergeant Solomon Sunday and Corporal Aliyu Mukaila attached to Iba Division Patrol team. Investigation conducted by the Command showed that incident happened on Friday evening, when Iba Police Station received a distress call from one Anugu Valentine 'm' of no 250 Agege motor road Mushin, that he was attacked by a group of armed men numbering about four on two motorcycles at Ipayi area, Iba . The officers reportedly dispossessed

Oredola Adeola President Muhammadu Buhari has reduced the burden on Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) from his three old ministerial portfolio to two, Minister of Works and Housing, while the Minister of Power has been given to  Eng. Saleh Mamman. President Buhari also retained Alh. Lai Mohammed in the Ministry of Information & Culture, Rotimi  Amaechi - Minister of Transportation, Abubakar Malami , Attorney General of Federation and Minister of Justice, Chris Ngige Ministry of Labour & Employment. The returnees are, Ogbonnaya Onu - Science and Technology, Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, Finance, Budget and National Planning, Adamu Adamu, Minister of Education, , Hadi Sirika – Minister of Aviation. Some of the new Ministers are Muhammed Musa Bell, FCT, Amb Maryam Katagum – Bauchi, Industry, Trade and Investment, (State), Sen. Adeleke O. Mamowora,  Minister of State Health,  Sen. Tayo D. Alasoadura, Minister of State Labour and Employment, Mrs Pauline Tallen, Minister of Women Affa

President Muhammadu Buhari has compensated former Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun with another cabinet slot, by appointing one of his loyalists in the state, Barr. Adeleke Adewolu, the immediate past Commissioner for Special Duties in Ogun State and APM House of Representative for Ifo/ Ewekoro Federal Constituency as the  Executive Commissioner (Stakeholder Management) Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Barrister Adewolu now replaces Sunday Dare, former spokesman of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu who is now a minister designate. He was the special assistant to former Senate President Ken Nnamani, on legal and legislative matters (2005-2007). His appointment was with immediate effect, while awaiting Senate endorsement. In a statement released on Tuesday by Garba Shehu, senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, Adeleke Moronfolu Adewolu's appointment is part of replacement made  for Heads of Federal Government agencies some of whom were rece

Former governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, on Tuesday has confirmed that the operatives of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC) visited his Epe Country home and Parkview Ikoyi residence, with warrants to conduct a search. This was contained in a statement he released through his media aide, Habib Aruna in response to the media's request for his reaction to the raid. According to him, these searches were carried out extensively and at the end of the exercise the operatives left without any incident. He however chared his supporters and Epe residents to remain calm and law-abiding as there was no cause for alarm. Ambode further confirmed that the raid on his Epe Country home and Parkview Ikoyi residence, where the anti-graft agency conducted the exercise without any incident. He said the Commission, till date, has not opened any direct communication with him on any issue, adding that he was ready and willing to respond if or when they do so. The s