The Editorials

 A blue Bus Rapid Transport  (BRT) in Lagos State has been razed by fire on the Third Mainland Bridge on Wednesday. The incident according to Lagos State Traffic Management Agency, via its Twitter handle happened around 9:30 a.m. The bus which was heading towards Iyana-Oworo caught fire just after Adeniji Adele axis of the bridge. No casualty was reported as officers of LASEMA have put out the fire .

The Federal Government has revealed plan to remove the ownership of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (cooking gas) cylinders from consumers and transfer such to distributors of LPG, being part of efforts to help deepen the use of cooking gas across the state of the federation. Brenda Ataga, Senior Technical Assistant to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources on Downstream and Infrastructure, disclosed this at the stakeholders’ forum on LPG penetration in Abuja on Tuesday. According to her, the government had reached an agreement with two original cylinder manufacturers to deliver 600,000 cylinders to LPG distributors on credit, with a pre-payment period of 18 months. She further revealed that the planned policy on gas cylinders would require that the ownership of the facility “rests strictly on the dealers and distributors.” She noted that aside from deepening the penetration and usage of LPG across the country, the policy would also address issues of safety, adding that the Fede

*Exclusive Photos: Governor Jide Sanwo-Olu, Sijibomi Ogundele and other dignitaries at the reception organized for Prince Dapo Abiodun in Lagos.* It was a beautiful Sunday as dignitaries attended the thanksgiving reception for the Governor-Elect of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun. Jide Sanwo-Olu and CEO Sujimoto Group, Sijibomi Ogundele organized by the regional headquarters of RCCG Church, Kings’s Court Chapel on Sunday, 19th of May, 2019. See the photos below;

By Ayo Akinfe [1] If you want further evidence of the fact that Nigeria is sitting on an unbelievable gold mine, look no further than bottle gourds. They are used for a wide array of purposes. We hollow them out and the dried calabashes produced are used as household utensils across West Africa. They are used to clean rice, carry water, cooking utensils and as food containers. Smaller ones are used as bowls to drink palm wine too [2] In pre-colonial times, they were the main means of transporting liquids before we had all these plastic and metal containers. I remember reading my Things Fall Apart and recollecting how central they were to the carrying about of palm wine. At traditional weddings in Igbo society, the groom's family was assessed on the size of the gourd of palm wine they brought when coming to ask for the bride's hand [3] In our entertainment industry too, the dried gourd in used in making the West African kora, or a harp-lute and the goje a traditional

President Muhammadu Buhari  is seen in Saudi Arabia for Ummrah, heavily guarded by Saudi Police inside the mosque.

A 24-year-old woman (name withheld) on Wednesday narrated to an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court how she was allegedly drugged by her friend in a nightclub and was gang-raped in a hotel in Lekki, Lagos. Our reporter reports that the woman, the first prosecution witness, testified in the trial of graduates – Don-Chima George, 25, and Olusegun Rasak, 28, charged with rape. Led in evidence by Dr Jide Martins, Director of  Public Prosecutions, Lagos State, the witness told the court that she was invited to Kabaal Nightclub situated at Ikoyi, Lagos, by George who was her friend. The alleged rape victim who testified for one and half hours said:  “Initially, I did not want to go, I was hesitant, I told Chima but he insisted I come. He also said that his birthday was a few days away and he was to celebrate it. “I agreed. That was not the first time we had gone out together as friends so there was nothing out of the ordinary. He asked me to meet him at the De-Lank

The National leader of the All Progressive Congress, APC Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Lagos State Governor-Elect, Babajide Sanwoolu,Kola Abiola  and other  party leaders have joined the family of Late Oba Olatunji Hamzat during the Jannazah Prayer held at the Yaya Abatan,Ogba Lagos residence of the late Oba Hamzat.

Elder statesman Oba Olatunji Hamzat, Lagos State All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship Advisory Council (GAC) leader and Olu of Afowowa Sogade,Ewekoro, Ogun State, who is also the  father of the Lagos State Deputy- Governor Elect, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, has passed on after a brief illness. He passed on barely 17 days to the inauguration of his son, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, as Deputy Governor. Kabiyesi who until his death was the  leader of the Justice Forum, a popular APC caucus in Lagos State , was a successful banker before joining politics in the first Republic, serving as a ward executive in old Mushin Local Government Area.  In the Second Republic, he joined the Committee of Friends, which metamorphosed into the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria, led by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo. In 1979, he was elected into the Lagos State House of Assembly on the platform of the UPN. His godfather was Pa Rafiu Solomon, state party treasurer, close associate of Alhaji Lateef Jakande and f

Kidnappers have abducted Professor Adegbehingbe Yinka , a lecturer with the Obafemi Awolowo University, near Ikire along the Ife-Ibadan Expressway, around 9pm on Sunday evening. He was until the time of his kidnap, travelling with his wife from Lagos to Ife. Confirming the kidnap, Moses Olafare, Director of Media, Ooni of Ife Palace, said he spoke to witnesses, the Public Relations Officer of OAU and the Nigerian Police Force. He said: “I received a call from one of the passengers who witnessed the abduction of Prof Yinka Adegbehingbe. Immediately I received that information, I called OAU PRO. I also called Ife area commander of Nigeria Police Force and later the Commissioner of Police. “CP told me she was aware of the incident and requested for more details from our end and we gave that. I later spoke to the wife of Prof. Adegbehingbe. She was in a police station around Apomu when I spoke to her

The Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, on Saturday has revealed strategy businessmen and poiticians in Lagos can adopt to defeat and retire Political Godfathers in the state permanently. He said this while speaking in Ikoyi, Lagos, at an event organised by the Bridge Club tagged, “An evening with His Excellency Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State.” El-Rufai affirmed that he employed the same strategy which he used to retire four political godfathers in Kaduna State, saying the feat could be replicated anywhere, including Lagos State. He however charged the club members, who are businessmen participate actively in Nigerian politics, noting that partisan politics is more important than making money. He added that bad politics could mess up the business env El-Rufai said Nigeria had permanently remained a country of potential because good and competent people had distanced themselves from politics. During the question and answer session, former APC

Oredola Adeola| The governor-elect of Oyo State, Engineer Seyi Makinde on Wednesday promised that his administration will be workers friendly on assumption of office in May 29, 2019.  He however cautioned the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state against twisting his interview with newsmen in Abuja on the N30,000 minimum wage implementation. In a statement issued by his spokesman, Prince Dotun Oyelade made available to newsmen in Ibadan, Makinde maintained that it “will be futile for the opposition to attempt to twist the implications and meaning of the interview I granted in Abuja as it will amount to selective understanding.” The governor-elect stressed that what he said was that states, as independent federating units should have been allowed to determine the minimum wages of their individual states. He emphasised that as regards Oyo State, “a committee will begin discussions with the leadership of the NLC from the first week in June 2019 to determine the extent

Bandits have  stormed Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary school,Moriki, Zurmi Local Government Area of Zamfara State and kidnapped six people on Wednesday night while residents were watching the UEFA Champions League match between Barcelona and Liverpool. Residents claimed the bandits stormed the schools with   and made attempt to break the locks of the hostels where the school girls were lodged, but failed, they managed to abduct two men and four women. Recall that Zurmi local government recently attacked by armed banditry but there was relative peace in the area as a result of a truce brokered between the traditional rulers and armed bandits.

The leader of traders in Lagos and the Iyaloja General of Nigeria , Mrs Folashade Tinubu has appointed Mrs Abisola Azeez and Mr Adeniyi Babalola, as Iyaloja and Babaloja of Computer Village respectively adding that some traders in the market who protested against the appointment of Iyaloja and Babaloja on Tuesday were ill -informed. Addressing a press briefing on Wednesday , Tinubu -Ojo , on the backdrop  of the protest, revealed that all the markets in the state were under her control and the computer village market cannot be an exception. "According to our constitution , I can choose anybody from any local government in the state to head the market , all the iyaloja and babaloja in all the Lagos markets are my representatives in the market where they operate. Kindly educate them that phones , handsets , computers are commodities. “ They cannot tell us they are not pepper sellers, everybody cannot be textile dealers ; they can ’t tell us that computer village will be

 Violence broke out  in Cotonou on Wednesday, following the order  of President Talon for the arrest of former President Boni Yayi after calling for the  cancellation of Sunday's parliamentary election. More than sixty(60) cars were set ablaze by aggrieved protesters some of whom had earlier barricaded  major streets leading to Yaya Boni's house, when soldiers encircled his home. Earlier results announced by the commission showed a record low turnout in the poll, as opposition leaders were barred from fielding any candidates for the controversial parliamentary election. According to an AFP reporter demonstrators  erected makeshift barriers of burning tires, as police fired tear gas to push the scattered protests back. Many citizens heeded the opposition and Yaya Boni's call for boycott of  the polls, with over three- quarters of the five million registered voters staying away. Voters turnout for the Sunday poll was low because candidates of the opposition

The outgoing Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode has launched the new buses for use, under the Bus Reform Initiative (BRI) with free service on five routes, assuring that the development would redefine public transportation and make the State globally competitive. The operation of the buses took off with the free service across five routes including Berger to Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), Berger to Oshodi, Oshodi to TBS, Ikeja to Alausa and Ikeja to Oshodi to commemorate the Workers Days, after which normal service will start on Thursday May 2, 2019. Speaking at Ikeja Bus Terminal, one of the modern terminals constructed as part of the BRI, an official of the Lagos Bus Services Limited, the operator of the buses, Mr Timi Olajide said it was a good thing that the buses have now been finally launched for the use of the people. Olajide  further said out of the 5,000 buses planned for the initiative, the government was launching the scheme with 820 high and medium capacity bu