Parents of students from Kano State studying abroad can now heave a sigh of relief as their wards are due to return home after years of completion of the course of study.
The affected students had traveled abroad for studies on scholarship, courtesy of Kano state government but could not return after completion of their studies due to refusal of their sponsor to pay necessary fees.
The latest information from Kano state is that Governor Abba Yusuf has fully settled the outstanding tuition and accommodation fees of the affected students.
Numbering 84, the Kano students were stranded in Northern Cyprus, bringing an end to years of hardship, uncertainty, and international embarrassment.
This was contained in a statement issued by governor’s spokesperson Sunusi Bature Dawakin Tofa on Thursday.
The affected students—initially sponsored under a foreign scholarship scheme introduced by former Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso—were left in limbo after the administration of Abdullahi Umar Ganduje discontinued funding for the programme
The move, not only disrupted the students’ education, but also subjected them to severe financial and emotional trauma, with some facing legal threats from their host institution at Near East University in Cyprus.
For years, the students endured untold suffering: locked out of classrooms, evicted from accommodations, and ridiculed abroad as they battled to survive in a foreign land without support.
The situation drew widespread criticism from human rights groups and diaspora communities who decried the politicization of education and the abandonment of vulnerable 84 citizens abroad.
The statement said the present administration confirmed that all debts owed to the Cyprus Near East University have been cleared.
“A total of two billion, two hundred and forty million has been paid to secure the certificates of the students who have waited for over five years”
This action paves the way for the candidates to receive their certificates and begin to pursue their career.
Among the beneficiaries were 28 medical students, other paramedical and engineering who graduated with MBBS, BSc./MSc Nursing, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Computer and Biomedical Sciences.The Governor has directed automatic employment for the students into the state civil service.
The North Central All Progressive Congress ,APC stakeholders including Governors ,the Secretary to the Government of the Federation ,SGF ,on Thursday, May 22, 2025, announced the endorsement of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ,for re-election in 2027.
In a communique read by the Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, at the end of a meeting held Wednesday night May 21,2025 in Abuja ,the Zonal APC stakeholders expressed their unflinching support and confidence in the abilities of the president to move the country forward.
According to the Communique, the motion for the adoption of the President was moved by former Benue state Governor ,and SGF ,George Akume.
The SGF had urged the North Central Zone of the Party to queue behind the President in his re-election bid so that he could continue to execute his administration’s laudable programmes which he said centre on rejiging the economy.
The Zonal leaders of the party, while endorsing the second term ambition of the president, also, appreciated him for the impactful developmental projects ongoing in North Central states.
They particularly referenced such projects on infrastructural facilities, education, road rehabilitation, rural electrification and development, and Agriculture.
In general, the Zonal Party Leaders noted that the region has witnessed remarkable transformation, since the advent of the Tinubu’s Presidency.
“We acknowledge these efforts as a clear demonstration of the president’s sincere commitment to equity and national development..
“Having critically examined the current trajectory of national governance and recognizing the courage,foresight, and tenacity with which President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has steered the ship of state, amidst daunting challenges, we unanimously pass a vote of confidence on his administration.
“In furtherance of this conviction, we wholeheartedly endorse President Tinubu to contest for a second term as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2027 to consolidate the gains of his reforms and bring them to full fruition”, the APC zonal leaders noted.
Similarly ,the stakeholders,expressed their confidence in the national leadership of the party headed by Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, especially in promoting party unity, and progressive governance.
Instructively,the Zone had originally been allotted the position of the National Chairman pre-2023 general elections ,with former Governor of Nasarawa state Senator Abdullahi Adamu occupying the seat .
He was, however, forced to resign by president Tinubu immediately after the 2023 polls, making way for Dr Ganduje from the North West region.
“We affirm our unwavering loyalty and alignment with the core ideals of the APC, and express full confidence in the party leadership’s abilities to lead us to future victories”, the APC leaders stated.
Curiously too, contrary to the somewhat widespread criticisms of the regime over its brazenly nepotistic appointments and siting of critical infrastructures, the Zonal APC stakeholders lauded President Tinubu for running an “inclusive and merit based administration .
“While acknowledging several government appointees from the Zone, the leaders appreciated the President for giving the region a sense of belonging.
They, therefore, pledged their unalloyed commitment and loyalty to all efforts aimed at further strengthening the party for future electoral victories.
Babatunde Olofin, Managing Director of Moniepoint, is in trouble over an alleged missing N95 million fund.
To give teeth to the allegation, PRO International Concept Limited, has filed an application at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos urging the Court to commit Olofin and several banks to prison for Contempt of Court.
This is as a result of the Firm’s repeated attempt to recover a sum of a cumulative N95 Million which was, allegedly, illegally withdrawn from the Company’s Account in different banks including Moniepoint.
The respondents include several Managing Directors of banks including Olofin of Moniepoint.
The Company alleged that the Executives willfully disobeyed Court orders issued on November 21, 2024, relating to a case of unauthorized withdrawal of N95 million from its Bank Account.
An affidavit sworn to by Omotayo Adebayo, PRO International Concept Limited’s Litigation Manager, stated that the Company’s Operational Account was hacked on September 5, 2024, leading to the fraudulent transfer of N95 million across multiple accounts to nine Banks.
The company immediately notified the banks, which then sent “block and recall” requests to the fraud desks of 28 financial institutions.
Although the funds were initially frozen, the freeze could only be maintained beyond 72 hours with a Court Order.
On September 9, 2024, the company obtained an order from a Nasarawa State District Court extending the freeze, followed by further proceedings at the Federal High Court.
On November 21, 2024, the Federal High Court ordered that the frozen funds be returned to PRO International’s account and directed investigations, including placing liens on the respondents’ accounts.
Despite being properly served, the banks allegedly failed to comply with the order or reverse the funds.
The company has now initiated contempt proceedings, asking the Court to jail the executives for disobedience and to enforce its orders.
Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke has scheduled a hearing on the contempt application for July 3.
There is a cold war between the Lagos State Government and the Ogun State Government over a recurring land boundary issues.
This has led to communal clashes among residents of border communities.
In ending this recurring decimal, the Lagos State Government has approached the Federal Government to challenge Ogun State Government’s claim to land along the borderline between both States.
The LASG said its decision to approach the Federal Government through the National Boundary Commission, NBC, is aimed at retaining its borderlines as well as protect its citizens from constant attacks from residents of Ogun State who were also laying claims to their land.
According to the Government, the disputed land spans across the borderlines with Ogun, particularly in three Local Government Areas of the State.
It would be recalled that six months ago, Governor Abiodun of Ogun State had declared that none of the State’s border land would be ceded to its neighbours including Lagos State and Oyo State.
Bolaji Roberts, Lagos State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and Rural Development, made this disclosure about the LASG’s decision to approach the FG following this development during the 2025 Ministerial Press Briefing held today, Thursday, at the Bagualda Kaltho Press Centre In Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.
Roberts noted that the LASG, through the Ministry, received and addressed several reports relating to boundary issues in 2024, with the Ogun State Government not cooperating with its Lagos counterpart in addressing the issues, leading to the LASG approaching the FG.
Hoteliers in Nigeria have cried out that multiple taxation by states and federal government is killing their business.
Speaking under the Nigeria Hotel Association (NHA) members decried rising activities of imposition of multiple taxation on its members in the country.
It called on the Federal Government to intervene with policies, reforms and financial support in order to save the tourism industry from imminent collapse.
Dr. Patrick Anyanwu, National President of the Association made this known while presenting outcomes of the NHA’s national meeting held in Lagos on May 6, 2025 at a press conference on Thursday in Bauchi.
“The high rate of tax levy which hotel operators pay to revenue authorities is becoming so alarming in the country.
“Multiple taxation is one of the major factors that affect business operators, especially we hotel operators.
“We want the relevant authorities to look into the tax revenue and review it downwards to facilitate hospitality business.
“Members of the association had no difficulty in paying taxes as they are law abiding citizens, but multiple taxation from different government agencies are negatively affecting the industry.
“So we are calling on the federal government to harmonise taxes in the hospitality industry, in line with the global trend.
“There are some hotel operators in the country that are not registered with us, this is not suppose to be so because when they face challenges like robbery incidence or something tragic happens, who will stand up for them?
“It is important that every hotel registers with the association in order to give hotel owners a sense belonging and where there issues like litigations, the association can support them.”
Anyanwu also called for the creation of a federal grant scheme to boost hotel businesses, highlighting the sector’s critical role in national revenue generation, employment, tourism, and accommodation services.
The last time a public official wept on national TV, Nigerians regretted offering her towels instead of buckets to collect her tears. She was acting, but we didn’t know it.
Diezani Allison-Madueke had just been appointed Ministerof Transport and went on a tour to assess some major roads. At the Benin end of the Lagos-Benin highway, she broke down and wept. She was seeing for the first time, outside her bubble, what Nigerians knew and endured daily: poor, hazardous roads.
Her tears changed nothing. She left the roads in a worse state than she found them, but Nigeria being Nigeria, she went on to become the Minister for Petroleum Resources and subsequently left the place in a more disastrous condition than Nigerian roads.
On May 15, the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Ishaq Oloyede, wepton national TV for a different reason. As a result of human negligence, the results of the 2025 UTME examination went horribly wrong, affecting 379,997 out of the 1.9 million students who took the exam. It was not a system glitch as widely reported. Some individualsresponsiblefor patching or updating the servers were negligent, leadingto a disastrous outcome.
Paying the price
The grief lies in the details. For instance, 19-year-old Faith Opesusi Timileyin, who was re-sitting the exam, hoping to study microbiology if she could improve on the 193 out of 400 she scored last year, took her own life by ingesting poison. She could not bear the shame of failing again. The same echoes of embarrassment and distress resonated across the country as thousands of young people, who made sacrifices and braved difficult conditions to take the exam, now contemplate their fate and what could have been.
Yet, Nigerians, despite being jaded by years of disappointment with incompetent public officials, can sense the difference between Diezani’s crocodile tears and Oloyede’s misery. One was a con artist; the other, the victim of “horrible, but not unexampled error,” as Farooq Kperogi noted in his column on Saturday.
Prof Ishaq Oloyede, JAMB registrar
Remaking of JAMB
Oloyede’s JAMB is not JAMB as it was. One of the biggest dramas in the institution’s 47-year history unfolded two years after he was appointed registrar, following his exceptional record as vice-chancellor of the University of Ilorin. JAMB introduced computerised examinations in 2014, but the system, still in its infancy at the time, was marred by delays, confusion, and scratch-card fraud.
Oloyede ordered an investigation, which found that the place was infested with snakes, including boa constrictors, that had allegedly swallowed millions of naira from the sale of scratch cards,except that the snakes were human beings. One Philomina Chieshe, a clerk at JAMB’s Benue State office, swallowed N36 million from the sale of scratch cards and told investigators and the court that it was indeed a snake that had mysteriously devoured the money.
Killing the snakes
Seven years after she was arraigned, neither Chieshe nor any of the reptiles in the scratch-card hole have been held accountable for the fraud. Apart from swallowing N36 million, which was equivalent to $100,000 at the time, the snakes also appear to have swallowed the courtsand the prosecutors.
I have criticised JAMB in the past for several reasons, mainly because I still believe that a decentralised placement system, as practised in pre-1978 Nigeria, the US, and South Korea, works better.
Yet, whatever the inadequacies of JAMB, the board has, especially under Oloyede’s leadership in the last nine years, transformed from a snake-infested wasteland of corruption and mediocrity into one of Nigeria’s most responsive and better-run public institutions.
Fresh air
In a country where lawmakers routinely inflate the appropriation bill by billions of naira, and ministries and government departments are broke, unimaginative and opaque, Oloyede is a breath of fresh air. He has remittedover N55 billion to the federal treasury, compared to less than N60 million remitted in the 38 years preceding his tenure.
But it’s not just about the money. To promote openness, accountability, and inclusiveness on the board, he expanded the decision-making process to include independents and other professionals in monitoring and evaluating the board’s activities, particularly the UTME exam. Still, despite our best efforts, bad things happen.
‘Not unexampled’
The 2025 UTME disruption was a horrible mishap. Still, it’s not without recent examples, one from Oxford University in 2023 and the other from the 2025 US SAT exams, both of which were cited in Kperogi’s article. There was a particularly heart-rending debacle in September 2023 when the Federation of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the UK made a catastrophic error in the Part 2 written results of the postgraduate medical diploma exam.
Two hundred and twenty-two doctors were informed that they had passed when in fact they had failed, while 61 were told they had failed despite passing. Imagine the horror of the patients who may have been treated by “failed” doctors, not to mention the distress of those who passed but were told they failed, or the anguish of those who made progress yet were instructed to re-sit the exam.
To resign or not?
After taking responsibility for the error, Oloyede told the press that he was prepared to resign, but was persuaded that his resignation would compound rather than solve the problem. I agree. I do not share the view that all those calling for his resignation are necessarily out to settle personal scores, even though this may be correct in some instances, especially among politicians who have decided to ethnicise the matter.
The registrar bears a responsibility to the memory of the candidate who died, to the thousands of hard-working candidates who gave their best in the exam, and to the reputation he has established as an exemplary public servant to reform the system and use the lessons from this tragic episode to enhance the processes and outcomes of future exams.
Wake-up call
Parents must also play a role. We exaggerate the significance of UTME results beyond their true value, placing unnecessary pressure on candidates. Under the current system, most universities and institutions of higher learning offer admission based on the weighted average of three examination results. While the UTME result constitutes 50 per cent of the final score, the WASSCE or O/Level results and post-UTME exams, if conducted, make up the remaining 50 per cent.
Unfortunately, we have constructed a dangerous illusion that everything hinges on performance at JAMB, resulting in a frantic quest for JAMB success that now haunts us. We may never know if Faith would have taken her own life had she realised that a low JAMB score alone does not necessarily signify the end of the road to admission.
Fall to rise
Oloyede’s tears may seem insufficient to assuage a nation in grief, but he has demonstrated, over the last nine years and long before he became registrar, that he does not take his job lightly. One mishap should not define his tenure. When the ongoing investigation is complete and the house cleaning done, a sceptical public must know the steps taken to prevent a repeat.
Ishiekwene is Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP and author of the book, Writing for Media and Monetising It.
Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, Wednesday evening, May 21, 2025, justified the about N36 billion expended by his administration to finally fix the seemingly jinxed but all-important Port Harcourt Road in Aba the commercial hub of the State.
This is just as the Aba business Community insisted that the reconstruction of the economic gateway of Aba and Abia State far outweighed any amount spent.
At a special thanksgiving carnival tagged “Port Harcourt Road: Promise Kept” put together by the Aba business community to appreciate him, Governor Otti noted that his immediate predecessor in office spent more money without fixing the road.
The Source reports that Port Harcourt Road which serves as the heartbeat and operational economic gateway of the commercial city, was left in utter ruins for over 15 years.
The sorry state of the road which houses over 70% of the branch offices of major banks and critical state infrastructures, including schools, forced many businesses and other activities to go under, thereby negatively affecting the Gross Domestic Products, GDP, of the Abia state.
However, the opposition outcry over alleged inflation of the reconstruction efforts has tended to be competing with the visible public ecstasy that greeted the completion of the reconstruction.
Responding to the opposition, Governor Otti, stated that he had deliberately chosen not to reply the often misguided criticisms of the opposition with sterling performances.
“The shameless opposition began to make noise right from the time we brought Julius Berger to the site before assuming office.
“That time, they said we were in a hurry. And when we started to deliver what they could not do for years, they began to talk about the cost.
“But the truth is that the immediate past administration spent about N9.8 billion as at 2017 on the same road without any result.
“That amount, when converted today at the current exchange rate is over the amount we finally spent on fixing the road.
“But the good thing is that we have always ignored their rantings and refused to be distracted.
“You see, in 2025, we spent N36 billion to fix the road, and they ( opposition) are making noise . Now, I said since you people understand mathematics ,let us work it out. In 2017 the average exchange rate was N333 to a Dollar.
“Presently, if you apply that to the N9.8 billion they spent in 2017 to the exchange rate, you will have about $29 million dollars equivalent.
” In 2025 ,at the average exchange rate of N1.600 ,N36,billion is actually $ 22.8 million equivalent.
“Now, some people spent $29 million dollars without achieving any result, and another fixed the road with about $22 million, which one is commendable?”, Gov Otti, queried
He appreciated the Aba business community for organizing the carnival to appreciate and support the efforts of the Government.
The Governor noted that such show of public gratitude and understanding will further encourage the Government to do more.
The immediate past National President of the Nigerian Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, NACCIMA, Ide John Udeagbara, the President General of Aba Landlords Protection and Development Association, ALPADA, Sir Alphosus Udeigbo, and Chief Onyeka Ernest Udeaja, who spoke separately on behalf of the organizers of the event, paid glowing tribute to the Governor for breathing back life into the economic activities of Aba and Abia State in general through his administration’s massive infrastructural renewal agenda.
They particularly lauded him for the Port Harcourt Road reconstruction efforts which they described as landmark, and monumental.
According to them, the reopening of the road which had been in serious dilapidated state for almost two decades, has once again reopened the economic corridors of not only Aba, but most neighbouring South East and South South states.
President Bola Tinubu has send to the National Assembly for approval the 2025 for Rivers state.
The president, in a letter he sent to the Speaker of the House of Representatives urged the lawmakers to approve N.481 as this year’s budget for the oil bearing state.
The letter was read on Thursday by the Speaker, Tajudeen Abass.
On February 18, 2015 President Tinubu suspended the democratically elected institutions including the governor, Siminalayi Fubara, his Deputy and members in the state house of Assembly.
The president immediately appointed Ibok Ete Ibaz, a former Chief of lNaval Staff, to oversee the affairs of the oil bearing state.
The suspension had received serious backlash from not a few Nigerians who said the president violated the Constitution. The president had already been dragged to the Supreme Court court over the issue, by some well-meaning indigenes of the state and the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, governor who want the suspension cancelled.
On Wednesday, President Tinubu told the nation’s apex court that his action was in tandem with the law, citing for instance,the approval of both chambers of the National Assembly.
The magazine reported that both the Senate and House of Representatives have set up two committees to oversight the function of the Sole Administrator,Ibok Ete Ibaz, a retired Rear Admiral.
Peter Obi, a two-term Governor of Anambra State, and the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 General Elections has dismissed those who falsely allege that he went to the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV for the sole purpose of pleading with President Bola Tinubu on behalf of Fidelity Bank Plc, as cheap blackmailers.
In the past couple of days, some unscrupulous elements have been trying to de-market Fidelity Bank, one of Nigeria’s most solid and best-run Banks.
Just when the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, dismissed the ridiculous insinuations against the bank as absolutely untrue and nonsensical, and while the bank was scoring A+ in every indices, those after it raised the ante.
Deliberately ignorant about the ownership structure of the bank, they tried to connect Obi’s trip to the Vatican for the Pope’s inauguration with their fabricated story on Fidelity Bank. They said Obi traveled to the Vatican purposely to meet with President Bola Tinubu to plead on behalf of his (Obi’s) bank, Fidelity.
However, in a reaction to the ridiculous tale, Obi dismissed it as beneath contempt, a cock and bull story.
In a post on his X page, Obi tutored his blackmailers and the demarketers of Fidelity Bank that not only does he not own the bank, he had no private meeting with President Tinubu to discuss anything. The only time he met with him, he said, was very briefly, publicly, where both exchanged courtesies. He also tutored them on the ownership structure of the bank, explaining that not only does he not own it, the bank has about 500,000 shareholders.
Obi lamented a situation where his person has, suddenly, become a best-seller for blackmailers.
The full text of his post reads:
“It’s obvious that the biggest business for blackmailers now is talking about Peter Obi from every negative perspective. Even my solemn spiritual trip to Rome has been twisted into yet another blackmail campaign by merchants paid ostensibly to propagate anything negative against Obi.
“One such individual, whose entire life revolves around blackmail, falsely claimed that I went to Rome to have a private meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu regarding a purported ₦225 billion debt crisis involving Fidelity Bank. These claims are not only baseless, malicious, but entirely false.
“Let me categorically state that I have never sought an audience with, nor met, President Tinubu since he assumed office, except about 1 minute meeting at the arena of Saint Peter’s Basilica Rome during the inauguration Mass of Pope Leo XIV, where I was seated behind, and had to respectfully greet him, and other dignitaries present.
“I was previously in Rome on the 9th of May for the lying in state of Pope Francis. Immediately after the mass and exchanging pleasantries, I went straight from Vatican City to London, and then back to Nigeria.
“The self-proclaimed “blackmailer-in-chief” and others who thrive on spreading pain and falsehoods have also claimed that I own Fidelity Bank. For the record, I do not. Throughout my career, I have served as Chairman/Director of 3 banks/Financial institutions, of which Fidelity is one of them. Fidelity has over 500,000 shareholders, none of whom hold a majority stake. What this blackmailer seeks is to harm these hard-working Nigerians and cause them needless distress.
“To those peddling these falsehoods, and engaging in blackmail, I offer a simple prayer: May God grant you the virtues of gratitude and understanding to know that we came here with nothing and will go with nothing, that they cannot prof it from their evil ways.
For the second time in two years, legal luminary, Anambra State-born Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, reputed to be one of the best and most rigorous interrogators in Nigeria, is in mourning.
Recall that Ikpeazu, just about two years ago, lost his 32 year-old daughter to the wicked hands of death. Now, just last Saturday, May 17, 2025, the SAN, again lost his daughter, Chineze, who was just waiting to be called to bar in a few days time, having completed his final law examination. She died in a fatal vehicle accident.
The sad news of Onyechi’s loss was broken at the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Wednesday by Abdul Mohammed, SAN, who held brief for him during the trial of suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari.
Kyari is, along with four others, being prosecuted on drug-related charges brought against them by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA. Onyechi is his Lawyer.
When the case was called up, Wednesday, May 21, Mohammed told the trial Judge, the Honourable Justice Emeka Nwite, of Ikpeazu’s loss.
“Out of respect for the Court, he directed me to come and convey the sad news to the Court and asked that this matter be adjourned to a reasonable time to enable him to get himself back for the proceedings.
“We are suggesting July 7, the period we feel would enable him to nurse the wound before coming back to conduct the proceedings.”
