Author: Vardiafrica

President Bola Tinubu is set to attend the 2025 edition of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week in the United Arab Emirates. Disclosing this in a statement on Friday, presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, said the summit will take place from January 12 to 18. Tinubu’s planned trip to the Middle East is at the behest of the President of the United Arab Emirates, Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. “The Summit will bring together global leaders to accelerate sustainable development and advance socioeconomic progress,” the statement read. “The event, ‘The Nexus of Next; Supercharging Sustainable Progress,’ will enable policymakers, business, and…

President Bola Tinubu has decorated his Aide-de-Camp, Lt Col. Nurudeen Alowonle Yusuf, with his new rank of Colonel. The decoration took place on Thursday at the President’s office complex at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Yusuf was appointed as the Aide-de-Camp in April 2023, before the President’s inauguration on May 29, 2023. After completing his Ordinary National Diploma in Computer Science from Offa Polytechnic in 2000, Yusuf enrolled in the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (Electrical-Electronics). Yusuf served as an officer in charge (Technical) for 119 Intelligence Group, Lagos. He was transferred…

China has pledged to strengthen financial ties with Nigeria by expanding the existing currency swap agreement and supporting the issuance of Panda Bonds, to boost trade and infrastructure development between the two nations. Recently, China and Nigeria renewed their currency swap agreement, valued at 15 billion yuan (approximately $2 billion), to enhance trade and investment between the two nations. The agreement, valid for three years, aims to strengthen financial cooperation and promote the use of both currencies in bilateral transactions. Speaking during a joint press briefing with his Nigerian counterpart, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on…

Wang Yi, China’s minister of foreign affairs, says his country will give African countries Y1 billion – over $130 million – to strengthen their military and police forces. Yi spoke with reporters on Thursday through an interpreter after meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Rock villa. The Chinese minister is in Nigeria to consolidate on the agreements signed by President Xi Jinping and Tinubu when the latter visited the Asian country last year. The envoy said China would also help Africa in building a standby force. “China will firmly support Africa in safeguarding its legitimate rights and interests, practicing true multilateralism…

There was calm in Chad’s capital early Thursday morning after armed men attacked the presidential palace, killing 19 people, mostly the attackers, according to the government. AFP journalists noted that in the area of ​​the presidential palace, where traffic has returned to normal, the enhanced security measures and roadblocks that were set up late on Wednesday evening were lifted. Just before 8 p.m. local time (7 p.m. GMT) on Wednesday, heavy gunfire broke out near the presidential compound in central N’Djamena, the capital of the military-ruled Central African country. Government spokesman Abderaman Koulallah said a 24-man commando unit armed with…

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, is currently holding discussions with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, and members of his delegation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja. The meeting aims to strengthen bilateral relations between Nigeria and China, with a focus on cooperation in key sectors such as trade, investment, health, technology, and infrastructure development. In his opening remarks, Tuggar reiterated Nigeria’s commitment to fostering a more resilient relationship with China. He also highlighted President Tinubu’s visit to China in September 2024, during which four Memoranda of Understanding were signed, and reaffirmed Nigeria’s dedication to the…

The Federal Government has confirmed plans to increase telecoms tariffs but assured Nigerians it won’t be by 100% as requested by operators. The Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijan, made this known at a stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja on Wednesday. He said the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) would come up with modalities for tariff adjustment in the telecoms industry. Tijani said, “We’ve look at a number of things in terms of how to ensure that can meaningfully contribute to the development of Nigeria. “Some of those things include implementing the Executive Order around ensuring that we can…

Key political figures, including former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai and allies of ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar, held a private meeting with the leadership of the Social Democratic Party in Abuja on Tuesday. The closed-door meeting, which took place at the SDP national secretariat, has sparked speculations about potential political realignments ahead of the 2027 general elections. Among the notable attendees were Maj. Hamza Al-Mustapha an ex-presidential candidate and former Chief Security Officer to the late Gen Sani Abacha and Atiku’s former spokesman, Otunba Segun Showunmi. Although the specific agenda of the meeting was not disclosed, it is being described as part…

The House passed a bill on Tuesday that would target undocumented immigrants charged with nonviolent crimes for deportation, an opening salvo from a Republican majority that has vowed to deliver on President-elect Donald J. Trump’s promised crackdown at the border. The measure, which drew the support of 48 Democrats as well as all Republicans, appears to be on a path to enactment, having garnered bipartisan backing in the Senate, which plans to take it up on Friday. It is named after Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student who was killed last year in Georgia by a migrant who had crossed…

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has confirmed the appointment of  Éric Sékou Chelle as Head Coach of Nigeria’s Super Eagles. This was reached at its ”meeting held in Abuja on Thursday, 2nd January 2025, the NFF Technical and Development Sub-Committee had recommended the appointment of the former Coach of the senior men national team of Mali as the new Head Coach of the Super Eagles.” ”This recommendation was on Tuesday, 7th January endorsed by the NFF Executive Committee,” the federation’s website revealed His appointment is with immediate effect, and he has the responsibility of guiding the Super Eagles to earn a ticket…