Author: Vardiafrica

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has publicly destroyed 329,865.585 kilograms of assorted illicit drugs with an estimated street value of Three Hundred and One Billion, Fifty-Eight Million and Seventy-Six Thousand Naira (N301,058,076,000) only in a court-ordered exercise carried out in Lagos. The exercise, conducted pursuant to orders of the Federal High Court, Lagos Judicial Division, disposed of uncontested concluded cases and abandoned seizures. Of the total consignment, 246,864.535 kilograms were seized by the Lagos Strategic Command of the Agency between April 2025 and May 2026, while 83,001.05 kilograms came from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Tincan and…

Samuel Ogbuku, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) managing director, has implored young people to move beyond consuming artificial intelligence (AI). Ogbuku made the call on Monday at the opening of the NDDC artificial intelligence training and capacity building programme for innovative opportunities in Port Harcourt. The programme, organised by the commission’s department of information technology and innovation, is aimed at equipping young people with skills to participate in the digital economy. Ogbuku, who was represented by Obegha Oworibo, his chief of staff, said the Niger Delta must begin to harness the knowledge, creativity and intelligence of its people as an…

In order to end the incidents of missing  luggage or delays both in domestic and international flights, the Nigeria Civil  Aviation Authority (NCAA) has announced the introduction of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) baggage tracking technology across Nigerian airports. The agency said this became necessary because it has received a lot of complaints from passenger about their missing baggage. According to the agency, the automated system will replace the traditional barcode-centric framework, thus granting both airlines and passengers real-time, non-line-of-sight visibility of checked luggage from the point of check-in to final reclaim. This was disclosed by the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael…

Airtel Africa and SpaceX’s Starlink have launched a satellite-to-phone service in the Democratic Republic of Congo, marking what the companies described as the first commercial deployment of the technology in Africa. The service, commercially launched on Aug. 14, allows eligible Airtel customers to connect compatible smartphones directly to Starlink satellites in areas without conventional mobile coverage. Unlike Starlink’s traditional satellite internet service, the satellite-to-phone technology does not require customers to install a satellite dish. Compatible smartphones connect directly to satellites, which function as mobile network towers in space. The initial service is limited to SMS and selected low-bandwidth applications, including…

President Bola Tinubu has described Governor Ademola Adeleke’s re-election in the Osun State governorship election as an assurance that democracy will continue to flourish in Nigeria. Tinubu stated this in a statement issued on Sunday by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, following Adeleke’s victory in the August 15 election. The President said he had called Adeleke to congratulate him on his victory. He added that the result reflected the confidence the people of Osun had in the governor “I called Governor Ademola Adeleke earlier today to congratulate him on his election victory in Osun State. His…

The Federal Government has unveiled the National Agricultural Mechanisation Policy and the National Agricultural Mechanisation Investment Strategy, alongside plans to establish a mega tractor assembly plant capable of producing between 2,000 and 4,000 tractors annually. The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, disclosed this on Wednesday at the High-Level National Policy Dialogue on Agricultural Mechanisation in Abuja. According to Kyari, the two policy instruments are designed to strengthen Nigeria’s agricultural productivity, reduce its mechanisation deficit and support the development of a more commercially driven agricultural sector. He said the government’s ambition was to move Nigeria “from agricultural…

ECOWAS, through the West African Health Organisation (WAHO) in partnership with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), organised, on 14th August 2026 in Lomé, Togo, the official handover ceremony for thirty (30) Land Cruiser 78 Series medical ambulances, equipped with biomedical equipment, for the benefit of ECOWAS member states. The ceremony was attended by H.E. Dr Omar Alieu Touray, President of the ECOWAS Commission, H.E. Ms Damtien Tchintchibidja, Vice-President of the ECOWAS Commission; Mr Jean-Marie Koffi Ewonoulé Tessi, Minister for Health, Public Hygiene, Universal Health Coverage and Insurance of the Togolese Republic; Dr Melchior Athanase Aïssi, Director-General of WAHO; Mr Kossi Edjam, representative of…

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the incumbent governor and Accord Party candidate, Ademola Adeleke, winner of the 2026 Osun State governorship election. The declaration was made on Sunday morning by the INEC Returning Officer and Vice Chancellor of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Professor Joshua Olalekan Ogunwole, following the collation of results from the 30 local government areas of the state. Adeleke polled 511,067 votes to defeat his closest challenger, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, who scored 444,815 votes. Declaring the result, Professor Ogunwole said Adeleke had satisfied all legal requirements and was therefore returned…

United States President, Donald Trump, has stopped Temporary Protected Status, TPS, for nationals of Cameroon, Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan living in the US. The development was disclosed in updated information on the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, USCIS, website. According to the USCIS, the move is part of a wider rollback of the humanitarian immigration programme. The Service also stated that the development means eligible nationals from the four African countries who relied on TPS to remain and work legally in the US could lose those protections if they do not have another lawful immigration status. TPS is a…

Emmanuel Yusuf, managing director of the Nigerian content development fund (NCDF), says about 130 indigenous companies in Nigeria’s upstream oil and gas industry have received more than $400 million in support from the fund. Yusuf spoke in Uyo on Thursday during the launch of the Nigerian content fund compliance certificate portal, organised by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) for stakeholders. He said the portal would provide a digitised process to facilitate faster access to funds. Yusuf said the digitalised system would improve service efficiency and make its impact measurable, as operators and contractors would have easier access…