Author: Vardiafrica

Christopher Musa, chief of defense staff (CDS), has reportedly met with the leadership of the Niger Republic’s military junta. Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency publication focused on the Lake Chad region, posted pictures of the meeting via X on Wednesday showing Musa alongside a delegation, including Emmanuel Undiandeye, the chief of defence intelligence. The meeting was in Niamey, the Niger Republic capital, and focused on pathways to strengthen security in the Sahelian region plagued by terrorism. Edward Buba, director, defense media operations, did not immediately respond to TheCable’s inquiry for confirmation. Here are photos.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has announced September 14, 2024, as the final deadline for Nigerians for the ongoing SIM-NIN linkage exercise. According to the telecom regulator, to date, over 153 million SIMs have been successfully linked to a NIN, reflecting an impressive compliance rate of 96%, a substantial increase from 69.7% in January 2024. This, however, showed there are still millions of lines yet to be linked with NIN. As of March 2024, data from the NCC shows that there were 219 million active lines across the mobile networks of MTN, Globacom, Airtel, and 9mobile. Achieving 100% NIN-SIM linkage …

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has lifted its suspension on banks borrowing from its window, known as the Standing Lending Facility (SLF). The apex bank also pegged the lending rate at 31.75 percent sequel to tje decisions made at the 296th meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the bank. Director of Financial Markets Department, Omolara Duke, in a statement, dated August 26, 2024, said, “The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) adjusted the upper corridor of the standing facilities to 5.00 per cent from 1.00 per cent around the MPR, at its 296th meeting. “Consequently, the suspension of the…

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has directed all state chapters and affiliate members to mobilise members in solidarity with the NLC President Joe Ajaero, who is expected to honour police invitation for alleged terrorism on Thursday, August 29, 2024. General Secretary of the NLC, Emmanuel Ugboaja, confirmed the directive to our labour correspondent. According to the NLC general secretary, the directive also instructed members from across the states to mobilise and embark on a peaceful procession to their respective state police commands and stay there until the NLC president is out of the police interrogation. Meanwhile, NLC members in Abuja…

The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, said the meeting would shed light on efforts by the federal government to resolve the. lingering issues since its last meeting with the Union. Photo: Radio Nigeria Archive The Federal Government will reconvened its meeting with the Academic Staff Union of Universities ASUU, on September 6, to allow for more time to address the issues raised by the Union. The Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman stated this in Abuja at the end of a closed door meeting with ASUU. Professor Mamman said that a sub-committee had been set up to review their…

27-year-old Samson Ajao from Osogbo, Nigeria, has performed the world’s longest marathon reading aloud, clocking in at 215 hours – just one hour short of nine full days. The previous record of 124 hours was set in 2022 by Rysbai Isakov (Kyrgyzstan). To achieve this record, the challenger must read aloud continuously from published works, with no more than a 30-second pause between items being read Samson read around 100 books in total, covering subjects such as finance, sales, management, leadership, politics, health and mental wellness. He attempted this record to promote literacy development and “inspire a reading culture” in Nigeria.…

There are currently ongoing demonstrations in Canada as about 70,000 international students are at risk of being deported from the American country. CityNews Toronto reports this figure was given by representatives of Naujawan Support Network, a student advocacy group, stating that more than 70,000 graduates are at risk of being deported when their work permits expire at the end of this year. Recall that on Tuesday, the Trudeau administration announced that fewer temporary foreign workers will be allowed in Canada under tightened rules. This administrative policy was announced by the Canadian government in January which would cut the number of new…

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has retained its top ranking in business efficiency and transparency among ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), as captured in the latest evaluative assessment by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC). In the ‘2024 Half Year Transparency and Efficiency Compliance Report (January 2024-June 2024),’ released on Tuesday in Abuja by PEBEC, the Board scored 71.6 per cent in Efficiency Compliance and 100 per cent in Transparency Assessment, to emerge with an Overall BFA Performance score of 80.1 per cent. The Overall Business Facilitation Act Performance of MDAs, as explained by PEBEC, is…

The Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun has assured the public of the safe rescue of all Nigerians in captivity across the country. The IGP according to a statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Olumiyiwa Adejobi in Abuja on Tuesday, made this call while reflecting on and appraising the effectiveness of the well-coordinated operations placed for the rescue of the 20 medical students who were kidnapped in Benue State on the 15th of August 2024, and other seven Nigerians who had been in the captivity of the heinous criminals. “This is our pledge, and we will ensure its fulfilment,”…

The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen Taoreed Lagbaja, has assured Nigerians that the Army will not succumb to calls by some powerful interest blocs to disrupt democratic governance in the country. Lt-Gen Lagbaja stated this on Tuesday, August 27, 2024, in his opening remarks at the 2024 Chief of Army Staff combined second and third quarters conference held in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom state capital. He said that the Nigerian Army was still struggling to restore its integrity after many years of military rule and hence is not ready to lose its prestige built in the past 25 years…