Dr Emmanuel Ahmadu, a Nigerian who wrote the West Africa School Senior Certificate Education 17 times, has earned a distinction from the prestigious London Graduate School in the UK.

Ahmadu, a Nigerian mental health advocate and accomplished professional based in the U.S., disclosed this in an interview in Lagos.

He said that he was also inducted as a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants (FIMC) in Lagos.

Ahmadu said that the formal induction ceremony and certification workshop took place  in Lagos and UK on Nov. 26, where he was lauded for his exceptional contributions.

According to him, this dual honour highlights his inspiring journey from writing O’level examinations 17 times, due to family instability, to becoming a globally recognised figure in mental health advocacy and consultancy.

Ahmadu said his new accolades would significantly amplify his global impact, which would enable him to contribute further to addressing mental health challenges, particularly among Gen Z, teenagers, and adolescents.

“My Fellowship, the highest grade of membership in the Institute of Management Consultants, will position me as a thought leader equipped to provide innovative strategies in tackling depression and suicide.

“This recognition is not just a personal milestone but a step forward in the global fight against mental health crises.

“It’s a call to action to innovate solutions that inspire hope and resilience”.

The Institute of Management Consultants, in its nomination statement, praised Ahmadu’s “outstanding academic and professional standing and demonstrated commitment to creating, maintaining, extending, and promoting the highest world standards of management consulting practice.”

Ahmadu said: “My certification as a Certified Management Consultant (CMC) will further enhance my credentials, making me to offer my expertise across over 50 countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom,” he said.

He said that his personal story had resonated globally, inspiring millions.

“A childhood marked by instability saw me attend 16 primary schools and 14 secondary schools, yet I persevered, ultimately earning two honorary doctorates and publishing in mental health journals”.

On Instagram (@mr.voiceover), Ahmadu shared, “Nothing is impossible with God.

“I’m forever grateful for this life-changing moment and determined to keep pushing forward in this journey to make a positive difference in the world. Glory be to God almighty,” he said.

He said that Prof. David Iornem, Director-General of IMC Nigeria, during the induction, remarked that he (Ahmadu) exemplified the transformative power of resilience.

“His expertise and leadership will undoubtedly elevate global efforts in mental health advocacy and management consultancy,” said Iornem. (NAN)

A former governor of Edo State and current senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, has declared that his son, Cyril, is qualified to serve as the commissioner for health in the state.

Oshiomhole stated this on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Wednesday.

Cyril, a medical doctor, was nominated as the commissioner of health by Monday Okpebholo, the state governor and close ally of Oshiomhole, and was subsequently sworn in on November 19 at the Government House in Benin City. 

When asked if he supported his son’s appointment as commissioner, former labour leader Oshiomhole revealed that he had expressed his concerns to the governor at the time the decision was made.

His words: “He doesn’t work under me; maybe Governor Monday is grooming him. When I was in Edo, I stopped him when he wanted to go for the House of Reps. I said no and supported another guy. The second time he wanted to try, I said no. This time the governor decided to pick him. He is qualified.

“I did express my concerns when I heard. I called him and expressed my concerns. I expressed those concerns to the governor that people might say this and that.

“Those were the reasons why I stopped him from contesting elections when I was in office but then I have to accept that in the world that we live in, you can only do so much to control your son but not when he is already of adult age.

“But the point must be made: I invested in my children’s education. I didn’t want them to go through what I went through. So, Dr Cyril is not just a medical doctor from ABU (Ahmadu Bello University), he went to do post-graduate in two universities in the US including Harvard and another university in Louisiana. He does something about public health.

“So, he is not having it because he is Oshiomhole; I will say he is having in spite of being Oshiomhole.”

President Bola Tinubu will present the 2025 budget to a joint session of the National Assembly next Tuesday, December 17.

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, made the announcement about the budget presentation today, Thursday.

He said President Tinubu will make the budget presentation at the House of Representatives’ chamber by 11 a.m.

He disclosed this during plenary session on Thursday.

Akpabio said senators would first converge on the Senate chambers before proceeding to the Chamber of the House of Representatives for the joint session.

Earlier, last Tuesday, President Tinubu submitted the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper for 2025-2027 to both the Senate and the House of Representatives last Tuesday.

Udengs Eradiri, governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections in Bayelsa state, has resigned his membership of the Labour Party (LP).

He disclosed his intention to resign in a letter dated December 8 and addressed to the party’s state chairman.

Eradiri said he “couldn’t scale through the intrigues and challenges implanted in the party leadership”.

Eradiri added that he resigned to pursue his political career on a platform equipped to provide Bayelsa with the leadership it deserves.

 

“I wish to formally notify the party of my withdrawal as a member of the Labour Party,” the letter reads.

“I have come to this conclusion in order to pursue my political career with a platform that is ready and prepared to provide the kind of leadership that Bayelsa state earnestly deserve.

“I wish to appreciate the members of the party who believed in the vision for a better Bayelsa state and gave me the opportunity to be flag bearer as governorship candidate but unfortunately, we couldn’t scale through the intrigues and challenges implanted in the party leadership.

 

“It was a great moment working together politically and transversing the nooks and crannies of the state in the quest for leadership and I wish the Party and its leaders well in their future endeavours.”

The house of representatives has resolved to investigate the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) over reports that its officers aid and abet smuggling.

The resolution followed a motion of urgent public importance moved by Sesi Whingan, a lawmaker representing Badagry federal constituency in Lagos, during plenary on Wednesday.

Whingan said the allegations against officers of the service were “deeply troubling”.

“Recent reports by Sahara Reporters on 18 November 2024 exposed the mass smuggling of over 2,000 cars carrying six million kilogrammes of rice through Badagry under the watch of Customs officers,” he said.

“Videos published by investigative journalist Fisayo Soyombo provided evidence of complicity by Customs officers in these illegal activities.”

He added that the allegations contravene the law establishing the NCS, noting that the agency is mandated to “prevent smuggling” and not enable it.

The lawmaker said some military officers seconded to the NCS have also been accused of complicity in the smuggling ring.

“Reports of brutality have emerged, including an incident along the Badagry-Seme Expressway on 1 December 2024, where officers from the Nigeria Customs Service, in collaboration with soldiers, violently assaulted two transporters, Taofeek Olatunbosun and Rafiu Abdelmalik,” he said.

“The victims were suspected of documenting smuggling activities, leading to threats against their lives and a standoff that required intervention from residents and the police.

“The actions of some officers within the Nigeria Customs Service contravene its core mandate, erode public trust, and raise concerns about the oversight of joint security operations involving military personnel.

“The complicity of customs officers in smuggling operations and the use of violence to intimidate civilians pose significant risks to national security, economic stability, and the rule of law.”

Subsequently, the house directed its committees on defence and customs to conduct a probe into the allegations against the officers.

The house resolved that the NCS officers and the attached military officials should be investigated, with the committees given six weeks to conclude their inquiry.

Earlier this year, an undercover investigation by Soyombo detailed how officers of the NCS allegedly update smugglers on the itinerary of their colleagues in a bid to facilitate the movement of smuggled goods.

The Edo State Assets Verification Committee, set up by the State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, says it has uncovered how the contract sum for a road project in the state was inflated from N8 billion to N16 billion by the immediate past government of Godwin Obaseki.

DAILY POST reports that the contract sum for the 17.5-kilometer road project was inflated thrice within a year.

The Sub-committee on Physical Assets and Infrastructure of the Verification Committee discovered the inflation during an inspection of the reconstruction of the Benin-Abraka Road Phase 1C.

The contract was awarded to Nsik Engineering Company Limited on May 16, 2023, while work commenced in September 2023.

The project manager of the construction firm, Engr. Ifiokebong Ekong, who spoke to members of the committee during the inspection, said the company was mobilized with the sum of N2.9 billion, representing 25 percent of the contract sum of N8 billion.

Ekong said after the mobilization, the contract sum was varied, and some amount was added to the initial cost of the project.

He added that the completion period of the job, which was initially three and a half years, was, however, reviewed downward to 18 months (one year and six months).

The project manager said the contract sum was initially N8 billion when it was awarded in September 2023, but it was reviewed upward to N12 billion in 2024 and later to the current sum of N16.4 billion in June 2024.

Speaking on the revelation, a member of the subcommittee, Engr. Abass Braimah, who frowned at the development, said the increment was 100 percent.

According to him, “I don’t think there is anywhere in Nigeria or outside that a project can be awarded for N8 billion, reviewed to N12 billion, and further reviewed to N16 billion.

“Why not just review it and take the entire purse of Edo State? If we can review from N8 billion to upward of between N12 billion and N16 billion in one year?

“What has substantially changed for you to have a 100 percent increment from N8 billion to N16 billion? Meanwhile, the job specification or contents have not changed. It is still the same thing.

“And all of these went through the Tenders Board processes. The Board must have sat down to peruse, and it was not only you who submitted documents and bid for the contract.

“Against the backdrop of several other companies that tendered, they gave you this job at N8 billion. After the job was awarded at N8 billion, they reviewed it with a 50 percent increment. Fifty percent of N8 billion is N4 billion, which increased the sum to N12 billion, and they further reviewed it to N16 billion.

“What type of games are we playing here? These are games,” he said.

Earlier, the chairman of the subcommittee, Patrick Obahiagbon, said the explanation by the project manager of the company confirmed the content of a petition the committee received from some citizens of the state on the alleged inflation of the contract sum for the road project.

Obahiagbon, who said the inflation took place within one year, alleged that it must have been done by the immediate past government to use the funds to finance the September 21, 2024, governorship election.

“The reason we have to take pains to particularly visit this site is based on a petition from Edo State citizens that we have just received.

“And the narrations of the construction firm’s project manager seem to justify the reasons and the nitty-gritty of that petition. The content of that petition was to the effect that there were massive reviews of contracts on this project because of the election.

“That the contract was colossally inflated because the outgoing governor needed money urgently and desperately to fund the September 21 governorship election.

“It makes no sense that within one year, a road contract sum would be varied from N8 billion to N12 billion and, in June, some few months to the election — maybe for election purposes— the contract sum again was varied from N12 billion to N16 billion.

“Maybe the petitioners were correct after all. If they were correct, this is an unfair deal to the people of Edo State,” he said.

Obahiagbon, who described the development as sad, added that the committee would urge the main committee to recommend to the state government that further investigation be carried out on the petition and the statement of the company’s project manager.

President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, has asserted that his principal is making efforts to make life much easier for Nigerians in all areas.

According to Bwala, the Renewed Hope agenda of the incumbent government aims to improve the quality of life for all Nigerians.

Bwala expressed this sentiment while highlighting the recent introduction of electronic gates by the Immigration Service at international airports, which seeks to enhance the travel experience and minimize issues related to human interaction in Nigeria.

The presidential aide emphasized that this progressive initiative by Tinubu’s administration represents a crucial advancement in the modernization of Nigeria’s airport infrastructure.

“As part of @officialABAT renewed Hope promise to Nigerians, the administration’s Immigration Service launches electronic gates at international airports, all in a bid to enhance the travel experience and reduce challenges associated with human contact.

“This innovative move by this government marks a significant step towards modernizing Nigeria’s airport infrastructure and improving the overall travel experience of passengers.

“The idea of President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope is to make life easier for Nigerians in all areas of their endeavours.

“The reforms are yielding some positives already and will only get better on a long run. Let’s keep the hope alive!” [sic],” Bwala wrote on his X handle.

The leader of the United Kingdom, UK, Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has replied to Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, saying she stands by her remarks about Nigeria despite criticism that she is denigrating the country.

Badenoch has allegedly described her upbringing in Nigeria as being overshadowed by fear and insecurity in a country plagued by corruption.

Born in the UK in 1980 to Nigerian Yoruba parents, she married a Scottish banker, Hamish Badenoch, and took her husband’s surname.

Before she was elected leader of the Conservative Party, Badenoch described Nigeria as a socialist nation brimming with thieving politicians and insecurity.

“This is my country. I don’t want it to become like the place I ran away from. I grew up in Nigeria, and I saw firsthand what happens when politicians are in it for themselves, when they use public money as their private piggy banks, when they pollute the whole political atmosphere with their failure to serve others.

“I saw what socialism is for millions. I saw poverty and broken dreams. I came to Britain to make my way in a country where hard work and honest endeavour can take you anywhere.

“I grew up in a place where fear was everywhere. You cannot understand it unless you’ve lived it. Triple-checking that all the doors and windows are locked, waking up in the night at every sound, listening as you hear your neighbours scream as they are being burgled and beaten, wondering if your home would be next,” she said.

DAILY POST reports that Vice President Shettima on Monday responded, accusing Badenoch of denigrating Nigeria.

Shettima had asked Badenoch to remove the “Kemi” from her name if she was not proud of her nation of origin.

Asked about Shettima’s comments, Badenoch, through her spokesperson, said she stands by her statements and is not interested in doing public relations for Nigeria.

“She is the leader of the opposition, and she is very proud of her leadership of the opposition in this country.

“She tells the truth. She tells it like it is. She’s not going to couch her words, and she stands by what she says,” the spokesperson said.

The senate has asked Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), to halt the demolitions in the nation’s capital.

The decision of the upper legislative chamber was sequel to a motion sponsored by Ireti Kingibe, senator representing FCT.

In recent months, the federal capital development authority (FCDA), under the leadership of Wike, has intensified the demolition of “illegally” constructed estates and shanties in the FCT.

The minister had said some of the shanties posed threats to the security of the nation’s capital.

The red chamber also resolved to set up an ad hoc committee led by Barau Jibrin, deputy senate president, to investigate the matter.

The FCT minister is expected to appear before the committee to answer questions about the demolitions that have rendered many people homeless in the nation’s capital.

Recently, Rita Lori-Ogbebor, chief executive officer of Rita Lori Hotels, revealed that the FCDA revoked a parcel of land in the Life Camp area of Abuja.

The land, she said, belonged to the late Paul Ogbebor, a retired colonel and her former husband.

Lori-Ogbebor has since asked President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the situation, adding that the parcel of land has been in her family for decades.

Seplat Energy says it has completed the acquisition of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU) from ExxonMobil.

In a statement on Thursday, Seplat Energy described the transaction as transformative.

Seplat said it will more than double production and position the company to foster growth and profitability, whilst contributing significantly to Nigeria’s future prosperity.

“MPNU adds substantial reserves and production to Seplat Energy; 409 MMboe 2P reserves and 670 MMboe 2P + 2C reserves and resources as at 30 June 2024 and 6M 2024 average daily production of 71.4 kboepd,” Seplat said.

“As operator, Seplat’s immediate tasks are to ensure smooth transition of MPNU staff into Seplat, and on the operations, to swiftly target numerous opportunities that exist to organically grow production and further enhance the value of the assets for all stakeholders.”

Seplat said detailed guidance for the enlarged group in 2025 would be provided with Seplat’s full-year 2024 results, expected to be filed in February 2025.

‘READMISSION OF SHARES TO TRADING’

As regards the completion of the acquisition of MPNU, Seplat said the listing of its existing ordinary shares on the official list of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the United Kingdom is expected to be cancelled with effect from the close of trading later today.

Afterwards, Seplat said the shares would be readmitted to the equity shares (international commercial companies secondary listing) segment of the official list of the FCA and to trading on the main market for listed securities of the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

Seplat said the readmission is expected to occur at 8:00am on December 13.

“No new shares will be issued in connection with Re-admission,” the company said.

“The Company’s ordinary shares will continue to trade under the name Seplat Energy plc with the ticker symbol “SEPL” and ISIN NGSEPLAT0008.”

Commenting on the transaction, Udoma Udoma, chairman of Seplat Energy, commended President Bola Tinubu for supporting the transaction, appreciating the support and diligence of the various ministries and regulators for all the efforts to reach a successful conclusion.

“We are delighted to welcome the MPNU employees to Seplat Energy. We are excited to begin our journey in a new region of the country, and we look forward to replicating the positive impacts we have achieved within our communities in our current areas of operations,” he said.

“Seplat’s mission is to deliver value to all our stakeholders, and we treasure the good relationships we have developed with the Government, regulators, communities and our staff.”

On his part, Roger Brown, chief executive officer (CEO) of Seplat Energy, said the company has achieved a major feat.

Brown further thanked the entire Seplat team for their diligence and perseverance in completing the transaction.

“MPNU’s employees and contractors have a strong reputation for safety and operational excellence, and I welcome them to the Seplat Energy Group,” he said.

“We have acquired a company with one of the best portfolios of assets and related infrastructure in a world class basin, providing enormous potential for the Seplat Group. Our commitment is to invest to increase oil and gas production while reducing costs and emissions, maximising value for all our stakeholders.

“MPNU is a perfect fit with our strategy to build a sustainable business that can deliver affordable, accessible and reliable energy for Nigeria alongside attractive returns to our shareholders.”

On October 21, Gbenga Komolafe, the CEO of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), announced approval of the deal by the federal government.

Seplat had said it will complete the transaction with a final consideration of $800 million.