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A notable politician in Gombe State and former governorship aspirant, Abdulkadir Hamma Saleh, has donated the sum of N7.8 million to the executives of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state to enable them observe Ramadan fast.
Saleh, also a former senatorial candidate, made the cash donation to the state executives, elders and ward chairmen of the party.
Gombe State PDP secretary Adamu Abubakar who disclosed the receipt of the assistance from the party chieftain expressed appreciation to him on behalf of the beneficiaries.
He lauded Saleh for the gesture and prayed to God to reward him.
The PDP secretary said the assistance would make the party stalwarts happy, especially in this period when Nigerian Muslims observe the Ramadan fast amid economic hardships.
Nigerian Fuji musician, King Wasiu Ayinde, popularly known as Kwam1 or K1 De Ultimate, has reacted to allegations of maltreating his staff and treating them like slaves.
Naija News reports that Kwam1’s former drummer, Kunle Ayanlowo, in a recent interview, claimed he had worked with the fuji icon for 32 years, and there has been a pattern of alleged abuse and mistreatment.
Kunle also alleged that Kwam1 confiscated passports from band members during foreign travels, leaving them vulnerable and subject to his authority for undisclosed reasons.
The former drummer further recounted distressing incidents, including one where he was allegedly ordered to return home while en route to the hospital for urgent medical treatment.
Kunle attributed the stress and strain of such encounters to the onset of an ulcer, highlighting the lasting impact of his experiences with Kwam1.
According to him, despite his dedication and contributions to Kwam1’s music career, he lacked meaningful gains for himself and his family.
Responding to the allegation, the musician, in a video shared on his Instagram page, urged Kunle to refrain from spreading falsehoods.
He highlighted his role in Kunle’s rise from obscurity and expressed disappointment at what he perceived as an attempt to tarnish his reputation.
His words, translated to English, read, “Liars and naysayers get away from me, stop lying. Trying to damage the reputation that raised you when you were a nobody. Disassociate from liars, you have nothing to gain from them.”
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Four Nigerian teenage girls invent generator that produce six hours of electricity with a liter of urine [PHOTOS]
AFOLABIFour Nigerian teenage girls have invented a generator powered which can use a litre of urine to produce six hours of electricity.
The girls – Duro-Aina Adebola, Akindele Abiola, Faleke Oluwatoyin, and Bello Eniola displayed the invention at the annual event Maker Faire Africa, held in Lagos.
According to the girls, the idea of using urine as fuel was not new but Adeola, Abiola, Oluwatoyin and Eniola came up with a practical way to put the idea into action and many households can utilise it.
RusselSmith, a leading provider of Integrated Energy Solutions disclosed this, adding that Adebola, a 14-year-old said the idea of using urine to produce electricity started when she read an article about a family of five who lost their lives.
She said that the family members died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning as they inhaled fumes emanating from their generator while asleep.
She said she was worried by the incident thinking about how she could help to prevent similar occurences from happening in the future concluding that the way out was to find another power source that does not release carbon monoxide.
Adebola said she related the idea with her three friends – Abiola, Oluwatoyin who are also 14-years-old and Eniola, a 15-year-old.
The four friends named themselves “Fantastic Four” and began their journey to develop a solution which later on became successful and celebrated even on a global scale.
The Fantastic Four stated that they told their science teacher, Olaide Lawal, about their idea, who encouraged them that the indication was possible.
With this inspiration, the teen girls began experimenting with possible materials that could produce power instead of relying on carbon. They said that it dawned on them that rocket engines run on hydrogen.
According to the girls, the premise of their invention was that if hydrogen was the raw material in their generator, the end product would be water. The team said after they experimented with water, they encountered a hurdle.
The team revealed that because water produces low hydrogen, they concluded that if they electrolysed water, the generator would lose 1.25 volts per cycle.
Adebola said she suggested to the team that they should experiment with a material with no cost anything but will generate the power needed to run domestic activity. It was at this point that the team considered the idea of using urine as the source of raw material.
Adebola mentioned that they initially built a system consisting of an electrolytic cell, which consisted of an old car battery. The system also had filters and pipes as well as an empty gas storage tank.
“We then reconfigured our petrol-based generator and carried out our first experiment – and then we faced another huge challenge as the cell exploded,” the girls said.
“We kept on checking our process and setup until Mr. Lawal pointed out our error: The hydrogen-oxygen gas mixture was returning to the cell. We then inserted one-way valves into the pipes to ensure a one-directional flow of the gas mixture, and it worked,” they added.
The Fantastic Four said when they first exhibited their invention publicly, people did not have hope it would work. But they remained determined and made improvements to it. They gained national attention when they exhibited their invention once again at the Maker Faire Africa in 2012.
Since the exhibition, the Fantastic Four has earned both national and international awards for their urine-powered generators. The Lagos State government also expressed the desire to fund the invention to be developed on a large scale for it to be used in homes.
The teen girls expressed their gratitude to their school, Doregos Private Academy stating that they provided the funding, transportation, and moral support for them to pursue the dream.
Fire claims lives of two children in Bauchi after their mother locked them inside room to run errands
AFOLABITwo siblings, Zainab Bashir Muhammad (Hibba) and Ummu Salma Bashir, aged 7 and 5, have been confirmed dead in a fire outbreak that occurred in the Madina Quarter of Bauchi.
The unfortunate incident occurred at a house close to Barden Gabas Primary School adjacent to Tirwun quarters, a suburb of Bauchi metropolis around 11:00am on Sunday, March 17, 2024.
It was gathered that the incident occurred after the mother of the two deceased children locked them in the house and went for errands.
“When we noticed the fire from the house, myself and some neighbours rushed to the house, but our efforts to forcefully open the gate into the house proved abortive,” a witness narrated.
“In the process, we were able to get rid of the door with the use of some carpentry tools and gained entry into the house, but that was when the fire overpowered the room where the two children were sheltered.
“When we entered the house, we tried to force open the room where the children were staying, it was a real fire with heavy dark smoke, making it difficult for us to gain entry.”
Another neighbour to the inferno, Usman Abdullahi (Dan Usmanu) said that "This thing is already destined by God, but it was not the habit of the bereaved mother to lock -up the children and go on errands. Most of the time, whenever she was going out, she used to drop the children in my house, because our houses are close to each other.
"Her husband, Bashir Muhammad was not at home when the incident occurred. Up to this time I am talking to you, we don’t know the actual cause of the fire incident.”
Men of the state fire service have tried their best to fight the fire to stop it from spreading to the surrounding houses and structures considering that it is dry season.
Meanwhile, the children have been buried according to Islamic rites.
A man, Okon Edet has been arrested by the Akwa Ibom State Police command for allegedly beating his father to death during an argument over a plot of land.
The unfortunate event was confirmed by the Command’s spokesman, Odiko Macdon, while parading the suspect and 55 individuals who were arrested for various crimes.
While 54 of the suspects were nabbed for crimes ranging from kidnapping to robbery and cultism, Edet and another were accused of killing their parents.
According to the police mouthpiece, Edet murdered his 75-year-old father, Chief Edet Okon Oyoho, with a machete after confirming that he sold a plot of land he had already gifted to him.
Macdon said the other murder suspect, Nkereuwem Umoren Ekpo, also macheted his 90-year-old grandmother, Martina Udoudo Akpan, to death and absconded with her N16,750.
The police spokesperson revealed: “On March 13, 2024, following reliable intelligence, operatives of Okobo division arrested one Okon Edet ‘M’ of Uruting Village in Okobo LGA for killing his father, one Chief Edet Okon Oyoho, ‘M’, aged 75, of the same address, by beating him mercilessly with a machete, leading to his demise. The suspect confessed to the crime.
“His reason for perpetrating the heinous crime was that he got information that his father, now late, who owns many parcels of land in their community in Okobo LGA, had sold many of the lands, including the one he gave to him as his son to build a house.
“So, he confronted his father and confirmed that the information was true, and he asked his father for the money he got from selling the land, and the father replied that the buyers hadn’t paid. So, he got angry and beat him to death.
“Similarly, on February 25, 2024, at about 1400Hrs, one Nkereuwem Umoren Ekpo ‘M’ of Adiasim Ikot Udo Village in Essien Udim LGA, was arrested for the murder of his grandmother, one Martina Udoudo Akpan ‘F’ of Onuk Nkop Ekpo village, aged about 90 years.
“The suspect was alleged to have used a machete to cut his grandmother’s neck while they were cutting cassava stem in the farm, which eventually led to her death, and untied the sum of N16,750 from the deceased’s wrapper and absconded.”
The PPRO highlighted that 54 individuals were apprehended for a range of offences, including kidnapping, robbery, and cultism.
Additionally, it was emphasized that the Commissioner of Police, Waheed Ayilara, is dedicated to ensuring the provision of efficient security in the state, aligning with global standards of excellence.
“In the last month, a total of four kidnap victims have been rescued including a woman who faked her own kidnap; 18 arrested for armed robbery, 11 for murder including two young men who killed their fathers, and 23 arrested for cultism and other vices,” Daily Trust quoted the police PPRO saying.
Shade Ladipo has spoken about how her marriage crashed.
The Nigerian media personality opened up in a recent interview.
Recall that the radio host tied the knot with Jide in 2018.
But speaking with Daddy Freeze in an Instagram live session, Ladipo revealed that lack of s3xual intercourse for six months made her marriage fail in 2020.
She said when she relocated with Jide to Canada, they resided in his brother’s home.
The radio host said during their stay with her in-laws, “we were not able to communicate, function, or able to find our footing”.
Ladipo said six months into their stay, she moved out of the house, leaving her ex-husband who wanted to stay back because “he had debts”.
She added that the natural separation resulted in their official divorce in 2020.
“The biggest issue in Canada is the cold. When we landed we landed in in-law’s house. We could not have s3x in my in-laws house. Like six months in my in-laws’ house. I am telling you,” she said.
“The plan was we were going to be in the in-laws house for six months. We are not able to reduce the tension. We were not able to communicate. We were not able to really function. We were not able to find our footing. We could not use the bathroom because there was only one. The in-laws were also at home plus their two-year child.
“Again, the plan was that after six months, we would leave the brother’s house and then find our footing. By the end of the six months, he said did not want to leave. And I had to leave. He said he owes debt. He was working a contract job. He wanted to get a permanent job. He was happy with everything. Me I just needed to be happy first.
“He was a nice boy. We moved in together in the estate (in Nigeria). We were living together. People do not understand that when you have the right connection with your partner, even with kids, you go find where you will have s3x.
“I entered Canada as a married woman. Single as a pringle now. Covid happened and life happened. People in my life know. I have been officially divorced since 2020.”.
A suspected bandit informant, Dan Abba, has been arrested by vigilantes at Bishini village market in Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The suspect was apprehended while attempting to sell a stolen cow at the village market.
A resident of Azzara, Ahmadu Sajo, was said to have informed the local security men about Dan Abba’s presence at the market square.
The suspect is believed to be associated with bandits who have been responsible for the abduction of herders and the theft of their cattle in various areas, including Kuchimi, Haying-Dam, and the Gidan-Makeri region of Kagarko town.
It was gathered that the suspect had been declared wanted by the troops in the vicinity, along with other suspects who were fleeing.
However, luck evaded him until last Thursday when he was apprehended at the village market while in possession of a stolen cow.
The informant mentioned that the suspect, along with the stolen cow, was handed over to the troops. Additionally, he informed that the vigilantes were actively trying to track down the whereabouts of some of the other stolen cows.
“The vigilantes suspected that the cow the suspect brought to the market might be among those cows that were stolen two weeks ago at a village in Kagarko LGA,” Daily Trust quoted Sajo saying.
However, the state police command has not issued an official statement regarding the development yet.
Nigerian singer Naira Marley has begged people not to believe everything they hear and read.
He shared some quotes from the Quran to make his point.
He made the post after being blacklisted by many Nigerians following his alleged involvement in Mohbad’s death.
Since Mohbad’s demise, many Nigerians have stopped listening to Naira Marley’s music and withdrawn their support.
Naira Marley took to his Twitter account to share some verses from the Quran.
His tweet reads: “O believers, if an evildoer brings you any news, verify ‘it’ so you do not harm people unknowingly, becoming regretful for what you have done. Quran 49:6 (Al-hujurat)
“Do not follow what you have no ‘sure’ knowledge of. Indeed, all will be called to account for ‘their’ hearing, sight, and intellect. Quran 17:36”.
Ernest Umakihe, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), has disclosed that Nigeria might soon start importing yam from China, for local consumption.
Umakihe stated this while speaking at a stakeholders workshop on repositioning yam as an export crop, with the theme, ‘Prospects and Challenges of yam export in Nigeria.'
Leadership reports that Umakihe lamented that despite accounting for 67% of global yam output, it was unfortunate that Nigeria is nowhere on the map of yam exporting countries.
He expressed concerns that with China delving into yam exportation, and considering Nigerian's taste for imported goods, Chinese yam may soon be found in Nigerian kitchens if care is not taken, thereby pushing more Nigerians into the unemployment market and reducing the income of yam farmers.
Umakihe said Nigeria’s first attempt at exporting yam was by Nasarawa State Government in 2009 with 8.5 metric tonnes and within the same month another 66 metric tonnes were exported in two shipments, followed by Oyo State, but without success. He also said that the Ministry’s attempt to revive yam export in 2017 was poorly handled.
“It was only in 2017 that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture under the leadership of Chief Audu Ogbeh, then Minister, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development organised the first flag-off ceremony (of yam) with a batch of 72 tons to UK and USA. I believe these were done without proper planning before the execution. Aside the mentioned attempts, nothing much has been heard of the yam export from Nigeria,” he said.
Umakihe said it is the duty of Nigerians to find out what went wrong and how to address.
Nigerian singer, Solidstar has narrated his battle with drug addiction.
In a recent interview, he narrated how he got introduced to ice (a hard substance) by some young boys in 2021.
Ice, also known as crystal methamphetamine, is a stimulant drug, which means it speeds up the messages travelling between the brain and body.
Narrating his story, the singer said the drug ruined his life and music career.
He also recalled walking from Awoyaya in Ibeju Lekki in Lagos to the Oriental Hotel in Victoria Island– an estimated seven-hour trip on foot — during his battle with drug addiction.
“A lot of things happened to me. A couple of young boys introduced me to this substance called ice. This was three years back. The thing really affected me a lot,” he said.
“Sometimes this substance will tell me you are king, you are this, you are that, make I no dey pay for stuffs. Can you imagine say I waka from Awoyaya to Oriental Hotel.”
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Four suspects including three Nigerian men, Igboke Okwuchukwu Stephen, Ilo Ebuka Titus and Kanu Arinze, were arrested on Saturday night, March 16, 2024, in a crackdown on drug traffickers and peddlers in Nairobi, Kenya.
The crackdown is being conducted by a joint operation spearheaded by Anti-Narcotics and Transnational Organized Crimes detectives.
The first suspect, Igboke Okwuchukwu Stephen was found with several pellets of brown powdery substance concealed in his house at Nasra Estate, Nairobi. He was booked at Muthaiga Police Station.
In a stop-and-search operation in Ruaka, Kiambu County, 25-year-old Njuguna Karumo was arrested after a similar substance were found hidden under the mats of his motorbike. He was taken to DCI’s Mazingira Complex for questioning.
In Nyamakima, Nairobi CBD, an intelligence-led operation led to the arrest of Ilo Ebuka Titus and Kanu Arinze who were cornered and escorted to their residence at Sunton, Kasarani.
On searching the house, suspected bhang and a package of brown powdery substance were found and seized.
“Kanu and Ebuka were also taken to Muthaiga P/Station pending testing of the drugs and possible prosecution for use and peddling,” the DCI says.
The DCI says that the operation, which extends to all counties, is aimed at fighting the vice from the grassroot, with the police firmly enforcing anti-narcotic laws.
As of December 2022, according to statistics from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), total fibre optics deployment across the country stood at 96,198 km (terrestrial fibre and submarine cable).
Since the fibre optic cables are laid under the ground, they are highly susceptible to cuts during road and other infrastructure constructions across the country.
Fibre optic network technology is generally accepted in the telecom sector because it is the fastest and most widely used medium of backhaul transmission that offers the required capacity and capability to meet the required telecoms needs of customers. It provides enhanced features and advantages that are superior to copper-based and wireless backhaul transmission options.
When this infrastructure is vandalised, it leads to low browsing/download speed, high drop call rate, low call setup success rate/congestion and voice quality degradation (clipping voice).
The Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) confirmed receiving reports of cuts on their fibre network of the MNOs arising from the action of contractors that have just moved to the site.
The Chairman of the group, Gbenga Adebayo said there were reports of multiple fibre cuts that took a toll on the integrity of the network. He said that the cut underscored the need for the Federal Government to quickly categorise telecom infrastructure as Critical National Infrastructure (CNI).
Also reacting to the network outage, Nigeria’s largest carrier, MTN had appealed for understanding to its 87,038,768 customers, representing 38.79 per cent of the total 224,713,710 subscribers, according to the Subscriber Data/Teledensity Data of January 2023 compiled by the NCC.
“Our customers have been experiencing challenges connecting to the network due to a major service outage caused by multiple fibre cuts affecting voice and data services. Our engineers are working hard to resolve the problem; with services gradually being restored in some areas.
“We apologise for the inconvenience and ask for your patience and understanding as the team works hard to restore full service as soon as possible,” a statement from the telco said.
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Also reacting, the Communication Lead at 9mobile, Chineze Amanfo said the telco has also received reports about cuts on its fibre optic cables, leading to subscribers’ nightmares on the network. Like MTN, she assured that services would be normalised as engineers were already on the field to fix the problem.
Just as the social and business communities were recovering from the disruptions to February 28 multiple terrestrial fibre cuts last week, another cable shock hit the country and some countries on the Continent. Most shocking was that it was the undersea cables that were adjudged most secure that experienced multiple major breaks. MainOne, SAT3, WACS and ACE were all breached; thus crippling internet connectivity in 13 African countries, including Nigeria, Cote d’ Ivoire, Liberia, Benin Republic, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Togo, Cameroon, Gabon, Namibia, Niger, Lesotho and parts of South Africa.
The cable outages are affecting several internet service providers (ISPs) and cloud service providers across the Continent, leaving them unconnected.
In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, Vodacom said: “Certain customers are currently experiencing intermittent connectivity issues due to multiple undersea cable failures affecting SA’s network providers, including us. We apologise for any inconvenience this might have caused our esteemed customers.”
The outage has also affected services such as Microsoft Azure and Office 365.
In a recent update, Microsoft said: “We have determined that multiple fibre cables on the West Coast of Africa—WACS, MainOne, SAT3, ACE—have been impacted which reduced total capacity supporting our regions in South Africa.
“In addition to these cable impacts, the ongoing cable cuts in the Red Sea—EIG, Seacom, AAE-1—are also impacting capacity on the East Coast of Africa. This combination of incidents has impacted all Africa capacity–including other cloud providers and public internet as well.”
Like the previous domestic terrestrial cable outage, MTN issued a statement explaining the cause of the downtime. The company said: “We apologise for the challenges you may be experiencing with internet speed and accessing data services at the moment.
“This is a result of damage to international undersea cables across East and West Africa. The repair process is ongoing to resolve the situation as soon as possible. Please, look out for further updates,” it stated.
Continuing, the statement said: “Starting at 10:30 UTC on March 14 2024, customers using Azure Services in South Africa, North and South Africa, West may experience increased network latency or packet drops when accessing their resources,” Microsoft had also explained on Azure status.
A major internet provider for most Nigerian banks and internet providers, MainOne also suffered a major fibre cut in Ghana that has knocked many major money deposit banks offline, according to internal communication sent to bank members of staff. As a result, customers of major Nigerian banks could not access their banking apps or use any Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) service.
Many customers confirmed they have been unable to use their banking apps or access the internet smoothly.
Sterling Bank, a Nigerian bank, has issued a communication to customers, informing them that some online banking activities have been “experiencing difficulties.”
Lemfi, an African remittance start-up had also informed customers that it is experiencing a downtime.
To underscore the severity of the connectivity outage, many shoppers who were used to using their automated teller machine (ATM) cards to pay for goods bought via Point of Sales (PoS) at popular shopping mall, Spar Stores at its Ilupeju outlet were disappointed as they were told to provide cash. Many left without shopping since the cable cuts had also hit their banking apps.
Many of the cable companies affected would have to pay their customers for downtime, in line with service level agreement (SLA). Nigeria’s MainOne has subsequently declared a Force Majeure, which might not extricate it from financial liability service outage.
The company said a Force Majeure event describes an activity beyond its reasonable control for example riots, and earthquakes among other catastrophes. Commercial contracts typically include such a clause which enables service providers to suspend contractual obligations for the duration of such disruptions.
“Nonetheless, we are working to provide restoration services to as many of our customers as possible, and to complete the repairs to the cable system in record time,” the company said.
It said it took action after testing of the cable system and when enough technical data from the preliminary assessment indicated some underwater activity was the likely cause.
MainOne, which had estimated the restoration timeline of the cable to between two and three weeks, said it has started the process of restoring services to some of its customers.
On what could have specifically caused the cable cuts, the company said most submarine cable faults occur as a result of human activities such as fishing and anchoring in shallow waters near shore, natural hazards such as earthquakes, landslides and then equipment failure.
“Given the distance from land and the cable depth of about 3 km at the point of fault, any kind of human activity – ship anchors, fishing, drilling and others has been immediately ruled out.
“Our preliminary analysis would suggest some form of seismic activity on the seabed resulted in a break to the cable, but we will obtain more data when the cable is retrieved during the repair exercise,” MainOne said.
On whether it was a deliberate sabotage, the company said it was most unlikely.
“Not likely, given the location and cable depth, and as indicated above, we have strong indications on probable cause,” the company said.
The cable company, in a note shared with The Nation, said: “We have restored services to some customers and are actively working on restoring services to others via capacity acquired on available cable systems. The estimated repair time is for our submarine cable fault to be fixed, to enable our services to become fully restored and independently supply capacity to our customers,” it said.
From the experience of several telecom subscribers during these severe multiple fibre optic breaks, it is clear that a world without internet is no longer imaginable because it has pulled down the fetters of distance and made the world truly a global village.
Submarine cable
Wikipedia described a submarine communications cable as a cable laid on the seabed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean and sea. The first submarine communications cables were laid beginning in the 1850s and carried telegraphy traffic, establishing the first instant telecommunications links between continents; such as the first transatlantic telegraph cable which became operational on August 16 1858.
Submarine cables first connected all the world’s continents (except Antarctica) when Java was connected to Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, in 1871 in anticipation of the completion of the Australian Overland Telegraph Line in 1872, connecting to Adelaide, South Australia and thence to the rest of Australia.
Subsequent generations of cables carried telephone traffic, then data communications traffic. These early cables used copper wires in their cores, but modern cables use optical fibre technology to carry digital data, which includes telephone, Internet and private data traffic.
Modern cables are typically about 25 mm (1 in) in diameter and weigh around 1.4 tons per kilometre (2.5 short tons per mile; 2.2 long tons per mile) for the deep-sea sections which comprise the majority of the run, although larger and heavier cables are used for shallow-water sections near shore.
In Nigeria, there are now seven international submarine cables, with over 40 Tbps of capacity, including SAT3 cable, MainOne cable, Glo1 cable, ACE cable and WACS cable, landed by Natcom, MainOne, Glo 1, Dolphin Telecom and MTN respectively.
There is also a submarine cable connecting Kribi in Cameroon to Lagos in Nigeria, the Nigeria-Cameroon Submarine Cable System (NCSCS). The NCSCS is owned by Cameroon Telecommunications (CAMTEL), in a partnership with MainOne to land the NCSCS cable at MainOne’s Lagos Cable Landing Station.
Then, there is Google’s private cable Equiano and the 2Africa undersea cable by Facebook’s parent company.
According to the Association of Cable Operators of Nigeria (ASCON), Nigeria has used less than 10 per cent of its five submarine cables capacity as of early 2019.
[TheNation]
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has selected Hon. Dennis Idahosa as its deputy governorship candidate in the September 21 Edo governorship election.
Idahosa will serve as a running mate for the APC candidate in the state, Senator Monday Okpebholo.
Recall that Idahosa was one of the aspirants who vied for the APC ticket for the Edo governorship election during the party primaries but lost to Okpebholo, who eventually emerged as the party’s flag bearer for the November 21, 2024 election.
At a meeting on Sunday night, Idahosa was unveiled in the presence of the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, former Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, Okpebholo himself, and several other party chieftains.
Ganduje, along with the party’s National Secretary, Sen. Ajibola Bashiru, is scheduled to present Okpebholo and Idahosa to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the villa today.
Idahosa is slated to take the place of Hon. Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama, who was named by the governorship candidate last week as his running mate.
Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State believes Nigeria’s biting economic situation is an “inevitable” phase for the betterment of the nation.
Soludo stated this in an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
Recall that Nigeria’s inflation level rose to 31.70 per cent in February with the cost of living shooting up in the wake of the fuel subsidy removal and the floating of the naira.
Reacting to the development, Soludo said this is a phase needed before the country begins to flourish.
He said, “You see, sometimes, I kind of feel we don’t get it.”
On the nation’s economy, Soludo likened the country’s situation to a patient undergoing treatment.
He said, “But whether there will be pains for any step you take or the other, it is going to be. It is inevitable. But that is obviously what we need to pass through,” he said, maintaining that President Bola Tinubu inherited a bad economy upon assumption of office in May 2023.
“We must realise that things were really bad. We must get it clear that there is no easy way to get this patient who has multiple problems [to become better],” Soludo added.
Soludo, who is marking his second year in office, also spoke about his achievements since 2022, adding that his government has created jobs for the masses.
”In the first nine months of coming into office, we have employed over 5,000 teachers and processing 2,000 more,” the former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor said.
“We have employed over 1,000 health workers and in the area of security, we have over 2,000 employed.”
Earlier in the day, Soludo told a congregation during a thanksgiving service to celebrate his two years in office that he is not drawing salaries from the Anambra government. This, he said, is part of austerity measures.
“As I speak to you, I am not taking any salary, I am not paid any salary by Anambra State government. Even the First Lady of Anambra doesn’t have any official car, she still drives my personal vehicles,” he said.