Super Eagles forward, Ademola Lookman has attributed his career and personality evolution to his decision to play for Nigeria.

Ademola Lookman was born in Wandsworth England on October 20, 1997, to Nigerian parents which makes him eligible to play for both countries.

The 26-year-old striker has played for England’s under-19, 20, and 21 levels before he decided to settle for Nigeria at the senior level in 2022 after failing to get the Three Lions of England invite.

Since then, the tricky winger has made himself a very important member of the national team which he has scored 6 goals in 21 games.

“It’s incredible [to play for Nigeria]. The support and the love I get back home from the people is unbelievable,” Lookman told the UEFA official website.

“It gives me the motivation to evolve in different areas – as a person, not just in my game.”

Just like at the 2023 AFCON where Ademola Lookman recorded some brilliant moments as he helped Nigeria to reach the final of the tournament, Lookman has enjoyed some unforgettable moments at Atalanta this season.

The best of them all was his performance in the Europa League final on May 22, 2024, where he became the first player to score a hat-trick in a Europa League final.

The most mind-blowing aspect of that achievement is that Ademola Lookman achieved the feat against newly crowned German Bundesliga champions, Bayer Leverkusen who were enjoying a 51-game unbeaten run before the final.

Meanwhile, Lookman’s national teammate, Kenneth Omeruo has urged the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) to make Atalanta winger the 2024 Africa player of the year.

”@CAF_Online your Arica Player of the Year..@ALookman_ top player”, Kenneth Omeruo wrote on X after Ademola Lookman helped Atalanta to win the Europa League with a hat-trick on Wednesday.

The 2023 Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has vowed to keep contesting as long as he’s healthy.

Atiku spoke during an interview on the Hausa service of the Voice of America in Abuja.

Asked if he will contest again, Atiku said: “Of course, I will keep contesting again and again as long as I am alive and healthy.

“Even the former US President Abraham Lincoln contested seven times before finally winning.

“However, given the current state of the PDP, it is clear that a single-handed effort will not suffice to win the election. Strong support and collaboration with other parties are required.”

The former Vice President will be 81 by the time the next presidential election comes around in 2027.

Atiku has run for the presidency six times but has been on the ballot as a presidential candidate on three occasions — 2007, 2019, and 2023.

Abubakar said he is consoled by the fact that former United States President Abraham Lincoln did not win the presidential vote on the first time of asking.

He also spoke about the crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying the party needs to be united and forge alliances with other political groups to win the presidential election in 2027.

This is coming amid speculation of him forming a coalition with other political parties.

Last week, Atiku had met with his counterpart from the Labour Party, LP, presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

“This is to anybody that thinks there is going to be a misunderstanding between me and Obi, let me assure you that not even a small issue is going to happen between us.

“Also, we are going to be behind anybody that will be chosen to represent us in the forthcoming elections,” he said about the meeting.

The Federal Government, Organised Labour, and the Private Sector have postponed the new minimum wage tripartite committee meeting until next Tuesday.

Naija News reports that the parties decided to postpone the meeting on Wednesday after organized labour rejected the federal government’s fresh offer of ₦57,000 minimum wage.

Recall the government increased its offer from ₦54,000 to ₦57,000 at the meeting but was rejected by the labour unions. Also, labour reduced its demand from ₦615, 000 to ₦497, 000.

However, a source privy to discussions at the meeting told Vanguard that the government team stuck to their offer of ₦57,000, and there is no sign of increasing the latest offer.

The source stated that it is a problem if the government cannot pay an appreciable salary increase, adding that the meeting has adjourned till next Tuesday.

The Labour member said the government’s offer was once again presented by the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha.

He said: “They are crying now. They are stuck at N57,000. There is a problem if the government cannot pay an appreciable salary increase. There is no sign that there is no money. We adjourned until next Tuesday.

“The government is insisting on N57,000, which is like wage reduction, how can you go and negotiate wage reduction because there’s nobody that is earning N57,000 now?

“We came down from N500,000 to N497,000 because when they increased by N3,000, we now came down by N3,000 too so that if they are joking, we also decided to joke, they are not the only ones who know how to joke. We came down to N497,000 when they came up to N57,000. We told them straight away that we didn’t accept the N57,000 offer.

“They pleaded with labour to accept their offer, we told them there was nothing to plead about. We told them to break down the N57,000 offer, so we will know how much they are allocating to transport, how much to accommodation, how much to health so that we know and not lump everything but they didn’t do that.”

Some of the government team members at the meeting included the Ministers of Finance, Wale Edun, and Budget, Atiku Bagudu, and Onyejeocha.

The Zamfara State government has announced that ₦30,000 will be the new minimum wage for workers in the state instead of ₦7,000.

The state governor, Dauda Lawal, who made the announcement yesterday, added that the ₦30,000 minimum wage for civil servants in the state will begin in June.

The Governor revealed this during a meeting with the leadership of the Zamfara State chapter of the Labour Union in Gusau, the state capital.

A statement from the spokesperson of the governor, Sulaiman Bala Idris, said the implementation of the minimum wage demonstrates the state government’s commitment to improving the well-being of employees.

He said, “The Zamfara State government will start paying a minimum wage of N30,000 instead of N7,000 effective June this year.”

Organised Labour has accused the Bola Tinubu-led federal government of deliberately frustrating Nigerian workers.

The labour movement made the accusation on Wednesday after it rejected the fresh offer of ₦57,000 minimum wage from the federal government.

Naija News reports that the Tinubu government proposed the amount during Wednesday’s meeting of the minimum wage tripartite committee in Abuja.

Recall the federal government increased its offer from ₦54,000 to ₦57,000, while labour reduced its demand from ₦615, 000 to ₦497, 000.

Speaking with Vanguard after the meeting, one of the labour leaders expressed his anger over the government’s attitude toward negotiating the new minimum wage.

The labour leader asserted that the government was not ready to negotiate or was not prepared for negotiation, saying that it was deliberately frustrating Nigerian workers.

He added that the government inflicted hardship on Nigerians with their ill-thought-out and unprogressive policies of subsidy removal and devaluation of the national currency.

He said: “Government cannot be telling us that there is no money; this is an insult. We did not remove subsidies or float the national currency. The government created this problem. Since the removal of the petrol subsidy and floating of the naira, has the government shown proof that the country has no money, no?

“We are aware that the government gave members of the National Assembly no less than N160 million each to buy cars, the same government has released N90 billion to subsidise hajj operations.

‘’The government has renovated the Senate chambers, and the vice president’s office, and it is buying luxury buses for Customs in millions of naira.

‘’They are also buying all manner of SUVs for government officers. Since the removal of subsidies, the government has been making life better for political elites who have been feeding fat on workers.

“Crude oil sales have increased considerably, and it has been getting more money in dollars while workers have been suffering and going deeper into poverty.

“The state governors have been receiving three times more than they were receiving before the removal of subsidy. We cannot accept this. We did not cause the socio-economic challenges the country is facing.

“The government inflicted these problems on the country with their ill-thought-out and unprogressive policies of subsidy removal and devaluation of the national currency. If the country has no money, let it reflect in the lives of government officials, their aides and cronies.

“It is becoming obvious that the government does not want industrial peace. And it is clearly evident that the government is not ready to negotiate. Well, if it is industrial unrest that will make the government do the right thing, we shall give it to them after the end of May.”

Ahead of the 2027 general elections, the All Progressives Congress (APC) says Mr Peter Obi and Mr Atiku Abubakar are desperate to be Nigeria’s President.

While Obi was the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in 2023, Atiku was the flagbearer for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Obi was Atiku’s running mate in the PDP during the 2019 general election.

Recently, there were reports of both opposition politicians coming to form an alliance that will sack the ruling APC in 2027.

Reacting to the development, the APC spokesman, Felix Morka, said Obi’s planned return to the PDP won’t be a surprise. He described the former Anambra State governor as a “political wayfarer that is only dwarfed by Atiku’s track record as a veteran political wanderer.”

“Atiku and Obi are united by their mutual desperation to be President of Nigeria and ignoble disdain for President Bola Tinubu’s focused and extraordinary commitment to the transformation of our nation,” the statement read.

“A recent visit by the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi, to his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has fueled speculations of a possible alliance between both men or merger of their political parties in the lead up to 2027.

“What is unclear, however, is whether Obi would make a comeback to Atiku’s PDP or whether Atiku would dump his PDP and seek rehabilitation in Obi’s Labour Party or whether both men would abandon PDP and Labour, altogether, and sojourn into the political wilderness of Professor Pat Utomi’s mega party.”

See the statement below:

ATIKU, OBI, UNITED BY MUTUAL DESPERATION

A recent visit by the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi, to his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has fueled speculations of a possible alliance between both men or merger of their political parties in the lead up to 2027.

What is unclear, however, is whether Obi would make a comeback to Atiku’s PDP or whether Atiku would dump his PDP and seek rehabilitation in Obi’s Labour Party or whether both men would abandon PDP and Labour, altogether, and sojourn into the political wilderness of Professor Pat Utomi’s mega party.

News of Peter Obi’s return to the PDP would be hardly surprising. His reputation as a political wayfarer is only dwarfed by Atiku’s track record as a veteran political wanderer. News of Atiku joining the Labour party will shock no one as he will be living up to his well established reputation as the country’s most itinerant politician. For now, Utomi’s mega party remains a figment with no offering of tangible accommodation for both men.

Atiku and Obi are united by their mutual desperation to be President of Nigeria and ignoble disdain for President Bola Tinubu’s focused and extraordinary commitment to the transformation of our nation. Their restless drift in search of convenient party platforms to execute their presidential run only belie the self-indulgent and opportunistic essence of their aspirations. Men without the staying power to build or fix their own parties, who flee at the slightest flicker of internal crisis cannot possibly be trusted by Nigerians to tackle serious and complex national political and economic challenges that confront our nation.

President Bola Tinubu embodies character, vision, tenacity and doggedness required to deliver a resurgent Nigeria of stable growth and development. The administration’s bold economic policy reforms and massive infrastructural uptake have already shattered historic barriers to growth, and paved the way for steady progress and development.

We urge Nigerians to stand fast in their invaluable support of our great Party and President Bola Tinubu’s determined commitment to deliver a stronger, secure and more prosperous country for us all.

Signed:

Felix Morka, Esq.

National Publicity Secretary

All Progressives Congress (APC)

The Central Bank of Nigeria has updated its regulatory guidelines for Bureau De Change operators.

After consulting with stakeholders, the following changes were made:

The mandatory caution deposit of N200m for tier-1 BDC licence holders has been removed.

Similarly, N50m for tier-2 licence holders has also been waived.


The non-refundable annual licence renewal fee has been withdrawn.

Previously, tier-1 BDCs paid N5m, while tier-2 BDCs paid N1m for renewal.

The bank noted that these adjustments aim to streamline BDC operations and enhance financial accessibility.


The Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department at the apex bank, Haruna Mustafa disclosed this in a circular uploaded to the bank’s website on Wednesday.

Mustafa stated that existing BDCs must re-apply for a new licence based on their preferred tier or licence category as outlined in the guidelines.

New BDC licence applicants must meet the conditions specified for their chosen BDC category.

Existing BDCs must meet the minimum capital requirements for their selected licence category within six months from the effective date of the guidelines.

The guidelines also revised permissible activities for BDCs, ensuring alignment with market needs and regulatory standards.

Mustafa noted that the BDCs are expected to adhere to corporate governance requirements and anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing, and counter-proliferation financing provisions.

The bank added that receipt and processing of license applications will begin from the effective date of the guideline.

It said that interested applicants should submit the following information electronically to bdclicense@cbn.gov.ng: Name of the promoter, Name of the proposed BDC, E-mail address of the promoter, Phone number of the promoter

These guidelines replace the Revised Operational Guidelines for Bureau De Change in Nigeria issued in November 2015 and all related circulars and directives.

The Regulatory and Supervisory Guidelines for BDC Operations take effect from June 3, 2024.

The circular partly read, “As part of reforms to re-position the Bureau De Change (BDC) sub-sector to play its envisioned role in the foreign exchange market in Nigeria, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued the Draft Operational Guidelines for BDC Operations in Nigeria in February 2024, for stakeholder comments/inputs.

“Following the conclusion of the stakeholder consultations and in the exercise of the powers conferred on it by Section 56 of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020, the CBN hereby issues the attached Regulatory and Supervisory Guidelines for Bureau De Change Operations in Nigeria 2024 for compliance by all operators and promoters of proposed BDCs in Nigeria.

“The guidelines, amongst others, introduce new licensing requirements and categories of BDCs as well as revise the permissible activities, financial requirements, corporate governance requirements and AML/CFT/CPF provisions for BDCs.

“All existing BDCs shall: Re-apply for a new license according to any of the Tiers or license categories of their choice as provided in the Guidelines.


“Meet the minimum capital requirements for the license category applied for within six (6) months from the effective date of the Guidelines.

“Applicants for New BDC License Applicants for a new BDC license are required to meet the conditions for the grant of license in accordance with the Tier or category of BDC chosen as stipulated in the Guidelines. Receipt and processing of applications for license shall commence from the effective date of the Guidelines.”

George Akume, secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), says Nigeria has witnessed significant strides in various sectors of the economy since President Bola Tinubu assumed the reins in May 2023. 

The Tinubu administration has rolled out a slew of policies that have aggravated the economic hardship on Nigerians, notably the removal of subsidy on petrol and the “float” of the naira. Speaking at the ‘Ministerial Sectoral Updates’ in Abuja on Wednesday, Akume said the administration has also rolled out social intervention programmes to mitigate the hardship.

“I make bold to say that, Nigeria, under its present stewardship, has witnessed significant policy strides in various sectors including but not limited to,” the SGF said.

“i. The Presidential accent to the 2023 Electricity Bill, a move that dismantled monopolistic control over electricity generation, transmission and distribution at the national level and granted authority to State Governments, Corporations and individuals to generate, distribute and transmit electricity, thus decentralizing the power sector;

“ii. Accent to the passage into law of the Nigeria Data Protection Bill 2023 that established a legal framework for safeguarding personal information and promoting data protection practices in Nigeria; and

“iii. The challenging but very necessary Removal of Fuel Subsidy, a longstanding policy notorious for fostering corruption, inefficiency and imposing significant fiscal strain on the government annually, and primarily benefitting the affluent and smugglers, rather than effectively aiding the general populace.

“​It is apt to say that under President Tinubu’s stewardship within his first year in office, we have witnessed significant strides in various sectors of our economy.Through prudent fiscal policies and strategic investments, the Nigerian economy has shown resilience and potential for growth.

“The administration’s focus on infrastructure development, job creation and economic diversification has laid the foundation for sustainable progress and prosperity for all Nigerians. Furthermore, the government’s commitment to good governance and the rule of law has strengthened our democratic institutions and enhanced transparency and accountability in governance.”

Akume added that citizens should be part of nation building because it is not the sole responsibility of government.
“Let us therefore rededicate ourselves to the ideals of unity, peace and progress by working together towards realizing the full potential of our great nation,” Akume added.

Atalanta winger, Ademola Lookman, has said the 3-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League final on Wednesday is one of the “best nights of my life’.

Lookman scored twice in the first half and once after the break, as they became the first Serie A team to win the title.

The win also ended Leverkusen’s 51-game unbeaten run in emphatic style. 

Lookman, speaking to TNT Sports, said: “One of the best nights of my life.

“Amazing performance from the team, we did it, we did it, we did it! Not got much else to say but yeah fantastic.

“They do always say third time lucky, so yeah it is for us today [winning a final at the third attempt this season]. I’m just happy we won. We won today so yes very pleased.”

Tanzania holds the top spot with a debt-to-GDP ratio of 41.8%, reflecting its prudent financial decisions.

Contrary to common belief, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has ranked Nigeria’s debt-to-GDP ratio, a key indicator of a country’s financial strength, as the second lowest in Africa, underscoring its economic stability.

This ranking underscores the importance of evaluating a country’s financial strength through metrics like the debt-to-GDP ratio.

A lower ratio suggests economic stability, while a higher ratio raises alarms about debt sustainability.

Tanzania, a model of careful debt management, holds the top spot with a debt-to-GDP ratio of 41.8%, reflecting its prudent financial decisions.

Nigeria follows closely with a ratio of 41.3%, signifying its crucial role in Africa’s economy, even though its external debt stood at $41.59 billion or N31.98 trillion as of December 2023.

Nigeria’s relatively modest debt levels are due to several reasons, including its diverse economic sectors and efficient debt management practices.

According to the Nigerian Tribune, the Debt Management Office (DMO) reports that Nigeria’s total debt is approximately N97.34 trillion.

Through careful debt management, Nigeria has maintained economic stability and boosted investor confidence, resulting in a favourable debt position despite its significant role in Africa’s economy.

African nations with low debt levels, like Nigeria, are not only more attractive to investors but also stand a higher chance of receiving additional financial support from global and local creditors, thanks to their reduced economic risk.

Nigeria’s higher ranking than Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Ethiopia, Botswana, and the Democratic Republic of Congo highlights its strong debt standing.