Police Seal Off Benue APC Factional Secretariat.

Tensions rose in Makurdi, the capital city of Benue State, as armed policemen sealed off the secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) led by Austin Agada. The office, located along JS Tarka Way opposite the Railway Market, was closed off early on Friday morning, creating a stir among party members and local residents. This police action coincides with the planned inauguration of members of the zoning committee by the Agada-led faction, which was scheduled to take place at the secretariat on the same day. The Publicity Secretary of the Agada faction, Daniel Ihomun, expressed his concerns, suggesting that the sealing off “may not be unconnected with the inauguration of members of the zoning committee for the forthcoming local government election.” According to Punch, policemen along with an Armored Personnel Vehicle were deployed to the site as early as 6 AM. Efforts to reach the state Police Public Relations Officer, Catherine Anene, for comments were unsuccessful as her phone was not answered at the time of reporting. The political atmosphere in Makurdi has been further complicated by the existence of two APC secretariats, each claiming legitimacy. The other secretariat, led by Benjamin Omakolo, is located along Kashim Ibrahim Way. In response to the developments, Terseer Agber, the Publicity Secretary of the Omakolo-led faction, issued a statement urging party members and the public to disregard the zoning committee constituted by the Agada-led group.

Nigerian Navy Arrests 14 Suspected Oil Thieves, Others In Akwa Ibom.

The Nigerian Navy’s Forward Operating Base (FOB), Ibaka in Mbo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom state, conducted a review of its anti-crime operations in the first quarter of 2024. The Commanding Officer of the base, Capt. Uche Aneke, noted in a report made available to journalists that a total of 14 suspects were apprehended for various crimes during this period. PlayUnmute Fullscreen According to him, the suspects were arrested for offences such as smuggling, oil theft, cultism, economic sabotage, sea robbery, and other criminal activities within the joint operations area (JOA). Aneke emphasized the Navy’s unwavering stance against maritime crimes and economic sabotage in Nigeria’s waterways. The suspects have been transferred to relevant security agencies for further investigation and prosecution. Aneke mentioned that the arrests and confiscations during this timeframe are not merely individual triumphs but rather accomplishments achieved through operational implementation and tactical execution, ensuring that the overall security situation in the operational area has been relatively calm. The Commander stated that the Base has successfully minimized criminal activities over the years through extensive operations in collaboration with security stakeholders within the joint operations area. He also revealed that Operation Delta Sanity, which includes FOB, Ibaka, has been strengthened by the dedication of FOB, Ibaka and other bases participating in the operations. Additionally, he shared that the base has hired 35 civilian employees who receive compensation and three meals daily to demonstrate their dedication to intelligence tasks for the base and foster a positive relationship with the local communities. He praised the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, for his role in providing the Nigerian Navy with the resources and moral support required to safeguard the waterways. Naija News understands that the FOB Ibaka is responsible for monitoring Nigeria’s Eastern flanks, which include sea approaches from Calabar to the new international maritime boundaries with the Republic of Cameroon. This area also encompasses land territories in Mbo, Udung Uko, and Oron LGAs of Akwa Ibom.

President Tinubu Directs Inclusion Of NOUN Graduates In NYSC Scheme.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has mandated the Federal Ministry of Education to develop guidelines for including graduates of the National Open University (NOUN) in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme. This directive was given during the university’s 13th convocation ceremony, held at the University’s Convocation Arena in Jabi, Abuja. Represented by Biodun Saliu, Deputy Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), the President expressed his administration’s commitment to addressing educational inclusivity. “With the changing demographics of our great nation, the government has recognized the importance of allowing NOUN graduates to participate in the NYSC scheme,” President Tinubu stated, emphasizing the need to harness the potential of young Nigerians from all educational backgrounds. Opening Doors for NOUN Law Graduates In a related development, President Tinubu also announced the resolution of the long-standing issue concerning the admittance of NOUN law graduates to the country’s law schools. “The doors of the Law School are now open to the graduates, ensuring equal opportunities for all,” he declared. This move is expected to remove any remaining barriers faced by NOUN graduates in legal education, further cementing the government’s stance on educational equality. The Role of Open and Distance Learning The convocation celebrated the graduates’ academic achievements and highlighted the vital role that Open and Distance Learning (ODL) plays in shaping Nigeria’s educational landscape. The President reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to enhancing ODL to broaden access to higher education across the nation, essential for meeting the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). “We will continue to improve quality, access, and affordability in education through robust support for ODL,” Tinubu added, noting the pivotal role of the Federal Ministry of Education and the NUC in providing an enabling environment for effective delivery of distance education in Nigeria. NOUN’s Evolution and Its Impacts The President praised the evolution of NOUN from an educational platform initially envisioned for the working class to one that now caters to the broader needs of Nigeria’s youthful population. He acknowledged the challenges many school leavers face in gaining admission to traditional universities and emphasized the need for enhanced research in technology at NOUN to accommodate more young school leavers and improve social safety nets for the people. Advancing Government Commitment Through ICT Furthermore, President Tinubu revealed that within the next six months, NOUN would begin providing access to government officials for enrollment in various ICT programs, particularly postgraduate courses at the African Centre of Excellence on Technology Enhanced Learning (ACETEL). This initiative is part of a broader government effort to incorporate Artificial Intelligence (AI) across all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to enhance decision-making and operational efficiency. He urged NOUN to admit qualified government functionaries into its postgraduate programs offered by ACETEL. The President also tasked the World Bank-sponsored centre, hosted by NOUN, to focus on research that will improve the use of ICT tools for enhanced learning outcomes in Nigeria.

Kim Jong-Un North Korea leader oversees 'new' weapon system test: KCNA

Over the past few months, the young leader has overseen several military drills, including the test-firing of a medium-range ballistic missile.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has overseen a test of a new anti-aircraft

Osinbajo Acting President attends G7 summit, meets Macron

According to the acting President's spokesman, Laolu Akande, Osinbajo was invited to the ongoing G7 summit in Italy to represent Nigeria.

Video: Fmr U.S President, Barack Obama jokes that he's grateful Michelle stayed with him after his presidency was over

Over the weekend, Former President of the United States, Barack Obama received the 2017 Profile in Courage Award during a ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, Massachusetts. His wife, Michelle, attended the ceremony with him and he was full of praises for her.

"I also want to thank Michelle Obama for, after the presidency, sticking with me. Because I think she felt an obligation to the country to stay on, but once her official duties were over, it wasn't clear. I love my wife and I'm grateful for her. I do believe that it was America's greatest

Photos: Obama receives JFK Courage Award

Former President Barack Obama returned to the spotlight last night to accept an award for political courage from the John F. Kennedy family just days after House Republicans won passage of a bill dismantling much of Obama’s signature health insurance law.

In his acceptance speech, Obama challenged lawmakers to put conscience ahead of party loyalty saying, 'I hope that current members of Congress recall that it actually doesn’t take a lot of courage to aid those who are already powerful, already comfortable, already influential but it does require some courage to champion the vulnerable and the sick and the infirm'.

Obama received the Profile in Courage Award during a dinner at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. The annual award is named for a 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Kennedy that profiled eight U.S. senators who risked their careers by taking principled though unpopular positions.

Robert Mugabe President says Zimbabwe 'not a poor country'

The long-time leader pointed to Zimbabwe's 90-percent literacy rate to support his claim.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe insisted on Thursday that his country is not a failed state and accused the US of being fragile because of its economic dependence on China.

Mugabe pointed to Zimbabwe's 90-percent literacy rate to support his claim that the southern African country, which has battled economic chaos in recent years, is one of the best resourced on the continent.

"We are not a poor country and we can't be a fragile country, I can call America fragile, they went on their knees to China," he said during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum on Africa in Durban.

"Zimbabwe is the most highly developed country in Africa after South Africa."

Long-time leader Mugabe has ruled through the country's dramatic economic collapse.

Hyperinflation wiped out savings more than 10 years ago, unemployment is sky-high and economic output has halved since 2000, when many white-owned farms were seized.

Oxfam's executive director Winnie Byanyima, who was also participating in the panel on the theme of failed states, said that oppressive leaders were to blame for the continent's challenges.

"Our leaders say we are rich, they say we are developed, they say we have resources but the people do not see that. They clamp down on freedom of the media and the rights of people," she said.

"Let us give others a chance, it is important that we have elections that are free and fair -- that reflect the will of the people, that is at the heart of governance."

Mugabe, 93, appeared to fall asleep at the end of the session

Obama considered gay fling, took cocaine & cheated on Michelle, new biography claims

A new tell-all book is making some scandalous revelations about the former president of the United States, Barack Obama.

In the Book, Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama, which was written by Pulitzer-prize winning biographer David Garrow, it was revealed that Obama cheated on Michelle while they were still dating, that he considered having a gay relationship with one of his professors in school, had passionate sex with fellow students and took cocaine.
Though Barack had already admitted in his memoir to trying the drug in his teens, the new tell-all claims Barack's memoir was inaccurate.

The book, which is being described as an authoritative new biography of the ex-president, reveals that before Michelle, Barack had an Australian girlfriend named Genevieve Cook and they had sex on their first date. Obama and Cook met on New Year's eve in 1983 when he was 22 and she was 25. At the time, he was a journalist on a financial trade magazine. She visited him at his apartment in Manhattan which he shared with two others and he made her dinner, after which they had sex and she spent the night. She was so impressed with his passionate love making that she wrote him a romantic poem with the lines:

"B. That’s for you. F’s for all the f***ing that we do."

Cook also claimed in a private her memoir she wrote that they would smoke pot at parties. She claimed he would take cocaine with friends Hasan Chandoo, Imad Hussain and Sohale Siddiqi at Occidental College, Los Angeles, but nowhere near as much as the others.

"For every five lines that somebody did, he would have done half."

The 1,078-page biography also revealed that Obama dated another white lady called Sheila Miyoshi Jager and he proposed to her twice. He later met Michelle when he went to Law School but continued to see Jager. Jager, now 53 and the associate professor and director of the East Asian programme at Oberlin College in Ohio, said she “felt bad” because they were still seeing each other for the first year of his relationship with future First Lady Michelle.

The close relationship between Obama and his former openly gay professor, Lawrence Goldyn, was also detailed in the book. The former president stayed close to the assistant professor and he was even once pictured with him in the Oval Office. The book disclosed that Obama considered going into a relationship with the professor after they developed a friendship beyond the classroom and that Goldyn made a huge impact on Obama.

"Obama wrote somewhat elusively to his first intimate girlfriend that he had thought about and considered gayness but ultimately decided that a same-sex relationship would be less challenging and demanding than developing one with the opposite sex."

Obama is yet to respond to the allegations or acknowledge the book which will be released on the 9th of May.

Was Baba Vanga right about Obama?

Remember her? The blind Bulgarian seer who predicted Obama will be America's last president. The thing with prophecies is they have a funny way of coming true. We look out for the obvious manifestations but sometimes, its fulfillment is hidden in plain sight and we miss it.

Baba Vanga who predicted 9/11 and the rise of Islamic State said that Barack Obama would be the 'last US president', she also predicted correctly that the 44th President would be African-American.
Trump was sworn in and it seemed prophecy had failed but look beyond the surface.

America is more deeply divided than ever since the civil war and political fissures grow wider. The people no longer speak with one voice. This is not the America Obama left behind, a country that twice rallied to put an African-American in the White House and demolish historical racial boundaries.

The country's deep divisions was evident in a bitterly fought presidential campaign in which the popular candidate amassed a 3 million majority of the votes but couldn't make it to the White House. Those divisions remain and president Trump has encountered massive opposition in his attempt to tear down Obama's legacy and build his. What's more, it doesn't appear things are going to cool down anytime soon. Looks like Baba Vanga who died in 1996 aged 85 may have been right after all.