News & Announcements

The Lagos-Ibadan Expressway’s Long Bridge end was flooded on Monday as a result of a downpour that hit parts of the states of Lagos and Ogun. This left drivers and commuters stuck in the gridlock created by the slow-moving traffic on the bridge as they attempted to reach their destinations in the states.

One of the trapped drivers, who identified himself only as Bakare, claimed that the traffic congestion brought on by the floodwater on the bridge caused him to travel for hours when it should have taken him only a few minutes.

He said, “The gridlock was terrible; it was not easy because of the volume of the flood on the bridge which affected the movements of vehicles. The flood can damage vehicles and I saw some vehicles had broken down on the bridge.

“I encountered the gridlock on the bridge around 4pm on my way to work and I got out of it around 6.31pm. The flood was on the bridge because the openings to drain the flood had been blocked.”

Vehicles were observed travelling slowly on the submerged bridge to avoid accidents in a viral video shot by an unidentified person who was traveling the bridge on Monday.

In the video titled ‘Warning, Long Bridge is flooded, slow down’, our correspondent observed that the floodwater rose to the level of the barricades at both sides of the bridge, indicating that the bridge had no outlet to empty the floodwater occasioned by the torrential rainfall.

Due to the circumstance, main city routes became congested, trapping many commuters and drivers for hours.

The National Emergency Management Agency issued an advisory warning residents, motorists, teachers, and school administrators, among others, on the need to exercise restraint during and after the downpour. The rain, which began around midday in some parts of the city, was still falling at the time.

In the meantime, the Ogun State Commissioner for Environment, Ola Oresanya, requested that residents temporarily relocate in order to prevent the loss of life and property due to flooding in 23 flood-prone communities, including Akute Isheri, Mowe, Ibafo, and other border communities between Lagos and Ogun States.

He said, “The second season will have a prolonged impact in wetlands such as Alagbole, Akute, Isheri, Warewa, Oke-Afa, Mowe, Ibafo, Kara, Onihale, Ebute Kimobi and Riverside Estate. These areas will witness coastal flooding due to the tidal lock of the Ogun River by Lagos Lagoon from the natural rise in sea level coupled with the possible release of excessive water from the Oya dam. Residents of these areas should be prepared to relocate temporarily from these areas during the second season of rainfall if required.”

Popular on-air personality, Chinedu Ani Emmanuel, often known as Nedu, asserts that side chicks bring married men tranquility.

On the most recent episode of the podcast The Honest Bunch, which he co-hosts, the comedian made this statement.

He asserted that most men tolerate their complaining wives because their sidekicks provide them peace of mind.

He said, “God bless every side-chick out there. Side-chicks dey give peace to men. Sometimes, before the man reach house, he go branch the side-chick’s place, he go cool off.

“So, when he reach house wey the woman [wife] dey shout, ‘Papa Nkechi, Where did you go?’. Because of say him don cool off for his side-chick’s place, he will take it.”

The National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control, or NAFDAC, announced that it will start randomly sampling Indomie noodles from the manufacturing facilities, including the seasoning.

Indomie noodles were recently recalled by Malaysian and Taiwanese officials after ethylene oxide, a cancer-causing chemical, was found in them.

The agency’s Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, announced this in a statement and identified the component of concern as ethylene oxide. She said that the Director of the Food Lab Services Directorate has already been engaged and is working on the analysis methodology.

Adeyeye said; “Indomie noodles have been banned from being imported into the country for many years. It is one of the foods on the government prohibition list. It is not allowed in Nigeria, and therefore not registered by NAFDAC.

“What we are doing is an extra caution to ensure that the product is not smuggled in, and if so, our post-marketing surveillance would detect it. We also want to be sure that the spices used for the Indomie and other noodles in Nigeria are tested.

“That is what NAFDAC Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, FSAN, and Post Marketing Surveillance, PMS, are doing this week at the production facilities and in the market, respectively.”

She did, however, guarantee that Nigerians would be properly informed of the investigation’s findings.

Ethylene oxide is a colorless, highly reactive, and combustible gas that is frequently employed as an intermediary in the synthesis of a variety of chemicals, according to the World Health Organization, or WHO.

The World Health Organization indicated in a report that evidence from studies on animals, test systems, and epidemiological findings suggested a rise in the incidence of human cancer.

The report’s conclusion states that ethylene oxide should be regarded as a likely human carcinogen and that its environmental concentrations should be kept as low as practical.

Olasunkanmi Olakiye, a hunter from Ogun State, passed away unexpectedly, and his family is still weeping.

According to Newsmen, on April 20, the 35-year-old guy was accidently shot and killed by one of his hunting companions when they were out on a hunt in a thicket in the Odeda region of the state.

According to information obtained, the incident caused misunderstanding within the Egba Hunters Association, a group to which the deceased belonged.

Alao Yusuf, the group’s head, acknowledged the occurrence in an interview on Monday and called it an accident.

According to information received from the group members who were with the deceased, a team member unintentionally shot him when they were trying to shoot an antelope in the bush. This was according to Yusuf.

He grieved that despite the best efforts of his teammates, Olakiye was confirmed dead at the hospital where he had been brought.

He claimed that even though the incident was reported to the police, the deceased’s relatives decided not to file a report.

He said, “I was told that they went to the bush for hunting and that the antelope that was shot died but the bullet hit Olakiye. Immediately, they said that he was rushed to the hospital but that before they got there, he was already dead.

“The matter was reported at the Odeda Police Station and even Olakiye’s brothers were part of the hunting expedition.

“Olakiye’s family decided not to press charges because they said it was an accidental discharge that claimed the life of their kinsman.”

A member of a vigilante group in the state, Alabi Adesina, also confirmed the incident.

 “When we heard what happened, we quickly called the police to inform them of the incident. We would always report issues like this because, under the law, nothing of these kinds should be overlooked,” he said.

When reached, SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, the state police public relations officer, confirmed the development.

Oyeyemi stated that even though the relatives of the deceased decided not to file charges, the police nonetheless carried out their investigation and found that the discharge was an accident.

The PPRO said, “I am aware of the matter. All of them are hunters. One of them shot at an animal and the bullet hit one of their members (Olakiye). They reported the matter at the Odeda Police Station. We investigated and discovered that it was a case of an accidental discharge.

“The family of the dead man said they would not press charges since it was not a case of intentional killing. But we did our work properly and we are still on the matter. As we speak, an investigation on the matter is on.”

The president, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (ret. ), has been criticized by the Arewa Community in Southern Nigeria for his request for Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, to be released immediately and without conditions.

This was mentioned in a statement made on Tuesday in Abuja by the community’s head, Musa Saidu.

On Sunday, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, the president-general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, urged Buhari to free Kanu before his term as president came to a conclusion.

The call, according to Saidu, was erroneous.

“Where were they when Kanu was leading IPOB militants to kill innocent people in the South East?

“Not only in the South East, so many members of the Arewa community were attacked in Port Harcourt and nobody said anything, we have the figures, we have even the photos of those killed in cold blood.

“Now they’re clamouring for his release, what guarantee are they giving that the killings will not continue if he is released,” he said.

According to Saidu, the IPOB leader is now being tried in court and hence cannot be freed by presidential decree.

“Buhari didn’t order the detention of Nnamdi Kanu in the first place, he is being detained by the court where he is facing treason charges.

“So it will be absurd for Buhari to order his release,” he said.

In order to find answers to the issue, Saidu encouraged Ohanaeze to pay a visit to the South East victims of IPOB attacks, who were primarily settlers.

”The Ndigbo should go round the entire South East and even South South, visit the victims of IPOB attacks and try to extract forgiveness from them so it can be used to convince the court to release Kanu,” he said.

Saidu said also said that releasing Kanu would further aggravate the killings in the South East.

“IPOB militants have continued to attack security agents in the South East, and even the police are not spared, what guarantee do we have that his release will not aggravate the killings, ” he said.

Iwuanyanwu had advised Kanu’s release so that he could attend to his failing health.

Another kidnapped Chibok schoolgirl has been freed by members of the 114 Task Force Battalion, Bita in Borno State’s Gwoza Local Government Area.

Hauwa Maltha, 26, who had been listed as serial number 2 on the list of kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls since April 14, 2014, was freed on April 21, 2023, together with her three-year-old child, by the military as part of operations at Lagara.

She is from the Kibaku tribe in Jila in the Borno State municipality of Chibok.

This is happening at the same time as Sector 3 Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) soldiers have detained 19 Boko Haram suspects and retrieved numerous weapons from their hideouts in Borno’s northeast.

On Monday, knowledgeable and trustworthy sources informed our correspondent of the most recent accomplishments, which Zagazola Makama, a counterinsurgency expert and security analyst in the Lake Chad region, also corroborated.

Sources revealed that “while in captivity, Martha got married in Gulukos to one Salman, a cameraman to the late terrorist’s leader, Abubakar Shekau.

“Salman later died in Lake Chad. Thereafter, the victim got married off again to one Mallam Muhammad in Gobara and had 2 children for him. Mallam Muhammad, her second husband was also killed in Ukuba terrorist enclave in Sambisa forest during clashes between JAS/ISWAP. 

“Since her rescue, Martha who is about 8 months and 2 weeks pregnant, has undergone thorough medical examination along with her baby. 

“Having been adequately resuscitated, Martha and her baby, Fatima, will be as usual, handed over to the Borno State Government for further management.”

As Nigerian workers today join their counterparts globally to mark International Workers’ Day, commonly known as May Day, the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has described the last year as terrible and excruciating for workers and other Nigerians.

This came as workers in the petroleum, electricity, maritime, manufacturing, and other sectors, decried the present level of misery, poverty, and hopelessness across the country.

They urged the incoming government to address the worsening poverty, insecurity, unemployment, inflation, high cost of living, and frustration in the nation.

‘It’s been tortuous’

Speaking on the conditions of workers in the last year, NLC General Secretary, Emma Ugboaja, said: “The last year has been torturous for Nigerians, especially workers in every sector.

‘’Tertiary education has been severely fractured, the manufacturing sector has been comatose as energy supply, layoffs and high cost of doing business have characterized the sector.

‘’There was no growth due to the inability of operators to access foreign exchange to buy raw materials, spare parts, and other necessities. This impacted negatively on the workers, stagnated wages, and worsened unemployment and poverty in all sectors.

“Road transportation was among the worst hit because the supply of petroleum products was disrupted in most parts of the year to the extent that besides the scarcity, the prices were prohibited and unaffordable.

“The health sector has remained in a sorry state.

Government officials are comfortable driving government vehicles, they are comfortable living in government houses and among others, but uncomfortable going to government hospitals. It has been terrible.

‘’The cost of living has been criminally high, unemployment, poverty and insecurity of life and property are just beyond description. The last year was really bad.”

On expectations of the incoming government, the NLC scribe declared: “We expect the struggle for the rights and welfare of workers to be more intense because when President Buhari made a famous quote in the earlier part of his eight years regime to say he wondered how state governors went to beds and slept knowing that workers were being owed huge arrears of salaries, he was speaking directly to the pains and feelings of workers.

“He had also in appreciation of the torture and agony the working people and their families were going through as a result of his inability to manage the refining capacity and fuel supply in Nigeria, resisted the pressure from cosmetic economists that see everything wrong in discussing production.

‘’He had resisted their pressures to continuously increase the fuel pump price, knowing that they were urging him to set the nation on fire.

‘’However, we have a President-elect whose direct voice said the opposite, even in his campaign.

His own direct voice said he was going to deal with the issue of managing the downstream sector pressure, not minding the level of protest and anger that will be borne out of it. That clearly shows you the direction of his insensitivity.

“It is not like Buhari who denied every word that was spoken to convince Nigerians to vote for him and the storyline we got was that it was never said by him, but by his supporters and party.

‘’In this case, it was a direct quote from Bola Ahmed Tinubu on the direction he would pursue regarding the mainstream of the Nigerian economy, which is fuel management.

“You know that effort to refine in Nigeria cannot cause an uproar, but set up of refineries in Nigeria will cause jubilation. It will be a spontaneous scream for joy if Nigerian refining capacity is restored.

‘’What will present an outrage and force people into the streets will be an astronomical rise in the cost of petroleum products. So, we are waiting with bated breath to know what will happen.

“In fact, this might be the first time we will be wishing that a politician will not honour his campaign promise. It is an ironic and cruel joke.

But it might be one time in Nigeria that the electorate will be praying that a politician does not honour his campaign statement.

“Whatever that comes, we are prepared to face the challenges because we have no other country but Nigeria. But for workers, there won’t be Nigeria. When our leaders rush to spend holidays in other countries, the workers are the ones that keep the country going.

“When they rush to spend time in hospital beds outside the country, Nigerian workers keep the country going. We do not have the luxury to do what they do. They spend their holidays outside the country to the detriment of our economy.

“They pursue their health status outside the country to the detriment of our economy. They pursue the education and training of their children and family members outside the country to the detriment of our economy.

“So, the workers are the ones that keep the Nigerian economy going. We are Nigerians and it is us that would continue to cry and struggle to keep our country because we do not have any other place.

“They have dual nationalities and they have homes all over the globe. We are here, it is our life and we are not going to lay back and get crushed. We are down but we are not out. He that is down needs fear no fall. We will keep crawling, struggling, and pushing to get on our feet.” 

Gani Adams, the 53-year-old Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, honored his birthday by giving scholarships to four South-West geopolitical zone pupils.

Adams reiterated his commitment to improving Nigerian education in his “own little way” in a message made accessible to The PUNCH on Monday.

Akinsanya Adedoyin (Lagos State University), Samad AbdulHamid (Kwara State University), Khadijat Oladipupo (University of Ibadan), and Adegbite Victoria (Olabisi Onabanjo University) are the four recipients of the scholarships.

During the presentation of the scholarship, Adams said, “We started the initiative under the Aareonakakanfo Scholarship Award and the intention is to give the little I have in form of donations to the educational development of the students that are brilliant in their respective discipline across the South-West and beyond.

“It is my own way of giving back to the society.”

Adams said that the school sector required “urgent intervention,” adding that the beneficiaries’ progress will be monitored.

He continued by saying that recipients of the scholarships awarded over the years had better prospects thanks to them.

The Unified Tertiary Matriculation Board results will start to be released on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, according to a statement made on Monday by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board.

This information was included in the meeting minutes from the emergency management meeting that took place over the weekend in Abuja.

The board highlighted that the delay in disclosing the results was because it wanted to make sure that all required screenings were completed in the minutes that were provided to our correspondent on Monday morning.

“

The Board would be releasing the results of candidates, who have taken the examination so far on Tuesday, 2nd May, 2023. The Board had delayed the release to ensure that all necessary screening are concluded besides ensuring that the mean and standard deviation are reasonably obtained before
releasing these results.

“As candidates check their results on Tuesday, 2nd May, 2023, those who sat the examination but had challenges without being aware of such, would not see their results but would instead see their notification for rescheduled examination,” it said.

The examination body also highlighted that mop-up exams had been planned for three groups of applicants who had missed their exams.

“All candidates, who could not sit the 2023 UTME within their scheduled time owing to no fault of theirs, would be rescheduled to take the examination on Saturday, 6th May, 2023.

“Candidates under these categories are principally those who were verified at their centres but could not sit the examination; those who could not be biometrically verified, and those with mismatched data,”

The Lagos government has taken the delivery of the first set of electric buses for public transportation in the state.

Speaking on the benefits of the electric buses, Sanwo-Olu said the vehicles will reduce carbon emissions and increase efficiency, adding that residents can now welcome cost-efficient transportation in the state.

The Lagos governor added that the initiative was achieved owing to the state government’s partnership with Oando Clean Energy Limited.

“With the ability to travel 280km at full charge, taking into account our unique travel times in Lagos, our electric buses are a game-changer.

With an average daily usage of 200km by existing BRTs, there is no need to fear that the buses can stop while in transit,” Sanwo-Olu said.

“Our new electric buses will not only reduce carbon emissions but will also increase efficiency. This means that Lagosians can say goodbye to high fuel costs and hello to cost-efficient transportation.

“We shall be running a pilot scheme over the next few months to gather sufficient data required to analyze the operational efficiencies relative to the current BRT buses to further improve our public transport service. 

“This collaboration is a testament to our commitment to creating a sustainable future for Lagos.”

The development makes Lagos the first state in Nigeria to take delivery of electric buses for public transportation.