 TouchNfollow(f): 6:19pm |
Ooni: Universities should study how Wike became minister under Tinubu
Adeyeye Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife, has asked universities to study how Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), made it to President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet.
The Ooni of Ife made the remarks on Thursday during the 2025 distinguished personality lecture held at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun state, where Wike served as the keynote speaker.
The monarch expressed surprise over Wike’s appointment as a minister in an All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government, despite being a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), calling it a “mystery”.
“For your career, I will particularly say that I give a very strong honour to the father of the nation, President Bola Tinubu. You belong to a different political party and yet are able to work together,” the traditional ruler told Wike.
“You are part of this government. It is still a mystery. I don’t even know how it happened. For me, it is something that universities should be studying and I mean it. It’s very important.
“Hate him or like him, what will be, will be. He (Wike) is a politician to be studied. I don’t know how he’s been actively relevant for 20 years.”
The monarch said that while Wike may have enemies, he has earned the respect of many because of his fearlessness.
Tinubu appointed Wike as minister in August 2023.
Before the election, Wike said he would not Atiku Abubakar, the PDP’s presidential candidate at the time, due to a zoning dispute and the refusal of Iyorchia Ayu, the party’s then national chairman, to step down.
Tinubu would later win the presidential election in Rivers with 231,591 votes, while Peter Obi of the Labour Party scored 175,071, and Abubakar polled 88,468.
https://www.thecable.ng/ooni-universities-should-study-how-wike-became-minister-under-tinubu/
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| TouchNfollow(f): 5:20pm |
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| TouchNfollow(f): 3:35pm |
Nadingo:
Northern Nigerian women are no doubt the most, pious, humble and decent of all Nigerian women. I don't agree with the stats for South East. Theirs should be around 70%.
Don't worry when statistics on underage or pedophilia hit net...
1 Like |
| TouchNfollow(f): 3:25pm |
Pascal Okechukwu() will super-glue on Davido Tey......to become VP..  they will be the first Christian/Traditional Candidates.....
Wizzy And Burna FC should wait till 2083..
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| TouchNfollow(f): 2:20pm |
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Lagos State was more of curse than blessing to Yorubas....they all left their States of origin and all are claiming Lagosians leaving their home front for economic and pastoral invaders.
2 Likes |
| TouchNfollow(f): 10:59am On Jun 04 |
Charted: Cities with the Largest Working-Age Populations
As the world becomes increasingly urbanized, cities are transforming into economic engines driven by people of working age, who form the backbones of local economies.
From Shanghai to London, several cities have become hubs for urbanization, forming massive economies on their own.
This infographic breaks down the cities with the largest working-age populations aged 25–64 globally, based on data from Oxford Economics via CBRE Research.
The World’s Largest Urban Workforces
Chinese cities dominate the list of cities with the largest working-age populations, with four of the top five cities in China.
Here’s a look at the world’s top cities by working-age population:
Shanghai leads the list with 18.4 million working-age residents, followed by Beijing at 16.5 million. Shenzhen, ranking fifth on the list, is a manufacturing hub and has the highest proportion of working-age adults aged 25–64, ing for 83.3% of its population.
Meanwhile, India, the world’s most populous country, has two cities on the list with Delhi and Mumbai both being among the cities with the biggest workforces.
New York is the largest U.S. city on the list, ranking sixth with 13.3 million working-age adults. Other American cities with significant workforces include Los Angeles, Chicago, and Dallas.
In of growth in working-age populations, the city of Bengaluru in India leads, averaging 2.4% annual growth over the last five years. Canada’s financial hub, Toronto, follows at 2.2%, with Shenzhen ranking third at 2.1% average growth in working-age population from 2019 to 2024.
However, urban labor markets are not growing everywhere. Cities like Seoul, Hong Kong, and San Francisco are seeing declines in their working-age populations, driven by aging, declining birth rates, and migration patterns.
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/charted-cities-with-the-largest-working-age-populations/#google_vignette
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| TouchNfollow(f): 6:03am On Jun 04 |
Years have ed....but they're still the same.
What are their names in your language?
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| TouchNfollow(f): 6:42pm On Jun 03 |
What's most suitable name for this achalugo 😂😅🤣😆
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| TouchNfollow(f): 2:32pm On Jun 03 |
Smuggler caught with dozens of venomous vipers "concealed in checked-in baggage" on plane, customs officials say
[/b]A enger smuggling dozens of venomous vipers was stopped after flying into the financial capital Mumbai, India, from Thailand, Indian customs officials said.
[b]The snakes, which included 44 Indonesian pit vipers, were "concealed in checked-in baggage," Mumbai Customs said in a statement late Sunday.
"An Indian national arriving from Thailand was arrested," it added.
The enger also had three Spider-tailed horned vipers — which are venomous, but usually only target small prey such as birds — as well as five Asian leaf turtles.
Mumbai Customs released photographs of the seized snakes in a post on social media, including blue and yellow reptiles squirming in a bucket.
The snakes are a relatively unusual seizure in Mumbai, with customs officers more regularly posting pictures of hauls of smuggled gold, cash, cannabis or pills of suspected cocaine swallowed by engers.
However, in February, customs officials at Mumbai airport also stopped a smuggler with five Siamang gibbons, a small ape native to the forests of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.
Those small creatures, listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, were "ingeniously concealed" in a plastic crate placed inside the enger's trolley bag, customs officers said.
In November, customs officers seized a enger carrying a wriggling live cargo of 12 turtles, and a month before, four hornbill birds, all on planes arriving from Thailand.
In September, two engers were arrested with five juvenile caimans, a reptile in the alligator family.
Last July, a man was caught trying to smuggle over 100 live snakes into mainland China by cramming them into his tros.
In 2019, the BBC reported officials at the Chennai airport seized a horned pit viper snake, five Iguanas, four blue-tongued skinks, three green tree frogs and 22 Egyptian tortoises from a man traveling from Thailand.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/venomous-vipers-dozens-enger-smuggling-india/
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| TouchNfollow(f): 10:03pm On Jun 02 |
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| TouchNfollow(f): 9:50pm On Jun 02 |
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| TouchNfollow(f): 12:09pm On Jun 02 |
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| TouchNfollow(f): 1:54pm On Jun 01 |
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Baba use long spoon for this serial blackmailer ooooo
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| TouchNfollow(f): 7:17am On May 31 |
Map of the World in the 14th Century
The 14th century was a time of crisis and transformation across much of the world. Plague, war, shifting power structures, and intellectual ferment reshaped societies from Asia to Africa, Europe to the Americas.
Despite profound instability, new centers of influence emerged and long-distance connections intensified, forging an increasingly intertwined—yet fractured—global landscape.
The Black Death swept from China to Europe, decimating populations and disrupting economies, while the Delhi Sultanate expanded deep into the Indian subcontinent and the Mali Empire reached its zenith under Mansa Musa. The Mongol Empire fractured, Byzantium faltered, and new dynasties—like the Ming in China—rose from the wreckage.
In West Africa, Islamic scholarship flourished in Timbuktu; in the Andes, regional centers consolidated power; and in Mesoamerica, the foundations of future empires were being laid.
Trade routes carried goods, stories, and contagion across continents, linking distant cultures even as their internal structures reeled from conflict and change.
https://www.worldhistory.org/image/20507/map-of-the-world-in-the-14th-century/
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| TouchNfollow(f): 7:01am On May 31 |
US State Department orders embassies to ‘immediately begin additional vetting’ for anyone seeking a visa to travel to Harvard
The US State Department on Friday ordered all US embassies and consulates to “immediately begin additional vetting” for anyone seeking a visa to travel to Harvard University “for any purpose.
The move is a significant escalation of the Trump istration’s feud with the Ivy League institution that is poised to have massive implications, as it applies to more than just students.
The “additional vetting” is comprised of “a complete screening of the online presence” of the applicants who wish to travel to Harvard, which will serve as a pilot for expanded social media screening and vetting visa applicants across the board.
“Such applicants include, but are not limited to prospective students, students, faculty, employees, contractors, guest speakers, and tourists,” the diplomatic cable signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and seen by CNN said.
CNN reported Wednesday that the State Department would begin reviewing Harvard-d visas, but the cable provides more details about how this will be applied to those seeking the ability to visit, attend, or work at Harvard.
The cable notes that consular officers should determine, either in pre-screening or an interview, if the applicant is seeking to travel to Harvard, and such applicants should be refused a visa “pending review of their online presence.”
The words “any” are underlined and bolded in the age where the cable states that the screening applies to “any” nonimmigrant visa applicant for “any” purpose.
“As in all instances in which an applicant fails to provide certain information on request, consular officers should consider whether the lack of any online presence, or having social media s restricted to ‘private’ or with limited visibility, may be reflective of evasiveness and call into question the applicant’s credibility,” the cable said.
The cable, first reported by Reuters, instructs consular officers to have applicants who are otherwise eligible for a visa to set their social media s to public and then refer their cases to the Fraud Prevention Unit.
That unit “should conduct a comprehensive and thorough vetting of each such applicant, including social media activity … and more generally any online presence, to identify possible inissibilities, information suggesting the applicant intends to engage in activities inconsistent with the visa classification sought, or other information that might call into question the applicant’s credibility, ” the cable says.
It tells consular officers that if they “are not personally and completely satisfied that the applicant, during his time in the United States, will engage in activities consistent with his nonimmigrant visa status, you should refuse the visa.”
“The enhanced vetting measures described in this guidance aim at ensuring that consular officers can appropriately identify such visa applicants with histories of anti-Semitic harassment and violence, and to duly consider the visa eligibility under U.S. immigration law,” it states, noting the Department of Homeland Security’s assertion that Harvard “failed to maintain a campus environment free from violence and anti-Semitism.”
Earlier this week, the State Department sent a separate cable suspending all new student visa appointments as they prepare the expanded social media vetting.
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https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/30/politics/harvard-visas-state-department-vetting
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| TouchNfollow(f): 5:26am On May 31 |
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| TouchNfollow(f): 9:04pm On May 30 |
Alleged N76bn Fraud: Ex-Bank Director Testifies, Says He Wrote Off Arik’s $2.3m Debt
The EFCC had arraigned the defendants before the court on a six-count charge bordering on conspiracy and stealing by dishonestly taking the property of another.
A former group executive director of Union Bank PLC, Austen Obigwe, has told the Lagos State Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, how he wrote off a $2.3 million debt owed by Arik Air to his private company, Staal Corp.
Obigwe disclosed this while continuing his evidence as the second prosecution witness before Justice Mojisola Dada in the trial of the former managing director of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Ahmed Kuru, and four others, who are standing trial for allegedly defrauding Arik Airline of ₦76 billion and $31.5 million, respectively.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arraigned the defendants before the court on a six-count charge bordering on conspiracy and stealing by dishonestly taking the property of another.
Apart from Kuru, the other defendants are the former receiver manager of Arik Air Limited, Kamilu Omokide; Arik Air’s Chief Executive Officer, Captain Roy Ilegbodu; Union Bank of Nigeria PLC; and another company, Super Bravo Limited.
They all pleaded not guilty to the charges, and Justice Dada granted them bail in the sum of ₦20 million each, with one surety in like sum.
At the last sitting of the court on March 19, the witness commenced his testimony while being led in evidence by prosecution counsel, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Wahab Shittu.
He also answered questions under cross-examination from counsel to the first and third defendants, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Prof. Taiwo Osipitan.
In continuation of his testimony on Wednesday, Obigwe answered questions under cross-examination from three Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Olasupo Shasore (for the second defendant); Olalekan Ojo (for the fourth defendant); and Tayo Oyedepo (for the fifth defendant).
In his testimony, Obigwe told the court that, in 2011, two years after he exited Union Bank, Arik Air was indebted to his company, Staal, for $2.3m.
He stated that the amount was never repaid but that he had written it off due to the operational difficulties faced by the airline at the time.
“I am not interested in collecting it. I wrote it off when I discovered that Arik Air started having challenges,” Obigwe told the court.
The witness also confirmed that following his exit from Union Bank, he began consultancy engagements with Arik Air and other companies.
When asked whether the founder of Arik Air, Johnson Arumemi-Ikhide, was a personal acquaintance, he responded in the affirmative, noting that although he currently has no formal relationship with the airline, he maintains a relationship with Arumemi-Ikhide.
Obigwe reiterated that in 2009, he participated in an inspection of 26 aircraft “purportedly” belonging to Arik Air.
According to him, the aircraft were found to be airworthy and in good condition, based on assessments provided by Lufthansa.
“I had no reason to doubt Lufthansa’s evaluation,” he said, adding that the purpose of the inspection was to ensure that the airline’s fleet had not been depleted.
When asked about the airline’s compliance with its loan obligations, Obigwe testified that during his tenure at Union Bank, there were no complaints from other financial institutions suggesting that Arik Air was defaulting on its loan obligations. He also confirmed that, to the best of his knowledge, Arik Air was servicing its loan with Union Bank during his tenure.
Responding to a letter dated April 23, 2009, allegedly written by AMCON to Union Bank concerning a ₦46.11 billion debt owed by Arik Air, the witness stated that the letter was not brought to his attention while he was still with the bank.
On the character and management of Arik Air, the witness said: “I can only speak for the period I was there. When I was in Union Bank, Arik Air was one of the best companies.”
When questioned on the options available to lenders when a loan becomes non-performing, Obigwe responded that the lender may choose to transfer the loan to another bank, reassign it, or enforce the security tied to the loan.
He acknowledged that a lender is legally empowered to dispose of the security in the event of default by the borrower.
The case has been adjourned till June 4 for continuation of trial.
https://www.channelstv.com/2025/05/28/alleged-n76bn-fraud-ex-bank-director-testifies-says-he-wrote-off-ariks-2-3m-debt/
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| TouchNfollow(f): 8:46pm On May 30 |
Mary95:
What an achievement
Nairaland sef
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| TouchNfollow(f): 6:02pm On May 30 |
Akwa Ibom governor’s daughter accuses dad of sacrificing late first lady; alleges threat to life
“I’m not a sacrifice, mummy was, but I’m not,” thundered the governor’s daughter.
Jane Edidiong Ufot, the daughter of Akwa Ibom Governor Umo Eno, has posted a video on social media accusing him of sacrificing his deceased wife (her mother). Patience Oluwakemi Umo Eno died in September 2024 over an undisclosed illness.
Mrs Ufot, appointed as a senior special adviser to the governor on health, safety and environment, blasted her father, insisting that she would not be sacrificed the way her mother was, alleging a sinister threat to her life and that of her little daughter.
“I’m not a sacrifice, mummy was, but I’m not,” thundered the governor’s daughter.
Mrs Ufot handed the phone to her little daughter, who appeared to be on a video call with Mr Eno. Mrs Ufot told her daughter to ask the governor whether he wanted to kill her (his grandchild).
“So, Grandpa, do you want them to kill us?” the minor asked, repeating the question as instructed. “Do you want them to die like my baby brother died?”
There was no audible response from the governor during the exchange, and it remains unclear who the child was referring to when she mentioned “them.”
Mrs Ufot said her life was on the line due to undisclosed revelations that may soon come to light.
“If I die today or my daughter dies. If we die because God is exposing the truth, so be it. But my blood will not go scot-free,” the governor’s daughter cried out.
Efforts to get the governor’s comment on his daughter’s accusations were unsuccessful as the line of his media aide, Ekerete Udoh, was switched off.
(video)
https://x.com/instablog9ja/status/1928442274007937155?t=b-c4J5GPWzxnzGbvcgYxhQ&s=08
https://gazettengr.com/akwa-ibom-governors-daughter-accuses-dad-of-sacrificing-late-first-lady-alleges-threat-to-life/
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| TouchNfollow(f): 3:55pm On May 30 |
monsuru56:
Any rich igbo man is a potential ritualist
Quote me anywhere 
Work hard and stop envy......fellow Igbomen caught him and will catch more of his kind.
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| TouchNfollow(f): 3:41pm On May 30 |
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He has finally eaten the humble pie....freedom will not come anytime soon.
1 Like 1 Share 
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| TouchNfollow(f): 7:48am On May 30 |
Agbegbaorogboye:
You copied something from yabaleft and you're asking us to explain it
Do we look mad to you?
Your name explains it all.
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| TouchNfollow(f): 10:50pm On May 29 |
AN UNTOLD STORY OF 1957: A FOUNDATION THAT HURTS EVERY YOUNG NIGERIAN TILL THIS DAY!
This is the tragic story of Otenkwa Dele Ndubuisi Udoh, a boy of two tribes, a dreamer of two worlds, and a victim of a jealous gun, an athlete who ran for his country but it was his country that gunned him down - not in war, not in terror but in envy.
He was born in Umuahia, Abia State, on May 24, 1957, a Yoruba-Igbo boy, two proud heritages burning in his veins, but one soul, fast, driven and gifted. From a young age, Otenkwa Dele Ndubuisi Udoh didn't walk, he sprinted. His feet were blessed, and so was his future.
In the 1970s, he crossed the ocean to chase a dream in America, the land of freedom. There, at the University of Missouri, he blazed through the tracks like a storm.
He became a collegiate champion and he was loved, respected and ired. He was the pride of the Missouri Tigers, and one of the most promising 400m runners the world had seen.
In 1978, he helped set a world record in the Sprint Medley Relay at the Baylor International in Texas.aaaaaIn 1980, he represented Nigeria at the Moscow Olympics, running alongside legends like Sunday Uti and Hope Ezeigbo. So he came home, to serve, to run again, to make his country proud.
But what do you call a land where jealousy wears a uniform?
On July 15 1981, Dele Udoh, aged just 24, was back in Lagos, preparing for the Continental Championships. That night the plan to eat dinner at the National Institute for Sports camp in Surulere was over.
Nothing left, so they decided to quickly head down to Ojuelegba, just a short ride, to grab a late meal. Hunger shouldn't kill a champion.
But it wasn't hunger that killed Dele Udoh.
A police officer flagged them down. Dele, polite and respectful, tried to explain.
He told the officer, "In the US where I just returned from, police officers don't point guns at innocent people like this."
A simple statement.
But truth offends the insecure.
The officer, now consumed with rage and envy, replied with venom.
"So you think you can go to America and return to insult me? You will not go back to that your good country alive."
And with that, the officer pulled the trigger.
Just like that, Dele Udoh, the boy who chose Nigeria over America, was shot dead by the same country he came home to represent.
A bullet silenced his future.
A jealous man in uniform murdered a national treasure.
Back at the camp, chaos broke out. Green Eagles teammates Felix Owolabi and Moses Kpakor were among the first to hear the news.
They couldn't believe it.
No protests. No riots.
Just a quiet shot, and a loud death.
A group of Ojuelegba "alaye boys" who had ired Dele from afar were the ones who ran to the camp to break the news.
These street boys respected him. But the police officer, sworn to protect, did not.
As Nigeria mourned in silence, thousands of miles away in Missouri, a coach cried.
Godwin Obasogie, Dele's friend and teammate, had to break the news to Coach Teel.
It was too much.
Teel said, “Dele was one of our most beloved, a man of warmth, wisdom, and speed. And now he was gone.”
But there was more pain waiting.
Back in St. Louis, Dele's teenage wife, Angela Udoh, was pregnant, and widowed.
The Nigerian government under Shehu Shagari flew her to Ozu-Abam for the burial.
There, tradition demanded that she sleep in the same room as her husband's corpse before he was buried. And she did. Not because she was forced, but because she loved him that much.
She left behind a daughter, Angelle Burrus, born fatherless. She never knew her father.
For 37 years, she lived without knowing the full story, until a Nigerian journalist, Taiwo Abiodun, tracked her down in 2018. Her father died before she could speak his name.
Justice never came. The police officer who murdered Dele? He walked free, protected by a system that eats its brightest.
He ran for his country and his country shot him in return - not in war, not in error but in envy and the same old police brutality.
He was 24. He was hungry. He was polite BUT HE WAS A NIGERIAN.
And that was enough to get him killed.
NO JUSTICE THEN.
NO JUSTICE NOW.
AND NIGERIANS ARE STILL AN ENDANGERED SPECIES TO THOSE WHO SWORE TO PROTECT THEM.
https://x.com/DOgbijo/status/1928011756292689990?t=UsDP8Ua3scuWpe7l4XZZFA&s=08
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| TouchNfollow(f): 5:08pm On May 29 |
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| TouchNfollow(f): 2:09pm On May 27 |
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Worship your Allah in your country.....them bounce you from their country, quietly dust your slippers and move on.
1 Like |
| TouchNfollow(f): 1:09pm On May 27 |
qtx:
So what happened at the end? Bc the end is more important here than the beginning
He is still working on his miracle........
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| TouchNfollow(f): 12:58pm On May 26 |
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| TouchNfollow(f): 5:45pm On May 25 |
NigeriaLagos 2027: Tinubu, Gbajabiamila, Obasa, Others Top List for Plum Job
Though the race for Lagos State governorship is still two years away, the gladiators are already girding their loins in readiness for a battle royale. Political stakeholders and groups across the state of aquatic splendour are already rooting for their preferred candidates.
Among the names already generating buzz are Seyi Tinubu, son of President Bola Tinubu; Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the president and former Speaker of the House of Representatives; Mudashiru Obasa, Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly and other heavyweights.
But ahead of the election, the importance of the IBILE factor in Lagos has come to the fore like never before. Lagos is organised into five istrative districts, collectively called IBILE, namely Ikorodu, Badagry, Ikeja, Lagos Island, and Epe.
Society Watch reliably gathered that the political kingmakers in the state, particularly in the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC), are already having sleepless nights on the best way out of the seemingly difficult task of picking the best candidate.
While Gbajabiamila’s sterling record as a seasoned legislator, rising to become the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Chief of Staff to the president put him head and shoulder above the others, his age has become a factor. Gbajabiamila will be 64 in 2027, and reportedly seen to be ‘too old’ to govern a state so “complex and fast-moving like Lagos.”
However, his ers are upbeat about his chances and are said to be banking on his close ties to the president and long-standing political experience, which they believe make him a strong contender for the plum job.
Aside from being the son of the president, not much has been said about the istrative experience of Seyi. But for his large crowd of ers, he remains the best to bring the dreams of the founding fathers of Lagos state to fruition. It was gathered that a Seyi Tinubu-Mudashiru Obasa’s ticket is presently gaining momentum among political stakeholders in the state.
A source who pleaded anonymity claimed the re-instalment of Obasa as speaker of the state assembly after he was removed by his colleagues is part of the larger puzzle to fall into place.
According to the source, Seyi as the governorship candidate and Obasa as his deputy would be viewed as a formidable youthful ticket that will appeal to Lagosians.
“Seyi Tinubu may look so young, but he’s of age and experience to govern Lagos State,” the source said.
As the time ticks slowly towards 2027, the unfolding drama in Lagos politics will surely reset and redefine the political landscape and set a new tone for the future of Nigeria’s most strategic state.
https://www.thisdaylive.com/2025/05/25/lagos-2027-tinubu-gbajabiamila-obasa-others-top-list-for-plum-job/?amp
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| TouchNfollow(f): 4:45pm On May 25 |
From teenage Arsenal prodigy to convicted drug smuggler
Jay Emmanuel-Thomas is awaiting sentence for importing cannabis into the UK
As a footballer, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas seemed destined for greatness. But a drug-smuggling conviction has left his career and reputation in tatters. How did things unravel so dramatically for a player once tipped for the top?
Hailed by legendary Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger as a footballer who could "play anywhere", Emmanuel-Thomas was marked out early on as having elite potential.
Imposing, technically gifted and surprisingly agile, the striker appeared to have the world at his feet.
But a career that promised so much at Arsenal faltered and saw him spend years flitting between the second and third tiers of English football.
In 2020 he moved to play in Scotland and was still plying his trade north of the border when, on 18 September, he was arrested at his home in Gourock, near Glasgow.
Sixteen days earlier, Border Force officers had stopped two women at London Stansted Airport and found drugs in their cases.
It was not a minor haul; they were staring at cannabis with a street value of £600,000.
How did it get there? The evidence soon led detectives to Emmanuel-Thomas.
Wind back a decade and a half, and things were very different.
It is 26 May 2009, and Arsenal's latest batch of academy talents can barely contain their excitement.
The young prospects, including Jack Wilshere and Francis Coquelin, have just won the FA Youth Cup.
One player in particular has stood out: their 16-year-old captain, Emmanuel-Thomas, who has scored in every round of the competition.
"These young men have a very bright future indeed," remarked one commentator.
But despite going on to make five first-team appearances, it was not quite to be for Emmanuel-Thomas.
It was a move that excited ers in Suffolk, who were keen to see what the former Arsenal starlet could produce.
However, 71 games and eight goals later, Emmanuel-Thomas had not quite made the mark fans hoped for, and he moved to Bristol City in a player exchange deal.
Here, he helped the Robins secure promotion to the Championship and became something of a cult hero, scoring 21 goals in his first season.
A move to Queens Park Rangers followed, with subsequent loan spells at MK Dons and Gillingham.
A spell at MK Dons was another step in Emmanuel-Thomas's career
But in 2019, Emmanuel-Thomas accepted a transfer to a Thai-based team that would alter the course of his life.
It is believed he was tempted into the country's drugs underworld while playing for PTT Rayong, a club that folded in the same year.
Despite later moves to an Indian side and several Scottish outfits, including Aberdeen, Emmanuel-Thomas never shook off the criminal connections he made.
By the time he took a six-month contract at Greenock Morton, a 40-minute drive from Glasgow, the game was almost up.
NCA A bundle of vacuum-packed white plastic bags full of cannabis, loaded into a green suitcase.NCA
The drugs were intercepted by Border Force officers at London Stansted Airport in Essex
As he lined up for them against Queens Park on 14 September, he would have surely known the law was about to catch up with him.
The women arrested at Stansted were his 33-year-old girlfriend, Yasmin Piotrowska, and her friend Rosie Rowland, 28.
Emmanuel Thomas, by then 33, appeared in court charged with orchestrating the attempted importation of drugs, and was sacked by his club.
Detectives discovered he had duped Ms Piotrowska, from north-west London, and Ms Rowland, from Chelmsford, into travelling to Thailand with the promise of £2,500 in cash and an all-expenses-paid trip.
Their job? To bring home two suitcases each, filled with what they were assured was gold, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.
'I feel sorry for the girls'
They flew business class from Bangkok, landing in Essex via Dubai.
Unknown to them, they were smuggling in cannabis with a street value of £600,000, vacuum-packed inside the four cases.
The pair were stopped and arrested by Border Force officers, before being charged with drug importation offences.
With the pair in custody, and Emmanuel-Thomas later remanded, police probed how the drugs made it to the UK.
They soon found the player was the intermediary between suppliers in Thailand and dealers in the UK, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA).
With the footballer's encouragement, the women had also made a near-identical trip in July, having been made similar promises of cash and a lavish holiday.
On his way to custody, Emmanuel-Thomas even told NCA officers: "I just feel sorry for the girls."
Elizabeth Cook/PA Media Court sketch of Jay Emmanuel-Thomas in prison. His hair is braided and he has a beard. He is wearing a white crew-neck shirt.Elizabeth Cook/PA Media
Emmanuel-Thomas changed his plea to guilty
His first court hearing in September was told he carried out "extensive research" into flights and directions, including which airports the women had been going to.
David Philips, a senior NCA investigator, said "organised criminals like Emmanuel-Thomas" used persuasion and payment to get people to do their dirty work.
"But the risk of getting caught is very high and it simply isn't worth it," he added.
During several court appearances, Emmanuel-Thomas, of Cardwell Road, Gourock, strenuously denied attempting to import cannabis.
However, he changed his plea to guilty at the start of May and restrictions on reporting this were lifted on Wednesday.
Charges against both Ms Piotrowska and Ms Rowland were dropped after the prosecution revealed they had been tricked by Emmanuel-Thomas.
It followed what David Josse KC described as a "very thorough investigation".
Emmanuel-Thomas appeared via video link from HMP Chelmsford at his latest court hearing.
When he returns to court for sentencing, on a date still to be confirmed, it will not be his first time in the spotlight.
But it will be for very different reasons to the day he lifted that trophy aloft in 2009.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgvwv3r49do
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| TouchNfollow(f): 3:59pm On May 25 |
‘Patently Fabricated’, EFCC Denies Alleged Pre-Defection Meeting Between Olukoyede, Governor
The denial followed claims by a spokesperson to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Paul Ibe, during a recent interview on Channels Television.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has denied an allegation that its Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, met with a former South-South governor and his predecessor 48 hours before they decamped to the All Progressives Congress.
The denial followed claims by a spokesperson to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Paul Ibe, during a recent interview on Channels Television.
Ibe, who was a guest on Seun Okinbaloye’s Politics Today on Channels Television on Thursday, alleged that the EFCC Chairman and the Solicitor General met with a former and a serving governor from the South-South region 48 hours before they decamped to the APC. He also claimed that the meeting took place at a government lodge in the South-South state.
Reports had circulated that the governor of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori, and his predecessor, Ifeanyi Okowa, left the Peoples Democratic Party for the APC in April.
Reacting to the allegation, the EFCC in a statement on Friday, said it was “outraged” by Ibe’s “unfounded claims”, describing it as “patently fabricated”.
“The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is outraged by the unfounded claims of Mr. Paul Ibe, spokesperson to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President, alleging that Ola Olukoyede, Executive Chairman, held a secret meeting with an unnamed politician.
“ Ibe, who was a guest on Seun Okinbaloye’s Politics Today on Channels Television on Thursday, May 22, 2025, bared his mind on sundry theories, conjectures and assumptions relating to opposition politics and defections.
“However, his allegations of the Executive Chairman EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede and Solicitor General of the Federation’s alleged meeting with an unnamed governor forty-eight hours before his defection to the ruling All People’s Congress, APC, are patently fabricated and in bad taste. “Olukoyede has stressed it at several fora that he is apolitical and the EFCC totally wired against partisan tendencies”, the statement wrote.
Olukoyede ened the public to disregard the allegation as it exists only in “Ibe’s imagination”.
https://www.channelstv.com/2025/05/24/patently-fabricated-efcc-denies-alleged-pre-defection-meeting-between-olukoyede-governor/
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| TouchNfollow(f): 2:44pm On May 25 |
Who will be the first to be caught.
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