TIMITALKS

  The  Bauchi State government, through the Ministry of Education, has announced the closure of all schools in the state in preparation for the five-week-long 2025 Ramadan fast. The announcement is contained in the approved school calendar for the 2024-2025 academic session in the state. Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria in Bauchi on Friday, the Information Officer, Ministry of Education, Mr Jalaludeen Maina, said the holiday had already been incorporated in the calendar long before now. He explained that  the closure would take effect from March 1 to April 5 . Maina said the closure affected all the institutions of learning, which includes all public and private primary, Junior and secondary schools, as well as higher institutions of learning in the state. “ Yes, we are closing all our schools and this is included in our 2024-2025 approved calendar for the academic session that our students are not going to do the Ramadan fasting while in school . “ The five-week ...

  According to the counting of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), today marks the 29th of Sha’aban, 1446 AH. This means that Ramadan will begin either tomorrow or the next day, depending on the sighting of the moon. As Muslims in Nigeria, we must take guidance from our recognized leadership. The NSCIA, under the Sultan of Sokoto, is our reference point. There is no Hausa moon, no Fulani moon. Islam unites us beyond ethnicity. Let us wait for the official announcement before we begin our fast, as unity in worship is a key principle in our Deen. Ramadan is a blessed month, a time of immense mercy and reward. Let us make the most of it by: - Reciting and reflecting on the Qur’an - Increasing our acts of worship, including Nafl prayers and Qiyaam al-Layl - Attending Tafseer sessions to deepen our understanding of Islam - Giving generously in Sadaqah to those in need - Strengthening our connection with Allah through Dhikr and sincere Du'a - Seeking forgiveness and...

The  factional Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, has said that he has been a disciple to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu since he left secondary school . Obasa stated this while answering questions in relation to the crisis rocking the state House of Assembly during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Thursday. Obasa had stormed the assembly on Thursday alongside his security details and presided over ‘plenary’ attended by four lawmakers, a development which has deepened the crisis. When asked whether he has Tinubu’s backing in the crisis, Obasa said, “ I have been following this man since I just left secondary school. I have pictures to prove this. During SDP I contested for delegate. “ Since then I have always been one of his disciples and I will not change tomorrow. I have always been a loyalist. If they are just realising that now, then they have not been part of us from the genesis. ” On the alleged misunderstanding with Governor Sanwo-Olu,...

  DISCHARGED! The Pentagon has issued a memo stating that transgender service members will be discharged from the military. The U.S. will begin removing transgender troops from the military within 30 days unless they obtain a waiver on a case-by-case basis, the Pentagon said in a Wednesday memo. The memo became public as part of a court filing in a case challenging President Trump's late January executive order that was aimed at barring military service by transgender personnel. "Service members who have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria will be processed for separation from military service," the memo read. The memo regarding the separation of transgender individuals from the military stated, “The department only recognizes two sexes:  male and female.” www.cbsnews.com/news/transgender-separated-military-pentagon-trump 10 Likes  1 Share

  University of Ibadan 400 Level Student Goes Viral over His Unique Full Name A 400 level student of the University of Ibadan (UI) has become a viral sensation because of his full name His full name became public knowledge after he celebrated bagging two awards at his department's event The young man shared the awards on X (formerly Twitter), which had his full name, and people could not help but notice it. The 400 level student, a mixologist, had won two awards at his department's event and celebrated the feat on X by displaying them. A University of Ibadan 400 level student went viral on X over his unique full name. The mixologist won Socialite of the Year and Best Dressed (male, 400 level) awards. He wrote on X: "What a nightt🖤💯." PAY ATTENTION: Follow us on Instagram - get the most important news directly in your favourite app! University of Ibadan student's unique full name The awards had his full name,  Will John Flourish , in bold. A University of Ibadan ...

  On 13 January, Mr Obasa was impeached by a two-thirds majority of the House members while he was on holiday in the United States, seemingly ending his decade-long hold on the office. PREMIUM TIMES has confirmed that the Nigerian government facilitated Mudashiru Obasa’s return to office as Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly on Thursday. On 13 January, Mr Obasa was impeached by a two-thirds majority of the House members while he was on holiday in the United States, ending his decade-long hold on the office. The members cited alleged high-handedness and financial misappropriation for his removal and promptly elected Mojisola Meranda as their new Speaker. However, Mr Obasa rejected his removal, saying it did not follow the procedures of the legislative assembly. He immediately headed to court to seek redress. At its last sitting on 13 February, the members passed a vote of confidence in the new Speaker, who was under pressure from some party leaders to resign and adjourned ...

  After defending my Bsc Geography and Natural Resources Management from the department of Geography, University of Uyo in August, 2024, I waited in Uyo hoping to see a part time job. Unfortunately, I didn't locate any good one. Things began to be tougher because my parents didn't send me money again. I decided to move to Port Harcourt this year. On getting to Port Harcourt, I applied as a Geography Teacher in one of the prestigious schools. Fortunately, I got the job after series of interviews and started teaching. Yesterday my account was credited and I went and withdraw half of the salary. To God be the Glory. 2 Likes

  Over the weekend, a former Liverpool star Carragher while discussing Mohamed Salah’s chances of winning the 2025 omitted AFCON as a major tournament. Former Manchester United defender, Rio Ferdinand has said the Africa Cup Of Nations(AFCON) needs to be given the same prestige as the likes of the World Cup and other major trophy tournament. ”It should be respected more than it is but what I would say is the lack of resources put into it.. the narrative from the media that comes out is that it is a Mickey Mouse tournament,” Ferdinand said during a podcast on Monday. The 46-year-old’s comments come after fellow Englishman and pundit, Jamie Carragher speaking after Liverpool‘s 2-0 victory over Manchester City on Sunday, felt that Mohamed Salah playing in AFCON was a drawback in his becoming the best player in the world. According to the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) shattered viewership records, reaching a total of 2.2 billion viewers...

  Govt plans to phase out power generators The Federal Government said there are plans to boost power generation and phase out the use of power generators in individual homes and offices. This is as the government concluded plans to unveil the Integrated Resource Plan for the power sector. The Special Adviser to the Minister of Power on Strategic Communications and Media Relations, Bolaji Tunji, told our correspondent that the resource plan is to ensure Nigerians “stop using generators.” According to him, the Integrated Resource Plan will be unveiled on Thursday (today) in Abuja with the support of the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office and the UK Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility. The event, which he said will highlight critical milestones in Nigeria’s electricity reform and transformation journey, will include the presentation of a comprehensive policy designed to guide Nigeria’s power sector towards universal electrification, inclusivity, and s...

  Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has hit back at ex-presidential aide Reno Omokri, following allegations that he played a role in the genocide of Southern Kaduna Christians. Omokri had accused El-Rufai of enabling violence and demolishing the homes of political opponents while in office. He also referenced El-Rufai’s controversial past statements about Christians and accused him of paying off killer herdsmen. Responding on X,  El-Rufai dismissed Omokri as a “PR consultant” and “online influencer,” adding that such individuals thrive in the “Renewed Hope era” due to their “moral flexibility” and “total shamelessness.” “The only qualifications needed to be on the payroll are (1) moral flexibility, (2) total shamelessness, (3) selective amnesia, (4) wretched upbringing, and (5) intense craving for quick and easy money,” El-Rufai wrote. Omokri, in turn, reiterated his claims that El-Rufai’s government was responsible for human rights violations, including the 2015 Z...

  The Naira yesterday appreciated to N1,490 per dollar in the parallel market from N1,502 per dollar on Tuesday. Similarly, the Naira appreciated to N1,499.8 per dollar in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM) Data published by FMDQ showed that the indicative exchange rate for the naira fell to N1,499.8 per dollar from N1,501 per dollar on Tuesday, indicating 20 kobo appreciation for the naira. Consequently, the margin between the parallel market and NFEM rate widened to N9.8 per dollar from 50 kobo per dollar the previous day. Source:  https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/02/naira-rises-to-n1490-in-parallel-market/ 6 Likes  1 Share

  THE  plot that led to the assassination of former Head of State, Major General Murtala Muhammed on February 13, 1976, started from the day he took over in 1975  because he refused to accept a triumvirate power-sharing arrangement, according to former Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida . After the coup that ousted General Yakubu Gowon, he said  Murtala Muhammed shunned expectations of younger officers to run a ‘collective’ administration and this led to plots to remove him . IBB said this in his autobiography: A Journey in Service,” which was launched last Thursday. He also recounted how Murtala Muhammed won the hearts of Nigerians through popular actions but regretted that the country was yet to recover from the mass sack of top civil servants in 1975. He wrote: The day after the coup, 37-year-old Brigadier Murtala Ramat Muhammed emerged as the new head of state. But, contrary to the general perception, his emergence as Head of State didn’t come...

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uQGS2ssE9Y

  𝐊𝐞𝐦𝐢 𝐁𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐝’𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 By: 𝐃𝐞𝐣𝐢 𝐘𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐮 On the 6th of March 2025 will be the 116th posthumous birthday of the only Nigerian ever referred to as a sage: Obafemi Awolowo. I have been in touch with the Obafemi Awolowo Foundation, and they have informed me that this edition will be a webinar to be chaired by Mr. Thabo Mbeki and one of the guest speakers will be Kingsley Moghalu. Ambassador Tokunbo Awolowo-Dosunmu is the brain behind the foundation. She is the only surviving child of the sage. I asked madam Ambassador a difficult question recently: I told her that I have come to understand that there is a world of difference between Obafemi Awolowo and Bola Tinubu, the man at the top of affairs in Nigeria today. I asked her if she agrees with me. Madam Ambassador replied by saying that she usually does not answer those kinds of questions. I think it is not that the former ambassador to the Netherlands under the Obasanjo administration is afr...

  Bandits have abducted the Wakilin Fulani of Janjala, Alhaji Atah Adamu Wakili, a nursing mother and 37 other residents of the community located in Kagarko LGA of Kaduna State. They were said to have rustled several cows during the attack. A community leader in the area, who confirmed the incident to our reporter through telephone on Monday, said the bandits, wielding sophisticated weapons, with some wearing army uniforms, invaded the community on Sunday, around 10pm. He said the bandits divided themselves into three groups, attacked several houses and whisked away many locals amid sporadic gunshots. He said some of the bandits also invaded a Fulani settlement located some few distance from the community and rustled cows. He said,  “It was at about 10pm on Sunday, when I received a phone call that the Wakilin Fulani of Janjala alongside his wives and his eldest son, Abubakar including 37 other villagers were abducted by the bandits.” He said the bandits who moved from house t...

El-Rufai: Tinubu Publicly Begged Me To Be Minister In His Government But Changed His Mind “Guys, I was minister 20 years ago in my forties, and  I told Tinubu I did not want to be minister, I was not interested.  He appealed to me, begged me, and he gave me a challenge. What was the challenge? Nobody has sorted out electricity, no president has defeated the electricity mafia, you and I can work to defeat it . It was the challenge that made me accept. Now, I had an opportunity to serve my country, and the person that gave me that opportunity changed his mind, and it’s okay. I’ve moved on with my life.” https://www.arise.tv/el-rufai-tinubu-publicly-begged-me-to-be-minister-in-his-government-but-changed-his-mind/#google_vignette 9 Likes  5 Shares

  AGF Fagbemi: Osun LG elections conducted by Adeleke ‘invalid, egregious breach of the Constitution My attention has been drawn to the PUBLIC OUTCRY OF Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke concerning the judgement of the Court of Appeal, Akure division delivered on 10th day of February, 2025 in Appeal No CA/AK/272/2022 which nullified and set aside the judgement of the Federal High Court, Osogbo, Osun State, delivered on 25th day of November, 2022. 2. It has become necessary to issue this public notice to remove doubts, fears, and uncertainties created by misrepresentations and disinformation concerning the legal effect of the judgement of the Court of Appeal. 3. Putting matters in proper context, the event that led to the two judgements was that during the currency of the term of the former Governor of Osun State, Adegboyega Oyetola, election was held into all the local governments of Osun State and winners were sworn in. 4. However, a few days before the swearing in of Governor ...

  NIGERIA LABOUR CONGRESS OSUN STATE COUNCIL All NLC Osun State Council Affiliates All Osun State Local Government Workers Dear Comrades, 23rd February, 2025 RE: SAFETY OF OUR MEMBERS IS NON-NEGOTIABLE Fraternal Greetings! The Osun State Council of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) strongly affirm her earlier release notifying all Local Government Area Workers in the State to withdraw their services as a result of the political upheaval within their workplaces still subsist. While continuing in their prayers for the state. This release further reiterates that our members safety at work is of high priority and  we will not allow our members to work in an atmosphere of insecurity . The Osun State Council of the NLC remains resolute in its commitment to defending the rights and interests of workers and the masses. We shall not be cowed or intimidated by these desperate attempts to silence us. We stand firm in our resolve to uphold justice, fairness, and the rule of law in our bel...

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUUTnQ6sO3I The National President of the Afenifere Youth Council, Eniola Ojajuni, who was kidnapped in Abuja, in a very traumatised state has begged Nigerians to come to his aid by contributing the demanded ransom so as to spare his life. The Kidnappers are demanding a N100 million ransom and have given an ultimatum of 48 hours, if not, He will be killed.

  • Narrates how he disarmed Dimka during 1976 coup FORMER Military President,  Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, has disclosed that former President Olusegun Obasanjo opted to leave the Army after he was asked to succeed former Head of State, Murtala Muhammed, following the failure of the 1976 coup that claimed Murtala’s life . IBB made this disclosure in his autobiography, A Journey in Service while giving accounts of the events that followed the attempt to forcefully take over the Murtala’s military administration by a group of mutineers led by Lieutenant-Colonel Bukar Dimka. Following Murtala’s death, IBB, in chapter 5 of his book entitled “The Murtala Muhammed Years,” narrated that the Supreme Military Council met the following day to discuss the succession plan but the council was divided over the choice of Obasanjo and Theophilus Danjuma, both of whom, at the time, were Lieutenant-Generals and most senior military officer. IBB disclosed that though the pendulum of the SMC swu...

  Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, said there is nowhere in former military Head of State Ibrahim Babangida’s book, A Journey in Service, where he stated that the coup of January 15, 1966, was not an Igbo coup. Fani-Kayode insisted that those claiming it was not an Igbo coup are wrong, stating that they are either misguided and misinformed or mischievous. The ex-Minister stated in a post on his X handle that IBB was charitable to the Igbos in his book. He, however, noted that this does not give anyone the license to misinterpret Babangida’s words and conclusions or use them in an attempt to revise history. He wrote: "It was heinously callous for Nzeogwu to have murdered Sir Ahmadu Bello and his wife, Hafsatu, because not only were they eminently adored by many but also because they were said not to have put up a fight. From that moment the putsch was infiltrated by "outsiders" to its supposed original intention and it took on an unmistakable ethnic colorati...

  🇺🇦 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that he was “ready” to resign as leader if it meant it brought peace to his country, suggesting he could swap it for NATO membership. Asked at a press conference if he was ready to quit if it ensures peace for Ukraine, Zelensky said: “If [it guarantees] peace for Ukraine, if you really need me to resign, I am ready. I can exchange it for NATO.” The Ukrainian president previously said his country’s army will need to double in size if NATO denies it membership to the alliance. Earlier this month, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that Kyiv joining NATO was unrealistic. Zelensky’s comments follow an escalating spat between Zelensky and Donald Trump after the US president falsely accused Ukraine of starting the conflict. Trump later admitted “Russia attacked” but blamed predecessor Joe Biden and Zelensky for not stopping the fighting sooner. When Zelensky hit back – accusing the US president of being in a “disinformation...

  The  Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, Ikioye Orutugu, has narrated how two suspected killers of Justice Azuka, a state lawmaker, escaped from police custody in the state . Mr Orutugu spoke on Friday during a press briefing at the Police Command Headquarters in Awka. The police spokesperson in the state, Tochukwu Ikenga, forwarded a text of the press briefing to PREMIUM TIMES. Lawmaker’s killing, escape of the suspects PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that gunmen, on 24 December 2024, abducted Mr Azuka, a member of the Anambra House of Assembly. A joint security team, on 6 February, found the lawmaker’s decomposing body at Second Niger Bridge in Onitsha, Anambra State. The police in the state later confirmed that nine suspected killers of the lawmaker had been arrested. But on Tuesday night, the police authorities announced that two of the suspected killers of the lawmaker had escaped from custody. On Thursday, the police admitted that they suffered “operational lapses”...