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Monday, 19 May 2025 04:45

Average life expectancy globally is 73.3 years; in Nigeria it’s 54.6. WHO latest report warns of further decline in these numbers

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that the COVID-19 pandemic reversed a "decade of health gains," causing a sharp 1.8-year decline in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021—the largest drop in decades. While the world grapples with recovery, Nigeria faces an even grimmer reality, with its life expectancy stagnating at 54.6 years, far below the global average of 73.3 years. Nigeria’s Deepening Health Crisis Amid Economic Hardship With inflation soaring, unemployment rising, and millions struggling to afford basic necessities, Nigeria’s already weak health system risks further deterioration. The WHO report highlights that healthy life expectancy—a measure of years…

Sunday, 18 May 2025 04:24

Tola Adeniyi-led group commends Tinubu for Armed Forest Guards initiative

PRESS RELEASE The Gravitas Group for Good Governance has given kudos to President Bola Tinubu for his radical and bold initiative to end banditry, kidnapping and all acts of domestic terrorism in the country. The statement from a Government spokesman Sunday Dare announcing this development has received tremendous applause from across the country. For several years, especially in the last one and half decades, Nigerian forests had provided hiding fortresses for all shades and categories of criminal elements who have been terrorising Nigerian citizens. Paradoxically, most of these terrorists were imported into the country by the so-called leaders who swore…

Saturday, 17 May 2025 04:41

Shell paid Nigeria $5.34bn royalties, taxes, others in 2024, regulatory report discloses

Energy major Shell Plc paid $5.34 billion to the Nigerian government in 2024, the largest amount it remitted to any country, even as it continues to divest from its onshore oil operations in Africa’s largest crude producer. According to data released in Shell’s annual “Payments to Governments” report, a regulatory disclosure required under UK law, Nigeria topped the company’s global list of government recipients last year, ahead of countries such as Oman, Brazil and Norway. The figure represents a sharp increase from the $3.8 billion Shell paid to Nigeria in 2023. Breakdown of Shell’s 2024 payments to Nigeria Shell’s total…

Saturday, 17 May 2025 04:36

FAAC: FG, states, and LGs share ₦1.68trn for April 2025

The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has distributed ₦1.68 trillion to Nigeria's three tiers of government as federation allocation for April 2025, reflecting a ₦110 billion increase from March's ₦1.57 trillion distribution. This announcement came following FAAC's May meeting chaired by Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy. The allocation was derived from a total gross revenue of ₦2.848 trillion, comprising statutory revenue, Value Added Tax (VAT), Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and exchange difference. Distribution Breakdown The allocation was distributed as follows: - Federal Government: ₦565.30 billion - State Governments: ₦556.74 billion - Local Government…

Friday, 16 May 2025 04:31

Nigeria's inflation rate eases - slightly

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria's headline inflation rate decreased to 23.71% in April 2025, down from 24.23% recorded in March 2025, marking a 0.52% drop month-on-month. The April 2025 inflation figure also represents a significant year-on-year decrease of 9.99% compared to April 2024's rate of 33.69%, though this comparison involves a different base year. On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate was 1.86% in April 2025, which is 2.04% lower than March 2025's rate of 3.90%, indicating a slower pace of price increases. Food Inflation Declines Food inflation stood at 21.36% on a year-on-year basis…

Friday, 16 May 2025 04:25

Major oil export pipeline bursts, spills crude in N’Delta

Nigeria's Trans Niger Pipeline, a major oil artery transporting crude from onshore oilfields to the Bonny export terminal, burst and spilled oil into the local B-Dere community in Ogoniland, an environmental rights group said on Thursday. This is the second incident affecting the Trans Niger Pipeline in two months. In March, the pipeline was shut after a blast that caused a fire. Nnimmo Bassey, executive director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation, said the spill, which occurred on May 6, was yet to be stopped, adding that the slow response showed a lack of care for the people and was…

Thursday, 15 May 2025 04:37

DSS sues Pat Utomi over shadow government plan

The Department of State Services (DSS) has filed a lawsuit against Pat Utomi, accusing him of attempting to establish a “shadow government” in Nigeria—a move the agency describes as a direct threat to the nation’s constitution and democratic order. In a suit filed on May 13 at the Federal High Court in Abuja (Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/937/2025), the DSS is seeking a judicial declaration that Utomi’s alleged actions are unconstitutional and an attack on the legitimacy of the elected government. Utomi, who was the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate in 2007, is the sole defendant in the case. The DSS,…

Thursday, 15 May 2025 04:33

JAMB announces resit for over 300,000 candidates after 2025 UTME error

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that over 300,000 candidates from 157 examination centers will retake the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) following technical errors that affected the processing of their results. In a press conference held at JAMB's headquarters in Bwari, Abuja on Wednesday, Registrar Is-haq Oloyede admitted that technical failures by service providers had compromised the integrity of results for candidates who took the examination in Lagos and the South-Eastern states. "In the process of rectifying an issue, the technical personnel deployed by the Service Provider inadvertently failed to update some of the delivery…

Wednesday, 14 May 2025 04:45

Just bought a vehicle requiring registration or need a driver’s license? These are the new fees you’ll pay

Nigerians are expected to pay more for their vehicle and drivers license renewals and new ones even as the Joint Tax Board (JTB) has approved an increment in price. The new price adjustment will be effective Sunday, 8th June 2025. By this announcement, the JTB, being the apex body for revenue authorities in Nigeria, urges affected members of the public to take note of the new prices, and implores relevant government agencies and Motor Vehicle Licencing Authorities to comply with the price adjustment. In an advertorial sighted in one of the national dailies, the new approved prices for Motor Vehicle…

Tuesday, 13 May 2025 04:43

UK slashes graduate visa, ends social care recruitment: Implications for Nigerian students and migrants

In a sweeping overhaul of its immigration policy, the United Kingdom has introduced dramatic reforms that will directly affect international students and migrant workers, including a significant number of Nigerians. The new measures, detailed in an 82-page White Paper titled “Restoring Control over the Immigration System”, signal the most radical reset of Britain’s immigration system in a generation. End of Social Care Recruitment from Overseas Effective immediately, the UK has banned new overseas applications for social care roles—a category that has seen a high influx of Nigerian and other international workers in recent years. The Home Office stated that the…

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Monday, 12 May 2025 04:49

Nigeria's public debt surged 65.6% in first 18 months of Tinubu govt, DMO data show

Nigeria has experienced a dramatic N57.3 trillion increase in its public debt within the first 18 months of President Bola Tinubu's administration, according to recent Debt Management Office data. Total public debt rose from N87.38 trillion in June 2023 to N144.67 trillion by December 2024, representing a 65.6% surge since Tinubu took office on May 29, 2023. Exchange Rate Impact While the naira value of debt has skyrocketed, the total debt in dollar terms actually decreased by 17%, from $113.42 billion to $94.23 billion. This apparent reduction stems from the naira's steep depreciation, falling from N770.38 to approximately N1,535 per…

Friday, 09 May 2025 05:03

Nigeria repays $3.4bn COVID-19 loan to IMF, but annual $30m charges remain

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has confirmed that Nigeria has fully repaid the $3.4 billion emergency loan it received in 2020 to cushion the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the sharp decline in global oil prices. The financing, provided under the IMF’s Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI), was disbursed in April 2020 to help Africa’s largest oil producer address severe balance of payments needs during the global crisis. In a statement released on Thursday, IMF resident representative to Nigeria, Christian Ebeke, said that as of April 30, 2025, the country had completed repayment of the facility. The IMF’s data…

Friday, 09 May 2025 05:01

200,000 Nigerians die yearly from unsafe and unhealthy food – FG, new report warn

Nigeria is facing a deepening public health crisis as both the federal government and a new report by civil society group Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) raise alarm over the devastating impact of food-related illnesses and the unchecked spread of unhealthy, ultra-processed foods across the country. Speaking at the launch of a new national food safety operational manual in Abuja, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Geoffrey Nnaji, disclosed that an estimated 200,000 Nigerians—many of them children—die each year from foodborne diseases. He pointed to dangerous practices such as using paracetamol to tenderize meat, fermenting cassava…

Thursday, 08 May 2025 03:58

Senate passed two out of four tax reform bills. Here are the highlights

The Senate has passed two out of four major tax reform bills proposed by President Bola Tinubu. However, the upper chamber rejected a proposal to increase the value-added tax (VAT) to 10 percent, opting to retain the current rate at 7.5 percent. The bill allows VAT input claims on fixed assets, overhead costs and administrative services. The two bills passed are the Nigeria Revenue Service Establishment bill, which repeals the Federal Inland Revenue Service, and the Joint Revenue Board Establishment bill, which seeks to harmonise tax collection. Two bills which the senate has scheduled for consideration and passage on Thursday…

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