O gun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, says his administration will upgrade the Ogun State Cooperative College to start awarding National Diploma and Higher National Diploma. The governor said the plan is to train more qualified professionals who can manage cooperative societies better, manage risks and protect members' savings. He disclosed this on Wednesday in Ijebu-Ode during the 2026 International Day of Cooperatives, organised by the state cooperative federation and the Ministry of Community Development and Cooperatives. Abiodun also revealed that his government has given out over N1 billion in loans to support small businesses in the state, as reported by Arise News. According to him, N500 million went to cooperative societies through the State Cooperative Federation under the revolving loan scheme, while another N500 million was disbursed through the Oko Owo Irinse Dapo soft loan scheme for artisans, traders and small business owners across all 20 local government areas. He s...

  T he Senate has taken a major step to close the long-standing gap between university and polytechnic graduates. At plenary, lawmakers amended the Federal Polytechnic Act to allow federal polytechnics across the country to award Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) degrees in science, engineering and other technology-related courses. The amendment followed a motion by the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, who called for a review of the Act to provide clearer administration and a stronger legal framework. After deliberations, Senate President Godswill Akpabio put it to a voice vote and the amendment was passed. Before now, federal polytechnics were only allowed to award National Diplomas (ND) and Higher National Diplomas (HND). That restriction has now been lifted. According to Premium Times, the new Section 2(1)(c) of the Act allows polytechnics to award http://B.Tech degrees to qualified holders of ND, HND or Postgraduate Diploma. However, there is a condition: the degree programmes mu...

T he National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) has officially endorsed the IMOIFF Creatives & Film Festival, a cultural initiative based in Owerri, Imo State. The endorsement was contained in an official letter dated October 12, 2026, and signed by the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the Council, Obi Asika. In the letter, the Council acknowledged the festival’s objectives and its focus on promoting indigenous cultural heritage, supporting emerging creative talents, and expanding opportunities within Nigeria’s creative industry. IMOIFF Creatives & Film Festival was established to provide a platform for filmmakers and creatives to share stories and showcase Nigeria’s cultural diversity to a wider audience. The NCAC, in its communication, emphasized the role of storytelling and filmmaking in preserving Nigeria’s cultural heritage and projecting its diverse histories and traditions. The Council also highlighted how cultural initiatives contribute to youth empower...

N etflix will stream every match of the 2030 FIFA World Cup to viewers in Spain and Andorra, in its biggest move yet into live sport. The streaming giant announced the deal in a blog post on Tuesday. It will carry all 104 games of the tournament, which Spain, Morocco and Portugal will host. Beyond the matches, Netflix says it will produce pre-match, half-time and post-match shows aimed at Spanish audiences. Not everything will sit behind a paywall. Netflix will offer one game free on every matchday in Spain. Games featuring the Spanish national team, both semi-finals and the final will also be shown free-to-air. Netflix’s Chief Content Officer, Bela Bajaria, said the deal reflects the company’s aim to connect with people around the world through major sporting events. Bajaria said few events bring people together like the World Cup, and recalled being in the stands this year when Spain won the trophy. According to Bajaria, the passion and pride on show become part of a nation’s culture...

G overnor Peter Mbah has expressed deep anguish over a violent clash and shooting at a recent political event in Enugu that left a resident wounded.    In a direct address to the state, the governor extended his sympathy to the victim, their loved ones, and anyone who panicked during the chaos. He stressed that the security and mental well-being of every resident are matters of personal importance to him.    Reminding the public of the relative peace residents have fought hard to build, the governor noted that such unrest naturally triggers public anxiety and demands immediate action. He emphasized that party lines should never stop anyone from enjoying their legal rights free from threats or physical harm.    Addressing rumors surrounding the incident, Governor Mbah maintained that his administration's core duty remains defending lives, maintaining public order, and ensuring impartial justice.    Following preliminary discoveries, the governor ha...

F ormer Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha was arrested in Abuja on Monday night. He was released on bail after about an hour of questioning by the police. Officers of the Nigeria Police Force detained the senator at REIZ Continental Hotel, in the heart of the city. Police spokesperson CSP Aniete Iniedu confirmed the arrest and his release on bail to Channels Television. Investigators questioned Okorocha over allegations of criminal conspiracy, forgery and impersonation. Once the session ended, he was allowed to go home on bail. The matter is not over yet. Iniedu said the former governor has been asked to return to the Force Headquarters on Tuesday for more questioning, as investigations continue. The arrest reportedly came after Okorocha failed to respond to earlier police invitations. He was first expected at the Force Headquarters on September 2. At his lawyers’ request, that appointment was moved to September 8, but he reportedly did not show up. The allegations against Okorocha ha...

E ntrepreneur and sister to Afrobeats superstar Davido, Sharon Ademefun (nee Adeleke), has said she no longer believes in spending heavily on fashion. Sharon made this known during an interview on The Fashion Roundtable, where she spoke openly about her lifestyle and how her priorities around money and clothing have changed over time. According to her, she has gotten to a point where there are certain prices she is no longer willing to pay for clothes. She expressed shock over the high cost of fashion in recent times, noting that many designers now charge for a regular party dress almost the same amount that should be for a wedding gown. To explain her stance, she recalled her own wedding experience. She said her husband spent $2,000 on her wedding dress, while she paid for the outfits of 13 bridesmaids and her event hostesses. Despite the number of people involved, she said the total cost for all the dresses was still less than $10,000. She noted that her decision came from a personal...

File photo: IMF and World Bank warn AI could affect 40% of global jobs. T he World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, IMF, have warned that Artificial Intelligence, AI, could lead to more job losses in Nigeria and other developing countries if nothing is done quickly. The two bodies gave the warning in Bangkok, Thailand, during their yearly meeting at a programme called Small AI: More and Better Jobs, according to Vanguard Newspaper . IMF boss, Kristalina Georgieva, described AI as a slow-moving tsunami. She said about 40 percent of jobs in the world may be affected by AI. Some jobs will improve, some will reduce, and some may disappear. She said every country will feel it differently and workers need new skills to adjust. World Bank President, Ajay Banga, said the Bank's main focus now is jobs. He said AI should be used to help workers do better and create more jobs, not to sack them. He said poor countries need simple and cheap AI that can work with local languages and ava...

T he National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) is in mourning after the death of Etimbuk Daniel, the immediate past Students' Union Government (SUG) President of Akwa Ibom State University (AKSU). He died at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation camp in Enugu State. NANS President, Comrade Akinteye Babatunde Afeez, said the news came as a rude shock. What exactly happened is still unclear, but accounts reaching the student body describe a painful sequence of events. Daniel reportedly complained of a headache and was given some medication. Instead of getting better, his condition is said to have grown worse after he took the drugs. He then asked to be taken to the hospital. According to the claims, the approval needed to move him came too late, and he died before he could get medical attention. The association also said it was later told that a doctor identified the drugs given to him as fake. Afeez described the claims as deeply troubling and called for a thoro...

O yo State Governor and Alliance People's Movement presidential aspirant, Seyi Makinde, has asked President Bola Tinubu to make public the template used in determining petrol prices. Makinde said transparency would help Nigerians understand how pump prices are fixed and contribute to policy discussions, according to News Digest . He made the demand on Saturday in Yola at the APM North-East town hall meeting ahead of the 2027 elections. His comment comes as NNPC Limited extended its petrol discount from October 1 to October 31 across its retail outlets. The company said the move was to ease the impact of high global crude prices linked to the Middle East crisis, but clarified it was not a return of subsidy and does not apply outside its stations. At the meeting, Makinde faulted the Tinubu administration's handling of the economy, CNG initiative, naira-for-crude policy and insecurity, calling for more inclusive governance. He promised that if elected in 2027, he would form a tran...

P ope Leo XIV will undergo surgery in the coming days after doctors found an early-stage nodule on his lung during a routine check-up. The 71-year-old made the announcement himself on Sunday during his Angelus prayer in St Peter's Square, according to BBC News, saying his medical team advised surgery because the nodule is small, well-localised and was caught early. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the procedure will take place at Rome's Gemelli Hospital in the first days of next week, with about a week of recovery expected. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Israeli President Isaac Herzog have all wished him a speedy recovery. The first American pontiff, born Robert Francis Provost, succeeded Pope Francis in 2025. The Vatican confirmed his November visit to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru will still go ahead.

P ope Leo XIV has reaffirmed the Catholic Church's opposition to the death penalty, hours after the Vatican described a US plan to livestream an execution as "unacceptable." In a post on X on Saturday to mark the World Day Against the Death Penalty, the pontiff wrote from his @Pontifex account: "The death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person." His message came two days after the US Defense Department said it would broadcast live the execution of Nidal Hasan by firing squad at Fort Hood on December 3. Hasan was convicted of the 2009 shooting at the base that killed 13 people and wounded 32. President Donald Trump said Saturday he will make the final decision on the broadcast. Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin told Vatican News: "It is certainly unacceptable to turn death into a spectacle, even if the person is guilty." He said the practice is incompatible with human dignity and ...

T he 18th Headies Awards has been rescheduled. The new dates are Saturday, April 10, and Sunday, April 11, 2027, in Toronto, Canada. The organisers announced the change on Saturday in a post on the official Instagram page of The Headies. The post carried the words "New Dates Announced" and urged fans to save the date. In the caption, the organisers said the road to the 18th Headies continues. They explained that they are expanding the programme in Nigeria and Canada ahead of the Toronto finale. No reason was given for moving the dates. According to them Headies activities will still go on during the original event period. They did not say what those activities will be, but promised programme details through their official channels. They also addressed guests who had already made plans. "We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience," the caption said, as the organisers thanked supporters for their patience and promised further updates and guest information on the sam...

M eta has blocked TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, from advertising on Facebook and Instagram in the United States and six other countries. A Meta spokesperson confirmed the move on Thursday. Bloomberg News first reported it, according to the New York Post. The ban takes effect immediately in the US, Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand and Vietnam, and also applies to outside advertisers whose campaigns direct users to TikTok or other ByteDance products in those countries. The decision deepens a rivalry that has been building for years. TikTok has grown into one of Meta's strongest competitors, battling for users, top creators and advertising revenue. Defending the move, Meta said it has no obligation to promote a direct rival. "We don't have to run ads from a competitor whose goal is to pull people off our apps," the company said, adding that refusing to sell promotion services to a competitor is common business practice and that it will continue to comp...

Burna Boy (L) to co-host AfroBank FM in GTA 6 alongside Palms Trax. Composite: Burna Boy / Rockstar Games N igerian music star Burna Boy will have his own voice in Grand Theft Auto VI, one of the biggest video games ever made. Rockstar Games, the company behind the game, announced on Thursday that the Grammy winner will be a radio host in the new GTA world. He will lead a station called AfroBank FM alongside German DJ and producer Palms Trax. In the game, they will be known as Burna and Palmsy. The station will bring African music to millions of players around the world. According to Rockstar, it will play everything from classic songs from the last century and rare, undiscovered records to new sounds like amapiano and 3-step. This is not Burna Boy's first time in the GTA universe. His hit song Killin Dem with Zlatan was played on iFruit Radio in GTA V, and his song Gettin' Money featured in the Cayo Perico update for GTA Online. Now he is no longer just a song on the radio, he...

A viation Minister says 25 passengers and seven crew were aboard; search and rescue under way A Nigerian military aircraft travelling from Benin to Lagos crashed on Monday near the Naval Base in Igbokoda, in the Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State, with early information indicating that 32 people were on board. The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, said the aircraft carried 25 passengers and seven crew members, though he described those figures as preliminary. Keyamo disclosed this in a statement on his official X account, saying air traffic controllers alerted him that the aircraft, with tail number NGR 931, vanished from radar at about 9:13 a.m. Controllers made repeated attempts to reach the crew by radio, but none succeeded. Subsequent reports confirmed that the plane had come down close to the Naval Base in Igbokoda. Rescuers have since located the wreckage and are continuing their operation at the scene. "I regret to inform the general publ...

E lon Musk says he will change the name of his artificial intelligence company from SpaceXAI to SpaceXSI, and this is happening just days after President Donald Trump told the federal government to stop using the words "artificial intelligence" and start using "super intelligence" instead. Musk shared the news early Sunday morning in a series of posts on X, according to Forbes. He wrote "No more AI" and said the new label "SI" is "better." When a user asked him if that means the company will now be called SpaceXSI, Musk replied, "Yes, we will make that change." He also said SpaceX is "a super intelligence company." As of Sunday morning, the company's website and social media pages still show the old name SpaceXAI, and Musk has not said when the change will happen. The push for the new name started with President Trump. Last week, Trump signed an executive order that tells all federal departments and agencies to u...

B illionaire and X owner Elon Musk has triggered another round of online debate after describing Instagram as a platform for girls.  Musk made the remark on Thursday, October 2, in a short reply on X . It started when a user named Geiger Capital posted that he had deleted his Instagram account. He called the app an "inherently female app" that offers no real value. Musk responded with a four-word comment: "Instagram is for girls." The reply quickly went viral, drawing thousands of likes, shares and mixed reactions. This is not the first time Musk has made such a comment about the Meta-owned platform. In May this year, during an online conversation about how people present themselves on social media, Musk made a similar statement. He said he was confused when adult men sent him links to their Instagram pages. That comment was widely criticized by users who described it as dismissive. Musk, who bought Twitter in 2022 and rebranded it as X, has often used his account t...

P resident Bola Ahmed Tinubu says his government decided to cure Nigeria's long-standing sickness instead of just managing the pain. The President said this on Wednesday in his Independence Day broadcast to mark Nigeria's 66th anniversary. Tinubu explained that when he took over in 2023, the country's economy was in a very bad shape. He said it was like a patient who finds out he has cancer. According to him, the patient has two choices - to go through painful treatment to get well, or to just take painkillers and let the cancer spread. "For too long, Nigeria's leaders chose morphine while praying for a miracle that never came," the President said. "We chose to excise the cancer." He said the reforms that followed were hard and Nigerians felt the side effects, but they were necessary to save the economy from total collapse. Three years later, Tinubu said the signs of recovery are now clear. He said the economy has grown by over 4 percent this year, o...