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The authorities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have announced sightings of the Dhul Hijjah crescent, which means, pilgrimage will start on June 4, while the day of Arafah will fall on June 5.Arab News said the announcement was made by the Supreme Court on Tuesday, adding that Muslims who are not performing the pilgrimage this year will celebrate Eid Al-Adha on June 6. The Supreme Court urged Muslims across the Kingdom to look out for the crescent moon on Tuesday — Dhu Al-Qa’dah 29 — and report any sightings as soon as possible to their nearest court.SPONSOR AD The…

A special offences court in Ikeja, Lagos state, has convicted and sentenced Mamman Ali, son of Ahmadu Ali, former chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to 14 years imprisonment over N2.2 billion oil subsidy fraud.Christian Taylor, an oil marketer, was sentenced alongside Ali to 14 years imprisonment. Mamman and Taylor were initially arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a 49-count charge, which included conspiracy to obtain money by false pretences, obtaining money by false pretences, forgery, and the use of false documents — offences that contravene the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act…

The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) has rescued nine persons from the rubble of a collapsed two-storey building in the state.The incident occurred at about 3pm on Tuesday at Otta-Ona junction, near the Mobile Filling Station bus stop, in Ikorodu. LASEMA’s Permanent Secretary, Dr Olufemi Damilola Oke-Osanyintolu, confirmed the incident, stating that the agency received a distress call at 2:02pm on Tuesday.SPONSOR AD He said upon arriving at the scene around 2:40pm, officials discovered that a two-storey building under construction had collapsed, trapping three individuals beneath the debris.While the cause of the collapse remains unknown, nine adult males were…

I’ve been reading the news about the creation of a new federal university in Oyo State, recently signed into law by the president. Unsurprisingly, supporters of the administration have celebrated it as evidence of progress and commitment to education. However, nothing could be more illogical.Creating new universities when existing ones are grossly underfunded is reckless and irrational. It is counterproductive and continues to undermine the country’s educational system. Like his predecessors, President Tinubu has trivialised university education by thoughtlessly creating new institutions or upgrading polytechnics and colleges of education into universities. This does not reflect thoughtful planning; it reflects political…

The economic reforms embarked on by President Tinubu’s administration have demonstrated the attributes of such exercises. By their nature, economic reforms are not shotgun exercises. They are not short-distance sprints that gifted sprinters complete in minutes. This explains why the full results take time to manifest. However, the critical issues in these exercises demand that their objectives and framework for their achievement be spelt out.Economic reforms have become a permanent feature of modern-day economies. Without them, countries would continue in the old-fashioned ways of doing things, with little or no improvements in results or outputs. Tinubu entered the office with…

Two ghosts have haunted Nigeria over the past two years. The first is economic hardship, worsened by poor policy. The second is a crisis of governance, one that shakes public confidence and casts doubt on the legitimacy of the administration. But instead of reflecting on the affliction, they feel that adopting a one-party system will cast out these ghosts.In just two years, the Tinubu administration has dug Nigeria exponentially deeper into the hole of decline. It is as though we are watching a young woman breathe her last—each gasp slower than the last, family watching helplessly, clinging to memories of…

There is nothing as frustrating as someone looking for something he doesn’t know, though he might even find it, but will not recognise it, because while the chase continues, the pearl could be in perpetual flight.There seems to be a storm in the renewed cry for Biafra, a demand that, though draped in the language of freedom, has plunged the South East region not into liberation, but into chaos. The South East is home to the Igbo people, a region with a proud history. It is the land of merchants and scholars, of craftsmen and innovators. Her sons and daughters…

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which celebrates its 50th anniversary today, came into being on May 28, 1975, when 15 heads of state of the sub-region signed the ECOWAS treaty in Lagos, Nigeria, with a broad objective of achieving regional economic and political integration among the respective states.The driving force behind the establishment of the regional body were Nigeria’s Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon and the President of Togo, General Gnassingbe Eyadema, who together worked tirelessly to sell the idea and eventually convince the other Heads of State of the sub-region to sign off on the…

In this interview on Trust TV’s 30 Minutes programme, Comrade Salihu Lukman — former National Vice Chairman (North) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and now a key figure in the emerging coalition opposing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 2027 re-election — offers his assessment of the recent wave of endorsements for Tinubu and APC governors, and sheds light on the coalition’s strategy ahead of the next general election.  What do you make of what is happening in your former party? We’ve seen members recently lining up behind the president and, in many states, pushing for automatic tickets for sitting…

By Itodo Daniel Sule & Saawua Terzungwe & Philip Shimnom Clement  Nigeria’s public debt profile will rise to N162.025 trillion as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has sought the National Assembly’s approval for fresh loans’.SPONSOR AD The president requested the legislature to approve new borrowing plans totaling $21.5 billion, along with €2.19 billion, 15 billion Japanese yen and a €65 million grant, as part of the federal government’s 2025–2026 borrowing framework.Using the current official exchange rate as of May 27, 2025 at N650 to $1; the proposed borrowings of $21 billion (N13.65 trillion), €2.19 billion (N4 trillion), 15 billion Japanese Yen…