Author: Platform Times Newspaper

Former Chief of Defence Staff, General Martin Luther Agwai (retd.), has said that Africa’s worsening security challenges can only be effectively addressed through trust-building, knowledge sharing, and regionally tailored solutions. Agwai, who is Vice President of the Board of the International Institute for African Defence, Security and Governance (IIADSGOV), stated this while addressing the Association of African Defence Attachés in Washington, United States. The retired army chief stressed that Africa’s security architecture must move beyond reliance on external actors and instead focus on indigenous leadership and collaboration. “True leadership in defence is rooted not just in capacity and strength but…

Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, has dismissed insinuations that he is politically mentored by his predecessor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, insisting that his true political inspirations remain President Bola Tinubu and the late legal luminary, Chief Gani Fawehinmi. Speaking on TVC’s Politics on Sunday, Sani said suggestions that El-Rufai serves as his guiding political light were unfounded, stressing that he is more concerned with governance than personality debates. “I don’t think it is necessary to respond to that comment,” the governor said. “What I can say is that there are a lot of people in my life. Even President Bola…

The Federal Government has borrowed a total of N2.769 trillion from the domestic bond market between January and August 2025, further underlining its reliance on debt to finance its operations. Data from the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) show that government bond listings dominated new issuances within the period, accounting for 86.5 per cent of total market activity valued at N3.201 trillion. By contrast, corporate listings were significantly lower, with Dangote Cement Plc raising N38.2 billion and TSL SPV Plc listing N5 billion, bringing total corporate bond issuance to just N43.2 billion. Analysts say the huge gap highlights how businesses remain…

… 5.8 Million YouTube Views Linked To Pro-Kremlin Campaigns …Experts Call For Urgent Cybersecurity Awareness,Regulation Nigeria may be sliding into the frontline of global digital disinformation, as new findings reveal that foreign actors are increasingly outsourcing propaganda operations to local digital workers. A recent investigation by memeticwarfare.io uncovered a pro-Russian YouTube network allegedly operated by Nigerians.The five identified channels—@Peace-Crusader, @conflictcompas, @GloryinCombat, @DaddyMaxwell77, and @freshinfoinsight—had amassed over 37,400 subscribers and 5.8 million views as of August 30, 2025. The report shows that the channels amplify Kremlin-backed narratives, recycling content from American commentators Scott Ritter and Douglas Macgregor, both familiar faces on…

Troops of the 6 Brigade of the Nigerian Army have uncovered a cache of dangerous weapons and other military-grade equipment during a cordon-and-search operation in Ikyaior village, a border community between Benue and Taraba States. The operation, carried out on Saturday, September 6, followed credible intelligence alleging that one Terhemen Nzagha, popularly known as “Full Fire,” was harbouring armed criminals in Sabon-Gida Leke, a settlement within the community in Wukari Local Government Area of Taraba State. In a statement issued on Sunday by Umar Muhammad, Acting Assistant Director of Army Public Relations for the 6 Brigade, the troops stormed the…

The Nigerian Army has announced fresh breakthroughs in its nationwide operations against terrorists and criminal gangs, arresting a notorious female logistics supplier allegedly linked to Zamfara bandit kingpin, Ado Aliero. The arrest, carried out between September 4 and 6, 2025, came as troops intensified clearance operations across Zamfara, Borno, Adamawa, Plateau, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), recovering arms, petroleum products, and a stolen vehicle in the process. According to an operational report, troops of 1 Brigade, in collaboration with operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), apprehended the female suspect at Kucheri, Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara…

The United States government has deported at least 2,330 Nigerians between 2014 and early 2025, with an additional 3,690 others currently facing removal orders, according to official data from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). A review of ICE’s annual statistical reports reveals that Nigeria accounts for the highest number of deportations from Africa, surpassing Somalia (1,539), Ghana (1,380), and Senegal (1,122) within the same period. Between 2014 and 2024 alone, 2,310 Nigerians were deported, while another 20 were removed in the first quarter of 2025. The yearly breakdown shows wide fluctuations in removals: 261 in 2014, 224 in…

The leadership of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has dissociated itself from a strike action declared by its Western Zone against the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s fuel distribution model, describing the move as unauthorized and misleading. The Western Zone, led by Chairman, Basorun Joseph Akanni, and Acting Secretary, Adeleke Adeoye, had in a statement accused the Dangote Refinery of violating the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) by deploying its own trucks for fuel distribution. The zone had also directed marketers in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, Osun and Ekiti states to begin an indefinite strike on Monday. But in a…

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has warned that the recently approved ₦70,000 national minimum wage has already been eroded by inflation and soaring living costs, insisting that Nigerian workers can no longer survive on it. The demand comes barely a year after President Bola Tinubu signed the new wage law in July 2024, which raised the statutory base pay from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000 for workers across the federal, state, and private sectors. But according to the NLC, the relentless increase in food prices, transportation costs, rent, and electricity tariffs has rendered the new wage “grossly inadequate.” Speaking in an interview…

Olagoke Adams, Muraina Lateef, Adesanya Adeola  & Adeyemi Hakeem  Just a stone’s throw behind Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY) in Abeokuta, Ogun State, lies a community that has been left behind by time and policy. Agbadu Village, home to generations of Ijemo Agbadu people, stands today as a portrait of neglect — a settlement stripped of basic amenities, facing the dual threats of institutional expansion and encroaching herders. For decades, the villagers survived on cassava farming, cultivating the same lands their forefathers tilled. But now, their existence is under siege. On one side, MAPOLY’s expansion threatens to bulldoze homes and farmlands;…