Author: National Record

GOVERNOR Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers has declared support for President Bola Tinubu’s second-term bid and the Rivers governorship candidate Kingsley Chinda for the upcoming 2027 general elections. Fubara made the declaration during the ground-breaking ceremony of the Riven Medical Industries Project in Port Harcourt, on Wednesday. He said the political differences that had divided stakeholders in the state had been resolved, adding that peace and unity should take precedence over political rivalry. He added that he had aligned with the Rainbow Coalition, a political group led by his predecessor, the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Chief Nyesom Wike, to advance the…

THE NATIONAL Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria (NAPTAN), has expressed concern on the growing trend of graduation ceremonies in nursery, primary and junior secondary schools, describing it as unnecessary and exploitative. Mr Adeolu Ogunbanjo, the Chairman, Board of Trustees of NAPTAN, Mr Adeolu Ogunbanjo, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos. Ogunbanjo declared that the ceremonies had become avenues for some schools, especially private schools, to generate revenue while placing avoidable financial burdens on parents. He said that the practice, which originated in private schools before spreading to public institutions, gives…

THE NIGERIA Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has begun paying insured deposits to customers of the 46 recently failed microfinance banks. The NDIC Managing Director and Chief Executive, Mr Thompson Sunday, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on the sidelines of the International Association of Deposit Insurers Africa Regional Committee meeting. Sunday said the corporation was using the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System and customers’ Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs) for the payments. He said NDIC had traced depositors’ alternative bank accounts and credited them directly without requiring physical visits. He advised depositors without BVNs…

THE AMALGAMATED Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service, Technical and Professional Services Employees (AUPCTRE) has urged the Federal Government to pay the outstanding two-month wage award owed to workers. The National President of AUPCTRE, Benjamin Anthony, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday. Anthony, who is also the National Chairman of the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council (JPSNC), said the union had repeatedly written to the Federal Government over the unpaid wage award. He recalled that the government initially owed workers four months’ wage award, paid one month after the…

PRESIDENT of the African Women Lawyers Association (AWLA), Mrs Amanda Demechi-Asagba, has described bigamy as a ‘serious crime’ under Nigerian Law, enabled by weak enforcement. Demechi-Asagba told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in an interview on Wednesday in Lagos that bigamy was not only confined to matrimonial proceedings, but constituted a criminal offence defined by Nigerian statute. She, however, noted that the offence had gradually become a crime only on paper and a new normal in society, following weakness of enforcement mechanisms. The AWLA president attributed the drawback to a number of factors, chief among which she described as…

BRITAIN’s new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, has announced a nationwide cap of £2 (equivalent to ₦3,673.22 at today’s exchange rate) on single bus fares across England, describing the subsidy measure as part of his government’s drive to reduce the financial burden on millions of households battling the rising cost of living. The subsidy is expected to take effect from January 1, 2027, and will remain in place until the end of the year. Under the new arrangement, the maximum fare for a single bus journey in most parts of England will fall from the current £3 (equivalent to ₦5,509.83) to…

A KADUNA High Court has sentenced a businessman, Gbotemi Adebiyi, to eight years’ imprisonment for obtaining N29 million under false pretence and issuing a dud cheque. Justice Amina Shuaibu handed down the sentence on Wednesday, after Adebiyi pleaded guilty to a two-count charge filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Kaduna Zonal Directorate. In her judgment, Shuaibu held that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt. “It is obvious that the defendant deceived the complainant into parting with the money under false pretence and further attempted to deceive him by issuing a dud cheque,” the judge…

THERE are two estates every human being leaves behind. One is visible; the other is invisible. The visible estate consists of houses, bank accounts, investments, titles and every material possession accumulated over a lifetime. The invisible estate is reputation. While the first is administered by executors, the second is administered by memory. One is shared through probate; the other is preserved in the hearts of men. Curiously, we devote the greater part of our lives to enlarging the visible estate while neglecting the invisible one. We labour for wealth, compete for influence, pursue recognition and sometimes sacrifice integrity on the…

STUDENTS of military operations, including its planning and execution, know that intelligence is the grandfather of most successful operations. But it is a fact that is not immediately obvious to many members of the public and even to some that have spent years in military establishments. The Oriire kidnap victims’ release was already being credited to the military until one of the released victims told the true story: they were released by the kidnappers, and no kinetic action was involved in that release. The kidnappers even told their victims why they were being released: members of the kidnappers’ families had…

BY IDUH ONAH THE INSPIRATION for today’s article began in the church, Christ the King Catholic Church (CKC), Kurudu, Abuja, on Sunday, July 12, 2026, when the Parish Priest, Very Rev. Fr. Thaddeus Chike Dim, in his sermon to celebrate the parish’s Cultural Day, reflected on, among other issues, the trending ‘Olodo Uprising’ amongst the youth on social media. Rather than dismissing it as another fleeting social media fad, Fr. Dim presented it as a manifestation of a generation that, hemmed in by poor governance and diminishing opportunities, was becoming increasingly inventive in expressing its frustrations. It was an observation…