General
World Bank Okays $2.2bn Loan for Six Projects in Nigeria
By Adedapo Adesanya
The World Bank has approved a loan of $2.2 billion for Nigeria for the completion of six development projects across the country.
The global lender said on Wednesday that the approved projects are to support Nigeria’s development priorities with special focus on improving immunisation and also providing an enabling business environment for the private sector, expanding the digital economy to promote job creation, increasing the capacity of public and private sector on governance, social and environmental measures as well rural development.
A statement signed by the Country Director, Mr Shubham Chaudhuri, on Wednesday, added that the projects are focused on delivering better services to Nigerian citizens.
“The projects focus squarely on delivering better services for Nigerians ensuring that children are immunized and sleep under mosquito nets, building better roads especially in rural areas, and providing Nigeria’s poorest citizens with a unique identification that will make social safety nets and services more effective,” he said.
These six projects include: Nigeria Digital Identification for Development Project which will support the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to increase the number of persons who have a national identification number (NIN) to 150 million in the next three years.
Also reserved is the Nigeria Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project, this is meant to upgrade rural roads and improve connectivity and access to local markets and agribusiness services in 13 states.
To strengthen health systems and improve immunization in the country, the World Bank with the Immunization Plus and Malaria Progress by Accelerating Coverage and Transforming (IMPACT) services are set to deliver effective primary health care.
The loan is expected to strengthen the skills of 50,000 Nigerian students and enhance the capacity of technical teachers through the Innovation Development and Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills Project.
Ogun State will also benefit through the Economic Transformation Project that help private sector investment in Ogun State by improving the business environment, strengthening the linkages between agricultural producers, suppliers and service providers.
The final project is the Sustainable Procurement, Environment and Social Standards Enhancement Project which is aimed at strengthening capacity in managing procurement, environmental and social standards in the public and private sectors.
The World Bank also disclosed that these projects have been financed with funds from the French Development Agency, the European Investment Bank, the International Development Association (IDA) and the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The new loan facility will push Nigeria’s total debt up even as the World Bank itself has expressed worries as its outstanding loans to Nigeria stood at $8.3 billion and with this new tranche, it will above $10 billion.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The United States government gave some terrorists in Nigeria a Christmas gift that sent many of them to the great beyond.
On Thursday, December 25, 2025, the United States President, Mr Donald Trump, directed his country’s military to launch air strikes on camps of members of the dreaded Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Sokoto State.
According to Mr Trump, the military action, which he threatened to carry out a few weeks ago if the Nigerian government does not stop the killing of Christians in the country, occurred on Thursday night.
“Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!
“I have previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was.
“The Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing.
“Under my leadership, our country will not allow radical islamic terrorism to prosper. May God bless our military, and Merry Christmas to all, including the dead terrorists, of which there will be many more if their slaughter of Christians continues,” Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
In a video on X, formerly known as Twitter, the Department of War of the United States posted the below video of the air strikes;
https://twitter.com/DeptofWar/status/2004351717131903272
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The presidency has reacted to speculations that Mr Femi Gbajabiamila has been removed as the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu.
It was alleged that Mr Gbajabiamila has been replaced with the President’s Principal Private Secretary, Mr Hakeem Muri-Okunola.
Mr Muri-Okunola went to Abuja to take up this role after leaving as the Head of Service of the Lagos State Civil Service.
Reacting to the reports on social media on the purported removal of Mr Gbajabiamila, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, the presidency said no such change has been made.
In a statement signed on Thursday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, members of the public were advised to disregard the report as “there is absolutely no truth to this story.”
“The Chief of Staff remains in his position. The Principal Private Secretary likewise remains in his role. Hakeem Muri-Okunola has not replaced Femi Gbajabiamila as Chief of Staff.
“The viral claim is a fabrication by mischievous purveyors of fake news whose sole aim is to create disharmony within the government.
“We reiterate that news media should always verify their information before publishing or sharing on social media,” the statement said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The new chief executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Mrs Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, has assumed office with a clear message to advance the country’s upstream oil and gas sector in line with the mandate of the commission as enshrined in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
According to a statement signed by Mr Eniola Akinkuotu, the Head of Media & Strategic Communications at the upstream regulator, the NUPRC boss made this assertation during her first town hall meeting with management and staff on Tuesday December 23, 2025.
She further disclosed plans to make the commission a business enabler and re-ignite investments in the upstream sector.
Recall that President Tinubu nominated Mrs Eyesan to take over the NUPRC after the abrupt resignation of her predecessor, Mr Gbenga Komolafe as well as his counterpart in the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Mr Farouk Ahmed.
In her new capacity, Mrs Eyesan also set a firm production ambition of growing Nigeria’s output and increasing gas production.
“The goal is that we must enable the industry, we are regulators. We must enable the industry from our interactions with the stakeholders, from our interactions with everybody.
“My main objective is to ensure that we make a difference. I believe the NUPRC is at the Center of the industry,” she said.
The commission boss who has served for over three decades in the oil and gas sector, promised to entrench digitisation, transparency and efficiency in operations.
The NUPRC head said with the support of staff and management, the NUPRC will become the gold-standard regulator in Africa. She also promised capacity development, stronger technical depth and sustained engagement with stakeholders, unions and professional teams.
On leadership style, Mrs Eyesan promised an open-door policy and frequent staff engagement, while also soliciting for support and cooperation as the industry embarks on the next phase of transformation.
“If we work together we can unleash opportunities, I don’t see impediments only opportunities,” she added.
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