General
Bauchi to Train 2,000 Youth in Agriculture
By Ahmed Rahma
Over 2,000 youth in Bauchi State would be trained in agriculture by the state government as part of efforts to empower them.
Governor of the state, Mr Bala Mohammed, made this disclosure when he received the executives of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
According to Mr Mohammed, the beneficiaries would be chosen from all the local government areas of the northern state of the federation.
He assured that more would be picked because his administration was determined to ensure that residents of the state are financially independent.
“Right now, we are doing a programme where we are selecting about 2,000 youths to go for agricultural training and they are selected across the 20 local governments with equity
“The second batch has finished a course in Abuja and they will be going in succession. We intend to spend a lot of money and to make them look inward to explore their potentials,” he said
The Governor also informed his visitors that the state government was also making efforts to make the senior citizens of the state to be happy.
According to him, this is being done through the prompt payment of their pensions despite the challenges his administration was facing at the moment.
The Governor noted that his administration inherited about N27 billion retirement arrears but stressed that the pensioners now receive their payments regularly.
He explained that this has been achieved by blocking loopholes in the civil service by plunging the menace of ghost workers.
Mr Mohammed assured that this would be sustained to be able to meet the obligations of the government.
“Unless we are able to free resources, we won’t be able to employ people.
“We have a prevalence of ghost workers and we are working very hard to make sure we free resources in our personnel emolument within the nominal rolls that have been bastardised.
“Even though we got Paris club funds, we got bailout money, we were not able to settle all that.
“However, pensioners are getting their money as and when due and in fact, even their retirement benefits, we inherited N27 billion retirement arrears from the previous administrations,” he said.
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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