General
Experts Proffer Solution to Nigeria’s Woes at Integrity Reporters Lecture
By Dipo Olowookere
It is no doubt that Nigeria is presently going through one of its toughest times in recent history and the political leaders seem to be lost, not knowing what step to take to steer the ship of the nation in the right direction.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) led government, which promised Nigerians change, since coming into power in the past three year, has been blaming the past government of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the woes of the country.
But at the second annual public lecture of Integrity Reporters themed ‘The Three Storms in the Horizon: Politics, Religious and Economy, Will Democracy Survive?’ speakers dissected the problems facing Nigeria, proffering solutions them.
Lead Speaker, Col. Anthony Nyiam (Rtd), disclosed that players in the political arena in the country today are just tacticians who are not holding public office to serve the people.
According to him, his vision for the Nigerian society is to see restoration of principle of justice, liberty, equity, compassion, good conscience, good governance and strong electoral system where the votes of the people count.
On his part, Chairman of the occasion, Chief Tunde Fanimokun, said that if Nigerian democracy must survive, 10 conditions must be fulfilled.
These conditions, according to him, are good leadership, good followership, empowerment, enlightenment, demography, sustainability, anticipated corruption crusade, authentic voting model, restructuring and revolution.
He called on the Federal Government to give Lagos the much talked about Special Status, claiming the state was being deprived of the recognition unjustly.
To Gabriel Akinadewo, another speaker at the lecture, when the attitude of the leaders is wrong, the attitude of the followers will also be wrong. He said age has nothing to do with holding public offices in Nigeria, but sincerity of the politicians to the people matters most.
He berated politicians for talking too much to impress, but fail to deliver in their promises to the people.
Former Special Adviser on Media to the late President Musa Yar’Adua Mr Boaji Adebiyi, said Nigerians should hold their leaders responsible and accountable. He believed that the best approach to restructuring is giving more responsibilities and more resources to local governments across the country, adding that more attention should be paid to local authorities than it is being done now.
For Jumoke Owoola, the problems facing Nigeria are cultural in nature. She noted that Nigerians have lost touch with their rich cultural values irrespective of their ethnic and religious backgrounds. To her, modernisation has robbed Nigerians of their cultural values.
In all, the speakers were unanimous in saying that the myriad of problems confronting the nation are man-made and efforts must be made to holistically confront these woes to solve them.
At the event, Chief Fanimokun was honoured with an Integrity Award by the management of Integrity Reporters.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Federal Ministry of Youth Development has expressed its readiness to support 150,000 young Nigerians with N110 billion.
The Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mr Lanre Issa-Onilu, disclosed this on Thursday in Kano at the launch of the five nationwide enlightenment campaigns on government policies, national values and identities, security awareness and disaster preparedness.
He said over 600,000 students have so far benefited from the N59 million disbursed under the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) scheme.
The director general, who was represented by Mr Williams Dogo, Director, Legal Services of the agency, said that NELFUND was available to all qualified Nigerians in public tertiary institutions, noting that the sensitisation programme, with the theme Nationwide Sensitisation on Five Thematic Areas, was designed to deepen citizens’ knowledge of government initiatives.
The NOA boss explained that the campaign would highlight the presidential directive on flood mitigation, which provided for the release of N3 billion to each state in 2024 for drainage clearance and relocation of vulnerable communities.
He said that 700 schools had been renovated nationwide as an intervention to improve learning facilities in rural areas, stating that more than 15,000 new security personnel had been deployed nationwide to address diverse security challenges.
“It is our intention to carry out security awareness campaigns reaching no fewer than three million Nigerians in each state through media engagements, advocacy visits to traditional and religious leaders, rallies at markets and motor parks, as well as town hall meetings,” he said.
On national values, he said that reorientation campaign would focus on patriotism, unity and campaigns against extreme graduation practices that contradict cultural norms, adding that the campaign would also familiarise Nigerians with the current national anthem, which was changed by President Bola Tinubu.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Nigerians will have to cough out more money to obtain their international passports because the Nigeria Immigration Service has increased the fees.
In a statement signed on Thursday by the Public Relations Officer of the agency, ACI AS Akinlabi, it was disclosed that the new fees would take effect from Monday, September 1, 2025.
It was disclosed that the 32-page passport with a validity of five years will now to for N100,000 and the 64-page 10-year passport is now N200,000.
The immigration explained that the upward review of the prices was “to uphold the quality and integrity of the Nigerian passport.”
“The review which only affect passport application fees made in Nigeria,” it stressed, adding that, “Nigerian passport application fees made by Nigerians in the Diaspora remain unchanged at $150 for 32-page with 5-year validity and $230 for 64-page with 10-year validity.”
“The service reiterates its commitment to balancing quality service delivery with the need to ensure Passport services are accessible to all Nigerians,” the statement concluded.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
President Bola Tinubu on Thursday returned to Nigeria after travelling to Japan and Brazil for official functions.
He landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja in the early hours of today almost two weeks after he left the country through same route.
He was received by senior government officials, including the Minister of the FCT, Mr Nyesom Wike; the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mr Nuhu Ribadu; the Governor of Kaduna State, Mr Uba Sani; the Governor of Imo State, Mr Hope Uzodinma; and the Deputy Senate President, Mr Barau Jibrin; among others.
Before heading to Japan for the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9) in Yokohama from August 20 to 22, the President, according to a statement by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, he had a stopover in Dubai.
Mr Tinubu precisely travelled out of Nigeria on Thursday, August 14, 2024, for the two-nation trip to Japan and Brazil.
After leaving Japan, he zoomed to Brazil to woo investors and held talks with the Brazilian leader, Mr Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
He was able to convince the country’s petroleum firm, Petrobras, to return to Nigeria after it left a few years ago. He also helped to enable a direct flight from Brazil to Nigeria.
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