General
Nigerian Government Launches Committee to Slash Food Cost by 50%
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian government has inaugurated a special inter-ministerial committee on research and innovation to ensure food security in Nigeria and slash the cost of food by 50 per cent.
The team was also charged on energy security and curtailing the nation’s dependence on import.
The Vice President, Mr Kashim Shettima, inaugurated the panel at the State House Abuja with a charge to them to work towards cutting down Nigeria’s import bills by 50 per cent.
He said the group is part of ongoing efforts by the administration of President Bola Tinubu to pool intellectual and financial capital to “create the cockpit from which Nigeria’s innovation economy will be piloted.”
“We are here to breathe life not into this Committee, but into a bold mission: to build Nigeria into an innovation-driven, trillion-dollar economy within a decade. The future we desire is not something we inherit. It is something we build,” he declared.
On its terms of reference, Mr Shettima said it is to coordinate action in five strategic sectors with the power to transform society.
He listed the committee to include “Agriculture and Climate Resilience, where research innovation must feed our people and protect our planet; Manufacturing Excellence, where we break our dependency on imports and build proudly Nigerian supply chains; Healthcare Innovation, where we shift from importing medicines to exporting medical breakthroughs; Natural Resource Optimisation, where we stop selling raw materials and start exporting ingenuity; and Energy Security, where we power our economy and secure our future.”
The Vice President explained that a major target for setting up the panel was to reduce Nigeria’s food import bill by 50 per cent, maintaining that “in each of these areas, we will pursue missions, not just metrics.
“We will not be content with data for dashboards—we want deliverables that change lives. What will it take to reduce our food import bill by 50 per cent? How do we triple local pharmaceutical production? Let us align policy, research, and investment to answer these questions and achieve measurable, meaningful outcomes,” he added.
Mr Shettima disclosed that the team is a prelude to a Presidential Plenary on Innovation approved by President Tinubu, saying the high-level plenary, which will be held annually, will be presided over by the President himself.
“This committee is only the beginning. President Tinubu has approved a Presidential Plenary on Innovation—an annual high-level forum that will bring together academia, research institutes, industry, civil society, and the Nigerian people to align our national innovation priorities.
“This plenary will be addressed by Mr President himself, because innovation is a presidential area of priority. It is central to his vision for a new Nigeria,” the VP explained in a statement.
Present at the inauguration were the ministers of Innovation, Science, and Technology, Mr Uche Nnaji, Agriculture and Food Security, Mr Abubakar Kyari; Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Mr Bosun Tijani; Mr Balarabe Lawal; Mr Idi Mukhtar and representatives of the Ministers of Education, Budget and Economic Planning, and Foreign Affairs, among other members of the committee.
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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