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Reps Subject Service Chiefs to Thorough Screening

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Grill Service Chiefs

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The service chiefs-designates nominated by President Muhammadu Buhari were on Wednesday subjected to a thorough screening by the House of Representatives.

The President had recently announced Major General Lucky Irabor as the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Major General Ibrahim Attahiru as the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Rear Admiral Auwal Zubair Gambo as the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), and Air Vice Marshall (AVM) Isiaka Oladayo Amao as the Chief of Air Staff (CAS).

Last Wednesday, the Speaker of House of Representatives, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, after reading the letter of nomination from Mr Buhari, constituted a Special Committee to grill the military officers.

Today, the panel headed by the Chairman of the House Committee on Defence, Mr Babajimi Benson, with chairmen of the committees on Army, Mr Abdulrazak Namdas; Navy, Mr Yusuf Adamu Gagdi, and Air Force, Mr Shehu Koko, questioned the nominees on ways they intend to address the rising insecurity in the country.

Speaking at the opening of the hearing, Mr Benson said, “I can assure you that the nominees will be grilled on questions covering a wide range of subjects.

“Areas in which they will be questioned include professional skill and experience, Nigeria’s war on terror and insurgency and insecurity in general, funding of the military and strategic security knowledge and vision of the nominees as well as welfare of military personnel.”

He said Nigeria is blessed with brave and gallant soldiers, many of whom have paid the ultimate price in service to the country, noting that, “It is to their memories that we must get it right with our National Security and help secure the peace for which they gave their lives.”

He said from the inception of this 9th House, national security has been discussed more than 200 times at plenary, but that the nation is still grappling with diverse and increasing security challenges, despite some successes recorded by the gallant men and women of the Armed Forces.

“While I appreciate there is no single magic solution, I believe the kind of leadership provided to our Armed Forces is part of the solution mix,” he said, pointing out that because of the sensitivity of security issues, the proper screening session would be held behind closed door to help protect national security and “give the nominees the freedom to respond more adequately, comprehensively and expansively without any fear of an unwitting exposure of sensitive information.”

While commending the President for appointing the CDS and the service chiefs at this time, Mr Benson said, “Over the next days, we will compile our notes, deliberate fully and extensively as a committee and submit our report and recommendations to plenary next week.”

In a remark, the Minister of Defence, Mr Bashir Magashi, thanked the lawmakers for their prompt action to screen the service chiefs.

He said the Armed Forces of Nigeria are fully aware and alert to their constitutional role, noting that “I have no doubt that those nominated by Mr President will make this country proud.”

Giving his vision, the nominee for CDS, Mr Irabor, said he intended to have a leadership focus and philosophy to ensure professional armed forces that meet Nigeria’s security needs.

On his part, the nominee for COAS, Mr Attahiru, said his focus would be to reposition the Nigerian Army to meet its mandate, ensure continuous leadership development among officers and men as well as innovation to meet the demands of the 21st century.

Also, the nominee for CNS, Mr Gambo, said despite his experience, he would need a great deal of the loyalty, cooperation and support of all the officers and men of the Nigerian Navy to succeed, saying he would re-energise the Nigerian Navy to make her meet her needs.

Similarly, the nominee for CAS, Mr Amao, who is a fighter and instructor pilot, said his focus would be to ensure the integrity of the Air Force and to enhance and sustain airmen capabilities, with focus on purposeful training and human capacity development, innovative efforts, a disciplined workforce and boost morale to improve personnel welfare.

Aduragbemi Omiyale is a journalist with Business Post Nigeria, who has passion for news writing. In her leisure time, she loves to read.

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Women Need to Own Their Stories, Collaborate—Ayo Mario-Ese

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UBA Business Series Ayo Mario-Ese

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Celebrated broadcaster with Arise TV, Mrs Ayo Mario-Ese, has charged women to be open to collaboration and not limit themselves.

The charming media personality was one of the panellists at the UBA Business Series themed Introducing Gen W – The Evolved Woman, held at the UBA House in Lagos last Thursday.

At the event moderated by popular actor, Mr Tobi Bakre, the Morning Show anchor on Arise TV expressed worry about females who are usually laidback about speaking up and sharing their achievements, and said that women need to own their stories.

“A lot of women are doing phenomenal work and are sometimes afraid of showcasing what they are doing. As an evolved woman, you have to find out what you are comfortable doing, create your own unique offering, and also be open to collaboration,” she submitted.

Another panellist, Ms Joycee Awosika, described an evolved woman as one who has awareness of who she is.

“That woman does not need to ask to sit at the table; she is creating her own table and adding value. As your company is growing, you must grow too, and always do an audit of where you need to become a better leader,” the energy economist stated.

For a digital entrepreneur, Ms Tomike Adeoye, the question of what a woman is bringing to the table has now become obsolete, as the evolved woman is now bringing their own table.

“She is now more vocal about their struggles, setting the standards, and she is not ready to give up on her dreams,” she declared.

For the founder of Fine-Funky, Ms Olufunke Davies, she remarked that, “Creating unique designs that are affordable remains my driving force and something that has helped me grow as an evolved woman.”

In her remarks, the Group Head for Brand, Marketing and Corporate Communications at UBA, Ms Alero Ladipo, said, “Raising each woman is actually not that hard, because everyone has their community as well as their story; and so as women, we need to take a position so that we can give to others.”

She said the Gen W platform of the lender is dedicated to the evolved woman, adding, “Through expert insights, real stories, and practical resources, the platform connects women who are building brands, creating businesses, growing careers, and leading across industries. They also have access to a plethora of discounted products and loans. The best part: it is open to every woman. No UBA account needed. This is Gen W, for the evolved woman.”

This edition of the UBA Business Series was hosted to mark International Women’s Month.

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Navy Intensifies Crackdown on Oil Theft in Rivers, Calabar

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By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigerian Navy has intensified its crackdown on crude oil theft and illegal bunkering, destroying a reactivated illegal refinery site in Rivers State and intercepting suspected stolen petroleum products in Calabar.

The Director of Naval Information, Captain Abiodun Folorunsho, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, revealing that personnel of the Nigerian Navy Ship SOROH, operating under Operation Delta Sentinel, destroyed a reactivated illegal refinery site at Okolomade Community in Abua-Odual Local Government Area (LGA) of Rivers State.

He said the action followed credible intelligence that a previously dismantled illegal refining site had resumed operations.

According to him, an Anti–Crude Oil Theft (Anti-COT) team deployed to the location discovered that the dismantled refining oven had been reconstructed.

“Further exploitation of the area led to the discovery of additional refining equipment and storage facilities containing about 3,000 litres of product suspected to be illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil (AGO),” he said.

Mr Folorunsho added that the illegal refining infrastructure—including ovens, storage tanks, hoses, connected pipes and newly acquired metal components used for illegal refining—was destroyed in line with operational procedures.

He said personnel of the Nigerian Navy Ship Victory, in another operation, intercepted about 3,950 litres of suspected stolen petroleum products at the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) area in Calabar, Cross River.

He said the interception was based on credible intelligence on suspected siphoning of petroleum products from vessels berthed at the port.

The naval patrol team, according to him, swiftly deployed to the area and traced the illegally siphoned products to a trailer park within the port facility.

“On sighting the naval patrol team, the suspected perpetrators fled the scene, after which the area was cordoned off and the illegally siphoned products secured,” he said.

The official said further inspection led to the recovery of about 3,950 litres of Automotive Gas Oil stored in drums and jerrycans, which had been evacuated to the naval base for further necessary action in line with extant regulations.

He noted that the successes aligned with the directive of the Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Adm. Idi Abbas, to intensify operations against crude oil theft and other maritime crimes across Nigeria’s maritime domain.

The captain reiterated the Navy’s commitment to sustaining the operational tempo of Operation Delta Sentinel through intensified surveillance, patrols and intelligence-driven operations aimed at combating crude oil theft, illegal bunkering and other forms of economic sabotage.

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Mastering SEO: Proven Methods to Grow Your Online Presence

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RiseGrower

Search Engine Optimization isn’t what it used to be.

Gone are the days of stuffing keywords, buying random backlinks, and expecting overnight rankings. Today, SEO is a sophisticated blend of technical precision, content authority, brand positioning, and strategic digital PR.

At RiseGrower.com, we’re launching with one mission:

To help brands grow through ethical, scalable, authority-driven SEO.

This isn’t just another SEO agency. This is the next evolution of ranking strategy.

🌍 SEO in 2026: What Has Changed?

Search engines—especially Google—have become dramatically smarter.

Modern ranking systems analyze:

  • Topical authority
  • Content depth and expertise
  • User engagement signals
  • Link quality (not quantity)
  • Brand credibility
  • Search intent satisfaction

SEO today is no longer about “gaming the algorithm.” It’s about becoming the most trusted answer in your industry.

That’s where RiseGrower comes in.

🚀 What RiseGrower.com Is Built For

We specialize in performance-focused SEO strategies designed to:

  • Increase organic traffic
  • Improve high-intent keyword rankings
  • Strengthen domain authority
  • Build sustainable backlink profiles
  • Turn search visibility into revenue

Our approach combines:

  • Advanced technical SEO audits
  • Strategic content architecture
  • Authority guest posting campaigns
  • White-hat link acquisition
  • On-page optimization
  • Data-driven reporting

We don’t chase vanity metrics. We build growth systems.

🧠 Our Philosophy: Authority Wins

Search engines reward expertise and trust.

That’s why our strategy centers around three pillars:

1️ Topical Authority

We help brands dominate entire keyword clusters—not just single keywords.

2️ Editorial Authority

Through high-quality guest posting on real industry publications, we build contextual backlinks that move rankings safely and effectively.

3️ Technical Excellence

From crawl optimization to structured data, we ensure search engines fully understand and prioritize your content.

🔥 Why Most SEO Strategies Fail

Many businesses struggle with SEO because:

  • They focus only on backlinks without strategy
  • They publish content without search intent research
  • They ignore technical site health
  • They chase short-term wins instead of long-term growth

SEO is not a trick.

It’s a system.

RiseGrower builds systems.

📊 Our Approach Is Data-Driven

Every campaign starts with:

  • Competitive analysis
  • Keyword gap research
  • Link profile audit
  • SERP intent mapping

We analyze what’s ranking—and why.

Then we engineer a strategy that outperforms it.

🏢 Who We Work With

RiseGrower is built for ambitious brands:

  • SaaS companies
  • eCommerce brands
  • Agencies
  • Startups
  • Enterprise businesses
  • Niche industry leaders

If your goal is sustainable organic growth, you’re in the right place.

⚖️ White-Hat SEO Only

We believe in:

  • Real editorial placements
  • Ethical outreach
  • Genuine authority building
  • Search engine compliance

We do not use:

  • Private Blog Networks (PBNs)
  • Spammy link schemes
  • Automated backlink tools
  • Manipulative ranking shortcuts

Long-term growth requires integrity.

📈 The Rise of Performance-Based SEO

The future of SEO isn’t “deliverables.”

It’s measurable outcomes.

At RiseGrower, we align our strategy with:

  • Ranking milestones
  • Traffic growth targets
  • Lead generation goals
  • Revenue impact

Because rankings are only valuable if they drive business growth.

🌟 What Makes RiseGrower Different?

We blend:

  • SEO strategy
  • Digital PR
  • Authority guest posting
  • Content intelligence
  • Conversion-focused thinking

We don’t just improve rankings.

We build market leaders.

🔮 The Future of Search

AI-generated content is flooding the internet. Competition is rising daily.

Search engines will increasingly reward:

  • Authentic expertise
  • Brand mentions
  • Trusted backlinks
  • Valuable long-form content
  • Real-world credibility

The brands that invest in authority now will dominate tomorrow.

RiseGrower was created for that future.

🚀 Launching Soon

RiseGrower.com is preparing to launch with a clear promise:

Growth through strategic SEO authority.

If you’re ready to:

  • Outrank competitors
  • Scale organic traffic
  • Build long-term visibility
  • Turn search into revenue

We’re ready to grow with you.

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