The Kunle Blog.

The Russian Government has again taken a position regarding the political situation in Niger Republic wherein a military junta overthrew the government of President Mohamed Bazoum. The Russian government's position has always been that dialogue should be favoured by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the junta that ousted Bazoum early last month. But ECOWAS had imposed economic sanctions against the country while putting its regional army on standby for possible military action. The position of ECOWAS currently chaired by President Bola Tinubu is heavily supported by the United States government whose Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, recently commended the Nigerian government over its leadership of ECOWAS. But Russian president Vladimir Putin again warned against military intervention in Niger Republic during a phone call with Mali military junta's leader and Head of state, Colonel Assimi Goita. Goita, in a tweet on Tuesday, said Putin insisted on a

The Russian President, Vladmir Putin, has vowed to support any country that's determined to defend its national interest against the Western nations. Putin said Moscow would collaborate with any country in the area of technology. He stressed that Russia is determined to actively work on existing cooperative ties and also to create new relations based on its many years of successful experience in mutually beneficial partnerships In a cable message to the participants of the Army 2023 forum, Putin said: "Russia is open to deepening equal technological partnership and defence cooperation with other countries, i.e with all those who seek to protect their national interests and independent development path, and believe it is vital to make joint efforts to building a system of equality and indivisible security that would reliably protect every country." Putin's remark is coming when the military overthrew a democratically elected government in Niger Republic. There are repo

A group, the Concerned Citizens and some notable organisations yesterday kicked against the planned deployment of troops to restore civil authority in Niger. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has ordered the Committee of the Chiefs of Defence Staff to immediately activate its standby force with all its elements. The decision came a few days after the Nigerian Senate reached a resolution rejecting the President Bola Tinubu- led ECOWAS to deploy troops to Nigeria, saying there was the need to explore a political solution to the crisis. However, hours after the declaration by ECOWAS, Niger's military junta said they would kill deposed President Mohamed Bazoum if neighbouring countries attempt any military intervention to restore his rule. Daily Mail quoted two Western officials as disclosing this to a top U.S. diplomat. According to the medium, a Western military official said representatives of the junta told US Under Secretary of State, Victoria Nuland, of the t

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has ordered the chief of defense staff committee to immediately activate its standby force. President of ECOWAS, Omar Alieu Touray, gave the order while reading the resolution taken at the Extraordinary meeting on the Niger coup in Abuja on Thursday. Daily Trust had reported how the leaders converged on Abuja to discuss its next line of action after the seven day ultimatum for the reinstatement of President Mohamed Bazoum elapsed without compliance from the junta. At its meeting, the regional bloc said all efforts to dialogue with Niger junta have been rejected by coup leaders. The ECOWAS leaders also condemned the continuous detention of President Mohamed Bazoum and his family members. "The Authority having considered the memorandum presented by the President of the ECOWAS commission on the current situation in the Republic of Niger, as well as ECOWAS engagement since the last extraordinary summit; and having considered the r

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky have welcomed given birth to another baby girl. Multi-award-winning singer and philanthropist Rihanna has given birth to her second child with Fashion Killa hitmaker A$AP Rocky. Rihanna gives birth to a girl A famous online gossip column @PopTingz took to its timeline that the Media TakeOut allegedly reported that the couple gave birth on 9 August. It's also said that sources close to the family said both mother and child are healthy and bonding in their Los Angeles mansion. What is more, the little one looks identical to her mother. Here is the post below: Social media reacts to Rihanna's new baby. Her fans flooded social media with congratulatory messages: @SweetestMilla said: "Luckiest girl in the world!" @bagelluvr45 had one wish: "I wish people would respect her privacy." @XuKaifangirl blessed the little one: "Welcome to the world mini Rih u gonna be powerful as your mommy. God bless you" @betty_turks commented: "I

Osama bin Laden, in his final hiding place, penned a letter in which he expressed concern over internal fighting within his terrorist network and a drop in interest among Muslims whom he wanted to incite to rebellion against their authorities and the West. Osama bin Laden's Last words Is Dark and Scary. On Thursday, U.S. authorities put on the web documents recovered from bin Laden's compound in Pakistan during last year's raid. The Army's nerve center for fighting terrorism. These records hint at difficult times in the past for al Qaeda and its reclusive leader, bin Laden, following years of bombings by the United States and what bin Laden regarded to be inefficiencies inside his own business and his terrorist allie Osama bin Laden's Last words Is Dark and Scary Osama bin Laden's Last words Is Dark and Scary By 2010, Bin Laden had declared that he would "make a pronouncement declaring we are getting into a new section to treatment (the flaws) we did."

“I keep receiving toxic calls and messages regarding my meeting with the president yesterday, and from those I hold in very high esteem. Honestly, I am shocked at the contents of the messages and the tone of the callers. Has Nigeria sunk this low? A visit I made for the good of our dear nation is what they are using to threaten my life and family! You don’t recognize someone as your president yet begging him to save you from the hands of killers in your region. I am bringing investors to Nigeria using the president’s commendable policies as bait. Is that too difficult to understand?  President Tinubu’s reforms might be harsh now but they would birth a new and prosperous nation. I have lost count of presidents, respected Institutions, and investors that have called to congratulate me on Nigeria eventually having a focused leader since the reforms were rolled out.  At least, six multi-national manufacturing giants are coming with me by December later this year to see how their firms can

Twitter owner, Elon Musk, has said that the microblogging platform will soon be paying users for ads appearing when other people view their profiles in what comes as an extension of Twitter's monetization program. This offer is, however, exclusively for verified users, according to Musk. For creators on Twitter who are already getting paid for impressions on their content, the Twitter boss said the new monetization program would make it a double payout. In what appears to be an attempt to woo more users to pay for the blue tick, Musk said several accounts on Twitter could earn thousands of dollars if they become verified. Announcing the new monetization plan via a tweet, Musk said: "You'll soon also be paid for ads appearing when others view your profile page, approximately doubling payouts. "Many accounts on this platform can earn thousands of dollars per month in advertising revenue sharing if they become verified subscribers!" Twitter last week commenced its p

President  Bola Ahmed Tinubu  has reassured his administration will focus on providing adequate security for Nigerians in every part of the country. The president stated this while speaking at the graduation of Course 45 of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, Kaduna State. Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor, pledged more support for the military as he commended them for protecting the territorial integrity of the nation. The president, who also congratulated the graduating officers, described the military officers serving Nigeria as the best group of people out of the over 200 million citizens of the country. Two hundred and ninety-one participants graduated and were conferred with the Passed Staff Course (PSC) honor.

Ahmed Ololade, known by his stage name Asake, recently opened up about a not-so-pleasant encounter during a performance. In an interview with the Ginger Yourself podcast, the singer narrated how he attempted to gain attention and popularity by emulating the late Fela Kuti's style. Asake decided to wear only pants, reminiscent of Fela's iconic look, and performed alongside scantily-clad ladies on stage. His intention was to capture the audience's attention, but the action ended up backfiring terribly. Recalling the unfortunate incident, Asake shared, "I packed like six girls on stage and asked them to be half-naked. You know, one thing about Nigerians is that once people are naked, they just forget about all the things that are happening and just focus. But these people at the concert were stubborn." As he made his grand entrance, expecting a positive reception, the audience's reaction caught him by surprise. He explained, "I just walked in majestically as

The National Public Relations Officer of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Yakubu Suleiman, has said that even with the sudden hike in the pump price of petrol in Nigeria, the country still has the cheapest price of the product among other African countries. He stated this during a chat with ARISE TV concerning the recent hike in the price of Premium Motor Spirit, otherwise known as petrol. Suleiman also blamed the sudden hike in the pump price of petrol on the cost of dollars. He explained that petroleum products are imported to Nigeria using dollars, hence the increase. Fire destroys shops in Kano market Salihu Lukman: Replacing Adamu with Ganduje will be suicidal He said, "The rise in price was caused, as usual, by the market forces. Market now determines prices. And secondly because of the dollar. You know the higher the crude oil price, the product price locally will also be higher. So at the time the crude oil comes down, the product will al

In Cameroon, the unintended consequences of Nigeria's fuel subsidy withdrawal ripple across the beleaguered Anglophone region. WHAT HAPPENED TO CAMEROON'S REFINERY? On the night of 29 May, 2019, the lone petroleum refinery in Cameroon was struck by a massive explosion that damaged four of its 13 production units. The incident at the 42,000 barrel-per-day SONARA refinery in Limbe, southwest Cameroon, abruptly stopped petroleum refining in Cameroon. To mitigate the effects of the damage, the government immediately accorded the National Oil Refining Company, SONARA, and other licensed agents, the right to import and market refined petroleum products across the country. Wary of inflation, the government subsidised the prices of the various imported fuel products. The price of a litre of petrol was thus fixed at FCFA 630 (approx. $ 1.4) On 1 February, 2023, with the refinery still not restored almost four years after the explosion, the government increased fuel prices. Petrol and di

The Conference Of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has reacted to the recent hike in pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol. CNPP, in a statement signed by its Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Comrade James Ezema, said that the increment less than 60 days after "the Federal Government announced the removal of subsidy is a fresh pointer that the All Progressives Congress (APC) government has never been sincere with Nigerians on the subsidy issue." The political parties also backed the House of Representatives' move "to investigate the overnight destruction of a vessel with stolen Nigerian crude oil recently without investigation or prosecution of the culprits. "In the last eight years, Nigerians have been subjected to misery as a result of the incessant increment in the pump price of petrol," the statement read in part. "Even after the said removal of subsidy on petrol, the Muhammadu Buhari administration continued to in

Nigerian man has reportedly gone partially blind following bizarre attempt to break Guinness World Record by crying for 100 hours. In a report released by an Instagram blog, Gossipmill, the Nigerian man identified as Tembu Ebere confirmed that he went partially blind while trying to set the longest crying record. Man who started 100-hour Cry-A-Thon reportedly goes blind Speaking on his health issues with BBC, the man revealed that while he was trying to cry for 7 days without stop, at a point, he went temporarily blind and couldn't see anything anymore for the moment. He also revealed that concomitant effects such as headaches, puffy eyes and body pains had followed a 45 minutes of blindness. The man said that he had to re-strategize and reduce how much he was wailing since it was causing him headaches.

There are strong indications that the federal government is favourably disposed to raising the minimum wage to as high as N200k per month as demanded by the organised labour in the country. However, state governors are urging for caution while Anambra State governor Charles Soludo has been asked to chair a Technical Working Group (TWG) to resolve the issues and its various dimensions. LEADERSHIP gathered that the matter was discussed at the last month's National Economic Council (NEC) meeting and it was there that the Salaries, Incomes & Wages Commission made a presentation on how the federal government can meet up with the demand of N200,000 per month minimum wage. Sources, who spoke with Empowered News Network, revealed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is specifically and personally convinced that the demand of the organised labour is not unrealistic pointing to his campaign promises as a proof of his readiness to handle the challenge. Recall that President Tinubu as presiden

Nollywood actress, Mimi Orjiekwe has been reportedly arrested and detained by The Special Fraud Unit (SFU) Ikoyi, Lagos state on Monday night over alleged failure to deliver a contract worth N700,000,000 awarded to her by a businessman, Mr Micheal Diongoli. According to a report by Blogger, Cuttie Julls, Mr Micheal Diongoli paid a total sum of N700million (seven hundred million naira) directly to Mimi Orjiekwe to secure the procurement contract to supply specific household interior-design furniture items, but she failed to deliver. Actress, Mimi Orjiekwe reportedly arrested over alleged N700m fraud Meanwhile, insiders say Mimi Orjiekwe had been at large for nearly two months after receiving the N700 million naira from the Businessman. Sharing details of her arrest on Instagram, Cuttie Julls wrote, "It's largely rumoured in Mimi's close circus that the actress had previously mentioned to few that she was confident Mr Michael Diongoli would remain behind bars for a long time

Winner of Big Brother Naija Season 7, Josephine Otabor, popularly known as Phyna, has come under heavy criticism on social media following an insensitive comment on Augusta Osedion's death. It would be recalled that the death of popular Instagram Influencer, Augusta Osedion, who was murdered by her boyfriend Benjamin Best aka Killaboi caused an outrage. This was after 26-year-old Killaboi, who describes himself on Instagram as a blockchain developer and crypto purveyor, took to social media to confess to the alleged crime on his Instagram Story. Reacting to the story of the young man who murdered his girlfriend of three years in Lagos, the reality star, via her snap chat, mocked those 'Killing themselves' in a romantic relationship. She wrote: 'So them dey kill each other for this relationship thing, God abeg ooo.' She further urged young women to be wary of the type of men they go into a romantic relationship with. "shine ye eye.. my gender shine your eye oh,

The new season will bring back familiar faces from previous seasons. It will premiere at 7 pm on Africa Magic Showcase (Ch. 151), Africa Magic Urban (Ch 153) and Africa Magic Family (ch 154). The show will continue to air for ten weeks on the 24-hour Big Brother dedicated channel, DStv ch. 198 and GOtv ch. 29. The ‘All Stars’ edition will feature carefully selected housemates and fan favourites from previous editions of the show. Fans can expect a line-up of exciting and engaging tasks, unpredictable twists and turns, including fan-favourite ‘Ninjas’, a live studio audience, engaging tasks, unpredictable twists and turns. This season will also include the famous pool and grill party and the Saturday Night Raves. Speaking on this, Executive Head of Content and West Africa Channels at MultiChoice Nigeria, Dr Busola Tejumola, said, “We are excited to bring you a refreshed season of Big Brother Naija.” She added that MoniePoint is coming on board as this season’s headline sponsor. In addit

FCT, Abuja - President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said 12 million families will get N8,000 over a period of six months to lessen the hardships faced by Nigerians as a result of subsidy removal. In a letter to the house of representatives read by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas during plenary on Thursday, July 13, Tinubu said it was support to enable poor and vulnerable Nigerians to cope with the cost of meeting basic needs. The letter was for approval of additional financing for the national social safety net programme scaled up by the national assembly. He said this would have a multiplier effect on about 60 million individuals. In order to guarantee the credibility of the process, he stated that digital transfers would be made directly to beneficiaries' accounts. . Nigerians took to social media to share their thoughts. See some of the comments below: @Asiwaju__Aso wrote: "This is backwardness, we are not at war. "Buy buses for free transport and give people water and Power into thei

A schizophrenic man chopped off his p3nis with a kitchen knife and then flushed it down the toilet. Sharing gory details of the incident in a medical journal, surgeons in India told how the unidentified 52-year-old was left with a stump. The man, who had stopped taking his medication, didn't turn up to hospital until 16 hours after amputating himself. Medics said the man, from Pune, had 'no suicidal intention'. However, he attributed his action 'to voices in his head that told him to cut his p3nis or otherwise face dire consequences'. Writing in the Open Journal of Clinical and Medical Case Reports, doctors at Bharati Vidyapeeth Medical College in Pune said his scrotal skin was dislodged from the root of the penis. Medics rushed the man into surgery to clean his wound. He was given general anaesthetic to knock him out so surgeons could operate on the stump. After seven days in hospital, the man was discharged. Checks 20 days after the operation revealed the 'stu