Month: July 2025

Nigeria Customs deepens strategic ties with Chinese Counterpart on Knowledge Exchange

Lukman Laleye Babalola

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has taken another significant step in enhancing its global partnerships through a strategic engagement with the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC), aimed at boosting customs knowledge exchange and institutional capacity building.   The high-level meeting, held in Beijing on July 25, 2025, brought together a 21-member Nigerian delegation led by Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs, Oluyomi Adebakin, who is also the Commandant of the Nigeria Customs Command and Staff College (NCCSC), Gwagwalada. Discussions centered around bilateral cooperation on customs training, modernisation practices, and adoption…

NDLEA nabs Chinese National, 80-Year-Old Woman in Nationwide Drug Crackdown … Seizes cannabis strain hidden in moimoi sachets, Loud in canned food from Canada

Lukman Laleye Babalola

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intensified its war against illicit drug trafficking with a wave of arrests and seizures across the country, including the apprehension of a Chinese businessman and an 80-year-old woman. Liang Tak You, a naturalised Malaysian-based Chinese national, was arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on Friday, 25th July 2025, after arriving from Bangkok via Dubai. Acting on intelligence, NDLEA operatives tracked his movements and intercepted two suitcases in his possession containing 50 parcels of Loud, a strong synthetic cannabis strain, weighing…

Sister Sherifat Destiny Abdullahi Guides Foursquare Teens on Path to Purposeful Living and Spiritual Development

Emporium Reporters

By Dr. Afolabi Olajuwon     The grand finale of the Spirit-Filled Teenagers Week at Foursquare Gospel Church, Wuse District Headquarters in Abuja, took place on Sunday, July 27, 2025. With a resonant sermon titled ” True Exercise,” Sister Sherifat Destiny Abdullahi offered profound insights into purposeful living and spiritual discipline. The event encapsulated themes of robust purpose, intentionality in exercise, and spiritual alignment, drawing from key biblical scriptures.   The service commenced with an invigorating praise and worship session led by the church’s Teen Choir. This session established a…

Buhari: May our subsequent leaders die at home (2), by Hassan Gimba

Emporium Reporters

The late General Buhari was a man who, on two occasions, was welcomed into office by Nigerians who dared to hope for a better country. The first was in December 1983, and the second was 32 years later, in 2015. I do not want to include 2019, because it was a defining moment when those Nigerians who were believed to be honest proved themselves wrong. Unlike President Goodluck Jonathan, who had four years earlier told the nation that his ambition was not worth the blood of a single Nigerian and…

CDS Musa reaffirms Military-Media collaboration against Disinformation at DICAN Conference

Lukman Laleye Babalola

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Gwabin Musa, has emphasized the importance of strategic collaboration between the military and the media in combating the growing threat of disinformation, which he described as a critical national security concern.   Represented by Rear Admiral A.M. Haruna, General Musa made the remarks at the maiden edition of the Diplomatic and Security International Conference, organized by the Diplomatic Correspondents Association of Nigeria (DICAN) in Abuja.   He noted that Nigeria’s Armed Forces is strengthening its engagement with both local and international stakeholders…

Oyinlola’s crocodile and Fayose’s carcass By Festus Adedayo

Emporium Reporters

Praise and dispraise are two usages for which the tongue of a Nigerian politician can be put. This is a common perception among politicians themselves. In Nigerian politics, back-trackers are as common a sight as a fisherman daily sees shrimps in the creeks. Last Friday, Ekiti State’s former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governor, Ayodele Fayose, reminded me of Alamu Atinsola Atatalo, one of the pioneers of Dundun and Sekere traditional music in post-colonial Yoruba Nigeria. Atatalo reinforced the transition of the tongue of a Nigerian politician from one superlative extreme…

WHO BURNS MORE IN BED — THE RICH OR THE POOR? The Hidden Cost of Sex and the Reality of Aging Nigerian Men By Mogaji Wole Arisekola

Emporium Reporters

Whenever I’m in Abuja, I always make time to visit my friend of 20 years, Barrister Moljengo Kaltungo — a die-hard Arsenal fan and a man with stories that could light up any room. Although born in the quiet village of Kaltungo, he spent nearly half of his life working at the NDCC before retiring, quite meticulously, as the company secretary last year. Whenever we meet, our conversations always find their way into three familiar territories: the streets, the sheets, and the silent price men pay in the pursuit of…

Akpabio hails Super Falcons on historic 10th WAFCON Title … Commends their resilience, team spirit, and patriotic comeback

Lukman Laleye Babalola

President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has congratulated Nigeria’s senior women’s football team, the Super Falcons, on clinching a record-extending 10th Women Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) title after a dramatic 3-2 comeback win against host nation Morocco on Saturday night.   In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Hon Eseme Eyiboh, Senator Akpabio lauded the Falcons for their resilience, unity, and unyielding determination to bring glory to the country.   “Your thrilling comeback against Morocco is reminiscent of the Saudi ’88 Daman Miracle…

Tuggar hails Super Falcons’ 10th WAFCON Title, applauds Team’s resilience , national impact

Lukman Laleye Babalola

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, has congratulated Nigeria’s Super Falcons following their historic 10th Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) triumph, praising the team’s resilience and describing them as “true ambassadors of Nigerian excellence.”   In a statement signed by Alkasim Abdulkadir, Special Assistant on Media and Communications Strategy to the Honorable Minister, Tuggar commended the players for their determination, discipline, and unity, which he said reflect the core values of the Nigerian nation.   “The Super Falcons have once again shown what it means to…

Nigeria’s Raymond Enoch honoured as ECOWAS celebrates 12 Journalists at Inaugural Excellence Awards

Lukman Laleye Babalola

In a landmark celebration of press freedom and regional integration, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) honoured 12 outstanding journalists, including Nigeria’s Raymond Enoch, at the maiden edition of the ECOWAS Journalists Excellence Awards held at the prestigious Coco Ocean Hotel in Banjul, The Gambia.   Delivering remarks on behalf of the President of the ECOWAS Commission, H.E. Dr. Omar Alieu Touray, the Chief of Staff, Mr. Kolley, described journalists as “agents of accountability, defenders of democracy, and catalysts for social change.”   “The story of ECOWAS cannot…