Category Nigeria News

Two former Federal Medical Center (FMC) employees entered pleas of guilty on Wednesday to corruption and the use of unfair pay practices in Ebute Meta, Lagos.

The Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) arraigned the pair before the Federal High Court in Lagos, along with a Chief Accountant Shola Onasanya and a Principal Executive Officer Halimat Olalere, the pair’s principal executive.

After entering a plea bargain with the ICPC, the defendants, who work at the IPPIS Payroll Desk Office of the FMC, entered a guilty plea.

The defendants allegedly converted the N1.17 million in salaries of former service members to their personal use in violation of the Commission’s claim.

The Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2022, as amended, specifically states that the offence is against Section 18 (2)(d).

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Enosa Omoghibo, the prosecutor, informed the trial judge, Justice Ibrahim Kala, about the plea bargain agreement, stating that a revised charge had been filed on September 4 and that the defendants should be given a copy of this new charge.

The prosecutor should have gotten the court’s approval before bringing the amended charge, the judge then reminded.

Omoghibo requested the court’s consent to replace the initial charge with the amended one, which the defense attorney accepted without objecting.

The defendants then entered a guilty plea.

In light of the development, the prosecutor requested that the plea bargain agreement be accepted as the case judgment in accordance with section 270 of the Administrative of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, which referenced the development.

Justice Kala once more made the point that the court could not convict the defendants without the defendants’ tendered evidence, as stated in section 274 of the ACJA.

He noted that without supporting evidence from the prosecution, even though the guilty pleas were significant, they couldn’t all guarantee a conviction.

The court agreed to postpone the case until September 18 for a fact review, and the counsel requested an adjournment to prepare necessary documentation as a result.

The defendants allegedly committed the offence at the FMC in Ebute Meta, Lagos, between January and December 2023.

The defendants allegedly altered Olalere’s account details so that the second defendant could continue receiving pay from former employees.

Onasanya, the first defendant, allegedly instructed Olalere to deposit the former employees’ wages into his own account.

A high-powered fact-finding committee’s report on recent attacks across Plateau State has been provided by the Plateau State Government, which has revealed disturbing details of the state’s history of violence that has lasted for more than 20 years.

Major General Rogers Nicholas (rtd.), chairman of the committee, Jos, who will present the report. Between 2001 and 2025, Plateau State’s over 420 communities were attacked, resulting in the deaths of nearly 12, 000 people and the displacement of thousands more.

General Rogers explained that the committee visited affected communities in all 17 local government areas and made use of security officials, traditional rulers, community leaders, and civil society organizations.

Read more about the DSS arrests nine key suspects in the Plateau killings in Benue.

According to their findings, the crisis has been fueled by ethnic mistrust, land disputes, kidnappings, cattle rustling, and illegal mining. As infiltration routes for attackers, porous borders with neighboring states were also discovered.

He noted that armed Fulani militias were frequently blamed for the coordinated attacks, even though other criminal elements were also at play.

Plateau is unable to continue operating after nearly 420 communities were attacked and nearly 2,000 people lost their lives. According to General Rogers, this report offers a roadmap for peace, healing, and rebuilding.

Governor Caleb Mutfwang described the incident as a turning point in efforts to put an end to decades of insecurity on the Plateau after receiving the report.

“I was called a liar and an alarmist when I first spoke about this crisis.” The governor claimed that the governor’s statement provides unquestionable proof of the truth because only the truth can free our people.

Governor Mutfwang said his administration would compile the findings and send them to the President and other relevant authorities for immediate response, adding that they would not be disregarded.

This report won’t go unread in the books. We seek solutions rather than disagreements. For too long, development has been slowed down by insurgency and insecurity. He urged that something had to change.

Comprehensive findings, recommendations, and memoranda from Plateau State’s affected communities are included in the two-volume report.

Foreign doctors, especially from Turkey, travel to Kabul to train Afghans, who equally undertake internships in Istanbul, while equipment is imported from Asia or Europe.

In the waiting rooms, the clientele is often well-off and includes men with thinning hair. But the majority are women, sometimes heavily made up and always covered from head to toe, more rarely in an all-enveloping burqa.

At 25, Silsila Hamidi decided to get a second facelift, convinced her skin had suffered from the stress of being a woman in Afghanistan.

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“Even if others can’t see us, we see ourselves: looking beautiful in the mirror gives us energy,” said Hamidi, before she went under the knife to lift the upper part of her face, which “was starting to sag”.

Skirting details, the medical school graduate said her skin suffers from the “many pressures” faced by Afghan women.

Under Taliban government restrictions, women’s access to work has been severely constrained. They can no longer travel long distances without a male guardian, must not raise their voices outside the home and are banned from universities, parks and gyms.

– Salons banned, but not Botox –

While surgical cosmetic interventions may be booming, hair salons and beauty parlours catering to women have been banned.

“If they were open… our skin wouldn’t be in this state, we wouldn’t need surgery,” said Hamidi, who, at 23, had work done on the lower part of her face.

The Taliban authorities, who ordinarily forbid altering physical characteristics in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law, did not reply for multiple requests for comment on cosmetic surgery.

Those in the sector said it is allowed as it is considered medicine.

The government does not interfere with their work, clinic workers told AFP, but morality police check that gender segregation is respected: a male nurse for a male patient, a female nurse for a female patient.

Some claim that even Taliban members are clients.

“Here, having no hair or beard is considered a sign of weakness,” said Sajed Zadran, deputy director of the Negin Asia clinic, which boasts state-of-the-art Chinese-made equipment.

Since the Taliban ordered men to grow their beards at least the length of a fist, transplants have become fashionable, said Bilal Khan, co-director of the EuroAsia clinic, which is about to open a second facility.

And because not all clients are wealthy, some “borrow money to have hair before their wedding”, Khan added.

In the four-storey villa transformed into a clinic, the methods are the same as those used abroad and pose “no risk”, said Abdul Nassim Sadiqi, a dermatologist.

At his clinic, it costs $43-87 for Botox and $260-509 for hair implants.

Instagram effect

The sums are a fortune for many Afghans — nearly half of whom live in poverty, according to the World Bank — but a boon for those like Mohammed Shoaib Yarzada, an Afghan restaurateur based in London.

Put off by the thousands of pounds (dollars) required in Britain for the same operation, he took advantage of his first visit to Afghanistan in 14 years to have his scalp replenished.

“When I enter the clinic, it’s as if I am abroad, in Europe,” he said.

To attract new customers, each clinic floods its social media pages with promises of beauty: smoothed skin, plump lips, and abundant hair.

Afghanistan, like the West, is not exempt from the sway of social media influencers, said Lucky Khaan, 29, co-director of Negin Asia, which registers dozens of new patients every day.

“Many patients come without real problems but want to have surgery because they have seen trends on Instagram,” said Khaan, a Russian doctor of Afghan origin, whose face is wrinkle-free.

While according to the UN, 10 million Afghans suffer from hunger and one in three lacks access to basic medical care, some, “who lack money for food, prefer to invest in their beauty”, added the surgeon.

The Federal Government has announced fresh incentives to boost agricultural investment under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

The move is part of ongoing reforms to unlock Nigeria’s vast food production potential through new policies that serve as a game-changer for agriculture and infrastructure investments in the country.

Shettima, who disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday during the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) National and Sub-regional Hand-in-Hand Investment Forum, noted that while hunger poses a global security issue, Nigeria must mobilise its strengths to secure a future of abundance.

“Nothing unifies humanity as much as hunger. It is the great equaliser that reveals our vulnerabilities and the shared fragility of our existence. Food is not merely a matter of survival; it is a matter of global security,” he said.

Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communications, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed details of Tuesday’s meeting.

Nigeria has been under pressure to cut its reliance on imports and address food insecurity, which worsened after fuel subsidy removal and currency reforms deepened inflation in 2023.

The measures include single-window platforms for land registration, strengthened agricultural credit systems, large-scale mechanisation, and strategic irrigation projects.

Shettima said Nigeria had the capacity to irrigate more than three million hectares of farmland, but currently uses less than 10 percent of that potential.

“Strategic investment in irrigation alone could triple yields, free us from seasonal dependency, and fortify our resilience against climate shocks,” he stated.

“Nothing unifies humanity as much as hunger. It is the great equaliser that reveals our vulnerabilities and the shared fragility of our existence.

“Food is not merely a matter of survival; it is a matter of global security,” Shettima added.

The Vice President noted that Nigeria’s blueprint under the 2021–2025 National Development Plan aims to lift 35 million people out of poverty, create 21 million jobs in rural communities, and secure food and nutrition sufficiency.

Shettima noted that irrigation is a game-changer, noting that Nigeria has river basins and aquifers capable of irrigating over three million hectares but currently uses less than ten per cent.

“Strategic investment in irrigation alone could triple yields, free us from seasonal dependency, and fortify our resilience against climate shocks,” he added.

He assured investors that regulatory reforms, public-private partnerships, and agri-tech innovations would make Nigeria “open for business.”

“Nigeria is open for business, and we are ready to partner with you. Let us work hand-in-hand to build Nigeria and a sub-region where no one goes to bed hungry, where rural communities are hubs of wealth creation, and where agriculture is the true foundation of our prosperity,” VP Shettima said.

Earlier, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, described Nigeria’s market, large arable land, and growing digital economy as unique opportunities for investors.

He said a combination of Nigeria’s domestic market, large arable land, clement weather, and fast-growing digital economy presents unique opportunities for investment across the agribusiness ecosystem.

The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, said the economic potential of Nigeria remains largely untapped, especially in agriculture and irrigation, which hold significant promise for economic diversification and transformation.

He noted that agriculture, particularly agribusiness, remains a pivotal component of Nigeria’s national development plan in the medium and long term, as well as the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Tinubu.

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Over 40 students from the Government Secondary School in Ovom, Yenegoa, Bayelsa State have been taught basic first aid and the Sustainable Development Goals by a National Youth Service Corps member, Blessing Nwokeoma.

The Nigerian Red Cross Society and the Nigeria Network of NGOs collaborated on the exercise, which was part of her Community Development Service.

The students were taught how to deal with emergencies, administer lifesaving equipment, and deal with accidents at school and in their communities.

Nwokeoma told reporters after the event that the initiative would train local teenagers to use life-saving techniques, and that her partners applauded her for creating a new generation of first aiders.

According to her, “The training is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals 3, 4, and 17,” which, respectively, emphasize the need for goodness and well-being, high quality education, and partnership.”

Oyebisi B. Oluseyi, the executive director of the Nigeria Network of NGOs, praised Nwokeoma for taking the course in his remarks.

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He continued, “I’m particularly thrilled that Blessing is carrying out these significant activities as my personal Community Development Service initiative, a volunteer project that promotes active citizenship.

We at the Nigeria Network of NGOs are pleased that the foremost volunteer-based organization in Nigeria, the Nigerian Red Cross Society, supports this initiative as we raise the profile of skills-based volunteering in Nigeria.

“The number of people who already possess life-saving abilities is growing as a result of extending the pool of individuals who need to keep life moving in an emergency.”

Mrs. Jessy Ovuru, the grateful vice principal (administrative), Government Secondary School in Ovom, expressed gratitude because there were other state schools that could have been chosen for the training, and prayed God’s blessing on Nwokeoma.

We feel recognized because some schools don’t do this, and I can also say that they do first aid workshops.

“So we’re delighted, happy, and fantastic,” we’re that way. Her elbow deserves more grace, please. May God give her more strength to pursue higher and greater things.”