The fire that ravaged shops at the popular SPAR Mall area in Calabar has once again exposed a problem that goes beyond one destroyed building: Nigeria’s slow fire service response. Multiple shops, including two boutiques and a pharmacy, were reportedly gutted by the blaze, destroying goods worth millions of naira. No deaths were reported, but…
Chelsea have moved quickly to protect one of the biggest successes of their recent rebuild, with João Pedro signing a new Chelsea contract until 2034 after just one full season at Stamford Bridge. The 24-year-old Brazilian arrived from Brighton in July 2025 for an initial £55 million plus £5 million in potential add-ons. He then…
At just 13, Nigerian rapper Iceking Ochacho is already learning one of the hardest lessons in the music business: getting people to listen is one thing, but getting them to remember you is another. The young artist, whose real name is Shedrack Mohammed Adah, recently celebrated his I’m Back EP by giving ₦20,000 to each…
Nigeria is setting some of its biggest energy targets in years, with the Federal Government pushing two fronts at the same time: getting millions of households to switch to cooking gas and expanding electricity access across the country. The timing is important. For many Nigerians, energy poverty is not just about whether the national grid…
A six-month-old mystery involving three missing Iranian pilots has suddenly become a new source of tension between Iran and Qatar, with Tehran now accusing Doha of secretly holding the men after their fighter jets were shot down in March. The accusation is serious because it is no longer simply about missing military personnel. Iran is…
Nigeria’s 2027 election campaign has officially moved into a more serious phase, and the early signs suggest that the battle will be fought on two very different fronts: political organisation on one side and direct voter engagement on the other. The Presidency has released the 108-member APC Presidential Campaign Council, giving President Bola Tinubu’s re-election…
For the past two seasons, Real Madrid have had a problem most clubs would love to have: too many world-class attackers. Kylian Mbappé, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham are three of the biggest stars in world football, yet getting all three to consistently play at their best in the same Real Madrid team has proved…
For veteran Nollywood actress Shaffy Bello, being called by her first name is not a sign of friendliness. It is a sign that something has gone wrong with how a younger person was raised. A resurfaced clip from a 2023 podcast appearance has brought Bello’s views on respect and age back into public conversation. During…
The DR Congo Ebola outbreak has reached a worrying stage, with health authorities preparing 70,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine as the country battles its largest Ebola epidemic on record. The emergency response comes as confirmed Ebola cases in DR Congo have passed 5,000, with more than 2,400 deaths reported. The outbreak, which was declared…
A Nigerian national has pleaded guilty in a US federal court for his role in a scheme that stole more than $415,000 in unemployment insurance benefits, but the case is about more than one man’s actions. It shows how identity theft and wire fraud have evolved into organised operations capable of exploiting government benefit systems,…
