Author: starconnect
By Emmanuel Thomas ABUJA, Nigeria — In a damning assessment of Nigeria’s escalating security crisis, Amnesty International reported on Monday that at least 1,100 people have been abducted across the country between January and April of this year alone. The human rights organization accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of a “shocking” failure to protect vulnerable citizens, warning that the government has demonstrated neither the political will nor the operational commitment to halt an epidemic of mass kidnappings targeting school children, rural communities, and internally displaced persons (IDPs). The grim milestone highlights a terrifying acceleration of a crisis that…
Bala Rabiu I Monday, May 24.2026 KANO – There is a particular genre of financial commentary that mistakes legal process for a factual verdict. A court delivers a first-instance ruling, procedural questions are raised, and before the ink is dry on the appeal filing, the narrative has alreadyhardened: the regulator overreached, investor confidence is shattered, and Nigeria’s financial governance is on trial before the world. Much of the commentary currently circulating about Union Bank of Nigeria belongs to that genre. It is not without merit on certain procedural questions. But it is, at its core, incomplete — and incompleteness…
BY SCM ONLINE REPORTER IRAN’S firebrand President has warned the West that trying to bully his nation into surrender is a total “illusion” as tensions hit boiling point. Defiant Masoud Pezeshkian claims his enemies have launched a brutal “economic war” against Tehran after failing to defeat the Islamic Republic on the battlefield. Speaking to business bosses in Tehran today, the Iranian chief vowed that the country will never cave to what he called the “excessive demands” of foreign powers. Pezeshkian said: “The Islamic Republic of Iran will under no circumstances submit to pressures and excessive demands.” The regime…
By Admin I Monday, May 24. 2026 LAGOS, Nigeria – FirstBank, West Africa’s premier financial institution and the leading financial inclusion service provider, is set to commemorate Children’s Day 2026 with a series of sponsored nationwide engagements designed to educate, inspire, and empower children across Nigeria. Through its sponsorship of initiatives organised by the Nigerian Television Authority, Nigeria Future Leaders Festival, Lexicon the Bank reaffirms its commitment to nurturing the next generation of leaders and strengthening its role in sustainable community development. The celebrations will kick off with the sponsorship of the NTA Abuja Children’s Day in Abuja and…
By Our Reporter ABUJA — In a decisive move to solidify its structure and position itself as a formidable force ahead of the upcoming general elections, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) will today, Monday, May 25, 2026, formally inaugurate its newly empaneled 21-member Selection Committee. The high-stakes event, scheduled for 4:00 PM at the NDC National Secretariat in Abuja, will be performed by the party’s National Leader and former Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson. According to a press statement signed by the NDC National Publicity Secretary, Osa Director, Esq., the establishment of the committee follows…
BY BLAISE UDUNZE I Monday, May 25.26 LAGOS, Nigeria – Nigeria’s banking industry appears to be booming, largely driven by the policies of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), under Governor Olayemi Cardoso, while the real economy continues to suffocate. A developing economy desperately in need of industrialisation, manufacturing growth, infrastructure expansion and job creation cannot afford a banking system that prefers financial safety over productive economic risk. A sustainable economy cannot thrive where the real sector is starved of funds. Yet this is exactly where Nigeria now stands At a time when millions of Nigerians are…
By SCM Staff Writer ABUJA — Ahead of its highly anticipated presidential primaries scheduled for Monday, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has issued a passionate appeal to its presidential aspirants, party stalwarts, and delegates nationwide. The party is urging all stakeholders to embody the highest principles of discipline, democratic decorum, and absolute unity as they enter a crucial phase of the political calendar. The directive was contained in an official statement issued on Sunday in the nation’s capital, Abuja, by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi. As opposition parties look to consolidate their positions ahead of the…
By SCM Staff Writer ABUJA, Nigeria — It was supposed to be a weekend of high-end partying for 21-year-old Godwin Chinedu Adimike Jr. Instead, it ended in an unimaginable horror that has shocked West Africa’s elite. On Friday, May 15, Chief Godwin Chinedu Adimike—a revered billionaire businessman whose wealth spans real estate and commerce—was brutally stabbed to death inside his sprawling mansion at Number 3 Hassan Adamu Street, in the ultra-exclusive Guzape neighborhood of Abuja. The prime suspect? His own son, a privileged university graduate currently undergoing his mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme. What began as…
By Our Online Reporter LOS ANGELES — Federal immigration authorities in Los Angeles have arrested a Nigerian national with a lengthy history of financial and mail-related crimes, setting the stage for his expected deportation, officials announced. The individual, identified as 49-year-old Etinosa Osahon, was taken into custody on May 21 by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). According to federal officials, Osahon is currently being held at an ICE detention facility pending formal removal proceedings to Nigeria. The arrest highlights ongoing federal efforts to target non-citizens who commit serious crimes within the United States. Osahon’s criminal record…
Admin I Sunday, May 24. 2026 OWO, Akure – Achievers University, Owo, will on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, host its 7th Inaugural Lecture, with Professor Adeboye Akanni Akinwunmi set to deliver a major scholarly discourse on the Nigerian financial system and the impact of recurring recapitalisation policies. The lecture, titled “Re-Capitalisation in the Nigerian Financial System: For Whose Benefit?” will take place at the Professor Abubakar Adamu Rasheed Auditorium, Achievers University, Owo, Ondo State. Expected to attract academics, economists, banking professionals, policymakers, regulators, students, and stakeholders across Nigeria’s financial sector, the event comes amid renewed national conversations surrounding banking…