Author: Ifetayo Adeniyi

Manny Ita The Nigerian creative and digital landscape reached a historic fever pitch today, Wednesday, January 21, 2026, as celebrity chef Hilda Baci officially became a three-time Guinness World Record (GWR) holder. The confirmation arrived via an official correspondence from the GWR creative team, informing Baci that her monumental jollof rice cookout in September 2025 had simultaneously broken the record for the “World’s Largest Serving of Rice.” The dish, which weighed a staggering 8,780 kilograms (19,356 lbs), was prepared at Victoria Island in partnership with Gino Nigeria. While Baci had already been celebrated for the “Largest Serving of Nigerian-style Jollof…

Malami dismisses Terror Financing, rebuffs alarm over Media trial Malami in the midst … denies allegations linking him to terrorism or terror financing. The office of former Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, has dismissed as false reports alleging that arms, ammunition or terror-financing links were uncovered in connection with Malami, warning the media to stop what it described as a “trial by headlines.” In a statement issued on Wednesday by his Special Assistant on Media, Mohammed Bello Doka, Malami’s office said no cache of weapons was found in any residence linked to him, describing such claims as “unsubstantiated…

Digital payment fraud reduces, N52.26bn to N25.85bn in 2025 — NIBSS File photo: NIBSS logo This decline was about 34 per cent in the last quarter of 2025. The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System has said that digital payment fraud declined by 51 per cent in Nigeria to N25.85 billion in 2025 from a high of N52.26 billion in the previous year. This was disclosed by the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NIBSS, Premier Oiwoh, on Wednesday at the 2026 Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum Technical Kickoff Session held in Lagos. At the event, held under the theme ‘Shrinking Fraud Losses With…

Manny Ita Nigeria is set to play a leading role in a month-long international cultural festival in Ontario, with organisers confirming that the country will anchor both the fashion and world music segments of the programme. The festival has been structured into dedicated thematic weeks, positioning Nigerian creatives at the centre of key global showcases. The event will officially open on June 1 with the “Journey Through Africa” immersive cultural experience, alongside the premiere of the AFROVISION X Anthem, marking the formal start of activities and setting the tone for a continent-wide creative celebration. Fashion activities will run from June…

Applications for 2026 PTDF-funded overseas scholarship open 2026 PTDF-funded Applicants must verify their National Identity Number (NIN) to apply. The Federal Government has opened applications for the 2026 Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) Overseas Scholarship Scheme. The announcement in a post on X (formerly Twitter) by the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Social Media, Dada Olusegun, said the programme offers Nigerian postgraduate students the opportunity to study abroad. According to the post, successful applicants will pursue studies in the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Malaysia under the fully funded scholarship scheme. “FG has announced the commencement…

Manny Ita Nigeria has officially activated its roadmap for a month-long cultural residency in Canada as part of the AFROVISION X 2026 global showcase. Led by Inspiro Productions in collaboration with Grandieu Inc., the project has entered its “Activation Phase,” running from January through May, during which organizers are hosting stakeholder engagements with both public and private sectors in Lagos. This preliminary phase is designed to establish participation guidelines for the designers, filmmakers, and performers who will form the official Nigerian delegation. Lead Convener David Bebiem has characterized the initiative as a “global marketplace,” emphasizing that the residency is a…

PINL: Beyond Security, an Economic Enabler in Nigeria Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL) has emerged as a critical economic enabler in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, demonstrating that effective pipeline security is not merely a protective function but a powerful driver of production growth, fiscal stability, and national energy security. Nigeria’s oil production challenges have historically been linked not to resource scarcity, but to infrastructure sabotage, crude oil theft, and prolonged pipeline downtime. Critical assets such as the Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP) suffered repeated disruptions, forcing producers to shut in wells, miss export commitments, and deprive the nation of billions…

Netflix Turns Warner Bros. Discovery Bid To All-cash Netflix, on Tuesday, amended its takeover offer for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) into an all‑cash proposal of $27.75 per share, removing the stock component in a bid to counter a hostile approach from Paramount Global. The revised offer maintains an enterprise value of about $82.7 billion and targets WBD’s film and television studios, HBO, and HBO Max, while excluding cable networks, which would be spun off into a separate company, Discovery Global. WBD’s board has unanimously approved the amended Netflix bid, setting a shareholder vote for April 2026, even as Paramount pursues…

World passing through time of global water bankruptcy – UN The world is entering an era of “global water bankruptcy” with rivers, lakes, and aquifers depleting faster than nature can replenish them, a United Nations research institute said on Tuesday. It argues that decades of overuse, pollution, environmental destruction and climate pressure have pushed many water systems so beyond the point of recovery that a new classification is required. “Water stress and water crisis are no longer sufficient descriptions of the world’s new water realities,” read a new report by the UN University Institute for Water, Environment, and Health (UNU-INWEH).…

Fish farming: World Bank-backed Ogun project generates N9.17bn File copy of the Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Bolu Owotomo Says a total of 4,256 aquaculture farmers have benefitted from programs The Ogun State Government has disclosed that its aquaculture support programme under the World Bank-backed Ogun State Economic Transformation Project has generated an estimated ₦9.17 billion in revenue for fish farmers across the state following sustained investments in feed subsidies, infrastructure development and capacity building. The Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Bolu Owotomo, according to a statement on Tuesday, made this known in Eriwe, Ijebu, while addressing stakeholders…