General news

• Calm returns to Cotonou with Beninese coup plotters on the run

  12-12-2025 08:45 via vanguardngr.com
  Five people are lined up before Chantal Dagah’s newsstand in Benin’s economic capital Cotonou — a sure sign of trouble.Traffic at her kiosk, just steps away from several government ministries that were guarded by tanks the day after the coup attempt, usually comes in dribs and drabs, but the day after the coup people across the seaside city were eager for more information.The day before, a group of soldiers took over the national television station and announced that President
  
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• Manufacturers of coups and bandits   

  13-12-2025 08:49 via vanguardngr.com
  By Uzor Maxim UzoatuCoups and bandits are all the rage these days. Just the other day, December 7 to be exact, there was the hot news that soldiers of neighbouring Benin Republic Armed Forces led by Lt-Col Pascal Tigri had staged a coup ousting President Patrice Talon.  President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria was quick on the take to announce that he had ordered Nigeria troops to foil the Benin coup. There were gasps in some quarters that a country that can abort a coup in another
  
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• Kano bans parallel Hisbah group

  13-12-2025 08:40 via vanguardngr.com
  The Kano State Government has issued an Executive Order banning a group called ‘Independent Hisbah Fisabilillahi,’ describing it as illegal and dangerous.Commissioner for Information and Internal Affairs, Ibrahim Abdullahi-Waiyya, confirmed this on Friday, saying the order was signed by Gov. Abba Kabir-Yusuf.He said the order was issued under the governor’s constitutional powers to maintain public peace and enforce state laws in line with section 5(2).According to him, the Kan
  
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• 50 Cent’s ‘Sean Combs: The Reckoning” deepens Diddy’s legal woes

  13-12-2025 08:18 via vanguardngr.com
  By Enitan Abdultawab50 Cent’s Netflix documentary series ‘Sean Combs: The Reckoning’ has placed Sean “Diddy” Combs under intense scrutiny, revisiting his role in the turbulent 1990s hip hop scene and reigniting public questions about the unsolved murders of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G.The four part series, executive produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, has sparked heated debate as old controversies res
  
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• Is Anita Joseph really Nollywood ‘Most Natural Curvy Actress?

  13-12-2025 08:15 via vanguardngr.com
  By Benjamin NjokuAcclaimed actress and gospel minister Anita Joseph is known for flaunting her voluptuous figure on social media, often referring to herself as the “Most Natural Curvy girl in Nollywood.”While other well endowed actresses such as Tracy Edwin, Destiny Etiko and Moyo Lawal also command attention, Joseph’s self appointed title has sparked debate among fans.Joseph, who crowned herself with the title last year, continues to draw eyes with her
  
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• Art Maestro, Fidelis Atumah to feature in Uncle Sam Amuka exhibition

  13-12-2025 08:08 via vanguardngr.com
  By Prisca Sam-DuruNigerian art circles are abuzz with anticipation for the forthcoming Uncle Sam Amuka (USA) Exhibition in Lagos, which promises to showcase some of the country’s most brilliant artistic talents.The USA inaugural exhibition titled, “The Beginning”, is organised by Tourist Club International in collaboration with Vanguard Newspapers.The exhibition is scheduled to hold at Alexis Gallery, 282 Akin Olugbade street, off Idowu Martins, Victoria Island, Lago
  
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• ‘Second Thoughts’: A delicate choice between ‘Japa’ and ‘Japada’

  13-12-2025 08:03 via vanguardngr.com
  By Prisca Sam-Duru“Abroad does not mean you’ve made it, but you’ve made it impossible to cry in public.” That’s deep! And that line taken from a thrilling one-man play titled, “Second Thoughts,” best describes the situation most Nigerians who ‘japa-ed’ (migrated) abroad are facing.Read Also: Igbo Origin: Enugu Sports Club lecture refutes Igbo-Jewish ancestry claimBut the producer of “Second Thoughts,” Emmanuel Okocha is cert
  
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• Igbo Origin: Enugu Sports Club lecture refutes Igbo-Jewish ancestry claim

  13-12-2025 07:43 via vanguardngr.com
  By Dennis Agbo  The Elite Enugu Sports Club was tense in the conversation, when its Chess Conclave section held a maiden annual lecture where it probed the long held view that the Igbo migrated from the Jewish community.Read Also: To fathers everywhere. . ., by Stephanie ShaakaaTo dissect the discourse, the club invited an emeritus professor of Anthropology in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka; Peter-Jazzy Ezeh, who cited many books, starting from the 18th century to the pre
  
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• To fathers everywhere. . ., by Stephanie Shaakaa

  13-12-2025 07:26 via vanguardngr.com
  For many adults, the answer is tangled. Some feel resentment. Some feel nothing. Some feel love, but from a distance. For so many, a father is remembered more as authority than affection. Present in structure, absent in spirit.Read Also: Man like Senator Natasha, by Stephanie ShaakaaFathers are often the commanders of the home. Respected, needed, yet emotionally out of reach. Many of these men are not lonely today because they were bad. They are lonely because they lived at the center
  
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• Man like Senator Natasha, by Stephanie Shaakaa

  13-12-2025 07:20 via vanguardngr.com
  Nigeria has a problem we all live with without even noticing. The people we elect to speak for us vanish the moment they take office. They collect salaries. They sign papers. They nod at the wrong things. Then they disappear into Abuja like smoke. Ask the average Nigerian who their Senator is and watch the face. First confusion. Then the long pause. Then that small embarrassed laugh we use to cover the reality that we have been abandoned for years. Representation in this country has b
  
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• How new thinking can rescue Nigeria from decline — Pat Utomi

  13-12-2025 07:15 via vanguardngr.com
  By Matilda IkediobiProfessor of Political Economy, Pat Utomi, in this monitored interview, gave reasons Nigeria has failed to reach its potential and proffered solutions to the country’s problems. Excerpts:What’s your assessment of where we are? What’s your view about where we seem to be headed? I think the Tony Uranta Memorial lecture was an appropriate place to get into this, because in ways, Tony Uranta, who I walked a path with, represented an era of optimism abo
  
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• 16 years after Christmas Day suicide bombing attemp, Nigerian official tells the story

  13-12-2025 07:10 via vanguardngr.com
  By Dickson OmobolaOn December 25, 2009, a Nigerian terrorist, Umar Abdulmutallab, better known as the Christmas Bomber, attempted to detonate explosives hidden in his underwear while on board Northwest Airlines Flight 253 en route to Detroit.Read Also: Activists on quelled Benin coup: Democracy only matters to African leaders when military threatens it, not when their actions are killing itAbdulmutallab, who held a Nigerian passport and a valid US tourist visa, travelled from Ghana to
  
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• Activists on quelled Benin coup: Democracy only matters to African leaders when military threatens it, not when their actions are killing it

  13-12-2025 06:40 via vanguardngr.com
  By Dayo Johnson, Regional Editor, South WestThe military struck in Nigeria’s West African neighbour, Benin, last Sunday with the coupists seizing the state television station in Cotonou and announcing the overthrow of President Patrice Talon’s administration. The coup was however thwarted as President Bola Tinubu deployed fighter jets and troops to quell the attempted coup. The Presidency described Tinubu’s intervention as “swift” and a demonstration
  
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• Biafra: Stop the noise! By Emeka Obasi

  13-12-2025 02:49 via vanguardngr.com
  People sacrificed their lives fighting for you, many wasted their active years in the bush only to be abandoned at the end of the  Civil War. The effects are here now, MASSOB, IPOB, power drunk 419ers, there will be no peace until we remember those who died defending Ndigbo.My message is clear. Until the Igbo, as a nation, set aside a day to mourn and eulogise thousands who were extinguished during the Pogrom and the millions that were killed in the Biafra Genocide, it will be fr
  
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• Tinubu and Talon: Traitorous Tailors of Democracy? By Ugoji Egbujo

  13-12-2025 02:47 via vanguardngr.com
  Before soldiers seized Cotonou’s state television station to declare Patrice Talon deposed, Benin’s democracy had already become a sham. Talon entered office in 2016 bearing the hopes of the country’s poor. Benin’s democracy, then 25 years old, was stable but stagnant, yielding little prosperity. Talon pledged to a single term—unshackled from re-election pressures and the politics of longevity—to fight corruption and set Benin on a path to prosperit
  
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• Omokri’s Mockery of Akpabio’s Senate, by Emmanuel Aziken

  13-12-2025 02:46 via vanguardngr.com
  For a Senate that has not only in herited but arguably worsened its predecessor’s reputation as a rubber stamp, the scene that played out during the screening of President Bola Tinubu’s ambassadorial nominees was bound to be bewildering. Yet, even by Nigeria’s increasingly elastic standards of legislative conduct, what unfolded in Senate Committee Room 211 last Thursday was astonishing. Already dogged by public perception as an assembly that approves executive reques
  
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• Beyond State Police, by Muyiwa Adetiba

  13-12-2025 02:45 via vanguardngr.com
  A couple of weeks ago, three people very close to me had their homes and therefore, privacy violated. The three of them live off Admiralty Way which is about the busiest street in highbrow Lekki Phase One. They live in gated areas. They live in gated homes. In addition, they have private securities.
  Yet, as easy as you like, they had their security breached and their cars vandalized. The main thing taken from each car was the brainbox. The cars, as you can imagine, are high end cars.
  
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• Daniel Etim Effiong opens up on ‘The Herd’ controversy

  13-12-2025 02:36 via vanguardngr.com
  …Says, ‘I didn’t anticipate the backlash that greeted the streaming of the movie on Netflix’By Benjamin NjokuNollywood actor producer Daniel Etim Effiong has opened up about the controversy that followed the streaming of his movie “The Herd” on Netflix.In an interview, Effiong explained that he set out to tell an “impactful, heartfelt story” and did not expect the negative reaction that greeted the film’s teaser, which shows her
  
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• AFCON 2025 Super Eagles squad: More questions than answers 

  13-12-2025 01:50 via vanguardngr.com
  By Jacob Ajom with Agency reports Head coach of the Super Eagles, Eric Chelle on Thursday, released his final squad for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations beginning in Morocco December 21. Naturally, the announcement has generated a lot of reactions. First-choice goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali’s fitness was a subject of debate as reports from South Africa suggested that the Chippa United goalkeeper was suffering from an ankle and hand injury and was feared not available for selection be
  
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• Lagos First Lady vows stronger support systems for elderly

  13-12-2025 01:34 via vanguardngr.com
  By Henry ObettaFirst Lady of Lagos State, Dr Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, has said the state government is committed to strengthening structures that ensure access to care, protection and support for senior citizens.Sanwo-Olu stated that through various health, social welfare and community-based programmes, the state remains committed to initiatives that enhance the quality of life of the elderly.She spoke at an event organised by non-governmental organisation, Orunsii Welcare Foundation, in collaboratio
  
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• Ihemba Kelechi Eke unveils a bumper holiday package for his hometown

  13-12-2025 01:29 via vanguardngr.com
  By Benjamin NjokuUS based philanthropist and founder of the African Film Festival in Dallas, Ichie Kelechi Eke (also known as Ichie Ihemba), has announced a series of events aimed at making this Christmas season memorable for his native community.The first event that will open the floodgates is the 3rd edition of Ihemba Women Football League, which kicks off on December 25. Participating teams in the tournament are drawn from Owerri and Ngor Okpala areas of Imo State. Eke said
  
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• Enugu Commissioner Ezeh named among Africa’s Most Influential Leaders in 2025 Who’sWho Africa

  13-12-2025 01:26 via vanguardngr.com
  Nigeria’s Dr Prince Lawrence Ozoemena Ezeh has been named among Africa’s most influential public figures in the newly released 2025 Who’sWho Africa Bibliography Compendium, an annual roll call of leaders whose work is shaping the continent’s future.Ezeh, the Enugu State Commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology, was recognised for his contributions to engineering, industrial entrepreneurship and innovation leadership.The compendium, widely regarded as one of Af
  
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• Jonathan, Dickson, NGF mourn Bayelsa deputy Gov, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo

  13-12-2025 00:58 via vanguardngr.com
  By Ikechukwu Eze; Henry Umoru & Samuel OyadonghaFormer President Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has expressed deep shock over the death of the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo who passed on yesterday after collapsing in his office in Yenagoa. Dr. Jonathan described Senator Ewhrudjakpo as a devoted public servant, a true patriot, and a loyal steward of Bayelsa State and Nigeria.Similarly, the former governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Seriake Dickson a well as the N
  
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• Gov Bago advocates single-term tenure for governors

  13-12-2025 00:56 via vanguardngr.com
  By Wole MosadomiGovernor Mohammed Umaru Bago of Niger state has supported a single term in office for state governors for good governance.The governor who has spent two years in his first term in office did not however recommend the duration of the single term or the effective year for the take off.Bago who was speaking at the swearing in of newly appointed Commissioners and new local government council chairmen and their deputies as well as some permanent secretaries and members of some Boards
  
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• Supreme Court faults Tinubu’s clemency, affirms death sentence for Maryam Sanda

  13-12-2025 00:53 via vanguardngr.com
  •Faults Tinubu’s clemency while her appeal was pendingBy Ikechukwu NnochiriThe Supreme Court on Friday re-affirmed the death sentence handed to Maryam Sanda, daughter-in-law of a former Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), who was found guilty of culpable homicide.An Abuja High Court had, on January 27, 2020, sentenced her to death by hanging after she was found guilty of stabbing her husband, Bilyamin Bello, to death at their Abuja residence in 2017. Although she h
  
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• Fubara receives APC membership card amidst brewing faceoff with Assembly

  13-12-2025 00:49 via vanguardngr.com
  •As Wike keeps mumBy Daniel Abia, P/Harcourt and Davies IheamnachorIn a bid to formalise his defection circle, Rivers state governor, Siminalayi Fubar has received the membership card of the All Progressives Congress, APC, thereby making him the automatic authentic leader of the party in the state.Completing the process on Friday in Government House Port Harcourt, Fubara reiterated that his decision to formally cross over to the All Progressives Congress, APC, was driven by the overriding
  
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• Ezeoha III: Uvuru’s First Royal Son ascends the throne

  13-12-2025 00:45 via vanguardngr.com
  By Ikechukwu Nmerengwa HE is not a stranger to royalty. He grew up in it. He is also steeped in the ways and traditions of his Uvuru. The 27 December, 2025 celebration of the coronation of His Royal Highness Eze Sir Iheanacho Chinyereze Mbalewe as the Ezeoha III of Uvuru Autonomous Community in Aboh-Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State, is holding on the community’s annual cultural day (Okwunakuwa Day), and days shy of the 45th anniversary of the coronation of Ezeoha I
  
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• Alleged N2.2bn Contract Fraud: Ex-labour minister, Ngige docked, remanded in prison

  13-12-2025 00:39 via vanguardngr.com
  By Ikechukwu NnochiriA High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, sitting at Gwarinpa, on Friday, remanded the former Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, in Kuje prison.Justice Maryam Hassan issued the remand order after the erstwhile Minister pleaded not guilty to an eight-count charge the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, preferred against him.The court held that he should remain in detention till Monday when his application for bail would be heard.Ngige,
  
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• Supertanker seized by USA for crude oil theft last sailed to Nigeria in 2024 — NIMASA

  13-12-2025 00:34 via vanguardngr.com
  •USA, Nigeria, others collaborate as investigations commenceBy Udeme Akpan, Energy Editor & Godwin OritseFOLLOWING media reports on the seizure of a Nigerian-owned vessel by the United States Coast Guard over alleged stolen crude, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, has confirmed that the vessel last sailed to Nigeria in 2024 but said they knew nothing about its owners, saying that Thomarose was not registered with the agency.In a statement by its Head of Pu
  
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• Bad governance responsible for coups, activists react on Benin military action

  13-12-2025 00:30 via vanguardngr.com
  By Dayo Johnson, Regional Editor, South West; Samuel Oyadongha; Rotimi Ojomoyela; Jimitota Onoyume; Egufe Yafugborhi; Ozioruva Aliu; Laolu Elijah; Deola Badru & Ibrahim Hassan-WuyoThe military struck in Nigeria’s West African neighbour, Benin, last Sunday, with the coupists
  seizing the state television station in Cotonou and announcing the overthrow of President Patrice Talon’s administration. The coup was however thwarted as President Bola Tinubu deployed fighter jets and troop
  
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