Author: Prima News

Politics, in theory, is meant to be the management of collective hope. In Nigeria, however, it increasingly resembles the management of personal survival. Offices are no longer treated as temporary platforms for service, but as strategic shelters from irrelevance, investigation, or economic uncertainty. Public power has become largely private. Perhaps nowhere is this more visible than in the endless migration of politicians from one office to another, carrying ambition the way nomads carry luggage. I had just returned from a week-long conference and was preparing to enjoy the quiet relief of a Friday evening when the news flashed across my…

Africa has been here before. Oil climbs above $100, import bills balloon, Finance ministers across the continent convene emergency sessions, and somewhere in a development bank boardroom, a clean energy investment pipeline gets quietly deprioritised while everyone waits for the price to come back down. In 2008, the global financial crisis interrupted a Brent spike that had touched $147. In 2014, the shale revolution drove prices from nearly $100 to below $40 in eighteen months, pulling the fiscal rug from under the African governments that had been using commodity revenues to fund energy access programmes.  In 2022, the Ukraine conflict…

Lagos lawmaker and Nollywood actor, Desmond Elliot has publicly apologised to his supposed political mentor and the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, saying he may have offended him in the course of his political engagements. Elliot made the apology during an appearance on TVC’s Your View on Friday, where he said any misunderstanding was unintentional and insisted he remained committed to party unity and development in his constituency. His apology comes amid previous political tensions linked to the Lagos State House of Assembly leadership crisis, during which Gbajabiamila had revealed that he nearly lost his position at…

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Friday launched the fourth edition of its Foreign Exchange Manual, with the revised framework scheduled to take effect from June 1, 2026, as part of ongoing reforms aimed at improving transparency, liquidity and confidence in Nigeria’s foreign exchange market. Speaking at the launch of the revised manual in Abuja, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Olayemi Cardoso, said the initiative reflected the apex bank’s commitment to strengthening macroeconomic stability and modernising Nigeria’s foreign exchange administration. “This unveiling reflects our collective commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s macroeconomic foundations, enhancing transparency, and reinforcing confidence…

The 26th edition of the Milo Basketball Championship officially got underway with the conclusion of the Savannah Conference regional finals held at the Sani Abacha Indoor Sports Hall in Kano. The championship opened with remarks delivered by Opeyemi Jaiyeola, Category Development Manager, on behalf of the Category Manager, Gilbert Tweneboah, who reflected on the competition’s growth over the years. “Since 1999, what started with fewer than 500 schools has grown into a national movement, now engaging over 12,000 schools annually. This growth is not by chance. It’s a result of dedication, consistency, and the belief that every child deserves the…

Troops of the Nigerian Army’s 14 Brigade under Operation UDO KA have rescued a kidnap victim and intensified security operations across Abia State in a coordinated push against criminal groups. A statement by Assistant Director Army Public Relations attached to brigade Captain Mazinho Attah, on Friday stated that the soldiers from the 145 Battalion, working with Operation Crush and the Anti-Cultism Unit of the Nigeria Police Force, carried out an intelligence-led operation in Umuahia that led to the rescue of Mr. Onyebuchi Nwaoha. He said the victim was abducted earlier by armed men, adding that the rescued victim and some…

Belgium have included striker Romelu Lukaku in their World Cup squad despite concerns over his fitness, with head coach Rudi Garcia admitting the forward is not yet in peak condition following a lengthy injury layoff. The Napoli striker, who recently turned 33, has managed just seven substitute appearances totalling 69 minutes in the 2025–26 season after spending two months recovering from a hamstring injury. As reported by BBC Sport on Friday, Garcia said Lukaku remains a key figure for the national team but acknowledged that he is still working his way back to full sharpness. “Romelu has recovered, but he’s…

Afrobeats singer, Ayra Starr, whose real name is Oyinkansola Sarah, has spoken about how unstable electricity supply in Nigeria shaped her childhood, saying many African children continue to face limited access to power and basic energy needs. Ayra Starr spoke on Thursday during a conversation on equitable energy access at Global Citizen NOW in New York City, where she was interviewed by Zain Asher. Reflecting on growing up in Nigeria, the singer said living without stable electricity influenced her upbringing and daily experiences as a child. “The experience for me definitely made me who I am today because I’ve had…

Estimates indicate that around 28 million people in Afghanistan were living in poverty in 2025, with the situation compounded by mass population returns, worsening drought and shrinking international aid.While Afghanistan recorded a second consecutive year of economic growth, real GDP expanded by just 1.9 per cent in 2025, down from 2.3 per cent the previous year. Population growth, however, reached 6.5 per cent, resulting in an estimated 2.1 per cent decline in real GDP per capita. UNDP’s report, Afghanistan Socioeconomic Review, found that the share of Afghans facing subsistence insecurity remained largely unchanged, but an additional 1.4 million people were pushed…

In a creepy case against one of Nigeria’s barracudas of corruption, an unusual judicial whammy judgment was etched in the spine of history two days ago in a Nigerian court.  A former Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, a very powerful figure in Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, was sentenced to 75 years in prison after he was convicted of pilfering a whopping sum of ‌N33.8bn ($24.71m) meant to dissipate looming darkness over every nook and cranny of the Nigerian nation. Instead of funnelling the funds into solving Nigerians’ protracted darkness menace, Mamman laundered 33.8 billion naira through private companies, funds that prosecutors…