Author: News Room

Nigerian and Ghanaian athletes dominated the 5th edition of the annual 10km Owan Marathon race, which took place on Saturday in Edo State. The race took place in the Sabongida-Ora, Owan West Local Government area of the state. In the male category, 26-year-old Adetiba Michael from Kwara, who in September 2025 won the 21km Abuja marathon race, finished first with a time of 50:13. Kwabena Freepong from Ghana was second with a time of 50:37, while Yusuf Baaije from Plateau ran a time of 51:46 to take third place in the race. In the female category, Ghana’s Ayaaba Joyce, 25,…

Grammy Award-winning singer Beyoncé has become a billionaire following the massive commercial success of her recent music projects and global tours, placing her among a small group of entertainers to reach the milestone, according to a post by Forbes. On Monday, the 44-year-old singer earned the status after a highly profitable 2025 driven by her Cowboy Carter album, a world tour, and business ventures, making her the fifth musician to become a billionaire, alongside Jay-Z, Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen and Rihanna. The magazine said Beyoncé’s financial leap followed years of steady growth, highlighted by the Renaissance World Tour in 2023, which…

The founder of Blossom in Etiquette and Manners and an English Language educator, Salome Olajide-Buari, has harped on the importance of a reading culture among children. Olajide-Buari gave this admonition as the organisation wrapped up its second annual Christmas Reading Challenge, a three-day virtual programme that brought together young readers from across the globe. The programme aimed to foster children’s love for books, boost their confidence, and spark an early sense of purpose. The event, which ran from December 27 to 30, 2025, drew participants from Nigeria, Australia, England, Scotland, Norway, Canada, and the United States. Children participated in guided…

US Representative Ritchie Torres is preparing to introduce legislation aimed at curbing insider trading on prediction markets, following scrutiny around a highly profitable wager tied to the reported sudden capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.In a Sunday post on X, Punchbowl News founder Jake Sherman said Torres plans to introduce the Public Integrity in Financial Prediction Markets Act of 2026. The bill would prohibit federal elected officials, political appointees and executive branch employees from trading prediction market contracts linked to government policy or political outcomes when they have nonpublic information through their official duties.“The restriction applies to buying, selling, or…

Barry Manilow has offered an update on his health after being diagnosed with lung cancer. The Grammy Award winner, 82, shared a photo of himself smiling as he lay in a hospital bed on Friday, January 2. Alongside the photo, Manilow assured his fans on Friday that he was feeling “better today.” Manilow was showered with positive messages and well-wishes from his Instagram followers. Melanie Taylor, Manilow’s longtime backup singer, beamed “that’s my boss y’all” in the comments. “He’s making it through the rain! Love you B,” Taylor went on. Barry Manilow shares hospital bed selfie Courtesy Instagram / Barry…

Nigeria commenced the implementation of its new tax laws on 1 January. The laws, among others, make taxation progressive, with the lowest earners being ineligible to pay taxes. The laws also changed the name of the Federal Inland Revenue Service to the Internal Revenue Service. PREMIUM TIMES reports that the four new laws were controversial before they were passed into law and have remained controversial even after they were passed and signed into law. This follows allegations by a lawmaker that the laws passed by the National Assembly were different in some areas from the laws gazetted by the federal…

Nigeria’s business activity expanded for the 13th consecutive month in December 2025, according to the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) report published on Tuesday by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The composite PMI rose to 57.6 points in December, up from 56.4 points in November, indicating a stronger and broad-based expansion in economic activity. A PMI reading above 50 points signals expansion. The CBN said the December reading was the strongest expansion signal recorded in 2025, with 32 out of the 36 subsectors covered in the survey reporting growth during the month. “The composite PMI for December 2025 stood at…

The replacement of the JTB with the JRB under Nigeria’s new tax laws is more than a name change. It signals a structural shift in how revenue administration will be coordinated across federal and sub-national levels. For those of us tracking tax reform, it is a promising development that could support greater efficiency, fairness and transparency. In discussions of tax reform, we often focus on new rates, incentive thresholds or reliefs for businesses and individuals. Yet, equally important is the question of how tax authorities at federal, state and local levels coordinate their work. That is where the institutional body…

Comic singer Kehinde Otolorin, popularly known as Kennyblaq, has sold out the Mobolaji Johnson Arena (formerly Onikan Stadium) for the second time with his Reckless Musicomedy Festival, which drew a teeming crowd. Additionally, as a result of his electrifying performance at the musicomedy festival, the comedian-singer was also crowned “The Greatest Showman” by his fans at the show. The back-to-back sell-out firmly cements Kennyblaq’s dominance as one of Nigeria’s most powerful live performers, after his performance at the stadium in two consecutive years. From the moment he stepped on stage, the arena erupted as he delivered a masterclass performance that…

Super Eagles forward Ademola Lookman has been officially crowned the highest-rated player at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations, a fitting reward for a group-stage campaign defined by control, creativity, and ruthless efficiency. According to leading football analytics platform “WhoScored”, the Atalanta attacker tops the AFCON player ratings chart with an outstanding score of 8.36, placing him ahead of several of the continent’s biggest names and underlining his immense influence for Nigeria so far. Algeria captain Riyad Mahrez follows in second place with a rating of 8.02, while fellow Super Eagles winger Samuel Chukwueze sits third on 7.92. Liverpool talisman…