Author: News Room

Former Senegalese star, Ferdinand Coly has named the countries he believes are capable of winning the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco. Nigeria is one of the countries that has been widely tipped to come home with the trophy this year having finished second last two years ago. Nigeria lost to the host nation, Ivory Coast in the 2023 final with the Elephants winning 2-1 in the highly tensed encounter. This time around, Coly told  Filgoal that It is very difficult to pick a particular nation as the favourite to win the tournament, adding that this can only be…

The Federal Government has announced that all 31 federal ministries and departments have achieved full compliance with digital operations, marking the completion of the transition to a paperless civil service. The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Walson-Jack, disclosed this on Wednesday night in Abuja at the Paperless Civil Service Gala and Awards Night. She said the development marked a major milestone in public service reform, moving government operations from manual, paper-based processes to digital governance. Tracing the evolution of the reform, Walson-Jack said the paperless drive was the result of sustained efforts by successive administrations,…

The Jigawa State Police Command has arrested seven suspects in connection with armed robbery and theft cases across the state, recovering five motorcycles and other stolen items in the process. In a statement made available to journalists on Wednesday in Dutse, the state capital, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Shi’isu Adam, said operatives attached to Ringim Division responded to a distress call from Daguzau village, Ringim LGA. According to the PPRO, during the operation, about five miscreants armed with a dane gun, machete and sticks invaded a residence and stole an unregistered red Boxer motorcycle. “The prompt response of…

The African continent, long a theatre of political experimentation and turbulence, has in recent years witnessed a dramatic resurgence of military interventions in governance. Since 2020, at least nine states across West and Central Africa have succumbed to coups d’état or serious attempts: Mali, Chad, Guinea, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Niger, Gabon, Madagascar, and Guinea‑Bissau – alongside additional failed plots, including in the Republic of Benin. As ECOWAS communiqués and conflict‑event tallies tracked by organisations attest, the “coup belt”, once a Cold War cliché, has returned with unnerving pertinence. For Nigerians, the Beninese misadventure was not merely a neighbour’s headache but…

A former Speaker of the Osun State Assembly, Mr Najeem Salaam, on Monday emerged as the African Democratic Congress candidate for the 2026 Osun governorship election. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Salaam secured the ADC ticket following the party’s primary held at the Ultimate Civic Centre in Osogbo. Addressing party delegates before the exercise, the Chairman of the ADC 2026 Primary Election Committee, Mr Emeka Nwajiuba, said Salaam was the sole aspirant for the office. “The list and information from the ADC Organising Secretary’s Office, as well as the screening exercise conducted, indicate that Salaam is the only…

The SMILE2025 Widows and Orphans Outreach Programme has launched a new empowerment initiative aimed at equipping widows and young single mothers with practical job-creation skills and startup support to foster financial independence. Under the programme, 1,000 women and girls will receive vocational training, with a particular focus on liquid soap production, alongside a N50,000 business seed grant to help them start or expand small-scale enterprises. Organisers said the initiative is designed to provide beneficiaries with skills that are affordable, in demand, and capable of generating steady income within their communities. In addition to liquid soap making, participants will also be…

Paul Onuachu remained upbeat about his performance despite Nigeria’s 2–1 defeat to Egypt in a pre-AFCON friendly in Cairo on Tuesday, PUNCH Sports Extra reports. The striker said he approached the match with confidence, recalling his past success against the Pharaohs and feeling positive about his display. “I first got to play against them knowing that I scored against them years ago and I had a good feeling. You could say in the game it was good,” Onuachu said. He added that he played his natural game and felt satisfied with his contribution, even though Nigeria were unable to secure…

Nigerian content creator and musician, Oderhohwo Efe, popularly known as Carter Efe, has become Africa’s most-followed streamer on Twitch. He broke the record previously held by compatriot, Adesokan Emmanuel, known as Shank Comics. The milestone followed a high-profile livestream collaboration with Afrobeats superstar, Davido, on Wednesday, which triggered a massive surge in followers. Checks by PUNCH Online on Thursday showed that Efe now boasts over 406,000 followers on the platform. Shank Comics, who set the previous record about six months ago, holds approximately 233,000 followers. Efe, who had about 322,000 followers just a day earlier, gained roughly 160,000 followers in…

Transaction throughput on the Ethereum network is set to be boosted again next month, with developers aiming to increase Ethereum’s gas limit from 60 million to 80 million in January. Christine Kim, vice president of the research team at Galaxy Digital, shared a summary of the All Core Developers meeting on Monday, in which Nethermind representatives said developers should be ready to move forward with a gas limit increase after the next blob parameter-only (BPO) hard fork on Jan. 7.Ethereum Foundation developer operations engineer Barnabas Busa, however, noted that two client-level optimizations are needed before another increase in the block gas…

After a season that started slow, picked up momentum and tore into the finale at break-neck speed, Survivor 49 finally has a winner. Warning: Spoilers below for the finale of Survivor 49. Savannah Louie earned the title of Sole Survivor on the Wednesday, December 17, season finale, defeating Sophi Balerdi and Sage Ahrens-Nichols in the final jury vote, 5-2-1. The trio reached the final tribal council after voting out Kristina Mills in the final five. When Sophi won immunity at the final four, staging an unbelievable comeback in the process, she elected to take Sage with her to the final…