Author: News Room

The Lagos State Government has defended its enforcement operation along the Lekki–Epe Expressway that led to the apprehension of minors, responding to criticism from reality TV star and influencer, Tacha, who accused the state of criminalising poverty and failing vulnerable children. The response followed public outrage after a video circulated on social media showing young boys being apprehended during a sweep of the expressway. The children were reportedly found carrying a container with soapy water and a brush, allegedly used to wash vehicles in traffic for money, an activity the government says poses a safety risk to both the children…

The Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin, has dismissed claims that members of the National Assembly were obedient to the executive arm of government. Jibrin made the remarks on Wednesday in Ilorin while delivering the 15th convocation lecture of Al-Hikmah University, titled “Managing Executive Legislative Relations Towards Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic.” He insisted that the existing cooperation was a deliberate effort to ensure good governance and attributed the cordial relationship between the executive and legislature to President Bola Tinubu’s experience as a former governor and senator. According to him, this experience has enhanced mutual understanding between both arms…

AA Rano Nigeria, one of the country’s leading downstream petroleum marketing companies, has unveiled Nigeria’s first fully automated and unmanned fuel stations, marking a major step in the digital transformation of the fuel retail sector. The initiative follows a business partnership between AA Rano and Petrosoft Limited, a Nigerian technology firm specialising in downstream oil and gas business management systems. Under the partnership, Petrosoft will deploy its automated fuel station technology across AA Rano’s retail network nationwide. According to a statement on Tuesday, the unmanned stations are scheduled to go live in January 2026 and will offer 24-hour self-service fuelling,…

Raphinha scored twice as Barcelona advanced to the Spanish Super Cup final with a dominant 5-0 semi-final win over Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia. The holders and record 15-time champions will face either Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid, who meet on Thursday, in Sunday’s final. Hansi Flick started with teenage star Lamine Yamal on the bench, but his team still cruised to a comfortable victory at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah. La Liga leaders Barcelona have now won nine consecutive matches across all competitions, while Athletic, enduring a difficult season, were thoroughly outplayed. Last season,…

Amazfit might not have the name recognition of a company like Garmin or Fitbit, but its wearables consistently impress, with the Amazfit Active 2 being one of the best fitness trackers you can buy. And right now, it’s on sale for just $84.99 ($15 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target, which is only $5 more than its best price to date.Even at its regular price of $99.99, Amazfit’s feature-packed wearable is an incredible value. Its bright, 2,000-nit OLED display and handsome stainless steel case give it the look of a stylish everyday watch, rather than a basic fitness tracker.…

The market capitalization of stablecoins on the Solana layer-1 blockchain surged by $900 million over a 24-hour period on Tuesday. Stablecoins, blockchain tokens backed by fiat currency or debt assets, surged to a market cap of $15.3 billion on the Solana network, according to DeFiLlama. The dramatic surge came as decentralized finance platform Jupiter launched its JupUSD stablecoin, developed in partnership with synthetic stablecoin issuer Ethena. The Solana stablecoin market cap surges. Source: DeFiLlamaSolana’s stablecoin ecosystem is dominated by Circle’s USDC (USDC), a dollar-pegged token, which accounts for over 67% of the network’s total stablecoin market cap.The surge in stablecoins on Solana…

Cardi B vented her frustrations amid a trying time both personally and professionally. During a Spaces session via X on Monday, January 5, Cardi, 33, got heated when a listener suggested she get off social media and act like a celebrity.  “I gotta express myself,” the rapper said. “When I express myself, I feel way much motherf***ing better. The f***? Let me cope, bitch. The f***? Are you this motherf***ing famous, bitch? Talk to me when you this motherf***ing famous, bitch.” Cardi continued, “When you got this type of motherf***ing fame and this type of motherf***ing money, bitch, then you…

The National Director of Information for the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bala Ibrahim, has asked the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to stop meddling in the party’s affairs. Mr Ibrahim, who spoke when he appeared as a guest on a Trust TV News programme on Wednesday, threatened that he would “cut off” Mr Wike’s “wings” if the FCT minister does not stop meddling into the APC affairs.  The APC chieftain claimed Mr Wike was “mixing right and wrong” and does not know what it means to be called a “busybody” in law. “He’s a lawyer, and anybody who…

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has announced the inclusion of Nigerian and West African words and expressions in its global lexicon. In a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday, the OED confirmed the addition of twenty-four new words from Nigeria and Ghana, its two largest English-speaking countries, as well as from Gambia, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. The new entries include Abeg, Ghana Must Go, Biko, Akpanlogo, Light Soup, Mammy Market, and Moi Moi, among others, reflecting the growing influence of West African English on the global stage. Many of these words serve multiple grammatical functions, including as nouns, verbs,…

LALIGA and EA SPORTS have launched the second edition of the Next Gen Draft, an international youth development programme aimed at discovering and developing young football talents while promoting the core values of the game. The 2026 edition of the initiative will kick off in Nigeria on 30 January, with Lagos hosting the opening phase of the programme. The tournament will run until 1 February 2026 at the Mobolaji Johnson Stadium, Onikan. According to the organisers, the Lagos event will feature 168 young players from across Nigeria, made up of both boys and girls. The programme in Lagos is being…