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2027: Former Power Minister, Barth Nnaji Endorses Gov Mbah, Tinubu for Reelection

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Prof Barth Nnaji with Gov Peter Mbah during his visit to Enugu Government House on Monday
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Former Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, has endorsed Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State and President Bola Tinubu for a second term in office, saying the governor has done exceedingly well.

Nnaji announced the endorsement while fielding questions from Government House correspondents during a visit to Mbah on Monday, citing several landmark achievements of the governor in just three years.

The former Minister said he was unavoidably absent at the weekend when the people of Enugu East Senatorial District endorsed Mbah and President Tinubu at a massive rally, but maintained that politics was about lineup and he was fully in support of the president’s endorsement and reelection.

Prof Barth Nnaji and Gov Peter Mbah

“It should not be a surprise that I am in support of my younger brother. You may not be aware that during the run-up to the 2023 election, I led a group of key stakeholders in Nkanu East to campaign, going to all the key stakeholders in Enugu State, asking them to, please, consider Nkanu East; that we had not had the opportunity of holding this position. And because of that lack of opportunity, Nkanu East was about the only local government that did not have any real government presence.

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“If you are in, say, the Idodo area where the governor and I come from, you had to go through four local governments before you got to the headquarters of our own LGA. This needed to change. And so now all that is changing because of the work of His Excellency, our governor. And you can see that to go from that Idodo area to Amagunze, our local government headquarters, is now a matter of a few minutes. That has totally changed the calculation,” he stated.

Continuing, he lauded the governor’s strides in the areas of security, infrastructure, and healthcare, which he said were not only critical enablers of economic growth, but also key to reversing brain drain and overseas medical tourism.

“There are so many other reasons why we have to all come and encourage our governor for what he is doing and to do more.

Gov Peter Mbah and Prof Barth Nnaji

“I was just talking with him about the two major criteria for people to come back to Nigeria instead of the ‘Japa’ syndrome of running away. Those two would be security, and the second is high-quality healthcare. So, the development of the Enugu International Hospital, which will have the sort of equipment that people run elsewhere to access, is something that is quite innovative for Nigeria.

“We are not lacking in high-quality doctors because we have them, except that many of them have run away. So, this hospital here will bring them back and begin to reverse healthcare tourism.

“Then there are all the infrastructure projects, the roads of standard quality that have been built or are ongoing across the state, and so on.

“Therefore, my presence here is to encourage him and support him so that by the next term, we should be able to see a lot more. That is the point,” he added.

Nnaji urged other people jostling for the office of governor in 2027 to join hands with the governor to consolidate on his achievements and actualise his lofty vision for the state.

Citing his personal experiences, he described Mbah as a listening leader and called on other stakeholders in the state to offer their advice where necessary.

“The whole idea is for all of us to join together to support the governor for the next term. It is okay for people to run for office, but you have to look at the future. What are we really trying to gain?

“If we are doing well, then the thing is to encourage the governor and his government to do more for the people.

“The other thing is that key stakeholders in the state should be able to come and be part of advising for the better. I mean, a governor is not God. A governor is a person of excellence who should be able to move the state forward. But in doing so, wherever there are things that are not going the way people want, we should be able to tell him. And he will listen. I believe he absolutely listens. From all the discussions that we have been having, I know he listens,” he concluded.

On Tinubu’s reelection, he asserted, “On the support for the President, there is a lineup for the office. And that lineup is very important – both the up-ballot and down-ballot candidates usually have to be supported by clear-thinking people. That is what we are doing.”

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US publishes fresh names, photos of 10 Nigerians to be deported

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The United States Department of Homeland Security has added 10 Nigerians to its “Worst of the Worst” register, a database highlighting immigrants arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement over alleged criminal offences.

The latest names were published on the official DHS website and include individuals linked to cases involving fraud, identity theft, drug offences, assault, conspiracy and offences involving children.

The 10 Nigerians listed in the latest update are:

Temitope Bashua — Wire fraud, identity theft and fraud — Allenwood, Pennsylvania
Ojehoro Lewis — Cruelty towards a child — Conroe, Texas
Osemudiamen Kingsley Oziegbe — Wire fraud — Louisville, Kentucky
Daniel Oworen — Dangerous drugs — Conroe, Texas
Raymond H. Ekevwo — Wire fraud — Oxford, Wisconsin
Franklin Dikeocha — Sex offence against a child – fondling — Dallas, Texas
Johnson Ogunlana — Fraud and identity theft — White Deer, Pennsylvania
Chukwuemeka Okorocha — Wire fraud, dangerous drugs, possession of a weapon and aggravated assault involving a non-family gun — Allenwood, Pennsylvania
Tunde Korede — Conspiracy — Allenwood, Pennsylvania
Chukwuemeka Chinye — Larceny from a banking-type institution, fraud, larceny, identity theft and conspiracy — Pollock, Louisiana

DHS said the register was established to draw attention to immigrants it describes as the “worst of worst criminal aliens” arrested by ICE.

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“Every day, the patriots of ICE are working to target the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from our country. Just yesterday, ICE arrested murderers, pedophiles, kidnappers, and other violent criminals to make America safe again,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, there will be no safe haven for illegal aliens, including in sanctuary cities which put illegal aliens over their own citizens. We will never apologize for arresting and deporting illegal aliens, because that’s how we protect American lives.”

The department said the latest immigration enforcement actions were part of the Trump administration’s deportation policy.

“Under DHS leadership, the hardworking men and women of DHS and ICE are fulfilling President Trump’s promise and carrying out mass deportations – starting with the worst of the worst – including the illegal aliens you see here,” the department said.

The latest publication comes after DHS released another list in July containing 124 Nigerians arrested by ICE and identified on the same register.

The July list featured Nigerians associated with a range of criminal offences, although the department did not provide specific deportation dates for those individuals

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FG orders closure of first River Niger bridge for one week

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Minister for Works, Umahi, during an inspection tour of the first River Niger bridge
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Orders CCTV installation to stop vandalism

The federal government on Friday announced the closure of the River Niger bridge for one week.

The closure is to carry out repairs on the vandalised sections of the River Niger bridge road and install security architecture in the area.

Minister for Works, Engr Dave Umahi, disclosed this at Ogbunike in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra during an inspection tour of the bridge and other roads under construction in the South East and South South geopolitical zones of the country.

The first River Niger Bridge linking Asaba and Onitsha

He said motorists would, at the closure of the bridge, be directed to the Second Niger Bridge in order to give the contractors an adequate time frame to carry out the necessary repairs.

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Recall that suspected vandals had looted vital bolts and irons used in the construction of the bridge, thereby exposing the bridge to obvious collapse and, in the process, threatening the lives of millions of road users and passersby.

He explained that security measures are being taken to avert a repeat occurrence of vandalism on the bridge.

“Bridges are designed for light load and dynamic loads so we have directed that work should start immediately and the entire asphalt be removed and put another one and there will be solar lights on that bridge in the next one week and we shall fix CCTV and connect it to the one in the 2nd Niger Bridge so that security will observe and whoever that tries to touch the bridge again is going to be arrested.

“Now on the first Niger bridge, we have seen the wickedness of the underworld. We have seen the man’s inhumanity to man; those things that they are removing is very dangerous to the beauty of that bridge and we have commenced action on that bridge,” he said.

He added; “There Is so much accumulated workload on that bridge, like it was with the 3rd Mainland Bridge, and every government that comes will put asphalt, and it is causing a lot of gridlock on that bridge.

“So these are the actions that we have taken and then getting down we came to the Enugu – Onitsha express and they are working in three sections and there the Enugu -Onitsha and another one is 17.5 km and the last one is about 20km by two and so I have directed them not to start any asphalt work or concrete work so what they are to do is to take measurements of all the failed sections and it should be milled out and then use 16mm binder to cover them very well all the way from head bridge to 21.5 km and they will finish one carriage way before they go to the other one.

“We have to attempt to work at night so that we don’t interfere with traffic and we have to get the road safety involved and our own local traffic managers they should commence the desilting of the drainage before commencing.

“To that effect we may have to close down the first Niger bridge in seven days time and we direct traffic to the second Niger bridge for us to fix the first Niger bridge in good time,” he stated.

At the ongoing construction of the second Niger Bridge access road, Engr Timothy Emenike, Controller, and Engr Nnamdi explained that there would be no more slow pace of work on the project, adding that the project is being executed from both fronts in order to beat the deadline.

“The project starts from Obosi down to Mkpor and Ogidi and now we are in Ogbunike and along this alignment between the last time you came we are working on several stops along this alignment and you have just seen the second bridge that is ongoing and we are almost about to start the third one”.

“Work pace will not be a hindrance until we exhaust what was given to us by the Anambra state government and I am happy to inform you that since the new Commissioner took over we have been going to the new Commissioner’s office and have been pressuring him to give us more work space.”

According to him, in the next week we shall have another work space of 5km between Obosi axis, working from both ends.

“We are cutting through the hill at Ogbunike to continue the work in that area,” they stated.

Anambra State Commissioner for Works, Arc Okey Ezeobi, announced that the right of way being demanded by the contractors would be granted to them, adding that an additional 5km has been added to the contractors.

Ezeobi thanked President Ahmed Bola Tinubu and Engr Dave Umahi for providing democracy dividends for the people of Anambra and the South East.

He reiterated the support of the people of the state ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“There is no better way to describe this as a renewed hope and not fit saying it and the Hon Minister with what you are doing with our wonderful President for the first time Easterners can come in and move out with ease and the bottleneck they had been a great harassment and that is sending people out of the South East, has been taken care of.

“One can now bypass Onitsha, bypass Asaba and you are on your way.

“You don’t know how glad the people of Anambra and the South East is and thank Mr President for us.

“There is no way to ask for democracy dividend than this and that is when you have a visionary leadership tailored towards alleviating the sufferings of the masses.

“Mr President is developing every part of Nigeria and regarding the right of way for this project, we are finalizing it and we are adding another 5km to what we have now and there will be more than enough for the contractor to work with,” he added.

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Family announces funeral arrangements for former GOCOP President Dotun Oladipo

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Late Dotun Oladipo
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The family of The Eagle Online publisher, Dotun Oladipo, has announced September 10 and 11, 2026 as the dates for the funeral programmes of the journalist and media entrepreneur.

Oladipo died on Tuesday, August 25, at the age of 56.

According to the family, a service of songs will hold at DayStar Church, Oregun, Ikeja, on Thursday, September 10.

The burial service will take place at the same venue on Friday, September 11, followed by his interment.

Oladipo was president of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) from 2017 to 2021 and was among the foundational members who helped shape the association during its formative years.

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GOCOP President, Danlami Nmodu, described his death as a painful loss to the Guild and recalled his contribution to the development of online publishing in Nigeria.Exploring African Diaspora Media

“Dotun played an important role in the development of GOCOP. He led the Guild for four years at a time when there was still a lot of work to be done to establish online publishers as an important part of the media. His contribution will always be remembered,” Nmodu said.

Nmodu said Oladipo brought his experience as a journalist and publisher to the leadership of the Guild.

“Dotun understood journalism and he understood the business of publishing. He was passionate about the place of online media in Nigeria and he gave his time to the growth of the Guild. We are saddened by his passing,” Nmodu said.

Oladipo was also a member of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and the International Press Institute (IPI Nigeria), and was active in the development of Nigeria’s online publishing industry.

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