4 states receive N400 billion funding for light rail projects (Guardian)
Four states have been allocated N400 billion in the 2025 national budget for light rail projects to improve the transportation system countrywide.
The N400 billion for the light rail was allocated to projects in Lagos, Ogun, Kaduna and Kano states.
The National Assembly last Thursday passed the N54.99 trillion 2025 Appropriation Bill. Read more
I won’t allow Aiyedatiwa destroy my husband’s legacies, says Akeredolu’s wife (Nation)
Betty-Anyanwu, wife of the late former governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, has vowed that she would not allow Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa destroy her husband’s legacies.
She was reacting to the commissioning of Ondo Investment House and new fire trucks by Governor Aiyedatiwa.
The former Ondo First Lady, in a statement on her X handle, said she would fight with her last breath to ensure her late husband’s legacies are sustained. Read more
Soldiers killed 82 terrorists in one week — DHQ (Punch)
The Defence Headquarters has said troops on internal security operations across the country have killed 82 terrorists and arrested 198 criminals within one week.
In a statement released on Friday, the Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj-Gen Markus Kangye, said the troops also rescued 93 kidnap victims in one week and recovered 86 high-calibre weapons and 2,040 weapons across the theatres of operation in the country.
According to the DHQ spokesman, 41 terrorists, comprising 10 males, 12 females, and 19 children, surrendered to troops of Operation Hadin Kai in the North East. Read more
Oil Spillage: Shell shuts production in Bayelsa as NOSDRA wades in (DailyTrust)
The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) has suspended production in its facility at Obololi community, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa, over oil leak that has polluted rivers and impacted on aquatic lives in the area.
SPDC spokesperson, Mr Michael Adande, in a statement confirming the leak, said the operator of the SPDC Joint Venture (SPDC JV) after confirming the leak immediately isolated the line and suspended production.
Weekend Trust gathered that the oil spill, which started last Sunday and traced to rupture of the over-aged underwater pipeline laid in 1973, was still flowing as at the time of filing this report. Read more
Work set to commence on Ebonyi beach to link Cross River (Sun)
Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi has said that construction work will soon commence on Ndibe Beach, Afikpo in Afikpo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State to link Cross River State.
Umahi stated this when he visited the beach with other officials of the Ministry to carry out last phase of inspection of the beach for construction.
He assured the people of the area that President Bola Tinubu was committed to ensuring that all the projects embarked upon by his Renewed Hope Agenda would be completed at record time. Read more
Security Operatives Arrest Suspected Bello Turji’s Arms Supplier (Channels)
Hamza Samaila Surudubu, a suspected gunrunner and arms carrier supplying weapons to terrorists operating in the North-West Nigeria including notorious bandits’ kingpin, Bello Turji, has been arrested.
Special Adviser to Sokoto State Governor on security matters, Col Ahmed Usman (retd), confirmed the arrest of the arms supplier.
Confirming the arrest, Usman said, “A 35-year-old suspected ammunition courier identified as Hamza Samaila Surudubu has been apprehended by Sokoto State Community Guard Corps, (SSCGC), Isa Division. Read more
How my father, mother killed each other at home — 13-year-old Ekiti boy (Punch)
One of the children of the couple who killed each other on Tuesday at the Ita Eku area of Igirigiri, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, has recounted how his parents engaged in a deadly machete fight that led to their deaths.
The couple’s lifeless bodies were discovered in a pool of blood on Tuesday at their residence where they lived with their four children.
According to reports, the deceased wife usually accused her husband, identified as Caleb, who was said to be a policeman, of infidelity. Read more
Ja’Lisa Arnold wins 2025 Deutsche Bank Frieze Los Angeles Film Award (Deadline)
Ja’Lisa Arnold has been named as the 2025 recipient of the $10,000 Deutsche Bank Frieze Los Angeles Film Award, with Christopher Guerrero being revealed as the winner of the $2,500 Audience Award, voted for by the public. Both winners received their prizes during an invitation-only ceremony at the renowned art fair.
Realized in collaboration with non-profit Ghetto Film School and film and TV studio Fifth Season, the Frieze Los Angeles Film Award is recognized within the industry as an incubator for next-generation talent.
Since its launch in 2019, the initiative has supported over 40 fellows, providing a platform for emerging voices in filmmaking. Read more
Uncertainty grows among refugees and migrants as Germany heads to the polls (AlJazeera)
Germany is preparing for high-stakes elections, amid fears that far-right sentiment rising while migration policies sit at the centre of political debate.
In Cottbus, a city in eastern Brandenburg, the mood is tense as voters prepare to head to the polls with the rest of Germany on February 23 after Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party coalition government led by his Social Democratic Party (SPD) collapsed last November.
Outside the city centre, Jana Zistel, a German resident in Cottbus, is not sure which party to support, but is certain of her stance against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which has skyrocketed in popularity among eastern cities. Read more
Severed hand ‘dropped at school by bird’ may have belonged to injured child (Metro)
The hand was found at Our Lady Immaculate School in Darndale, Dublin (Picture: PA)
‘Partial human remains’ believed to be a severed hand have been found at a school in Ireland in bizarre circumstances.
Garda officers were alerted to the gruesome find at Our Lady Immaculate School in Dublin’s Darndale area on Friday afternoon.
The badly decomposed hand is thought to have been dropped into the school yard by a bird at around 10.30am, according to Irish broadcaster RTE. Read more
Voletta Wallace, mother of The Notorious B.I.G., dead at 72 (VIBE)
Voletta Wallace, mother of the late Notorious B.I.G. has reportedly passed away.
According to TMZ, Wallace died on Friday morning (Feb. 21) in Stroudsburg, Penn., per Monroe County Coroner Thomas Yanac. At 72 years old, she was allegedly in hospice care and passed away due to natural causes.
Born in Jamaica, Wallace moved to New York, where she raised the legendary rapper in the Brooklyn borough. She worked as an educator, teaching preschool, according to Heavy. Read more
4 scenarios for securing peace in Ukraine (VOA)
US President Donald Trump is pushing for a peaceful resolution to Russia’s now three-year full-scale war in Ukraine.
VOA examined several approaches floated by think tanks recently aimed at achieving a lasting peace to the war.
Maximum pressure strategy
A plan by the Center for European Policy Analysis, or CEPA, titled “How to Win: A Seven-Point Plan for Sustainable Peace in Ukraine,” calls for “a maximum pressure strategy to bring Russia to the negotiating table in good faith.” Read more
‘Motion is lotion’: Experts encourage movement to aid injury recovery (CBC)
When Katherine Valentine, an avid runner, biker and mountain climber, tried to adjust her position in her chair last fall, she wound up with “stabbing pain” through her shoulder.
“I’d been climbing the night before absolutely fine, but apparently sitting at my desk did me in,” the Calgary resident said.
“It was really embarrassing.” Read more
D’Tigress coach Wakama to be honoured as Best African Coach (Guardian)
The Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) has named Rena Wakama as the Best Basketball Coach following her impressive performance at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
According to the letter of invitation from the President of ANOCA, Mr. Mustafa Ibaraf, communicated through the President Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) Engr. Habu Gumel, Mrs. Rena Wakama will be among the distinguished guests of ANOCA to receive her award and will be accommodated at the Holiday Inn Hotel, Cheraga Towers, Algiers.
“I, therefore, have the honor to inform you that on the sidelines of this important assembly, an award ceremony will take place for the most deserving African sports laureates, who have distinguished themselves both at the continental and world levels.” Read more
Lookman set to Dethrone Osimhen as ‘king of the pitch’ (DailyTrust)
The reigning African Footballer of the Year and Atalanta FC of Italy forward, Ademola Lookman, will now look to dethrone the incumbent holder, Victor Osimhen, for the highest honour of Nigeria Pitch Awards.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the organisers of the Nigeria Pitch Awards on Thursday at the Bon Hotels, Sobo Arobiodu, Ikeja, unveiled the nominees for the 2025 edition of the awards which has 18 categories.
In the highest category of the Pitch Awards, which is “The King of the Pitch”, Super Eagles striker, Osimhen, will face a stiff competition from his compatriot, Lookman, who was recently crowned as the “African Footballer of the Year”. Read more
Olapade eyes $2.5m Kenya Open prize (Leadership)
Despite losing in the opening rounds of the Magical Kenya Open tournament whose main rounds teed of on Thursday at the Muthiaga Golf Club in Nairobi, Kenya, Nigeria’s sole representative in the tournament, Sunday Olapade, said he remains in contention for the prize money.
Olapade of the Lagos Ikoyi Club picked one of the three last tickets to the European Tour event, marking Nigeria’s return to top flight golf event since Oche Odoh last led Nigeria’s campaign in 2024.
He finished behind Deus Willy and Paul Chidale, posting +6 in the opening rounds, but now has his second round to fight for a stake in the winning purse and world ranking points. Read more
Emma Raducanu followed across 4 countries by ‘terrifying’ man, says her coach (Metro)
The ‘terrifying’ man who targeted Emma Raducanu in Dubai followed the British tennis star across multiple countries, says her temporary coach.
Raducanu broke down in tears and was in clear distress during her match at the Dubai Tennis Championships on Tuesday, after an alleged ‘stalker’ was removed from the crowd for displaying ‘fixated behaviour’.
The 22-year-old, who hid behind the umpire’s chair, and was later able to complete her match against Karolina Muchova, described the harassment she endured as a ‘difficult experience’ in an Instagram post on Wednesday. Read more
Brentford rout Leicester as Foxes fans vent fury (BBC)
Angry Leicester fans turned on the club’s board after they were thumped at home by dominant Brentford.
The Foxes suffered a sixth straight Premier League home defeat without scoring – the longest ever run by a top-flight side within a single season – as goals from Yoane Wissa, Bryan Mbeumo, Christian Norgaard and Fabio Carvalho eased the Bees to victory.Leicester supporters chanted against director of football Jon Rudkin and vented their fury with ‘sack the board’ as the club’s survival hopes suffered another damaging blow with a 10th defeat in 11 games. Read more