Cristiano Ronaldo wins 2017 Best FIFA Men’s Player Of The Year award

Cristiano Ronaldo has been named the 2017 Best FIFA Men’s Player of the Year at a star-studded ceremony in London on Monday.

The Portuguese forward, who won last year’s inaugural award, fired Real Madrid to the La Liga title and scored 12 goals as the Spanish giants won the Champions League.

Real Madrid's Zinedine Zidane was awarded the Men’s Coach while Dutch duo Lieke Martens and Sarina Wiegman were rewarded as The Best FIFA Women’s Player and Women’s coach.

See the full list of winners below...

Lagos assembly passes bill making Yoruba language compulsory in schools

The Lagos State House of Assembly has passed a bill making the teaching of Yoruba language compulsory in schools in the state.

The bill was passed into law on Thursday after it successfully scaled through the third reading on the floor of the House.

FG releases N3.5bn for vaccination against communicable diseases

The National Economic Council (NEC) on Thursday, announced that the sum of N3.5 billion has been released for the vaccination programme against communicable diseases.

The Federal Government also said that vaccination campaign for measles in the 17 states in the Southern part of the country has been fixed to start from 8th March 2018.

Briefing State House correspondents after the monthly NEC, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, Laolu Akande said government released N3.5 billion for vaccination programme of the diseases.

11 children die of whooping cough in Kano

The Kiru local government council of Kano state says about 11 children have died of whooping cough at Kankwana village.

This is contained in a statement issued by the Information Officer of the local government council, Mallam Rabiu Khalil.

President Buhari approves pension payment to Biafra war veterans

President Buhari has approved payment of pension to soldiers, policemen and paramilitary officers, who were involved in the Biafra war.

The veterans were dismissed from service for participating in the war, which lasted between 1967 and 1970.

Reps urge FG to provide FRSC officers with arms

The House of Representatives on Wednesday, said officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) should bear arms in a bid to effectively carry out their responsibilities of saving lives.

The Green Chamber noted the increasing cases of violent attacks, harassment and intimidation of personnel and officers of the FRSC by highly placed individuals, motorists and hoodlums across the country, particularly in Zamfara, Jigawa, Abia and Lagos states.

Aiteo takes over as sponsor of CAF award

Oil and gas company, Aiteo has become the new sponsor of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) award. The company took over the sponsorship from telecommunications giant, Globacom.

Aiteo executive vice president, Benedict Peters, in a statement, said, “This sponsorship shows that there is a clear momentum behind Aiteo’s involvement in the game.

Facebook acquires popular teen app 'tbh'

Facebook has bought tbh, an app that lets people give each other compliments by participating in anonymous quizzes.

Teens have been flocking to the app named after the acronym frequently used in texts, "to be honest" to participate in anonymous polls and give feedback to friends.

REUBEN ABATI: OKOROCHA AND JACOB ZUMA’S STATUE

What is it about South African President Jacob Zuma and statues? Two statues in one month- generating controversy from the streets of Pretoria to the streets of Owerri in Nigeria. In the first week of October, a 30-feet monument was unveiled in honour of President Zuma in the North West region of his country. South Africans had opposed the idea of the statue since it was first proposed in February 2017. When it was eventually unveiled, and labelled a monument, the attendant outrage was bitter and loud because it was actually a glorification of Zuma, disguised as a tourist project to preserve the site where Zuma and 45 others were arrested by the apartheid police as they travelled out of the country for military training in 1963.

Kidney Trafficking: FG raises alarm over increasing rate in Egypt

The Federal ministry of health has released a memo to the Nigerian Medical Association NMA over the increased rate of kidney trafficking currently happening in Egypt. 

The memo is to create awareness to Nigerians who may be planning on going to Egypt for medical attention. 

Read the memo below...

Monkeypox victim commits suicide in Bayelsa

One of the victims of the viral disease, Monkeypox, at the quarantine centre in Bayelsa state has committed suicide, the state Commissioner for Health, Prof. Ebitimitula Etebu, has said.

The unnamed victim allegedly took his own life on Monday at an isolation centre at the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital, Okolobiri, in Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state.

Monkeypox virus hits Bayelsa

The Bayelsa Government is investigating suspected cases of monkeypox outbreak in its communities.
The Commissioner for Health, Prof. Ebitimitula Etebu said this in Yenagoa on Wednesday following reports that some 11 persons, including a medical doctor, had been placed on surveillance in Yenagoa.

Those with the suspected cases had been quarantined at the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital (NDUTH) , Okolobiri, Yenagoa Local Government Area.

Yahoo confirms accidental leakage of 3 billion users' details

Internet giant Yahoo said it has leaked the details of all its users.

The company said the number of accounts compromised in a 2013 hack has totalled three billion. That accounts for everyone who used it at the time of the leak.

Yahoo had earlier said around one billion accounts were part of that hack but has now revised the total.

According to the company, the details included personal information about each person, including their usernames, passwords, telephone numbers and dates of birth.

Tell Magu to leave me alone, Trump didn’t go after Obama’s wife - Patience Jonathan tells President Buhari

Former First lady, Patience Jonathan, has asked President Buhari to tell the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to leave her alone.

In a statement released by her chief press secretary Belema, Meshack-Hart, Mrs Jonathan said Magu was being used to destroy the image of her family because of her role in the 2015 elections in which she campaigned against President Buhari.

Those criticising President Buhari want to be settled so they can keep quiet, says Garba Shehu

President Buhari independence day speech delivered on Sunday, October 1st, have met strong condemnation by some Nigerians.

It could be recalled that Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, notable legal practitioner Mike Ozekhome, Femi Fani-Kayode, Ohaneze Ndigbo amongst others, condemned President Buhari's speech, describing it as divisive and very unceremonial.

Consumers who bypass meter would pay N450,000 fine – NERC

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has said that electricity consumers who bypass their meters will be forced to pay up to N450,000 as fine.

According to NERC, financial sanctions ranging from N50,000 to N450,000 for meter bypass by power consumers have been drafted by it and have been endorsed by the 11 electricity distribution companies operating in the country.

REUBEN ABATI: AMBAZONIA, BIYA’S INTOLERANCE AND INTERNET DEMOCRACY

A Biafra-like agitation for independence has been unfolding in neighbouring Republic of Cameroon since November 2016. The people of Northern and Southern Cameroons under the umbrella of the Southern Cameroons Ambazonia Consortium United Front (SCACUF) finally decided to affirm the independence of the English-speaking sections of Cameroon from the Republic. Like the Indigenous People of Biafra, the Ambazonians as they have called themselves since 1984, are protesting against their alleged marginalization by the dominant Francophone Cameroon and the Paul Biya government in Yaounde.