Author: Editor
Ben Ezechime, Enugu The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP) during the 2023 general election, Mr Peter Obi, has joined the global community to mourn His Holiness, Pope Francis, who passed away on Monday April 21, 2025 at a ripe age of 88. In his social media handle obtained on Wednesday by Ikengaonline, the former Anambra State Governor stated: “Today, I joined Francis Cardinal Arinze, global dignitaries, and thousands of mourners at St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome, to pay my final respects to His Holiness, Pope Francis, who passed away on April 21. “The solemn lying-in-state ceremony was a moment…
Our Reporter, Abuja & Ben Ezechime, Enugu Speculations about the purpoted plans by several PDP governors to defect to the ruling APC have begun to manifest as Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, his immediate predecessor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa and the entire Delta State cabinet officials have officially defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC. Oborevwori’s defection was announced after a closed door meeting by the governor and his cabinet as well as some critical stakeholders at the Government House Asaba on Wednesday. The Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the governor, Mr Festus Ahon,…
By Promise Adiele Nigerian public figures – politicians, clerics, traditional rulers, heads of parastatals, and sundry persons of self-styled importance, as usual, demonstrated an insincere, perfidious attitude during the recent Easter celebration across the country. One after another, these people sent ‘goodwill’ messages to Nigerians, which, to all intents and purposes, were mere lip services hanging loosely on guile and egocentric pursuits. Reading all the messages, from the lowest to the highest of them, these people surreptitiously mocked millions of Nigerians decimated by insecurity, grappling with survival under the crushing weight of the APC’s economic boulder. The Easter messages reveal…
Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia A major breakthrough has been recorded in Nigeria’s march towards innovation as a Biochemistry graduate of the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, MOUAU, Abia State, Miss Joy Oluchi Mamkwe, has produced re-usable sanitary pad using banana trunks. The innovation, according to her, is meant to make sanitary pads affordable to low income earners and dependent girls who can hardly afford non-reusable pads amid the biting economic hardship. Mamkwe who hails from Item Community in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State, told Ikengaonline that “the product is 100 per cent locally-made, very hygienic and safe for…
By Uzor Maxim Uzoatu The Vatican shocked the world when it issued the statement that Pope Francis had died, aged 88, at 7:35AM on Easter Monday. Pope Fancis, a native of Argentina, was the first Latin American to serve as the head of the Catholic Church. The ailing Pope had he made a surprise visit on Holy Thursday to Regina Coeli Prison in Rome, where he greeted inmates. On Easter Saturday, he stopped unannounced to pray and greet some of the faithful at St Peters Basilica. The final public appearance of the Pope took place on Easter Sunday when he…
Ben Ezechime, Enugu The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, has presented a cheque of N18 million to the Enugu State Government in support of the victims of the January 2025 petrol tanker explosion at Ugwu Onyeama on Enugu-Onitsha Expressway. It would be recalled that a tanker explosion claimed about 18 lives while others sustained several degrees of injury. Presenting the cheque to Governor Peter Mbah at the government house in Enugu, Abbas described the incident as a huge loss, not only to the government and people of Enugu State, but the nation as a whole. He…
By Zainab Suleiman Okino When the Director-General of the Department of State Security (DSS), Adeola Ajayi advocated for self-help and communal approach to insecurity and crimes such as raids on vulnerable communities leading to unprovoked deaths, insurgency, banditry and kidnapping, he ignited a heated debate about whether his suggestion invited anarchy and mutually assured destruction that could plunge the country into technical warfare. However, DG Ajayi was not pioneering this perspective. In 2022, General Theophilus Danjuma reiterated the same position at a public event in his home state of Taraba, echoing his earlier 2018 statement responding to widespread violence that…
Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia Protesters, Tuesday, stormed the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), demanding the immediate probe of the former Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari. The protesters who converged under the guise of Concerned Citizens Against Corruption, also demanded a thorough investigation into NNPCL’s transactions over the past five years. The leader of the protesters, Kabir Matazu, expressed disappointment that, “despite President Bola Tinubu’s removal of Kyari and the entire NNPCL board on April 2, 2025, no steps have been taken to investigate the alleged…
By Jude Eze The passing of His Holiness Pope Francis in the early hours of Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, has cast a solemn veil over the universal Church. The Holy See now stands at the threshold of one of her most sacred duties—electing a new successor to St. Peter. While the Church mourns and prays in hope of eternal life, in keeping with her rich tradition and theological understanding of death, the secular world—especially in sub-Saharan Africa—has erupted into an emotive frenzy. As predictable as sunrise after dawn, social media platforms and public discourse have been inundated with debates,…
Ben Ezechime, Enugu The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has decried the closure of Enugu International Airport by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). It would recalled that FAAN last week announced the closure following the collapse of a section of the runway. The leadership of the apex Igbo Organization, lamented that the closure came at the height of the Easter festive period when Ndigbo and other air transport users travel in high numbers. Ohanaeze Ndigbo described it as unpatriotic and unfair to regular users of the airport, especially Ndigbo. A statement signed by Dr. Ezechi Chukwu, the Spokesperson of Ohanaeze…