Author: PositiveNaija

Nigeria’s ransom crisis: Funding the terror we fight By Guardian Editorial Board on January 29, 2026: Recommended Nigerian Newspaper Report 24

Nigeria’s ransom crisis: Funding the terror we fight By Guardian Editorial Board on January 29, 2026: Recommended Nigerian Newspaper Report 24

The United Nations expressed concern over the spate of indiscriminate abductions in Nigeria recently, with Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, lamenting, “Students, young people, young men, young women continue to be detained by armed groups.” Coming against the backdrop that abductors collected ₦2.57 billion in ransom payments within a single year, the UN’s voice is a sobering wake-up call that, in the absence of demonstrable state capacity to protect citizens, Nigeria might continue to face a vicious cycle of mass abductions propelled by the lucrative business of ransom collection.

Continue reading Nigeria’s ransom crisis: Funding the terror we fight By Guardian Editorial Board on January 29, 2026: Recommended Nigerian Newspaper Report 24

Fela and the Legacy of the African Giant By Vanguard Editorial Board on January 27, 2026 – Recommended Nigerian Newspaper Report 24

Fela and the Legacy of the African Giant By Vanguard Editorial Board on January 27, 2026 – Recommended Nigerian Newspaper Report 24

Few cultural figures have loomed as large over Africa’s political and artistic imagination as Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. Decades after his death, Fela remains less a memory than a presence—felt in protest chants, sampled in global music, and echoed in every fearless confrontation with power. His legacy is not merely about sound; it is about courage, resistance and an uncompromising belief that art must speak truth to authority.

Continue reading Fela and the Legacy of the African Giant By Vanguard Editorial Board on January 27, 2026 – Recommended Nigerian Newspaper Report 24

Freedom for bandits: Whither justice for victims? By Vanguard Editorial Board on January 28, 2026 – Recommended Nigerian Newspaper Report 23

Freedom for bandits: Whither justice for victims? By Vanguard Editorial Board on January 28, 2026 – Recommended Nigerian Newspaper Report 23

Thousands of families have been traumatised. Children have been orphaned, farmers chased off their land, schools shut down, and local economies crippled in the North-West zone of the country in recent times.

But the reported decision of the Katsina State government to release 70 suspected bandits has unsettled Nigerians who have been calling for justice for the victims of the dastardly acts of the bandits.

Continue reading Freedom for bandits: Whither justice for victims? By Vanguard Editorial Board on January 28, 2026 – Recommended Nigerian Newspaper Report 23

FG’s ban on admission into SS3: Orderly reform or punitive policy? By Vanguard Editorial Board on January 29, 2026 – Recommended Nigerian Newspaper Report 22

FG’s ban on admission into SS3: Orderly reform or punitive policy? By Vanguard Editorial Board on January 29, 2026 – Recommended Nigerian Newspaper Report 22

The recent reaffirmation of the blanket ban on admission of students directly into Senior Secondary School Three, SSS3, the final class before the West African Senior School Certificate Examination, WAEC, and National Examination Council, NECO, by the Federal Government, has ignited concern across Nigeria’s education sector. Authorities insist the policy is designed to protect academic standards and curb examination malpractice.

Continue reading FG’s ban on admission into SS3: Orderly reform or punitive policy? By Vanguard Editorial Board on January 29, 2026 – Recommended Nigerian Newspaper Report 22

Tackling Nigeria’s drug crisis By Punch Editorial Board on January 27, 2026 – Recommended Nigerian Newspaper Report 21

Tackling Nigeria’s drug crisis By Punch Editorial Board on January 27, 2026 – Recommended Nigerian Newspaper Report 21

Buba Marwa, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, listed the agency’s staggering seizures in its five-year scorecard in Abuja on 20 January.

Between 2020 and 2025, the NDLEA arrested at least 77,792 drug offenders, including 128 identified drug barons, seized about 14.8 million kilogrammes of assorted illicit drugs and secured 14,225 convictions.

Continue reading Tackling Nigeria’s drug crisis By Punch Editorial Board on January 27, 2026 – Recommended Nigerian Newspaper Report 21

Stop subsidising pilgrimages with public funds By Punch Editorial Board on January 26, 2026 – Recommended Nigerian Newspaper Report 20

Stop subsidising pilgrimages with public funds By Punch Editorial Board on January 26, 2026 – Recommended Nigerian Newspaper Report 20

MOST Nigerian leaders pretend to love God. They sponsor religious pilgrimages not in the service of God, but in the service of man, mostly to gain political capital and win support in elections.

The Federal Government has allocated ₦11.5 billion for religious pilgrimages in the 2026 budget. The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria receives ₦5.99 billion, while the Nigeria Christian Pilgrim Commission gets ₦5.57 billion. This represents a waste of scarce public funds.

Continue reading Stop subsidising pilgrimages with public funds By Punch Editorial Board on January 26, 2026 – Recommended Nigerian Newspaper Report 20