Headline
Why I Joined Nigerian Army — Buhari
Published
3 years agoon
By
Editor
President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday in Daura, his hometown, said he fled home to join the Nigerian Army amidst growing pressure for him to get married.
Highlighting the years of battle during the Nigerian Civil War and some personal challenges, Buhari said he secured his first job early after school to manage a co-operative in Daura, but had to escape to join the army when his family pressured him into marriage.
According to a statement signed by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, Buhari revealed this when he visited the Emir of Daura, Faruk Faruk, after unveiling two roads.
The statement is titled ‘God has been kind to me; I survived many battles – President Buhari.’
It read in part, “President Buhari said that he secured his first job early after school to manage a co-operative in Daura, but had to escape and join the army when there was pressure that he should get married.”
The President was quoted as saying, “I told Governor Aminu Masari the story of how I left Daura to join the army. That was how God planned it. We make choices in life, but eventually destiny is before God.
“I was at the war front during the civil war, and saw how many died. Some fell right beside me. God kept me.
“Many bridges were blown just before we arrived at some places, and after we crossed. I arrived at some places to see bodies of my own colleagues that we were fighting together. I am alive today only by God’s grace.”
He also said being the chief executive of a diverse country such as Nigeria must have been by the grace of God.
“This opportunity to serve the nation comes from God. All over the world, Nigeria is known for its diversity, with different religions and cultures.
READ ALSO: JUST IN: Residents Boo Buhari In Katsina
“We are also known because we have a huge population of millions of people. For the President of Nigeria, at this time, to come from Daura is the grace and mercy of God,” Buhari said.
Again, he assured the emirate that he would return and settle in Daura after handing over on May 29, 2023.
The President thanked the monarch for his various recognitions and titles given to his close aides and family members.
“I am grateful for all the support,” he stated.
PUNCH
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Headline
US Suspends Work Visas For Nigerian, Foreign Truck Drivers
Published
9 hours agoon
August 23, 2025By
Editor
The United States government has suspended the issuance of work visas for Nigerian and other foreign truck drivers, citing job security concerns and safety risks for American citizens.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the decision on Thursday, saying it takes immediate effect.
According to him, the rising number of foreign truck drivers on U.S. highways is both threatening lives and reducing opportunities for American truckers.
READ ALSO:JUST IN: US Visa Restrictions On ECOWAS Countries Threaten Regional Prosperity — FG
“Effective immediately, we are pausing all issuance of worker visas for commercial truck drivers.
“The increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on U.S. roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers,” Rubio said.
The move comes under President Donald Trump’s renewed clampdown on immigration since returning to office in January 2025.
READ ALSO:US Visa Adjudication Sparks Concerns Over Diplomatic Relations
As part of new measures, travellers from countries with high visa overstay rates or weak travel databases will be required to pay a bond of $5,000 to $15,000 before obtaining certain categories of visas.
The U.S. Embassy in Nigeria also directed all visa applicants to disclose their social media handles from the past five years, warning that failure to comply could result in denial of applications and possible ineligibility for future visas.
Headline
Judge Orders Closure Of Trump’s Controversial ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Migrant Camp
Published
21 hours agoon
August 22, 2025By
Editor
A US federal judge on Thursday barred the Trump administration and Florida state government from bringing any new migrants to the detention centre known as “Alligator Alcatraz” and ordered much of the site to be dismantled, effectively shuttering the facility.
Florida’s government swiftly announced it would appeal the decision.
The detention centre was hastily assembled in just eight days in June with bunk beds, wire cages and large white tents at an abandoned airfield in Florida’s Everglades wetlands, home to a large population of alligators.
President Donald Trump, who has vowed to deport millions of undocumented migrants, visited the centre last month, boasting about the harsh conditions and joking that the reptilian predators will serve as guards.
READ ALSO:
The White House has nicknamed the facility “Alligator Alcatraz,” a reference to the former island prison in San Francisco Bay that Trump has said he wants to reopen.
The centre was planned to hold 3,000 migrants, according to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
But it has come under fire from both environmentalists and critics of Trump’s crackdown on migration, who consider the facility to be inhumane.
The new ruling on Thursday by District Judge Kathleen Williams comes after a lawsuit filed against the Trump administration by Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity.
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The environmental groups argue that the detention centre threatens the sensitive Everglades ecosystem and was hastily built without conducting the legally required environmental impact studies.
– Sixty-day deadline –
Earlier this month, Williams had ordered further construction at the centre to be temporarily halted.
Now she has ordered the Trump administration and the state of Florida — which is governed by Republican Ron DeSantis — to remove all temporary fencing installed at the centre within 60 days, as well as all lighting, generators and waste and sewage treatment systems.
The order also prohibits “bringing any additional persons onto the… site who were not already being detained at the site.”
READ ALSO:Trump Threatens 250% Tariffs On Foreign Pharmaceuticals
Several detainees have spoken with AFP about the conditions at the centre, including a lack of medical care, mistreatment and the alleged violation of their legal rights.
“They don’t even treat animals like this. This is like torture,” said Luis Gonzalez, a 25-year-old Cuban who called AFP from inside the centre.
He recently shared a cell with about 30 people, a space enclosed by chain-linked fencing that he compared to a chicken coop.
The Trump administration has said it wants to make this a model for other detention centres across the country.
AFP
Headline
Japan City Mulls Two-hour Daily Smartphone Limit
Published
22 hours agoon
August 22, 2025By
Editor
A Japanese city will urge all smartphone users to limit screen time to two hours a day outside work or school under a proposed ordinance that includes no penalties.
The limit, which will be recommended for all residents in central Japan’s Toyoake City, will not be binding, and there will be no penalties incurred for higher usage, according to the draft ordinance.
The proposal aims “to prevent excessive use of devices causing physical and mental health issues… including sleep problems,” Mayor Masafumi Koki said in a statement on Friday.
The draft urges elementary school students to avoid smartphones after 9:00 pm, and junior high students and older are advised not to use them after 10:00 pm.
READ ALSO:Two Japanese Boxers Die From Brain Injuries At Same Event
The move prompted an online backlash, with many calling the plan unrealistic.
“I understand their intention, but the two-hour limit is impossible,” one user wrote on social media platform X.
“In two hours, I cannot even read a book or watch a movie (on my smartphone),” wrote another.
Others said smartphone use should be a decision for families to make for themselves.
The angry response prompted the mayor to clarify that the two-hour limit was not mandatory, emphasising that the guidelines “acknowledge smartphones are useful and indispensable in daily life”.
READ ALSO:Japan’s Petabit: What To Know About Internet Speed That Can Download 67 Million Songs In A second
The ordinance will be considered next week, and if passed, it will come into effect in October.
In 2020, the western Kagawa region issued a first-of-its-kind ordinance calling for children to be limited to an hour a day of gaming during the week, and 90 minutes during school holidays.
It also suggested children aged 12 to 15 should not be allowed to use smartphones later than 9:00 pm, with the limit rising to 10:00 pm for children between 15 and 18.
Japanese youth spend slightly over five hours on average a day online on weekdays, according to a survey published in March by the Children and Families Agency.
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