Tributes poured in on Thursday as the Benue State House of Assembly held a valedictory session in honour of former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, who died on August 9, 2025, at the age of 78.
Governor Hyacinth Alia, represented by his deputy, Sam Ode, described Ogbeh as a statesman whose legacy embodied dedication, vision, and integrity.
He said, “Our father left a heritage. He demonstrated leadership quality, in fairness and served the people justly. From 2001 to 2005, Ogbeh was national chairman of PDP.
He was a workaholic and playwright, who carried the name of Benue with pride. He was an embodiment of integrity and an ambassador of the state, shining through his actions.”
Benue Assembly Speaker, Alfred Emberga, hailed Ogbeh as a selfless leader and brilliant legislator whose motions as a lawmaker consistently focused on the welfare and development of his constituents and the state at large.
Emberga said, “Chief Ogbeh demonstrated brilliance in service to his people and Nigeria. From his records as a member of the House, all his motions centred on the welfare and development of his people and the entire state. Our senior member was a very vocal and effective legislator who endeared himself to his constituents with activism. He served his people selflessly, and it behoves us to emulate him, having left an enduring legacy.”
Ogbeh’s political journey began in the Second Republic, when he represented Otukpa State Constituency of Ogbadibo Local Government Area between 1979 and 1982 and served as deputy speaker of the Benue State Assembly under the National Party of Nigeria.
He later rose to national prominence, becoming the chairman of the People’s Democratic Party from 2001 to 2005.
In later years, he became a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress and served as Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The valedictory session was attended by dignitaries, including a former deputy governor of the state, Steven Lawani, and several ex-lawmakers.
Representatives of the three senatorial districts — Cephas Dyakor, Jabi Sooke, and Samuel Agada — also paid glowing tributes, acknowledging Ogbeh’s immense contributions to legislative activities in the state and his enduring influence on upcoming legislators. (Punch)
Chelsea will travel to Molineux Stadium to face Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Carabao Cup fourth round, following Wednesday’s draw.
The Blues booked their place in the next stage after a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Lincoln City at the LNER Stadium.
An excellent 20-yard strike from Tyrique George and a first Chelsea goal for Facundo Buonanotte sealed the win for Enzo Maresca’s side, despite a spirited challenge from the hosts.
There are no replays in the Carabao Cup, and extra time is not used until the semi-final stage. If a game is level after 90 minutes, the winner is decided by a penalty shootout.
Fourth-round ties are scheduled to be played in the week commencing October 27. (Punch)
Business mogul and chairman of the Ibru Organisation, Olorogun Oskar Ibru, has died at the age of 67.
According to a statement by his family, reported by Arise News on Wednesday, Ibru passed away after a brief illness.
Further details on the circumstances of his death were not disclosed.
A key figure in Nigeria’s corporate world, Ibru was one of the most prominent heirs of the Ibru dynasty.
He was instrumental in sustaining and expanding the conglomerate established by his late father, Olorogun Michael Ibru, whose business empire covered shipping, oil and gas, real estate, and commerce.
His passing comes less than a decade after the death of the family patriarch, Michael Ibru, in 2016.
Funeral arrangements are expected to be announced soon.
Reacting to the news on Wednesday, media entrepreneur and publisher of Ovation International, Dele Momodu, described Ibru as “an extremely friendly gentleman and a socialite per excellence.”
In a post on his Instagram page, Momodu wrote, “News has just reached me in the skies that one of Nigeria’s most recognisable businessmen, OLORUNGUN OSKAR IBRU, has passed on… He was an extremely friendly gentleman, and a socialite per excellence, who was loved so passionately by families and friends… He was the son of the business Titan, OLOROGUN MICHAEL IBRU… Rest in peace, dear Brother…” (Punch)
No fewer than 1,000 Christian pilgrims on Wednesday departed Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, Owerri, Imo, for a Holy Pilgrimage to Israel and Jordan.
President Bola Tinubu, represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, flagged off the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission’s 2025 delayed Easter pilgrimage.
Tinubu, who described pilgrimage as “a spiritual journey of faith”, cautioned the travellers against absconding.
The president further described it as a “platform for moral transformation and spiritual rebirth.”
While noting that prayer remained a sustaining force for Nigeria, he reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to promoting religious harmony in the country.
Tinubu said: “I, therefore, urge you to ensure you return with your batch at the end of your pilgrimage so that you can join forces with the government to build an egalitarian society where no man is oppressed.
“It is equally germane to reiterate that NCPC, under the leadership of Bishop Stephen Adegbite, has put all mechanisms in place to check abscondment.
“It will interest you to know that the Commission, in all its pilgrimages from December last year to date, has been able to achieve almost zero abscondment, so be warned,” he stressed.
Tinubu emphasised that the theme of the exercise, “Pilgrimage of Renewed Hope for Total Restoration,” aligned with his administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which sought to improve the quality of life of all Nigerians.
He acknowledged that some governments’ policies had been tough on citizens, but assured Nigerians that “there will certainly be light at the end of the dark tunnel.”
Tinubu said his achievements in youth empowerment, infrastructure, education, and security, as well as the reductions in insurgency, kidnapping, and banditry, could be traced to the resolve to restore peace in troubled areas.
The President also lauded Governor Hope Uzodimma’s spiritual commitment and sponsorship of 1,000 Christian pilgrims this year, just as he did in 2023.
In a remark, Uzodimma thanked the President for taking a keen interest in the physical and spiritual well-being of the Nigerian citizens and for his commitment to a better country.
The governor admonished the pilgrims to see the exercise as an opportunity to seek the face of God, pray for the state and the country.
“We will work against any abuse. As you journey to the Holy lands, carry Nigeria in your heart, pray for peace, prosperity, unity, and the President for additional wisdom and guidance,” he said.
Also speaking, Gov. Alex Otti of Abia, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Mr Caleb Ajagba, urged the pilgrims not to see the trip as a mere tourist exercise.
Otti encouraged them to ask themselves the question of why they wanted to go on pilgrimage rather than see it as any other journey.
Earlier, Adegbite thanked Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, First Lady, Sen. Remi Tinubu, Uzodimma and Akume for their commitment towards the spiritual upliftment of the Nigerian citizens.
He commended Uzodimma for sponsoring the pilgrims, describing him as “a wonderful governor, leader par excellence, great man by all standards, beacon of hope for Imo, Pilgrimage and Nigeria.”
The NCPC boss also joined in urging the pilgrims to see the trip as purely a spiritual one and apply themselves accordingly.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that prayers were offered for the body of Christ, peace in Nigeria and the Middle East, a successful pilgrimage, and for the president, the governors, and Nigerian leaders. (Punch)
A former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Joy Nunieh, has praised President Bola Tinubu for recognising the Ogoni 13, describing it as a long-overdue step toward justice and reconciliation in the Niger Delta.
PUNCH Online reports that Tinubu has conferred national honours on four additional slain Ogoni leaders, sometimes referred to as the Ogoni 4, bringing the total honoured to Ogoni 13.
Speaking on Arise TV on Thursday, Nunieh recalled that while the Federal Government previously honoured the Ogoni 9 executed under the Abacha regime, the four others, making up the Ogoni 13, were left out.
“Yes, it is. We have called for this for a very long time that the Ogoni 13 should be honoured and when the Ogoni 9 were honoured we were happy, but of course it was incomplete without the Ogoni 4,” she said.
She expressed gratitude that the recognition has finally come, calling it a sign of good governance.
“Yes, it is. We have called for this for a very long time that the Ogoni 13 should be honoured and when the Ogoni 9 were honoured we were happy but of course it was incomplete without the Ogoni 4 and so today we’re very grateful that the Ogoni 13 have been honoured.”
Nunieh, however, urged the Federal Government to go further by issuing a national apology, similar to what she said Australia did for its aboriginal population.
“And of course we asked for a national apology like it’s been done in Australia. President Rudd did that apologising to the aborigines there and so that’s what we’re asking for but today is the first step and we now see that President Tinubu has shown good governance by taking this bold step which nobody had ever done since the crisis and we’re eternally grateful for that,” she said.
The execution of the Ogoni 9, including environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, in November 1995 drew global condemnation and remains one of Nigeria’s darkest chapters.
PUNCH Online reports that earlier in June 2025, President Tinubu granted posthumous national honours and a full presidential pardon to Ken Saro-Wiwa and the other members of the Ogoni 9, nearly 30 years after their execution. (Punch)
The Nigeria Football Federation has congratulated Super Falcons and Brighton and Hove Albion’s goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie on her fourth-place finish at this year’s Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris on Monday night.
Ademola Olajire, Head of NFF’s Media and Communications department, stated this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.
Nnadozie, who has been Africa’s Best Goalkeeper for the past two years, was also named Goalkeeper of the tournament for this summer’s Women Africa Cup of Nations finals in Morocco.
She played a key role in Nigeria’s 10th triumph at WAFCON.
“We heartily congratulate Nnadozie on her fourth-place finish in the race. It is a commendable feat given the calibre of goalkeepers she was up against.
“Finishing fourth is a big achievement, and we believe in her capacity to win this trophy very soon,” NFF General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi said.
Sanusi also gave kudos to Super Falcons’ Head Coach Justine Madugu, who also finished fourth in the Women’s Coach of the Year category.
“Madugu’s feat further underscores the fact that the NFF was right to have given him the Super Falcons’ job, which had earlier been validated with him leading the team to victory.
“We congratulate him on this feat and wish him victory in the awards in the coming years.”
Nnadozie finished fourth behind England and Chelsea FC’s Hannah Hampton, who took home the Trophée Yachine, Gotham FC’s Ann-Katrin Berger, and Barcelona FC’s Cata Coll.
She, however, finished above Arsenal FC’s Daphne van Domselaar in the Top Five.
Madugu was fourth in a race won by Sarina Wiegman, who led England to the UEFA Women’s Championship title, and which also included Chelsea’s Sonia Bompastor, Brazil’s Arthur Elias and Arsenal FC’s Renée Slegers. (Punch)
Nakisa Bidarian has revealed that Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua are still set to fight, despite numerous setbacks.
Paul and Joshua were believed to be in advanced talks, with a date pencilled in for the pair to clash in early 2026.
Although the Ring Magazine reported in August that they were facing difficulties with broadcasting rights, due to the Brit having an exclusive deal with DAZN.
Shortly after that, the announcement came that Paul would be meeting Gervonta Davis in an exhibition bout instead of fighting Joshua.
As the YouTuber-turned-boxer now gears up to meet Davis on November 14, the promotional tour began on Monday night in New York.
Despite it being the launch press conference for the bout between Paul and Davis, questions were unsurprisingly circulating regarding the former’s plans to fight Joshua.
Most Valuable Promotions’ co-founder, Bidarian, confirmed to assembled media that a fight between the rivals is still on the cards.
Bidarian reiterated: “We have an agreement in principle.”
After a Seconds Out host furthered the questioning to clarify what he meant by that, Bidarian responded: “To fight each other.”
Paul made it clear that this would still be the case, after he took to social media to reveal his plan to first ‘kill David’ and then ‘slaughter Goliath’. (Punch)
President Donald Trump on Monday used the platform of the presidency to promote unproven and in some cases discredited ties between Tylenol, vaccines and autism as his administration announced a wide-ranging effort to study the causes of the complex brain disorder.
“Don’t take Tylenol,” Trump instructed pregnant women around a dozen times during the unwieldy White House news conference, also urging mothers not to give their infants the drug, known by the generic name acetaminophen. He also fueled long-debunked claims that ingredients in vaccines or timing shots close together could contribute to rising rates of autism in the U.S., without providing any medical evidence.
The rambling announcement, which appeared to rely on existing studies rather than significant new research, comes as the Make America Healthy Again movement has been pushing for answers on the causes of autism. The diverse coalition of supporters of Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. includes several anti-vaccine activists who have long spread debunked claims that immunizations are responsible.
The announcement also sheds light on Trump’s own long-held fascination with autism and his trepidation about the childhood vaccine schedule, even as the president has taken pride in his work to disseminate COVID-19 vaccines during his first term.
Medical experts said Trump’s remarks were irresponsible. New York University bioethicist Art Caplan said it was “the saddest display of a lack of evidence, rumors, recycling old myths, lousy advice, outright lies, and dangerous advice I have ever witnessed by anyone in authority.”
Trump announced during the event that the Food and Drug Administration would begin notifying doctors that the use of acetaminophen “can be associated” with an increased risk of autism, but did not immediately provide justification for the new recommendation.
Some studies have raised the possibility that taking acetaminophen during pregnancy might increase the risk of autism — but many others haven’t found that concern, said autism expert David Mandell of the University of Pennsylvania.
One challenge is that it’s hard to disentangle the effects of Tylenol use from the effects of high fevers during pregnancy. Fevers, especially in the first trimester, can increase the risk for miscarriages, preterm birth and other problems, according to the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine.
Trump also urged not giving Tylenol to young children, but scientists say that research indicates autism develops in the fetal brain.
Responding to Trump’s warnings, the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine said they still recommend Tylenol as an appropriate option to treat fever and pain during pregnancy. The president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said Monday that suggestions that Tylenol use in pregnancy causes autism are “irresponsible when considering the harmful and confusing message they send to pregnant patients.”
Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Monday evening that the administration “does not believe popping more pills is always the answer for better health” and that it “will not be deterred in these efforts as we know millions across America are grateful.”
Tylenol maker Kenvue disputed any link between the drug and autism on Monday and said in a statement that if pregnant mothers don’t use Tylenol when in need, they could face a dangerous choice between suffering fevers or using riskier painkiller alternatives. Shares of Kenvue Inc. fell 7.5% in trading Monday, reducing the company’s market value by about $2.6 billion.
Kennedy announced during the news conference that at Trump’s urging, he was launching a new all-agency effort to uncover all the factors that could be contributing to autism, even as scientists have already been researching that question for decades.
FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary also took the stage to announce it was taking the first steps to try to approve a folic acid metabolite called leucovorin as a treatment option for patients believed to have low levels of folate in the brain. That may include some people with autism.
Leucovorin is used to counteract the side effects of various prescription drugs, including chemotherapy and other high-dose medications that can negatively impact the immune system. It works by boosting folate levels, a form of vitamin B that’s critical to the body’s production of healthy red blood cells.
Women already are told to take folic acid before conception and during pregnancy because it reduces the chances of certain birth defects known as neural tube defects.
In recent years a handful of studies have suggested positive results when high-dose folic acid is used to treat children with autism, with researchers in China and other countries reporting improvements in social skills and other metrics. Those small studies have been quickly embraced by some parts of the autism community online.
The theory is that some, not all, children with autism may not properly metabolize folate, Mandell said. But the recent studies “are really tiny,” he said. To prove an effect, “we would need an independent, large, rigorously controlled randomized trial.”
During the press conference, Trump said he’s a believer in vaccines but claimed without evidence that giving vaccinations close together at the recommended ages has a link to autism. Spacing out shots as he suggests can lead to an increased risk that children become infected with a vaccine-preventable disease before returning for another visit.
Though anti-vaccine activists, including Kennedy, have long suggested a link between vaccines and autism, widespread scientific consensus and decades of studies have firmly concluded there isn’t one.
Autism is not a disease but a complex developmental condition that affects different people in different ways. It can include delays in language, learning or social and emotional skills. For some people, profound autism means being nonverbal and having intellectual disabilities, but the vast majority of people with autism experience far milder effects.
The disorder affects 1 in 31 U.S. children today, a sharp rise from just a few years ago, according to the CDC. Experts say the increase is mainly due to a new definition for the disorder that now includes mild cases on a “spectrum” and better diagnoses. They say there is no single cause to the disorder and say the rhetoric appears to ignore and undermine decades of science into the genetic and environmental factors that can play a role.
The announcement is the latest step the administration, driven by Kennedy and his supporters, has taken to reshape America’s public health landscape.
Beyond cutbacks at federal health agencies, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been roiled by disagreements over Kennedy’s vaccine policies. An influential immunization panel stocked by Kennedy with figures who have been critical of vaccines last week changed shot guidance for COVID-19 and other diseases. (JapanToday)
Jimmy Kimmel returned to late-night television Tuesday after a nearly weeklong suspension and nearly broke down in tears, saying he wasn’t trying to joke about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
“I have no illusions about changing anyone’s mind, but I do want to make something clear, because it’s important to me as a human and that is, you understand that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” Kimmel said, his voice breaking. “I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.”
Kimmel added: “Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what … was obviously a deeply disturbed individual. That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make.” He said he understood his remarks last week to some “felt either ill-timed or unclear or maybe both.”
Kimmel criticized the ABC affiliates who took his show off the air. “That’s not legal. That’s not American. It’s un-American.” Two stations groups that represent about a quarter of ABC affiliates, Sinclair and Nexstar, had said they would not show Kimmel’s program on Tuesday.
He thanked the people who supported him, and even people who don’t like him who stood up for his right to speak, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. “It takes courage for them to speak out against this administration,” he said. “They did and they deserve credit for it.”
Kimmel nearly broke down again in praising Kirk’s widow, who publicly forgave her husband’s killer. If nothing else comes from the past few weeks, he said “I hope it can be that.”
ABC, which suspended Kimmel’s show last Wednesday following criticism of his comments about the Kirk’s assassination, announced Monday that “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” would return after the network had “thoughtful conversations” with the host.
Kimmel admitted that he was mad when ABC suspended him, but praised his bosses for putting him back on the air. “Unjustly, this puts them at risk.”
He mocked Trump for criticizing him for bad ratings. “He tried his best to cancel me and instead he forced millions of people to watch this show,” Kimmel said.
The decisions by Sinclair and Nexstar left ABC stations in Washington, D.C.;, St. Louis;, Nashville, Tennessee; and Richmond, Virginia among the cities airing something else. WJLA-TV, the Sinclair-owned station in Washington, instead aired a newscast and an episode of the chain’s show, “The National Desk.”
Kimmel, who has been publicly silent since his suspension, posted Tuesday on his Instagram account a picture of himself with the late television producer and free speech advocate Norman Lear. “Missing this guy today,” he wrote.
ABC suspended Kimmel “indefinitely” after comments he made in a monologue last week. Kimmel, who has been a relentless Trump critic in his comedy, suggested that many Trump supporters were trying to capitalize on Kirk’s death and were “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.”
Kimmel, who has been a relentless Trump critic in his comedy, suggested that many Trump supporters were trying to capitalize on Kirk’s death and were “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.”
Trump-appointed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr last week said it appeared that Kimmel was trying to “directly mislead the American public” with his remarks about Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old Utah man charged with Kirk’s killing, and his motives. Those motives remain unclear. Authorities say Robinson grew up in a conservative family, but his mother told investigators his son had turned left politically in the last year.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said before ABC announced the suspension. “These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Those remarks set a backlash in motion, with Republican Sen. Ted Cruz saying that Carr acted like “a mafioso.” Hundreds of entertainment luminaries, including Tom Hanks, Barbra Streisand and Jennifer Aniston, signed a letter circulated by the American Civil Liberties Union that called ABC’s move “a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation.”
Podcaster Joe Rogan weighed in Tuesday on Kimmel’s side. “I definitely don’t think that the government should be involved — ever — in dictating what a comedian can or can’t say in a monologue,” Rogan said. “You are crazy for supporting this because this will be used on you.”
Some consumers punished ABC parent Disney by canceling subscriptions to its streaming services.
Trump had hailed Kimmel’s suspension and criticized his return, writing on his Truth Social platform: “I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back … Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who’s not funny, and who puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE.”
Actor Robert De Niro appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Tuesday, impersonating Carr being interviewed by Kimmel. De Niro, as Carr, said the FCC had a new motto, “sticks and stones can break your bones.”
Isn’t there more to the saying, Kimmel asked, that words can never hurt you?
“They can hurt you now,” De Niro responded, saying you have to make sure to say the right ones.
Kimmel took the stage to a long standing ovation and chants of “Jimmy, Jimmy.” One audience member, Walter Bates, said after the taping that Kimmel’s discussion of Kirk’s wife “was a very moving moment. I got very emotional and so did my wife.”
Trump’s administration has used threats, lawsuits and federal government pressure to try to exert more control over the media industry. Trump sued ABC and CBS over news coverage, which the companies settled. Trump has also filed defamation lawsuits against The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, and successfully urged Congress to strip federal funding from NPR and PBS.
After pulling out of her planned performance at the premiere of Hulu’s Lilith Fair documentary in protest over Kimmel’s suspension, singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan appeared on Kimmel’s show as the musical guest. McLachlan had been booked on the show prior to the preemption, a representative told The Associated Press.
The other guest was actor Glen Powell.
The suspension happened at a time when the late-night landscape is shifting. Shows are losing viewers, in part because many watch highlights the next day online. CBS announced the cancellation of Colbert’s show over the summer. Kimmel’s contract with ABC reportedly lasts through May.
CBS’ “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert, in his own opening monologue Monday, grabbed his recently won Emmy Award for outstanding talk series, saying, “Once more, I am the only martyr on late night!” (JapanToday)
Barbadian singer Robyn Fenty has welcomed her third child with American rapper, Rakim Mayers, popularly known as A$AP Rocky.
The 37-year-old singer confirmed the birth in a photo released on her Instagram page on Tuesday, revealing the baby girl’s name as Rocki Irish Mayers. The newborn is the couple’s first daughter after two sons, RZA, three, and Riot, two.
Rihanna and A$AP Rocky had been friends for more than a decade before beginning a relationship in 2020, shortly after Rihanna’s split from Saudi businessman Hasan Jameel.
The couple welcomed their first son, RZA, in May 2022. The singer announced her second pregnancy during the Super Bowl Halftime Show in February 2023 and gave birth to their second son, Riot Rose, in August of the same year.
The latest addition brings the couple’s children to three within three years. (Punch)
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