KUNLEDARAMS NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT

N igeria's communication minister, Isa Pantami, on Thursday claimed that the policy of requiring Nigerians to obtain a National Identification Number (NIN) has significantly reduced occurrences of banditry and kidnapping. He made this claim in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, while giving the account of his stewardship since assuming office, in 2019. "Within less than 15 days in the o ffice, we have engaged the NCC as a regulator. We have directed them to carry out an audit exercise to enable them to come up with unregistered and partially registered sims. They came with around 9.4 million which is enough to populate another country. It was the first time we didn’t know the total number of unregistered sims in the country." "And we went further to direct NCC, to ensure that by 25th September 2019, that is only one month and a few days in office, I spent there to ensure that by the end of September 2021, no sim that is not registered will be on our network. NCC as a...

  Nigeria recorded 203 new confirmed cases of covid-19 on Monday, 31st May 2021, caused by a surge in the number of cases recorded in Benue State. It also recorded a total of 28 covid-related deaths. The number of cases represents the highest recorded in over two months and the highest daily deaths in over four months. According to the disclosure by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Benue State recorded a total of 178 new cases of the disease, followed by Lagos State with 10 cases. This number of cases takes the total tally in Nigeria to 166,518 and related deaths to 2,099. It is yet to be confirmed, why the sudden surge in the number of infections, however, the total infections recorded in Benue State now stands at 1,366. It is also worth noting that a total of 2.13 million samples have been tested, from inception to date in Nigeria. The total number of cases currently in admission stands at 5,638, having discharged about 158,781 patients.

 Nigerian comedian, Debo Adebayo professionally known as Mr. Macaroni has reacted to the current state of insecurity in the country.  In a tweet, the comedian blasted Nigerian leaders, stating that they have failed woefully in protecting the lives of citizens. He wrote: ''The Nigerian Government has failed woefully in protecting the lives of the people. As irresponsible as they are, they use the Same Police responsible for the safety of Nigerians to oppress Nigerians. We don’t have Leaders. We have Tyrants in government!!!''

As the world marks the 2021 World No Tobacco Day, the Ogun state government stated that it has scaled up a campaign against abuse of drugs and other substances including tobacco. The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker, stated this Monday during a press briefing held at the Governor’s office, Oke Mosan, Abeokuta in commemoration of the day. Dr. Coker maintained that one of the major goals of the Dapo Abiodun administration is to improve the life expectancy of every citizen of the state, adding that through its campaign, it can help thousands of tobacco users make the choice to “commit to Quit” smoking. Stating statistical analysis, Dr. Tomi Coker stated that every single day, more than 3,200 young children and teenagers under 18 smoke their first cigarette, while more than 2,100 young adults become daily smokers. She further stated that nearly 9 of 10 smokers start before the age of 18 and almost all smokers start at 26 years. She noted that 16,800 Nigerians die of tobacco-related ...

  Cristiano Ronaldo’s future has continued to be the subject of debate for some time now. The Portuguese star is one of the biggest players in the world and success has followed him everywhere he has played. The attacker joined Juventus in 2018 to help them end their wait for a Champions League crown. He has scored the goals that could help them achieve that objective, but they have fallen short each time. Since he has been at the club, they haven’t reached the semi-finals yet. FC Porto eliminated them from the Round of 16 stage this season and the manner of their elimination drew criticism. Being the highest earner in the team means that he has had the most criticism and this has brought about speculation that he could leave the club. It remains unclear if he would play for the club next season, but Corriere dello Sport via  Il Bianconeri  reports that Juventus has told the player and his agent that it might be best if he left the Allianz Stadium. The report further said...