Nigeria’s First Lady Oluremi Tinubu has called on Afrobeats superstars Burna Boy, Davido and Asake to lend a helping hand to the people in Nigeria through foundations.

She said that Nigeria has an abundance of wealthy people and called on them to offer assistance to those in need, as “the burden on the government is huge”.

“Nigeria is a great country. We have a lot of wealthy people. But our priorities are different. And I think it’s high time we started helping those who need help in the country.

“I want to appeal to our young ones in the entertainment industry. I’ve mentioned it before, and I will use Akon, a music icon who does a lot of great charity work,” Mrs. Tinubu said in Lokoja, Kogi State, on Saturday, where she launched the national community food bank.

“The Burna Boys of this world, Asake, all of them, Davido. We want to see you with one foundation or the other, helping the poor with your money.

“Good cars are good; a Maybach is good. Rolls-Royce is good, but still you can still help. The burden on the government is huge.

“You can still help. There are pepper sellers. There are vegetable sellers. There are okra sellers, melon sellers, akara kulikuli. Ankara is delicious. I can tell you that,” she added.

The first lady also urged Nigerians not to look down on legitimate means of eking out a living.

“And there was once I read an article about a young graduate who said he didn’t get a job. And he said he sells Zakara because he couldn’t get a job and he’s in Abuja.

“We approached him, but I didn’t put my name to it. We equipped him more. He now has 12 workers working under him, and he’s doing very, very well. So our people should never despise jobs,” she said.

Speaking on empowerment programmes in Kogi, Tinubu announced the donation of ₦100,000 to empower another 2,000 petty traders in the state.

She also commended the beneficiaries for their efforts.

“Today in that same spirit, the Renewed Hope Initiative has donated ₦100 million to the First Lady of Kogi State and RHI coordinator to empower another 2,000 petty traders in Kogi State with the sum of ₦50,000 each to recapitalise their existing businesses.

“And I’m glad that the women who are beneficiaries, they got the idea because I saw them bringing their tray of different food items, very small items, to welcome me today, and I think the message is quite received no matter how people want to turn it around,” Mrs. Tinubu added.

By Augustine Akhilomen

…Says Media Aides Are ‘Lazy Or Embarrassed’

…ADC Urges FG To Rescue Borno, Kwara Kidnap Victims After Oyo Operation

The Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has faulted the Presidency for alleging that he remained silent following the freedom of abducted schoolchildren and teachers in Oyo State, describing the claim as a deliberate distortion of facts.Executive Branch

Atiku, through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said the Presidency either failed to verify publicly available information before attacking the opposition or deliberately ignored his earlier statement because it raised uncomfortable questions about the government’s handling of security issues.

In a statement issued on Saturday, Shaibu said it was surprising that the Presidency could accuse the former vice president of silence despite what he described as clear documentary evidence to the contrary.

“In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said there are only two possible explanations for the Presidency’s latest outburst: either its media handlers were too lazy to acquaint themselves with publicly available facts before rushing to attack the opposition, or they were too embarrassed by the substance of his statement to acknowledge its existence,” the statement read.

“It is astonishing that a Presidency with limitless public resources could accuse someone of silence without carrying out the most basic verification.

“Either they failed to read our statement because they were too lazy to do so, or they deliberately ignored it because it exposed uncomfortable truths about their misplaced priorities.”

The reaction followed comments by the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who had accused Atiku of failing to acknowledge the release of the pupils and teachers almost 18 hours after their rescue.

Onanuga had also faulted the former vice president for what he called a pattern of criticising the government over the abduction while commending the Labour Party’s Peter Obi for reacting to the development.

But Atiku insisted he had issued a comprehensive press statement earlier on Saturday, titled ‘A Nation at War Needs a Commander-in-Chief, Not a Campaigner-in-Chief’, in which he welcomed the rescue and commended the security agencies involved.

“For the benefit of Nigerians and to expose the falsehood being circulated by the Presidency, we reproduce below the relevant portions of that statement,” the statement added, referencing a screenshot excerpt attached to the release.

Atiku maintained that the reproduced excerpts exposed the Presidency’s allegation as entirely false. He said he had not only congratulated the security agencies but also praised their courage, professionalism and sacrifice.

“What we declined to do was to applaud a Commander-in-Chief who, at a defining moment of national importance, remained publicly preoccupied with partisan political activities instead of personally leading the nation in celebrating the success of our troops and reassuring families whose loved ones remain in captivity,” he said.

He added that no amount of propaganda could erase the questions raised in his earlier statement, pointing to children still held in Borno State and elsewhere.

“The rescue of the Oyo schoolchildren brought joy to the nation, but Nigerians are still asking: when will the children abducted in Borno and other innocent citizens across the country also regain their freedom? Those questions remain unanswered,” he said.

Atiku urged the Presidency to devote less energy to manufacturing controversies around opposition statements and more to confronting the security challenges facing the country.

“A government secure in its performance does not invent silence where there was a documented public statement. It responds to legitimate concerns with facts and results, not propaganda,” he said.

He added that Nigerians deserved a Presidency focused on rescuing every citizen still in captivity rather than one preoccupied with misrepresenting the opposition.

The statement Atiku referenced, issued earlier on Saturday, had accused Tinubu of prioritising politics over national security.

In it, he argued that Nigeria needed a “Commander-in-Chief, not a Campaigner-in-Chief” at a time the country was battling terrorism, banditry and mass kidnappings.

He had noted that the rescue coincided with the launch of the All Progressives Congress’ door-to-door campaign ahead of the 2027 election, describing this as troubling.

“No serious government should be consumed by the politics of re-election while innocent schoolchildren have remained in the custody of kidnappers for weeks,” he said, adding that “yesterday should have been dedicated to the war room, not the campaign room.”


Atiku had also argued that Tinubu ought to have personally addressed the nation alongside the country’s defence chiefs immediately after the rescue, rather than leaving the announcement to his spokesman while he was engaged in political activities.

He said such a moment called for the President to brief Nigerians on the operation, acknowledge the bravery of the troops and reassure families that no effort would be spared to rescue those still in captivity.

While welcoming the development, he had cautioned against premature celebration, stressing that many Nigerians remained in captivity across the country.

“One successful rescue must not become an excuse for self-congratulation,” he said.

He called on the Federal Government to sustain military pressure on terrorists, kidnappers and bandits until every abducted Nigerian was freed.

Thirty-nine pupils and seven teachers were abducted on May 15 when gunmen attacked Community Grammar School, Ahoro-Esiele, and Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota, in the Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.

They were freed on Friday after 57 days in captivity, in an operation the Presidency said involved no negotiation with their abductors.

Meanwhile, the African Democratic Congress has urged the Federal Government to extend the same urgency and operational commitment that secured the release of abducted pupils and teachers in Oyo State to victims who remain in captivity in Borno and Kwara states, warning against a selective approach to rescue efforts.

The opposition party said while the rescue of pupils, teachers and other victims abducted from schools in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State after 56 days in captivity was commendable, many Nigerians kidnapped in other parts of the country had remained in captivity for months without attracting similar national attention.

In a statement issued on Saturday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC congratulated the rescued victims and their families but insisted that government must treat every kidnapping case with equal importance.

“We commend the security agencies and all those whose efforts made this rescue possible. Most importantly, we rejoice with the families whose long traumatic wait for the safe return of the victims has finally come to an end,” the party said.

“The pupils abducted in Borno State in May this year remain in captivity, while more than 100 people kidnapped in Kaiama, Kwara State are still in the den of kidnappers several months after. We believe that the suffering of these victims deserves the same urgency, determination as well as the national and international attention that brought the Oriire victims home,” the statement added.

“Every successful rescue is worth celebrating. But every kidnapping is also a reminder that the primary duty of government is to ensure that citizens are not abducted in the first place. What we must not do is to get accustomed to measuring success by the number of rescue operations this government conducts,” it added.

The party expressed concern that insecurity had become a routine feature of daily life under the current administration, warning that persistent kidnappings continue to undermine public confidence and economic development.

“We cannot achieve meaningful economic growth, attract investment or build public confidence while kidnapping remains a recurring feature of national life,” it said.

The ADC called on the Federal Government to sustain the momentum that led to the rescue of the Oriire victims by deploying “the same resolve, intelligence and operational capacity” to secure the release of all Nigerians still in captivity.

It also urged the government to “move beyond reactive responses by adopting a comprehensive security strategy focused on improving intelligence gathering, strengthening inter-agency collaboration, addressing the root causes of insecurity and restoring effective state presence in vulnerable communities.”

The party concluded that while the return of the Oriire victims deserved celebration, national efforts would remain incomplete until every abducted Nigerian regained freedom.

The UK government has unveiled a sweeping overhaul of its immigration rules, introducing wide-ranging changes that tighten visa requirements, strengthen deportation powers, and reshape the framework governing work, study and family migration.

The changes, contained in Statement of Changes HC 259 laid before Parliament on July 9, 2026, amend 42 sections of the Immigration Rules and introduce new measures affecting employers, educational institutions, migrants and sponsors.

Among the most significant provisions is an expansion of deportation rules, under which foreign nationals convicted on or after March 22, 2026, who receive suspended prison sentences of 12 months or more will be treated in the same way as offenders given immediate custodial sentences for the purposes of deportation.

The package also introduces a statutory requirement for the Secretary of State to review immigration regulations every five years and demonstrate that any regulatory burden placed on businesses, educational institutions or community organisations cannot reasonably be achieved through less restrictive measures.

Our correspondent on Saturday reviewed the 38-page Statement of Changes HC 259, published on the UK government’s website and ordered to be printed by the House of Commons, which sets out the amendments across the UK’s immigration framework.

Statement of Changes HC 259 outlines immediate alterations to the UK’s existing immigration framework. Stripping away previous policy variances, the document introduces a rigid, standardised text across the vast majority of visa pathways.

Here is exactly what the changes are, when they take effect, and how they alter the current rules.

Implementation Schedule
The report sets out a staggered timeline for when these exact text amendments become law:

July 30, 2026: Amendments strictly concerning Appendix EU and Appendix EU (Family Permit) take legal effect.

August 3, 2026: All remaining amendments take effect.

The Safe Harbor Provision: Any application for entry clearance, an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), permission to enter, permission to stay, or administrative review submitted before August 3, 2026, will be decided under the previous rules in force on August 2.

The Key Structural Changes
1. Unified Restrictions on Overstaying and Immigration Bail
Across 30 distinct appendices, the Home Office has systematically removed localised compliance text and substituted a strict, identical standard.

The Exact Standardised Text: “If applying for permission to stay, the applicant must not be: (a) in breach of immigration laws, except that where the Exceptions for overstayers section of Part Suitability applies, that period of overstaying will be disregarded; or (b) on immigration bail, except where the Exceptions for overstayers section of Part Suitability applies.”

This exact text swap effectively eliminates previous grey areas across almost all mainstream routes, including:


Work & Talent: Skilled Worker, Global Business Mobility, Scale-Up, Start-Up, Innovator Founder, Representative of an Overseas Business, T2 Minister of Religion, Government Authorised Exchange, and Global Talent.

Study & Temporary Paths: Student, Child Student, Parent of a Child Student, Graduate, Visitor, and Youth Mobility Scheme.

Settlement & Family: Long Residence, Private Life, Adult Dependent Relative, and Settlement Family Life.

Route-Specific Variations:
Hong Kong BN(O) (Appendix HK): The text adds a unique clause allowing immigration bail to be disregarded only if the applicant was placed on bail after making an asylum claim in the UK.

Appendix ECAA: The restriction applies specifically to conduct occurring after 11:00 PM on December 31, 2020.

2. Criminality Thresholds Extended to Suspended Sentences
Part 13 Deportation: The public interest mandate requiring a foreign national’s deportation has been rewritten. If an individual is convicted on or after March 22, 2026, and receives either a custodial sentence or a suspended sentence of 12 months or more, deportation is required unless specific narrow private/family life exceptions or Human Rights Act violations are legally met.

ETA and Child Student Paths: In Appendix ETA and Appendix Child Student, the phrase “or suspended” has been inserted directly after the word “custodial” regarding past sentences, enabling the Home Office to refuse entry clearance or travel authorisations on the same grounds.

3. Fast-Tracking Asylum Decisions via Interview Omissions
Amendments to Part 11 (Paragraph 339NA) give the Secretary of State explicit power to bypass the personal interview phase of an asylum claim if:

The applicant is an EEA or Swiss national.

The Home Office can determine directly from the application paperwork that the claim is “clearly unfounded.”

Crucially, the rule clarifies that skipping the interview does not stall a rejection. The text substitutes a provision stating that omitting a personal interview “shall not prevent the Secretary of State from taking a positive or negative decision on the application.”

4. Technical and Corporate Route Modifications
Skilled Worker Transition Safeguard: Paragraphs SW 4.2 and SW 6.1 alter how upcoming 2027 and 2028 salary rules apply. The criteria shift from checking if the “date of application” falls before the deadline to checking if the application uses a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) issued by the employer before the cutoff date.

Scale-Up Route Statutory Leave: The report amends paragraphs SCU 8.2 and SCU 18.3 to insert the word “, neonatal,” immediately following parental leave, ensuring neonatal absences do not penalise employment continuity calculations.

Child Care Legality: Appendix FM adds strict child protection clauses (E-ECC.1.7 and E-LTRC.1.7), explicitly stating that suitable arrangements for a child’s care and accommodation in the UK must fully comply with relevant UK law.

Indian Diplomatic Passports: Appendix V (Visitor) inserts an administrative exemption explicitly for nationals of India holding a valid diplomatic passport issued by India.