Reports recently made the rounds that the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, has died at the age of 83 and it has caused reactions on social media.

Newssphere gathered that the first class Nigerian King reportedly died on the night of Friday, April 22, 2022, at a hospital in Ekiti.

Several reports have continued to make the rounds about the Oba’s alleged demise and Nigerians on social media are asking questions about his wives.

Recall that the Alaafin of Oyo was married to many beautiful women, both young and old.

Some of the wives also have very young children with a number of them being twins or triplets.

The Alaafin also usually made it a point to appear at public events with most or all of his wives as they create a spectacle with their matching outfits, whether they happen to be in the country or abroad.

The Alaafin reigned for 52years as a King.

Top rated Nigeria Skitmaker and Comedian, Mr Debo Adebayo popularly known as Macaroni has got tongues wagging after he shared engagement photos on social media.

The actor and his partner, Kemz aka Mummy Wa, were seen rocking matching outfits in the photo.

In his post on the microblogging site, Twitter Macaroni wrote: “Today is for Engagement”.

Mixed reactions as some Nigerians congratulated Macaroni while others wonder if it is one of skit photo.
In the trending post my Macaroni, he also hinted that the wedding is slated for Tomorrow as #macaroni and #mummywa trend on NgTwitter.

Insecurity is becoming pervasive daily, following panic at Ungwan Bulus in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State terrorist bandits have killed three of the 26 villagers abducted on March 21.

After abducting them, the bandits had demanded N20 million ransom for each of the captives.

The bandits executed three of the victims Monday night, threatening to kill more by 12 noon yesterday if their demands were not met.

The chief of Ungwan Bulus, Gideon Haruna Goni, who confirmed the killing of the three victims, said the bandits called the community to inform them that they should pick the corpses around the Dutse community along the Kaduna-Abuja Highway.

He said the corpses had been retrieved, adding that the bandits said if the family failed to pay N20 million each for other captives before 12pm yesterday, the remaining victims would be killed.

We came together as a community; raised some amount and they called us and told us to pick the corpses of victims at Dutse. They threatened to kill more, especially women, if their demands were not met. Twenty six were abducted, one was released, three were killed,” he said.

He explained that the person who was released was considered on health grounds.

The chief, who appealed to the abductors not to kill any of the victims, pleaded with the state and federal governments to come to their aid.

The Kaduna State Police Command Public Relations Officer, ASP Jalige Mohammed, was yet to respond to phone calls as at the time of filing this report.

A policeman died on Tuesday after mistakenly detonating a grenade in Ebonyi State, authorities has confirmed.

This is according to the spokesperson of the Ebonyi State Police Command, Loveth Odah who stated this during a briefing in Abakaliki.

She identified the police personnel as Idi Aminu, noting that the victim was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The police reaction comes amid reports that a suicide bomber was blown to pieces after a suicide vest he was wearing exploded on his body.

The incident was said to have happened in Afikpo town of Afikpo North Local Government Area of the state with sources saying the incident happened around 12 noon.

Resident scampered for safety when the grenade exploded but reconvened at the scene of the incident a few minutes after only to discover the suspected suicide bomber laying dead in the pull of his own blood.

But the police spokesman debunked the reports, saying the victim was personnel of the State Police Command.

Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, has called on the Digital Transformation Technical Working Groups (DTTWGs) to support Federal Government’s initiatives on achieving a digital Nigeria.

Pantami made the call on Tuesday during the Digitisation Hangout with DTTWGs and Technology/Industry Ecosystem Players in Abuja.

The DTTWGs’ hangout was organised by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), while the groups were first inaugurated in August 2020 and aimed at ensuring the implementation of IT and digital economy-related projects in the government.

The members of DTTWGs drawn from Federal Public Institutions(FPIs) were the critical governance structure for implementing the Nigeria e-Government Master Plan (NeGMP) and National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) in the public sector.

Represented by Mr Bitrus Nabasu,Permanent Secretary of the ministry,Pantami said that digital transformation in the public service was a key part of government’s strategy for developing indigenous digital economy and would transform the way the public sector operates, creates value, and delivers services to customers.

He recalled Gartner’s report, a research and advisory company which said that global IT spending would reach 3.9 trillion Dollars in 2021 as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to act as a catalyst for digital transformation in almost every major industry.

Pantami said digital transformation required human capital development,innovative use of digital technologies, collaboration and co-creation between the government and technology industry players, hence the hangout.

“DT-TWGs are expected to support the Federal Government in developing citizen-friendly digital mechanisms to support service innovations and digital transformation for a digital Nigeria.

“DT-TWGs are required to give preference to indigenous digital solutions while making IT decisions in their respective organisations in line with Executive Orders 003 and 005 of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“I wish to state that government cannot do it alone. We need the involvement of the technology ecosystem to co-create ideas and innovate,” he said.

The minister directed NITDA to keep strengthening the IT clearance policy drive,capacity building for Chief Executives of FPIs,indigenous IT companies’ registration,Nigeria e-Government Interoperability Framework, Nigeria Government Enterprise Architecture, among other initiatives to accelerate digital transformation in the public sector.

According to him, this is aimed at creating friendly competition between FPIs to enhance digital transformation across board and at the same time create a new sector for economic diversification.

Director-General of NITDA, Mr Kashifu Abdullahi, said that Nigeria should be expecting a surge in digital transformation initiatives in the public sector in the coming years to keep up with the pace as the world was experiencing a sudden digital shift.

Abdullahi mentioned that growth in digital transformation had been propelled especially by COVID-19,which had raised the world’s consciousness and reemphasising the importance of digital technologies.

He said the drive for digital transformation prompted the agency to recently launch its Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP) 2021-2024 to align its mandates to that of the NDEPS.

He added that NITDA had been preparing the FPIs for the digital transformation journey by structuring appropriate implementation plan resulting in the DTTWGs.

He recalled that the DTTWGs were formed in 100 FPIs  with different roles aimed at digitalisation of government processes and encompassed departments in each FPI.

“We organised training that lasted for a month in which 442 members were certified. The DT-TWG members were taken through the basic knowledge required to carry out their responsibilities efficiently while leading digital transformation in their organisation.

“Today, we have achieved another milestone by creating a platform for bringing together the DT-TWG members and the key players in the technology industry.

“We hope this engagement will foster cooperation between the DTTWGs and technology industry players and provide a platform where experiences, achievements, and challenges will be shared,” Kashifu said.

Meanwhile, speaking to newsmen during the event, Managing Director of MainOne Technology Company, Mrs Funke Opeke, said they were engaging with the government to ensure that Nigerian data was domiciled and developed in the country.

“Data is very valuable, for marketing, for all kinds of business development,for analysis and we want to see more of Nigerian data stored in Nigeria.

“By storing the country’s data indigenously, jobs would be created and the country would have sovereignty over its data and as well contribute in growing the economy.”

Also Mr Woochan Chang, Country Director Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), said that Korean Government was funding a 13 Million Dollar project focusing on capacity building and bridging of skills gap in some FPIs and state governments, in partnership with the FG.

Programme Officer, KOICA Nigeria Office, Mr Kayode Adebisi who spoke for the Agency said Chang mentioned that the project

“Project for Building Digital Foundation of e-Government in Nigeria”, was signed in August 5 and expected to last for five years.