Author: damazah@gmail.com

It may be unseasonably warm, but September’s bestsellers list tells us you’re definitely in an autumn state of mind. Some of you are embracing the unofficial new year with a backpack perfect for commuting or a bento box to avoid overpriced work lunches. Others are leaning into the darker evenings with a vibe-boosting portable lamp and a comfy mattress topper.From a pocket umbrella and a heated airer to a gorgeous pen and cashmere scarf, September’s favourites make it clear that you’re ready to hunker down, get back to the grind and, most importantly, get cosy.The wonder lip stainWonderskin lip stain£18…

Resident doctors have given the federal government a 14-day ultimatum to begin implementing outstanding agreements on their welfare and working conditions or face “further industrial action.” The ultimatum takes effect from 1 October 2026, according to a communique issued at the end of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors’ (NARD) 46th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Calabar, Cross River State. According to the document signed by the association’s new President, Ogar Idoko, Secretary-General, Besongngem Akotanchi, and Publicity and Social Secretary, Ashimom Msughter, the meeting was held from 21 to 26 September. The doctors said the ultimatum became necessary due to…

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has called on President Bola Tinubu to urgently increase Nigeria’s N70,000 minimum wage, saying that rising fuel, transport, food and housing costs have eroded workers’ purchasing power. Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the 2027 election, made the demand in a statement issued on Sunday by Phrank Shaibu, director of Strategic Communications of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council. The former vice president said the current minimum wage was no longer sufficient to meet the basic needs of Nigerian workers, particularly amid renewed increases in petrol prices.. Nigeria’s minimum wage was…

The Taraba State Primary Health Care Development Agency (TSPHCDA) has commenced a tetanus-diphtheria vaccination campaign targeting women aged 15 to 49 years. Tukura Nyigwa, an official of the agency, disclosed this on Saturday at a stakeholders’ sensitisation meeting in Jalingo ahead of the exercise scheduled for September 28 to October 2. The campaign is being supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). “This vaccination will target females aged 15 to 49 years, and I urge eligible women to take advantage of the opportunity to receive the vaccine,” Mr Nyigwa said. He stressed the need for intensified community sensitisation to…

Autumn can be a great time to escape to the coast, after the crowds and heat of summer have disappeared. We’d love to hear about your favourite seaside resorts in the UK and Europe for an off-season break – places that don’t shut up shop at the end of September, where’s there’s still lots to enjoy year-round and where you may get some late sunshine.The best tip of the week, chosen by Tom Hall of Lonely Planet wins a £200 voucher to stay at a Coolstays property – the company has more than 3,000 worldwide. The best tips will appear…

In the spring of 2024, my boyfriend and I lay in bed scrolling through photos of puppies. What about this one? Or that one? We had only been dating for six months or so, but had become besotted quickly, making long-term plans and talking about our future.Then I found the one: a scruffy, small terrier with black and brown markings on his back that looked like the world map and eyes like Galaxy Minstrels. We named him Dennis to connect him to my mum’s terrier, Beano, because she was ill at the time and I’d failed to provide her with…

Hello! I’m back to summarize this week’s notable education news!With the Silver Week holiday, there were only two weekdays, weren’t there? To all the teachers who had club activities and school events, thank you for your hard work! 🙇‍♂️For those who were too busy to keep up with the news, I’ve summarized it so you can quickly check this week’s developments over the weekend. If a topic catches your interest, please try reading the linked articles and materials!This week, I will introduce in a bit more detail the “Draft Summary of Deliberations for the Next Course of Study, etc.” presented…

Double-dipping means eating part of a piece of food and then putting it back into a communal dip – for example, biting a carrot and dipping it into shared hummus, or redipping a half-eaten tortilla chip in salsa. The concern is that bacteria from your mouth get transferred into the dip and could cause illness in the people you’re sharing it with.“You do transmit bacteria from the food you have eaten back into the source,” says Prof John Tregoning, the author of Live Forever? A Curious Scientist’s Guide to Wellness, Ageing and Death. He points to a study testing salsa, chocolate sauce…

No doubt, the pace of life is relentless in Lagos. For a city that never truly sleeps, keeping crime at bay is no assignment for the faint-hearted. It requires a police chief who understands the terrain, reads the mood of the metropolis and, when necessary, takes the fight directly to the doorstep of criminals. That appears to be the philosophy of Tijjani Fatai, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, whose tenure has increasingly attracted attention for his determined approach to policing the nation’s commercial capital. Fatai has over time demonstrated that crime can be confronted with the right combination of…

People experience leadership through interactions, contends LINUS OKORIE Power has a way of creating distance. The higher a leader rises, the more layers begin to stand between the leader and the people. Assistants control access. Protocol regulates movement. Advisers interpret events. Reports summarize reality. Meetings replace conversations. Eventually, a leader can become surrounded by people and yet become profoundly disconnected from them. This is one of the paradoxes of leadership: the closer you get to the top, the easier it becomes to lose touch with the bottom. Yet leadership is ultimately exercised through people. Decisions may be made in palaces, boardrooms…